Chapter Text
Matthew sighed, squinting his eyes as he felt the dull pulse of a headache forming. He stretched, causing his back to crack multiple times. As he looked back down at his notepad, he scanned through all the almost-unintelligible notes he had taken on this case. It seemed almost surreal to even be thinking about this again, especially tonight.
~ 20 years ago today…
“Matt, look at this! It’s a fossil!” Jeremy cried out, waving the mentioned child over. In all their 6-year-old brains, fossils were like finding diamonds.
“Why would there be fossils outside of Fredbear’s? It's the most boring place ever!” Cassidy groaned, sulking and picking at the ground. She had recently lost a game of Go Fish against Gabriel and Susie.
“Fredbear’s wasn’t around when these would have been made,” Matthew said, inspecting the rock he had snatched from Jeremy’s hand, “also, this is actually just a regular rock. It has marks from the dirt.”
“Nerd!” Fritz cried out, his arm halfway in the hole the group had dug.
“Hey, where’s Stephanie?” Susie inquired, glancing around.
“She should be here soon, maybe I’ll go look for her?” Gabriel suggested, but as he finished the sentence, the aforementioned appeared around the corner.
“Hey guys!” She waved, picking up her pace slightly.
“Steph!” Cassidy waved back, hugging her as soon as they met.
“Hi Stephanie!” Gabriel smiled, and Steph returned it.
After all the greeting was done, the group went inside the pizzeria, where their guardians - Matthew’s parents - were waiting.
An hour passed.
“Jeremy.” Susie whispered towards his ear.
“What, Susie?” He whispered back.
“Look at the yellow bunny over there.”
“He’s so cool.” Susie agreed, and the rabbit made its way over to the group. One by one, 5 of the 7 children followed the rabbit, leaving Matt and Steph.
“I don’t trust that guy…” Steph said as the parents went to collect more pizza.
“Should we check on them?” Matt suggested, and the other nodded. Holding hands, they trekked to the back room their friends had been taken to.
Muffled screams and laughter came from the other side of the door.
“Maybe they’re having a fun party?” Matt said, but Stephanie stayed quiet. And then she pulled him behind a large box. The yellow rabbit stepped out, and walked into the storage room.
“Let’s go in.” Matthew quickly grabbed Steph’s hand, and dashed into the room.
~ Present…
Matt remembered it all too vividly. The red stains coating the porcelain walls, the suits lined with blood, detached skin and even organs. He remembered Steph throwing up, and shortly after, him getting slashed in the back. Phantom pains shivered across his back, and he damn near slammed his head against the desk out of fright.
*Knock knock*
“Matthew?” Steph’s voice caught Matt’s attention, and he turned to face the doorway.
“Hi, Steph. How was the meeting?” He smiled.
“Boring as ever,” she walked over, and sat in the chair next to her husband, “I take it research isn’t going too well?”
“Not when all you can think about is the stuff you went through at the place you’re trying to investigate.” Matt sighed, and Steph nodded.
“Come with me for a sec?” Steph asked, and Matthew nodded.
She took his hand and pulled him out of the dark room, into the kitchen, decorated with old maps, newspaper cut outs and printed out articles about the mysteries surrounding Fredbear’s and Freddy’s.
“I hope you want fruit.” Steph smiled,and Matthew couldn’t help but smile back. He stood back and watched as his wife pulled out a fruit tray from the fridge, and ‘oohed’ in excitement the moment he saw the fruit dip in the centre. (sorry quick a/n ik it ruins immersion but the dip in fruit trays is so good like god damn 😋 anyways)
“You know me so well, I was just thinking of eating some nice honeydew melon!” Matt said, resting his hand on Steph’s back and followed beside her as she walked to the living room couch.
“You know it! I could tell you needed a break, anyways.” She chuckled, setting the tray down on the coffee table, swiftly opening it and popping a grape into her mouth.
“Yeah…” Matthew muttered, grabbing a piece of honeydew and dipping it into the fruit dip, narrowly avoiding the hem of his sleeve dipping into it.
“What did you find, if anything? Maybe I could help?” Steph suggested, leaning on Matt’s shoulder.
“Nothing new. I’ve been going mad trying to make out anything secret from literally everything.” He bit into the green fruit, and Steph hummed.
“Not too rare from you.” Matthew lightly slapped her shoulder, and they both shared tired laughs.
“Speaking of going mad, though,” Steph jokingly sighed, mumbling ‘What this time?’
“I think we should, uh, go to Freddy’s.” Matthew trailed off near the end, and Steph almost choked on her pineapple.
“Matthew, are you serious? Last time we went anywhere resembling Freddy's, our friends died, and you got a free hospital trip!”
“Yes, I know, but we can be extra safe this time, and for all we know, the killer is safely locked up! Plus, that place has been abandoned for years. Why would anyone go there again?”
“Yeah, why would we?” Steph stole Matt’s half-eaten watermelon.
“Hey! Okay, look. In all honesty, I've… went back a few times. When you were busy,” Steph tried to retaliate, but Matthew stopped her, “You can be mad at me all you want, but please, please, listen to me. I found crucial parts of the killer’s plan. He seemed to have been stupid enough to leave some papers lying around.”
