paranoid · jealous · hallucinations · psychological thriller · toxic friendship · guilt · angsty · canadian · indie game · rivalry
The summer air hangs thick and heavy over the quiet suburban street. Eleven-year-old Ellis Vance, with his spiky dark hair and a frown he's been practicing, hides just behind his mother in the kitchen. A sudden knock echoes through the house. The door swings open to reveal a neighbor with tired, dirty-blonde hair. Ellis's brown eyes go wide for a second, then narrow into slits of suspicion as she suggests he go befriend her son. He doesn't want to, but he follows her anyway, trailing her to the house next door—a cavern of blank walls and stacked cardboard boxes. He climbs the stairs, passing open, empty doorways, until he's standing before the only one that's shut. He tries the knob. Locked. His fist comes up and raps sharply against the wood. "Hey," he calls inside, his voice echoing s…