You begin to hiss and bare your teeth. The lady snaps her head back and notices you. She sees the revealed marshmallow beside you and the open bag of pins, and the expression on her face changes from a surreal joviality to a cold expression of fear and anger.\n[[Purr-pare for justice to be served.|ending33]]

"You pesky little vermin," she says, scowling at you.\n"Don't you know you're bad luck?"\nYour tail is sweeping faster and faster from side to side. All the hairs on your body are standing up. You are perfectly alert. You can see everything in slow-motion.\n[[There's going to be a cat-astrophe.|ending34]]

The lady grabs her broom and tries to beat you away with it.\n[[If you think that's going to stop me, you're paw-sitively moronic! (Jump)|ending 35]]

You smartly jump onto the counter, no problem. Now you can see the [[top of the fridge.|discovery3]]

You tumble down and you can feel your necklace coming loose. It cracks and breaks on a rock, and then suddenly -\n"Ow!Jesus!"\nYou stop tumbling and manage to stop yourself at the very bottom of the hill from falling into the water. You manage to stand yourself up on two feet, shaking for lack of balance. You look up, and the lady is staring down at you, completely confused and terrified. She rubs her eyes as you realize what just happened.\n[["Miss, could I please use your phone? I got into some trouble and I'm lost."|ending37]]

"Miss, could I please use your phone? I got into some trouble and I'm lost." You put on your best pity voice.\nShe helps you up, utterly bewildered.\n"Um, well, dearie," she says, plastering on a fake smile,"My house is kind of a mess right now, but I'm sure someone else would be willing to help you phone your parents. Good luck now."\n//Yeah, right, "a mess." A crime scene is more like it."//\nYou borrow the cellphone of the nearest person you can find and you phone the police.\n\n[[Start from the beginning?|Start]]

Suddenly, a black figure swoops down and claws your hands away from the knocker. Howling in pain, you stagger away from the door. The black figure reveals itself as a crow and perches itself on top of your head.\n"Fool!" Its croaks. "This is not your place! Here, take this, and never return!" It drops a<<if $costume == 1>> jade necklace<<else if $costume == 2>> voodoo doll<<else if $costume == 3>>n action figure<<endif>> into your pocket.<<set $amulet = 1>>\n"You have been warned!" Before you say anything, it flies away.\n[[Okay....(keep going)|deth]]\n[[Turn back|street]]

<<if $amulet == 1>>\nYou want to investigate, but...how? The voodoo doll in your pocket begins to shake. You feel dizzy, and you try to lean against the doorway for balance, except...\nYou phase right through.\nSuddenly, you're through the doorframe and in the room.\nThe teenager looks bewildered and confused. He rubs his eyes for a bit, then closes the door and goes back inside. He walks right past you; he doesn't seem to even see you.\n[[Investigate.|2key2]]\n<<else>>\nBefore you recognize what you're doing, you realize you are \nwalking right into the room.\n"Hey, hey!"\nThe teenager grabs you by your wrist. He no longer seemed nonchalant.\n"Are you trying to steal from us or something? I'm sending you home."\nDespite your protests, he sends you back home else he calls the police. You're grounded for a week. Sheesh...\n[[Restart|Start]]\n<<endif>>

You try to inch away, frozen in terror. Its "chest" starts to move up and down, and it suddenly touches you with a surge of energy. Its hand phases through face, and then you feel a [[bright flash of light.|light]]

A bored teenager opens the door and briskly tells you they don't have candy.\n<<if $costume == 2>>Before you leave, you notice something looks [[odd|2key]] near the back of the room.\n[[Back|street]]<<else>>[[Back|street]]<<endif>>

A plump lady emerges from the warm light of the kitchen and smiles at you, dropping you two handfuls of assorted candy: wax lips, reese's cups, hershey's bars, candy necklaces and all different types of chips. Score.\n<<if $costume == 1>>You notice something [[glimmering|3key]] in the corner of your eye.\n[[Back|street]]<<else>>[[Back|street]]<<endif>>

<<if $arrived == 1>><<display transport>><<endif>>\nIt's totally deserted, for the most part. There are only four houses on the street. The one [[right across from you|house1start]] has a bunch of decorations and lights. The one [[to the left of you|house2start]] isn't decorated at all, and all the lights are off save one. The one [[near the end of the street|house3start]] has a huge crowd of kids at the door. The one [[at the very end of the street|house4start]] seems to be obstructed by a thicket of wrangled trees.

