Sometime in the middle of the night, Amanda opened her eyes halfway and saw the curtains rustling… before seeing the faded outline of the woman from the tapes.
She couldn't move too much but her eyes widened… a frightened squeak left her mouth instead of a scream but Finn opened his eyes and held her closer to him, rubbing his right hand up and down her back when he felt her trembling body as she buried her face into his torso.
But as he held her close, the two heard a knock at the door before hearing Dianne's voice.
"Everything alright?!" Dianne asked.
Finn started to stand up but Amanda clung on tighter and he turned back to her, lightly stroking her hair as she opened her eyes again as Dianne picked the lock and walked in.
"You saw something, I know that look." Dianne responded.
Amanda sat up after the door closed and looked towards the window… but was confused.
"She was right there…" Amanda replied quietly as she felt one of Finn's hands rest on her back and the other on her right shoulder.
"We were watching some old videos earlier… and the woman in them disappeared in 1952." Finn explained as Dianne opened a bottle of water and handed it to Amanda.
Amanda sipped it… and Finn and Dianne knew that this combined with the aftermath of Wrestlemania 32 and the recent WWE 24 special was enough to put Amanda over the edge.
"Those old videos know how to give a scare sometimes… it's something about that black and white, low definition picture and audio, just gives me shivers at times." Dianne replied.
"They are scary… maybe I was just seeing things." Amanda said quietly, Dianne seeing the bruises on Amanda's upper back and arms. "The mat in that ring isn't forgiving at times…"
When it was daylight, it didn't take Dean and Roman long to find Amanda and Finn… but they could tell right away from her lack of alertness that she was still tired, Dean lightly nudging his left foot into Amanda's right one.
"Sorry. What did you say, Dean?" Amanda replied.
"Spill it, what the hell did you two do last night?" Dean asked, Amanda nearly choking as she drank her coffee.
"Dean, what the hell?!" Amanda answered after Finn rubbed his right hand up and down her back.
"Yeah, why'd you ask that?" Finn responded.
"You're suddenly all scared and distant and I keep hearing talk of old movies, then certain belongings of mine go missing!" Dean replied.
"We didn't take anything!" Finn and Amanda responded simultaneously, Roman snickering slightly.
"Yeah, that's what you said before Wrestlemania 32 and then I couldn't find my damn condoms!" Dean said.
"I swear, I don't know how they ended up in our room. That night was a whole fucking blur." Amanda replied before Sami walked over and sat down.
"Damn, Mandy, why's your back all bruised?" Sami asked.
"Training session got a bit rough." Amanda explained, Dean nudging her. "Stop that!" She hissed.
"Dean, knock it off, she's all sore." Finn responded, lightly massaging Amanda's shoulders.
"Oh yeah, I bet she is. How many spanks did you give her, hey?" Dean replied.
"I'm gonna tell Renee that you're being bad!" Amanda said, her face flushed a light red and Roman going from snickering to laughing.
"She got you there, Dean." Roman responded, Sami snickering too.
Once they were in San Diego, Amanda was getting the airbrush concealer applied to cover her bruises and then the door opened and Amanda saw Enzo.
"They're going crazy in those locker rooms, aren't they?" Amanda asked as Enzo sat down, Amanda noticing the look on his face.
"Dean earlier was just the tip of the iceberg, yeah." Enzo answered.
"Damn… guess rumors of wild nights beats the truth which would make me seem crazy." Amanda muttered, Enzo getting her to sit down. "She was right there, by the window… looking at me like we were long lost siblings. The woman's been gone for 64 years, who knows if she's even alive." She said quietly, Enzo resting his right hand on her left shoulder.
"And if she was, she'd be near or in her hundreds by now. So if you saw her young, then I really doubt that it's anything to worry about." Enzo replied, as his hand rubbed her shoulder a couple times.
Amanda nodded and leaned against him, Enzo kissing her on her forehead.
At the same time, Finn was walking around and was stopped by AJ.
"Wouldn't recommend heading that way, Jericho's looking to hunt you down." AJ explained.
"It's gotten that out of control already?" Finn replied.
"Most of the damn locker room watched that girl grow up. They still see her as that kid." AJ responded.
"So who's wanting to kill me and who wants to know my intentions?" Finn asked.
"That's kinda split down the middle with them." AJ replied.
Once she was alone again, Amanda was grabbed from behind and dragged into a locker room as she kicked and struck at the person… only to turn and see that it was Chris Jericho.
"You just about gave me a heart attack, you stupid idiot! What is this about?" Amanda responded after catching her breath, using one of Chris's modern era insults against him as Chris rubbed at his now bruising right arm.
"There's someone here who ain't supposed to be, so watch your back…" Chris answered in an active, shushed voice.
Amanda started swearing, Chris cutting her off by putting his hand over her mouth.
"You've got to work on some better habits, kid." Chris said after lowering his hand and seeing that she had the bruises covered up.
"I thought hiding them would've gotten people to back off… and sorry for hurting your arm." Amanda responded, Chris ruffling her hair and Amanda letting out a slight hiss. "Ow, watch my head and neck!" She replied.
"That rough of a night?" Chris asked, Amanda nodding.
When it was time for Amanda's scheduled match against Naomi, the brunette waited patiently in the ring… but instead of Naomi showing up, The Second Coming by CFO$ blared through the arena and the fans went crazy with cheers when Seth walked out to the ring, knee brace gone and Seth got into the ring, the music stopping after he grabbed a microphone.
