I freaked out when I woke up the next morning.

I seem to freak every time I wake up because I can never recognize the area I'm in when I open my eyes. Which I am sure if very unhealthy if it happens to a person every time they wake up.

It wasn't until I rolled off the bed, entangled in my blanket and smacking my face into the floor, that I realized I was in Casey's house. Wiggling within my blankets like a worm, I inched myself forward, rolling onto my back.

Shifting my weight, I rocked back and forth, hoping to pull my arms free. "Oh… come on..." I grunted. I can manage to escape steroid induced men but I can't manage to get out of bed in the morning? That sounds so sad.

At the sound of someone knocking on the door I froze and tilted my head back to stare at it. "Ms. Phillis?" It was Mr. Jones, "Are you alright in there?"

Oh uh…" Well this was rather embarrassing, "Yes." I rolled back onto my face. "I'm fine!" I called, though my voice sounded sort of muffled.

"Alrighty then. Breakfast is ready and down stairs when you want some. Also, if you wanna take a shower just let me know and I can lend you some extra clothes."

"Clothes?" I frowned

"Yes, doubt any of my clothes would fit you so I can lend you some of my wife's. Unless of course you enjoy baggy clothes. I myself am a fan of them." he chuckled.

I tilted my head. I hadn't met Mrs. Jones yet so I felt curious to know what kind of person she was. Casey definitely seemed like his Father, but didn't exactly look like him. Perhaps Casey took more after his Mother's looks?

Now that I think about, why haven't I met his Mother yet? You would think she would have woken up last night during the time I came into the house, or stayed up to wait for Casey to get home, just like his Father. Perhaps she was a heavy sleeper?

Or… was she even around? There was no way I was going to bring that question up anytime soon. I mean, how could I possibly ask, Hey, you got a Mom or what? That is so rude! So very very rude and inconsiderate. So I'll just wait and see what they say and make my own personal assumptions.

"So I should get you some clothes then?" Mr. Jones repeated his question.

"Oh yes! Yes please, if you don't mind. Or if your wife doesn't mind."

"I'm sure she would be fine with it." he chuckled on the other side of the door before disappearing down the hall. Waiting a few seconds, listening to his fading footsteps, I rested my forehead against the wooden floor.

Well, I should probably get up at some point today. I can't just lie on the floor for the rest of my life. Curling into a ball, I forced my hand free out of its blanket cage, ripping off the sheets. At long last free, I rolled over and jumped to my feet.

I kind of felt like… uh…. that one guy. Oh I just had it in my brain! He has a red hat and is a plumber. You know who I am talking about, right? He goes around jumping on boxes and turtles and… strange mushroom men. Mario was it? Yeah, that. I kind of felt like him when I jumped up and hit the ceiling with my fist.

It didn't really hurt, but I wondered if it should since I just punched something.

"Hey JD!" Suddenly, Casey burst into the room. Staring at me, he frowned. "Why are you just standing in the middle of the room?"

"Why did you barge into a female's room?" I countered. "I could have been changing."

"Oh." his eyes widened. "Sorry." stepping back outside he closed the door and knocked. "..." He stood there, waiting.

"...You can come in." I called awkwardly. Stepping in, he chuckled.

"Better?"
"I suppose?" I frowned. Though it was kind of pointless since he came in without knocking anyway. "So uh… what can I do for you?" I shuffled back and forth, stuffing my hands into my pockets.

"Well, my Pop told me to bring you these." he held up a bundle of clothes. "It is gonna snow today, so I doubt you wanna walk around in that." he pointed to my outfit. Though slimming and comfortable, I doubt it was stand well against the cold.

"Thank you very much." I took the bundle, examining the clothes. "So these are your Mom's?"

"They use to be." he nodded. We stared at each other. Use? "...How are ya feeling JD?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, my name is Phillis." I sighed.
"Phillis is such a lame name though."

"It is not! It is a beautiful name."

"Whatever you say."
Huffing at him, I smiled. "Thank you for asking though. I feel fine just… a little overwhelmed."

"Have you gotten any new texts from that creep?" Casey scowled at the Phone I left resting on the nightstand. Realizing I had forgotten to check, I grabbed the phone and opened it up. I had no new messages… thankfully.

