I didn’t know if there was more to the memory. It almost felt like a dream, the shock and fear of it all startled me back to the present. I was sucking in air, forcing myself to come back to reality. The reality of this place, the smell of the river, hearing the water rushing down the rocks.

My knees weakened, and I stumbled back before resting against the grass. It was that wolf. There was no denying it. It was like if a child had seen what I saw that night and drew a picture of it. Theo had seen the wolf, or imagined it. At first, I thought these memories were just to help me remember who I was, but I was now extremely curious to figure out who Theo was. This was more than my memories. Theo knew something, and I needed to know what Theo knew.

The rest of the day, I did my monotonous job, my mind whirling with questions and theories. I needed another memory orb, but I doubt they came on demand. Theo seemed to be the quiet kid with a dark imagination. Someone I had a feeling I grew up with. What did he have to do with my situation? That wolf drawing all but assured me that he had something to do with this.

I gathered the stones and the clay, not sure how I could make bricks. After searching the clipboard, I found a brick mold, as well as a fire meant specifically for bricks. It was something I was pretty sure I could use now that I was past level five in building and had two sets of clothes.

Both cost 10.00 dopamine points, which was so much. I spent some time while carrying clay and stone to the house to think about what I wanted to do. Did I want to make sure the wall was as strong as it could be, or did I want my axe upgraded?

I wanted both, but as the deadline for them to arrive came closer, I knew I was no fighter. I was a wall builder against scary creatures. I didn’t even want to think about what my sanity might look like if I tried to wield an axe against them, even if it was upgraded.

It was a monotonous task, but two things kept me going. One, that wall absolutely needed to be upgraded before they arrived, and two, I needed to see if there were any more memory orbs. Both had their own kind of drive.

It pushed me to keep going. Despite the days blending together, I bought the molds and the fire. The information was downloaded into my brain. I stuck the clay into the brick molds, leaving them out to dry. I made sure there was enough room on the slab of concrete near the storage room to put twenty bricks out to dry. I saw little timers slowly filling up as they stayed outside in the hot sun.

It only started to make me nervous when I got to the brick fire. It was placed up against the back of the house, and I put in the appropriate stones and logs into it. But the fire would take half a day and could only hold five bricks at a time. It would be close. Way too close.

My sanity returned to full, and even though the bars themselves were larger, it still scared me that there wasn’t enough. Despite the days stretching since last I encountered them, I still remembered the terror of the noises they made.

As soon as the bricks were done, they were out of the fire and the next five were in. I could make it, as long as I didn’t let one hour pass by.

As the bricks were being purified, I got to work doing other things. They were coming tomorrow, and I wanted to be prepared. Since my farming reached level 7, I bought a straw hat and instead of one tomato, I was able to grow two. And I only had to use one potato to cut up and place in the soil instead of two. The potato still took two waterings, but I got more with less. I had gathered so many tomatoes and potatoes that I figured it was finally time to start cooking the soups on the fire.

Once I had a nice row of soups, I was pleasantly surprised to see all that cooking bumped me up to level 4. It was nice to see that finally moving past level 1. Now animal care and cooking were both at level 4. Logging and building were both tied at level 8, which made sense. Another couple levels, and I could finally buy a third article of clothing for both. Cleaning and farming were both tied at level 7.

On the last day before they came, I walked out of the greenhouse with my basket of potatoes and tomatoes, passing the fence, as the worry struck me. I was only upgrading the fence to my house. I hadn’t even touched the fence around the greenhouse. Would they hurt my greenhouses? I had a good supply of food, but if they made it so I couldn’t grow anything, I would be in deep trouble.

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Halfway through the day, I switched out the bricks, a dark feeling in my gut. I wasn’t going to make it. Not for the greenhouse fence. I was pretty sure my house fence would make it. I switched out to the final five bricks at noon, and was confident I’d get the last of them in right at sunset. I even chopped down a few trees to get my fifty dopamine points and got my axe upgraded. The wall around my house would be finished. I would simply have to do what I needed to tomorrow to check the damage to the greenhouse. I hoped it wouldn’t be too much. I also hoped that I could still grow food.

