Stained Nights

firefighter: false police: false ambulance: false lostLove: "[click]" seenBrother: false -- {sound effect: "mouse"} {ambient sound: "theme"} [align center] [after 5 seconds] In the end, it was always that night. It was always going to be that night. [align center] [after 9 seconds; append] Nothing you could do, or say, or aspire to going foward could change that. [align center] [after 13 seconds; append] Nor did you want it to. [after 17 seconds; append] \ Because that's who you were, [align center; after 21 seconds; append] a figment of that wretched past, [align right; after 25 seconds; append] and witness to everything else. [continue] [after 27 seconds] [align center] [[→->Room]]

config.style.page.font: "Iowan Old Style/Constantia/Georgia/serif 30" config.style.page.link.color: "#c8ccff" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "#302c51" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#fff633" config.style.page.header.font: "16" config.style.page.header.link.font: "small caps" config.style.page.footer.font: "16" config.style.page.footer.link.font: "small caps" sound.ambient.theme.url: "theme.mp3" config.body.transition.name: 'fadeInOut' sound.effect.mouse.url: "mouse.mp3" config.footer.left: "by koernerdungeontoilet" -- <style> h1 { font-size: 50pt;; text-align: center; mattom: 70pt; } #page a { font-size: 20pt;; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 40pt; } p { font-size: 12pt; line-height: 15pt; } footer { display: none; } </style> {no ambient sound} <h1>Stained Nights</h1> [align center] a short story about dreams and grief \ may or may not be autobiographical \ *headphones are encouraged* [align center; after 3 seconds] \ \ [[begin->Epithet]] | [[credits->Credits]]

config.style.page.link.color: "#c8ccff" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "#302c51" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#fff633" firefighter (lostLove === "oxygen mask"): true police (lostLove === "handcuffs"): true ambulance (lostLove === "stethoscope"): true wait: 0 downstairs: 0 -- {sound effect: "mouse"} [if passage.visits === 1] It's the dead of night, and you're here again. It's the same place you return to every night. No epic land of dreams here, just the same bunk bed. It's been so long since you've actually slept on the bottom bunk, you always forget the feeling. But you're here again. [if passage.visits > 1] It's the night of the dead, and you're here again. It's the same place you return to every night. No epic land of dreams here, just the same bunk bed. It's been so long since you've actually slept on the bottom bunk, you always forget the feeling. But you're here again. [if firefighter === false] There's a distant wailing coming from outside your door. The lights should all be off, but you can see light peaking in from under, ever so softly. [if firefighter === false; align center] [[[You stay in bed.]->You stay in bed.]] \ [[[You go explore the source of that terrible cry.]->Hallway]] [if firefighter === true] You can't hear any wailing. You get out from your bed, and see no light under your door. [if firefighter === true; align center] [[[You stay in bed.]->You stay in bed.]] \ [[[You try to find why the wailing has stopped.]->Hallway]]

wait: 1 -- {sound effect: "mouse"} [if firefighter === false] You stay under the covers. Would God condemn a little boy for not aiding a lamb in need? You can't say for certain he wouldn't. But you're not a little boy. You might be one in this phantamic moment, but you have no excuses for your inaction. In time, the wailing doesn't cease. Reaching over those sounds, you hear some footsteps creep up the stairs. [if firefighter === false; align center] [[[You go explore the source of the footsteps.]->Hallway]] [else] You stay under the covers. Would God condemn a little boy for not pursuing truth? You can't say for certain he wouldn't. But you're not a little boy. You might be one in this phantamic moment, but you have no excuses for your inaction. In time, the wailing begins. You still do not move. Reaching over those sounds, you hear some footsteps creep up the stairs. [if firefighter === true; align center] [[[You go explore the source of the footsteps.]->Hallway]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} Your door creaks open into the hallway. At the end of the hallway is your parent's room, on your right is the bathroom. The cries seem to come from much further, but you can barely see in front of you. From past the stairs, you see light spilling between the steps and onto a clock. [if firefighter === true; append] It reads just past midnight. [if wait ===1 || firefighter == false; append] It reads just past a quarter to one. [if wait === 0 && firefighter === false] [align center] [[[You go to your parent's room]->Master Bedroom Door]] \ [[[You enter the bathroom.]->Bathroom]] \ [[[You walk down the stairs.] ->Stairs]] [if wait === 1] [align center] [[[You go to your parent's room]->Master Bedroom Door]] \ [[[You enter the bathroom.]->Bathroom]] \ [[[You walk down the stairs.] ->Stairs]] [if wait === 0 && firefighter === true] [align center] [[[You go to your parent's room]->Master Bedroom Door]] \ [[[You enter the bathroom.]->Bathroom]] \ [[[You return back to your room and wait.]->You stay in bed.]] \ {reveal link: "[You walk down the stairs.]", text: "[You think otherwise as there is no light coming from the stairs]"}

