Halloween is among us, and Jeff couldn’t care less about it. It wasn’t uncommon for teenagers to lose interest in Halloween, since who doesn’t want free candy, but Jeff lost interest a long time ago. He still went trick or treating, but only because his little brother, Billy, still did it.

  But Billy was old enough to go by himself, so Jeff wanted to spice some things up this year. He just hoped Dad would approve.

  During lunch, he and his friends went to the sign up board right next to the cafeteria.

  “So what are you gonna sign up for?” His friend, Max, asked.
  “Well I ain’t taking drama,” Jeff replied. He searched through the sign ups to see what was interesting. Most of them were sports, which he did partake in quite a few, and boring clubs for boring things like science, or anime.
  “Hey, whaddya think of the haunted house project?” His other friend, Carter, suggested.
  “The haunted house…” Jeff then caught his eye on the sign up sheet for the haunted house program.

  According to the sign up sheet; the haunted house program is a fundraiser the school does every year for charity. In a nutshell: People would put up decorations, dress in costumes, and try to scare people.
  “Wanna do it?” Max asked.

  “Maybe I can get my brother to come when it’s done,” Jeff thought while scratching his chin. “Might as well sign up then!”
  All three of the boys signed up for the program and walked to the cafeteria. When they got to the door, the nerdiest kid in the school, Alex, walked out of the cafe holding a tray of food. Jeff chuckled and then tripped Alex as he walked right next to him, and Alex fell to the floor with his food.

  Jeff then high fived Max, who high fived Carter, who high fived Jeff. The Trio-Five they called it, which was kind of their handshake.

  Just after school had ended, Jeff went into the washroom and grasped his phone. He called his dad’s number, who immediately answered.
  “Hey Jeff, whatcha want buddy?” Dad responded.

  “Hey Dad, I signed up for an after-school program, so I was wondering if Billy could stay with Aunt Debrah after school today?” Jeff asked.
  “Well he’s probably on his way home now,” Dad said.
  “C’mon, I got kicked out of most of my sports because I have to always babysit him, so can I please do this?” Jeff begged.

  “Fine,” Dad said, sounding a little pissed off.
  “Thank you!” Jeff said in relief. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of him over the weekend.”
  “You better. Or else I’m cutting your allowance.”
  “You can count on me,” Jeff said. “Bye!” Jeff then hung up, and walked out the washroom.
  “So,” Max asked, “did he approve?”
  “Hell yeah he did!” Jeff said gleefully.

  “Now c’mon, we got some scaring to do!” Carter commanded.
  The club met in the cafeteria after school, and luckily Jeff’s trio was just in time. Kids sat in groups at their own individual tables where they chatted or played on their phones.
  Jeff’s trio picked the only available table, and the person who sat at the table right next to theirs was none other than Alex.
  Jeff gave Alex a villainous glare as he sat down, and Alex stared back in fear.
  “Alright, everyone stop what you’re doing,” a female voice shouted. The teacher who ran the program then entered the cafeteria, and immediately after she commanded that everyone looked at her. “Welcome to the haunted house program,” she said and sat on a desk. “My name is Mrs. Henry, and you probably know me as either your English or Social Studies teacher.”
  Well, Jeff hadn’t. He had never, in his three years of high school, heard mention of someone named Mrs. Henry. Maybe she was new? Jeff decided not to ask and let her go on with what she was talking about.
  “So, the haunted house program is a small fundraiser the school does every year, blah blah blah, you probably read it already so I won’t waste your time.” The class all giggled after she said that. “Thank you, thank you. I knew there was always a bit of a comedian in me. Now then, I’ve got some big news.” She paused dramatically for a few seconds. “In case you didn’t notice: I am new to this school.”
  That answers my question, Jeff said in his head and almost blurted out.

  “Since I am new, I don’t have that many ideas. So I wanna know your ideas for the attraction. I’ll give y’all a few minutes to think of something, so get thinking!”
  “Alright, what’s something spooky that would work for the haunted house?” Max asked immediately.
  “Well, I don’t know shit on horror, so…” Carter said. “Jeff?”
  Jeff thought of things people would be afraid of. Snakes, spiders, and zombies felt too generic. But then a lightbulb appeared on his head when he thought of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza.
  Jeff and Billy went to Freddy’s every summer. As Jeff grew older, he began to lose interest in the place. Not because of the pizza, that was the best part, they loved it so much they’d order it for delivery. Everything else though… that was a whole new story. The kids there had more energy than a mental asylum, the arcade games were always out of date, and the animatronics, MAN they were nightmare fuel. The nightmare fuel perfect for the haunted house.

