“Mike? You here with us?”
“Yeah, no, I’m not. What do you think, Edward?” Ed’s grin faded away and the others laughed. I haven’t been entirely present though. I glanced at my brother Evan hiding under the table again; it was his birthday, and yet he had absolutely no reason to be happy. Partially, I felt bad for him, but… come on. Those mascots aren’t that scary.
“Look at that dumb bear. Can’t believe kids like him.” Jess nodded at the stage, where the diner’s mascots awkwardly danced to the music. A yellow bear named Fredbear and a rabbit named Bonnie. You could tell whoever made up the names really didn’t care much about them.
“Hey, don’t be that mean! You’re gonna hurt his feelings!” I laughed. “But yeah, the thing is hideous. The colors, they just don’t work at all. Whose bright idea was to put yellow and purple together? And the yellow isn’t even a nice shade of it-”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re obsessed, we get it. Shut up.”
I rolled my eyes. Why exactly was Ed with us? Oh, yeah, Jess absolutely had to bring him with her. Is that what couples do? God.
“I HAVE ARRIVED!”
Half of the diner turned to the entrance where Fritz stood, clearly proud of himself. I chuckled to myself – not a single day at the diner has passed without that dumbass making his grand entrance. Even without the yelling, he wouldn’t be hard to spot in a crowd with his god-awful fashion taste. A cropped T-shirt with a band’s name on the back, a pair of ripped-up jeans with paint stains and mismatched socks. Even his shoes didn’t disappoint- one red and one purple Converse, one of them barely holding together. He…
“Mikey! Damn, it’s good to see you, buddy. What are you up to today?”
“Oh? Oh, uh… I-”
“What? Ain’t you happy to see me?” Fritz chuckled. “Come on, I’m just kidding,” he added when I struggled to respond. I smiled.
“Well, it’s my brother’s birthday today, so I guess we’re bullying the kid today. Jess brought her boyfriend with her, so there are four of us apparently.” I glanced at Ed again, who’s been looking at the arcade the whole time. “Why are you here again?”
“Wha- oh, well, I thought I’d come along, y’know? Can’t be that bad.”
Before I could respond, Fritz jumped between us and shook Ed’s hand. I looked around; nobody seemed to be looking at us.
“Employees only,” I muttered to myself.
“Huh? What was that?” Ed again, with his stupid questions.
“Shut up. Follow me.”
I stood up and for a brief moment, I saw him look at me all confused. Come on, I’m not that tall. Get over it. Jess laughed and said something I didn’t catch, Fritz laughed with her and Ed just followed them in silence. I guess she said something he didn’t like as much.
I took the keys out of my pocket and entered the room.
“Wait, are we supposed to be here?”
“Me? Yes. You? No. But I don’t think that’s gonna stop you, is it?”
The “employees only” room was actually just a storage room for spare animatronic parts. But besides that, it was the perfect place to hide something. I reached inside a Fredbear head on the highest shelf where barely anyone ever looked and pulled out three masks: a bear, a rabbit and a chicken.
“Oh, it’s those three! What are their names?” Jess asked, more enthusiastically than I’ve heard her before.
“Freddy, Bonnie and Chica. From the cartoon, remember? Mike says they’re making a pizzeria based off of it. That’s where the masks are from.”
“Wait, how do you know about it, Mike?” I tossed Ed the Chica mask. “And why do I get the freaking chicken?!”
Jess laughed. “I told you, dumbass. Why do you think he has the keys?”
“I don’t know, he stole them?”
I chuckled to myself and gave the other two masks to Fritz and Jess. “You get the chicken because you’re so annoying.”
“What about you, what are you gonna have?”
I reached to the top shelf again and pulled down a beaten-up animatronic head. “Foxy. The bad guy. Remember him? My dad made him for me when I was like four or something… can’t really remember.”
“And that’s the head he used for it!” Fritz added excitedly. Damn, I’ve told him a lot, haven’t I? He did say he likes to listen to me…
I put the mask on my head, like so many times before when I wanted to scare Evan. “Let’s go.”

-

“Wow, your brother is kind of a baby, isn’t he?”
“It’s hilarious.”
Jess let out a small chuckle. Evan was hiding under the table, as far away from the stage as he could get. He was terrified. I and the others were wearing the masks. Why? Cause we found it funny.
“Why don’t we help him get a closer look? He’ll love it!” I laughed.
“No, please!”
I ignored him. “Come on, guys, let’s give this little man a lift. He wants to get up close and personal!”
I picked him up and carried him to the stage as he desperately tried to escape. “No! I don’t want to go!”
“You heard the little man! He wants to get even closer!” I and Fritz stepped on the stage. “Hey guys, I think the little man said he wants to give Fredbear a big kiss!”
No matter how hard he tried, we didn’t let go. “On three! One, two…” I looked at Fritz. He gave me a small nod. We lifted Evan up. We put his head in Fredbear’s jaw.
“Three,” I said quietly, grinning.
He cried.
He screamed.
He tried to get out.
Fredbear’s jaw twitched and there was a loud pop.
Then everything went quiet.

-

Something’s dripping on the floor.
Blood. Evan’s blood.
Someone screamed.
“MICHAEL, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!”
He’s mad. Oh, it’s bad.
“MICHAEL!”
Are those sirens outside?
What is going on?
Why?
This shouldn’t be happening. It was just a joke, just a joke, I didn’t want to do this, he’s gonna bleed out, it’s because of me I did that it’s my fault why did I do this why why why why why-


The only thing I remember from then on is the blood. On the floor, on his shirt, on my hands, everywhere. And the yelling. Oh, It’s been so long since it happened, and yet I can’t get it off my mind.

-

Fritz was at the funeral too. He was the only one of the group that stayed with me.
I wouldn’t have made without him.
And yet, in the end, I left him. I don’t know why.
How long has it been?
I… can’t remember. Years. Decades, maybe.
Decades of my brother’s life I’ve taken away from him.