**EPISODE EIGHTY-EIGHT**
**THE HOUSE THAT REMEMBERED EVERYTHING**
**Part Twenty-Nine: THE GUEST WHO WAS ALREADY INSIDE**
---
The door...
was closed.
Milo stood in front of it.
He didn't move.
He didn't breathe.
He didn't even blink.
Because sometimes...
when the universe gives you a mysterious door...
the correct response is to pretend you never saw it.
Unfortunately...
this door was inside his chest.
Milo looked down.
Then up.
Then down again.
"Absolutely not."
Silence.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
Milo nodded.
"Good."
He turned around.
He took one step.
The door inside his chest knocked.
BOOM.
Milo stopped.
He slowly turned back.
"No."
BOOM.
"Stop."
BOOM.
"I said stop."
A tiny voice came from inside.
"Can I come out?"
Milo stared at his chest.
"No."
A pause.
"Why?"
"Because you're inside me."
"Yes."
"That's the problem."
Another pause.
"Can I come out if I promise to behave?"
Milo sighed.
"Who taught you negotiation?"
The voice answered...
"You."
Milo closed his eyes.
"Of course."
Then...
something knocked from the other side.
Not the door.
The house.
The entire structure inside Milo's chest creaked.
Milo looked around.
"Wait."
The room around him had changed.
There was no darkness anymore.
There was...
a hallway.
A very long hallway.
With doors.
Hundreds of them.
Maybe thousands.
Every door had a name.
Milo walked toward the first one.
He read the label.
MEMORY MILO FORGOT.
He moved to the second.
MEMORY MILO PRETENDED TO FORGET.
Third.
MEMORY MILO FORGOT THAT HE PRETENDED TO FORGET.
Milo stared.
"This is getting unnecessarily complicated."
A voice behind him said...
"That's because you're complicated."
Milo jumped.
"WHO SAID THAT?"
Nobody answered.
Milo looked behind him.
Nothing.
Then the hallway lights switched on.
One by one.
CLICK.
CLICK.
CLICK.
At the far end...
someone was sitting in a chair.
Milo narrowed his eyes.
"Who are you?"
The person raised a newspaper.
"I'll answer after the weather."
Milo stared.
"What?"
The newspaper lowered.
Tarzan was sitting there.
Wearing a bathrobe.
Holding a cup of tea.
Milo's mouth opened.
"Tarzan?"
Tarzan nodded.
"Good morning."
Milo looked around.
"Why are you wearing a bathrobe?"
Tarzan looked down.
"Because I was asleep."
"Where?"
Tarzan pointed at the chair.
"Here."
"You were sleeping inside my chest?"
Tarzan shrugged.
"Very comfortable."
Milo stared at him.
"This is not normal."
Tarzan took a sip of tea.
"Nothing about you is normal."
Milo pointed toward him.
"You weren't even here!"
Tarzan nodded.
"I know."
"Then how did you get here?"
Tarzan smiled.
"I took the shortcut."
"What shortcut?"
Tarzan pointed toward a tiny door.
Milo walked over.
The door had a sign:
EMERGENCY EXIT — FOR CHARACTERS WHO HAVE BEEN WRITTEN OUT BUT REFUSE TO LEAVE.
Milo stared.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Tarzan shook his head.
"No."
Milo opened the door.
Behind it...
was another hallway.
Tarzan smiled.
"See?"
Milo slammed it shut.
"No."
Tarzan stood.
"Tea?"
"No."
"Banana?"
"No."
"Both?"
Milo paused.
"...Maybe."
Tarzan grinned.
"Excellent."
He produced a banana from the bathrobe.
Milo stared.
"Where did you get that?"
Tarzan looked offended.
"I am Tarzan."
"That's not an answer."
"It is in my culture."
Milo took the banana.
"Fine."
He peeled it.
The banana whispered...
"Don't eat me."
Milo froze.
Tarzan froze.
They looked at each other.
Milo slowly lowered the banana.
"Did..."
The banana whispered again.
"...you hear that?"
Tarzan nodded.
"Yes."
Milo stared at the banana.
"Why can the banana talk?"
Tarzan shrugged.
"Maybe it remembers."
Milo looked horrified.
"I don't want a philosophical banana."
The banana sighed.
"Nobody ever does."
---
1. THE HOUSE RULES
A bell rang.
DING.
A piece of paper appeared on the wall.
Milo walked toward it.
