The night shift was quiet. Too quiet.
The store lights dimmed automatically, bathing Aisle 3 in a dull glow as rain tapped against the windows outside. Nyx was nowhere to be seen—probably planning something illegal with a camera—and Vario was restocking chips with the dead eyes of someone who had already accepted fate.
Bella sat behind the counter with a tablet in her hands.
"I don't like this," she said.
Vario glanced over. "Then why are you playing it?"
Bella didn't look away from the screen. "Because Nyx said it was 'just a cute bear game.'"
On the tablet, the security office of Five Nights at Freddy's stared back at her. Grainy cameras. Flickering lights. A power meter that was already dropping faster than Bella's sanity.
A metallic sound echoed from the speakers.
Bella froze.
"…Did you hear that?"
Vario nodded slowly. "Yep. That's the sound of regret."
She checked the cameras. Empty halls. Stillness. Then—movement. A figure wasn't where it was before.
Bella's grip tightened. "WHY DID IT MOVE."
"Because it hates you," Vario replied calmly. "And because Nyx hates you."
Another sound. Closer this time.
Bella leaned back in her chair. "Okay. Okay. I'm calm. I'm fine. I've fought villains. I've survived kidnappings. I can handle—"
The power dipped into the red.
The screen flickered.
A distorted jingle played.
Bella screamed.
Not a short scream. Not a startled yelp. This was a full, soul-ripping, echo-through-the-store scream that made the fridges rattle and a shelf of instant noodles collapse.
The animatronic filled the screen.
Jumpscare.
The tablet slipped from her hands.
Bella slumped forward onto the counter, eyes wide, soul visibly leaving her body.
Vario stared.
"…She's gone."
At that exact moment, Nyx popped out from behind the soda fridge, camera raised. "AND THAT'S A WRAP! Five Nights at Bella's, episode one!"
Bella did not respond.
Garruk rushed over. "Is she injured?"
"No," Vario said. "Worse. She's spiritually dead."
Bella twitched. Slowly, mechanically, she lifted her head.
"…The bear," she whispered. "It looked at me."
Nyx was laughing so hard she had to sit down. "I told you it was scary!"
Bella pointed weakly at the tablet. "That game… took something from me."
Hadid Varro, passing by with a box of canned goods, glanced at the frozen screen. "Ah. Psychological horror. Effective."
Gallo crossed his arms. "In my world, that thing would not survive five seconds."
Bella slowly stood up, eyes hollow. "I am never touching horror games again."
The lights flickered.
Somewhere in the store, a jingle played—from a phone Nyx definitely didn't silence.
Bella screamed again.
And Aisle 3 learned an important lesson that night:
never let Bella play horror games.