Got too impatient to post. Dunno why, to be honest.

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I stood in near darkness, the only light behind me, being produced by the Safe Room. I was scanning the shelves of a long-broken vending machine, deciding on my meal for the night. I was already carrying a water bottle from the machine beside it, with the other hand up, ready to reach for something. I licked my lips, having a tough time on making the decision. I eventually reached past the broken shards of glass and nearly cut my hand as I pulled back with a bag of chips. I turned around quickly and walked towards the Safe Room, which was truly this arcade’s ticket and token booth.

I fell into my chair with a low groan, blowing hot air out past my lips. Setting the water down, I popped open the bag while peeking forward at what horror stood in front of me. The Safe Room in which I rest in between nights has one gigantic window that stretches from wall to wall, and it takes up about half of it, the upper half; the other is being blocked by a wooden table, which has rolls upon rolls of tickets and miscellaneous papers sprawled over it, and boxes of tokens scattered underneath.

On the floor, I pressed my foot onto a button labeled ‘Light.’ Previously, I could only see five feet out the window. Anything beyond was hidden in the darkness. But with the button, the light stretched to the far wall, and the doors leading further into the building.

In between those two sets of double doors was a wide, elliptical pedestal about six inches up from the ground. It was pressed into the wall and was painted a bright white to match the flooring. There were three others like it scattered throughout the building, and they were used by the animatronics that roamed around during the day. Each pedestal had the name of their counterpart inscribed in black letters along the sides; this one in particular read ‘Rory.’

All the animatronics were anthropomorphic. Rory was a lion, bearing a proud and bushy golden brown mane that covered his entire head and dropped down his back half a foot, leaving only his face and round ears exposed. His eyes poked out from his mask, traveling just a bit farther than his shiny black nose did. The nose was positioned on the tip of his half-open maw, which contained dull, metallic teeth. Underneath his mane and wrapped around his neck was a bright red ascot, displaying the yellow, stitched logo of the establishment. The rest of his fuzzy body was a solid citrine with a tan oval taking over most of his chest and stomach. The tip of his tail had a smaller brush of golden brown fluff and aside from his basic look, Rory also wore a perfectly circular and silver monocle over his left eye.

As the light remained on, I stared into Rory’s eyes, still disturbed by them after all these years. They were simply painted light bulbs, but they looked too realistic to be true. When they were turned off, the eye designs weren’t visible; there were only white dots in the blackness of his head, and combined with his soulless, empty facial expression, this was far worse than a child’s nightmare. When I wanted to look away but still keep him in my view, I’d usually glance upward towards the surveillance camera swaying side to side above his head.

I jerked to the left, towards the side of the table. Standing on the floor was a cardboard cutout of Rory himself. His arms were reaching toward the sky, in an act of glee. On the front of the cutout, where Rory's mouth should have been, was a one-way speaker, meant to send important messages towards the employees. But more often than not, it was to alert them for when it was time to take their breaks. I turned my head because it was crackling suddenly, like it did every night. There was static for the first few seconds, and then a male’s terrified voice came into earshot.


“…I heard your doors close…I wanna get out of here...I can’t move, and I wanna go home…If you’re there, you should know you can’t stay in there forever…The lights come on due to emergency power, and if you use too much, you’ll overload the generator and everything will turn off, meaning your doors will open and your lights will stop working...Please, please help me, you can search through your cameras, you’ll see me eventually…Oh, and you can keep your doors open after midnight…You’re safe, the…Hel…fo…en…”


After the voice was drowned out, the speaker shut off. I looked back to Rory, in deep thought, his eyes in contact with mine. This man, who was he? He sounded like he was stuck somewhere, but I’ve walked around every inch of the building countless times, and I’ve found no trace of him. He also said my power would go out; I haven’t had any power issues ever since this lockdown started.

I sighed and buried my face down in my hands, rubbing my eyes. All of this was too stressful. I’ve had to deal with giant robotic animals, this mysterious man on the radio, and I’ve been trapped inside this arcade for who knows how long. Was my family looking for me? Did anyone even notice I was gone? Why weren’t people coming to search for me?

I got up from my seat with a burst of speed, pushing off the arms of the chair. I strolled forward, stepping off the ‘Light’ button, which I had left on for that entire time. Stopping at the desk, I dropped my bag of chips and leaned onto it, scanning through the papers scattered about. When the lockdown first occurred I feared I’d go insane without something to do in this enclosed space. As a solution, I picked up any papers or newspaper articles that I could find. I was more than glad I thought up this idea.

Snatching the first article I saw, I traveled back and slumped into my chair. I cleared my throat and looked down at the printed, slightly smudged words. Before reading though, I pressed the button on the floor and peeked up at Rory, who was still in his place. I released the button and looked back down, reading aloud to myself:


TREMPTON FIRE SENDS CHILD TO HOSPITAL
A small child, age seven, was sent to a local hospital on the morning of October 2nd. The Trempton Fire Rescue and Recover District said the fire took place at 11:37 PM, on the corner of Haming Avenue and Didas Lane. It required six firemen to search the large home for any residents trapped inside. After looking for quite some time, one of the firemen reported that he found the child trapped under a fallen cabinet that was still aflame. In the time it took to destroy the furniture with an axe, it had begun to break apart on its own, leaving blazing pieces to fall onto and scar the victim. It took a few minutes to finally destroy the cabinet and carry the burnt boy to safety, where his father was waiting for him outside. The family took a ride to the hospital in the ambulance, where the son now recovers. He had this to say, after the terrifying experience: “I love all the superheroes we have today. I want to be like them when I grow up.”


Before I could continue, I heard a furious thudding outside. Using pure instinct, I slammed my foot once more and looked up into the relit area with wide eyes. Rory’s pedestal was empty and he was now running towards me, the mechanical beast’s arms held straight out, as if he were going to attempt to strangle whoever he could get his paws on. I jumped from my seat and pushed myself onto the right green ‘Door’ button with both hands. It shut at the last second, forcing Rory to run into the other side at full force. I stepped away, nearly backing into my chair while staring at the incredibly thick surface. The lion was now beating into it with his fists, clearly frustrated on how close he was to getting in.

Rory quit pounding after a few more seconds. I kept my eyes on the door, but before I knew it, he was visibly running just on the other side of the window, his arms still out. I reflexively shouted in fear before turning around and pushing the other door’s button. Rory collided with the metal, being denied entry for a second time. His furious fists began smashing into the door again.

I fell into my seat, bringing my legs up to hug them into my chest. I couldn't help but think that if Rory eventually got in, I wouldn’t know what he would do to me. I just knew I was screwed.

But eventually, everything went silent. I held my breath as I watched the beast drag himself back in front of the window, to return to the black. I took a moment to relax before slowly bringing my feet back to the ground. I placed one on the button without any pressure, too afraid to see those painted light bulbs. With enough courage, I turned the light on. Rory was on his pedestal, standing as if he had never moved in the first place.

I brought my foot away and jumped out of my skin afterwards. The cutout’s speaker had sparked to life again, catching me off guard. I sighed and looked towards the ground, listening to what he had to say. But I got something I wasn’t expecting.


“..ere are you? I thought you would have seen me by now…”