Don't get me wrong, I wanna learn about my past as soon as possible, but I would gladly avoid having to talk to that… Game Master, to do so. Seriously, this whole thing just creeped me out.

How was I connected to the Game Master? I'm assuming he has some sort of personal grudge against me if he was doing this, but what could I have possibly done to him? Certainly it wasn't anything bad enough that he would take away my memories, send men to attack me, and force me to go on some sort of scavenger hunt… right?

Well, I would say Yes, if only all of those things weren't actually happening right now.

"He hasn't sent anything." I said softly, staring at the blank screen.

"Well good." Casey nodded with a sniff. "I say we just get rid of that stupid phone." he grunted.

'No." I shook my head. "I need to get my memories back."

"Can't you get them back without having to do his stupid game though? I mean, how can he even give them back to you anyway?" Casey folded. "Sounds kind of weird to me. Like, did he just suck them out of you or something? I didn't think Memories could just be taken out."

"Well I…" I trailed off. "I mean, I dunno. He is the only lead I have to my past though, so what choice do I have?"
Casey sighed heavily. "I just don't like this. A creep like that shouldn't even be walking around on the streets-"
"Agreed." The two of us straightened when Mr. Jones came into the room. "And what is worse is that he doesn't wish for you to involve the Police."

"Mr. Jones." my eyes widened.
"Right now, there is nothing we can do about it. Both of you come down stairs, have some breakfast, then we can discuss this some more. I'm sure you are hungry Phillis." he grinned at me. As the sound of Breakfast my stomach had begun to growl. It was almost painful, like I hadn't eaten anything in a few days.

"Food sounds amazing." I patted my stomach.

We all moved down the stairs together. From time to time, I would glance at the pictures that hung on the wall as I passed them. A lot of them were of Casey and a young girl, who I assumed to be his younger sister. "Do you like to play Hockey, Casey?" I inquired, pausing to look at one picture that had him on the ice, holding a trophy over his head, grinning wildly.

"You bet I do!" He grinned. "I'm the best in the league. No one can beat Casey Jones!"

I chuckled. "How long have you been playing?"
"He first got on the ice when he was 3." Mr. Jones said as I was lead into the kitchen. "Ever since then he hasn't been able to get off of it."
"It's a calling. One day, I'm even gonna go Pro." Casey folded his arms, smirking confidently.

"Not if ya don't get ya grades up ya won't." Mr. Jones gave him a playful pump on the head and pulled out a chair for me. Smiling at the gesture I sat down.

"So I guess that means you aren't the best in school?"

"Eh…. Math and Science aren't exactly my forte." the younger boy shrugged. "I'm okay with English though."

"You would think everyone in America would be able to pass English just fine, it is their native language." Mr. Jones shook his head, moving to the counter to grab a few plates of eggs and bacon had had previously made. yum yum!

"They don't even actually teach us English though!" Casey complained. "We learn about books and how to write long complicated Essays."

"Don't you have vocabulary lessons?" I inquired.

"Well… I guess sometimes." he shrugged, taking the plate from his Dad and handing it to me. "But we only learn super complicated words."

I nodded a few times. This was… strange. I wasn't sure how to explain this but I didn't feel… nervous around these people. Does that make sense?

I mean, I don't feel like these people are strangers to me. I'm having such a normal conversation even though nothing about this situation is normal. How strange is that? I just met these two after all, yet here we are, sitting here having breakfast and talking about school like normal families would.

...It was definitely strange but… kind of nice too.

"Papa~" from the hallway, a soft shuffle of feet began to approach us. Turning my head, my eyes widened at the sight of a young 5 year old girl stumbling into the kitchen. Still wearing her nightgown, with a white rabbit clutched in her fist and dragged behind her, she moved towards the table. "Morning…. I'm hungry~" The girl, like her brother, had big brown eyes and black hair.

"Morning Baby girl." Mr. Jones smiled. "Your breakfast is right there."

"Kay." she slurred, crawling up into the chair and scooting forward. Grabbing a fork and a spoon, she placed the two utensils onto the eggs, moving her hands back and forth in a sawing motion.
"Angel, you can't use a spoon to cut eggs you dork." Casey cackled. The 5 year old, Aka Angel, only half listening to her brother through her half asleep mind, blinked at him.

