Forever Mangled - NatePat

{Chapter 21: Meadow}

Matt's POV

I was back once again in the familiar blackness of my mind, only this time it was of my own free will. I felt more in control this time as my eyes began to adjust to this darkness.

"Hello?" I called out to the voice. "Jacob, are you there?"

"H-how do you know my name?" A voice asked, clearly nervous and afraid. "Who are you?"

"My name is Matt, you're brother has told me a lot about you Jacob." I said, trying to sound as soothing as I could. "He's been wanting to see you very much. He's misses you terribly."

"Then why didn't he pass on into the spirit world?" Jacob asked, clearly upset that Mason hadn't been waiting for him when he'd died. "When I saw the light, I found my grandmother but not Mason. Why wasn't he there?"

I tried to think of a way to explain this. I certainly wasn't going to tell Jacob what Mason did to us. Maybe I could tell him what he's said about his soul being to vengeful.

"Jacob," I began, choosing my words carefully. "Your brother's soul was... very hardened after what happened to him. He held too much anger and resentment in his heart and his soul wasn't considered content. This caused him to be a wandering spirit, a spirit that remains on earth in order to fulfill something that wasn't completed when the spirit was alive."

I could feel Jacob's presence growing closer in the void as I continued to explain.

"When you died, you accepted death willingly, knowing you would see your family again. You harbored no ill will. But Mason... well, he witnessed your murder and this only further corrupted his soul. He wanted to avenge you and he eventually did. He told me how he used his powers to lead the police to Mr. Afton's office, where they found the suit and murder weapon. But even after that... he still wasn't happy. He'd been angry for too long and he needed to calm down."

Suddenly there was a glowing light in the distance that began to grow closer and brighter. A flash of light occurred and I could see again.

I was in a green meadow with a shimmering blue lake surrounded by beautiful orchids and willow trees. The sun was shining and felt warm on my skin. There was a cool breeze ruffling my hair and the smell of lavender was in the air. At the edge of the lake was a big willow tree, much bigger than all the rest, and at the trunk sat a small boy with curly dark brown hair. He just staring out at the lake, deep in thought. I made my way over to him and sat down looking out upon the lake myself.

We both sat like this for a while, taking in the calming atmosphere. I wanted to make sure I gave Jacob all the time he needed to understand. About what felt like an hour later, Jacob turned to me and asked me what I knew was coming.

"How do you know my brother?" He asked, looking at me with his big green doe-like eyes. "How is it that you're here with me now? What happened?"

I took a deep breath and began to explain everything that happened... except, I spun our crazy tale in a bit of a different way.

"Jacob," I began, preparing myself for the very long explanation I was about to give. "I'm assuming that you know by now that you were the very last child who was killed by a man called William Afton."

Jacob nodded his head and urged me to continue.

"Because of how many children he killed," I said. "It caused a world wide epidemic and the news had it covered all over the United States. Everyone was searching for the killer that the media had labeled as "The Purple Guy" and wanted to see that these innocent children got justice. So naturally, once he was caught, the whole nation celebrated. However, they still felt very sorry for what had happened and wanted to find ways to remember the children who had died."