After a hesitant knock and a few split seconds of your heart stopping, the door creaks open. Nobody is there, and it's pitch black inside.\n<<if $costume == 4>>Your neverending curiosity and thirst for bragging rights [[beckons|4key]] you inside.\n[[Back|street]]<<else if visited("crow")>>[[Screw it, let's go.|deth]]\n[[Okay wow, let's definitely head back.|street]]<<else>>[[Screw it, let's go.|crow]]\n[[Okay wow, let's definitely head back.|street]]<<endif>>

The big day has come. After a restless night and a day of ingesting way more salt and sugar at school than reasonably healthy, it's time to go Trick-or-treating. Let's be real, you're way too old to be doing that, but honestly? Who could pass up free candy?\n[[Let's go.|street]]

It's horrifying.\nWhat is this, some kind of messed up joke?\nThere seems to be a grosteque figure lying on a wooden table. It looks like it's stitched together with the limbs of all types of different body parts from different people.\n\n//Who could possibly be messed-up enough to do this?//\n\nUpon closer inspection, the form tries to mimick that of a human being, or so it seems. It's a huge, bursting mound of dead flesh.\nDead, that is, until you think you see it [[twitch|twitch]].

You can't see their face, but something about them is giving you a bad feeling.\n"Hello, Mr. Trump."\nIt's Barack Obama, your arch-nemesis.\n[[Fight|fite]]\n[[Flee|flee]]

With a deft leap and the flick of your tail, you are now on top of the fridge and away from view. Now, what is this shiny object?\nUpon closer inspection, it appears to be a bag. You stick your nose inside, whiskers twitching.\nOuch!\nFlinching away, you cautiously look inside once more. It's a bag of...\n[[...pins?|discovery32]]

Gliding in the back bedroom, you spot something small on the bed. It seems to be peach-coloured and small. What could it possibly be?\n[[Move closer.|thumb]]

Okay, but before you investigate, this is pretty sweet. You spend a few minutes (okay, hours) putting your hand through the objects in the house and gliding around. You can stick your head right in the frickin' table!\nAnyways, back to checking out what that odd thing was that you saw. You peer in the back room. It was probably [[over here...?|backroom]]

<<if $costume <= 2>>You walk up onto the street.<<else if $costume > 2>>Your mom pulls you up onto the street before giving you a big kiss (against your will, of course) and driving off.<<set $arrived = "1">><<endif>>

You bend down to check underneath the carpet. Focusing all your energy on your fingers, you manage to push the carpet without phasing through it. You lift it, carefully, and you find a [[bloody hammer.|hammer][$hammer ="1"]]

You tail begins to twitch with anger. Who could have done this? Who would have the heart? All those poor, innocent children. \n[[This calls for feline intervention.|ending32]]

<<set $hammer to 0>>\nYou cautiously glide up close. From here, it seems to be slightly wrinkled. You inch even closer until you're only a few centimetres away from it. Something about it seems odd.\nWait, is that a...\n\n//...thumb?//\n\n[[Jesus Christ.|thumb2]]

You cautiously open the closet door. The sound of machinery gets louder and a musty smell seems to emanate from the room.\n[[Venture forth.|closet2]]

You lift the hammer with a bit of focus and a lot of disgust. What the hell, it might be useful.\n[[Back|thumb2]]

<<if $hammer == 0>>You back away from it as quickly as possible, screaming. You remember that someone else is inside the house, and you stop screaming. Then you remember that nobody can hear you screaming, since you are a ghost, and you continue to scream.\nAfter a few minutes (hours) you collect yourself.\nYou decide to examine the room to take your eyes off the thumb. You realize that you can hear the sound of muffled machinery behind a narrow [[closet door.|closet]] There also seems to be a [[bump in the carpet.|carpet]]<<else>>You look around the room. There isn't much to it. You can hear the sound of muffled machinery behind a narrow [[closet door.|closet]]<<endif>>

No time to think about what happened, that creaking sound is driving you nuts. \n[[It's coming from the kitchen.|kitchen]]

You wade through the mass of screaming kids to reach the door. The door seems to already be open.\n[[Step to the doorway.|house3]]\n[[Back|street]]

You walk through the cold, dark thicket with only a cobblestone path to guide you to the entrance of the house (which you realize is huge once you get closer to it). All the noise seems to be absorbed by the trees that surround you, making it dead silent. Even your own voice sounds small against the engulfing black branches. Finally, you reach the door.\n[[Use the knocker.|house4]]\n[[Nope.|street]]

