Flashback~

"Freddy please, you're wasting your time on that computer." The boy's mother nagged in a concerned tone. He rolled his eyes and continued to type away. He was trying to let to code "..." She stepped out and retrieved the older male. "Help me, he won't get off and I can't get through to him." The women stared off at the red haired boy who was currently searching for books on coding.

"Son, give me the computer." The father demanded.

His father was a white-collar worker who sold insurance for a living, which meant he was not all that he was constantly tired. His mother was a nurse at multiple elderly homes, and similarly exhausted after a day of work. They both were set in the old ways of children playing outside and computers being for emails. Freddy on the other hand saw computers as gateways to different worlds while his parents were too busy for him. He could message people halfway across the world, and watch videos from his favorite youtubers at the same time. He loved to cat fish random strangers and pretend to be different people, because he never wanted to be himself.

His parents glared at the back of the computer as he typed away. The father walked up and ripped the monitor away from the desk. "Go outside, now." His father demanded. Freddy looked up at him in shock, but ultimately sighed, and did as told. The other children didn't play well with him, so he just decided to take a walk. He ended up in the area of his grandmother's house, which was a whole district over from his house, when a boy was yelling at a girl. He had brown hair and was on the chubbier side, but all Freddy could notice was that the girl was being harassed.

"Who cares what you think? Your a bitch, and bitches dont know a thing. They belong in the kitchen." He started to push the girl and that angered Freddy. "Go make me a sandwich, bitch." Freddy's blood boiled. His parents may have been set in the old times, but they taught him to respect women like gods. Perhaps this was why he feared his mother when he was younger, though nowadays it was hard to care about anything when they didn't seem to care about him.

He marched over and shoved the kid. "Back off, asshole." He scolded as he turned to help the girl up. "You shouldn't disrespect a girl like that. What did she ever do to you?!" Freddy yelled. The girl smiled as she wiped away a tear, and stared at the boy.

"Who the are you!? And why are defending a girl? Are you one of them?" The boy teased as he dusted himself off.

"I-I am not a girl! I just don't see a reason in treating them so poorly when they did nothing wrong!" Freddy defended himself.

"Wow, sad. You're protecting some bitch instead of your own kind?" The boy protested as he inched closer.

"Stop calling me that!" The young girl finally yelled.

"Shut up, the men are talking." He spat out.

"My own kind? We're all human. I'm protecting someone who was getting harrased." Freddy started to clench his fists, the girl saw this and moved back.

"Listen scrub, unless you want to be beaten to a pulp, I would back off." He shoved him backwards, and this sent Freddy into a fit of rage.

"Bring it." Freddy yelled as he threw a punch. The boy wasn't expecting it, and fell to the ground while holding his nose. He quickly got down and held him in a way that prevented him from breaking free. "Now... What do you have to say her?" He shouted in his face, but it was laced with tease.

"Get off me!" Freddy wasn't pleased with his answer, and tighted him grip, now getting ready to keep hurting him. "Ok ok! I'm sorry! Please, I'm sorry!" he yelped as he started to cry.

"Good." Freddy let go and watched as the boy get up with tears in his eyes, and he ran away. He turned to the girl and smiled. "Im sorry you had to face such an ass, are you ok-." He said as he cleaned his pants.

"Oh... Thank you for saving me!" She exclaimed, jumping onto the unsuspecting boy. Hiseyes widened as he tried to compensate for the new weight. "He was made because I didn't move out of his way when he was riding his bike on my lawn." She let go and let Freddy regain his composure.

"What a dick... Well, no need to worry now. He won't be bothering you after that bloody nose." The two chuckled and silence fell over the two as they stared at each other. "I... forgot, I never caught your name." He began the conversation.

"Oh! I'm Juliet!" The girl smiled as she shook the boy's hand.

"Nice, I'm Freddy." He smiled and told her that he had just been out for a walk, and that his grandma lived in this culdesac. She was happy to know that he would potentially visit the area again. The two spent about an hour together before Freddy received a text from his parents to tell him dinner was cooking. They said their goodbyes, and Freddy walked home thinking about the girl, and why he's never seen her in school. He neglected to tell her that he doesn't visit his grandma often, but he hoped he would run into her later on in life.