At the top was written:
HOUSE RULES
1. DO NOT OPEN DOORS THAT ARE BREATHING.
2. DO NOT ASK THE HOUSE WHAT IT REMEMBERS.
3. DO NOT FEED THE WITNESSES.
4. DO NOT LET TARZAN TOUCH THE WALLS.
5. MILO IS NOT ALLOWED TO DIE BEFORE DINNER.
6. DIANA MUST NOT BE TOLD ABOUT RULE NUMBER FIVE.
7. IF THE HOUSE STARTS LAUGHING, RUN.
8. IF THE HOUSE STARTS CRYING, RUN FASTER.
9. IF THE HOUSE STARTS SINGING...
Milo stopped reading.
The last line was crossed out.
He looked at Tarzan.
"What's wrong with singing?"
Tarzan shook his head.
"Don't ask."
Milo pointed to Rule Four.
"Why can't you touch the walls?"
Tarzan looked at the wall.
Then at Milo.
Then back at the wall.
"I don't know."
Milo nodded.
"Good."
Tarzan touched it.
The entire house screamed.
AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
Milo jumped.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"
Tarzan pulled his hand back.
"Curiosity."
"You nearly killed the house!"
Tarzan shrugged.
"It was a wall."
The house whispered...
"I have feelings."
Milo looked upward.
"I'm sorry."
Tarzan whispered...
"Don't apologize."
"Why?"
"Now it knows you care."
Milo looked terrified.
The house giggled.
"He cares."
Milo whispered...
"Oh no."
---
2. THE ROOM WITH THE PHOTOGRAPHS
A door opened.
A sign appeared.
ROOM OF THINGS MILO NEVER REMEMBERED DOING.
Milo entered.
Photographs covered every wall.
He picked one up.
It showed Milo eating breakfast.
Another showed Milo sleeping.
Another showed Milo arguing with Diana.
Another showed Milo running from a dinosaur.
Milo frowned.
"I don't remember any of this."
Tarzan looked at the photographs.
"That one happened."
Milo turned.
"What?"
Tarzan pointed.
"You ran from dinosaur."
"When?"
"Tuesday."
"It was never Tuesday!"
Tarzan shrugged.
"In this house, Tuesday is flexible."
Milo looked at another photograph.
It showed Milo standing beside Diana.
Behind them...
was the mysterious figure from the photograph.
Milo's smile disappeared.
"That's him."
Tarzan leaned closer.
"Who?"
"The person behind us."
Tarzan squinted.
"Looks familiar."
"You know him?"
"No."
"Then why did you say familiar?"
Tarzan pointed at the photograph.
"He looks like my dentist."
Milo stared.
"You don't have a dentist."
Tarzan nodded.
"Exactly."
Milo sighed.
"This is impossible."
A photograph fell from the wall.
Milo picked it up.
The image was different.
It showed...
Milo's first death.
Milo went silent.
Tarzan stopped joking.
For the first time...
he looked afraid.
Milo whispered...
"I died."
Tarzan nodded.
"Apparently."
"But Diana's death wasn't the first."
"No."
"Mine was."
Tarzan looked at him.
"Then why don't you remember it?"
Milo stared at the photograph.
"Because someone removed it."
A voice behind them said...
"Not removed."
Milo turned.
Diana stood in the doorway.
Milo's heart jumped.
"Diana!"
She smiled.
"Hello."
Milo ran toward her.
Then stopped.
"Wait."
Diana raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Are you real?"
Diana sighed.
"I was hoping you'd ask something romantic."
"Sorry."
"You always ruin the moment."
Milo smiled.
"I learned from Tarzan."
Tarzan raised his cup.
"You're welcome."
Diana walked toward the photograph.
She looked at it.
Her face changed.
Milo noticed.
"You know what this is."
Diana whispered...
"Yes."
"What happened?"
She looked at Milo.
"You died before I met you."
Milo frowned.
"Then how did we meet?"
Diana smiled sadly.
"We didn't."
Milo froze.
"What?"
Diana touched the photograph.
"I met the version of you that came after."
Milo stepped backward.
"Then..."
He looked at Tarzan.
"Who am I?"
Tarzan raised his hand.
"I have a theory."
Milo sighed.
"Please don't."
Tarzan lowered his hand.
"Okay."
Diana looked toward the hallway.
"Someone is coming."
A sound echoed.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching.
Milo whispered...
"Who?"
Diana answered...
"The witness."
Tarzan picked up his banana.
"Which one?"
Diana looked at him.
"All of them."
Tarzan nodded.
"That's inconvenient."