//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\nIn the clearing of boxes and plastic, there's an old lady sitting on a rocking chair. She is facing the small, filthy kitchen window, away from you. She seems to be holding her arm. The tap is dripping. \n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n[[//crrreak.//|closer]]

Your bigotry angers the spirit. The skeleton re-animates and lunges at you.\n\nSorry.\n\n[[Restart|Start]]

What a garbage idea.\nYou try to jump onto the handles with your nimble cat-body but end up sliding and skidding clumsily to the floor. The old lady snaps her head back and shooes you out the door. You are doomed to dumpster diving and feline disease for the rest of your days.\n[[Restart|Start]]

You howl in pain. The inside of your mouth is burning. The lady at the door snaps her head around, catching sight of you, and throws you out the door in disgust. The inside of your mouth is spilling with blood as you look up and catch sight of the moon before closing your eyes.\n[[Restart|Start]]

The Trick-or-Treaters

You launch yourself onto her neck as she screams in pain, and you use her chest as a springboard to jump away. It causes a commotion amongst all the children at the door. You try to take all the candy from their hands, but only manage to pluck a few from their hands before the lady recovers and comes after you.\nShe has a lot more steam than you thought.\nCompletely furious, she chases after you until you get to the hill which rolls down into a ravine.\n"It's over, you naughty little vermin."\nWith a swing of her broom, she pushes you down into the ravine and you [[fall.|ending36]]

Plastic skeletons, bedsheet ghosts, carefully carved jack-o-lanterns and cotton cobwebs greet you as you walk up the driveway to the huge house.\n[[Ring the doorbell.|house1]]\n[[Back|street]]

You turn on the flashlight of your phone so you can see, and the front door slams closed behind you. It's probably the wind (you pride yourself on being a rational thinker, being an atheist and all that). A narrow [[staircase|staircase]] is directly in front of you, but there's also a small [[room|room]] to your left. The door on it is slightly ajar.

//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\nYou're only a couple of metres away from her now. You realize it isn't the tap that's dripping, it's something else inside the sink. There seems to be a tube attatched to the old woman's arm, feeding slowly to an assembly line of silicone lollipop moulds in the sink. Half of them are full. You look on, frozen in terror. The tube coming from her arm is a deep red. She holds it against her skin. The old woman doesn't seem to have noticed you. She continues to rock her chair. \n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n[[//crrreak.//|closer2]]

What are you gonna be?\n[[A cat.|cat][$costume = "1"]]\n[[A ghost.|ghost][$costume = "2"]]\n[[A vampire.|monster][$costume = "3"]]\n[[A political figure.|politicalfigure][$costume = "4"]]

Your feet begin to move faster, and you start running faster and faster. You can hear stirring from the front door. The old man must be getting up. You slip on a box, but you manage to regain your balance in time to escape, and you get to the front door.\n"DON'T LET HIM GET AWAY!"\nThe old woman's shrieking rings like a rusty knife against a sheet of metal in your ears. The old man is terrified, but he stands his ground as he blocks the doorway. Panicking, you seize him by the wrist and quickly sink your fangs into his neck, drawing up blood, sweet blood...\nThe old woman screams and lunges, but you block her attack with the old man's body and run off into the trees, shaking. Exhausted and deep in the darkness of the woods, You wipe the fresh blood off of your face. \nShe isn't following you anymore, but you can still hear her voice ringing, ringing in your ears. You can still smell her putrid blood. You can still see those endless moulds in the sink...the creaking of her old rocking-chair...\nIt's been three days. You realize that you're hungry and thirsty.\n[[Look in your trick-or-treating bag.|bag]]

You are a terrifyingly ferocious vampire in a lovingly hand-crafted costume. You've been planning this costume since the day after last halloween. Glue gun, styrofoam and acrylic paint has never looked this good on anyone.\n\n<<display preface>>

You climb up the staircase (which is almost as flimsy as how those filthy left-wingers left the American economy), and it leads into a narrow room. somebody is sitting on the [[chair|chair]].

//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\nYou're less than a metre away from her now. The putrid smell of congealed blood fills your nose, and you shiver. You pull your cape over in front of you, instinctively.\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n[["Hello, honey."|hellohoney]]

What could these pins possibly be here for? And why did I feel compelled to find them?\nYou glance down. Nobody's noticed you snuck into the house yet. That's when you notice what [[treats|discovery33]] the lady at the door is handing out...

