I gasped, stumbling back. I clutched the stone block as I reoriented myself. I didn’t want to drop the block on my foot, but my hands were shaking dangerously. I sank to the ground, resting the block on the cement as I stared at the base of the tool.

  Was this entire game some super strange analogy? Some way to help me feel what it was like to have a depression like Theo’s? But… why? Why would the alien overlords be involved in something like this? There is no way those two beings would simply do this to help me know what it felt like. They must still be on this search to study human nature and figure out if they could replicate depression. Dark, soul draining depression. Because that was undoubtably what they were. It was too uncanny to hear my younger self and Brenda talking so calmly about a monster that I had seen in this world. The fur, the teeth, the slime, there was no other way to describe it.

  And the wolf creature. There had to be a reason why they showed me that memory of Theo looking so haunted when his last name was revealed. Theo Wolfe. His drawing of the same wolf creature haunting this house. They were absolutely connected. Somehow.

  I came to the strange conclusion that this whole experience had little to do with me at all. So much of the memories, of the experiences here, were tied to Theo. Theo’s memories, yet I was here instead.

  I glanced at the back of the house. Was this Theo’s house, too? A childhood home and life I was never allowed to ask about?

  As always, the memory orbs left me with so many questions, and the one constant was why. Why was I even here? Who were the alien overlords? What was going on? I was learning a lot, but I still wasn’t understanding the most important thing I wanted to know.

  How could I get out?

  I let out a sigh, then lifted the stone block and placed it in the storage unit before going back for the others. My mind was still reeling from the memories. Those last memories were very depression heavy, and I was scared. Despite having my memory wiped, I knew I did not feel the same level of depression as Theo. I’ve been here for almost thirty-five days, an entire summer, according to the calendar. I felt sad, I felt alone, but I never hit the level of depression that I saw Theo experience in those memories. Not unless you count moments after they attacked. But that was the point, right? To experience what it was like to be attacked by depression. By them.

  I broke ten more stones and placed them in the tool. By tonight I would have those ten blocks in the storage unit, and then another batch going so that tomorrow morning I’d know what else the storage room would need to give me more space.

  I rubbed my chin as I went to catch more fish. There were clues here. I was pretty sure this was Theo’s childhood home. He never talked about it. Doug and Brenda forbade me from asking questions. I had no recollection of it.

  My mind continued to wander as I threw my fishing line into the river. I was slowly but surely getting memories back. The constant in all of them was Theo. I thought I was learning more about myself, but Theo seemed to dominate these memories.

  The memories gave the wolf monster and them plausible reasons for existing. The wolf creature I still wasn’t sure about, but Theo drew a wolf creature as a child and had a last name of Wolfe. There was a reason behind it all. One that had multiple theories, but I couldn’t narrow it down.

  Them being some form of depression made me uncomfortable in a way I couldn’t pinpoint. Brenda’s descriptions were too close for it not to be an obvious reveal, but… why? Why would the alien overlords create this world and place me in it to let me experience the horrors of a wolf monster and them. All the while cleaning a house and farming in my greenhouses?

  It also didn’t explain the monsters on the other side of the bridge. I glanced up, seeing another bush spider monster growling at me. What were those things supposed to be?

  I reeled in a fish, turning around to look at the house, then remembered there was still a line of trees that kept me from seeing it. I understood the wolf and them had some sort of connection. I was pretty confident the house was Theo’s childhood home. So what about the hauntings? Were they… were they part of this?

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  I remembered Theo’s fit of giggling on the sled, the very first memory I saw. With a sinking heart, I realized why that giggling sounded so familiar.

  “Oh… my god,” I whispered.

  Theo. Theo was the giggling child upstairs. The one chanting nursery rhymes. This was undoubtably Theo’s house. The one he lived in before going to Brenda and Doug’s. Perhaps this was a way I could learn what happened here. Perhaps the ghosts were nothing more than clues to what happened with Theo’s past.

  I remembered the blood coming out of the bottom of the locked door, and my throat tightened. I was so horrified when I saw it that I made a vow to never go up to the second floor at night. But now, to put the clues together, I would need to know. I really would have to do some experimentation tonight with the ghosts that haunted this place. With unlocking the comfort food part of the cooking fire, I had a way to replenish my sanity without needing to sleep. Everything indicated that tonight I needed to stay up and get a good understanding of the ghosts here.

