I woke up to the red dawn and Killie’s meows. I threw the covers off me and rushed to throw open the back door. Theo was there, still unconscious, but breathing far more normally. I knelt, trying to figure out how long he’d be unconscious for. I didn’t think he’d get hurt like this. I honestly thought he’d die and then wake up back in his campsite. This was new territory, no doubt for him, too.

“Theo?” I tried shaking his shoulder, but he didn’t respond. He simply remained on the ground where he’d been the night before. Killie kept meowing, and I tried to see what she was meowing about.

A steady drip was coming out of his ears. I frowned, lifting his head enough to see black sludge seeping out and landing on the ground. There were two pools of blackness around his ears, shivering with every drip. I instantly changed into my cleaning clothes before moving Theo onto his side. I then scrubbed the two black pools and wiped off his head before easing him back to where he was. The seeping continued. I’d have to check on him periodically. Hopefully he’d wake up soon.

I got up and made my way into my bedroom. I grabbed the pillow and the blankets from my bed and headed back toward the hallway. I got to the door before I was jerked back into the bedroom.

“Please,” I said, looking toward the sky. “Please, he needs to be comfortable.”

It matters little.

It is ‘game logic’, as you say.

He is as comfortable as he will be.

“I… need to do this. For my own comfort,” I said.

You saw what is happening to him

Your pillow and blankets will be covered in essence of them

“And I have cleaning clothes to help me wipe it away. Please. He’s my brother,” I said.

There was a pause, then I tried again. I let out a sigh as I crossed through the doorway with my pillow and blanket. With that, I rushed the rest of the way to Theo, placing my blankets on top of him. I lifted Theo’s head and eased the pillow under him. Once that was done, I gave Killie a good pat on the head.

“Watch over him for a bit, will you?”

Killie sat down near Theo’s head, and I took that as an affirmative. I walked into the kitchen, let out a breath, then picked up the phone and pressed one.

“It is now time to start working on the outside of the house,” the female voice said. I felt myself bracing for whatever she had to say. “This will be far more tailored to what you want to do. Should you wish to start planting new grass seed and keeping it trimmed before the winter season, that will be up to you. The nicer the lawn, the less likely the wolf will want to pass the fence.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. That would be nice. Not sure if I wanted to stand in the middle of the yard during the evening time to test it out, but I had given the patchy grass and the dead flowers an occasional longing look. The outside had such potential.

“And will Theo be okay?” I asked.

“You must do the following to protect yourself from them:

“Strengthen the fences,

“Purchase and build a shed,

“Begin lawn care.

“We are approaching the end of to-do lists,” the female said.

It was this that made me stand up a little straighter.

“You have an idea of the things you need to do before they arrive. You have found and created all the materials that will be needed or found a way to trade for them. This will be the last time I call you over the phone, as no other to-do list is needed to help you protect yourself from them.”

“Am I dead?” I whispered to the sister.

“Should you wish to give up, allow yourself to die whenever you want.”

I shuddered at the almost emotionless way she said that. “What happens if I give up?”

“We wish you good luck on cleaning the house. No further instructions will follow.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

There was a click, and I couldn’t help but stare at the phone. I wondered, of course, if I would get to-do lists for the rest of the time I was here. They were such a part of my routine that I almost expected them to last the entire time.

Theo groaned in the next room. I dropped the phone and raced out the door, falling to my knees beside him. “Theo?”

He coughed again, and I flipped him to his side. Once again, I waited a few more moments before he vomited. The black sludge hitting the floor and splashing against the wall. Theo groaned again before his eyes rolled up and he was unconscious.

I let out a breath, worried. I left him on his side, just in case he had another incident like that. Killie kept walking around, trying to study Theo’s head in every angle she could.

“Stay by him, please? Alert me if he does anything else.”

Killie sat again near Theo, her tail thumping against the floor. I gave her a pet before entering the house once again. I forgot to collect the to-do list. Apparently the last one I’d get.

Strengthen the fence

Purchase shed

Build shed

Begin lawn care

Make sure no essence of them remains in your house

I glanced over it, then I studied the calendar. The first seven days of fall didn’t have any abnormal weather, but tomorrow showed a bright sun. The day of their attack had a rain cloud. In the middle of the week there was a weather pattern that I hadn’t experienced before. There were three squiggly lines, something that I assumed meant fog. It wasn’t too bad. My list wasn’t long. I would finally be able to do whatever I wanted.