{sound effect: "mouse"} [if police === true && firefighter === true && wait !== 1] As you venture closer and closer to the door, the infant cries get louder and louder. Ear to the door, it wails and is heard with the pain of a thousand needles. [if police === true && firefighter === true && seenBrother === true && wait !== 1] Behind this door, your brother is alive, and he is calling for you. [if police === true && firefighter === true && wait !== 1] Your small frame shouldn't allow you to barge in. But weren't you a police officer on the other side? If you were good at anything, wouldn't it be breaking in and intruding? [if police === true && firefighter === true && wait !== 1; align center] [[[You ram at the door with full force]->Master Bedroom]] [if police === true && firefighter === true && wait === 1] You approach the door. On your tippy-toes, you reach for the handle and attempt to pull the door open, but find it locked. Your small frame shouldn't allow you to barge in. But weren't you a police officer on the other side? If you were good at anything, wouldn't it be breaking in and intruding? [if police === true && firefighter === true && wait === 1; align center] [[[You ram at the door with full force.]->Master Bedroom]] [if police === false && firefighter === true && wait !== 1] As you venture closer and closer to the door, the infant cries get louder and louder. Ear to the door, it wails and is heard with the pain of a thousand needles. [if police === false && firefighter === true && seenBrother === true && wait !== 1] Behind this door, your brother is alive, and he is calling for you. [if police === false && firefighter === true && wait !== 1] You bang against the door, plead with all your guttural strength. But the cries only get louder, and no footsteps come your way. You could try to force your way in, but with your small innocent frame, you'd certainly fail. [if police === false && firefighter === true && wait !== 1; align center] [[[You start to cry.]->Crying outside the door.]] [if ambulance === false && police === false && firefighter === false] You approach the door. On your tippy-toes, you reach for the handle and attempt to pull the door open, but find it locked. You could try to force your way in, but with your small innocent frame, you'd certainly fail. [if ambulance === false && police === false && firefighter === false; align center] [[[You return to the hallway.]->Hallway]] [if ambulance === true && police === false && firefighter === false] You approach the door. On your tippy-toes, you reach for the handle and attempt to pull the door open, but find it locked. You could try to force your way in, but with your small innocent frame, you'd certainly fail. [if ambulance === true && police === false && firefighter === false; align center] [[[You return to the hallway.]->Hallway]] [if ambulance === false && police === true && firefighter === false] You approach the door. On your tippy-toes, you reach for the handle and attempt to pull the door open, but find it locked. Your small frame shouldn't allow you to barge in. But weren't you a police officer on the other side? If you were good at anything, wouldn't it be breaking in and intruding? [if ambulance === false && police === true && firefighter === false; align center] [[[You ram at the door with full force.]->Master Bedroom]] [if ambulance === true && police === true && firefighter === false] You approach the door. On your tippy-toes, you reach for the handle and attempt to pull the door open, but find it locked. Your small frame shouldn't allow you to barge in. But weren't you a police officer on the other side? If you were good at anything, wouldn't it be breaking in and intruding? [if ambulance === true && police === true && firefighter === false; align center] [[[You ram at the door with full force.]->Master Bedroom]] [if firefighter === true && police === false && ambulance === true && wait === 1] You approach the door. On your tippy-toes, you reach for the handle and attempt to pull the door open, but find it locked. You could try to force your way in, but with your small innocent frame, you'd certainly fail. [if firefighter === true && police === false && wait === 1; align center] [[[You return to the hallway.]->Hallway]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} You're returned back to your room. This time your door is locked from the outside. You climb back into your bottom bunk and pull yourself under the covers. If you doze back to sleep, you'll certainly wake up on the other side. But there is no guarantee, even if you sleep, that you'll return back to this place. [if seenBrother === true; append] In other words, if you leave now, you might never see your brother again, not in this world, not in the other. [if passage.visits < 6; align center] [[[You go to bed.]->Go to bed.]] \ [[[You try to stay up as long as possible.]->Stay up all night.]] [else] This world, as you know, is disintegrating. You've dared to come back three times already, and you're sure that it won't survive another causal intrusion further. If you do come back, it will be the last. [[[You go to bed.]->Go to bed.]]

