When Theo was done with the movie, he found me in the barn, brushing Darla’s coat. I wasn’t sure if cows liked their coat brushed, but it was fun to do. I had finished brushing Cupcake’s fast growing wool, so it only seemed fair. Theo walked in the barn, raising an eyebrow.

“I want my animals to feel loved,” I said.

He shook his head, a slight smile on his face. He then pointed over his shoulder. “Um… I hate doing this every time…” I waited, not sure what he wanted to say. He let out a defeated sigh. “Corruption leaked all over the recliner while I was watching the movie. I didn’t even notice until I stood up. I’m… really sorry.”

“Oh, yeah. Don’t worry about that. I’ll get it cleaned up,” I said.

Theo’s shoulders slumped. “I… tried. I tried cleaning it myself. It-”

“Really, Theo, I don’t want you to worry about it. I’ll clean it up.” Theo sighed, and I could tell how much he hated being a burden. “I gain so much experience points in my cleaning doing this. I want all of them. So stop being selfish and let me gain those points.”

This caused a laugh to escape Theo. It sounded so good. I made a mental note to remember that watching a movie helped him lose some of them. “How was the movie, by the way?”

Theo wiped his eyes, and I couldn’t tell if he was trying to hide his tears again. “God, I love that movie,” he mumbled before dropping his hands. “Is there anything else you need my help with? I really need to help you, because I feel way embarrassed about the mess I left in there.”

“Theo… please don’t ever feel like a burden,” I said, placing my hand on top of his and giving it a pat in an over-the-top sisterly manner. “I’ll go in the house soon and happily get all those experience points for cleaning. And if you can give me all the scrap metal you can, I will happily exchange them with chicken wings.”

Theo laughed that amazing laugh again. The sun was starting to sink toward the trees as Theo headed toward the glowing mark near the greenhouse. “I’ll start gathering that scrap metal for you. Don’t worry about the chicken wings,” he said.

“You really suck at this whole exchange thing. I’m pretty sure I’m getting way more than I deserve,” I said.

Theo chuckled, standing on top of the mark. “I’ll see you later, Quinn. Probably even later tonight.”

“Please take care of yourself,” I said.

He nodded, then disappeared. I let out a sigh, then patted Cupcake one more time before entering the house. Theo wasn’t kidding. The recliner was practically covered in them. I jumped into my cleaning clothes and quickly got to work, scrubbing the chair. I made a mental note before, but now seeing just how much of them that movie leaked out, I was seriously considering letting Theo watch another one. It was probably because it was his favorite, though. Maybe something about watching his favorite movie while in his childhood home after defeating his father’s ghost really gave him a sense of accomplishment that drained them out of him.

I finished cleaning the chair, then went to my appliances and checked them all. I refilled the blender with more foraged fruits and made a few glasses of apple juice with my juicer. I leaned back, staring at the worn carpet of the kitchen, wondering what lovely hardwood was just underneath.

I walked outside to put the glass from the tool into the second greenhouse. I then put more sand in the tool before slipping back into the kitchen.

I leaned against the wall, hearing the quiet of the house. I turned on a few lights even though the sun was setting, just because I could. I took a moment to wander around the first floor. I remembered what it looked like before, and was pleased with how much work I had done.

I glanced out the window to see a lawn growing. Tulips were beginning to blossom in the flower beds. I’d need to get a lawn mower built soon. In a moment of bravery, I walked out onto the front porch and finished building the porch swing before sitting down and enjoying it. Killie found me and leapt onto my lap. As I sat petting my cat, I tried to think what it was I needed to do. I still had a bunch of leveling to get to upgrading my floors. And to open another greenhouse. But the fences were built, there was no them inside the house. Theo was here, facing his demons. I was cleaning and renovating this absolutely gorgeous turn of the century home. Sometimes I just needed to sit down and appreciate all the work we’d done so far. Acknowledge that they were attacking tomorrow, and I wasn’t in a mad scrabble to get things done.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

I slipped into the house when the wolf timer started blinking. I checked the calendar, seeing it would rain tomorrow. I had so many hearty meat soups that I was positive I could last the entire day outside on what I had stored if I needed to. I should try setting some venison out for the wolf at his den so I wouldn’t have to worry about him much tomorrow night.

I placed all the wool I collected so far into the bed. I doubted the comfort level of the blankets would do anything for my sleep, but it would look nice. The comforter wouldn’t be so spotted and dusty.

I was about ready to go to bed when I heard a noise outside the house. I frowned, approaching the back door to listen when I heard the screen door to the back porch open. I opened the back door, surprised to see Theo walking into the covered back porch, his arms loaded with scrap metal. He nodded at me.

