Five Nights at Team Crafted's 

Chapter eight:

Commitments  and Consequences 

-...-

An unbearable dream made Tyler wake up with only 5 hours of sleep. It was 11 AM, and he sat up on his bed, rubbing his head. The dream wasn't really a nightmare, and he couldn't remember it at all. Getting a drink of water, he changed out of his work clothes and threw them into the washer. He then sat at his computer, turning it on and waiting.

Tyler yawned, blinking a few times. Everything was blurry. Oh right, his glasses. He got up and and walked over to the side table and picked up his glasses,putting them on. Then he noticed something. In the corner, there was the tiny crack. Tyler groaned. How annoying, He'd need to get it fixed. But how did it get there?

“Oh...right.” Tyler sighed as he remembered last night.

He was knocked to the ground sometime last night, and that's probably how his glasses cracked. Tyler sat back down at his desk and thought back on the night before. He remembered it clearer then before. He broke into Aviator's office, found a few things, went to the museum, then found the room in Jason's ride, but it was locked. He remembered running to Mitch's Arcade, but there was something else he was missing.

That golden figure he saw. The golden hallucination he saw of an animatronic version of himself? There was no doubt it was a figment of his imagination. His inner mind was probably in a mess since he just found out murdering animatronic monsters existed only a few days ago. And since dreams can predict the future, some claim, it makes sense for a hallucination to help you out. In a way. So it goes.  

“I need to get that key.” Tyler sighed to himself, turning to log into the computer.

But Aviator said he wasn't going to work tonight. And clearly the only person who could take Tyler's shift was Aviator himself. And now that he thought about it, Tyler didn't work weekends. What happens at nights then? Either the weekends are free of horror or Aviator is keeping secrets. Another person, or is it himself whom works there? He'd be the one whose last the longest then. But Tyler didn't want to jump to conclusions.

“I also need my car.” Tyler sat back in his chair, suddenly remembering his car was still at the park.

Tyler glanced at the clock before getting up. He should probably go get his car. Leaving the computer on, he grabbed his bag and felt the room. He found his keys and put them back in his bag. Walking down the hallway and going to the dining room, he found his mother sitting down eating lunch. Leftovers from last night's dinner.

“Good morning.” She smiled to him. “You look better.”

“Hey, could you drive me over to the Theme park?” Tyler asked.

His mother tilted her head. “Why? Can't you drive there yourself?”

“That's the thing. My car is over there and I need to go get it.”

“But then how did you get home last night?” She asked, concerned.

“I didn't feel good at all so Aviator drove me home.” Tyler replied.

His mother got up and sighed, putting up her lunch. He got her car keys and the two walked towards the door.

“Alright then.” She told him

His mother drove him down to the park, dropping him off beside his own car. He got out, but before leaving her, turned back to tell her something.

“I'm going to go see Kyle again for something.” He said. “I won't be home for a bit. Thank you though!”  

“Be careful then!”

His mother drove away, and instead of getting into the car, Tyler walked passed it, toward the park. Looking into his bag, he saw a bag of tickets. Arcade Tickets. He stuffed them in there while his mother was looking for her keys. He'd collected them and saved them up when he was little, his mother saving the In a baggie in the hallway closet for years. Now they were to be of use, no longer for family memories. 

  Tyler felt paranoia walking into the park. There was a 10$ fee to enter the park, and the only other thing that costed money in the park was the gift shop, the food, quarters for the arcade, and little extra things here and there. It, though, was considerably less then Disney Land. Not as big either. Anyway, he felt out of place. It was the first time he went there not as a child in excitement or as an employee, but as just...someone. 

   He was also worried about running into Aviator. He assumed Aviator would be in his office, but you never knew. Walking around with his hands in his pockets, he made sure not to run into anybody as he made his way to Mitch's arcade. There were workers walking around, looking either tired, at the end of their shift, or relatively happy. He felt like they were aliens. And they would never know that he was a fellow employee. 