config.style.page.link.color: "#ff6225" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "#ffeb79" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#ffc225" -- <style> #backdrop { background: #ffeb79; } #page { background: #ffeb79; } div a { font: #ff5825; } div p { color: #f74e0c } </style> {sound effect: "mouse"} [if passage.visits < 7] The body moves in circadian rhythm, but the soul cannot. Each muscles tenses and contracts, all in tune, but in clear melodic diminish. Your temporal body may exist in this world, but your heart and soul exist in the other. You must return. You will return. At the end of the day, you come back to your lone, single-tiered bed. Pulling the covers over your mature weathered frame, you close your eyes and wait for divine revelation. [if passage.visits < 7; align center] [[[You fall asleep and wake up in the land of dreams]->Room]] [else] The body moves in circadian rhythm, but the soul cannot. Each muscles tenses and contracts, all in tune, but in clear melodic diminish. Your temporal body may exist in this world, but your heart and soul exist in the other. You return to your lone, single-tiered bed. Pulling the covers over your mature weathered frame, you close your eyes and wait for divine judgement. You must return, but you know you can't. [[[You try to dream a dream that imagines a life untethered.]->Purgatory]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} With every muscle in your body, you try to keep yourself awake and dreaming. But as the night goes further, in spite of the continued cries beyond your locked door, your little eyelids begin to close in and out. Before long, you lose all control. [align center] [[[You doze off.]->Go to bed.]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} Braving the unknown, you step into the kitchen. Behind the kitchen island, your mother burrows her face into the chest of your father. Even muffled, her despair cannot be contained. Three towering figures stand adjacent to them. One wearing a coal gown hovers over a fleshy mass. As you move closer, your vision demarcates. On the island rests a baby. Lying on top of a cross-stitched quilt, it makes no sound, no movements. And the little lord, no crying does he make. Something is wrong with the infant. Something very wrong. You bubble with anger and frustration. Why is no one doing anything? [align center] [[[You rush to save the poor child.]->You rush to save the poor child.]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} Your hands gripping the cornerstone, you poke your little head enough to see inside the kitchen. Behind the kitchen island, your mother burrows her face into the chest of your father. Even muffled, her despair cannot be contained. Three towering figures stand adjacent to them. One wearing a cowl gown hovers over a fleshy mass. As you move your head further into the kitchen, your vision demarcates. On the island rests a baby. The little lord, no crying does he make. Lying on top of a cross-stitched quilt, it makes no sound, no movements. Something is wrong with the infant. Something very wrong. You bubble with anger and frustration. Why is no one doing anything? [align center] [[[You step further inside..]->You rush to save the poor child.]] \ [[[You wait patiently.]->You wait patiently.]]

