It's Friday and you're in your last lecture for the day. You're thinking of playing some games later, maybe get a few of your online friends together to take a crack at Apex Legends. Class hasn't started yet since the professor is still setting up, so you're just sitting in your usual seat scrolling through reddit when a girl plops down next to you.
"Hey, hope this seat wasn't taken." She quips.
You glance up into the most gorgeous pair of piercing grey-blue eyes.
[["Uh...um...no..?" You stumble over your words, feeling yourself flush.]]
[["Oh no, it's all yours." You smile at her.]]
[["Begone thot!" You jump onto your seat and screech at her, frantically making the sign of the cross.]]She settles into her seat and grins at you.
"Cool. So, uh. What's your name?" She asks.
You pull yourself together and reply:
"I'm Chadlerson. You?"
"I'm Heighyyleiighee. Like Hayley. But spelled Heighyyleiighee."
You chat for a while until the lecture starts.
After class ends, she turns to you.
"Hey, Chadlerson, you're pretty cool. There's a party going on tonight at the park. You wanna come?"
[[You're not really a party kinda guy, but she's cool. You'll go.]][[Continue ->"Uh...um...no..?" You stumble over your words, feeling yourself flush.]]She recoils in shock.
"Wow ok, that wasn't necessary." She mutters, looking peeved.
The entire lecture hall is staring at you.
She picks up her bag and walks away leaving you to yourself, a state you should be intimately familiar with. You go back to scrolling through r/AmITheAsshole and bask in the silence.
After class, you get back to your dorm room and settle in for a game of Apex Legends when your roommate comes bursting through the door.
"Hey man, there's a party happening down near the park. You should come! I hear there's gonna be a bunch of hot girls. You never know, one of them might agree to go home with your ugly ass."
"I'm not a big fan of parties." You say.
"That's totally fair, but there's also gonna be free food. You don't even have to drink or talk to anyone, just come for the food then you can leave, all right?"
[[Well, free food is free food]]After playing a few rounds of Apex Legends with your online buddies, your roommate drags you out to that party at around 8pm. You walk down to the park and see the glow of fluorescent streetlights off skin as people mill around chatting to each other while music thumps in the background. Ugh. You head straight for the food table.
There's a girl lounging by a large bowl of questionably edible nachos over there, but you ignore her and reach for the food. She looks at your face and her eyebrows rise.
"Hey, it's you! You're that one weirdo from class who called me a thot."
You pause, handful of nachos halfway to your mouth, and blink at her.
"Oh, er. Yes?"
She snorts.
"Huh. Guess you're one of those people. Hey, no hard feelings, sometimes I don't want to talk to people either. I'm Heighyyleiighee by the way. And you are?"
She pauses, waiting for an answer, but your mouth is full of food at that point.
"Ok...well, listen. Some of us were gonna check out some of the old houses in the area later on. You can come if you want, it's gonna be real cool. Here, let me give you my number, I'll text you when we're gonna go."
You decide that there's no point being even more of an asshole and hand her your phone so she can key in her number. You can just delete it later.
"Ok, well have fun!"
She walks away, disappearing into the crowd.
[[Keep munching, I guess? ->Overthink everything that just happened and stay by the food table, hugging the nacho bowl for dear life]]You spend some time mucking about on your computer, then get ready to head out at 8pm. You walk down to the park and hear the sound of laughter in the distance, along with the distant thump of music. You get a little closer and start looking around for a familiar face and spot Heighyyleiighee loitering by the table of food. You head toward her and she brightens when she sees you.
"Hey Chadlerson, you made it! Here, have some nachos." She gestures at a large bowl of moderately edible-looking nachos. "Don't worry, they haven't been sitting out for too long."
You grab some and start munching.
"Hey, listen. Some of us are gonna go check out one of the old houses in the area. You wanna come? If you do, you should have my number in case you get lost." She keys her number into your phone. Wow, you just got a girl's number, better check to see if those nachos were drugged.
"I'll text you later when we're gonna go ok? You don't have to, but I think it will be fun."
She walks off, leaving you to your (as far as you can tell) completely normal, untampered with nachos.