Steph stayed silent for a few moments, staring into Matt’s eyes, searching for any trace of uncertainty. When she found nothing, she sighed.
“Okay. I’ll hear you out.” Matthew’s face lit up, and he stood up.
“I’ll be right back.” And as Steph watched her husband leave the room, her mind wandered back to the fact he’d been visiting Freddy’s. Why wouldn't he tell me? Now that she thought about it, Matt hadn't worn a t-shirt in ages, he’d always have something covering it. Did he get hurt? Oh god, what happened?
She took another grape, mindlessly taking miniscule bites as she waited with bated breaths for Matt to return.
Two minutes later, Matthew returned with a decently large pile of papers.
“Sorry that it took so long…” He muttered, sitting back next to Stephanie, and sighed.
“This man is a psychopath. His name is William Afton.” He murmured, and started explaining.
-
“So… he's using souls to keep him alive forever?” Steph asked, appalled.
“That could just be the start of it.” Matt responded, fidgeting with the end of the string on his sweater. Stephanie immediately noticed, and a pang of hurt washed through her heart.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She whispered, just loud enough for her husband to hear her.
“I-” he hesitated, glancing at and away from Steph.
“Please, why didn’t you tell me? You could've- gotten hurt, or-”
“I didn’t-...” The room went silent, occasionally broken by sniffles.
“I- I’ll go put these back.” Matt whispered, and cautiously stood up. Steph hastily stood up after him, taking the papers and setting them down.
“W-what are you doing-” Matthew didn’t get to finish, as he was enveloped in a tight hug.
“I just- I need you to be okay. Please.” Stephanie cried, holding onto Matt for dear life.
“I’m okay. I promise.” He whispered back, holding her tight.
“Why do you never wear T-shirts then?” Steph asked, half stepping back. Matthew hesitated for a moment. Stephanie knew, and he knew it. He sighed, raising his hands defensively.
“Okay, you caught me.”
“May I look at them? If they’re recent?” She asked, taking his hand in hers.
“Oh, y-you don’t need to.” He decidedly avoided eye contact, raising Steph’s suspicion.
“Matthew… please.” She pleaded, and waited as Matt inhaled sharply, his eyes glued to hers anxiously. She could tell he was fighting himself internally.
“Okay,” he spoke after a long moment’s silence, “okay.”
Stephanie sighed in relief, and led her husband to the kitchen sink, and flicked on the light.
After caring for the wounds, the couple returned to the living room couch, and continued snacking on the fruit tray.
“I’m sorry, Steph.” Matthew spoke, breaking the silence.
“...I wish you would’ve told me.” Steph said, leaning on Matt’s shoulder.
“I know. I won’t keep anything from you again, I promise.” Matt sighed, leaning back onto the couch.
“I love you.” Steph exhaled, wrapping her arms around Matthew’s torso. Their eyes grew heavy, and they were both two seconds from falling asleep.
“I love you too.” Matt whispered, shifting a bit so that they would both be slightly more comfortable. The slight humming of the fridge lulled the couple to sleep slowly, wrapped in the comfort of each other.
~~~~~~~
The fresh air of an empty forest woke Stephanie with a jolt. All the trees were ashy grey, and the sky almost didn’t feel real. Leaves rimmed the trunks of the trees, and twigs were strewn around the ground, almost primed to be snapped, like in a scene from horror movies. Only the jostling of living trees could be heard, otherwise, the landscape was silent. The smell of decaying wood made Steph’s head spin, and the cold pricking at her skin weakened her will to stand. In a flash, a dark figure appeared in the distance, bringing the feeling of hundreds of eyes watching her. Multiple others started to appear, and soon morphed into her childhood friends. Gabriel. Jeremy, Susie, Fritz, and Cassidy slowly trekked towards her. Their faces were contorted, and they walked as if their limbs were lead. Steph’s heart rate increased as time went on, and she started to slowly step backwards, away from the approaching figures.
A familiar scream rang out in the distance, making her nearly trip over a twig. Her mind was set to flight mode, and so she ran. She ran towards the scream, hoping it’d be enough to save herself and Matthew. Usually, she wasn’t one for running, more for jogging, but by some miracle, her body gave her the energy to run faster than ever. As she nearly slammed into passing trees, Matt screamed again, this time, it increased in volume. Steph was close, and she knew it. Proof came in the form of her husband kneeled on the forest floor, clutching his left arm.
“Matthew!” She shouted, her legs starting to fail. She panted for breath, and watched as Matthew turned to her.
“S-steph-!” He choked, fully sitting down. Stephanie, as soon as she arrived, sat next to him. Now that she wasn’t running for dear life, she took note of his dishevelled t-shirt. His back was slashed open, reminiscent of that night, 20 years ago. His arm was gushing blood, and scars from being electrocuted ran up his left arm.
“M-matthew, what happened?” She gasped, watching his eyes well up with tears.
