<img src="https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1441974231531-c6227db76b6e?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&auto=format&fit=crop&w=800&q=80" alt="Garden gate" width=250px>
You wake up in a **dark forest**. The air is cold, and the trees whisper as if they’re alive.
In your pocket is a **small key** with strange symbols.
What do you do?
* [[Follow the faint light ahead->Light]]
* [[Head deeper into the forest->Forest]]
* [[Check the key more closely->Key]]
You walk toward the faint glow.
It leads you to a small cabin with smoke rising from the chimney.
Do you:
* [[Knock on the door->Cabin Door]]
* [[Sneak around the back->Cabin Back]]
You push deeper into the woods.
The branches twist like claws, but eventually you find a clearing with a stone altar.
On the altar lies a **locked box**.
* [[Use the key->Box]]
You turn the key over in your hand. The symbols shift as if alive.
It glows faintly, pulling you in a certain direction.
* [[Follow where the key points->Forest]]
The door creaks open before you knock.
A hooded figure whispers:
*"I've been waiting for you."*
* [[Step inside->Inside Cabin]]
* [[Run away->Lost]]
You sneak around the cabin.
Through the window, you see the hooded figure writing in a journal.
On the table, you notice a **map** with a circle drawn around a spot in the forest.
* [[Go back to the forest with the map->Forest]]
* [[Try to steal the map->Caught]]
You place the key in the lock.
It fits perfectly, and the box opens with a click.
Inside is a glowing crystal.
As you touch it, the world shifts around you.
You are no longer in the forest—you are home, safe in your bed.
**Ending: Escape**
The figure gestures for you to sit.
*"You carry the key. That means you can choose."*
Do you:
* [[Give the key to the figure->Betrayal]]
* [[Keep it and run->Lost]]
The forest grows darker. The whispers become screams.
You wander endlessly until you can no longer move.
**Ending: Lost in the Woods**
As you reach for the map, the hooded figure grabs your wrist.
*"Thief!"* the figure hisses, and darkness swallows you.
**Ending: Captured**
You hand the figure the key.
They smile, and in an instant, you are gone.
Your body becomes part of the forest, another whisper among the trees.
**Ending: Betrayed**