She's handing out bags and bags of marshmallows and soft candies, and that's when you see it - a glint in her eye that seems off. Something about her seems off. Wait, [[soft candies?|discovery34]]

You spot a pile of soft candies from the lady's stash on the kitchen table. You quickly hop down and sniff the candies. Your feline senses tell you these don't smell quite right.\n[[Paw at them a bit.|discovery35]]\n[[Eat a soft, fluffy marshmallow.|marshmallowdeth]]

You paw at one with your sharp and unforgiving claws.\nYeowch!\nYou scratched your paw on something inside the marshmallow. It's a tiny pin.\n[[This is un-fur-giveable.|ending3]]

You attempt to swing at him with your burly man-fist but he deflects coolly and casually. "You'll never make it into office," he says. Then, he proceeds to school you with his tae kwon do skills.\n\nDamn.\n\n[[Restart|Start]]

\n\n\n\n\n\nAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!\n\n\n.........Nevermind, it's only a skeleton. You thought it was a mexican for a second, there.\n\nWait, a [[skeleton?|skeletondeth]]\n

"...Of course, dear." You try to keep your voice calm and even.\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n"Oh, that's good." She says, rocking rythmically in her chair. "I'm getting very tired and dizzy from all this, you know."\n[["I know. It'll be over soon."|realize][$dialog = "1"]]\n[["..."|realize][$dialog = "2"]]

You quietly hop closer to the light. It's on top of the refridgerator, too high to jump.\n[[Try to manouver over the handles of the fridge.|catdeth]]\n[[Jump onto the counter first.|3key3]]

The house seems perfectly plain and dark. Someone's in there, though. Hell, it's worth a try.\n[[Ring the doorbell.|house2]]\n[[Back|street]]

"What the hell is this?!" You're shaking and terrified.\nSuddenly, you can hear stirring from the living room. You are frozen in fear. The old woman's head is now turned straight at you. She has stopped rocking in her chair.\n"You're not my husband."\nYou try to run, but it's too late. You can already see the man at the front door getting up. You trip on a cardboard box and sprawl onto the floor.\nThe last thing you see are their faces, smiling down at you. Their eyes are shining. Their smiles are wide. Their fangs are sharp.\n[[Restart|Start]]\n\n

The hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Her voice is quiet and rusty. She's still facing the window.\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n"Are the children enjoying my lollipops?"\n[["...Of course, dear."|ofc]]\n[["What the hell is this?!"|wtf]]

You try to open your eyes, but it is difficult. Your eyelids feel too real, too heavy. Your entire body is in pain. \nYou are no longer a ghost anymore, that's for sure.\nYou can feel searing hot lines of pain zigzagging across your limbs and your torso when you try to move, and you realize, upon feeling the ground, that you are still surrounded by machinery.\nYou catch a glimpse of yourself in the metal of one of the machines, and you see a monster... \n[[Start from the beginning?|Start]]

<<if $amulet == 1>>\nThe action figure in your pocket begins to shake and you suddenly feel a wave of energy. Before you realize what you're doing, you curl up your lips to reveal pearly fangs. The old man's face pales as he curls up into a ball at the door. You swoop on in. \n[[Investigate the creaking.|1key2]]\n<<else>>\nBefore you recognize what you're doing, you realize you're following the creaking sound.\nSuddenly, the old man grabs you by your wrist. His grip is firm and stern and he looks furious. \n"Are you trying to steal something? I'm calling your parents."\nDespite your protests, he sends you back home. You're grounded for a week. Sheesh...\n[[Restart|Start]]\n<<endif>>

You flee out of the house and out of office. It's for the greater good. You can still hear Barack's smooth, silky voice, cackling....haunting you....\n\n[[Start from the beginning?|Start]]

<<if $dialog == 1>>"I know. It'll be over soon."<<else>>"..."<<endif>>\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n"You..."\nShe stops rocking, suddenly.\n"You're not my husband."\n\nYou stand frozen in place. The air suddenly seems heavy and silent, now. The sound of the creaking is gone; it is replaced with nothing but the sound of your heart beating.\nWith her good arm, she suddenly reaches down, grabbing the leg of her chair. \n"I KNOW WHO YOU ARE!"\nWith a forceful tug, she snaps it off and raises it high above her head. She seems to be filled with energy as she stands straight up from her chair, which topples over to the ground.\n"I KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THE LIKES OF YOU!"\nShe lumbers towards you, splintered makeshift wooden stake in hand, as you back away. Your legs can't seem to move in speed. Your body feels numb.\n"HE SAID I WOULD BE SAFE FROM YOU HERE!"\nHer voice is a piercing shriek. Her pale eyes seem to have lost their grip on reality. She is clearly moving far faster than she should be. The tube she held to her arm drops to the floor and rolls away, splattering blood on the wooden floor.\n[[Run.|run]]\n