  Tyler walked inside the arcade, the loudness of the children and the games irking him just a bit. He walked through the crowd to the prize stand, seeing all the prizes that were hidden away last night out on the shelves. The key he saw the hallucination show him was on the top shelve. 10,000 tickets. 10,000 was alot of tickets, in fact, and Tyler only had somewhere around 2,300, as written on the bag in sharpie. But he was older now and could make better scores on the game, thus not taking years to build up.

"I also have all day, i guess." Tyler played with the tons of quarters in his pockets.

   Tyler  went on to battle his way through the young kids and get his way to a ticket-earning game. It was a game for younger children, but it was the easiest game to earn tickets with. You played as a kid on a skateboard who was going down tracks, and the amount of coins you got added to your score, which was converted to tickets. Since Tyler was older then the age range for the game, it wasn't that hard. 

  But still, tickets were not easy to get, and he had to play for half an hour to get 500 tickets, and each round of the game was only a minute or two. Tyler paused for a second, calculating the time in which i would take for him to get all the tickets continuing at that rate. 1000 tickets an hour for almost 8 hours would give him what he needed. But then he'd have to sit in that chair, stealing all the tickets the machine had, until 7 to 8 PM. And god knows how many quarters that was. 

     Despite the odds, the locked room in Jason's ride was killing Tyler. He had a motive to return and he was crazy to do it, what that's how it was gonna go. Tyler forced himself to stay in that chair, playing for as long as he could, ignoring all the younger kids whom asked him to get off. Parents whom watched from the background were probably getting upset, and honestly, an employee would probably get him off sooner or later. 

  That's just what happened too. Around 2:20 PM, when Tyler had been playing for maybe two hours, give or take, one of the employees approached him. She looked miserable, giving off the sign that it had been a long day for her. She placed her hand on his shoulder to get his attention, and Tyler paused the game to turn to her. 

"Sir, could you please get off that game? Others would like to play too, you know." She sighed.

Tyler paused. He had 4,400 tickets. He looked around to see the other kids watching, waiting for him to leave. Then he looked back a the woman whom had a face of sorrow. He couldn't do it. He couldn't be an ass. He had to let his head down and get off. Taking his tickets and shoving them into the plastic bag, he had to look for another game to place. 

  Tyler walked around, seeing all the games taken. Except for one. It was one of those basketball hoop games that gave you 30 seconds to throw as many balls into the hoop as you could. Since it was an overplayed game, tickets were hard to get. Tyler considered wasting his quarters and waiting his turn at one of the luck machines. But those were glitchy and Tyler never won at them, so never trusted them. 

   Tyler played the basket ball game for such a long time. His arms were hurting and he was bored of the game. It was 3:10 PM, he was getting hungry, and the number of tickets he had weren't really budgeting. He noticed the employee starring at him again, and so decided it was time to move on. Yawning, he let the kid waiting for him to move to have his spot, and he took his tickets to move on. The skate board game was overcrowded, and thus he couldn't go back there.

But there was the luck machines. 

  Tyler groaned, giving up. It was his only hope. Walking over there, he inserted the last of his quarters until something happened. Lights went off, but all he won were one or two tickets here and there. With no other choice, though, he continued to play. 

"Hey, mister." 

  Tyler snapped back into real life, having spaced out after awhile. He turned to see a little boy, about 8 years old, who wore a black t-shirt and a clip on tie that was orange and yellow. He had brown hair and a big smile, as well as an accent. 

"Yeah? Hm?" Tyler shook his head, looking at the boy. 

  The boy held up a small brown plastic bag with tickets in it. Tyler looked confused.

"What's that?" He asked, as if he didn't know. 

"It's your's, isn't it?" the boy asked. 

Tyler hesitated to take the bag. 

"I...What?" Tyler was confused. 

The boy giggled. "I mean, if you don't want it i'll take it, but someone told me this was yours and you dropped it."

Tyler slowly took the bag, glancing around before looking back at the boy. 