  “Hey guys, you’ve been to Freddy’s right?” Jeff asked.
  “You mean that kids' pizzeria?” Max asked and then smirked. “My family’s going there this weekend for my
cousin’s birthday.”
  “Well what makes you bring that place up?” Carter asked.
  Jeff stood up, placed both his hands on the table, and said: “Well, I thought of that place for some reason, and I thought of how creepy the animatronics looked.”
  “Oh yeah, they are creepy,” Carter said and sank into his seat.
  “That rabbit gives me nightmares man,” Max said.

  “Well you gotta remember, they are children’s characters,” Alex butted in.
  Jeff and the other two stared at Alex like he was a dolphin in a party full of sharks. As in he tried fitting in with the wrong people.
  “Um… since when did we let you in on our conversation?” Jeff asked.
  “Well this is a group project,” he replied.
  “Yeah, but, we’re all talking about our own things, and that ain’t your business nerd.”
  Alex just looked away from Jeff. Wasn’t he afraid of him? Why did he decide to talk to him for no reason?
  “Alright, times up,” Mrs. Henry announced. “Tell me what y’all thought of.”
  “FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA!” Jeff shouted immediately. Everyone in the room stared at Jeff awkwardly. “Well I mean, the animatronics there are pretty spooky, right.”
  “Okay,” Mrs. Henry said awkwardly. “Though next time wait for your turn to be called.”
  “Well you wanted our ideas,” Jeff said. “You never said you would call our names.”
  “Well back to your idea; you wanna use animatronics?”
  “I mean, who here has been to Freddy’s?”

  A bunch of kids, including Mrs. Henry, raised their hands. One kid instead said; “I went to Candy’s Burgers and Fries!”
  “Same thing,” Jeff responded. “And you gotta admit, the animatronics there are creepy.”
  “Good point… what’s your name?” Mrs. Henry asked.
  “Jeff.”

  “Jeff! Freddy’s characters are terrifying, and from my memory, no one has done a haunted house using those characters.”
  Jeff smiled at himself and Carter gave him a pat on the back. “Nice thinking man,” he said while doing so.
  “So a Freddy Fazbear themed animatronic. That’s going on the list!” Mrs. Henry then looked somewhat disappointed all of a sudden. “The problem is how would we get one?”
  A random kid raised their hand and Mrs. Henry pointed at them. “I do remember there being a delivery service for people to rent animatronics.” They explained.
  “So we can rent one for the day!”
  Max then raised his hand and Mrs. Henry called his name. “I do know that there’s an abandoned location somewhere near the edge of town. Luckily I live near there, and I could salvage a few things.”

  “You know that is extremely illegal,” Alex butted in again.
  “Alex, shush,” Jeff said.
  “He does raise a good point,” Mrs. Henry said. “Breaking into abandoned property can put us in serious trouble, so I wouldn’t recommend it. But I do have to mention one more thing; Tomorrow there will be a bit of a lock-in sleepover for us all where we’ll be setting things up, since you know, Halloween’s next week so we need to get things done. As of right now, we’re just planning things out, so that's actually all I have to talk about today. See y’all tomorrow!”

  Well, that was a quick meeting. Jeff got back home at 4:30 PM, and when he got there he was shocked.
  “Billy?” Jeff said with shock. “You’re supposed to be with Aunt Debrah!”

  Billy was sitting on the couch playing video games. “Well she had an emergency so she left me here,” he replied.
  “Dad said you aren’t allowed to be home alone though.”
  “I’m twelve years old Jeff, I can be left alone.”
  Jeff then smiled and gave his little bro a gentle punch on the shoulder. “That’s my baby brother!”
  “Fuck you, I ain’t a baby.” Billy started swatting Jeff away from him.
  “Well I know you’re no longer a baby, but I do know that I am hungry.”
  Bill’s stomach then growled and he looked at Jeff.
  “Want pizza?”
  “Why not?” Billy said.
  Jeff and Billy ordered pizza from Freddy’s, since Jeff thought about the place constantly after the meeting, and because of how good it was. During their meal, they played some video games together till dad got home at 8 PM.
  “Hey boys,” Dad said. “You guys are still awake it seems.”
  “I mean, what else do we gotta do while you’re gone?” Jeff replied. He then remembered about the lock-in that was happening tomorrow. “Oh dad, I need to tell ya something.”
  “Really ain’t the best time right now buddy.” Dad said, hanging his coat.
  “It’s important,” Jeff explained. “You see; tomorrow the school has a lock-in for the kids apart of the haunted house program, so I don’t think I’ll be able to take care of Billy.”
  “Well it depends if Aunt Debrah can take care of him,” Dad said.