[[Overthink everything that just happened and stay by the food table, hugging the nacho bowl for dear life]]
[[Yeah, you will go check out those old houses. Seems like it'll be fun.]] After a while, your phone pings. It's a message from Heighyyleiighee.
"i'm at the house on the corner"
*received 22:18*
You dither for a bit, unsure of whether or not to respond.
Your phone pings again.
"i'm in here, in the house on the corner on the street just by the park" *received 22:21*
Wow, this girl is either somehow very determined to get some of that shut-in nerdboy dick, or just thinks you're incredibly stupid. Probably the latter, honestly.
[[Text back]]
[[Ignore her and stay by the nachos. Thots are temporary but food is forever.]] After a while, your phone pings. It's a message from Heighyyleiighee.
"i'm at the house on the corner"
*received 22:18*
You head over, but when you get there there's no one in sight. Could you have been pranked?
You look around a bit more, then text Heighyyleiighee back:
"I don't see you, are you inside?"
You wait for a bit, and your screen lights up again with a message
"i'm in here, in the house on the corner on the street just by the park" *received 22:21*
[[What's the harm? You head in.]]
[[You're not so sure about wandering into abandoned houses on your own in the dark. Better stay outside.]][[Go in->Mama didn't raise no bitch! I'm goin' in!]]You look up at the house again. The front door yawns before you, and you imagine that you can hear the faint sound of giggling from within. A breeze rushes past, sweeping the scent of lakewater with it. Moonlight glints off of something through one of the windows. Maybe a crumpled beer can.
You pull out your phone to send Heighyyleiighee a text telling her that you're not so sure about this, when your phone pings on its own. It's Heighyyleiighee.
"hey is anyone out there???"
*received 22:32*
You type back:
"Hey i'm outside but idk man I'm not really feeling it"
[[You're concerned for her though. You should go in and check on her.]]
[[Head back to your room]]You sweep the crumbs off your hands and type a message back to Heighyyleiighee:
"Ok chill, I'm coming"
With that said, you tuck your phone back into your pocket and walk over to the house on the corner. Once you get there, you notice that there's nobody in sight. The house looms above you, silent and foreboding, untouched by the pool of the streetlight.
[[On second thought, this seems kinda sketchy. Better not go in.]]
[[Mama didn't raise no bitch! I'm goin' in!]]You chill by the food for a while, chowing down on those mediocre nachos to your heart's content. Your phone pings a few times with Heighyyleiighee's messages, but you just ignore her. Stranger danger amirite?
The party's starting to wind down and the food's running low, so you decide you're done for the night.
[[Head back to your room]]You linger outside uncertainly and look up at the house again. The front door yawns before you, and you imagine that you can hear the faint sound of giggling from within. A breeze rushes past, sweeping the scent of lakewater with it. Moonlight glints off of something through one of the windows. Maybe a crumpled beer can.
You've seen enough horror movies to know not to venture into an abandoned house, especially not at night. You pull out your phone to send Heighyyleiighee a text telling her that you're leaving.
"hey it's getting pretty late i think i should go home"
You don't have to wait long for a reply.
"hello? is anyone there? i'm in the basement"
*received 22:35*
Not your problem. This girl can go hop on someone else's dick. You're outta here.
[[Head back to your room]]You step through the door and turn your phone's flashlight on. Debris litters the dusty floor: broken bottles, clumps of garbage, empty beer cans. You sweep the light around and nothing meets the eye.
Just then, your phone pings.
"hey is anyone out there???"
*received 22:32*
You reply:
"Yeah it's me Chadlerson, I'm here"
Your phone pings again.
"hello? is anyone there? i'm in the basement"
*received 22:35*
Seems like an odd place to be, but maybe she really does want some of that dick after all. Guess tonight's your lucky night.
[[Go into the basement]]Your phone was running out of battery anyway. You get back to your dorm and see your roommate already passed out under the covers, snoring away. After brushing your teeth and getting ready for bed, you plug in your phone and settle down to sleep. It's going to be Saturday tomorrow. You're thinking of going grocery shopping, then maybe gathering some of your floormates for a round of Smash Ultimate. It's gonna be great.
The next morning, you wake up to the scent of fresh coffee permeating the air and look over to see your roommate nursing a cup of the beverage.
"Hey man, rough night?" You ask.