What I wanted was still more answers to my questions. I didn’t know why I bothered trying to ask them on the phone. That woman’s messages always seemed prerecorded. I should have asked them while I was getting the pillow and blanket.

I started my morning routine, gathering the glass and placing it in the first greenhouse before feeding more baked clay to the tool. I then fed all my animals and gathered their food. Two eggs and a half gallon of milk. Not a bad collection. I then picked all the tomatoes and carrots, making sure the potatoes and lettuce got watered, before taking the garbage from my bedroom window to the dumpster. I then got into my building clothes to see the fences would need logs, and quickly got to work. Fences would always be my priority.

As the sun continued to rise to midmorning, my thoughts were on Theo. I spied Killie making trips around the base of the house but not straying too far. The longer the morning stretched with Theo remaining asleep, the more worried I got. I placed logs in both fences, watching it grow before it asked for boards. I had seven more days ahead of me. Seven days to prepare. It was more than enough. I had a very small to-do list and a mountain of other jobs I wanted to do. Most of my worry, now, was with Theo.

It was afternoon by the time I finished putting all the boards in both fences. I noticed, now that the barn was built, that the greenhouse fence took almost as many items as the regular fence.

It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Killie. I just also wanted to check on Theo. When I finished putting the bricks out of the tool and placing ten broken stones, I gathered my bundle and entered the covered back porch.

Everything was in my inventory, which I was planning on putting in the storage unit right away, but the sight of Theo’s face made me focus on him. The blackness was leaking out of him. Not just his ears, but his eyes, nostrils, and the corners of his mouth. He was still breathing like normal, but the pillow I placed him under was now covered in essence of them.

I knelt next to him, my cleaning clothes already on. He was still on his side, so most of the liquid was pooled in his ear. I placed him on his back before scrubbing the pillow. Once that was done, I once again cleaned around his head, then got a cloth and cleaned his face. He was still out cold. The familiar feelings of helplessness returned, and I wasn’t sure what to do. I tried grabbing some of the liquid and pulling. Maybe I could get a huge chunk out like before, but when I tried to grab the sludge around his eyes, it was just liquid. There wasn’t anything to grab hold to and pull.

Theo made a gurgling noise. In a panic as well as relief, I grabbed his shoulders and moved him to his side. “Theo?” I asked.

Theo once again vomited. The essence running across the floor and splashing onto the wall. I waited expectantly, but Theo simply rolled back on the floor, groaning, his mouth streaked with black. I touched his shoulder again. “Theo?”

His eyelids fluttered once and he moaned. Then his head settled into the bed, his eyes remaining shut. I sighed, then went to work cleaning him up again. From what I remembered, he had a bar I never got. One that showed him how much corruption he had inside him. Last night, I assumed they swallowed him whole before spitting him out. He wasn’t dead, he was just full of corruption. It would have to slowly leak out of him.

At least, I hope that’s what would happen. I hoped, eventually, my brother would wake up again.

I finished cleaning Theo’s vomit before adjusting the blankets and the pillow back on him. Then I returned to the fences outside. Both called for bricks, and I placed my hands on my hips, wondering if I should dip into my supply, or just make the bricks now. I had enough for both fences, but I would need to make more baked clay.

I dumped the bricks from my storage unit into my fences, mostly to check on Theo who was still out cold and slowly leaking them. Both fences asked for 0/5 stone blocks, which I happily dropped into them. It asked for shattered glass, which used up the rest of my supply.

With a sigh, I saw both fences give a sheen. Day one and the most important part of this was all done. Now I just needed to make sure my house remained clean of them, and I was protected.

I wanted to forage. I also wanted to pick up more clay and stones to keep up my reserve of bricks and stone blocks. But I also didn’t want to stray too far from Theo right now. A chill breeze was enticing the warm afternoon to turn into evening. I went inside and picked up the clipboard, shuffling through the pages. The shed cost -40.00 dopamine points, and I bought it without a second thought. The idea that I could revive the outside of this place was exactly what I wanted. I wanted this place to have the same charm as the inside was starting to look.

Killie rubbed her back against my leg, and I knelt down to give her another pat. “Thanks for watching over Theo.”

She purred again, then gave a stretch before jumping on top of Theo’s chest. Theo didn’t react as Killie rested on his chest. I let out a sigh, wanting my brother to be okay.