---
3. THE WITNESSES ARRIVE
The hallway lights went out.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then...
thousands of eyes appeared.
Not in darkness.
On the walls.
On the ceiling.
Inside the photographs.
Even on the banana.
Milo looked at Tarzan.
"Why does the banana have an eye?"
Tarzan looked at it.
The banana blinked.
Tarzan shrugged.
"Very mature banana."
The witnesses spoke together.
"We remember."
Milo swallowed.
"What do you remember?"
The walls trembled.
"THE FIRST DEATH."
Milo stepped forward.
"Tell me."
Silence.
Then one eye opened wider.
"You were not killed."
Milo frowned.
"Then how did I die?"
The voice answered...
"You chose to disappear."
Milo stared.
"Why?"
Another voice answered.
"Because you discovered what you were."
"What was I?"
The witnesses whispered...
"THE STORY'S MISTAKE."
Milo laughed nervously.
"That's it?"
Diana looked at him.
"Milo..."
He shrugged.
"I've been called worse."
Tarzan nodded.
"Once I was called a monkey."
Milo looked at him.
"You are a monkey."
Tarzan thought about it.
"Fair."
The witnesses became silent.
Then...
one of them laughed.
A deep cosmic laugh.
Milo remembered the rule.
Rule Seven.
IF THE HOUSE STARTS LAUGHING, RUN.
Milo looked at Diana.
"RUN."
They turned.
Tarzan stayed.
Milo shouted...
"TARZAN!"
Tarzan looked confused.
"What?"
"RUN!"
"Why?"
"The house is laughing!"
Tarzan listened.
Then smiled.
"Maybe it likes us."
The house laughed louder.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Tarzan's face changed.
"Oh."
He ran.
Very fast.
Milo, Diana, and Tarzan raced down the hallway.
Doors flew open.
Memories screamed.
Photographs fell.
The banana screamed...
"I'M BEING EATEN!"
Tarzan shouted...
"YOU'RE NOT!"
"I DON'T KNOW THAT!"
Milo yelled...
"WHO GAVE THE BANANA ANXIETY?"
Diana shouted...
"YOU HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS!"
Milo looked behind him.
The house was moving.
The walls were closing.
The floor was becoming stairs.
The stairs were becoming pages.
The pages were becoming...
teeth.
Milo stopped.
"Oh, come on."
Diana grabbed his hand.
"Don't stop!"
They jumped.
The floor disappeared.
All three fell.
---
4. THE ROOM BEFORE THE FIRST DEATH
Milo opened his eyes.
Silence.
He was lying on a floor.
Diana was beside him.
Tarzan was hanging upside down from a chandelier.
Milo looked up.
"How?"
Tarzan shrugged.
"I don't know."
"How did you get there?"
"Good question."
"Can you get down?"
"No."
"Why?"
"The chandelier remembers me."
Milo stared.
"That's not how physics works."
Tarzan smiled.
"Physics doesn't live here."
Milo stood.
The room was small.
One table.
One chair.
One window.
One photograph.
And...
one bed.
Milo walked toward the photograph.
He touched it.
The image changed.
A little boy stood beside the bed.
Milo.
But younger.
Much younger.
He was crying.
A woman stood beside him.
Milo whispered...
"Who is she?"
Diana looked at the photograph.
She went pale.
"I don't know."
Milo stared.
"You don't?"
"No."
The boy turned in the photograph.
He looked directly at Milo.
Then he pointed behind him.
Milo slowly turned.
Someone was standing behind him.
Milo.
But not the Milo beside Diana.
Another Milo.
Older.
Bleeding.
Dead.
Milo stared at himself.
The dead Milo smiled.
Then whispered...
"Finally."
Milo's blood froze.
"Finally what?"
The dead Milo pointed toward the bed.
"Now you remember."
Milo looked at the bed.
There was someone lying beneath the blanket.
He stepped closer.
Diana grabbed his arm.
"Don't."
Milo whispered...
"Why?"
"Because..."
She looked terrified.
"...that's where you died."
Milo pulled the blanket back.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Then...
a child's voice came from underneath.
"Are you ready?"
Milo stepped backward.
"For what?"
The voice answered...
"To remember who killed you."
Silence.
Tarzan finally fell from the chandelier.
THUD.
Everyone jumped.
Tarzan stood up.
He dusted himself off.
"Sorry."
Milo stared at him.
"Did you hear that?"
Tarzan nodded.
"Yes."
"What did it say?"
Tarzan looked at the bed.
"It said..."
He paused.
