The walk to Laura’s home was very long and very not calm. It was raining. A lot. Olivia actually enjoyed the rain a little bit, but this was just too much. When she finally arrived, she knocked the door.

A few second passes…

Laura opens the door. “Hey- woah…” She got incredibly surprised seeing the completely soaked Olivia.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Hold on a second Ollie, I’m gonna find a towel.” Laura said before rushing to her bathroom. Laura was nineteen years old and had her own small house already. She got back to the entrance. “Give me your bag.”

Olivia handed Laura her bag. “Be careful.”

“No worries, it’s cool.” Her cousin said. She puts the towel, which had a blue and yellow stars pattern, around Olivia. “Here.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem!” The girls got inside and closed the door. “Just wait a bit here,” Laura said, pointing at the entrance that had a radiator “I’ll prepare some stuff while I’m at it.”

“Sure thing.” Olivia waited for a few minutes, maybe half an hour. Finally, she was pretty much dry by now. Laura came and removed her towel, coat, and boots. They both came to the dining room.

“So, what’s up?” Laura asked as she sat down on the couch.

“Well…” Ollie sat down too on another coach. “Not much, to be honest. I’m gonna take the kid to watch a movie soon.”

“Ah, that’s good.”

“As a birthday present, I have no other idea so… Oh well.” She shrugged.

“I might need to look out for something for him… What does he like?” Laura asked, curious.

“Hm… Video games, like all of his nerd friends.”

“Knew it.”

“Sometimes movies… He’s not a fan of toys… He really likes music too.”

“Music? Didn’t expect that from him.” Laura said with an almost excited expression. "What type?"

"Rock ‘n’ roll.”

“Really didn’t expect that even more.” Laura giggled. “I might get him a guitar then.”

“Wow.” Olivia’s eyes opened wide. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah!”

“You do know that it’s expensive as heck, right?”

“Don’t worry, Ollie. I can find what I want pretty easily.” Laura said. She was pretty confident, and Olivia had to admit that her cousin was right. As an example, from the past: Olivia had been asking for a very rare book for months, until Laura somehow manages to find it in a super cheap price but excellent quality. She was a pro at this.

“Alright… I’m counting on you.” Olivia said, smiling.

“Great! Want some tea?”

“Nah, I prefer a soda, if you have one.”

Laura got up and got to the kitchen. Olivia stayed on the couch, thinking about Marty. The boy sure was going to have one hell of a birthday this year. But something bothered her… Olivia looked behind her, staring at the window, and she was sure that she saw not someone but something.

In her mind, what she thinks she saw, was big. Really big. Some of its limbs were small but others were bulky. The strange thing was recognizable, despite being in the shadows, with one crucial detail: two rabbit-looking ears sticking out of its head. Bonnie, one of the mascots of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. What was he doing here? Olivia blinked hard for a second. Upon opening her eyes, nothing was where she was staring. She hadn’t moved a single bit except her eyes.

Get your mind on the proper place, you know that he won’t harm you. Let your fears aside. Olivia thought while putting her hands on the sides of her head. It’s just a hallucination.

“I’m back.” Laura said while holding a soda and an energy drink. Her light mood quickly changed to worry once she saw her cousin like that. “Ollie…?”

“I’m fine, just a little sick.” Olivia lied. Of course, she wasn’t fine, but she didn’t want to have her cousin involved in this situation. “No worries.”

“Okay. Here’s your soda.” Laura handed her the drink. “I got myself a Monster Energy.”

“That stuff’s gonna mess you up.” Olivia said, sarcastically.

“Screw it!” Laura laughed. “I don’t really care.”

“You do you.”

Laura sat on the couch. “So… About that nightmare…”

“Please, don’t. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Ollie, it’s been almost four entire weeks where you keep telling me that you had a nightmare every single day. I just want to know more about this, trying to help perhaps, you understand?”

Olivia was just staring at her cousin.

“You do understand, right?”

“Yeah, yeah.” She nodded. “It’s creeping me out too, but I don’t know what exactly I can do.”

“Did something happen before you got these nightmares?”

“No. Nothing at all. And I’m still trying to figure out what I am dreaming. Something keeps chasing me in my nightmares, I just want to know what it is.”

“I see… I-”

Olivia’s phone got a notification. “Hold on.” She took it. A message from her father asking for help. She sighed. “I need to go.”

“I can give you a ride. It’s still raining like crazy.” Laura said, taking her car keys.

“Sure.”

“Hey.” Tim said when Olivia entered the garage.

“What’s the problem?”

“Car broke down.” Tim explained. Olivia could notice some dirt and other things on his clothes. It’s not the first time since the car breaks, after all it was getting very old, but it has been three months since the last time it broke.

“Ah. What can I do?”

“I noticed some pipes broken. You mind helping me replacing them? They’re heavy though.”

“Yeah.” Olivia approached the old car. Some pipes were indeed busted. Some completely destroyed in fact. “Yikes, this is worse than I imagined.”

“Me too.” For two to three hours, Tim and his daughter were removing and adding pipes, get dirt all over their clothes, struggle but eventually, they were done fixing it.

“Well, that was a pain.”

“Yeah. I seriously need to replace it.”

“You’re right.”

“Thanks for the help.” Her father said.

“No prob’ old man!”

Tim laughed. “Yeah.”

Olivia decided to take a shower. The day hadn’t been the best but still pretty enjoyable for her. She was dreading the night though.

The next couple of days were… Not the greatest. Olivia was certain that her nightmares were getting worse and worse. She watched the movie with Marty; they both loved it. Her family was getting ready for the birthday, visiting the pizza place on their own sometimes, it was exhausting.

Three days before the party.

This time, Laura came to Olivia’s house. The rain hadn’t stopped though. “I finally got it!” Het cousin said, super happy.

“Got what?”

Laura grabbed her big bag, opened it, and took the content. A big, red guitar. “Tada!”

“Oh. Oh! Sh- crap! That’s insane!” Olivia’s eyes were opened wide, admiring the present.

“Told ya I would be able to get one!” Laura was holding it like she was a superstar. It was obvious that she loved it.

“Does it work?”

Laura played it. It did and it was loud.

“Damn.” Olivia was still surprised. “Looks familiar though…”

“Yeah, it’s themed around Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!”

“Ah…”

“Sorry if it bothers you, I thought it would fit with the party pretty well.”

“It is sick, not gonna lie.”

“Hell yeah!” Laura put it back to the bag. That’s when she noticed that Olivia kept putting her hand in her torso. “You alright Ollie?”

“Yeah, just feeling a little sick again. I’ll be fine at the party.” Olivia said, not really feeling confident about her words. “I hope so anyways.”

“Alright. See you in three days then?”

“Yeah, see you then. I’ll try to find a gift too.” Olivia said with a small smile. Compared to a week or two ago, Olivia was feeling much better about the birthday party. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as she expected. Maybe it wouldn’t be her least favorite day of the year again.

“I’m gonna wrap this with your mom” Laura said wile pointing at the bag that had the amazing guitar, “call me if you need anything!”

Olivia was now alone in her bedroom. It felt weird to think of a decent party at one of the places that she dreads the most. Maybe it’ll remove those fears?

Maybe whatever is chasing me will stop? She thought. She decided to go to sleep, resting a bit. She fell asleep, not noticing the hallucination above her head, with its glowing small eyes and it’s unfriendly grinning.