I stared at Theo as the whimpering we heard turned into a cry. Almost like she had a sob built up in her and was letting it out as little as possible. I had never heard his mother crying. It had always been just the whispers in the locked room. The male and female that I pieced together were Theo’s parents. But I supposed… since Theo had gotten rid of his father’s ghost today…

Was Theo strong enough for this? Two ghosts in one day? He had a hard enough time being in the kitchen. We never talked about going to the second floor.

“You don’t have to do this now if you don’t want to,” I told him as my sanity started shivering, dropping one percent. “We still have a lot of seasons left.”

Theo said nothing, hugging himself as the woman in the green room kept weeping. “She’ll cry every night until I talk to her, though,” Theo said.

“We don’t… know that for certain,” I said.

“I do.” He said it so quietly I almost didn’t hear it. “She cries… often.”

I swallowed, not sure what to say. Theo closed his eyes again, leaning against the wall. “Theo,” I started to say.

“I can do this. I’ll need to do it. If it will drop the corruption another ten percent, it would be stupid not to do this now. Especially since the corruption is attacking tomorrow night,” Theo said.

“Would you like me there?” I asked.

Theo nodded almost before I finished speaking. Black tears formed in his eyes, which meant there was still them inside him. “I am going to close my eyes and cover my ears. I cannot see those stairs. I cannot see that landing. I have nightmares about falling into an abyss while I’m walking down those stairs,” Theo said quietly.

A lump formed in my throat as I nodded. “Tell me when you’re ready.”

Theo closed his eyes, causing oily tears to drop down his cheeks. “Ready.”

I took his elbow. “I will lead you through your grandmother’s room and up the stairs there. They still squeak because the stairs are old. If you’d like, you can cover your ears.”

Theo nodded, and already lifted his palms to his ears. I waited until he was situated, then I took his elbow. He closed his eyes tighter, but nodded again. I then led him through his grandmother’s bedroom, through the doorway, then up those stairs. I kept glancing behind me, making sure he was okay. Those oily tears kept falling down his cheeks as we climbed the stairs. I was in front, holding his elbow as he hunched down, taking one step at a time.

I followed the sound of the muffled sobs. She was in the green room, the one I just finished cleaning. I walked inside, leading Theo. I closed the door, the sobbing woman’s cries echoing off the walls.

“We’re here,” I whispered to Theo.

The moment Theo opened his eyes, the woman materialized in the corner of the room. Her legs were brought up to her chest. She was wearing pajamas. Her long brown hair was spilling over her shoulders. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties.

Theo collapsed to his knees, his face frozen, a silent grief entering his eyes. Theo’s mother had her hand over her mouth to hold in the sobs. Where Theo was kneeling, they were crawling up his pants and torso, shoving tears away as they entered his eyes.

“You wanted to leave,” Theo whispered. There were tears dropping from his eyes at the same rate they were entering his body. “It’s what I remembered. You wanted to leave. You felt like you had to. But you didn’t.”

I tried not to react. I leaned against the wall, remaining silent, my brows furrowed in pain.

“He was here,” she said, her voice taking on that ghostly echo. “He was here, and I talked to him. He promised he wanted to make things right. I hope he will. I love him.”

Theo bowed his head again, shuddering. I covered my mouth. Was Theo’s mom a complete idiot?

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When that thought passed, I pushed myself to think more compassionately. I looked at her, sobbing in the corner. She was so young. A few years older than Theo and I ourselves. So young, yet already mother to a four-year-old child.

“You know he won’t,” Theo whispered, looking at the ground.

Theo’s mom shook her head. “I know.” She let out a sob. “I know.”

“You know you’re dead.” Theo still refused to look at her.

Theo’s mom raised her head, and this time I did gasp. There was a long gash across her neck, and her pajama shirt was soaked in blood. Theo glanced up to see it, more oily tears dropped from his eyes.

“I gave up,” she whispered, her fingers curling inward as she placed her fists against her neck. “I was too tired. Running from place to place. This was supposed to be it. This was supposed to be our forever home. He was never supposed to find us. It was so exhausting, living in constant fear. How could I possibly parent a child when I was so scared.”

