Mike.

  Michael was screwed.

  Yesterday, he had confidently told Mary he had a place in mind for their date.

  That was a lie.

  A big, dumb, bullshit lie.

  And now, he was paying for it.

  He had spent hours trying to come up with something good—

  A restaurant? Boring. Too formal.

  A movie? There wasn't anything good on.

  Something spontaneous? He was not that kind of person.

  By noon, he had officially run out of ideas.

  Which meant it was time to ask for help.

  But who?

  Not Grandpa.

  Not his friends

  Definitely NOT his father or Mary's for that matte,r he had enough self preservation not to do that twice.

  …And then it hit him.

  Ralph.

  The only man Michael knew who had a functional relationship and wouldn't tip Mary off.

  When Michael arrived at his house, Ralph's wife let him in, and he was directed to the kitchen.

  Ralph was sitting at the table, staring blankly at paperwork.

  His daughter, Coppelia, was sitting across from him, swinging her little legs, drawing a crayon version of Freddy Fazbear wearing a crown.

  “…You good?” Michael asked.

  Ralph sighed, rubbing his temples. “How do you think Freddy feels about having a stepbrother and sister now?”

  Michael blinked. “…What?”

  Ralph gestured vaguely at the paperwork. “The merger, Mike. Fazbear and Candy’s. It’s like watching your single parent start dating again after years of being alone.”

  Michael stared.

  “…You’re way too emotionally attached to this company.”

  Coppelia giggled. “Freddy doesn’t mind! He’s a king now!”

  She held up her drawing of Freddy Fazbear wearing a golden crown, standing over a smaller, sad-looking Candy the Cat.

  Michael snorted. “Yeah, that seems about right.”

  Ralph shook off his existential Fazbear crisis, finally focusing on Michael.

  “Alright. You didn’t come here to be my therapist. What do you need?”

  Michael hesitated. “…dating advice.”

  Ralph blinked, then immediately looked at Coppelia.

  “Kiddo, why don’t you go show your picture to your mom?”

  Coppelia perked up. “Okay!”

  As she scampered off, Ralph leaned forward, fully invested now.

  “This your first date with her?”

  Michael shifted awkwardly. “I mean… yeah?”

  Ralph raised an eyebrow. “That didn’t sound sure.”

  Michael rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve been… something for a while now. This is just the first, you know, official thing.”

  Ralph nodded like a wise sage. “Got it. High stakes, but not too high stakes. You need somewhere casual but fun.”

  Michael sighed. “Which is exactly what I haven’t figured out.”

  An hour after a gruelling discussion of dating spots in town, Ralph grinned. “Fall Fest.”

  Michael frowned. “The Fall Festival? Isn’t that just hayrides and pumpkin carving?”

  “Exactly,” Ralph said. “It’s chill, seasonal, and fun without being over the top. Plus, you get bonus points for being a gentleman when she gets cold and you give her your jacket.”

  Michael blinked. “I didn’t even think about that.”

  Ralph patted his shoulder. “That’s why I’m here.”

  Michael nodded slowly. “Alright. Yeah. Fall Fest works.”

  Ralph leaned back smugly. “Also, fun fact—Fazbear Entertainment actually started as a costume company that made stuff for Fall Fest.”

  Michael raised an eyebrow. “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. Before the animatronics, they were just making Halloween suits.”

  “…Why am I not surprised?”

  Ralph shrugged. “Because this company has never done one normal thing in its entire existence. I loved that”

  Michael couldn’t argue with that.

  As Michael stood up to leave, Ralph suddenly got a look on his face.

  “…Wait here.”

  Michael watched, confused, as Ralph disappeared into his bedroom.

  A minute later, he returned with a small, unmarked box.

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  He handed it to Michael.

  “Only open it if the night is very successful.”

  Michael stared at it. “What is it?”

  Ralph grinned. “You’ll figure it out when you need to.”

  Michael narrowed his eyes, turning the box over in his hands. “This isn’t, like, drugs, right?”

  “Do I look like I deal drugs?”

  Michael looked at the Fazbear paperwork still on the table. “You look like a man who emotionally projected onto a corporate merger.”

  Ralph ignored that.

  “Just trust me. You’ll thank me later.”

  Michael shrugged and stuffed the box in his pocket.

  He would, in fact, not thank Ralph later.

  Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth liked hanging out with Grandpa.

