Alex and Steve immediately left the cabin as soon as they woke up. In a hurry, Alex gave the stranger no time to prepare. She shook him until he opened his eyes, and forced him out of the cabin without saying a single word.

Now they were trailing the open woods in search of a clue that resembled the flag's pattern. Minutes turned into hours of blind searching in the scorching sun. For as far as they could see, there was nothing but an endless sea of oak trees.

All of the walking tired Steve to the point of near exhaustion. He started feeling light-headed, and his stomach wanted to eat itself inside out. As he walked behind Alex, he began to see reflections of her walking by her side, copying her exact movement. His mouth had gone dry and his legs began to give out. Collapsing onto the light green patch of grass, he closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.

Alex turned to the thud and caught sight of the helpless man, resting his face in the blades of grass. At first, she was surprised. Seeing the man almost twice her size, sleeping against the cold ground shocked her. She didn’t expect him to give out so quickly, but that was only to be expected. With a chuckle, she put the banner back in her pocket and sat next to Steve wrapping her hands around her knees.

She looked up at the branching leaves underneath the bright blue sky and closed her eyes with a silent hum. Repeating the same three melodies in slow succession, she felt at peace underneath the afternoon sun. Steve listened to her humming while his face was planted into the dirt. Even though he couldn’t make a move, the somber tune distracted him from his hunger. It wasn’t until his stomach growled that Alex realized what was going on.

Covering her laugh with her pale hands, she reached into the nearest tree and pulled out a fresh apple. Untouched and shining its crimson red glow, Alex pressed the fruit against the poor man’s head. His little groan softened her smile.

“Eat up, lightweight,” Alex said in a joking manner. “I need you at your best.”

Steve flipped his body around and looked at her soft green eyes.

“You’re cruel,” He replied as he caught the apple mid-air. “You know that?”

“It’s not my job to babysit you, Steve.” Underneath her freckles, a light blush appeared. “If we’re going to be partners, you can’t be leaving all the heavy lifting to me.” Steve took a bit of the apple and laughed.

“With biceps like those, you should be doing all the heavy lifting.” As he continued to bite through his apple, Alex stared at him, her mean eyes looking at his soul with a poker face. Steve hadn’t noticed until he finished, and wondered what the problem was. As she noticed the shadows beginning to grow, she raised her head and looked at the setting sun, slowly lowering itself towards the horizon.

“We should head back.” She stood up and snatched the bow Steve had strapped on his back.

“Is it something I said?”

Alex narrowed her eyes in response and walked off into the forest without saying another word. Still confused, Steve hesitantly followed after, consistently picking apples off of trees along the way.

They ran opposite the setting sun, in an oak forest unknown to them. Like astronauts lost in space, they could’ve been walking for days without finding their way out. Eventually, the sun set, and Alex’s anxiety peaked at a new high. The sky was getting darker with time while the path ahead of them grew less visible.

Lost in the forest, Alex stopped and looked around. Her breaths grew heavier and heavier as she tightened her grip on the bow. Her frantic glances at the trees around her after hearing the slightest movement corroded her mind with persecutory delusions of nonexistent creatures. Steve watched her as if she had gone crazy. He slowly stepped away to escape her danger zone, only for her to pull him back in and squeeze his wrist.

“Where are we?!”

“I don’t know!” Steve shouted with a wince. “Let me go!”

“We can’t split up, Steve! It’s dangerous.”

“No, it isn’t! You’re imagining things!”

Steve pulled his arm back just as Alex released him, causing him to take several steps back in pain. Her grip on him left a burn. As he inspected the red mark on his wrist, he pressed his back against what he thought to be a tree but couldn’t have been more incorrect. The mushy, dirt-like texture, paired with a rough bone-like marrow confused Steve. He raised his head and noticed Alex silently panicking. Her fingers were clenched, eyes uncontrollably widening to the beat of her rapid breaths, and she was trembling in place.

Steve grew fearful in place to what was standing behind him. If what Alex had been saying about monsters were true, there was a chance that one of them was right behind him. He began to stiffen up and tuck his arms in as he slowly turned around

A tall and lengthy figure awaited his rotation and stood with its head glaring at him. As soon as Steve turned around, he was greeted by a black torso of ribs nearly exposed like meat. Between the crevices, a slimy substance dripped onto the grass beneath its stick-like legs. Its arms, like twigs covered in clay, reached down its extended body and taped against its ankles with knife-like fingers.

