(text-colour:red)[You're back again. Have you considered that maybe there is a reason this place is in this state? A reason that it was left to rot? You'll never find it, you know. But I know every time you escape you'll come back to play with me again.]
(text-colour:grey)+(text-style:"blur", "expand")[Shut up]
The same familiar, decrepit house stands in front of you once again. You tell yourself this time you'll find it. That money could do so much for you, and its no use rotting away in there. You're just doing everyone a favor.
Sure, its old and spooky and sometimes you hear noises and see things, but the reward outweighs the risk. This time you came prepared by bringing a shitty sketch of the house's floor plans, other than the basement. It's too dark to see anything down there anyways.
(link-goto: "Enter the House", "Main Area")
[[Floor Maps]]
(set:$turns to -1)
(set:$omens to 0)
(set:$maps to 1)[[Kitchen]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
Upon opening this door you are confronted by a dark stairwell going down. Would you like to continue to the basement? Or continue exploring the first floor?
[[Continue to the Basement]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Kitchen")][[Basement Door]]
[[Open the Door to the Crying Child]]
[[Open the Door to your right]]
[[Continue down the corridor]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
At the end of the stairs is a long, dark corridor. You cannot see the end of it.
You hear the sound of a child softly crying behind the door to your left. ]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Basement Door")](text-style:"bold","blur","expand","shudder")+(text-colour:red)[The hunt has begun! GET OUT!]
(link-goto: "RUN", (history:)'s last)
(set:$turns to 7)(if: $turns is -1)[
You find a young girl chained to the wall. Despite your attempts to speak to her she continues sobbing. Upon stepping closer, she vanishes and the shackles bang against the concrete wall. You found an omen.
Above the chains is a busted window that someone has clearly climbed out of before.
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to it + 3)
(link-goto: "Return", (history:)'s last)
(if: (random: 5, 25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)
(link-goto: "Escape through the window", "Exit")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Continue to the Basement")]
There's nothing there. Just a black void.
(link-goto: "Back", "Continue to the Basement")
(if: $turns is -1)[
It is very dark down here.
[[Continue down the corridor once more]]
(link-goto: "Return", "Continue to the Basement")]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Continue to the Basement")](if: $turns is -1)[
You can barely see your hands in front of you. It sounds like someone is following you.
[[Feel along the side of the wall]]
[[Continue further down the corridor]]
(link-goto: "Return", "Continue down the corridor")]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Continue down the corridor")]
(if: $turns is -1)[
You come to an open door. The room inside is dark.
[[Enter the room]]
(link-goto: "Return", "Continue down the corridor once more")]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Continue down the corridor once more")](if: $turns is -1)[
The candles around the room light up when you step into the room. The room is full of skeletons chained to the walls. A pentagram begins glowing red on the floor. The door you just walked through slams shut, followed by the sounds of a child screaming. She is screaming. And screaming. And then she is not.
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand","shudder")+(text-colour:red)[Her blood is on //''your''// hands.]
You found an omen.
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-colour:grey)[L1]
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to $omens + 7)
(link-goto: "Return", "Continue further down the corridor")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Continue further down the corridor")]you died :(
(link-goto:"Have you figured it out yet?", "Game Start")(text-colour:red)[The Hunt]
Find the money. Get out. Be careful. The more you learn, the more you are at risk of being Hunted.
[[Game Start]]You ran like hell. Congrats on surviving!
(link-goto:"You know it doesn't ever really end, right? You MUST find it.", "Game Start")(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)
Lower Level Map
<img src="lowerlevel.jpg" alt="lower level map" height="500">
Upper Level Map
<img src="upperlevel.jpg" alt="upper level map" height="500">[[Dining Room]]
[[Check Coat Closet]]
[[Billards Hall]]
[[Left Hallway]]
[[Right Hallway]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
You are greeted with the familiar smell of rotting wood and the strange slightly fishy scent. The giant doors to the Dining Room / Ballroom are in front of you. To your right, a coat closet for guests. You've toyed with the idea of hanging your jacket in there while exploring, but the frigid air in the house forces you to keep it on. To your left is the Billards Hall.]
(if: $turns is not -1)[(link-goto: "Exit", "Exit")]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]Just a regular coat closet. Anything expensive was stolen long ago.
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)[[Main Area]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
Bottles of hard liquor and wine used to line the shelves behind the bar. Surely the kids that vandalized the kitchen drank them.
[[Investigate the Billards Table]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Main Area")][[Main Area]]
[[Bathroom]]
[[Art Gallery]]
[[Upstairs]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The left hallway leads to the stairs up to the second floor. There is also a bathroom and a room that appears to have been an art gallery.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Main Area")][[Main Area]]
[[Study / Library]]
[[Smaller Dining Room?]]