"Who told you that?" 

The boy pointed to the lady at the prize counter whom looked half asleep. Tyler slowly nodded his head.

"Thanks kid." He said with a crack in his voice, and the kid bounced off, saying goodbye and then laughing his head off with his friends. 

   Tyler took the bag and looked into it. There were alot of tickets, but he wasn't sure how many. Tyler then walked over to the lady at the prize counter, waiting for her to notice him. When she did, she rolled her eyes.

"It's about time. You've been here for hours." She yawned. "What the hell are you doing here at an age like your's?"

Tyler flinched at her stuck up accent. Though, for giving him tickets, she wasn't half bad so far. 

"Why'd you give me these?" He asked. 

She leaned on her arm. "Look. You look like you've just got dumped and came here to force your mind off of things, yet can't seem to do so. Your facial expression is maximum boredom. I assume you planned on using those tickets for one of these worthless toys you could get at the dollar store, so since i don't' get paid enough for this job, throwing away the park's worthless tickets is a dream. They all add up in the end."

She took out a piece of paper with pencil marks on it. Numbers. 

"Look, i've recorded the number of tickets i've given away. thousands of tickets and i've only wasted $25 of the park's income. Sad huh?" She ended with a small smirk.

Tyler found that funny. Another employee whom was stick of this place.

"How long have you worked here?" He asked.

"One week."

Tyler smiled, laughing. The woman chuckled and put her paper back under the counter. Tyler then placed the bags of tickets on the counter. 

"How much did you give me?" He asked her.

"A few thousand. 2,000 i think? Enough?" She asked, standing up straight. 

Tyler thought for a second, then shook his head. "Nah. I'm a few off." 

"How many?" 

"1,800, give or take." Tyler admitted.

"What the hell do you want from us?" She looked surprised.

Tyler pointed to the key in the top right corner of the shelves. She turned to look up at it, then frowned and looked back to him.

"Why?"

"Why not?" He asked back.

The woman sighed. She took his tickets and placed them under the counter. She then walked into the closet and came back out with a stool. She stood on it to get the key down. Rubbing some of the dust off of it, she handed it to Tyler. It was cold, and a bit bigger then a regular key. It had engravings and a decorated handle. But he remembered it being far more attractive and eye catching when he was younger. 

"There you go." The woman shooed him. "Run away, little man."

"Thank you!" Tyler smiled, shoved the key inside his bag, and walked off.

   Tyler walked back outside of the building, the air hitting him in the face. It felt so nice to finally leave that place. He was hungry, tired, and also kinda had to use the restroom. But he wanted to get home more then anything. Walking back towards the front gate. looking around, people watching, he found that there was less people then before. 

   The wind blew lightly and Tyler yawned, taking his eyes off the road for a second. When he looked back, he saw a familiar figure in the distance, walking towards him. Or at least in his general direction. He saw Aviator walking around, with his hands in his pockets. Aviator clearly didn't see Tyler, which Tyler was happy about. Tyler turned off course to hide, in front of Ty's fun house. 

   Aviator walked right by without noticing Tyler and Tyler felt relief. He made his way back out of the park, now nervous about being seen, and got into his car quickly. 

"4:30, huh?" Tyler said, looking at his phone while sitting in his car, which was yet to be turned on. 

   Tyler sat back for a second. First, he thought about grabbing early dinner for himself before heading home. But then he thought about other things, like the park right beside him. He was going back tonight, right? His fifth night at Team Crafted. According to the records in Aviator's office, if Tyler recalled correctly, the fifth night was the most...costly. 

"Five Nights at Team Crafted's." Tyler sighed. "How many more?"

   So he had the key and was about 8 hours away from his next shift. Dinner was in a little bit, if he did anything. Honestly, Tyler came to realize that according to the records, this could be his last supper. He'd realize how lucky he's been to get this far, but with Jason knocking him out last night, the worst could be yet to come. 

"I...." Tyler's voice cracked instantly and he stopped. 

