Disclaimer: These characters belong to the Oxen Free game and to Night School Studio.

Thank you for everyone still reading this. May God bless you all.

July 10, 1943

Anna let out a large yawn. She had just come off an 18-hour shift. She could have fallen asleep on the concrete road.

At least tomorrow she had off. Maggie and Lydia the new girl would be doing half-day shifts.

Maggie she thought. She had been acting strange lately. She seemed almost bouncy half the time. Well, at least when she was actually around. Sometimes she'd be gone for hours with zero explanation. Then she'd just end up back in the house suddenly.

Maggie's behavior was weird enough, but what bothered Anna was how often it seemed that Leon would stop by.

Not that Anna really minded. He was good company, but it did make her think.

At first, she threw the thought out of her mind. Maggie would never…

However day after day of him coming in and out of the house…

No… She told herself. You can't think that way.

"Oh, good night." A familiar voice said.

Anna looked up to see Leon standing in front of Maggie's house.

"Oh, hello." She said not feeling any need to alert him about her suspicions.

"Long night?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "Are you here to see Maggie?"

"No," He answered.

"So why are you here?" She asked him.

By now Anna had moved to open the door.

"Can't I be here to see you?" He asked.

At this Anna's heart skipped a beat. That was unexpected, but not exactly unwanted.

"Um…" She began "Well…"

For once Anna found herself unable to form the words.

"Just a joke." He admitted and chuckled slightly.

Anna let out a weak laugh as she opened the door and went inside. Part of her just wanted to run to her room and bury her head in the pillow.

"Actually Maggie asked me to come." He told her.

"She's on the radio tower all night." Replied Anna.

"Really?" He asked.

"No, not really." Came a voice from behind Anna.

She turned around to see Maggie walking up the entryway.

"New girls covering my shift today." She said as she approached the two.

Maggie seemed almost giddy. Though in truth almost every time Leon showed up she behaved this way.

"Something wrong Maggie?" Asked Anna.

"No." Maggie Answered. "I just… have somewhere to be."

Anna wanted to dig deeper but Maggie shot past her, into the house, and…

…Right into the bathroom.

When you gotta go you gotta go. Thought Anna.

"Are you coming in?" She asked Leon.

"That depends." He said. "Who cooked tonight?"

Anna smiled. "I don't think anyone actually."

"Then I think I'll be on my way. Besides you've been working all day. You must be exhausted."

"Wait but I thought Maggie asked you to come?" She inquired as he started to leave.

"I've already done what she asked." He said.

Anna wasn't sure what he meant, but right now she was just too tired to press the matter. She went inside and closed the door behind her.

Inside was quiet. The bathroom door was closed so Anna assumed Maggie was still in there. She went upstairs and changed into her sleeping garments before returning downstairs…

…Where the bathroom door remained closed.

"You alright in there Mag?" Anna asked.

No Answer.

"Mag?"

No answer.

Anna turned the nob and opened the door slowly.

"Maggie?" She asked.

However, when she looked, there was no one in the bathroom.

Did she go back out while I was changing upstairs? Anna Thought.

Whatever happened the bathroom was now vacant so Anna decided to do what she had to do and then pass out in her bedroom upstairs.

It had been a long day.

Present-day

Back at the radio tower, it seemed like Nona and Ren had been brought up to speed.

Though Ren was well… being Ren.

"So wait you're telling me that I've eaten the same brownie over and over again?

"Really Ren?" Asked Nona.

"It's just a weird concept…" He replied. "Doing something for the first time over and over again."

"Yeah, loops can be…" Started Leon but stopped midway as he turned around and faced Alex, Jonas…

…And Clarissa.

"What is she doing here?"

He seemed genuinely surprised.

"We were hoping you could tell us." Replied Jonas. "Why did you restore her memories?"

"What are you talking about?" Leon asked.

"Who is this guy?" Asked Clarissa.

Alex suddenly felt butterflies in her stomach.

"Wait… If you didn't restore her memories…?" Alex couldn't finish the statement.

"You think we needed him?" Came a voice behind her. It was coming from Clarissa but it wasn't her voice.

Clarissa walked slowly past both Alex and Jonas. Looking Ahead, Alex saw that Leon did the same until the two were practically eye to eye.

"So… another keeper." The voice said calmly.

"Let the girl go." Leon demanded mirroring his opponent's calmness.

"You wanna take her place?" The sunken asked. "We could use another keeper."

Leon seemed unfazed by the question/threat.

"I'll say it again… let her go."

From where she was Alex could only see the back of Clarissa's head, but something told her that the teenage girl was smiling.

"See ya soon." Was all that came out before Clarissa suddenly stumbled back.

Alex and Jonas rushed to prevent her from falling, but she eventually caught herself against the railing.

"What.. What happened?" This time it was Clarissa's voice.

"We have to move." Was all Leon said.

"What? Who are you?" Clarissa asked. She seemed basically back to normal.

"I'll explain on the way. Follow me, everyone!"

With that Leon began heading down the radio tower stairs.

The group all followed though Clarissa seemed confused about exactly what was happening.

Alex watched as the redhead walked just ahead of her and Jonas. Up to this point pretty much everything had happened similar to how it happened on the other loops, but this seemed like a game-changer.

God only knows what the new rules were…

…If there were even any.

Thank you all who made it to the end. This chapter was short I know but I think this is a good spot to end before we get into another aspect of the story.

May God bless you all.