Chapter 1

Allie was alone.

She had always been, ever since that day, a few years ago, when her brother had disappeared. She always thought of him when she went to work, when she came home... She was tormented by her memories of his bright blue eyes, his kind smile, his understanding, easygoing nature. It was 9:00 PM, on a late November day, that she finally decided to find out what happened to him. It had been three years- or was it four?- since he'd disappeared after finishing his shift at a Freddy's restaurant. Nobody knew where he'd gone, and only his family and friends even cared. Which is unfair, Allie thought as she dug around in her drawer for her car keys. She'd only gotten her driver's licence a couple months ago, and already she was having trouble finding her keys. ''But that's why I'm looking for him, isn't it? It's not fair that we had to lose him. It could've been anybody. Why him?''

She thought about this as she climbed into her car, a red minivan. She had always thought it was pretty ugly, but she used it to go everywhere anyway. She pulled out of her driveway, accidentally bumping into the curb. She didn't care, though. She drove down the dark road, the trees thickening as she drove along, lurching out and grasping for her. If he were here, he'd probably just make a joke about the trees being alive, Allie thought. He always acted like that, poking fun at how scared she was. She kind of enjoyed it too, but she never told him that. She pulled up at a restaurant, some crappy rip-off of Freddy's, and walked inside. "Excuse me?", she asked the man at the counter. "Do you know the way to get to the old Freddy's? I know it's somewhere around here." "Uhh...", the man mumbled. "Don't think we're s'posta share that with th' customers. Y'know, buiseness thing an' all." "Please. I need to know," Allie was crying now, just a bit, but she didn't notice. "Please. Please tell me." "Well, alright, but don't go tellin' th' boss, 'kay?", the man responded. "There's a back alley, by th' side o' th' buildin', see, and follow that down a ways, you should get there. Why y'd want t' go, I don' know, but there y' have it." "Thank you," she said, and she dumped a dollar and seventy-five cents on the counter in front of him. I'm going to go find him.

Jason was alone.

He always had been, ever since that day, a few years ago, when his father didn't come back from his work at Freddy's one night. He was one of the two founders, but almost nobody was left who even cared. Michael, Randy, and Elizabeth were all gone. Before them, it had been Jason's mother. One after another, they had all disappeared. Almost nobody was left who even cared. Henry, the other founder, certainly didn't. His only response to the disappearance was to seal up the company saferooms, whatever that meant. It was 9:00 PM, on a late November day, when he decided to go look for his family. It had been three years- or was it four?- since his dad had disappeared, and he didn't even remember Randy that well. Michael was hazy, too. He climbed in his car, thinking, ''Why did this happen to me? Where did they all go?''

He drove down the narrowing road, the trees lurching out and grasping for him. Some days, he felt like just giving up, letting them grab him and pull him in. But not today. I can't give up now, He thought stubbornly. ''Not when I could find them, so near... ''He drove up to the alleyway, dark and full of cobwebs as always. As he accidentally rammed the wall, he cursed. Oh well, he thought. ''No time to worry about that now. I'm going to find them.''