Flashback end-

"Come on, (Y/n)!" Freddy chirped as he pulled me through the gate. I closed my eyes in fear, but once I saw something glowing I just had to open them. A dozen fireflies zoomed around the area like it was some sort of movie. "Isn't is beautiful?" Freddy asked as he looked at me. I finally looked towards him and saw that he had a huge goofy looking smile on his face. The bandages that were usually on his face were now gone and his hair glowed orange due to the bugs. I noticed a necklace that seemed to be glowing as well. I had wondered how he acted so innocent when he had just assulted me.

"...." I stayed silent, as this would have been a beautiful scene if I wasn't here with him. I turned my gaze towards everything around us. The bugs didnt seem to care that two trespassers were in their territory. "How... did you turn out like this?" I blurted out, and it came off nicer than I wanted it to. I coukd tell he was taken aback by the sudden comment as he loosened his grip.

"What do you mean, (Y/n)? Are you curious about my upbringing?" I didn't mean for him to iinterpret it as me being interested in him, but it would have been nice to know if something hit him in the head as a kid to make him so twisted.

"Yes." I simply said with a straight face, though I stared at the glowing bugs.

"Well... I was born here in Delaware, and lived with my mom and dad while they worked all day. I was left alone. They both were set in their old ways, often yelling at me cause I just sat on my computer all day. One day though, they told me to go outside... and when I did, I met Juliet." He paused and shuddered, and I assumed it was from the thought of the past. I was a little shocked to know that he too was connected to Juliet earlier on. "Then... my mom became ill. My father started to drink and do practically anything to help with the stress. Let's just say, it didnt work.... And neither did the treatment. My mother is no longer with us and my father.... Well, I haven't talked or seen him in 5-6 years. Ive been living with my grandma this whole time." I slowly began to realize that everyome in this place had some sort of history, but it didn't excuse them for how shitty they are being. He talked so fast when telling his story that I wondered if he had that ready to go. Though as I was lost in thought I realized he skipped out on how he met the group, which I found strange.

"Freddy.. how-" I was about to pry deeper when he gasped.

"Oh look at the time! The sun is about to rise. We should get back before the others think you're missing." he smiled and walked me towards the house. He continued to stare forwards and smile as we made our way into the home. I didn't dare try to wake one of the others or pull anything funny, as I was scared of Freddy's current mental state... and how far I could push him. He walked me down the stairs and hesitated to put the cuffs on. "I'm... sorry, we have to put you like this." He choked out as he continued to chain me. "We only fear you'll be clever enough to run away again. We don't want you to getting out now!" He ended on a cheerful tone. His smile held such sincerity that it took all my might not to laugh, how could he even think I would want to be here?

'I want to leave, you idiot.' I thought as I looked away.

"Dont worry, I'll get you out of here one day. With Juliet too. Good night (Y/n)." I peered over to see him gazing at me with longing eyes, and he walked away. 'All them clearly want to take me away, but am I really safer with just one? Would I have to escape one to regain my freedom?' My head hung as I heard the door close. 'I'll never get out of here.'

Flashback-

"Freddy...! C-co-me here into the kitch-en.!" The drunken man yelled as he took a swig of the liquor. The boy marched into the room and stood in the doorway.

"What is it?" He asked as he crossed his arms. He had learned not to entertain his father too much when he was like this.

"Its your mother. She's not gonna make it, and the bills are getting too much. I think I'm gonns pull the cord." The young boy's eyes widened as he dropped his arms.

"You're gonna what!?" He almost screamed. He had hoped it was just another drunk thought that slipped out.

"What'daya have cotton in yer ears? IM PULLING THE PLUG!" He yelled as he slammed his bottle down. The boy flinched and began to cry. "I-.. I don't wanna do this anymore." He whispered under his breath, but Freddy heard it and it pushed him over the edge.

"Please dad no! I'm sure the doctors can heal her! I-ill get the money-" He pleaded, tears falling from his eyes.

"No w-ay! How dar...e you shame me like that!" He yelled and made the young red-head flinch back. "It's not like she's getting any better... They're gonna just say they can't help her and hand us the bill. It'll be better for us all.." Freddy cried as he wasn't going to change his mind, but wasn't another drunken thought, he seemed deadset on pulling his mother's plug. He ran to his room and jumped onto the bed, letting the tears fall into the pillow. He knew he wouldn't be able to deal with the drunken father all alone, so he called his grandmother....

To be continued-

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(Edited)