Theo hesitated, his eyes lingering on her throat. “You never let me ride a bike. You never let me play outside. The only time I could sing was inside. And yet you knew he was here. You knew he’d try something. You spent so much time trying to keep me safe, yet when it fell on your shoulders to run, you stayed.” Theo’s voice broke. “I hate that I hate you, too.”

I swallowed, remaining by the wall. Theo’s mom stopped crying. She stared at Theo, watching him as he bowed his head again, wiping the black tears from his eyes. They were slowing their climb.

“No,” Theo whispered. “I can’t. I can’t hate you.”

“And yet?” Theo’s mom’s voice was more solid.

“And yet… it’s complicated,” Theo said.

She nodded, her fists still against her throat. “And yet you heard. You heard me tell Nana I couldn’t do this anymore. That we should run, but I just can’t. That I need a week to come to terms with this.”

Theo covered his face in his hands. “You and Nana would have been okay. If you ran away.”

“Something you yourself are familiar with, yes?” Theo’s mom asked.

“What are you talking about?” Theo asked.

“A constant battle. A demon from outside. The adrenaline that you receive the first few battles, then the pure exhaustion when you realize this is what you have to do the rest of your life. Sometimes, son, it is a relief to set it down and just give up.”

Theo dropped his hands and stared at his mother. His mom gave him a sad smile. Theo stuttered before he started talking. “I… didn’t commit suicide. Quinn told me. The beings in charge of this game told her. I feel it.” His words sounded less sure the more he spoke.

I stared at Theo’s mother, feeling my heart pounding in my chest so hard it ached. Did she know something I didn’t? Was this some sort of trick? I knew I couldn’t completely trust the alien overlords, but they were certain. We would not be here if Theo tried to kill himself.

Theo’s mother smiled. “I cannot tell you to stop hating me when I have a hard time not hating myself. I am happy, though, that you managed to escape.” She closed her eyes, starting to fade. “Makes resting a bit easier.”

“Mom,” Theo said, crawling forward to reach her. “Mom, wait.”

“You’re safe now, Theo. He’s gone, too. You can sing outside again.”

Theo’s fingers brushed through his mother, and she disappeared. I covered my mouth, almost too scared to breathe. Theo’s breathing was shaky as he curled his fingers.

“I didn’t… I didn’t kill myself…” he kept whispering.

3/4 ghosts defeated

Power of them reduced by another 10%

“I didn’t… you said I didn’t…” Theo said.

“You’re right,” I said, walking over to him. “You didn’t. I don’t know what your mom was trying to say, but I know what I felt.

Theo almost said something else when his back arched. He bowed his head, covering his mouth as a large sludge creature full of teeth and hair dropped out of his mouth. He gasped for air as the sludge shivered and tried to get back in him.

I held out my hand. “Give it to me.” Theo curled his fingers around the sludge, giving me a look of horror. “Give it to me!” I said again.

“This is disgusting, Quinn. I’m not… I can’t…”

“It’s better to get it out than to continually cycle it through. Give. It. To. Me!” I held out both of my gloved hands. The sludge started to rise up toward Theo’s face, and he tried to drop it, but it clung to his hands.

“Quinn,” he said, a slight tremor of fear in his voice.

“Throw it at me, I’ll catch it,” I said.

The sludge started up toward his face. Fear, more than anything, caused Theo to chuck the sludge in my direction. I opened my palms and caught the creature. It only took a moment before it turned into liquid, dripping from my hands.

Theo shuddered, looking away.

“How much did that drop your corruption?” I asked.

Theo still had his head bowed, still on his hands and knees. “Seven percent.”

“Do you have another one you’d like to throw at me?” I asked.

Theo shook his head. “No. No. I don’t want to.”

“If the only thing stopping you from doing this is because you’re embarrassed, I need you to… stop. Stop thinking that way,” I said. “I don’t care, Theo. I’m not judging you. I never will. I just want you to get them out of your system.”

“I don’t want to do this every time!” Theo said, his head still bowed, refusing to look at me. “It’s humiliating. This can’t be how I drop my corruption.”

“Dying can’t be the way, either,” I told him.

Theo made another noise, and I was ready to catch another thing of sludge, but he held his hand over his mouth and swallowed. I couldn’t help it and scrunched my nose. “Theo…”

He stood up, closing his eyes. “Take me downstairs, please. I… want to go to bed.”