magi (lostLove === "handcuffs"): "police officer" magi (lostLove === "stethoscope"): "EMT" magi (lostLove === "oxygen mask"): "firefighter" magiD (lostLove === "handcuffs"): "royal with the lapis crown" magiD (lostLove === "stethoscope"): "obsidian regent" magiD (lostLove === "oxygen mask"): "crimson-crowned magi" firefighter (magi === "firefighter"): true ambulance (magi ==="EMT"): true police (magi ==="police officer"): true -- {sound effect: "mouse"} You take the {lostLove} from the {magiD}. Was this the day you decided to be a {magi}? You'd long forgotten that old dream's provenance. But now it appears in clear vision. You can't help but smile, lest begin to wail yourself. For that old treasure you buried years ago has resurfaced, but only because the grass has grown sparse. \ \ But then again, this night was always the reason for everything. [if passage.visits > 1; append] Now, though, you weren't even sure you were a {magi} on the other side. Dreams had a eerie way of superimposing their logic over yours, infusing convictions you'd never had, producing memories that cast doubt on your own. But who'd cast doubt on the Lord's calling? In this place, though, it didn't matter. If you believed you were a {magi}, you were one. [continue] You hand back the {lostLove} to the {magiD}. The {magiD} holds out his hand, this time to grab yours. Like the child you had become, you latch onto those havened arms, using all five digits to wrap around just one of his. He guides you down the hallway, away from the cries. [align center] [[[You follow the wiseman back to your room.]->Locked Room]]

magi: "" sound.effect.magiWalking.url: "magi_walking.mp3" -- {sound effect: "mouse"} [if downstairs === 0 && wait === 1] You try to walk down the stairs, but you suddenly hear a triplet of footsteps approaching you. Before you can run back to your room, a large burly hand eclipses yours. [if wait === 1] It's a soft grip, defying violent expectations. The man, donning a crimson crown and amber robes, beckons you to sit down in the hallway, just in front of the steps. You sit criss-cross, as you've been instructed. The two wise men behind him, who tower over your small frame, also follow. You think of running down the stairs, but you know you can't slip by the burly magi. In front of you, they each bear a gift. The one who grabbed you holds out a gilded mask of some kind, like the ones you'd use on a tumbling airplane. Another, donning a crown of lapis, places in front of you a pair of handcuffs, which crumbles to the touch, but even far away produces the strong familiar scent of Myrhh. The final guest, draped in ebony silk, holds in front of him a stethoscope, which inexplicably emits the scent of frankincense. Each threatens to distract you from the horrors happening downstairs, and the temptation is strong. {sound effect: "magiWalking"} You gaze at the {cycling link for: 'lostLove', choices: ['handcuffs', 'stethoscope', 'oxygen mask']}. [if wait === 1; align center] [[[You grab the item.]->Grab the item]] \ [[[You politely decline to take a gift.]->You politely decline to take a gift.]] [if wait === 0] The steps are separated from each other, connecting to an opposing wall and a left arm rest. The gaps are not large, but for your small body, each step feels like lurking into doom. Nevertheless, you take your time, maintaining three points of contact at all times. By the time you reach the bottom of the steps, you find the source of the crying. Just around the corner, it seems like, in the kitchen. [if wait === 0; align center] [[[You go into the kitchen to look closer.]->Kitchen]] \ [[[You stay behind the corner, peeking your head over.]->Kitchen Corner]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} [if firefighter === true && wait === 1] Surprisingly the door opens and gongs against the opposing wall. The bedroom is large, with a queen size bed in the middle. Besides the bed is a crib. Neither are tidied. You decide to leave, before someone comes to inspect the loud barging noise. [if firefighter === true && wait === 1 && seenBrother === true] Maybe if you were here only an hour ago, you could have saved your brother. But you were to afraid to act. [if firefighter === false && wait === 0] [align center] [[[You leave the bedroom.]->Hallway]] [if firefighter === false] Surprisingly the door opens and gongs against the opposing wall. The bedroom is large, with a queen size bed in the middle. Besides the bed is a crib. Neither are tidied. You decide to leave, before someone comes to inspect the loud barging noise. [if firefighter === false && seenBrother === true] Maybe if you were here only an hour ago, you could have saved your brother. But you didn't. You were too slow. You wish you were faster. [if firefighter === false] [align center] [[[You leave the bedroom.]->Hallway]] [if ambulance === false && firefighter === true && wait === 0] Slamming your full body against the door, it flings open, announcing your entrance like royal decree. You rush into the bedroom, passing by your aloof parents and to the crib besides the bed. You run towards the crib, and see the crying infant. Your flesh and blood. Your one and only brother. Alive, blood pumping, in a manger. You know that saving him here won't bring him back. But actually, you're not certain. Sometimes dreams could just as well spill into the real, as much as the real spills into this world. You scramble to find the reason, the very reason he left your world. But you don't even know where to begin. You don't know a thing about saving a life, you can barely hold to your own. And as time goes on, his screams only grow louder and louder. He wails with greater and greater affliction, blood spilling through his wrists. [if ambulance === false && firefighter === true && wait === 0; align center] [[[And you can't do anything.]->Hell]] [if ambulance === true && firefighter === true] Slamming your full body against the door, it flings open, announcing your entrance like royal decree. You rush into the bedroom, passing by your aloof parents and to the crib besides the bed. You run towards the crib, and see the crying infant. Your flesh and blood. Your one and only brother. Alive, blood pumping, in a manger. You know that saving him here won't bring him back. But actually, you're not certain. Sometimes dreams could just as well spill into the real, as much as the real spills into this world. And this time, this time you could do something. [if ambulance === true && firefighter === true; align center] [[[You rush to save your brother.]->Heaven]] [if ambulance === true && firefighter === true && wait === 1; align center] [[[You leave the bedroom.]->Hallway]] [if ambulance === false && firefighter === true && wait === 1; align center] [[[You leave the bedroom.]->Hallway]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} In terrible sync, you and the infant concordantly chant a song of death. Vision fades, along with hearing. Before long, you find yourself unable to keep awake. Right before you descend into slumber, you find yourself a solo performer. If you doze back to sleep, you'll certainly wake up on the other side. But there is no guarantee, even if you sleep, that you'll return back to this place. In other words, if you leave now, you might never see your brother again, not in this world, not in the other. And though the mind aches with desire, the body greeds for its own. [[[Everything goes black in a puddle of your tears.]->Go to bed.]]