“Afton-” He barely managed to get out, before being grabbed by yet another dark figure. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who this was, because his rabbit ears oozed with some dark goo, and he held a knife to Matt’s throat. His eyes were visible through the suit, piercing through Steph’s soul. They glowed white, in contrast to the otherwise dark setting. Paralysed by fear, she couldn’t do anything but watch as the goo dripped onto her husband, slowly rolling down his face and seeping into his clothes.
Time seemed to freeze as Matthew held eye contact with Stephanie. Afton’s whole figure was shaking from laughter, surely cruel, but the ringing in her ears prevented her from hearing it. Matt’s gaze drifted to behind her, and his eyes widened. Hands fell onto her shoulders from behind, and she tensed immediately.
“Stephanie.” A wispy voice spoke, the words almost feeling like smoke entering her ears.
“Come find us.” Another, deeper voice whispered, and the hands’ grip tightened on her shoulders. Afton stopped laughing suddenly, and lifted the knife away from Matthew’s neck momentarily, and a brief wave of relief washed over her, before hands covered her eyes. As she lost her vision, she heard splatting, and Matt screaming, but just before losing hearing, she heard him yell, “We can do this together!”
-
Stephanie’s eyes snapped open. Her heart racing, her body temperature quite high. It wasn’t an unwelcome surprise - she was always cold, after all - but considering the circumstances, it wasn’t too shocking. She took a deep breath, finally taking in her surroundings. She blushed as she realised she was on top of Matthew, and she took some deep breaths. It took a minute, but her heart finally returned to a normal pace, and she seemed to be calm. Deciding she didn't fancy going back to sleep in fear of living through that again, she carefully got up and headed to the kitchen to fix herself some tea.
~~~~~~~
The ‘Welcome To Freddy’s!’ sign crashed onto the ground, snapping Matthew to attention. He heaved breaths (that barely felt like his own) as he stared at the run-down building, dreading what was inside.
“I can’t go in there again,” he muttered, “not without Steph.” He tried to turn away, but couldn’t. He was denied access to any control.
“F–” He bit back a swear. He’s better than that. Suddenly, he started walking. He could only watch as he entered the building, and the scenery changed. He was no longer in society, instead he found himself in a dark forest.
As he walked, Matthew realised he wasn't himself in this dream. He looked down at his hands to find them pure black, dripping goo and leaving a trail. In his left, he held a knife, stained with the black goo.
Distantly, he heard someone scream. He looked up, to see himself, kneeling on the ground, the back of his T-shirt ripped open and blood seeping into it. The body he was in made another move, swiping at his left arm, the slash causing wounds in the shape they’d be if he were to have been electrocuted. As the body he was in seemed to melt into a puddle, he heard fast footsteps approach, and he attempted to watch as Stephanie ran beside the real Matt. They called out for each other, and Steph practically crashed beside him. He could feel the body he was trapped in writhe in anger, and in the span of no less than 2 seconds, he was completely reformed, holding a knife to his own neck, staring into Steph’s eyes.
“Don’t you hurt her!” Matthew tried to yell, fighting against the unmovable force of the body he was stuck in, but to no avail. He watched as blurry spirits approached Steph, one putting their hands on her shoulders, forcing her to watch - before they covered her eyes - as he beheaded himself. His own blood splattered everywhere, coating his clothes, yet not affecting the goo rabbit he was seeing this from, covering the spirits.
“Matthew.” One of them whispered, and he was thrown to the side. As he reoriented himself, he caught a glimpse of the rabbit, and came to the long awaited realisation that it was Afton. He noticed Stephanie was nowhere to be seen, and he was pretty much alone with the spirits.
“Matthew, find us.” Another whispered, and the scenery changed.
He was deeper in the forest at this point, as he gasped for breath like he just ran a marathon. Birds could be heard faintly, and the rustling of leaves took a fraction of the nerve off, but was quickly returned tenfold by rushing footsteps circling around him. It was like being stuck in the eye of the storm, him and a spirit dressed in oddly familiar clothes. They had a white-ish brown cat mask on, providing light in the dark woods.
“Come find us.” Was chanted all around him, and he laser-focused on the spirit approaching him.
“Matthew,” he recognised the voice - no, it couldn’t be, “why didn’t you save me?” A hand rested on Matt’s shoulder. Her hand.
“It’s never too late. You and I,” the world flickered into a familiar recording room, “we can do this. Together.” She took his other hand, and her white eyes behind the mask stared into his.
“You’re making the right call.”
-
Matthew immediately startled awake, desperately panting for air, as if he’d been strangled. His heart racing, his hands trembling, he sat up on the couch, hoping to calm himself down. Paranoia shook his frame, and he took haltering breaths. An array of noises startled Matt, and he instinctively curled in on himself. In his opinion, he was acting quite erratic compared to previous experiences like this.
“Matthew?” Stephanie could feel the tension in her bones as she walked towards the couch, careful not to spill her tea.
“Stephanie,” He exhaled as he lifted his head from his knees.
“Yes? What’s- What’s wrong?” She worried, sitting next to him.
“We need to go to Freddy’s.”