Five Nights at Freddy's One-Shots

Once I Called You Brother Part I

"Although for one of you, the darkest pit of Hell has opened up to swallow you whole. So, don't keep the Devil waiting, Old Friend." -Henry / Cassette Man

_________

I watched it burn. I watched as slowly, but surely, Freddy Fazbear's burned to the ground, releasing the spirits of the poor children with it.

Finally, they can be at peace.

And William. As much as I'd like to see him burn, I can't hate him. Once we were friends; almost brothers. It was such a long time ago, it gives me a headache just to remember.

I remember going to college in 1954 as a young man, maybe sixteen. I was obsessed with electrical engineering, something not taught in the small town I was from. The school was all the way in New York; it was like a whole new world. People talked faster than I could process, and walked like no one belonged in their way. The school wasn't much better; the kids all had their heads in the air, walking with bravado. I felt out of place, that is, until I met William.

He was a sort of pudgy boy, but taller than most of the boys in my classes. Quiet but very observant, he used to sit in the back of the classrooms, just watching. I remember how we met clearly; one doesn't forget how they met their soon to be enemy.

I was sitting on a bench in the courtyard, sketching I believe. I don't remember what, but apparently it looked good because someone behind me said: "You're very talented."

I remember the voice clearly; sometimes I still hear it in my nightmares. He had a calm voice, with that signature English accent; but it did anything but soothe me.

"Oh, thank you," I said, surprised someone could sneak behind me like that; I used to be a pretty aware kid. I turned around. Those eyes; I'll never forget those eyes: silver eyes, colder than the New England winter day we found ourselves in.

He must've noticed my hesitation because he smiles at me, as if it were to relieve the tension. Strangely enough, the smile was the least strange to me. Although the smile was a little too wide, the teeth a little too crooked, he couldn't be more genuine. William hadn't always been a cold-hearted monster; you just have to dig deep to find it.

"I'm William," He said, still smiling down on me. "I see you're interested in...electrical engineering. And robots..." I remember the way he said the last word: it was almost with an eccentric edge. And the way his eyes flashed with excitement, when he said it; remembering it makes my skin crawl.

"I'm Henry; and yes I am."

"Me too," His smile looked like it hurt at that point. "I'm in some of your classes."

Knowing myself back then, I was more concerned with making a friend to make sound judgement. "I'm so glad," I smiled to myself. "I thought I was the only one who liked this stuff."

He didn't answer, his eyes just stared at me as I stood up from the bench. I remember eagerly showing him my other sketches. He took it all in silently, nodding. I learned that he had been wanting to talk to me for a while, but had never had the courage to.

Since then, we'd spend class time discussing the mechanics. We'd create these humanoid robotic figures that could talk and dance. Animatronics weren't invented at the time, so we called them Animatums after the Latin word for "animation."

Over time, we became very close, spending time together whenever we had an opportunity. When it was almost the holidays, I remember offering for him to come home with me to meet my family. He apparently couldn't go back to England to see his family, but I had a feeling that he simply didn't want to.

By the time we reached my small town in Utah, snow reached up to our knees, suffocating the earth beneath it. I remember horsing around with William in my front yard, chucking snowballs, and shoving snow down each other's shirts, stuff like that.

By the time we had gone up to my parent's doorstep we were both soaking wet and freezing. My mother instantly shoved us in front of the fireplace while she made dinner.

At dinner, more formal introductions were made. William was across from me, and, of course, my mom and dad were at the heads of the small wooden table.

After a few moments of silence, my mom started the conversation. "Henry has told us a lot about you in his letters."

William flashed a painful looking smile. Not painful like it looked like it hurt, but painful because I could tell he was uncomfortable. "Really?"

"Yes; he told me you're just as passionate about...uh...Henry, what was it?"

"Electrical engineering," I said, playing around with my mashed potatoes.

"Yes, that. Just as passionate about that as he is."

I remember William being the sort of man that if he's truly interested in talking to you, all his attention would be hyper focused on you and you alone. He'd rarely speak in that state; he'd only speak with his eyes. For the rest of the dinner, that's how he talked to my parents, explaining what he and I were toying around with.

"Show us your designs, Henry." My mom asked me.

"Oh, they're really nothing...just sketches William and I did..."

William stared at me just as expectantly as my parents did. "Show them."

I shook my head, dismissing it. But he didn't take his eyes off me, looking almost annoyed.

"I don't have them with me." I spewed out a quick excuse.

"Oh," My mom said, turning away. "That's fine." My dad agreed diverting his attention to his food again. William, however, just kept staring, looking almost hurt.

"What?" I whispered to him, avoiding eye contact.

He finally looked away from me, but the burning feeling of guilt stayed. It's like he accused me without saying a thing. William had a thing for doing that.

___________

There's not much else worth explaining after that; the Christmas break went on, and William behaved himself. He was quite polite; I think that's what won my parents over in the first place. We continued brainstorming robotic creatures, much to my parents curiosity. They suggested that we actually create these robots. I thought, at the time, it was a great idea. It satisfied my craving for knowledge and gave William an excuse to satisfy his own desires. Of course, most of those desires didn't come until later. Until our dream finally came to life.

William and I decided to spend the coming Summer to bring these dreams to life. But...something happened. He was called urgently and silently back to England, apparently for his parents. He didn't tell me why he had to leave, or why his predicament required the whole summer to remedy. In fact, he never told me what happened that lonely summer while he was half a world away. I only remember what happened afterwards.

~~Author's Note~~

Hey readers! This is just the first part of this short story. I figured a 5,000 word short story on one page would be too much, so I separated it into parts. Thanks for reading!