This room is gloomy. That's the first thing I notice as I enter the house. The atmosphere of the place. The curtains are fully closed, with only little slits of light seeping in. The lights are off. As my eyes adjust to the dim light, I find myself looking around, but only at my spot beside the door, not daring to actually walk further in. The quiet is all-consuming, except for an unnerving ticking sound, which I soon notice to be a grandfather clock in the corner. Across from it, there's a sofa, back turned towards the door, with a TV in front of it, against the wall.

The rest of the room is full of different objects, almost as if the owner, the mayor, didn't want to have a full set of items and preferred them to be mismatched for the most part. The floor has a ladybug carpet on it, while the walls have vivid flowers on them. Garden themed in a way, but not so much to do with outdoor activities. There's a small kitchen like area in the bottom right corner. A larger version of one of those dolls, that you can open up, resides to the side and there are a few other such knick-knacks, like an hourglass. All in all, it looks like a living room for the most part, with quite a personalized look and a kitchen with a sink to the side.

I find myself properly entering the room now, wondering where to begin. I feel like I may be being watched by someone, but whoever came into the house isn't in this room, that's for sure. They wouldn't have much to hide behind where I wouldn't see them. But to the left, right and forward, are even more rooms, not to mention there's a stairway leading to a room upstairs and another to the basement. If I enter any one of them, I might end up missing the culprit behind the house break-in. I have to be careful. I don't think I'll be letting my guard down anytime soon though, not with this intense feeling that I shouldn't be here. It's really none of my business...maybe I should just leave...

Suddenly, I hear a crashing sound from behind me. I nearly jump out of my boots when I hear it and turn around to face it. I now see a small object, lying at the foot of the stairs. I slowly approach it, only just near enough to see the surface of broken glass now. It's a picture frame...And in the picture, on the front is...

Rover.

I nearly choke upon seeing this. I didn't even want to think of the possibility of Rover coming here. I tried to only think of Stinky. But something compels me, pushes me forward, to pick it up. After carefully picking the frame up in my hand, I turn it around, glass shards fall to the floor, but miraculously, the back is undamaged. There's a neatly written quote on the back, reading:

"Always trust a smiling cat."

Why would this be here? Is Rover upstairs? Is he trying to say something by throwing this down here? Or is he just taunting me again?.. His smile in the picture seems just as unreadable as I remember, just as emotionless. And his eyes, are as empty as ever, but still... I can't tell for sure what his intentions could be... If they're good or bad. Even if... he was the reason I ended up here... Even if he said... he said... he had met the mayor...

Wait.

He said he'd met the mayor. He said he knew her. Why didn't I remember this little fact before now? Am I stupid? Even if I didn't want to think about it... All this time, I could've been looking for Rover, I...

I avoided him. Avoided even thinking of him.. It might be...my fault the mayor is still missing. It might all be my fault.

No. I can't think that way... I can still make up for it... right? I can still... find him.

Stuffing the broken picture frame in my pocket for now, I now look up at the stairway, leading up to a plain, wooden door. The cat, Rover, could be there. I have to... at least look. No matter how scared I am of finding out the truth. Only the truth will light my way.

I run up the stairs, not giving any potential culprits any time to throw more stuff at me. I open the door and-

It's a bedroom. An empty bedroom. Everything is in place... The bed is made. There are other picture frames on top of stands...As I walk past, I see O'hare's and a few other villagers' pictures... I even see one of the giant clam shells, which appears to be custom decorated.

I search the entire room, looking under the bed. In the armoire... I find nothing, until, I look in the mirror of a vanity, and see the giant clam shell again.

I turn around and walk towards it. It looks like it might contain something. I touch it. More like press down on it...and... it opens up. A piece of paper falls out of it and I see that the clam shell has been made...into a music box.

I now pick up the piece of paper. Written on it, are some words I'd assume to be lyrics. I'm about to wind up the box, but before I can, it starts on its own. I feel like it took a while to activate since it's been unused for so long. I listen, eyes on the paper before me, as the lullaby begins to play. I read the lyrics in tune with the music.

Everytime I dream of you.

Lonely times,

sad times.

Through it all, one thing stayed true.

You never once cared.

What is this? The mayor wrote this? Who did she mean when she-

Suddenly, the world around me fades to black.

E͕̩̯͕ͧ͆̾̌͛ͅr͊̄ͮr̉͑͏̟o̺̖͎ͣ͑̂ṟ̫̺̮̳̹̽ͧ͟ ͉͉̹͚̾ͯͬh̲̺͆a͙̳̙̝͈͖ͬͫ̐̏̀̈̌s̘̳̬̥͗ͨ̐̈́̕ ̟͙̣̣̺̞̮̆̈́ͧͦͨó̶̄͂ͧͨ̀ͫc̥͍̹̤̪͍̾̚͘ͅc̈̌ͮͬ͏̮͖̥̫u̟̇͛͜r͑͌ͤ̔̿͊̓͏r̤̰͍ͣͪ̈́͑ͣͨȩ̖̩͒̒͗ͨd͉̥̯̠͔̮ͤ.͋ USER2_access_D̏ͨ͏̫en̷̞̼͆̋̈́ͥͬ͐.͉̞͓̳͙ͣied. H̢͓͍̐̓̅̈́͆ͨ̅ŏ̝̠̓͐̐̎ͭ͞l̺͋d̼ͮ̀͗̏ͫ͑̀ ͚̘̳̰̥̰̐ͥ͐̍ͪ͠D̏ͨ͏̫o̩̼͙̙̥̓ͤͫ͘w̴̭̞ͬṇ̓͐͋̌ͩ̽̚͡ ̧̇ͣ̾͒ͨ̎̉t̷͚͇̣̒ͤ̓h̵͓̖̹͔͓̿ͯ̑̒ͤė̖͕̲͚̰͋̽̆͜ ̧̅̅͐P̴̦̱̦̭͈̲̳̋̋Ȏ̔͝W̧̩̗̭͌̅E̥͚̰̾̃R̸͓̙̯͕̲͖ ͙̙̗̯͈͆̄͝b͙̔ͥͭ͐ͫ̓͞ü̠̤̬̻̞̥͇̋̓ͣ̓̀t̝͉͇̹͈͍̊͒t̃͏̠o̰̓͞n̷̞̼͆̋̈́ͥͬ͐.͉̞͓̳͙ͣ͑