  If he were to die tonight, he'd rather tell Shelby and Kyle the truth. Maybe they could talk him out of it. Hell, they would. They'd force him to stay within their sights. Telling them about the animatronics would either get them to think he was crazy or get them to put him on suicide watch. And yet, something was better then nothing. 

   And, if Tyler were to die tonight, he'd want Aviator to know a piece of his mind as well. And, you know, he could back up his stories when told to Kyle and Shelby. Tyler forced himself on the plan and dialed his friend's phone number, leaving the same message for Kyle, Shelby, and Aviator. 

"Hey, I need to speak to you sometime today. I thought since it was almost dinner time, we'd go talk over some pizza or something. I've inviting two other people, if you don't mind. I'd like to get my words out before next shift. Ummm" Tyler paused to think. "How's pizza at 6:30 PM? At...At Freddy's? S-See you there." 

-...-

     Tyler sat at the back, corner table of the Freddy Fazbear's Pizza pizza place. It was a run down, cheap place, that he's gone too since he was a child. The main reason he chose it was because it was one he could pay for. Yet again, there was nothing but the sounds of kids, moving around, and the occasional cracked, glitched out voices of the four animatronics. Freddy, Chica, Bonnie, and Foxy. He told the waiter he was waiting on people, and then pulled out his phone to glance at the time every few seconds.  It was 6:33 PM. 

"Tyler!" 

   Tyler looked up to see Kyle, whom was the first to arrive. Kyle sat down across from Tyler. Tyler smiled at Kyle's relatively happy atmosphere. 

"You look so lonely in the corner, dude." Kyle said. "What's with the call?" 

"I'm gonna wait on the other two, if you don't mind." Tyler sighed. "You can go ahead and order the pizza though." 

     Tyler didn't need to hand Kyle a menu. They already knew what was served. Kyle ordered a large pizza for all, as well as drinks, once the waiter came by again. Not long after, Aviator arrived, and then after him Shelby. 

"Sorry I'm late." She said, sitting down next to Tyler. "The traffic at this time is terrible." 

"Don't worry about it." Tyler said and she smiled to him. 

"So." Tyler cleared his throat, turning to Aviator, who sat across from him next to Kyle. "Aviator. This is Shelby, my girlfriend. I already introduced you to Kyle." 

Aviator nodded his head. 

"Shelby" Tyler turned to her. "This is Mr.Aviator. He's my boss." 

Shelby didn't expect to meet his boss. She smiled said hello to him. Aviator replied and then there was a few seconds of silence, with the obvious noise in the background. 

"So now that we're all here, what's the deal?" Kyle asked. 

Tyler took a deep breath. He didn't really know how to start it. He didn't really plan anything out, he just worried. Aviator knew it had to be something bad since he was there, but Shelby and Kyle weren't really sure what the matter was. They were curious. 

"Well, Kyle, Shelby, I guess i can start by confessing to you that i've been lying for the past week about my job." Tyler stuttered, putting together a sentence as he talked. 

"Tyler, you're no-" Aviator began in a hushed whisper, but Tyler stopped him by shooting him a glare.

"How so?" Shelby asked, looking concerned. 

"Well." Tyler thought about how he could go about this. He gave a small laugh to some of the ideas he came up with.

"Well, I'm just gonna come straight out and say this. I've been working with haunted animatronic killers for 4 nights now and I havn't been killed yet." 

The two stared at him as if he'd grown another head. Kyle began to laugh a bit. 

"W-What?" Kyle asked. 

"So." Tyler took a breath. "The job I got at the Theme Park, TeamCrafted's. I work from 12AM to 6AM as a security guard, as you know. But what I didn't tell you is that the reason i work there at these hours is because those animatronics move at night. And I'm supposed to watch them and make sure they don't do anything such as escape." 

"So...The animatronics...?"

"Yeah. They're alive at night, and they're dangerous. They wonder around at night and if they see you, they'll try to hurt you." Tyler answered. "The job I have. People have died working it." 

