Halloween

You have no idea how much time has passed. You have no sense of time. No sense of space. You are aware of nothing. But gradually, your senses return. You start to smell something like rotten flesh near you. After a few moments of coming to terms with this smell, your hearing returns. A flickering noise, like an old bulb on its last legs. You feel yourself getting annoyed at the sound, but there's not much you can do and you know it. You listen out and you hear nothing else. Just silence. Next is your touch. You feel something cold beneath you. Presumably the ground. You aren't shackled or tied up. You can tell that much. Apart from the natural weight of your clothes, you feel nothing on top of you. Only the cold - presumably metal - that it appears you are lying on. Then taste. Your mouth is dry. You can tell you've not had any water or food in... a while. But you must make due. [[Only one sense remaining.]]

Darkness still envelopes you further and you cannot see a thing. Your eyelids feel heavy. You try to open them, but you find it difficult. After what seems like forever, you finally succeed and they slowly open. Everything appears blurry at first, and you find yourself unable to take anything in. But after blinking a few times, you start to process the world around you. Everything is now clearer, though the room surrounding you raises more questions than it answers. [[Look at room.]]

You start to take in the room around you. It appears to be made of a rusty metal of some sort from what you can tell in the bad lighting. To your left is a small wooden desk with closed drawers. You cannot tell what exactly is on top of it from this distance, but you can tell there is a photograph of some sort and a large pile of papers. To your right is a red pile. Flies are flying above it. You cannot make out the individual shapes that make up the pile but... the smell is horrendous and whatever it is makes you want to be sick. Above you is the flickering bulb; barely giving enough light for you to see anything in much detail from your current spot. In front of you is a metal door. It appears to be bolted shut and just as rusty as the rest of the room. You cannot see behind you while you are on your back. [[Get up?]]

With a lot of difficulty, you finally push yourself up. Nothing appears to be missing from your body and apart from a slight throb in the centre of your head, you do not appear to be injured or harmed in any way. You almost hit your head on the bulb. It looks like this metal room is fairly small. You turn around to see another metal wall. Unlike the rest - which seemed to be plain - this one appears to be covered in photographs and drawings. You cannot make them out clearly from this distance. What do you want to do? [[Examine the desk.]] [[Examine the pile.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the door.]] [[Lay back down.]]

You approach the desk. On top of it are lots of papers with text you can barely read in the flickering light. A small, electric lamp. A photograph with a familiar face. [[Turn on the lamp.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the pile.]] [[Examine the door.]]

You approach the grotesque pile with your fingers covering your nose. As you get closer, you begin to realise why this pile smells of rotting flesh. It's meat. And not just meat... Skin too. Some bits of meat are just that: meat. Others are arms. Legs. Fingers. And at the top is a sickening sight: a head. A head that looks familiar. You cannot place why. Your head throbs. Your throat and stomach hurt from the sight. Your gut tells you it's probably a friend. Or a family member. Someone you knew in a past life. You do not recognise them at this moment; presumably from trauma, waking up, drugs or something like that. But the sight is too much. You turn away from the pile of human flesh and have to make a decision. Do you leave? Or investigate more? [[Examine the desk.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the door.]]

You approach the wall. Shivers run down your spine and fear quickly overtakes all thoughts when you see the photographs. They're you. They're all of you. And they're covered in a red liquid. Blood? And the drawings. They're yours. They're your drawings from your childhood. These are also covered in blood. Whoever this is. Whoever this captor is... They targeted you intentionally. And they've always known you. You swallow nervously, and turn round. You need to escape. You need to leave. Soon. But first, maybe you should investigate more? Increase your chances of escape and survival? [[Examine the door.]] [[Examine the desk.]] [[Examine the pile.]]

The floor clangs underneath each foot step you make. After about five or six clangs, you reach the door. Upon examination, it is only slightly taller and wider than you. You do not see any windows or anything. There is only the rusted bolt and a handle. What do you do? [[Try to open the door.]] [[Examine the desk.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the pile.]]

You don't know why but your instincts tell you to lie back down. You go back to your spot and lie down; making yourself as comfortable as you can on the cold metallic floor. It takes a long time for you to fall back asleep. Your mind is buzzing with thoughts about your situation and that flickering... That flickering is bothersome. Eventually, the world turns to black and you are in a shallow sleep. [[Next.]]

You hear a click. Then a creak and the sound of metal begrudingly grating against metal. Has someone opened the door? Your sleep is shallow but deep enough that you do not have the strength to open your eyes. Clang. Clang. Clang. You hear someone - **something** - approaching. Clang. Clang. Clang. You hope this is a dream. Clang. Clang. Near. Clang. [[It stops.]]

Click. A sound you don't recognise as much as the steps or the door. **"Sweet dreams."** A harsh voice. Almost not human. You can't make out anything about it. Only that it's deep and crackling. //Bang.// Your consciousness starts to drift again as you suddenly feel pain in your stomach. //Bang.// Chest. //Bang.// No pain. Nothing. **//BAD END//** [[Try again?|Begin]]

You pull on the bolt. It struggles and sticks, but the rust is helping you a little. Whoever put you in here - if somebody even did - clearly was not competent enough to make sure you would not be able to escape. Fool. But still, where are you? You pull on the bolt some more and eventually, it shifts and the door unlocks. You pull down on the handle and push the door opens. Looking out, you can't visibly see anything immediately. Are you sure you wish to escape? [[Yes.]] [[No, explore more.]] [[No, go rest.|Lay back down.]]

You walk out into the darkness. Your eyes take a while to adjust to it, but eventually you begin to see vague silhouettes. Vague silhouettes of trees surrounding you from all directions - but behind of course, as the shed(?) lays there. You see enough clearing in front of you and to the right for you to move through. Where do you go? [[Go right.]] [[Go forward.]]

