Part 2
Instinctively, Bonnie knew that the person knew they were there. It was standing deathly still and silent, its cloaked figure outlined by the brief, bright light.
The children stared soundlessly at the figure. Bonnie didn’t have the energy to scream anymore as he slowly slid to the floor, his terror getting the best of him as the figure slowly turned around to face them.
The figure stared at them in silence. Bonnie couldn’t tell what it was thinking, as its face was shrouded in shadow. After several tense, terrifying seconds, it- he- finally spoke.
“I suppose the charade is up now, huh?”
And then, out of nowhere- no, out of the shadows- four more forms materialized, each wearing matching pitch black cloaks with hoods pulled up as they walked to the tallest individual’s place, taking a spot on either side and turning to look at the children. No!
“You were supposed to run to the door,” the tallest told them dully, looking at his friends on either side of him. “Now we have to-”
Bonnie didn’t let him finish his words. He broke down into sudden wails, pulling his ears down in front of his face and ducking his head towards his knees. His friends immediately jerked into action, Chica dropping down next to him and hugging him while Freddy, Foxy, and Goldie stepped forwards, in front of him, as if they could defend them.
However, there was no need. The moment the little rabbit began wailing, the figures jerked back and, if one were to ask Goldie or Freddy, looked almost alarmed.
“Oh no,” the figure on the far right moaned, bringing a black-covered hand up to their shadowed face in apparent dismay. “Look what you did, Mangle!”
“Me?! You were the one who didn’t tell me I was supposed to tone it back!” the figure on the left of the tallest immediately shouted, turning to look towards its companion. “Besides, you’re the one who was playing with the shadows, not me!”
“Shadows aren’t as scary as those things you made! Those’d give me nightmares too!”
The figure on the far right yanked its hood down, revealing long, fluffy rabbit ears, bright blue fur, emerald eyes, and flushed cheeks. The figure it spoke to followed suit, revealing pristine white and pink fur and gleaming yellow eyes.
Well that’s… scary…?
“Well that’s the normal protocol, no one told me we were changing the program!” the white fox snarled back at the blue rabbit, revealing four fangs longer than the rest of her canine teeth.
“Enough!” The cloaked figure on the other side of the fox pulled his own hood down, revealing rosy brown fur and angry blue eyes. “Stop it, both of you, you’re only making things worse!”
No they’re not, Goldie thought, glancing at Freddy. Their fear had quickly turned into perplexion. Were we just tricked by a bunch of weirdoes?
Finally the last two cloaked figures pulled their own hoods down. One was a chicken and the other was another rabbit. The chicken, between both rabbits, had rosy cheeks like the other colourful Animals and bright blue eyes, but her beak was pulled into a frown. “Alfred, there’s no point in shouting at them, I’m pretty sure everyone screwed up on something.”
The tallest Animal, a golden rabbit with bright green eyes, was frowning in disapproval. “I didn’t expect you guys to traumatize them. In fact that’s what I wanted you not to do.”
“It’s not my fault!” the blue rabbit immediately exclaimed, hopping away from the group and pointing accusingly at the fox. “Mangle’s the one who pulled those monstrosities out!”
“You were supposed to tell her that we were changing the score,” the golden rabbit said as calmly as he could.
“Guys, stop shouting at each other, the poor kids are scared enough!” the chicken intercepted, grabbing the golden rabbit’s arm. “Spring, we have to help!”
“Stay away!” Freddy and Goldie immediately chorused, grabbing the weird group’s attention. “Just stay away,” Freddy repeated, carefully stepping back towards his friends.
“You thought it was funny to scare a bunch of kids?!” Goldie demanded, frowning at them. “It’s not!”
The five Animals seemed unsure of what to say. “No, it’s not funny,” the bear agreed slowly. “But-”
“Then why do it? It’s not cool!” Goldie was aware that he was yelling at five adults but what else could he do? He had screamed like a little girl! More than once! It was humiliating, and now Bonnie was crying! “You’re just a bunch of meanies!”
The Animals exchanged wary glances, unsure of what to say. Finally, the golden rabbit said, “We just wanted you to leave. You broke our door and intruded on our t- our property. We just wanted you to leave. You ran the wrong way,” he added uselessly, his hands dropping down to his side. “We have no intent to harm you.”
“And we had no intent to scar you for life,” the blue rabbit added with a huff, looking at Mangle. Mangle scowled back at him.
“Well, Blu, if you had just done your job-”
“Stop!” the chicken immediately interrupted, sighing. A crack of thunder silenced everyone as it shook the entire house. Rain began pattering against the pane of glass before it began pouring down, echoing around them from the force of it hitting the roof. The chicken closed her blue eyes and let out another sigh. “Guys, we can’t send them out into that rain, they’ll catch their death out there.”
“Why can’t kids just stay away from places like this?” Mangle complained, breaking away from the group as well and striding towards one of the wardrobes on the right side of the room. In frustration, she yanked her black cloak off, revealing a floor-length red and black dress that went out of style probably a million years ago, if you asked Goldie.
If it was ever in style in the first place.