[[Kitchen]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The floor groans under the weight of your steps. There are a few rooms in this area of the house.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Main Area")]A very small room with a table. Considering the size of this place it likely belonged to the servants.
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)[[Right Hallway]]
[[Basement Door]]
[[Pantry]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The Kitchen has been destroyed by teenagers and covered in graffiti. Better here than the Library.
]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Right Hallway")]You cough from the sheer amount of spores pouring out of the door. The pantry is covered in mold because of its proximity to the basement. Anything once edible was consumed by the mold. Or the hundreds of swarming insects drawn by it.
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)It smells terrible. You should probably leave.
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)[[Left Hallway]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
Most of the paintings have fallen onto the floor or been destroyed in one way or another. One remains somewhat intact at the end. A quiet voice calls out to you.
[[Respond to the Call]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Left Hallway")](link-goto:"Downstairs", "Left Hallway")
[[Master Bedroom]]
[[Bedroom #1]]
[[Bedroom #2]]
[[Bedroom #3]]
[[Balcony]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The stairs creak like they are about to give out every step.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Left Hallway")][[Upstairs]]
[[Master Bathroom]]
[[Master Bedroom Closet]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
As lifeless as it was when it was used. ]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Upstairs")]
[[Upstairs]]
[[Shared Bathroom]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
Someone once lived here, but you've long forgotten them.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Upstairs")][[Upstairs]]
[[Shared Bathroom]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
Someone once lived here, but you've long forgotten them.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Upstairs")][[Upstairs]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
This room is in better condition than the rest. Various toys and stuffed animals are strewn about the floor. Some of the pink flowery wallpaper still sticks to the walls.
[[Sit on the bed.]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Upstairs")][[Upstairs]]
[[Bedroom #1]]
[[Bedroom #2]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
They left you long ago. They should've taken her too.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Upstairs")][[Master Bedroom]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The large closet is empty.
[[Check the Ceiling]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Master Bedroom")][[Master Bedroom]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The left hallway leads to the stairs up to the second floor. There is also a bathroom and a room that appears to have been an art gallery.
[[Look into the Mirror]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Master Bedroom")](link-goto: "Back", "Upstairs")
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The forbidden exit. You suppose it could do in a pinch, but it hasn't come to that yet.
You look out at the forest surrounding you. It almost feels serene. Like you could just sit down and enjoy nature for a bit.
But the house calls you back to it.]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)
(link-goto: "Jump off the Balcony", "Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Upstairs")][[Main Area]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
This is the biggest room you've ever seen. A giant rectangular table sits in the middle of the room. The chair at the head of the table is ornate, but has a hole in the center of the back. A once-beautiful, now caked with grime, stained glass window is on the opposite wall.]
[[Sit at the Head of the Table]]
[[Crawl under the Table]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Main Area")]A string is hanging from the ceiling. You pull it and stairs descend.
[[Enter the Attic]][[Master Bedroom Closet]]
The attic air is thick with dust. It is empty apart from a giant safe in the center. The lock takes four single digit numbers.
(set:$password to "1295")
Password: (input:bind $guess)
(link-replace:"Submit")[
(if: $guess is "1295")[
[[Open the Safe]]
]
(if: $guess is not "1295")
[Incorrect]
][[Right Hallway]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
The study is extremely dusty. Framed butterflies are lined up along the wall, accompanied by crammed bookshelves. A desk covered in paper and drawings sits in the middle of the room.
[[Investigate the Cluttered Desk]]
[[Look at the Bookshelf]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Right Hallway")](if: $turns is -1)[
You close your eyes and when you open them the seats are filled by people wearing red hooded robes. They are speaking, but their words are garbled. Something is wrong.
A knife is in your back.
You blink and everything returns to normal.
You begin to stand up and the chandelier falls and shatters into pieces on the table in front of you.
You found an omen.
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to $omens + 5)
(link-goto: "Return", "Dining Room")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Dining Room")]The mirror stares back. The you in the mirror wonders if it was worth it.
[[Answer]]
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)[[Main Area]]
(if: $turns is -1)[
(if: $maps is 1)[(link-goto: "View Maps", "Floor Maps")]
There is an 8 ball on the billards table. The table itself has rotted beyond use.
[[Shake the 8 ball]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Main Area")][[Billards Hall]]
(set: $result to (random:1,8))
(if: $result is 1)[It's all your fault.](if: $result is 2)[It never would have ended this way if you hadn't started it.](if: $result is 3)[You finished what you started. Or did it finish you?](if: $result is 4)[Burn in hell.](if: $result is 5)[You will never rest peacefully.](if: $result is 6)[You never get the money.](if: $result is 7)[Remember her name.](if: $result is 8)[You do realize you're in hell, right?]
