The silence pressed close, heavy and alive.
Harry sat perfectly still, the flashlight clutched loosely in his hand.
The empty chair across the room glowed faintly in the beam — the small, yellow-green animatronic now gone.
He thought for a moment, then made a decision. If it moved when the light was off, then he'd see what happened when he let the dark take over.
Click.
The beam vanished, leaving him in complete blackness. The air felt colder now, and the faint hum that filled the room seemed to fade away entirely.
For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then — step.
A soft sound, too light to be metal, but too heavy to be air, the steps continued. Until, they stopped somewhere near the center of the room.
Harry held his breath. Some more steps sounded, this time they moved to the right if he remembered correctly there was a small door less room there. After a few seconds more steps sounded, they were getting closer but still not yet next to him. His heart thudded softly, not from fear but from the strange stillness that followed each sound. Then the last steps — right in front of him. He could almost feel the air shift.
Harry flicked the flashlight back on. The small animatronic sat on the white X, right in front of him with its mouth slightly open in what he could almost think was a wide smile, the animatronic was unmoving, its dim eyes staring forward. For a heartbeat, nothing else happened. Then an odd sensation flowed through him — a strange pull, like the world twisting just slightly out of place. His mind blurred, as if something tugged at his thoughts.
And then he was back. Harry woke up in his bed, sunlight spilling faintly through the curtains. His heart was steady again, his hands empty. For a long moment, he stared at the ceiling, wondering if any of it had been real.
He sat up slowly, the dream still clinging to the edges of his mind. On the small table beside his bed sat the worn booklet he'd taken from Freddy's — its cover faded, the logo half-scratched away.
He picked it up. As he read, the words made sense in a way that shouldn't have been possible. Each line, each instruction about "animatronic behavior" and "connection protocols" giving a oddly familiar feeling — almost like he'd studied it for years.
When he finally closed the booklet, a quiet thought settled in his mind. Not fear. Not confusion. Something else.
Maybe he didn't have to be alone anymore.
A small, determined smile touched his lips.
If that animatronic really existed — even in dreams — he'd find a way to bring it to the real world, it was decided that animatronic would be his first real friend.
And somewhere, deep in the quiet corners of sleep, faint metal footsteps echoed once more — waiting for night to fall.