The sun was setting when I pulled out the last of the bricks. I carried them, one by one, into the fence.

18/20 bricks

19/20 bricks

20/20 bricks

I sat back, sighing as the sun finally disappeared. The words shivered, then new ones popped up.

0/25 firewood

Despite the panic that completely seized me at this new development, all I did was stand there, blinking.

“More?” My eyes trailed toward the sky. “There’s… more?”

The sun was gone, the lamplight flickered on. There was danger in those woods, and yet I remained, staring at the firewood requirement.

“No,” I whispered, glancing around. My stamina was almost gone, and the only trees were outside the fence.

Killie meowed at me, and I stared again at the fence. Twenty-five firewood. Every tree gave five logs, and every log gave two boards, each board giving two firewood. I wasn’t great at math, but I’m pretty sure I could chop down two trees now and get it done.

I downed one of my potato soups and ran. Killie kept mewing at me from inside the house. Against my better judgement, I ignored her.

My newly updated axe cut through the tree much quicker. It came down in six thwacks, and I heard every single one of them ringing in my ears. They felt like the crack of thunder, alerting anything in the woods to my position.

A growl came from the woods, and I froze, tears in my eyes. The wolf was here. Close. I hadn’t even gotten to chopping the logs into firewood. I needed to get back inside to save my sanity, but if I stayed inside until they came, my wall wouldn’t be finished.

I kept the new axe in the air, my breathing uneven. I slipped the axe away, picking up the log. I needed to get these logs inside the fence. If I had this fence to protect me, the wolf wouldn’t reach. Then I could keep chopping to firewood and stuff them in the fence.

I grabbed two logs, pushing my stamina. I had a lot from the potato soup, and the small chunk was a small sacrifice to make to bring two logs into the fence.

Killie kept meowing at me, and I tried to shush her as best I could. I dropped the final log when the wolf came out of the woods. I landed flat on my stomach, covering my mouth to keep my breathing in check.

I was an idiot. I needed to go back inside now. I wouldn’t have enough firewood with the logs I had. Why did I risk this? What was it about that wolf that made me lose my head? It was better to have a full bar of sanity to prepare for them, but I didn’t think about it in the moment when I had the option to finish the fence.

The wolf started prowling, far more familiar with this clearing and its house. I hadn’t seen it in a while, because I had been a genius and stayed inside when the sun set. In the lamplight, it started to wander. I saw the huge puffs of matted fur sticking up on its back. It remained on all fours, but I remember that picture. What did Theo know about this creature?

The creature growled, and my sanity started to drop. I kept my hand over my mouth to keep the scream inside me, but the wolf’s head popped up over the fence, the soulless eyes darted around before they fell right on me. My eyes filled with tears as the creature started to growl, low and guttural.

The fence would keep it away, right? It kept them out. It would keep out the wolf. There was no reason to be afraid.

There was that same spinal crack as the wolf stood on its hind legs, snarling and howling. Killie disappeared into the house, though I still heard her meowing at me. The wolf didn’t hear, focused completely on me. For that alone, it gave me the comfort I needed to know that Killie would be okay.

Me, on the other hand…

The wolf snarled, then turned and ran toward a tree close to the fence. I didn’t dare remain on my stomach. Once the wolf’s eyes were off me, I scrambled to my feet and ran. I managed to glance over my shoulder to see the wolf had clawed its way up the tree, claws tearing up bark, before it leapt off the trunk, sailing right over the fence and landing inside it.

My fear was strangled in my throat as I pumped my legs. I couldn’t look at that thing. I refused. My sanity was dropping, and I still had to face them tonight.

I slammed the back door, giving it a firm lock. I didn’t know if the wolf could open the doors, but I also wasn’t sure if the wolf could jump over the fence. It was better to be safe. I was already resolved to chop every tree near the fence that I could tomorrow.

If I lasted until tomorrow.

Once the front door was locked, I collapsed on the living room carpet. I tried to be calm, but my entire body shook. Killie jumped down from the recliner, purring as she rubbed her head under my chin. My sanity was down to less than seventy-five percent, and I still had to face them.