She pulled the wardrobe door open and tossed her cloak inside. Slowly, the other Animals began doing the same, walking towards the wardrobes around the room and undoing their cloaks. All of them wore similar clothes; the chicken wore a fitting yet loose long pink garment that would look out of place among any modern crowd and the boys all wore some kind of suit. None of them were quite tuxedos, but they were old suits and they had bowties on them.
They are weirdoes.
He glanced at the nearest wardrobe (it was the blue rabbit's, he dimly noticed) and caught sight of what looked like a pair of jeans. Oh, they do have better clothes. Why wear those old things, then? Weirdoes!
The tall golden rabbit heaved a sigh and turned around, crossing his arms. He didn’t look angry or even dangerous, now that Goldie could see him; he was tall, but he was thin and looked like he had lost a fight with a lawn mower at some point in his life, with a jagged scar across his face and missing half of his right ear.
“Look,” he spoke, and as he did Goldie noticed he had incredibly sharp, long canines. Weird, rabbits don’t have canines… “We have no intention in hurting you, so… will you… please stop crying...?”
“Oh yeah, like that’s gonna work,” the blue rabbit snorted, walking away from his wardrobe and messing with his cuffs. “You used to be so good with kids, Spring.”
“Yes, well, when you haven’t interacted with one in a few ce… seasons, you tend to lose that ability, Blu," the rabbit, Spring, deadpanned.
“I bet Chii hasn’t,” Blu shot right back.
The chicken, Chii Goldie assumed, rolled her eyes. “Come on, guys, do you think they’d trust any of us?” she asked. “The best thing we can do is leave them to their own devices.”
“I am not letting a bunch of kids run around our house without supervision,” Mangle immediately spoke up, frowning. “Do you realize how much dangerous crap we have here?”
“All of those doors are locked,” Chii pointed out.
“Yeah, we thought our bedroom was locked, too, but it wasn’t.”
“Ah- that’s actually my fault,” Spring spoke up sheepishly, raising a thin, scarred hand. “You know, I have this thing about actually using the doors…”
“Oh geez, Spring, this is your fault,” Mangle sighed, letting her head smack against the wood of her wardrobe. By this time Bonnie had long since quieted, watching the strange scene in front of them in wide-eyed confusion. Apparently even his fear had fled too as they realized that the group in front of them wasn't scary. They were just a bunch of weirdoes.
“Sorry…”
A flash of lightning filled the room, followed immediately by the loudest crack of thunder Goldie was sure he had ever heard in his entire life. All three rabbits in the room immediately clapped their hands over their ears and the foxes didn't fair much better.
“Oh god dammit!” the blue rabbit immediately cursed, apparently not mindful of the children nearby. “That one hurt!”
“Stop shouting, oh my goodness gracious, Blu, I know!” Spring seethed, stalking over to the windows and yanking the curtains closed again. It did nothing to drown out the sound but it did block the lightning and sheet of rain from sight. As soon as the light was gone, though, the candles on the walls lit up. Everything looked much eerier in the flickering firelight.
“Why don’t you just turn the lights on?” Foxy questioned, glaring in irritation at the sconces.
“This house was built in the late nineteenth century,” the bear informed the child. “And it was never updated to modern standards. It has no electricity.”
“Doesn’t that bother you?” Chica asked, though she sounded more curious than irritated. The five Animals paused and exchanged a glance. Goldie was irritated to see amusement flash through their eyes. Obviously they knew something the children didn’t.
“Not at all,” Chii chirped, and Goldie knew for a fact chickens didn’t have fangs. He was starting to wonder if they had walked into a weird horror movie. “But we’re used to it. You know, you should probably move away from the door, we have chores to do.”
“Screw your chores, I’m taking a bath,” Mangle immediately piped up, pulling a violet dress out of her wardrobe and closing it. “All day sleeping and I haven’t had a chance to even brush my fur yet!”
“Or have your coffee,” Blu added unimpressed, watching the vixen turn towards the children. “Don’t approach them, Mangle, just use the other exit.”
“Other exit?” Goldie and Freddy chorused, confused.
“It’s a secret~” Blu sang before hopping away into the shadows. There was no sound of a door opening or closing but the rabbit was gone just the same.
“Hey,” Chii started, her voice gentle and sweet as she knelt down so she wasn’t towering over them. She looked much less intimidating this way, the children noted. “Can you guys please move for a moment? I need to go downstairs to the kitchen and Blu’s being an idiot right now.”
The children stared at her before, wordlessly, Freddy pulled Bonnie to his feet and they all shuffled aside. She smiled happily and stood up again, twisting the lock out of place and opening the door again. She slipped outside into the candlelit hallways and was gone.
“Thank you,” Mangle sighed, following her fellow female out the door.
“Kitchen?” Chica whispered to her friends.
“Yes, kitchen,” the adult bear answered instead, wandering towards the door. “A house this large, you don’t think we don’t have a kitchen, do you? Chii enjoys baking and tea.”
“You say that as if you don’t, Alfred,” Spring chuckled, following the bear out the door. “Especially the tea part.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault it’s the best leisure drink.”
