Author's Note: We haven't visited Matthew since... Sapphire Earrings? It's been so long. Too long. Well, I am going to change that. I was watering my grandma's garden in the front yard when the idea came to me. Plus, there was a series of pictures of an abandoned house in the woods. Combine that with Canada's past life headcanon and I came up with this. I might come back to Matthew and his past life later on in the season. Next week, I think will be checking up on Ivan and the Vozrozhdeniye group. We haven't heard them in while. For now, enjoy this week's match.
Match Eight: This is Not a Home:
They found an abandoned house in the woods of Ontario. Three urban explorers were looking for some thrills. The channel was called Exploring the Forgotten with Teddy and Martin. The video was posted yesterday evening. Already, it got plenty of hits. The count number keeps going up too. Why am I bringing this up? Well, there's a particular who's watched the video and it's sparked something within him.
Matthew was on YouTube like the average person in the world. He wasn't looking for anything in particular. However, the thumbnail titled, "We Found an Abandoned House in the Woods" caught his eye. His curser hovered over the link to the video.
"What is that?" Kumajirou asked.
"This house…" Matthew said. "I've… I've seen this place before." The Canadian man clicked on the video.
Two men in their twenties stood in the woods. One of them with messy blond hair adjusted the camera.
"Is it recording?" a man with black hair asked.
"Yeah," the blond said.
"Good," his partner said. The other man stood next to him and broke into a huge smile.
"Welcome back, travelers!" he said with his French accent. "Welcome to another adventure with Exploring the Forgotten. I'm Teddy!"
"And I'm Martin," the man with black hair said. "Don't forget to like and subscribe." Teddy turned to his partner.
"So what are we doing today, Martin?" he asked. Martin broke into a huge grin.
"Delighted you asked!" he said. "Today, we found this house out in the Ontario woods! This is going to blow your minds. This house has been standing for all of this time."
"Yeah, since 1997," Teddy said.
Matthew froze. A house abandoned since 1997. A chill ran down his body. That couldn't be…
The men in the video turned to each other.
"Ready to do this?" Teddy asked.
"Uh-huh," Martin said. His partner pumped his fist in the air.
"Let's do this!" he shouted.
The men began walking down the path in the woods. The video started out standard. The hosts bantered back and forth. Teddy's the more chatty of the two. Martin was the one with the camera.
"Don't forget to like and subscribe," Teddy said. "Also ring that bell for notifications."
"Yeah!" Martin said. The video cuts to the house itself. The camera zoomed into the building. The dead trees concealed the house in the distance. This house looked like it would've been better near a farm.
"Here it is!" Teddy said. "This is the house."
"It looks great," Martin said. "I'm surprised no one has torn it down or bought it."
"Yeah," his partner said.
"Get shots around the house," Teddy said.
"Yeah," Martin whispered. He started to walk around the tall wooden building. Matthew's stomach turned. Memories started to flood his head. Memories of a life that he hadn't lived.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" Kumajirou shouted. The Canadian man was too far away. He couldn't stop watching the video of that old house. Matthew couldn't have been here before but it looked so familiar.
"Are we going in yet?" Martin asked. He showed like a hyper little kid at Christmas. Teddy shushed him.
"Okay, okay," he said. "Easy there. We're getting to the good part. Just like me look at the building a little bit longer."
"You and your architectural degree," Martin said.
"Can you blame me?" Teddy asked. "This house has good structure."
"Yeah, yeah. I want to go in," his partner said.
"Fine," the other man said. Let's go inside."
"No, please don't," Matthew pleaded to the screen. His mind went back to the late nineties. He had no idea when or if she was going to come home.
The men walked up to the door. Teddy pushed open the door.
"Wow, it's still unlocked," he said. But then he took a step back.
"Whoa! That's a strong smell!" Teddy shouted.
"Why? Is it bad?" Martin asked.
"No," the other man said. "It just smells like pine and tobacco for some reason." The man with the camera stepped up for a smell.
"You're right," he said. Matthew couldn't forget that smell if he tried. She always smoked. She and her revolving door of lovers. They never could get rid of the pine scent from the house.
And so the tour of the house began. The inside was made of wood just like the outside. The house itself had seen better days. Dead leaves and trash littered the floor. There were some panels of wood missing from the walls.
"Do you think it's safe to go up there?" Martin asked as he pointed the camera toward the stairs. Teddy looked up with him.
"Only one way to see," he said. He walked up to the stairs.
"Wait up!" Martin shouted. He ran up with the camera in his hand. Teddy put his foot on the step. It creaked underneath him but it didn't give.
"I think we're good," he said. Teddy started to go up the stairs.
"Be careful!" Martin called. He followed up the stairs. They made it to the top. Up here, it looked much worse. Dirt and wooden planks covered the floor. The dull white walls looked like they had seen better days. The only thing still hanging on was the ceiling lamp.
"Why hasn't anyone torn this place down?" Teddy asked.
"No clue," Martin said. He turned his head.
"Let's go in here," he said. The man walked across the hall and looked inside.
"What do you see?" Teddy asked.
"It's a bathroom!" Martin said. "It's really nice too." His partner ran over to his side. Teddy let off a low whistle.
"Wow!" he said. The tub and floor were made of stone. The shower titles looked a bit cleaner than the walls in the rest of the hall. However, there were pieces of plaster on the floor. There were still some containers and bottles on the wooden shelves. An empty bottle of bleach was turned upside down. There was still fixtures from the bathroom inside.
"You think the toilet still works?" Teddy asked.
"I doubt it," Martin said. His partner walked over for a look. Meanwhile, Martin went into another room. There was an iron wooden stove stood in the corner.
The whole time, Matthew thought he was going to be sick. Why did they have to come back to this house? More memories flooded his head. His mother would be gone for days at a time. Sometimes, she would leave him in the closet and go out. There was almost no food in the house. The winter was even worse.
Did she ever love him? Maybe she did and didn't know how to. By the time he died, he was too big for his clothes and he held a giant dirty stuffed bear in his arms.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!"
Suddenly, the video stopped. A small pair of hands shook him on the arm. The Canadian man came back to earth. Kumajirou stared up at him. For a moment, the Canadian man stared at him.
"What's the matter?" the small bear asked. Matthew looked so pale.
"I died in that house," he said.
"But you're still alive," Kumajirou said. His voice might as well have been far away. Matthew stood up and walked out of the room.
"Matthew? Matthew?" his bear asked after him. The Canadian man closed the door behind him.