(link-goto: "Shake it again", "Shake the 8 ball")It is worth it. It's everything to you.
(text-colour:grey)[If it's everything to you, what will you have left at the end?]
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-colour:red)[Nothing. There is nothing left. You are nothing.]
It doesn't matter. You ''//MUST//'' find it.
(text-colour:grey)[Do you know what it is that you are looking for?]
...
(text-colour:grey)[Who are you? Do you even remember?]
...
(text-colour:grey)[How can you be sure any of this is real?]
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-colour:red)[It isn't. None of this is. But you know that already, don't you?]
[[Punch the Mirror]]
You skim the books on the shelves. Most of them are religious tomes or science texts. There is a small section of books for children in one of the shelves.
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)The wall is wet and slimy. You find a door. The stench of mold is strong.
[[Open the Door]]
(link-goto: "Back", "Continue down the corridor once more")(text-style:"bold","blur","expand","shudder")+(text-colour:red)[You can't save her. You've //''never''// been able to save her.]
You have discovered an omen.
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-colour:grey)[I2]
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to $omens + 7)
(link-goto: "Return", "Master Bathroom")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]](if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[((go-to:"Won")](if: $turns is -1)[
A neverending hallway spans in front of you. Several robed figures are speaking at the end, their echos garbling their voices beyond compare. They are planning something. You run towards them, never moving closer.
They leave.
You are left in the dark.
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to $omens + 5)
(link-goto: "Return", "Feel along the side of the wall")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Feel along the side of the wall")]You're not sure why you did this.
(link-goto: "Back", (history:)'s last)(if: $turns is -1)[
(text-colour:grey)+(text-style:"blur", "expand")[You had it all, you know? The perfect life, the perfect family. But you ruined it.
You ruined everything.]
You recognize yourself among the faces in the painting. Hers, as well. The rest are unrecognizable blobs of paint.
(text-colour:grey)+(text-style:"blur", "expand")[You deserve this punishment. Give me that.]
You lost your maps.
(set: $maps to 0)
You found an omen.
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-colour:grey)[Y4]
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to $omens + 3)
(link-goto: "Return", "Art Gallery")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Art Gallery")](if: $turns is -1)[
Various papers, envelopes, and books cover the desk.
A newspaper reads "Several found dead in rural home".
A note reads //"Preparations are complete."// A drafted reply under that says //"Where did you find the g"//. Spilled ink covers the last word.
A ripped corner from a piece of paper sits in the middle of a pile of papers. It says ''"A -> 1 M -> 13 Z -> 26 ONLY UNIQUE NUMS"''.
You found an omen.
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(link-goto: "Return", "Study / Library")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns is 0)[(go-to:"Lost")]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Study / Library")](text-style:"bold","expand")+(text-colour:red)[She was your daughter.]
Inside the safe is several stacks of cash, as expected. On top of it sits a robe and a framed picture of a young girl, not more than 6 years old. She smiles brightly at the camera.
(text-color:red)+(text-style:"bold")[Do you remember yet?]
It was you. But you've known the whole time. You thought you could stop it but you were too late. Your creation outgrew you.
You came back that night to take the cash and run away with her, with Lily. But you were outsmarted.
You couldn't find her anywhere. You heard the chanting and sprinted to the basement. (text-colour:red)[No. No.] (text-color:red)+(text-style:"bold","expand","shudder")[No no no no no no no no.]
You found her. You were given a knife. A gun was held to your head. She was screaming. They were going to kill you if you didn't. And screaming. What if it works? And screaming. What if it really works? And screaming. Your life's work. And screaming.
And then she wasn't.
And then the gun went off.
(text-color:red)+(text-style:"bold")[You got what you wanted, didn't you? Achieved your great goal?]
This isn't what I wanted.
(text-color:red)+(text-style:"bold")[It never is. I look forward to seeing you again. Enjoy The Hunt.]
(link-goto:"Good Night", "Start")(if: $turns is -1)[
Suddenly theres a storybook in your hands. And she is there. Breatheing softly. You are careful not to wake her. And then she is gone.
You found an omen.
(text-style:"bold","blur","expand")+(text-colour:grey)[L3]
(live: 5s)[(stop:)
(set:$omens to $omens + 3)
(link-goto: "Return", "Bedroom #3")
(if: (random: 5,25) < $omens)[(go-to:"End")]]]
(if: $turns > 0)[(set:$turns to it-1)]
(if: $turns > 0)[(link-goto: "RUN", "Bedroom #3")]