Hesitantly, Steve slowly raised his head, following the clear line of the entity’s exposed belly button until he reached its neck. The figure began making noises similar to a cry or scream, slowly building up as Steve’s head uncontrollably continued to rise. His mind wouldn’t listen to him. The cry of the beast before him drew his curiosity. Something about it felt familiar, yet he had never seen something like this. One look at the entity’s chin exposed lines of the slime connecting to the top of its torso, and nothing between. There was no mouth, only a purple translucent glow.

Steve gasped in fear, flinching at its gaze, but he couldn’t stop there. His body had already frozen, and everything seemed helpless. The cries grew louder, and louder, overlaying any individual sound around him.

It was crying for help. He could hear it. Something was in there, something he recognized. Reaching for him, calling for him. Steve slowly reached out a hand before making eye contact with the looming black figure, but suddenly had his head slammed back down, and his arm pulled back.

The cries came to an end.

Whatever grabbed him was trembling in fear. Suddenly pulled back to reality, Steve began panicking. He recognized the arm clutched over his wrist. Its warm and tender grasp with freckles plastered on it, calmed him down, even if it was just a little.

With a pull of his arm, Alex began running in the opposite direction from the looming figure. They ran and ran for their lives. The cries and screeches from the things haunted Steve as he was being dragged. Despite their distance, its voice played on repeat in Steve’s head, when suddenly.

Vwoop

The figure appeared in front of the two with faint purple particles surrounding it. Alex crashed into its long black legs with a yelp and fell to the ground. Her spinning head accelerated as she scanned the figure from its torso up to its head. In a panic, Steve grabbed Alex’s shirt and ran off.

They continued in the same direction until they could see an orange light illuminating from a distance. A sliver of hope was ignited in the two as they ran towards the glow. Once they exited the forest oak, they were greeted by a field of flowers, and a jaw bridge separating a small island carrying a building.

Crossing the bridge and shutting the front door, Alex ran towards the crafting bench on the other side of the house and frantically tapped on it while biting her lips. Steve pressed his back against the door to secure its lock, panting with his hands on his knees. He tried to take a moment to think about what just happened, but he couldn’t get his mind straight from the horror he experienced.

“What was that?!” Steve shouted with his last breath. Alex’s tapping crescendoed until she cramped her finger. With a wince of pain, she replied.

“I’m trying to remember! I know the villagers had books about that kind of monster, but-” She slid her hands into her hair and stomped around the room in an attempt to jog her memory. “I- I can’t think right now!”

“That- That kind?! There more of those things?!” Running breathless, neither of them could think straight.

“All sorts of them, Steve!” Alex shouted back and stared him in the eyes, narrow and sharp. “I’ve been telling you this!”

“And you expect us to fight them?!” His retort surprised her. “One wrong move and we would’ve been dead!”

“As long as you didn’t look it in the eyes, you should be fine.”

“The eyes?! I was too busy looking at its disconnected jaw!”

“Calm down!” Alex slammed her fist onto the table and turned around. Her narrow green eyes and furrowed brows caught Steve off guard. “I can’t think if you keep yelling!” Still out of breath, Steve lowered his eyes as Alex dug her hands into her hair. “That thing is called… an Enderman. I think it’s only hostile if you look into its eyes.”

“Enderman?” Steve raised his head and looked out the window. His breaths were beginning to slow down.

“I read it somewhere in the village. There are also skeletons, zombies, giant spiders, and dynamite monsters.” With a groan, Alex continued. “It can teleport around and is deathly afraid of water. We don’t stand a chance against it without a weapon.”

“The Enderman…” Narrowing his eyes and closing his mouth, the cries of the Enderman echoed in his head. Growing louder as he paused, it wasn’t until he finished his sentence that the noise came to a stop. “was speaking to me.”

The room fell silent.

Alex grew speechless looking at the mystery man she knew nothing about. His family and his friends were blank slates. He claimed to have no recollection of any past lives, any history about him didn’t seem to exist, and he suddenly appeared the day she lost her home. Everything about this guy gave Alex a bad feeling, but the kindness he exerted paired with his similarity to her, prevented her from leaving him behind.

Despite what he had just said, Alex chose to turn her cheek and ignore it. Brushing it off as a joke, she patted his shoulder and moved on.

“C’mon, now’s not the time to crack jokes.” Alex walked to the chest not far from her bed and opened it. With a quick scan, she dumped her head into the box and continued. “It’s impossible for monsters to talk. They’re simple-minded and only ever have one thing in mind.”

“I’m not joking, Alex” Her shuffling came to a stop. “I couldn’t make out any words, but I know it was talking to me… or us.” Alex rose her head from the chest and looked at Steve with a face of concern.

“Are you sure?” She asked shaking under her breath. Steve looked at her and nodded somberly. Alex took a moment to reflect on his response. “Well… that’s just another thing we'll have to figure out, right?”