“Got your scrap metal,” he said.

I blinked at him. “How’d you… there’s a wolf out there.”

“Oh, I know. I was fully prepared to sprint into here, but the wolf was just hanging out by the fence. He looks mighty angry he can’t jump across,” Theo said.

I blinked again, then carefully walked to the screen door and popped it open. I heard the wolf before seeing it. The wet, slobbering sniffs and the growling. I saw the shadow more than the creature. I remembered that lawn care could keep the wolf at bay.

“That’s… nice,” I said.

“Yeah, it is. I’ve upgraded my inventory, so I’ve got about fifty scrap metal in there and five here.” He lifted his arms a bit to show me the metal there. I smiled.

“Fantastic!” My building clothes jumped on, and I gestured him to follow me. “I want the fridge upgraded first.”

I opened the kitchen door, then walked toward the fridge and turned, expecting he had followed me, but the back door swung shut again. I paused, then went back to the door, opening it to see Theo glancing forward but not really looking at anything.

“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. If you want, I can just take the metal here and-”

“No. Just… give me a second,” Theo said. He closed his eyes, taking a deep, cleansing breath. “You’ve cleaned the kitchen?”

“Everything but the floors,” I said.

He flinched, then opened his eyes again. I held the door open for him as he took a few steps inside. Despite how careful his steps were inside the kitchen, his eyes were darting everywhere, taking it all in, like prey making sure a predator wasn’t in the vicinity.

I calmly grabbed some of the metal from his arms, making sure to go slow so I wouldn’t startle him, and eased it into the fridge. When all the metal from his arms were gone, he got scrap metal from his inventory to give me. Once I had 25/25 scrap metal into the fridge, I waited. Scrap metal was all I needed, and a sheen came over the fridge. I opened it up to see the items already in there were more compact. They, too, seemed to have baskets to hold up to ten of each kind. This would make things so much easier. I closed the fridge, straightening.

“Thank you.”

I hadn’t noticed before, because I was more focused on the fridge, but once the fridge was done, I noticed that the stove, too, needed some scrap metal.

0/15 scrap metal

That wasn’t too bad. I took another one of Theo’s scrap metals and walked over to the stove. Theo did not follow. Instead, he stayed rooted in the spot, again not looking at anything, but particularly not looking at the door leading up to the second floor. I traveled to him, gathering the scrap metal quietly as I placed it into the oven. The oven gave a sheen before turning on.

Appliance Unlocked! Stove

Can create many recipes usually found from the ingredients of greenhouses three and four

Can also be used to make soup, as long as a pot has been purchased

Nice. Even if I ran out of hearty soups tomorrow, I could still make them here. Though I doubted I’d run out. I really stocked up on those soups.

I turned to see Theo where I left him. He had another scrap metal out, waiting for me to take it, though he was clearly distracted with something else.

“How much scrap metal do you have left?” I asked.

It seemed like Theo couldn’t hear me, but when he slowly turned I saw thin black lines of them creeping into his face. I tried not to react, but my stomach still clenched at the sight.

“F-fifteen,” Theo said. “I have… fifteen left.”

I nodded, then rubbed my upper arm. “I’d like to fix the front screen door. Are you okay walking to the front through the kitchen? Or would you like to go around the house and meet me there?”

Theo said nothing, though I knew he heard me. He hesitated, then hugged himself tightly as he walked through the kitchen. I followed him wordlessly, knowing the lines of them were thin. Once again we did our silent swap, with him giving me the scrap metal to fix the screen door. It didn’t take much before it was back on its hinges. I gave it a gentle swing before closing it and the front door. The screen was all repaired. Once it was done my cleaning clothes appeared on to me. That seemed to pull Theo back to wherever his mind had let him wander. He touched his face, and I wondered if he felt them.

“This… is good. Do you need more? I can go get more. Especially since the wolf can’t enter the fence. I could work all night to-”

“No. Don’t go without sleep,” I said. “They’re attacking tomorrow night, and you’ll need your rest.”

Theo let out a sigh, glancing at the floor before shivering and glancing at the ceiling instead. “But you’ll need scrap metal?”

“Just fifty more. For the lawn mower. Don’t stress about it. You can get it tomorrow morning,” I said.

Theo said nothing, his mind traveling back to wherever it had been before. He opened his mouth to say something else when we heard a whimpering coming from the second floor. I jumped and turned. It sounded like it was coming from the green room. I had just finished cleaning that place. Hauntings hadn’t ever happened up there before.

Theo closed his eyes, a hand to his mouth.

“Who…” I started to ask.

“Mom,” he whispered. “That’s… mom.”