“I beg to differ…” the voices faded down the hall, leaving the five children in the silence of the large bedroom. They just stood there, staring at the open door and listening to the rain pounding down on the roof and slamming against the windowpane. Slowly, they all looked at each other. No trace of terror remained except for Bonnie’s tear-matted fur.
“They’re weird,” all five of them voiced at the same time and then they broke down into a fit of giggles. It certainly lifted any tenseness they still held.
“We were tricked by a bunch of weirdoes!” Foxy squealed, dropping down to the floor in a peal of laughter. Soon, though, the laughter tapered off into a strange companionable silence.
“I wonder how they did it?” Chica pondered, looking up towards the sconce above them. “That’s real fire.”
“Who knows,” Goldie shrugged, leaning over to peek down the hall. It was empty, but voices echoed through the halls. It was like a normal dysfunctional family. “They’re really weird. I like them.”
“You like them?” Freddy guffawed, staring disbelievingly at his brother. “They just scared us all and made Bonnie cry and you like them.”
“They didn’t mean to make him cry and I think they feel bad,” Goldie stated matter-of-factly. “They were fighting about what just happened, anyway.”
“I wanna know more about them!” Foxy declared, sitting up.
“Me too,” Chica agreed.
“I wanna go home,” Bonnie whined, scrubbing at his tear-stained face. “That was em-embarrassing!” he stumbled over the word; it was a new word in their vocabulary and he wasn't quite used to it yet. It felt weird on his tongue.
“Well, three beats two,” Goldie retorted immediately, slipping out the door. “Besides,” he called over his shoulder, “It’s raining really hard and there’s lightning. Do you really wanna walk home in that?”
“No,” Bonnie mumbled, shuffling his feet before following Goldie. At least he was acknowledged this time.
The five children made their way back to the first floor, finding themselves in the lit foyer at the foot of the grand staircase. The shadows still made Bonnie uneasy, as did the black curtains, but knowing that it was just a bunch of weirdoes living there made it less creepy. The hallway beneath the landing was now lit as well and the voices carried through there, so that was where they went. When they came to the other side of the hall, they found themselves in a sitting room.
It was cozy. There was a round carpet on the wooden floor, two couches tucked on either side of the hall’s archway, and two chairs tucked into corners of the room, covered by blankets and evidently unused. A small coffee table innocently sat in the middle of the room, its dark wood standing out against the off-white carpet.
To the left of the sitting room was a closed door, but to the right of the room was an archway into a kitchen. That was where four out of five of the Animals were located.
Cautiously, they approached the archway and looked inside. The two rabbits, bear, and chicken were inside and it looked like they were all working together to make something. The blue rabbit was bouncing happily in his place as he stirred the contents of a bowl, talking excitedly about something that happened “last night,” though none of the children quite understood it, and the other three looked to be a mixture of amused and disgusted.
When Blu’s eyes caught sight of the curious children, though, his mouth snapped shut, cutting off whatever he had been talking about. Spring looked over at him, confused, and then followed his gaze. “Oh… they followed us,” he commented, blinking owlishly.
“What are you guys making?” Chica demanded, putting her hands on her hips as though she was the family matriarch. Bonnie was sure to the four adults in the room it probably looked humorous, if not downright adorable.
By the amused smiles exchanged between the two rabbits, he was right.
“We’re making breakfast!” Chii stated happily.
“Breakfast? But it’s not morning,” Foxy protested with a frown.
“We sleep during the day, so it is for us,” Blu hummed happily, pausing as he looked in his bowl. He began stirring it more stubbornly. “Come on!”
“This many years and you still don’t know how to treat batter,” Alfred sighed dramatically, swiftly taking the bowl from the blue rabbit’s hands. “You, chop the strawberries.”
“Aww, but I wanted to stir the batter,” Blu whined but went to do as he was told, grabbing a knife out of the rack.
“Strawberries and batter?” Chica tilted her head slightly. “Are you making strawberry pancakes?”
“Yep!” Chii and Spring chorused, exchanging sharp-fanged grins as they did so. It sent a wave of unease through Bonnie before he realized that it had simply been a sign of amusement between them, not hostility. “It’s summer, after all; strawberries are in season and we have a patch in our backyard,” Chii expanded. Before she could say much else, a sharp yelp interrupted, causing them to jump.
They all looked over at the blue rabbit pulling his hand away from the knife; he had, evidently, gotten his finger in the way while distracted and deep crimson slowly dripped from the slice.
Bonnie didn’t say as much but he was pretty sure it was much too dark to be blood. However, there was nothing else it could be, which meant that the rabbit was hurt. “Are you okay?” he asked innocently, worriedly. Even if these weirdoes had terrified him, he didn’t want them to be hurt...
“I’m fine, fine,” Blu answered with an uneasy laugh, stepping further away from the children as he wrapped his uninjured hand around his finger. Bonnie wondered why he did this- they hadn’t been the ones who hurt him, after all. His laugh sounded fake, too, forced and when Freddy, being the protective and helpful child he was, stepped towards the rabbit to offer as much help as an eight year old could, all of the adults moved faster than any of the children thought possible as Blu cried, “Don’t!”