  It caused a part of my soul to shrivel, but I held on to one important understanding. I was confident the child was Theo. That knowledge alone helped ease my fears. Perhaps it would even give me the strength to not make my sanity drop whenever I heard him giggling. Killie was never afraid of the child, so I didn’t need to either.

  From what I remember, the shrieking grandma ghost was the one that traveled the most. And the one that seemed to hate cats. I had also heard two adults talking, but they were in the room above the living room. There might have been a male voice among them. I had never gotten close enough to listen, and I also hadn’t exactly wanted to listen.

  But now there was a purpose. A terrifying purpose. This was Theo’s childhood home, and I was going to figure out what happened.

  “So…” I started speaking out loud. “All those times I thought I was a rat in a maze. Is this the actual reason I’m here?” There was no reply as I felt the line start to jiggle. I gently started reeling in a fish. “I’m not a rat in a maze, I’m just… figuring out what happened to Theo?”

  Again nothing. I reeled in the fish, placing it in the basket. Two more fish and I’d have ten total. Enough to make five fish and chips if I wanted to. Hopefully fish and chips gave enough sanity back for this to be worth it. Granted, any percentage of sanity would feel good to gain, so I wouldn’t complain.

  “But why do you care?” I asked the sky. “I get that you’re a neutral party and what not, but… but why are you in charge of this whole thing? Why did you take the time to create this world for me to experience? Why did you choose to bring me to this world simply to figure out what Theo’s past was about? To erase my memory and force me through these hoops. Isn’t there an easier way? Like, I don’t know, asking him while I was on earth? He is my adopted brother, after all.”

  Again nothing. I threw my line back in, sighing. “When I figure out what happened to him, is that it? Will I be able to leave once I know what happened in Theo’s past?”

  Words appeared, and I could feel my body bracing for it.

  You will get your answers. Just play the game.

  I blew out a breath, a lock of hair dancing in the burst of air. I figured I was a patient person, but this was different. I was patient when I wasn’t forced to play a game where there were wolf monsters and them and a haunted house needing to be cleaned.

  Once I had my fish, I returned to the house to drop off the fish in the storage. I brought out ten more stones from the storage room in order to fit the new fish. I’d be breaking it up for blocks to put in the tool soon, anyway.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening decluttering the hallway leading to the second floor. I was forcing myself to get used to being in the hallway as it got darker.

  When it got really dark, I thought of my flashlight before remembering the batteries in the garage. So many things were happening that I forgot how long they’d been charging. I put them in when they were corroded, but now they were back to normal looking batteries. I took two out and pulled out more rusted batteries to start charging, then put the two new batteries in my flashlight.

  It wasn’t that it was getting super dark, it was just there weren’t many windows in the hallway. Not enough light would get through. I turned on the flashlight and started cleaning the walls. I wanted to have a brighter color in this hallway.

  My heart was pounding in my chest. Every instinct told me that I shouldn’t be here. Not when it was this dark. My natural response was to flee. I remembered the pure terror of hearing the creaking floor boards and bloody footprints walking through the kitchen. I only ever wanted to see those once in my life. I wasn’t interested in seeing them again. But they were a clue. Something I could figure out if my sanity remained strong enough.

  “This sucks,” I muttered to myself. I did not want to do this. I hated the idea of figuring out what the hauntings meant, but the more mysteries I solved, the better my sanity would hold up.

  “It’d be nice if I wasn’t such a scaredy cat,” I said again. Killie’s head popped in through the door, staring at me like I had called her. I gave a sigh as I finished wiping down the wall. “I stand corrected. Killie is braver than I am.”

  Once the stone blocks in the tool were done cooking, I placed the ten stone blocks in the storage unit and placed the last ten broken stones in the tool. It freed up space, and I was still crossing my fingers that bricks would be next.

  My wolf timer wasn’t blinking yet, but it was close. I stared at the back door of the house, took a deep breath, and prepared to do some late night detective work.