Forever Mangled - NatePat

{Epilogue: Finally Free}

Matt's POV:

I stood up on the stage, Nate by my side as we listened to the Mayor of Oregon as he was finishing his speech to the crowd of people at the memorial. I felt my heart racing and sweat dripping down my back as I held my cue cards tightly in my hands.

"And without further ado," the mayor said, looking up from his speech. "Let's welcome the two people who made this day possible, the generous people who have gifted such a kind and meaningful memorial to remember those we have lost: Matthew Patrick and Nathan Smith."

The crowd clapped and some cheered as Nate and I made our way up to the podium. Nate took the mic in his hands to begin his prepared words.

"Thank you Mr. Mayor for that kind eulogy," Nate began, trying to be as formal as it was possible. "Before I begin my speech, I want to give a thank you to Mark Fischbach, Lewis Dawkins, Stephanie Patrick, Jason Parker, all of Theorist HQ, Hunter Hughes, Morgan Want, AJ and Peter from Random Encounters, and all of our fans for donating to this wonderful memorial. This all started with a game. "5 Nights at Freddy's." Who would have thought that its creator, Scott Cawthon, would choose to tell the story of these children whose lives were taken too soon. When Matt, myself and all of the other people who learned of the story of the infamous "Freddy Fazbear's", we were filled with sadness, anger and curiosity. I myself thought it was just a game concept, but Matt doing his research for his show Game Theory, told me how this was all too real. That was why I wanted to make my songs about this story so special and powerful just as Matt did with his theories. Besides Pokémon and Anime, no other genre has given me so much inspiration to create my music. I wanted to honor the children's legacy with music. But Matt was the one, out of the goodness of his warm heart, to come up with the idea to use our influence as creators and social media personalities to do some good for the families of the lost."

Nate stepped to the side to and turned the microphone to me. I took a deep breath and stepped up to begin my speech.

"I never thought this story would change my life so much," I began, thinking to myself just how much I'd really experienced since FNAF came into my life. "It sparked such eagerness for knowledge to further learn what exactly had happened those fateful days. I don't think Scott ever thought things would turn out like this, but all of us are very glad it did."

I took a breath once again to prepare myself for the more grim parts of my speech.

"It's scary to think how one man can alter so many lives with his actions." I said, trying to keep my composure as best I could. "William Afton, someone who was supposed to be a creator of joy and entertainment for a small pizzeria ruined all of that with his dark and evil desires. But I don't want to give him any more attention than he has already received. We're here today to talk about the children: Charlie Fawl, Brian Castor, Abigail Lesston, Marcus Hiltree, Jessica Lee, Mason and Jacob Mester...the names of the people we should have committed to memory by now. To the Fawl's, Castor's, Lesston's, Hiltree's and the Lee's, I cannot even begin to understand the pain that you all have gone through during this tremendously hard time. I only hope that what little myself, all of my friends, and everyone here today have done for you can offer even the slightest's of ease to your suffering."

I felt the tears pooling up in my eyes and I knew it wouldn't be long before I would be sobbing.

"But there is one family who could not be here today." I said, feeling the tears cascading down my cheeks as Nate wrapped his arm around me. "The Mester's, Mason, Jacob and their mother Aurora were the three victims that not many talked about. They didn't have a warm home to come to at night, rarely had food and clean water and had a difficult time just trying to survive. I want to tell you a bit more of their story using Mason's own words."

I pulled out a piece of paper that had been tucked into the spell book from Mason. Half was written before he died, and the other was after. I hope that people didn't view me as crazy after this... Mason deserves to be heard even in death.

"Dear Journal," I read to the crowd. "It has become very cold this week. Mother and I ran out of batteries for out mini heater yesterday so the tent is quite chilly. I'm wearing my winter coat but the holes in it are quite large by now. I'm going out tomorrow to try to get some food and water for us. I'll probably try near that pizza joint down the road again. They always throw away so many pizza and fry scraps. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll still be warm! Mother cries a lot these days. I don't want to see her so sad. I really hope I can get a lot of food for us tomorrow, maybe then she'll finally smile again. Until tomorrow Journal! Sincerely, Mason."

I wiped my tears as the deafening silence of the crowd held on to my every word.

"This was the last thing Mason wrote before he died." I said, trying to steady my breathing. "But something else was left behind on this paper. I don't care what God you pray to, wether you believe in ghosts or an afterlife... but on this paper, something else was found in Mason's own hand. He said, "Please don't cry for me, you'll only hurt your head and dry out your eyes. Please don't hold anger in your hearts, because holding a grudge is like drinking poison and expecting it to hurt someone else. Instead, cherish the good memories shared and laughs had and hold those tight. Remember us as those sweet and innocent children you hugged and kissed goodnight. We will always be with you wherever you are."

By this point there wasn't a dry eye in the crowd. No one doubted that these were Mason's words and that offered a great sense of relief in me. I looked up at the sky and instantly felt warmer and hopeful. Mason was definitely smiling down at us right now.

"Mason is right everyone." I said, drawing the crowd back in. "Remember those lost with fondness and joy so that you can hold them close to your heart."

I wiped my tears and stood up straight and grabbed the scissors. Nate and I took our places at either side of the giant marble statue of a shooting star.

"It's with great honor that we declare the "Sweet Dreams" memorial officially open!" I yelled while cutting the ribbon with Nate as the crowd cheered and clapped.

People began filing up to the stage to thank us and shake our hands. We met with each of the families and told them of the trust fund we set up for each of their families for security and any cost that needed to be covered for their lost children. Once things had settled down and the crowd went over to the courtyard for refreshments, Nate walked up to me and threw his arm around my shoulder again.

"Well buddy, we did it." Nate said hugging me close.

"Yes we did." I said as I reminisced to the all the moments of the last few months.

From the first encounter with Mason, the nightmare of his rage, the forgiveness and reuniting, seeing them all set free, to the moment where Nate and I had to explain to Stephanie where I had been all those weeks. We ended up saying that I'd flown back to Oregon to look for more clues on my own and got locked in the restaurant. Thankfully, Steph believed me, so that was a relief.

"Do you think he's proud of us Matt?" Nate asked, looking at me with slight worry in his eyes. "Did we do everything we said we would for him?"

I chuckled as I squeezed Nate close and looked towards the sky.

"Yes Nate," I said, a smile on my face as I led us to the courtyard. "I know he's proud. I can feel him here with us. He can finally rest now... at long last he is at peace. Mason and his family are finally free."

©Forever_In_A_Fantasy
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Hello Mystical Creatures!

The end!

Check next chapter for my final authors note and my thank you to you guys!

Stay 'Magical' my Mystical Creatures!

~ Elenora ~ Forever_In_A_Fantasy ~