Shelby and Kyle weren't really sure if this was true or false, but with no real way to approach it, they played along. 

"Anyway, last night, instead of staying in my office, i decided to wonder around a bit." This is where Aviator's knowledge of the situation cut off. Tyler looked over to his boss as he spoke. "Investigate. I thought, since i had to deal with risking my life every night, i should know more then i was being told. In fact, i wanted to know why this was even legal. How a company like Team Crafted could get away with what they were."

"What...what were they doing?" Kyle asked.

"They know the animatronics move, but they've kept it secret. The law force knows about it too, but for some odd reason, Team Crafted was able to convince the law to stay out of the murders and keep the park open. If I'm right, even Aviator isn't sure why they do this." 

"How did you investigate?" Aviator asked, his eyes narrowed. 

Tyler hesitated. "I....I found a few papers. None of it answered any questions, and in fact, only gave me more. I found out about a room in Jason's part of the park. One that's scratched out with sharpie and isn't shown on any visitor maps." 

Aviator's eyes widen. "Tyler you are not allowed to sneak around like that." 

Tyler looked down, pulling out the key he got from the arcade from his bag and placing it on the table. Aviator's eyes widen.

"How did you get that?"

"I won it fair and square. Got 10,000 tickets this morning." Tyler lied. 

"Tyler, whatever you do, please don't go into that room." Aviator continued to beg.

"Why not? What's in there that you don't want me to see?" Tyler asked, frowning. "I risk my life for money that i honestly don't even need right now! I could have died Monday night. I could have died Tuesday night. I could have died Wednesday night. I could have died last night. Where would we be if I had?"

Tyler motioned to Shelby and Kyle. "Where would they be right now if I was dead?" 

Shelby got Tyler's attention, and he turned to see her face showing distrust and despair. 

"Why would you go to a job you know could get you killed? Especially at your age? Especially with the life and family that you have now?" She asked. "That isn't like you." 

Tyler felt a weight on his chest. "I honestly don't know why. And unconscious decision. I know I was an idiot for going back. I know i'm a dumbass for staying. I'm selfish for not thinking of the consequences. But hear me out."

Shelby crossed her legs and Kyle crossed his arms. 

"I feel like there is something there that wants me to do something. I know I sound crazy. I probably am. I hallucinated last night while I was there. But on  my second and third nights, i heard voices as loud and clear as in the same room, but i couldn't find the source." 

Aviator whispered to himself aloud. "Bashur claimed to hear voices and have hallucinations as well.."

A spark of hope was created in Tyler with those words. He wasn't crazy. 

"I didn't finish my investigation last night, so tonight, i want to go back. Find out what I can. Get inside that room. It's hiding something. And I'm sure there are other places with other secrets." Tyler said.

"No. I forbid it." Aviator barked. 

"I am going back. You can't hide these things from me. It killed Bashur. It killed many, many others. All with innocent lives, i'm sure of it." Tyler glared at Aviator. "I know you're depressed. I know you've suffered greatly from this. Have you ever tried to end it? And I'm not talking about killing yourself. I'm taking about standing up and doing a bit of research. Fighting for your right!? Getting angry!?" 

There was a pause.

"This isn't the way to live life, Aviator. I'm sure you should know that well." Tyler said. 

  Aviator thought about Tyler's words. Then he cleared his throat and spoke up.

"So you plan on going back tonight. The fifth night. The most dangerous of them all. I mean, honestly, after the first Friday of the job, it dosn't really get any harder. I mean, there may be a few nights here and there, but every job is like that." He said. "But why are you telling us this? Why me? You're telling me, your boss, that you plan on doing something that i've said i can't let you do. Any normal boss would have fired you."

"I've caused over $500 in repair damages, having to tear of Ty's arm. If you didn't fire me then, I decided to take the chance and see how much of my crap you could put up with." Tyler answered. "If you can put up with the park, you can put up with me." 

"And again, why do you tell us?" Kyle asked. 

