We now stood in front of the doors that had vertical black bars over them. Almost like skinny prison bars. A click from the keys and we were in. The doors opened very smoothly despite how old they were. I ducked down to fit through the doorway. We then found ourselves in the small foyer. The wood floor was covered by a carpet with a red pattern on it. Its boards creaked as we stepped in. Ahead of us was a staircase that turned down to the right. We followed it to the bottom. The wallpaper stayed the same green diamond pattern all the way down and into the next hall. There were a few pictures of the orphans hanging on the walls. Most of them looked like they were having fun in various parts of PlayCare. A few toy parts were littered around the edge of the hallway. Blood spatters stained the floors and walls where they had met a gruesome fate.

The human reached out and opened the brown door that lay at the end of the hallway. Behind it, a big wall of red smoke greeted us. I gasped and pulled my partner away from it.

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked.

"That was a close one. You almost stepped in there without a gas mask." I sighed in relief.

"Gas mask? Is this stuff really that bad?" He curled a brow at me.

"Yeah, it does weird things to your mind before you end up falling into a deep sleep." I explained.

"Well, do you know where I can find a gas mask?" He prodded.

"Uh…not really." My yellow fingers scratched my head, nervous about where he might be going with this.

"Then I guess we'll just have to do a quick in and out." The person said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Home Sweet Home is big and there's no way you can explore all of it on one breath. Sit tight and I'll go look for a gas mask for you… Because I really don't want you going in there unprotected. I shouldn't even go in there without something for protection either. It affects me just the same as you."

"Is this smoke as bad as you say it is? I really think I can do a quick in and out with this." The human persisted.

"Please just hold off for a moment and let me go back and see if there's a gas mask nearby." I said as I turned to go back down the hall and up the stairs toward the entry way. There was no sign of a gas mask in the building. So I went to reach for the doorknob. Curling my fingers around it, I attempted to turn it. A snarl of surprise came from my throat when it wouldn't move. It's locked! We're locked in here!

"Hey, who locked this door?" My fist began to pound on the door. "If you can hear me, unlock it now or I'll hurt you when I find you! Let us out of here!" I kept pounding but to no avail. With little other option, I turned and went back to where I had left my friend standing only to find an empty hallway and the door still open.

"Oh no! This is not good!" My hands seized my head. I rushed to the door. But the sight of the red smoke made my body instinctively come to a stop. "Why would you go in there without me?" I asked the empty hall. "I've got to get in there and find him." Taking as deep of breath I could muster, I rushed in.

Using all four of my limbs, I clambered as fast as I could down another flight of stairs. It then opened up into a long hallway that housed many doors and turns. Thus began my journey into the maze that was Home Sweet Home. My eyes darted around, hoping to find any trace of the human through the thick red smoke.

Eventually, I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I would be surprised if the human could have held his breath much longer than going down the stairs. Taking a big gasp of that intoxicated air, I coughed as the fumes choked me. There were hints of lavender and poppy flowers in the smoke's scent.

"Human? Come back! Where did you go, friend? If you can hear my voice, please come toward it!" My pace had slowed to a walk as I tried to see through the smoke. I made random turns, getting myself all the more lost.

"Huggy?" Came a voice from the smoke. But it wasn't my partner's. Instead, it was a voice of a little kid. A kid that I knew back before the factory shut down. They used to come visit a lot with their parents to buy toys. I saw their small form peer through the thick blanket of smog.

"Why did you do it?" They asked me. "Why did you kill my parents?" Those words felt like a dagger going for my heart.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Really! I just couldn't control my body. I wasn't…myself at the time." I kneeled down and went to hug the child. The figure disappeared into the smoke as I went to touch them. I made a small gasp as my arms closed around air. But then the voice came again. This time it was off to my left.

"And then you brought me to him."

"You brought us to him." More voices and figures of children appeared in the smoke.

"And left us to die."

"Why would you do that?"

My head spun around, trying to keep track of which one was talking. All the while, my wide mouth curled down into a worried frown.

"I…I just…. I didn't…." I nervously stuttered out. I truly did not have any words to express what I did and why…and just how sorry I was for all of it. My hands flew to my head as I unconsciously started to squeeze and rub my head uncontrollably.

"He tortured us."

"Poked us."

"Prodded us."

"Don't you know what that feels like?"

"I do! Yes! Please just stop with this! Stop! Stop!" I closed my eyes and got down on my knees. Ultimately trying to curl into a ball and silently willing these phantom children to go away. To my surprise, they actually did. Their figures disappeared as the voices fell silent. I looked about to find myself alone in this random corridor of Home Sweet Home.

When there were no more sounds from the mysterious smoke, I let go of my head and stood back up. I tried to push the memory of what just happened to the back of my mind. My hands felt along the walls for a new corner to turn on and get away from my current location. As soon as I turned the corner, a new voice came from the smoke.

"Where are you going, Huggy? We have a job to do." It was the voice of the scientist that did most of the awful poking and prodding at me. I growled, baring my many rows of teeth. My furry body lunged that way, trying to take a chomp at him. Again, the figure faded into the mist.

"Now, now. You know what rebellion gets you." He taunted, now sounding from behind me. I kept growling as more adult figures appeared in the smoke. Their silhouettes showed they were wielding prods and needles. Some even threw what looked like ropes at me. I cringed and held my arms over my head, remembering what those felt like to wrap around my limbs and torso. The tugging and burning they caused against my fur. But these merely faded away as they approached my body, reminding me that this was all a hallucination. I began to back away from them, still baring my fangs. And then there was one last voice from behind me. It was the CEO that was responsible for the whole Bigger Bodies program. The reason me and the others were alive and suffering.

