c\: even if it kills me again
"Jeremy's been gone a decade."
"But what if he can? What if it's possible?"
Born September 9th, 1972 to Mary and John Kronbach in Great Falls, Minnesota. As the oldest of two kids he's both stubborn and protective, the former by instinct and the latter by necessity. With John's violent outbursts and propensity to gamble away most of the family income, and Mary's neglect in response to Ricky acting as a "tomboy" from a young age, home life for the Kronbach siblings was less than stellar.
To catch a break, Ricky would get into his allowance and bike down to Freddy's with his little brother Jeremy in tow. It happened often enough that multiple servers and one of the owners' daughters knew them by name. But late one Friday in November of 1987, tragedy came rushing up to meet the Kronbachs when Jeremy, aided by the owner's daughter, requested to see one of the animatronics up close. No one exactly knows how the nine-year-old managed to get his head stuck between its jaws, triggering the springlock mechanism that killed him.
Following these events, John blamed Ricky for the death of his "only son" and unleashed a reign of terror on the teenager that would only end in further tragedy. When questioned about the events that took place during "The Christmas Massacre of '87", Ricky would claim to have been asleep during his parents' murder. At no point does he confide in anyone about the night terrors that lead up to the event--of the 7ft tall, striped marionette that led him towards the knife block on the kitchen counter.
The night terrors continue well into adulthood, even after his suspension from MSU's post-grad program for threatening multiple of his professors and picking fights with several classmates for unspecified reasons.
With a criminal record and infamy attached to the family name, Ricky is forced to seek professional help when no one would risk employing him.
In the Spring of 1996, Ricky meets with career counselor Steve Raglan, who offers him a job as an overnight security guard. Ricky turns down the opportunity and upon exiting the office, a magenta Chevrolet triggers an untraceable sense of unease. Disconcerted that he can't pinpoint where he's seen it before, Ricky decides it's high time he skip town and starts over, as far away from his past as possible.
Strangely enough, a year later in a Denny's out in the Middle of Nowhere, Colorado, he comes across the same car, the same career counselor, and Ricky is now certain "Steve Raglan" isn't who he claims to be.
"Steve Raglan" knows the name Kronbach, knows about Ricky's past and his impressive academic record, so he makes him one more offer the young man can't possibly refuse: if Ricky helps him finish an old project him and his old business partner set out to create in the '80s, then "Steve" can bring Ricky's brother back from the dead.
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