  “C’mon Dad, I'm tired of always taking care of him, and I'm pretty sure he is too.”
  “That’s true,” Billy said. “I’m twelve years old, can’t I be left alone for the night?”
  Dad rolled his eyes. “Fine, but if this doesn’t work out then you’re not allowed to do this again.”
  “Yes!” Jeff cheered. “High five bro.” Billy high fived Jeff and went back to their game.
  “Don’t stay up late you two, it’s a school night.”
  “Dad, you sound like a male Karen saying that.” Billy said.
  “Very funny,” Dad said and walked away.

  By the time school was over, Jeff and his friends rushed down to the cafeteria to be the first ones there. And to their luck, they were.

  “First ones here baby,” Carter said, and they did their Trio-Five. “All we gotta do is wait for Mrs. Henry and the others to arrive.”
  “So, what should we do?” Jeff asked.
  “Well I need to tell you guys something,” Max said.
  “Remember the abandoned Freddy’s location I talked about yesterday? Well I went there last night to do some investigating, and I found some interesting things.”
  “Like what?” Carter asked.
  “Bro, I ain’t saying shit, you gotta come see for yourself!”
  “Well we gotta tell Mrs. Henry if we’re leaving,” Jeff says.
  “I don’t think she’ll care if we’re gone for a bit,” Carter replied.
  “But she’ll think we gave up on the program,” Jeff added.

  After that, Mrs. Henry came into the cafeteria. “Hello boys,” she said to them.
  “Hey Mrs. Henry,” Max said. “My friends and I are going to leave the school for a bit, but we’ll come back soon.”
  “Sounds good,” Mrs. Henry replied. “Just don’t get into trouble.”
  The boys left the cafeteria and pushed past Alex on their way since he entered as they left. Jeff’s Trio went to the bike rake to get their bikes and go over to Max’s house.
  Max’s house was of course at the edge of town, so they had a long way to go. They got there after about thirty minutes of peddling, and Max’s father was home surprisingly.
  “Today’s his day off, so he’ll be here all day,” Max explained as they entered the house.

  “Max, I thought you were at school?” His dad asked, while watching a football game.
  “Well, you see, me and my friends needed to come back for some important things,” Max said. “So we’ll just be in the garage.” Max led Carter and Jeff into the garage, and the first thing they saw was a massive wagon with a small bag and a massive empty garbage bag in it.
  “Now as you can see, I’ve packed everything neatly into this small bag.” Max opened the back, and in it they could see water bottles, granola bars, and a crowbar.
  “Did you really need to pack it all into a bag?” Carter asked.
  “Tryna be organized,” Max replied and closed the bag. “Plus we’re bringing the wagon and garbage bag in case we find anything salvageable.”
  “Sounds good to me,” Jeff replied. “Now we gotta get going.”

  When the trio arrived at the abandoned pizzeria, they had to admit the place was pretty creepy. The exterior of it looked older than the time dinosaurs walked on this planet, and on top was a sign that at one point must have read “FREDDY FAZBEAR’S PIZZA” now read “F EDDY AZ AR’ Z A.”
  “So, this is it?” Jeff asked. “Looks old alright.”
  “No shit Sherlock,” Carter said while pulling the wagon. “Let’s get inside and see what they got.”
  “Gimme the crowbar then,” Jeff commanded. Carter opened the small bag, pulled out the crowbar, and
handed it to Jeff.
  Jeff approached the door and tried pushing the handle. “Locked,” he said. “Luckily we brought this bad boy.” Jeff unlocked the door using the crowbar, then kicked it down like he was a cop.

  The inside of the pizzeria had a bunch of old tables with upside down chairs on them, along with layers and layers of dust on them. Heck, the whole pizzeria was a desert made of dust. On the stage Jeff could see the three animatronics were no longer there. Maybe they’ve been moved? But why would they only move the animatronics but not anything else?
  “Guess there’s no animatronics here,” Max said.
  “Wait, we should check Pirates Cove,” Jeff commanded. “Just cause the main three aren’t here doesn’t mean Foxy isn’t.”
  The boys went to Pirates Cove, the place where Foxy should be, and the small stage in Pirates Cove was covered by a massive purple curtain.
  “You think he’s still there?” Carter asked.

  “I dunno,” Jeff replied, “but there’s only one way to find out.” Jeff tiptoed to the curtain and swung it open.