{sound effect: "mouse"} It's funny how the mind remembers space. The bathroom looks like it does in the real world. Which is funny, because it didn't look like this then. Years later, the house would go under mass renovations. Which is why you know you're not actually here—the sinks are too furnished, the toilet is too large. Nevertheless, you find yourself slipping further and further into illusion. The bathroom is as dark as all the other rooms. On the left is a bathtub and on the right is the sink with two toothbrushes. There's a mirror, but you can't see a reflection from your angle. [align center] [[[You look in the mirror] -> Mirror]] \ [[[You leave the bathroom.]->Hallway]]

wait: 1 -- {sound effect: "mouse"} [if passage.visits > 1] It is a strenous effort to pull yourself over the sink counter. You know the image you'd see in the mirror would be the same, so it is not worth the effort. Plus, you have better things to do. [else] It is difficult to see your reflection from over the sink counter. You place two hands on the marble, hoisting yourself on top of the surface. With your knees on the rim of the sink, you stare at your doubled figure. Across from you, stands a small silhouette of a boy, in the same prayer position. Eyes wide open, he can't be more than five years old, younger even. You press your little digits against the reflective wall, aiming to illuminate more of the figure. Short little breaths cloud and obstruct the image. It's indeed you, some version of you. But even as you move closer and closer, you can't make out any details. You place your hands back on the edge of the counter, and carefully lower yourself down. [continue; align center] [[[Leave the bathroom.]->Hallway]]

config.style.page.link.color: "#9c9c9c" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "#4a0000" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#ff8080" -- <style> #backdrop { background: #4a0000; } #page { background: #4a0000; } div a { font: #ffeded; } div p { color: #ffffff; } </style> {sound effect: "mouse"} The blood of the little lamb cleanses the soul and ends a never-ending cycle of melancholia. You hold onto your brother, his body as lifeless as it had always been. Truth be told, the imaginary could never breach the realm of the real. But then again, it didn't need to. In his absence, in the void that was his life never lived, you were what emerged. You were what was left in the wake of his undoing. That lonely throne became your sovereign place—an unending grief you could never abandon. Nor would you ever want to. [after 10 seconds; align center] [[[Return to the loading screen.]->Loading Screen]] \ <a href="https://youtu.be/Y_GRfu1KH1k" target="_blank">[Afterword]</a>

