John didn’t want to answer the door. It was Charlie, but he didn’t want to talk to her.
After what happened at Jen’s house, he never wanted to see Charlie, this new Charlie.
“John!” she said from the other side or the door. “John, please open the door!”
Rain poured outside. He felt bad for Charlie.
He sighed and got up. He turned the door knob, letting Charlie into the apartment.
“John, I’m sorry for coming in so suddenly.” She looked older, like the fake Charlie, but her eyes looked more like Charlie’s eyes. She was more… developed, sexier.
Why did Henry build this? This was his daughter!
John kept reminding himself that she was five at most. A five year old girl possessing a robot version of his girlfriend. Yet he couldn’t help but blush.
“It seems a little cold,” she pulled her collar. “Maybe you could… warm me up.”
She’s five. She’s five! SHE’S FIVE!
Charlie put her hands on his shoulders and leaned closer. She bit her lip. “What do you say John? I’m older, more mature.”
She’s five at most, possibly three! Do not do it John!
Charlie pulled his jacket off. “John?”
John put a hand on her face and pushed her away. “I want to break up.”
“Break up?” she asked.
“Charlie… I just can’t be sure if you're the real Charlie.”
“Of course I’m the real Charlie! What would make you think I’m not?”
“I just… for freaks sake! You’re a three year old girl!”
Charlie sighed. “Is it because you think I’m too much trouble?”
“No. It’s because you are a DEAD CHILD!”
“Let me guess, there's another girl.”
“No, it’s not that-”
“Is it Rachael from the diner down the road?”
“Well, yes I would love to go out with her, but that’s not why I’m breaking up with you.”
“Then why?”
“Because I don’t want to be a fucking pedophile!”
Charlie stepped back. “Right, the ghost thing…”
“You can stay, just sleep on the couch.”
John and Jessica walked down the sidewalk. “So you’re moving back to Concord?” she asked.
“Yeah, Rachael has a family member who wants us to move in.”
Rachael was a waitress in the Hurricane Diner. She had blonde hair, emerald green eyes and light skin. John loved her, but he also wanted to be with Charlie. But, Charlie was a kid. And he didn’t want to be with this little girl.
But she’s matured since then, right? John didn’t know.
Either way, he and his new girlfriend would be in New Hampshire within the month.
“What about you?” John asked Jessica.
“I’m going on a date in Salt Lake City, might end up moving there if it works out.”
“How’s college?”
“Failing. I need to pay tuition, but I can’t afford it. And there’s rent. I just need some financial help.”
“Yeah. All our lives are falling apart.”
“Have you checked on Marla and Carlton yet?”
John sighed. “I should.”
“Marla and Jason’s parents are in the middle of a divorce. Lamar has been... ‘distracting her.’” She put up air quotes around distracting her.
“Sex?”
“Sex.”
John smiled. “At least two of us have a functional relationship.”
The pair turned a corner. They passed the abandoned Circus Baby’s.
“What about Clay?” John asked.
“No idea,” Jessica responded.
The pair focused on a man sitting in front of the pizzeria. He looked homeless. He wore a black hoodie, dark purple ripped jeans and black rain boots. He had a cigarette in his mouth, an empty alcohol bottle next to him. He had a purple cap in front of him, with a couple dollars in it.
John threw a couple of spare dollars into the hat. Jessica followed, kneeling down and putting a ten dollar bill in the hat.
“Dave!” Jessica asked. The man looked up.
The man had pale skin, his face was covered in scars. He had dark blue eyes and brown hair falling over his face. He looked a lot like Dave, William Afton.
“I don’t know any Daves,” the man said. He sounded like Afton.
“William…”
“Wrong again,” the man threw the cigarette to the ground. “He was my father.”
John could see that. He looked slightly younger than Afton, yet more traumatized. And also, somewhat not there.
“Your father?” Jessica asked.
“My name is Michael. I am William Afton’s son. I’m no happier than you are.”
“Michael?” John asked. “Like Michael Brooks.”
Michael pressed his head against the wall behind him. “In my hometown, I’m Michael Afton, the son of a serial killer. I’m a traumatised man. People worry about me, but none of them can help. But here? I’m Michael? Like Michael Brooks? I don’t know that dude.”
John felt bad for him. He was a serial killer’s son. How horrible had William treated him?
“Just take back your money,” Michael said. He held up the hat.
Jessica pushed it back. She pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something on it. “If you need to talk to someone, here’s my number.”
She continued down the street, with John on her tail.
“You gave a random homeless man, nay Dave’s son, your number!”
“What? There’s enough differences for Dave to be an evil little rat man and him to be hot.”
“You’re insane,” John siad. He looked back. Michael had disappeared, leaving only his cigarette and an empty bottle of alcohol.