"You are to be obedient, Huggy….or else!" Something actually touched my back. I could only imagine the man prodding me with a stick. A screech of rage escaped my throat. I whipped around and lashed my arm at whatever had touched me. I only caught a glance of the CEO before I sent him flying with my punch. The body made an audible sound as I struck it and then again as it collapsed to the ground. It was a loud crash that certainly didn't sound like a human body though. I panted and rubbed an arm over my eyes. When I looked back, the CEO's body faded away to reveal a dresser that had been knocked over.

I'm really losing it here! I need to get a grip! Ignore anything from the mist that attempts to mimic something or someone that I know to be dead….or at least gone. If the red smoke is affecting me this much, imagine what it must be doing to the human. I shook my head, trying to get refocused on my goal.

My yellow feet kept going down the maze. I occasionally called out for my friend. But there was never a response. That was until someone said "Ssshh!"

I looked around for the person that was shushing me. A creaking noise came from my right. There was an open door. I poked my head in and looked about. A long skinny something swung around at the far end of the room. My gaze followed it up to find that it was attached to a body that had folded itself on top of a dresser. Its long, gangly body barely fit on top of the furniture. The red smoke made it hard to see most of the details, but the piercing white-purple eyes and pale purple color told me it was Catnap. He was a tall and skinny feline that patrolled the town. PlayCare was his territory and he didn't take well to others intruding in on it. A knot formed in my throat as I feared how he might react to my presence.

"Take your friend and get out of my house." He hissed at me with his smooth, unwavering voice.

"I-I certainly will." I stuttered out. "Have you seen him by any chance?"

The oversized feline groaned and rolled his eyes. His tail flicked up and pointed in the direction behind me.

"Th-thank you. I'll just…be going now." My feet began to back away from the Smiling Critter. I didn't dare turn my back to him just yet. Cats were unpredictable. Especially this one. You never knew when he might take advantage of you when you let your guard down.

"You'd better be." Catnap grumbled as his figure disappeared into the smoke. I made sure that he did not follow me before finally turning around. My body took off running, hoping to find the human before Catnap's patience had run out.

My gaze investigated each room as I passed by. Eventually, I saw a figure standing in one of the rooms. Was it real? I approached the silhouette as it began to materialize into the appearance of my human friend. Finally! Not a hallucination! He seemed to be staring at a TV screen that only had static on it. I attempted to approach him head on so I didn't scare him by being in his peripheral vision. This resulted me coming up from behind the TV.

"There you are! You okay?" I asked him. His pupils dilated and face color went pale as we made eye contact. A scream escaped his throat as he immediately turned on his heels and ran away.

"Hey, wait! Come back!" I pushed the TV out of the way and went after him. The human kept running, but he was swaying all around as if he were drunk. No doubt the red smoke had thoroughly intoxicated him. He turned around to find me gaining on him. His distracted nature caused him to trip on something laying the ground. He ended up careening down to the floor and knocking himself out. My arms were about to wrap around him when his body dropped down. I ended up missing. My gaze looked up to find a wall closing in on me. I was going too fast to be able to slow down and ended up smacking my head on the wall. The next thing I knew, I was down on the ground as well. My head throbbed and the environment seemed to spin. I closed my eyes in hopes that it would stop, but that only lulled me into sleep. My red smoke filled lungs surely facilitated the urge to sleep.

When I began to wake again, I found the human nudging at my arm.

"Huggy! Huggy, wake up! Are you okay?" He asked.

"Ugh….I think so." I groaned, rubbing my head.

"Where are we?" The human inquired. "Are we still in Home Sweet Home?"

One look around at the familiar wallpaper and I knew that we were.

"Yeah, we're still lost in here for sure."

"I just had some trippy experience back there. To me it looked like you had come out of the TV…and your appearance was warped. It made you look….really scary. You didn't really come from the TV, did you?" He asked, trying to make sure he was understanding what really happened.

"No, I came from behind it." I reassured him. "I can't imagine what else you might have seen in there. I know I saw some things, too." The person shied in on his core, as if he didn't want to share what he had seen or heard in the smoke. And then a voice broke the silence.

"Leave PlayCare…or I'll be coming for you." It was Catnap again. He had himself hidden in the shadows, not showing himself to us.

"What? Who's that?" The human asked, looking around. We heard his footsteps fade into the distance. The feline was leaving us alone for now, hoping that we would heed his words.

"That's Catnap and he's not happy that we're here." I quietly explained. "My guess is that he dragged us away from the smoke so we can leave."

"But we can't leave yet. We still need to get that backup power." My friend stood up and wobbled a bit. "Whoa!" He cantered around, waving his arms. Clearly still recovering from the smoke's effects.

"Okay, but let's make it quick and quiet. Catnap won't be as nice if he finds us still wandering around here." I stood up, too. Even my body swayed a bit. The smoke left me feeling rather light-headed and off-balance. Despite my wobbling around, I noticed something left in the corner of the room. It was red and held the shape of a human face.

"I can't believe it! There's a gas mask right over there!" I pointed and showed my friend.

"This is great!" He said as he picked it up and tried it on. The accessory seemed to fit him perfectly. No gaps or cracks for the fumes to seep in. "Good eyes, Huggy!" He gave me a thumbs up.