"Spoon?"
"You're using a spoon." Casey pointed out. Looking down at her hands, the child blinked a few times, realization slowly hitting her.

"Oh! A spoon." she giggled, putting it down. Using her fork for the rest of her food, she lifted it up to her mouth, munching down. Taking a few slow and steady chews, she glanced at me. "..." Her puffed out cheeks continued to move as she chew, staring at me with wide eyes. She took another bite, frowning a bit, as if something wasn't exactly right with this.

"Angel…" Casey snickered. We all waited patiently for her to realize that I was a stranger and sitting next to her.

"..." She slowly shook her head.
"Uh… hello." I waved.
'...OH!" she gasped in shock. "Papa! Papa! There is a girl in here!' she wailed.

"Took her long enough." Casey snorted at his sister.

"Baby girl, this is Phillis-"

"JD." Casey cut in.
"Phillis." I frowned at him.

"JD."

"Phillis."

"JD is cooler!"

"I like Phillis!"

"That-"

"This is J Phillis D." Mr. Jones put his hands between us, separating us. "She is in a little bit of a pickle so she is gonna be staying with us for a while. Be nice to her, okay?"

Looking back and forth from her older brother to me, Angel slowly nodded her head. "Okay Papa." she agreed. "Oh! You can play with me!' she cheered. "Casey isn't good at tea parties."

Casey frowned and lifted up his pinkie. "I just don't get why lifting up your pinky makes you more sophisticated." he mumbled.
"W-Well…. I would love to play with you Angel." I smiled at her.
"Yeah! Philly, you and me will be best friends." she nodded her head.
"...Philly?" I sighed, not sure if I should dislike that name more or JD. I guess Philly is at least a little closer to Phillis than JD. Plus, it was cute when Angel said it.

"So Philly, how old are you? Are you big brother's age?" Angel smiled sweetly.

"I think I'm a lot older than Casey." I chuckled.

I was, wasn't I? I mean, I feel a lot older than a teenager, but I don't look like one. I'm taller than him, so that must mean I'm definitely a few years older. I wonder how older though? Am I in my 20's…. or am I just a really young looking 30 year old?

"You do look like an adult." Casey nodded. "I bet you're 25 or something."
"25 seems correct for the time being." Mr. Jones nodded in agreement

"Are you 5 like me?" Angel held up 5 tiny fingers.

"No, she is 25." Casey corrected.

"Maybe." I shrugged.

"Don't you know?" Angel asked, tilting her head. Frowning, I shook my head a few times.

"I'm afraid not. I don't remember who I am… or anything about myself." I explained. Angel's eyes widened.

"Like… Like Omnia?" She gasped.
"Amnesia Baby girl. Come on now, eat your eggs." Mr. Jones brushed a few crumbs off her pudgy cheeks.

"Amnesia." Angel said in awe, staring at me. "So you can't remember nothing?"

I kind of wanted to correct her grammar, but instead I nodded a few times, giving her a weak smile. "That is right."

"Not even your birthday!?"

I nodded again. "Not even my Birthday."

Looking heart broken, as if that news was awful to her, Angel reached forward and patted my head. "I'm sorry."

"Oh no… No no, it is alright Angel. I'm not upset." I assured her.
"You aren't?" she sniffed.

"Well I mean… yes, I'm a little upset." I chuckled. "But just because I have Amnesia doesn't mean I'll never remember again."

Angel nodded a few times, still looking concerned. I wanted to tell her everything would be fine and she didn't have to worry about me… But honestly, I didn't know if any of that would happen. What if I never remembered who I was? And what if this Game Master is only fibbing about knowing my past? I don't know…. I just don't know.

So I put on my best smile and kept eating. Mr. Jones and Casey were staring at me, but I wasn't able to look them in the eyes.

After Breakfast, Angel had brought me to her room to have, as she says, Girl talk.

It wasn't so much as a girl talk since she dragged Casey in as well, but I wasn't going to correct her. It was actually pretty cute to watch Angel sit Casey down at her little table. It was too small for him, so his knees poked out.

"Angel." he grumbled as his sister placed a frilly hat on his head.

"I'm Ms. Angel." Angel corrected, placing a hat on her head as well. "You are Ms. Cathleen, and Philly is Ms. Philly." she concluded, yanking me down to the table and plopping a large sun hat on my head.