What is this place... It's so dark...

I don't know what's going on... Please... I need to know the truth... I need the light to shine for me...

f̛͍̝i̞l̮ͅe͙͖_̙͍͈n̙̬̗a̤̯̺͕̳m͎̝̞͓̕e̴.͙T͎R̳̬̤̮̘̫̖UT̻̯͍̻H̪͓͙̳͙ ̸̗̼n̥̤͘o̢̘̬͍̳͉͉t̹̗̘̺̥̣ ́f̡̳̬͙̤̬͉o͓͖̝ͅu̹ͅn͇̝̖̝̞̺͉d͜.̝̪̣̠ l̮ͅoading memory2009 .exe ...

"Game!" The announcer says as I finish a round of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. I'm playing online, but unfortunately, I didn't win. Even with one of my best characters.

I set down my wiimote and nunchuck. Maybe I'll go get Super Paper Mario. I still need to beat Count Bleck and his minions, after all! Ů̳͖̠̖͔̯̩̑S̗̲̥̠̫̹̘ͣ̀͐̉̔E̢͖͊͂̇͑̐̋R̭̺̼̰̦̠͌ͦ̽ͣ̎ͤ̚͘2̆̔̕ said it was dumb when I got it because Mario isn't supposed to be a "bootleg sticker", whatever that means.

But the story so far has me intrigued at the very least. Suddenly, a thought occurs to me. Maybe I should wait for her to get home...She might want to watch me play... A small-Ơ̟̫̩̬̤̝̓̌̈́̄V͉͓̫̙̾ͨͅE̠͍̩̲̥͎͉RW̵̃̇H̹̝̜́ͬE͚̻̹̓̅L͒̀͏̻̙Mͮ̈͂́̍ͭ̓I͒́Ń̡̻͉̥̎G̴̜͉̻͖̫͎̘ ̺͋feeling of doubt occurs to me though. She probably doesn't like the game or... I don't finish that thought.

The front door, which I can see from the living room opens with the rummaging of the lock. My sister walks in. Not just her. Looks like she's with some of her friends. I cringe, immediately stiffening around them. Ĭ̪̣͈̱́ͭ̈́ ̨̽ͬ̇̓ͩͣͧH̜̻̬͚̲̲̳̾̐A͎̭͠Ţ̭̟ͬ͛̿ͬ̽Ȅ̃̏ ̜͉͉͖͑T̨̞͈̬͍̯̈́H͈̀ͩ̀̑̒͐Ë̴́M̝̺̒ ̧͋͊̽̚ÀL̀ͭͦ̏͗̓҉̦̩L̝͍̱̟̺̞ͤ̃ͣ.̲͇͎̜͖͈̼̍̾

"So what movie do you guys wanna watch?" She says in their language.

"Got any rated 18 flicks?" One of the girls asks as they near a shelf of movies near me in the living room.

"Yeah, my mom won't care what we watch." My sister replies. It's true. She doesn't really careN̗͈͙̘͎͇͌̅ͭ̊̔Ę͓̣̮̏̎̃̍ͧ͑ͅV͌̌͆̓̀È̯̖̥͉̬ͧ̀ͭ͐͗͒͠R͖̞͍̤ͨ ͙͐C̥̠̊̈́Ȁ̲͎̹̬̱̂̏̍R͇̟͙͉͇͈͉̍͋̐͘Ē̟̤̦̩͕̰̓ͯ̔̐ͯ͊́Ḋ̬̥͆͋̓ͥ̇ what content we view, but I, for the most part watch the more "safe" stuff anyway.

They suddenly notice m̲̟̖̮ͯ̑̄̄e͐́̍ͥ ̓-̎̊ER̛̟̜̦̮͙̗ͤͦͅR̨ͮ͊̂ͯ͊͛̚Ó̮̜̯̦̥̯̆̍ͨR͊̈͊̋.̌̈́́ͤ̌͒ͨF̨͓͇̭͕̱̦ͨͤ̄ͧi̛͇̝̹ͅͅl̓͌ͪ̎ͬe͖͙̙͂̃̚͢ ̮͖̞͔ͨ̊ͅn̠̰̳͊o̠̯̪͆͑͌t͈̠̾̉ͤ̐̓͊ ̨̭̝͈ͦf̷̠͇̩͈̩̮͑̎̃o͊͌͛ͤ͆̚ṵ̣̞̰̝͍͙ͤ͑̉̊̃ͣń̞̚̕ͅd̫̤̱̠̠̤̰̄.̰̞̝̬̟̱̐̔̐ͤ̋ͣͮ ̸̯̬͓̟

Rebooting game... Don't touch the POWER button. Reboot successful. Continuing game...