“Does that mean you couldn’t hear it?” Alex shook her head and turned back to the chest. “Am I a monster?”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re just like me.” Burying her head in the chest, she continued in a soft, flustered tone. “You talk like me, walk like me, eat like me… and feel like me. Just because you look like a zombie, doesn’t make you one.”

“My main concern is less looking like one, but being one.” Alex raised her head and looked at Steve, curled up on the ground with his knees poking over his head. “I don’t know anything about my life before meeting you.” He continued, “I know it’s been no less than a day, but I get the feeling… I’m not where I’m supposed to be.”

Alex pulled out a pair of worn blades made of wood and carried them to the table not far from the chest. Pulling a stick out of thin air, she placed it onto the table and watched as the blades miraculously repaired.

“We’re the only ones of our kind. If we don’t work together, I’m sure we’d… end up like the villagers. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather be hopeful of the future.”

Vwoop

“Alex…” Suddenly, Steve’s muffled voice began shaking and his breaths rapidly repeated. Though he was on the ground, he started to push himself against the wall as if he was trying to escape from something. His hands and feet pressed against the wooden floor as he tried moving back, and his eyes shook like a cowering dog. The sound of his heartbeat drowned out his thoughts, and his panicked breathing didn’t help in the slightest.

Unsure of what he had to say, she turned around and,

“HELP!” Steve cried.

In front of his cowering body was a ten-foot demon of black, staring down at him with its glowing purple eyes. A silent whir surrounded it that was nearly overwhelmed by Steve’s utter panic. Its mangled, chilling body and disjointed head waited for Steve to make eye contact.

“Get away from him!” Alex rushed to the rescue, pulling a shield with a silver rim out of thin air, and ramming it against the Enderman, throwing it across the room and to the floor. As the Enderman fell, Alex tossed Steve one of the wooden swords and firmly stood in front of him holding the shield facing the Enderman.

“How did it get inside?!” Steve cried.

“They can teleport, remember?! Pick up the sword!” Once the Enderman stood on its sharp feet, it bent forward and released a high-pitched shriek. Its jaw dropped further than ever before, only having strands of its flesh holding it together. Steve tensed up and reached for the sword.

The Enderman leaped at Alex who was staring her piercing green eyes directly into the lost space within the Enderman’s eyes. It slammed its long sharp fingers against the shield, cutting into the wood slightly above where Alex’s hands rested. Now trapped in place, Alex tried her best to keep the beast from letting itself go. Meanwhile, Steve watched with the wooden sword against his chest and shivered without end.

“Do something!” Alex shouted through her clenched teeth. Steve tensed back up in speed and intensity. Once again, his brain was clouded with fear and anxiety while all he could hear were the cries of the beast. A single glance at Alex’s mean green eyes seemed to have pulled him back into reality, and regain control over himself. He looked at the sword he had pressed against the ground and tightened his grip.

Full of adrenaline, Steve quickly got on his feet.

“Aaaarghh!”

Piercing the blade through the monster’s chest, Steve stepped back in panic with his hands shaking and teeth trembling. The Enderman screeched and teleported away from Alex’s grip. Now across the room, Alex grabbed the sword that fell to the ground.

“Nice hit, but that won’t be enough.” While keeping an eye on the Enderman, Alex tried handing Steve the sword now covered in purple goo.

“I- I can’t do this!”

“Yes you can, Steve!” Cowering in fear, Steve looked at the sword in between Alex’s hand and in turn saw the screeching Enderman in view. Its deep purple eyes full of intense rage and envy, seared fear into Steve’s heart. “You’re stronger than it! Don’t let the fear get to your head!”

“I- I can’t! It’s crying! I can’t! I can’t!” Steve lowered his head and continued crying. The Enderman dashed to Alex once again and pierced further into the wood separating them. Its sharp fingers cut through Alex’s forearm creating three deep wounds reaching down to her bone.

“Get yourself together, idiot!” Steve heard the drops of blood clashing with the ground amidst the screams of the Enderman. Alex’s voice was full of grit and pain as she firmly held her ground and controlled the monster in front of her. Her grip on the shield was waning as the pain from the strike was getting to her head. “I’m not going to let us die today!”

Driven by pure adrenaline, Alex twisted the shield and snapped the Enderman’s wrists, then pulled the shield back and smacked the towering monster with the full power of her shield. The Enderman fell onto the bed with purple goo dripping from every crevice on its body. It continued to shriek while recovering.

“Steve!” With her remaining energy, Alex handed Steve the sword she was holding with her bleeding arm, all with a struggling smile on her face. With a simple glance in her eyes, Steve could feel the raw ambition to live and drive to move forward. By herself, she couldn’t continue to fight. The Enderman rendered her dominant arm useless, and the adrenaline she used was fading away.