"...your murderer is already here."
Milo looked at Diana.
Diana looked at Tarzan.
Tarzan looked at Milo.
Then...
all three slowly looked toward the doorway.
Someone was standing there.
A silhouette.
Holding a pen.
Milo whispered...
"Who are you?"
The silhouette stepped into the light.
Milo's face went completely white.
Because the man standing there...
was Milo.
Not another version.
Not the first Milo.
Not the last Milo.
Not the replacement.
This Milo...
was wearing the clothes Milo had been wearing...
before his first death.
The figure smiled.
"I've been waiting for you."
Milo couldn't speak.
The figure raised the pen.
"You finally came back."
Diana whispered...
"No..."
Tarzan swallowed.
"That's bad, right?"
Diana nodded.
"Very."
The figure looked at Milo.
Then said...
"I didn't kill you."
Milo's voice trembled.
"Then who did?"
The figure smiled.
"You did."
Milo froze.
The figure pointed the pen toward his chest.
"You killed yourself..."
He paused.
"...because you saw what was inside the house."
Milo stared.
"What was inside?"
The figure smiled wider.
"The truth."
The walls began cracking.
The witnesses appeared again.
The house whispered...
WELCOME BACK, FIRST MILO.
Milo's chest burned.
The door inside him began opening.
Slowly.
But this time...
something was standing behind it.
Something enormous.
Something ancient.
Something that had been waiting before the first question.
Milo whispered...
"What are you?"
The thing behind the door answered...
"I am the reason..."
A pause.
"...you needed a story."
BOOM.
The house shook.
Tarzan looked at Milo.
"Can we leave?"
Milo stared at the impossible creature.
"I don't think so."
Tarzan sighed.
"I knew we should have stayed in the jungle."
The banana whispered...
"I agree."
Everyone looked at it.
Tarzan slowly raised the banana.
"Don't judge me."
The door opened completely.
And from inside...
a hand reached out.
It held a photograph.
Milo took it.
He looked down.
The photograph showed the first question.
The first boy.
The first world.
The first writer.
Diana.
Tarzan.
Milo.
And behind them...
the witnesses.
But now...
there was one final figure.
A figure standing behind the witnesses.
A figure with no face.
No body.
No name.
Only a sentence beneath it.
I WAS THERE BEFORE EXISTENCE.
Milo whispered...
"Then who created existence?"
The faceless figure answered.
"I did."
Milo's heart stopped.
The figure leaned closer.
"And you..."
A pause.
"...were my first mistake."
Milo stared.
Tarzan raised his hand.
"Excuse me."
The figure turned.
"What?"
Tarzan pointed at Milo.
"If he's your mistake..."
He looked at Milo.
"...does that make all of us mistakes?"
The figure thought.
"Yes."
Tarzan nodded.
"Excellent."
Milo frowned.
"Why is that excellent?"
Tarzan smiled.
"Because now nobody can blame me."
The universe went silent.
Even the witnesses stopped watching.
Then...
for the first time...
the faceless figure laughed.
Not like the house.
Not like the witnesses.
Not like a human.
It laughed...
like reality itself had finally heard a joke.
And the walls began laughing with it.
Milo looked at Diana.
Diana looked at Tarzan.
Tarzan looked at the banana.
The banana whispered...
"We are definitely doomed."
Milo nodded.
"Finally."
The house shook.
The photograph burned.
The faceless figure raised one finger.
And wrote a single word in the air:
BEGIN.
Everything disappeared.
Except Milo.
And the sound of a child's laughter...
coming from somewhere inside his heart.
Then...
another voice whispered:
"Welcome to your first day."
Milo opened his eyes.
He was standing in a classroom.
There were twenty-seven children.
A teacher stood at the blackboard.
The teacher turned around.
She smiled.
"Good morning, Milo."
Milo looked at the blackboard.
Written across it...
was the title of the lesson.
HOW TO DIE FOR THE FIRST TIME
Milo stared.
Then slowly raised his hand.
"Ma'am?"
The teacher smiled.
"Yes, Milo?"
Milo pointed toward the board.
"Is this going to be on the exam?"
The teacher's smile disappeared.
The children laughed.
The walls laughed.
The universe laughed.
And somewhere beneath the classroom...
something ancient whispered...
"Excellent."
The bell rang.
DING.
Milo looked toward the door.
It was locked.
The teacher picked up a pen.
"Class..."
She smiled.
"...let's begin."
**TO BE CONTINUED...**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :Maximus.
©All Rights Reserved