  For one, he was way more fun than Dad not that she would ever tell either of them that.

  For another, he actually told her things, unlike Dad, who either ignored questions or acted like talking about the past would summon demons.

  And, most importantly, Grandpa was British, which meant all his stories sounded way fancier than they probably were.

  Right now, she was sprawled out on the couch, eating crackers, while Grandpa sat in his chair, telling her about "Little Billy".

  “Your father,” Grandpa began, pausing for dramatic effect, “was a right little troublemaker.”

  Elizabeth snorted. “Yeah, no kidding.”

  Grandpa chuckled, shaking his head. “No, no, worse than he is now. Billy was always sneaking off, climbing things he shouldn’t, breaking things he couldn’t fix. If something caught fire in the house, we knew exactly who to blame.”

  Elizabeth grinned. “What happened when he got caught?”

  Grandpa sighed heavily. “He’d always blame one of his siblings.”

  That made Elizabeth pause mid-bite.

  “…Wait. Dad had siblings?”

  Grandpa went quiet for a second.

  Then, much softer, he said, “Aye. He did.”

  Elizabeth recognized that look.

  The one adults got when they were thinking about something they didn’t want to think about.

  She didn’t like it.

  Grandpa was old, and old people weren’t supposed to look sad. That was, like, illegal or something.

  So she immediately switched gears.

  “You’re telling me Dad had an entire family and he still turned out like that?”

  Grandpa blinked, then barked out a laugh.

  Elizabeth grinned in victory.

  “Seriously,” she continued, “how do you have siblings and still end up that weird? That’s like losing a team game by yourself.”

  Grandpa wiped at his eye, still chuckling. “Your father was always… different.”

  “Yeah, understatement of the year,” Elizabeth muttered.

  Grandpa patted her head. “You, on the other hand, are shaping up to be the best of the lot.”

  Elizabeth sighed dramatically. “I know. It’s exhausting carrying this whole family on my back.”

  Grandpa laughed again, and just like that, the sadness was gone.

  Elizabeth popped another cracker into her mouth and decided to ask about the other problem on her mind.

  “Hey, so… why is Mike being weird?”

  Grandpa raised an eyebrow. “More specific, love.”

  Elizabeth waved vaguely. “He’s been nervous. Like, actually nervous. He’s pacing a lot. And yesterday, he ran out of the house like the place was on fire.”

  Grandpa hummed thoughtfully.

  “I’d hazard a guess that the girl he likes, likes him back.”

  Elizabeth frowned. “Isn’t that good?”

  Grandpa let out a very long, very tired sigh.

  “…Yes. But teenagers are complicated.”

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes. “Explain.”

  Grandpa looked physically pained, like she’d asked him to describe animatronic mechanics with only interpretive dance.

  “Well… love is… difficult.” He rubbed his temples. “When you’re young, and you fancy someone, it—er—it makes you do silly things.”

  Elizabeth squinted. “Like running out of the house?”

  “Like running out of the house.”

  Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “That’s dumb.”

  Grandpa looked heavenward as he took a sip of his coffee. “Yes, it is.”

  Elizabeth thought about it for a second. “If a girl liked me, I wouldn’t be acting like that.”

  Grandpa choked violently on his coffee.

  Elizabeth watched with mild concern as he coughed into his sleeve, eyes wide.

  When he finally recovered, he cleared his throat and said, “You mean if a boy liked you back.”

  Elizabeth paused.

  No, I meant exactly what I said.

  She just gave a slow nod, trying not to laugh.

  “Sure, Grandpa.”

  Grandpa seemed satisfied with that answer.

  Elizabeth was just relieved he didn’t go into cardiac arrest.

  Now that Elizabeth had all the pieces, she came to a conclusion.

  Michael was a moron.

  If this girl liked him back, then he should be happy, right?

  So why was he freaking out?

  Clearly, someone had to supervise him before he ruined everything.

  And since Elizabeth was the smartest person in this family, it looked like that job was hers.

  “I think I’m gonna follow Mike later,” she announced.

  Grandpa sighed, already exhausted. “Elizabeth, don’t torment your brother.”

  Elizabeth grinned. “It’s not tormenting if I’m helping.”

  Grandpa pinched the bridge of his nose. “And what exactly do you plan to do?”

  “Find out who this girl is,” Elizabeth said, “and make sure he doesn’t mess this up.”