Steve took the sword out of Alex’s hands and stood in front of her with his eyes narrowed and the blade facing the Enderman. Like a natural, he held the hilt of the sword in a manner that Alex had never seen before. Though he was shaking, he was prepared to take any blow and counter it accordingly. Steve somehow managed to feed off Alex’s confidence, and with a single breath, he felt in control.

The Enderman vanished into thin air within the blink of an eye and within an instant reappeared by Steve’s side with its long fingers prepared to strike. Steve quickly turned and followed the purple trail left by the monster. He raised the hilt above his ear and slashed through the arm of the Enderman like tough paper. The blade was beginning to dull, and its age was showing.

The Enderman winced back in pain, only to further continue its strike using the full power of its jaw. Widening its mouth to bite off Steve’s head, it screeched and dashed. Scared of his life, and by the sound of the arms clashing with the ground, Steve cut through the beast's mouth and severed its head from the body.

Alex watched in awe as Steve pounced onto the corpse and stabbed it continuously. His eyes hazed and mind clogged in fear, there was no end to his strikes.

“Steve!” She cried, “It’s over! You did it!” Steve slowed to a halt and turned to Alex, his face splattered in purple goo and his eyes trembling. Alex held onto her wounded arm but smiled Steve’s way. “It’s over, we’re safe.” Steve turned back to the Enderman’s corpse and dropped the sword. He quickly got on his feet and rushed to Alex, wrapping his arms around her with exasperated breaths. After a wince, Alex pressed her head against his shoulder and sighed.

“It’s finally over!” Steve cried while tightening his hug. “I was so scared!”

“I know, but it’s over now. You can rest easy.”

“I thought we were going to die! I let it hurt you and then…” coming to a sudden realization, Steve released his hug and stepped back. Looking at the deep cuts on Alex’s arm forced a gag and vomit out of him. As soon as he stopped, he ran to the chest and searched for supplies.

“It’s fine, Steve,” Alex said as he scrimmaged through her belongings. “Really.”

“You have a deep cut on your arm! You’re far from being fine!”

“My body patches itself up pretty quickly.” She walked up to Steve and placed a hand on his shoulder. Steve turned to see her scar completely disappear. “See?” Steve stared at the healed patch of skin under the ripped clothing with disbelief. “I always thought it was weird, too. As long as I have food in my stomach, my body heals itself.”

Steve stepped away from the chest and turned to the wooden blade sticking out of the Enderman’s chest. He noticed that the monster’s body was slowly fizzling from existence. Alex caught a glimpse of the relief in his eyes.

“Did it speak to you again?” Alex asked, looking at the worried glare in Steve’s eyes. He slowly nodded and closed his eyes. “Could you understand it this time?”

“… Look for the eye.”

“What?”

“After I called for help, it… it told me to look for the eye.”

“Eye?” Before Alex could continue, an object suddenly clashed with the ground with a glass-like drop. Alex and Steve turned to where the Enderman was and saw an orb of dark blue with a black core that pulsed with life. “What is that?”

“Did the villagers have anything on it?” Alex shook her head. “Then it’s up to us to find out.” Steve took a step forward and reached for the orb beside the sword. His arm trembled at the thought that the Enderman could reappear upon contact and hesitated before laying a hand on it.

The orb was smooth yet slime-like and could be compressed and squeezed in the palm. Steve felt queasy holding it like it was a fish fresh out of the water but held it carefully and made sure not to drop it. He felt the pulsing of the central sphere through the thick layers of slime that synchronized with the pulsing of his wrist.

Watching from over his shoulder, Alex squinted her eyes at the orb to figure out what it was. “What does it do?” She asked.

“That’s my question.” He turned to her and offered to give her the ball, but she refused to lay a hand on it. “Do you think it’s the Enderman’s testicle?”

“Don’t make this weirder than it already is!”

“What else could it be? It feels so weird… and I think it’s alive. You have to hold it!” Steve brought the pearl closer to her and watched her gasp and run.

“Ew! Stop!” Steve laughed as he walked to the chest and gently placed it atop everything else. “Make sure it doesn’t pop.”

“It isn’t a zit.” Steve shut the chest and knocked on the wood with a smile on his face. “We make a good team, don’t you think?”

“Don’t get too excited, Steve. This isn’t our last fight.” Alex took a seat on the bed behind her and sighed in relief. “Tomorrow we’re going mining for more equipment, so make sure you get a lot of rest.”

“Mining?” The puzzled expression on his face confused Alex. Though it’s only been a day, the thought that Steve had forgotten his memories completely slipped her mind.