Sleepy blue eyes opened and Finn pulled himself up, seeing that the the bed he and Amanda had been sleeping in was empty on her side of it… he stood up, quietly heading downstairs into John and Nikki's living room in their Tampa home and saw her outside on the patio, the moonlight illuminating Amanda's tiny frame through the fog.
Knowing what had woken her up when he found the laptop open on the coffee table, Finn walked outside and sat down next to Amanda, who ran her fingers on her right hand through her disheveled curls for a second.
"Probably should've put that story out of my mind… but it's not just a story." Amanda said quietly, Finn pulling her into his lap and reminding himself to punch Sami for keeping Amanda awake because of the story he told during the NXT taping earlier.
"It was quite a… vivid one. Certainly one to stick in the mind." Finn responded as he lightly ran his right hand up and down her back in a soothing way.
"It was, even my brothers never told me ones like that." Amanda replied as she rested her head on his left shoulder. "And with tonight's weather, it makes it even creepier… and you looked like you needed your sleep so I ended up downstairs." She said, the edges of her oversized shirt fluttering in the breeze before both heard claws lightly clacking against the floor and then the ground before seeing Josie. "She's not growling at you like last time." She responded.
"She trusts me now is why, don't you lil' one?" Finn replied before offering his left hand out to Josie, who sniffed at it then nudged her head against his fingers.
"Good girl, Josie." Amanda said, scratching Josie's ears before both saw a half asleep John in the doorway. "Damn, how do you always know when I'm awake and how much did you hear?" She asked as John sat down.
"I heard enough… what was he doing telling you freaky stories when you were already stressed out enough?" John answered.
"Sami can be a bit crazy." Amanda responded, knowing that John knew that the Corporate Kane/Demon Kane storyline had been keeping her up at night. The three stood up and headed inside, Josie following them and reclaiming her spot on the couch as John closed and locked the sliding glass door… and Winston growling at Josie. "Winston, behave." She said, Winston choosing to curl up on the nearby chair.
John reached over, carefully pulling Amanda into his arms and the two hugging for a few seconds before John kissed her on her forehead. When they headed upstairs to their respective rooms after Amanda grabbed her laptop, John stretched out back under the covers and saw Nikki looking at him.
"What happened? Mandy okay?" Nikki asked.
"Sami told her stories, and she can't get them out of her head. I'm not sure what story he told her, mind you." John explained.
"He needs to stop with that, what's wrong with that boy?" Nikki responded as they held each other.
"At the next event, I'm asking him what he told her… messing with my little sister's mind, I should strangle him." John said, muttering the last part.
"I don't think Hunter would take too kindly to that, John, you can't strangle your co-workers." Nikki replied as she rested her head on John's right shoulder.
"I know, he just… it's like Sami never thought of the fact that she's easily scared, he knows that." John responded.
"He does and I know how you are, she's your baby sister and you want her to feel safe." Nikki said before they kissed.
It was a few hours before the next episode of Raw in New York that Kane noticed that Amanda had gone quiet and saw that she was asleep on the couch in the office. Standing up carefully, he walked over and crouched down, brushing her hair back as Hunter and Stephanie walked in.
"Is she feeling okay?" Stephanie asked quietly, gently closing the door.
"I don't think she's been sleeping much." Kane answered as he reached his hand to rest on Amanda's side but noticed when she jumped, her eyes half open. "Hey, it's alright kiddo." He said as she sat up.
"I must've been sleepier than I thought." Amanda replied as Hunter saw her handwriting on a note and an unfamiliar name to him… Emily Romero.
"Mandy, does this have anything to do with that story Sami told you?" Hunter asked.
"I meant to look up the mental hospital but fell asleep." Amanda answered as Hunter sat down and rested his hand on her right shoulder.
"Never Lose Hope Hospital…" Kane muttered to himself, thinking out loud unintentionally.
"That's what they named it? What was she even doing in a place like that?" Amanda asked as Hunter helped her stand up.
"It was where her husband ran his experiments from… mind control, so it's rumored. And apparently… the hospital was sealed off without hardly anyone having been spotted leaving. Almost as if most of them, doctors and patients, stayed behind." Kane answered.
"As ghosts…" Amanda responded, Stephanie handing her a bottle of water after opening it and Amanda drinking it slowly. When it was empty, she set it aside and went looking for Sami. "Where are you, you loon?" She muttered… before she stopped to lean against the wall to fully wake up.
A person in head to toe black slowly crept up behind her and rested their hand on her shoulder, Amanda spinning around and slamming her knee into their ribcage… when the hood of the jacket fell off, her eyes narrowed when she saw black hair with a bit of blonde.
"You're a complete jackass." Amanda said, Seth seeing that she was unamused after he stood up… and also noticing the lack of sleep.
"Damn, you're tired as hell. The storylines have been working away on you, have they?" Seth responded.
"As well as other things. You've seen Sami anywhere?" Amanda replied before both heard a punch and "The fuck was that for, Balor?!" echoing. "Damn it." She muttered before both reached the neighboring hallway, seeing Sami with his nose bleeding and Amanda pulling Finn towards her.
"It was just a damn story!" Sami yelled.
"She hasn't slept through the night since you told it to her!" Finn shouted.
"Time out, both of you! Sami, what kind of story exactly?" Seth replied after Sami reset his nose.
"I told you it a few months ago… about the Romero couple. When the doctor went mad at his wife for her not accepting his work, used her as his test subject without her even knowing, then killed her with the work but because of how much that mind control drilled into her head, her lost soul still remains." Sami answered.
"And now it's keeping Mandy up at night." Finn responded.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think it would give her nightmares." Sami replied.
"Think things through next time, Sami." Finn said before leading Amanda away from there.
"Great, now he's more protective of her than normal… think she'll be okay?" Sami replied as Seth handed him a washcloth and Sami held it to his still bleeding nose.
"At some point, she'll calm down… I actually hid it from her once, the news of the murder." Seth explained.
"You looked more into it?" Sami asked.
"Once." Seth responded.
