A state of FEAR : Escape The Night Fanfiction

Matt

"Matt, if you just-"

"No! You come here, to my home, at this time in the morning, and for what? It's bad enough you're asking me to come on this suicide mission, but Stephanie too?!"

Matt was livid.

He was still mourning and suffering from that awful night and in waltzes Joey and Nikita trying to convince him that they can 'save' their friends. The friends they lost.

"Matt, you need to hear us out."

"I became a Dad a month ago... my little theorist... what will he be told if his mom and dad end up dying, huh? What will you tell our son, Joey? We can't just leave him..."

Stephanie was stood in shock at this all. She'd seen Matt cry multiple times before but... he looked to broken in front of her. And all she could do was rub his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him.

"Are you sure you need our help?"

"Please Steph... if you guys help us then we can convince the others to help too! We might be able to bring everyone back."

"The others? There are other people who survived being stuck in your mess, Joey? Is this why so many YouTubers have gone missing?"

The pain of that night was flooding back to Matt. Fear. Fear of the memories.

He was shaking now, his nightmares were leaking into reality. And it was only getting worse. Barely audible mumbles of "Ro" and heavy breathing followed. He didn't even realise that Steph had moved him into the couch till he felt her lie him down on her lap, whispering words of comfort.

Joey and Nikita starred in confusion. Of all of them, Matt, the fearless, inspirational detective, was in a broken pile, on soothed by his wife's valiant efforts to calm him.

Stephanie had become somewhat of an icon after the events of the summer. The moment it was confirmed that Matt, along everyone else on that list, was missing, she began searching and raising awareness. Anything and everything from her own personal investigations against the orders of the police to live-streams to raise money for the searches for the missing YouTubers, money that was later used to provide for small funerals despite the lack of bodies.

"I can help, even if Matt can't. Someone has to stay and watch Ollie after all, we can't just push our newborn on his grandparents all of a sudden..."

All that Matt could do was grip his wife tighter, as if she was going to be lost just as easily as he had lost Ro that night. The anxiety developed by the theorist was deeply rooted in him and it took him almost five or six minutes of silence to calm down enough to comprehend what Steph had said in a reasonable manor. Her had was rubbing circles on his back as his breathing stilled and Nikita spoke up, for what might have been the first time of the morning, as far as Matt knew, he wasn't quite sure.

"You don't have to come and help us, I know how you feel Matt, really I do. I lost Manny that night and for weeks after, I was trying to come to terms with what happened. But I know that if I was Ro, I'd want you to be the first face she saw when she comes back."

The emphasis on the word 'when', it made Matt's heart flutter in a way that it hadn't done since Ollie had first laughed, trying to cheer his sad Daddy up. He took a deep breath before looking to Stephanie. There was a sparkle in his eyes. Something that had been lost since he came back. She smiled softly before taking her phone out of her pocket. She began typing and the sound of a text being sent filled the silent room before Steph got up and headed straight up the stairs. Joey looked from Nikita to Matt, slightly confused at first, though his confusion turned to relief when Stephanie returned with a familiar badge and pair of sunglasses. She pinned the badge to Matt's pyjama shirt but stuck the sunglasses on top of her head. Joey grinned.

"Welcome to the team, Stephanie Patrick. Now, there are four other people whose help would be appreciated if we can get it."

Steph blinked for a second before nodding. She knew who Joey was talking about, they had been talking to her since she began her campaigns.

"I'll get them on board."

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Ro was lying on a coach, one of many in the mansion that they were stuck in. She had one eye closed and the other open, lost in thought but on the same time, on the constant look out. Manny sat across from her in a similar manner. He smiled at the Jet Setter and she returned the gesture to the Record Producer.

"Hey Ro?"

"Hmm?"

"If they manage to revive us for this purgatory, let's have a party. You can bake the cake, and I'll bring the glitter to decorate."

Ro couldn't hold on her laughter. Despite the weight of the situation, Manny was still making her and everyone else cheer up with his personality and smile. He was right though. She had faith in Matt and the others. When they got back, they're going to get back, she'd bake the best cake she'd ever baked and she would gladly let Manny decorate it with edible glitter.

"Yeah. Let's do that."

The bonding moment between the pair didn't last long as Gabbie came charging into the room, looking distressed.

"Upstairs, now! Arthur's goons are getting inside."