"Here you go." Angel smiled as she handed me a teacup. Taking it awkwardly into my hands, I nodded my head.

"Thank you." I smiled. I suppose we are having some sort of tea party now.

"And here is some tea for Ms. Cathleen." Angel handed Casey a second teacup. Taking it into his fingers, he scowled at the pink and frilly design of it, not exactly pleased that he was dragged into this.

"Now, we sip!" Angel declared, lifting her cup. Taking an elegant sip, she gave us a look, signaling that she wanted us to do the same.

"Oh uh…." I lifted the cup to my lips.

"No!" she gasped. "Not like that!"

"Huh?" I jumped. "H-How then?"
"You hafta lift your pinkie." she wiggled her pinky in front of my face. Not sure what she meant I turned to Casey for help. He sighed, sticking out his pinkie as an example.

Curious, I copied his movements and took a sip. "Like that?"
"Yes." Angel nodded, standing up and patting my head. "Good job." she praised as if I was a child who was younger than her. Could you count me as a child since I knew not a thing about anything?

….Not a thing about anything? God gosh, someone get me a book on proper grammar, jeez.

"...Thanks?" I frowned. Angel giggled.

"Remember." she instructed. "When in doubt, pinkies out."
"Ooh." I nodded. "That is actually very clever."

"Thank you." she bowed. "I made it up myself."

"You did not." Casey snorted. "That is a universal term."

"Is not." Angel hushed him.

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too!"

"Is not!" Angel tossed a pillow at him. Ducking Casey stuck out his tongue.

The life of siblings, it sounds so very complicated.

...I wonder if I have any siblings out there. If I do, I wonder if I argue with them like Angel does with Casey.

"Well, either way, that is a very smart way to remember the lesson." I chuckled, sticking my pinkie out and taking another sip. "Thank you for inviting me such a lovely tea party Lady Angel."

"Of course Lady Philly." she handed a plate towards me. "Crumpet?"

"Yes please." taking one of the little treats I plopped it in my mouth with a smile.
"See Lady Cathleen, that is how you speak in a Tea party." the younger girl scolded her brother.

"Yeah yeah." he grumbled, chugging down the rest of his tea. "I'm getting out of here." he leapt off his chair and made a dash for the door.

"Wah! No!" Angel wailed chasing after him. "The party isn't over yet!" she chased him out of the room and down the hall. Sitting there for a little while, I placed my cup back on the table.

When 5 minutes rolled around and neither of them had yet to return I began to realize that Angel probably wasn't coming back.

Sighing, I exited the room and moved back to the Kitchen. Mr. Jones was cleaning the dishes and packing a few lunches for the kids.

"Where did Casey and Angel go?" I asked.

"Oh, they ran out into the yard. Something about Angel wanting Casey to come back to the party.' he chuckled, glancing over his shoulder at me. "I'm assuming they left you up there by yourself?"
"Heh, kind of." I rubbed the back of my head. He nodded.
"Sorry about that. Honestly, neither of them invite their friends over very much. So they easily forget we have guests sometimes when they are here." he turned back to the sink. "They are use to only hanging out with each other."
"Oh, I see." I nodded a few times. "Well, I don't mind. I'm a stranger after all. They have no obligation to hang out with me." I sat down at the table. "It is probably best I get going soon anyway."

"Why's that?" he didn't look at me, but his voice was heavy.

"I…" I trailed off. "I need to figure out what this Game Master wants with me." I explained. "I don't want any of you to get involved or get hurt because of me." I stared at my feet. "You've already done so much for me."

"And what do you think you'll be able to accomplish alone?" Mr. Jones asked.

"What?"
"As you said, you have amnesia. You probably don't even know how to make your way through the city." he turned to me, drying his hands. "How do you expect to find a man that knows more about you that you do?"

His words hit me deep, and in a way, they hurt… but they were true.

"I…"

"I don't mean to be rude or nothin' Phillis." he said quickly. "I just want you to think everythin' through before you go running off on your own. It don't want to see a nice young lass like yourself get hurt."

Mr. Jones was really nice. Almost too nice. What he said was true, but I didn't want anyone to get involved with this. For Pete's sake, those crazy men already attacked Casey last night when he tried to help me! He could have gotten seriously hurt.