seenBrother: true -- {sound effect: "mouse"} You dash into the open kitchen, arms flailing in the gust. Before anyone can make another move, you hoist yourself on top of the counter. As your knees lock onto the high surface, you see that same wretched image. The one that this world is founded on, and the one the world outside too. In perfect rendition, before your eyes, is your blood, your very own kin. Your brother, however, does not light up in familial reunion. Even now, he makes no sound. Before you can pull any closer, you find yourself yanked in brutal force off the counter. Turning your hands to gaze onto that Pharisee, that irreverant figure who has separated you and the presence of God, you see your very own father. He pacingly brings you away from the kitchen and up the stairs. [align center] [[[You reluctantly let your father bring you to your room.]->Locked Room]]

wait: 1 downstairs: 1 -- {sound effect: "mouse"} Prudently, you decide to observe longer before making any drastic moves. Eventually, however, before you can gaze any longer and identify the martyred child, the three magi rush towards your direction. Anxiously, you rush back to your room, the flight of a sinner on trial. But as your frame had proved earlier, this is no easy process. Without a pause, one of the magi hauls your body in just one hand. [[[You follow the wise men up the stairs.]->Stairs]]

magi (lostLove === "handcuffs"): "police officer" magi (lostLove === "stethoscope"): "EMT" magi (lostLove === "oxygen mask"): "firefighter" magiD (lostLove === "handcuffs"): "royal with the lapis crown" magiD (lostLove === "stethoscope"): "obsidian regent" magiD (lostLove === "oxygen mask"): "crimson-crowned magi" -- {sound effect: "mouse"} You nod your head sideways. Your gesture confuses the magi, who had never seen a child so uninterested in their riches. Was this the day you decided to never to be a firefighter, police officer, or an EMT? You'd long forgotten the provenance of that abberation. \ \ But then again, this night was always the reason for everything. [if passage.visits > 1; append] Now, though, you weren't even sure you were not a {magi} on the other side, or any of those things. Dreams had a eerie way of superimposing their logic over yours, infusing convictions you'd never had, producing memories that cast doubt on your own. Who'd cast doubt on the Lord's calling? In this place, though, it didn't matter. If you believed you were not those things, you weren't one.. [continue] The {magiD} holds out his hand, this time to grab yours. Like the child you had become, you latch onto those havened arms, using all five digits to wrap around just one of his. He guides you down the hallway, away from the cries. [align center] [[[You follow the wiseman back to your room.]->Locked Room]]

config.style.page.link.color: "#9c9c9c" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "#f6f6f6" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#ffd51c" -- <style> #backdrop { background: #f2f2f2; } #page { background: #f2f2f2; } div a { font: #9c9c9c; } div p { color: #363636 } </style> {sound effect: "mouse"} The hand obscures the crib all together, cupping its fingers together. In a moment, the divine arm pulls away, revealing a teenage boy, around sixteen years of age. He looks kind of like your mom, with your dad's nose and hair texture. But maybe that's just because he looks a bit like you. You embrace just like you knew you always would when you were here. You remain like that, for a long time. In eternity, all else dissolves. [align center] [[[You blind yourself to the world of the living.]. ->Heaven 3]]

config.style.page.link.color: "#9c9c9c" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "#f6f6f6" config.style.page.link.active.color: "#ffd51c" -- <style> #backdrop { background: #f2f2f2; } #page { background: #f2f2f2; } div a { font: #9c9c9c; } div p { color: #363636 } </style> {sound effect: "mouse"} All that is real fades, and all that is phantasmic ossifies. You refuse to be witness to a future that had forsaken you. Blinding your eyes to the world of the fallen living, you open your eyes to the living dead. And sin, guilt and shame—those ailments of the flesh—all float away. As if they were only ever just a dream. [after 10 seconds; align center] [[[Return to the loading screen.]->Loading Screen]] \ <a href="https://youtu.be/Y_GRfu1KH1k" target="_blank">[Afterword]</a>