He groans and runs a hand through his hair. You decide not to mention the way it's sticking up in every direction. I mean, yours probably isn't that much better.
"God that must've been some of the worst beer I've ever drank! And we're in college! I've had a lot of bad beer!"
You stretch smugly. "Good thing I stuck to the nachos eh?"
Then remembering Heighyyleiighee, you ask him:
"Hey you remember seeing a girl by the food table last night? Long dark hair, grey-blue eyes? Name's Heighyyleiighee, but spelled H E I G H Y Y L E I I G H E E. Did she get home ok?"
He raises his eyes from his coffee cup and looks at you askance.
"Dude, I knew every single person at that party, and there was no Heighyyleiighee. Who even names their kid that anyway? It's a nightmare to spell."
[[What?]][[Head on in ->Mama didn't raise no bitch! I'm goin' in!]]You reach for your phone to check for the texts from last night, certain that you weren't just dreaming it.
When you unlock the screen, a flurry of texts from Heighyyleiighee greets you.
"there's [[no one]] else down here"
*received 22:38*COLLEGE STUDENT MISSING, STILL NOWHERE TO BE FOUND
*22 September 2016*
Staring out at you from the page is the face of the girl you met last night, Heighyyleiighee.
CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MADE IT! WANT TO [[TRY AGAIN? ->intro]]"please help i think i'm [[stuck]]"
*received 22:40*"THE [[DOOR]] WON'T OPEN!!!!!"
*received 22:43*"THE DOOR WON'T OPEN IT WON'T OPEN IT WON'T OPEN I'M STUCK PLEASE HELP SOMEONE PLEASE HELP [[PLEASE]] PLEASE PLEASE"
*received 22:45*"please. my phone is [[dying]]. i don't have much time left. please."
*received 22:58*
"it's [[dark]]. i'm scared."
*received 23:05*Chills running through your whole body, you rush to your laptop and search the name 'Heighyyleiighee' coupled with the name of your university.
[[A news article pops up.]]
You pry open the basement door. It's kinda heavy, a solid metal door. The previous owner was probably one of those paranoid bastards who built a bomb shelter because he thought the apocalypse was coming.
Another message appears on your phone.
"there's no one else down here"
*received 22:38*
You call out: "Heighyyleiighee? It's me, Chadlerson. I'm here."
Your voice echoes in the [[darkness]].
You move in a little more and move the light around the room, until you notice that it's picked out a large shape, like that of a human.
You move closer.
"Heighyyleiighee?"
Your flashlight falls on the shape, revealing it in the stark electronic light.
It's a corpse.
It's dressed in what a female college student would wear and hunched over, cradling an iPhone in its hands. The iPhone doesn't look too old either. The body's definitely been here for a while since there's none of that fresh scent of decay, but it hasn't quite decomposed enough to be bare bones. You notice its long, tangled mess of dark hair.
Like Heighyyleiighee's.
[[It can't be.]]Heart pounding frantically, you turn around and rush for the door. It's dark though. There should be a sliver of moonlight slipping through the crack...but there's none. You scramble at the metal door and find that it's shut tight.
You start to scream.
You claw frantically at the door, bashing your fists on it until your nails are broken, your hands bruised, blood running in rivulets down your wrists. You scream and sob until your throat feels like there are nails scraping against the insides, then you scream some more until blood bubbles up in your throat and chokes your breath. You bash and kick on the door but it doesn't budge.
But wait. You have a phone.
You pull out your phone and frantically type out a text to your roommate, your mum, your classmate, your professor, anyone.
"please [[help]] i think i'm stuck"
*sent 23:00*You check the bars on your phone and your heart sinks. You have no cell service. You try again anyway, desperately praying for someone to hear you.
"THE DOOR WON'T [[OPEN]]!!!!!"
*sent 23:05*"THE DOOR WON'T OPEN IT WON'T OPEN IT [[WON'T]] OPEN I'M STUCK PLEASE HELP SOMEONE PLEASE HELP PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE"
*sent 23:10*"please. my phone is dying. i don't have much [[time]] left. please."
*sent 23:15*"it's dark. i'm [[scared]]."
*sent 23:30*GAME OVER
WOULD YOU LIKE TO [[TRY AGAIN? ->intro]]