"...I know." I mumbled. "I am thinking it through. All I can do is think about it and what I am going to do."

"And what is your plan?"

"...I don't know." I whispered. "I don't know what to do anymore."

The room was quiet for some time before Mr. Jones started the sink again to finish the dishes. "Well, until you figure it out, you are welcomed here Phillis."

"...Thank you." I said honestly. Staring at his back, I tilted my head, "Do you often let people stay with you?" I inquired.

"Hmm?" Mr. Jones hummed, not sure what I meant.

"Well, you said you rent out that spare room I'm staying in, so does that mean you have strangers living with you a lot?"

"I suppose." he shrugged. "We don't really advertise that we are renting out a room, so no one really knows about it." he chuckled.
"Oh." I nodded. "So then… what do you do Mr. Jones?"

"Call me Dan." he said.

"...Eh?" I frowned.

"Dan, that is my name. Ya don't need to address me so formally. It makes me feel old." he sniffed.

"Oh sorry uh…. Dan." It felt super awkward to call him that. So I'll call him Dan out loud, but I'll keep him Mr. Jones in my thoughts. Yeah, that sounds like a plan. "What do you do for a living Dan?"
"Well, basically my shop down below."
"What kind of shop is it exactly?"

"Mainly a pawn shop, but I also do Auto repair when people ask for it." he smiled.

"Oh cool. So, you fix up cars a lot?"

He smirked and nodded at me. "Yeah, I even got a few rusty cars in the back I'm fixing up right now. Don't tell him, but I'm currently fixing up this old junker for Casey."
"Does Casey have a license?" I couldn't remember when kids got their license.

"Yeah, he's had it for a few months. For a kid always looking for trouble, he is actually a pretty good driver.

I chuckled. That was a surprise.

"HEY!" suddenly Casey slid into the room, practically slamming into the table to stop himself. Scrambling out of the way, he barely avoided his little sister grabbing his shirt. "Come to the party!" she yelled.

They were still at this?

"Just drop it!" Casey commanded.

"No!"
"You have to be the most persistent kid alive!" he grunted, ducking when she reached to grab him again.

'Papa!" Angel said. "Casey won't play with me."

"I did play with her." Casey argued, looking at his Dad. "I play with her all the time."

"No ya don't." she disagreed.

"Come on guys, stop fighting." Mr. Jones said, finishing up the dishes and closing up the Dish Washer to get it going. "Angel, how about you go play dress up instead?"
"I played dress up yesterday." she pouted.

"Dolls?"
"No." her pout grew.

Mr. Jones sighed, unsure of what else to do.

It was actually a pretty sweet sight, regardless of how pouty Angel was being. This was a perfect picture of a happy family. Honestly, what was a doing? Why was I dragging these nice people into my problems? I shouldn't have agreed to come here with Casey last night.

What was I thinking?
...Now I'm just feeling depressed.

Bzzzz

The phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket, letting out a loud ringing noise. I froze.

Feeling a sickening chill run down my spin, I shakily lifted it out of my pocket and onto the table. The Joneses stared at the Phone, the whole room dead quiet.
'...You gotta text." Angel smiled, pointing to the phone.
"I do indeed." I mumbled softly.

"You gonna look at it?" Angel gave me a wide and innocent look, completely oblivious to how scary it was going to be to open the phone and see what it said. It was most likely the Game Master after all who was texting me.

...It might just be spam too, who knows.

Pray for spam.

If I opened that phone though, and it was the Game Master, that would mean his game has truly begun. If I started that game, would I be able to finish it?

It would be dangerous, the men from last night proved that.

"I… I don't think I can-" I bit my bottom lip nervously." I don't think I can do this." I admitted quietly.

"Why?" Angel frowned. "You just open it up and click the button-"

"Angel." Mr. Jones patted her head. "This is something different." he said solemnly.

"That don't make a difference." Casey almost screamed. "Go ahead and open it JD." he grinned. "You got the luck of Casey Jones on your side." he pointed to me.

"...I'm not sure if that is meant to comfort me." I answered honestly.

"It is." he frowned.
"It didn't." I sighed.

He scoffed, sounding insulted. "Way to be faithful JD." he scowled. I frowned. "..." Sighing, he patted my shoulder. "Don't look so down. Come on."