You decide to stay in and turn your back to explore further. As you look around the room again, contemplating where you'll explore first, you hear quiet footsteps coming from behind. You don't have time to turn around. A sharp pain enters your back. You feel a liquid rushing down your body from the presumable wound. And the pain only increases as the weight leaves and the weapon is ripped out of your body. You collapse and soon your consciousness escapes. The last thing you hear is a crackling, deep, almost inhuman voice: **You tried to escape? Foolish human.** **//BAD END//**

You turn right and feel adrenaline rush through your body. You run. You run as fast as you can and hope to never stop. But it does not take long before you something makes you. A house. With the lights on. Your captor's? Or just a random stranger's? What do you assume? [[It's your captor's.]] [[It's a stranger's.]]

You don't know where this energy came from, but you feel yourself suddenly start running. You run straight through; avoiding what you can barely see of the trees. You move faster. Faster. Faster. Eventually, you leave the woods and enter a completely open clearing. You cannot see anything for miles. So you keep moving. You keep running. And you don't stop until you tire out. But eventually you do. Your legs give out. You fall to the ground, exhausted. Your eyes shut. [[Next.|Next2]]

You feel the coldness envelope you. But you cannot move. Your body is all worn out. Your adrenaline ran out and the lack of food or water for so long made you collapse. As you begin to shiver in the cold with your consciousness fading, your last thought is about how you at least escaped. Maybe, just maybe you would get lucky and live. **//BAD END//** [[Retry?|Begin]]

Your instinct immediately tells you that it's your captor's house. You know that you cannot approach it. If you do, they **will** kill you. [[Turn back and go straight instead.]]

Your instincts tell you it belongs to a stranger. Your captor must live straight ahead from where you were. This thought fills you with hope and you approach the cabin in front of you. With a gentle knock on the door, you wait. You hear footsteps creaking on a wooden floor inside. They sound slow and tentative... Was this the right call, you wonder? What if this stranger is afraid of you? Or worse: what if they are your captor? You feel a shiver down your spine at these new thoughts but stay in place to try and keep hold of your small bit of hope that led you here. The footsteps approach and eventually the door clicks open. **You? How did you!?** You cannot process the voice nor the appearance of the being behind the door in time. Your instincts were correct. The cold barrel of the shotgun left shivers down your head and you clenched your eyes shut, knowing what was to come. **//BANG!//** **//BAD END//**

You turn on the lamp. It takes what seems like forever to start up, but the bulb eventually goes. Your eyes clench for a moment at the brightness of the light but eventually, you adjust and it is fine. Now you see the desk clearer. [[Examine the drawers.]] [[Examine the papers.]] [[Examine the photograph.]] [[Examine the pile.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the door.]]

You attempt to open the top drawer. Damn. It's locked. The drawer underneath is also locked. You move to the two drawers to the right. The top one is locked but... [[Open the bottom drawer.]]

You lift up the top piece of paper. It appears to be a file with the information of someone on it. You. It's your file. Your name is clear in bold, Times New Roman text at the top and the rest of the file contains details such as your date of birth, address, family, friends, work, etc. Everything about you is here. Freaking out, you throw the paper away and quickly lift the next. It's the same. You move it. You look at the next. After a few attempts, you realise they're all the same. This is all about you. [[Examine the drawers.]] [[Examine the photograph.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the door.]]

You pick up the framed photograph. It's a face you've never seen before. You stare and stare, but you have no clue who it is. Or what it is. The face looks... Wrong. Uncanny. There are eyes. There's a mouth. There appears to be a nose of some sort. Are those eyebrows? Is there hair? You cannot tell. The figure in the photograph is hooded and their features barely show through the shadow. But something is unsettling about them. You do not know what but... Everything looks just... Off. You put the photograph back down; your head now throbbing in pain. **Ah, good. You saw it, yes?** [[Turn around.]]

You turn around as you hear the deep, crackling voice. A cloaked figure is behind you. The one from the picture. Their features look the same as in the picture. Almost human but... slightly off. You cannot exactly place what's wrong with the face, nor even any details. **Once one sees me, they summon me. You realise what this mean, yes?** The voice was also wrong... The being spoke without moving their mouth. The voice was crackling and deep, as if through a voice synthesiser. But there was none. **Your spirit will fuel us. We will grow stronger and return. Through your body and the body of the one we used to capture you... We can rule again.** The words meant nothing. You stood and waited. You knew what was coming. **Your death will be painless. We are not foolish like the one who took you. We are merciful beings.** You feel your heart tighten. And tighten. And tighten. **Your end is now.** And suddenly, you do not feel your heart any more. Or anything. **//BAD END//** [[Start Again?|Begin]]

You don't know where this energy came from, but you feel yourself suddenly start running. You run back to the shed and then turn to run straight through; avoiding what you can barely see of the trees. You move faster. Faster. Faster. Eventually, you leave the woods and enter a completely open clearing. You cannot see anything for miles. So you keep moving. You keep running. And you don't stop until you tire out. But eventually you do. Your legs give out. You fall to the ground, exhausted. Your eyes shut. [[Next.|Next2]]

You open the bottom drawer. Inside you see a small business card sized piece of paper. Lifting it, you see a symbol. Two triangles - one with the point facing up and one facing down - crossed over each other with a diagonal line going through from bottom left to top right. The symbol is yellow. You turn it over. ^^The Almighty Requires Sacrifices. Join us. You, a family member and a friend will bring The End and save us all.^^ You put it down and close the drawer. What does this mean? [[Examine the papers.]] [[Examine the photograph.]] [[Examine the wall.]] [[Examine the pile.]] [[Examine the door.]]