Winding Away

Hope

There were two funerals held after the fire, but Nate felt that there should have been three. It wasn't fair that Matt was still alive. Two people had died for nothing and all Matt got was life in prison. It made Nate sick.

Though buried beneath the anger, there was sadness. Not just the sadness of the deaths. The sadness of what bad become of the Matthew Patrick Nate had once known. He remembered the funny video him and Matt had done on The Completionist's channel about FNaF 4 and the hilarious live stream he'd done with Matt on GTLive where the two played Smash and done a Chubby Bunny Sing Challenge. Matt had been such a sweet, funny, smart guy. He'd loved video games. He'd had a wife who he loved immensely. But then Nate had created a monster.

No.

Nate knew he shouldn't blame himself. None of this was his fault. And if he kept thinking like this he'd turn himself into a reincarnation of Natemare just as Matt had become Antimatter, or MadPat, or whatever the heck his name was.

Nate got off his couch. His heart was filled with sorrow, although he'd acted cool and confident when Matt had called him from jail, but he still had to look for a job, still had to pay that bill he'd received. The bill that was the reason he'd gone back to that haunted restaurant. The bill that seemed to have caused Brett and AJ's deaths. On the bright side, Mark had been declared innocent after the police had watched what was left of the restaurant's surveillance footage.

Nate pushed away all thoughts of the events that had happened ever since that dreadful day Mare had taken over. He needed to focus. Despite his efforts to find a job without thinking depressing thoughts, he couldn't help but remember Brett's funeral. Stop, he told himself as his eyes scanned the newspaper in his hands. Stop. Stop. Stop.

Mark could die.

You could die.

Mark could die.

The closest friend you have right now.

Nate didn't realize he was crying until he saw tears hit the newspaper, soaking its pages ever so slightly. He wiped his face on his sleeve. I was so calm earlier. I acted like I didn't care about anything. I was just that awesome, funny guy. Now look at me. I wasn't like this. Not even when Mark had a knife to Freddy's throat. Not even when Matt came out of the wall. In fact, I think the only time I lost my cool was when Springtrap attacked me. So why now? Nate sniffled. He felt miserable. I'm a mess. Though he supposed he had a right to be.

With a sigh, Nate left his apartment. As he stepped out into the still night, he felt instantly better. The night air soothed him and the silence felt less threatening than all of the noise that had been bombarding Nate the past week. Talking, screaming, the crackling of flames. Now there was finally silence. It was odd for a place like LA, but Nate didn't worry about it. He was just glad it was quiet.

What if I'm just too far in my own mind? What if I'm just super good at tuning out the noise because of it? What if I'm losing my mind?

Nate's strange sense of calm was shattered as thoughts of the week's events hammered into his mind. It filled him with questions. Would Matt escape? What would happen if he did? Was anyone safe? How was Mark doing? How were the animatronics doing? How would everyone be doing if Matt escaped? Nate sighed a long sigh that seemed as if it were a manifestation of his fears.

All he could do was hope Matt wouldn't escape.

A/N: Wow, this was fun! If you didn't know, this is the last chapter! I know nothing really happened in it but... I got nothing. I don't have an excuse other than I was bored and had writer's block.

Thanks for reading!