  Grandpa hummed. “You just want to meet her, don’t you?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “Maybe.”

  Grandpa sighed again.

  Elizabeth patted his arm. “Don’t worry. I’ll be subtle.”

  She would, in fact, not be subtle.

  Evan.

  Evan watched the others carefully, standing at the edge of the dim, flickering lights of the pizzeria.

  Gabriel was gone.

  Not dead, not at peace—just gone, twisted into something that wasn’t him anymore.

  And now, they had a new problem.

  Because this Monster wasn’t Dad’s doing.

  That was new. That was dangerous.

  “It was following your brother,” Jeremy muttered.

  Cassidy huffed, crossing her arms. “So? That doesn’t mean anything.”

  Evan shifted uncomfortably.

  “…I don’t think Mike’s the killer or the creator of that thing.”

  The room fell silent.

  Even Cassidy looked startled, like she misheard him.

  “You don’t?” Charlie asked, voice careful.

  Evan shook his head, frowning. “No. He’s stupid, but he’s not… that.”

  Cassidy stared at him for a long moment before looking away.

  Evan didn’t know what to make of that.

  Charlie cleared her throat, breaking the tension.

  “I know where it is now,” she said.

  All eyes turned to her.

  “The Monster grabbed part of the gift,” she explained. “That was enough. I can feel where it is now.”

  Evan’s stomach tightened. “Where?”

  “…Not far,” she admitted. “But far enough that we can’t reach it from here.”

  Cassidy scowled. “So what do we do? Just wait?”

  Charlie hesitated. “Unless Freddy’s gets moved closer, or unless it follows Michael again…”

  Cassidy rolled her eyes. “That’s a crap plan.”

  Evan was inclined to agree.

  “We can teleport,” Cassidy said firmly. “Me and Evan did it before. We can just—”

  “You can’t teleport somewhere you don’t know,” Charlie cut in.

  “We did it before—”

  “Outside of Freddy’s,” Charlie corrected. “Not across town.”

  Cassidy bristled. “So we just sit here?”

  Charlie folded her arms. “No. You think before you do something reckless.”

  Cassidy glared at her. “I am not waiting around while that thing does whatever it wants.”

  Charlie sighed, exasperated. “You’re not listening.”

  Evan watched them argue, something twisting in his chest.

  Cassidy was furious, pacing in tight circles.

  Charlie was calm, but firm, like she was trying to wrangle a stubborn child.

  Cassidy wasn’t wrong.

  But Charlie wasn’t either.

  Evan felt the need to step in before Cassidy exploded.

  But then—

  Jeremy spoke up.

  “What if we had someone drive us there?” Jeremy asked.

  Cassidy snapped her head toward him and laughed. “And who exactly is going to do that?”

  Jeremy chucked nervously.

  “Your dad.”

  Silence.

  Cassidy’s entire body went rigid.

  “…No,” Cassidy said immediately.

  Jeremy didn’t back down.

  “You always said he adored you,” he pointed out. “He’d listen to you, right?”

  Cassidy shook her head, fists clenched.

  “No. Absolutely not.”

  Evan watched her carefully.

  It wasn’t anger.

  It was fear.

  “…Cass,” he said quietly.

  She refused to look at him.

  Evan thought for a moment.

  “We don’t have to appear in front of him or talk to him,” he said finally. “Just teleport into his car. It’d be easy.”

  Cassidy didn’t answer.

  Evan stepped closer.

  “I’ll go with you,” he said.

  Cassidy looked up at him then, wide-eyed.

  “We’ll take Charlie too,” he added. “You won’t be alone.”

  Cassidy stared at him for a long moment.

  Evan had no idea what was in her head.

  Then, quietly, she muttered, “You’re an idiot.”

  Evan smirked slightly. “Yeah.”

  She exhaled sharply, shaking her head. “I hate this plan.”

  Jeremy chuckled. “That’s how you know it’s a good one.”

  Before they could argue further, Susie cut in.

  “Doesn’t matter,” she said. “He’s already gone.”

  Cassidy froze. “What?”

  “He left while you guys were fighting,” Susie explained. “He’s not in the building anymore.”

  Evan let out a long breath.

  “…Then we wait.”

  Cassidy gritted her teeth. “Fine.”

  But her hands were shaking.

  Evan saw it.

  And he hated that he couldn’t fix it