"He's right Phillis." Mr. Jones smiled. "My own Pop once told me, to get things down, sometimes just means taking that first step."

I almost cried. These people were really really nice.

"...Okay." I let out a shaky breath.

Flipping open the phone, I bit my bottom lip. Pressing enter, I watched large black letters appear on the screen.

Hello my Dear. How are you? Have a good night sleep? I hope so. You asked for some clues, and I shall deliver. So start your journey, by answering my riddle.

"Why is he rhyming?" Casey scowled over my shoulder.

"It isn't a very good Rhyme." Mr. Jones sniffed.

Here is my Riddle, answer it fast. You might just miss it along with your past.

What has holes on each side, but can still hold water?

"What kind of clue is that?" Casey threw his hands up.

"He…. He did say it was a Riddle." I gulped. Mr. Jones placed a comforting hand on my back.

"He told us we have to solve it fast, meaning there is a time limit to this." he rubbed his chin.

"Solve what?" Angel inquired, trying to peek over all our shoulders and see. "I wanna see!" she got on her tippy toes.

"Not now Angel, we got a riddle to solve." Casey patted her head.

"Riddles! I love riddles! Tell me it!" she began to bounce.

"... What has holes on each side, but can still hold water?"

"A box?" Casey asked.

"Water would still pour out though." Mr. Jones said.

"...Cheese?" he guessed again.
"I don't think so." I mumbled.

"Then how about… um…" he scratched his head. "A…"

"I have a few guesses." Mr. Jones admitted. "But none of them make sense."

"What do we do once we solve the riddle?" Casey growled. "This guy isn't specific at all!"

"I don't think he is trying to be." I felt my anxiety rising. How long exactly did we have to figure this out? And even if we did figure it out what do we do? Do I text it back? I guess so.

"A sponge." Angel pulled my sleeve.

"What?" I frowned. Why does she want a sponge? "I don't know where a sponge is Angel. Sorry-"

"No, it's a sponge." she grinned. "The Riddle."
"...Eh?" my eyes widened. Reading the riddle again, Angel's guess made sense. A sponge had holes on each side and could still hold water.

"Way to go Angel!" Casey cheered. "Oh but wait… what does a sponge have to do with anything?"

"Who knows? Might as well text him the answer though." Mr. Jones nodded to me. Nodding back, I texted the Game Master back, my fingers trembling.

"A Sponge."

Seconds later, there was a reply. "Yes. Very good. You answered my riddle."

"HAH!" Casey cheered. "Take that you stupid Game freak!" he cackled. "..." He lowered his hand. "...Now what?"

I shook my head a few times, frustrated. "I dunno." I mumbled. "I dunno." feeling angry that I was getting so worried over such ridiculous riddles, I text the Game Master again. "I answered your riddle. Now what?"

"Why my dear, it is simple. You just take a look outside."

"Outside?" Mr. Jones was already making his way to the door. Shuffling after him, we piled down the stairs and out the store door. Pushing onto the porch, we scanned the area.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There were a few citizens across the streets and some kids running around… but that was about it.

Was this guy just playing with us?! The jerk-!

"Come to the Sponge exhibit!"

...What?

Looking to the right, down the road, we could see an old looking van heading in our direction. It had a speaker on the top of it that was playing a constant message. Most of the kids stopped to stare at it. "Come to the Sponge Exhibit!" it repeated. "See Sponges you never thought existed before now! Be amazed and bring the family to this wonderful family activity!" The van said from its speakers as it honked down the road.

"A…. what?" Casey mumbled.

"A sponge exhibit!" Angel cheered, clapping.
"...You have got to be kidding me.' I mumbled. Seriously... a sponge exhibit? What kind of nonsense is that?!

If I do have a family out there, I wonder if one day, if I see them again, if they will believe me if I tell them that the time I was missing, I was spending it in a Sponge Museum?

… I didn't even think those existed. Apparently I was wrong.

Hey everyone. So, I'm back. I don't know for how long, but I am.

Very sorry about the long delay.

A lot of things have been happening at home. New Semester at school, work, and a lot of other things. Plus with Christmas, it is bound to be a crazy time.

Yeah, a lot of other things happened, but I'm gonna start my updating with this story. :) thanks for sticking with me guys. You are all so amazing.