"Well if you thought things couldn't get crazier, they just did!" Mauro Ranallo responded from the commentators table as Seth turned to Amanda.
"Picked the wrong moment, get your crazy ass back to the backstage area!" Amanda replied, Seth laughing humorlessly before lifting the microphone up to his mouth.
"Oh no chance, I've got a few things to say before that happens, you might want to grab a seat." Seth responded with a glare, before he looked around at the audience as they began their chanting and shouting in response.
"This is fucked up." Amanda muttered, Seth glancing back at her with narrowed eyes.
"Patience before you quote on it, you might change your answer." Seth responded.
Amanda had that feeling that trouble was brewing from the way Seth observed her before he turned back to the crowd, who were booing him as Amanda grabbed a microphone.
"Two things I'm thinking of: You've got something that you think will turn the odds in your favor. Or, from the lack of the knee brace you had to wear since November, that knee is 100% and you're looking for a fight." Amanda responded, the fans loudly chanting "Demon Mistress." as she spoke. "Ach tá tú ag lorg an chineál mícheart troid! And if you want that kind of fight, you'll get your ass handed to you, boy!" She replied, Seth approaching her and noticing that the bruises that were hidden earlier were becoming visible again… before he smirked.
"Like you handed yours to Balor, it would seem." Seth responded with his smirk, before he called back out to the audience. "Demon King, Demon Mistress… who's up for Demon Prince or Princess, hey?"
Amanda shook her head and clicked her tongue.
"Shouldn't have gone there… fucking low, even for you." Amanda said quietly after dropping the microphone, Seth turning startled as he realised that character was broken and standing in front of him was the Amanda that he knew off screen prior to The Shield… and then Seth turned around, Finn punching him right in the face.
Seth fell to his knees and then Finn grabbed Amanda's right hand and got her out of there… in the backstage area, Amanda looked down at the floor even as Finn sat down and pulled her into his lap… until she buried her face into his left shoulder and his right hand lightly rubbed up and down her back. Out of concern, Mauro had followed them and rested his left hand on Amanda's left shoulder, Amanda looking up at him with tears running down her face.
"You never let it on out there… well, who really does? Back here is a different story." Mauro said as he crouched down level with where Amanda was sat.
"I've been keeping it quiet for 8 ½ years... I have Endometriosis. I tried to have a child with an ex a few years ago and it didn't work so he turned around and cheated on me, claiming that I didn't keep myself healthy enough…" Amanda admitted before she took a few seconds to breathe. "It wasn't my fault but he didn't see that. Having what might not happen thrown in my face… I cracked out there." She replied, brushing her tears away as Finn continued to hold her and Mauro lightly stroked Amanda's hair, hating that the woman he thought of as a daughter was hurting.
"It's understandable that you did… I wouldn't say it's impossible, nothing is, just… hard to obtain." Mauro said in response.
"He's right… one day, it'll happen." Finn replied, Amanda feeling herself start to calm down.
After reaching the area, Seth was accosted by Shane and dragged into the office.
"What, I'm the one you want to yell at?! She's the one who broke character out there!" Seth responded after Shane closed the door.
"Yeah, well you were far from dot on script either…" Shane replied, trailing off as Seth looked and noticed they weren't alone in the room, as stood in the corner was a woman, in a slightly damaged orange jumpsuit, with short reddish brown hair and brown eyes which were all too familiar to him.
"I don't believe we've met…" Seth said, stepping a couple paces towards her.
"I don't believe we'll be happy we did." The woman muttered in response, a loud 'click' echoing as she stepped back a bit. When Seth looked towards the source of the noise, he'd expected to see a high heel or something… but certainly not the long spring-like contraptions which were bolted into her knees, and acted almost as their own heels, her feet themselves forced up on their tiptoes by the extra height the springs provided. "Sorry, that was rude… these 'long fall boots' just ache."
"Who… are you?" Shane asked after seeing her.
"Just… Mel. I don't really use a last name anymore." The woman answered, leaning her left foot back on the spring for a moment to move her toes around, Seth and Shane noticing how her feet were scratched and scraped as she was barefoot with these springs.
"What happened… to you?" Shane asked.
"It's a long story… hell, both of you weren't even born around the time I went…" Mel replied, trailing off when the photo of a younger Shane and Amanda caught her eye. "She looks… happier there…" She said quietly.
"Mandy was… 14 when that was taken." Shane replied.
"You know her, but… more than just what's on Tv…" Seth started to question, Mel looking at him.
"I know her… I guess better than she knows herself, in a sense… very complicated." Mel answered, her right hand scratching the back of her left wrist, which thanks to her sleeves being rolled up, pulled the two's eyes to the number of scattered scratches and cuts on her skin, and stains of dried up blood which focused around one larger, more reddened wound… more round. It didn't take long for the two to identify the bloodied one as a bullet wound.
"How did… you get shot?" Seth asked.
"On the wrong side of a sentry turret… wasn't even aiming for me, actually." Mel answered, looking down at the wound. "I'm just glad I found a first aid box when I got out of there… even if I had no idea what half the things in it are."
Seth left the area, instinctively going towards Amanda's locker room… but he stopped when he saw it open and the note in Finn's handwriting.
'Shane, took her back to the hotel. Hope you'll understand.'
"Seth?" He heard, turning to see Shane and Mel.
"They just left…" Seth replied, both seeing the note.