"Because If I die tonight, i thought you'd all have the right to know the truth. Because I'm sure as hell Aviator would come up with some lie. He'd be forced to." 

"Tyler!" Shelby grabbed his arm. "We can't let you go! I won't let you go getting yourself into trouble!" 

"Something is making me go back, Shelby, and I want to find out what or who it is!" Tyler raised his voice. 

"But you could die! If that isn't stopping you then you need to see a doctor! You are not suicidal! I would know that!" Shelby fought back. It was his life she was trying to save. 

"I understand your concerns, but this is my choice. I'm going to take that risk." Tyler said. 

"But Tyler!" Kyle wanted to side with Shelby, but he couldn't think of any words.

Shelby huffed, getting their attention. Shelby knew it was hard to get Tyler to switch sides, knowing how stubborn he was. She's had a fair share of that. And she also knew that sometimes, if you couldn't beat them, join them. With nothing more then the argument she already put out, she'd have to find another way around it.

"I'm going with you then." She commanded, and the three stared at her like she was insane. 

"Shelby no." Tyler began. 

"Tyler shut your mouth for two seconds." Shelby began. "If you honestly brought us all here to clear your chest before your next death match without expecting us to interfere, you're a moron. If I can't stop you, i'm going to do something. I'm putting myself in danger's way, but at least i can be there with you! I would never be able to sleep knowing you could be dead, but if I go, I won't be as worried.I won't feel as helpless and unneeded as if I didn't go."

"I'm going to." Kyle stepped in.

"N-NO!" Tyler's arm shook. 

"A relationship, no matter how serious or silly, is a commitment. You're going to have to deal with how we come about things, like it or not." Shelby said. 

"But what if you guys die!?" Tyler asked, tears in his eyes. What were they doing!?

"What if you died? What if they died? Same difference." Aviator answered. 

   Tyler looked between the three of them. He couldn't change their minds. he had to deal with it, like Shelby said. He loved her, she loved him, and it was the only thing they could do for each other. Tyler calmed himself by taking a few deep breaths. He slowly began to nod his head. 

"Okay...okay....I don't like this. Never will." He then turned to Aviator. "If they're going, you will go too."

Aviator already saw this coming. "Understood." 

"But listen here." Tyler told them. "You'll stay with me. You'll follow what I tell you. If you see one of them, i'm the one that's going in front. Just because you're there doesn't mean you know how to survive."

"You're the one working, after all."

"And one last thing." Tyler turned to Aviator. "Everyone needs a flashlight and a stun gun. Flash lights are self explanatory, but Stun guns temporarily short out the animatronics."

"That can be arranged." Aviator crossed his arms. 

Tyler shook his head and rested it on the table. 

"What have I done...?" He asked himself. 

      The pizza was taken home whole that night. Shelby and Kyle went home with Tyler, not having the ability to trust him out of sight for the rest of the night. Aviator went home to prepare, but also to think about what was happening. Was this a horrible mistake? Was it a good idea? Aviator couldn't eat. He knew something was bound to happen, but to whom? 

Tyler was such a mess, but it was already made clear that he was as well. 

-...-

    11:55 PM. Tyler, Shelby, and Kyle step out of Tyler's car. Shelby and Kyle saw Aviator at the front gates with extra supplies in a bag by his feet. The two began to walk over to Aviator, while Tyler stopped by his car. Kyle realized Tyler wasn't following, and turned around to see the teen was staring off into space. Kyle even waited for Tyler to snap out of it, but he didn't.

"Uh...T-tyler?" Kyle asked.

Tyler then shook his head. He turned to Kyle and began to catch up. When he did, they gathered at the front of the gates, and Tyler got their attention. 

"Okay. So here is the plan..."

Inside, 8 animatronics were waiting. Inside, questions were waiting to be answered. Inside, regret was stalking for prey. Inside, a coming end awaited. 

This was the fifth night at Team Crafted's Amusement Park. 

-...-