//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\n//crrreak.//\n\n\n\n\n\nThere are hundreds of cardboard boxes and crates all around, along with plastic lollipop wrappings. They are all marked in the same font: //Uncle Joe's Sugar-Free Lollies.// There's only a narrow space to walk [[further into the kitchen.|kitchen2]]

You cut out two holes in your bedsheet.\nYou are ready.\n\n<<display preface>>

Ha! Foolish mortal! You enter the house, never to return again. Nobody knows who or what took you. They found traces of your bones hung around the trees of the old mansion that's been vacant for 56 years.\n[[Restart|Start]]

<<if $amulet == 1>>\nThe ball of yarn inside your pocket begins to unravel. Your ears perk up and you are suddenly fixated on the glimmering thing in the room. You pad into the room on all fours, not leaving a trace. The lady is still staring at where you once were, questioning her sanity, but it's too late; you've already crept further inside the house.\n[[Investigate the glimmering.|3key2]]\n<<else>>\nBefore you recognize what you're doing, you realize you are gravitating towards the glimmering bright light in the room, and you're walking inside. Pretty light....\nSuddenly, the lady grabs you by your wrist. She looked so kind moments ago, but now her face is hard and stern. \n"Are you trying to steal something? I'm calling your parents."\nDespite your protests, she sends you back home. You're grounded for a week. Sheesh...\n[[Restart|Start]]\n<<endif>>

You slowly tiptoe to the room, but it's a little difficult for your hefty body. You slowly open the [[door...|room2]]

<<set $arrived = 0>>\n<<set $costume = 0>>\n<<set $hammer = 0>>\n<<set $amulet = 0>>\nIt's halloween tomorrow!\n[[I guess.|begin]]\n[[WOO-HOO!|begin]]

[[And then, darkness.|dark]]

Laughing with joy, you pull out the rubbery face of Donald Trump himself that you got from a halloween supply store. Your cheeks are now round and red, your hair is now a thin platinum blond, and your eyes now resemble those of pigs.\nIt's perfect.\n\n<<display preface>>

You are so adorable, so lovely, so cute, so innocent. and so, so lazy. After applying some eyeliner to your face and getting cat ears from Value Village, your whiskers are twitching, your tail is wagging and your costume is complete.\n\n<<display preface>>

You flee the house unscathed, never to return. Sometimes you still wonder if you were really there that night.\n\n[[Start from the beginning?|Start]]

Slumped against a tree, you look into your trick-or-treating bag. There's still something inside. \n//Uncle Joe's Sugar-Free Lollies.//\nYou've been craving these lately. You slide off the wrapper, carefully, and put it in your mouth. It's delicious.\n\n\n\n\n[[Start from the beginning?|Start]]

A thin old man drops a single sugar-free lollipop into your bag."I make these myself," he says with a self-assured smile. "Uncle Joe's Sugar-Free Lollies. They're on sale next week at the corner store." This sucks. What a disappointment.\n<<if $costume == 3>>You're just about to leave when you hear something [[creaking|1key]] inside.\n[[Back|street]]<<else>>[[Back|street]]<<endif>> \n

Lina Wu\nkalinascope @ tumblr

It's twitching, slowly, and reaching towards you. Its stitches seem to stretch. It opens its eyes, and now you see that it had eyes in the first place, blind and sad and tired. \n<<if $hammer == 1>>\n[[Kill it.|gudend]]<<endif>>\n[[Back away, slowly.|gitgud]]\n

Terrified, you hold the hammer over your head and swing with all your might. As the hammer makes contact with its skin, you can feel its soft, dead flesh rip and give. It makes a horrible, breathy sound, as if it doesn't know how to scream or talk. You realize you've been squeezing your eyes shut. The smell enough of everything makes you want to puke.\n[[Get the hell out of here.|leave]]

You walk deeper inside, and you see a huge factory line of machinery and conveyor belts. There doesn't seem to be anything on the conveyor belts, but they all lead to one [[corner of the room.|corner]]