GTLive Oneshots

Nightmares

The clock reads 2:07 am.

God, he hates horror games. As much as he loves entertaining dedicated theorists, he really despises being scared over and over again by children and deer and more children.
Children are scarier than people think they are, Matthew thinks as he sits up aggressively from a nightmare, sweating beads and eyes wide as dinner plates. He puts a hand to his heaving chest and feels his heartbeat going at previously inconceivable rates.
He tries to take in his surroundings. Well he's certainly not in his bedroom. That's not his wife, is it?
No, just a pillow.
Or a demon pretending to be a-
He stops that train of thought right then and there. It's bad enough without his mind jumping to conclusions. Maybe he should get upstairs.
Yeah, that'll help.
•••
No.
This was not helpful.
Not at all.
In fact, this was even more terrifying than waking up on the sofa while dripping with sweat with no idea why or how.
The stairs creak menacingly as he ascends and a single light is on in the hallway. Just have to reach that light, maybe. Then he might be safe enough to make it through the night. He'll sleep on the floor outside his room if he has to. Hell, he'll sleep in the bathtub. With the lights on.
He flinches when he feels something on the steps, stifling a scream. His mind jumps to the conclusion that it must be a monster with too many teeth, viscous saliva dripping from it's forked tongue, angry that he's woken it u-
No, that's just the cat.
Same thing, he thinks to himself, leaning down to give him a quick pat on the head.
He jolts again. He forgets that cats have fur and now he feels rightfully like an idiot.
He keeps climbing, eyes darting all over the place. He just has to make it to the top of the steps.
•••
He's catching his breath in the bathroom, standing in front of the mirror with his hair all mussed up and his glasses askew. And yes, his glasses, because you're not supposed to wear contacts to bed, right? He has to double check that he doesn't have them on.
He has to look away from the mirror now because he's scared his reflection will grow claws and wings and will reach out to g-
The door to his bedroom slams and he leaps behind the shower curtain in a panic.
The footsteps draw nearer, dull thuds outside the bathroom door and he's praying to God that he makes it out alive because he has a wife and a cat and employees and thousands of people who look up to him. His hands are shaking and he curses as he retreats deeper into the tub and he tries to go even further down but it's hopeless and as the handle turns he accepts his fate and he's going to die in the bathtub and Stephanie will get up in the morning and find his body and-
Well speak of the devil.
Stephanie enters the bathroom with her wide eyes and her trembling hands clutching a baseball bat way too tightly and he has to physically restrain himself from bursting out into laughter because oh my god she's terrified and he's never seen her in such a defensive state in his life.
He crouches and gets ready to jump out at her.
•••
He holds her tight to his chest which is shaking with laughter while she cries.
"Matthew!!!"
"Yes, darling?" He snickers.
"You can't ever do that to me again!!" She smacks him on the arm and he kisses her on the forehead.
"I said I was sorry. I didn't know you would cry so hard!"
She sniffles.
"We're never playing a horror game again."