Lab (You are on your way to class)

{(set: $deaths to 0)} The morning light is gray coming in through the blinds. Though you normally lay groggy in your bed as your phone alarm blares for a few seconds, today your eyes snap open and you turn off the sound immediately. Today is the day you die. Well, supposedly. [[A month ago, you woke up with a strange date saved in your phone.]]

It was one of those events that you honestly never bother with making because they take too long to set up and you usually get distracted. It was set for today, and it said 'DEATH DAY' in capital letters. You would have normally written it off as a prank set by your friend or something, but when you tried to delete it, your phone kept giving you this message that said 'unable to delete certain occurrence.' It kind of freaked you out. And the closer you got to this day, the more a strange fear built in the pit of your stomach. You slept poorly last night, just thinking about it. You have class in twenty minutes. [[Get out of bed. You've got too many commitments to die.]] [[Stay home. Call off class. Stay in bed all day. This is freaky.]]

There's no way you're missing class just because of one measly viscerally disturbing thing on your phone. You're a fighter! You're a, well, you're not sure, to be honest, but you are sure that if you don't go to class, and you live, you're going to be missing the final, which will suck ass. You get out of bed, and are glad for it when an earthquake happens soon after and a chunk of rubble falls from the ceiling, right onto where your head would be. Okay. Maybe this curse is real after all. [[You get dressed.]]

You huddle under your covers. You like to listen to your gut. And your gut is screaming at you to find somewhere safe and stay there, finals be damned. You manage to get out of bed to grab your phone. [[take your mind off your impending doom.]] [[email your teacher to let them know you aren't coming to class.]]

You go on your social media of choice and scroll, paying strict attention to the screen and trying to block out the fear that still sticks to your throat. Eventually you begin to calm down. [[Except, you don't notice something.]]

You sigh and start to email your teachers. The task is unpleasant, and you aren't paying too much attention to your phone, which means that when the shaking starts, you jump out of bed. Earthquakes aren't normal here. Good thing you jumped out of bed, though. Just after you do, part of the ceiling comes loose and drops right where your head would have been. Looks like that particular course of action wasn't safe. [[Maybe you should go to class, after all.]]

You were too busy concentrating on ignoring the weird shit going on that you also blocked out the trembling of the oncoming earthquake. By the time you realize what has happened, some rubble has shaken loose from the ceiling and crushed you. [[You have died.]]

That fucking sucked. [[You wake up again.]] {(set: $deaths to it + 1)}

The morning light is gray coming in through the blinds. Though you normally lay groggy in your bed as your phone alarm blares for a few seconds, today your eyes snap open and you turn off the sound immediately. Today is the day you die. Well, supposedly. [[A month ago, you woke up with a strange date saved in your phone.]]

After all, sitting in bed doesn't seem to be safe. And you didn't send your email yet. Maybe if you can dodge this curse or whatever long enough to get to class, it'll back off and leave you alone for the rest of the day. Slim chance, but you'll take it. Missing the final would have been bad, anyways. [[You get dressed.]]

You vaguely remember your mom saying once that your clothes are your armor. You never fully believed that crap but hey, maybe now's a good time to give it a try. [[Leather jacket and big stompy boots]] [[Lots of rings and a bright pink coat with fringe]] [[Hoodie and sneakers]]

You put on a leather jacket and combat boots. This isn't your normal aesthetic, but you read online once that leather jackets and layers were good for defense, so hey, maybe this'll help. And, of course, the boots are an obvious choice, if hard to lace. You get in the elevator and take it down to the first floor of your dorm, managing to stand normally as like fourteen more people get on jesus christ this thing is crowded. You're just glad they didn't get shut down or some shit after that earthquake. Whatever. The first floor lets you off fine enough, and you head outside to walk to class. [[The street is kind of crowded today.]]

You put on lots of rings-- for punching fools-- and a bright pink jacket with fringe that your more fashionable little sister left behind once when she visited you. Very not your style, per se, but it makes you feel noticable. Like wearing one of those bright orange vests in the woods during hunting season. You get to the elevators alright. You're just glad they didn't get shut down or some shit after that earthquake, but even so, they're jam fucking packed and you have to stand near the doors. [[Unfortunately, the fringe on your jacket doesn't agree with that decision.]]

Good old hoodie and sneakers. Unnoticeable in a crowd, sure, but maybe it'll get you not noticed by whatever's going to kill you, too. You get in the elevator and fuck is it crowded. But it is survivable. You're just glad they didn't get shut down or some shit after that earthquake. You manage to get off at the first floor of your dorm building and head out into the world. [[It's cold out.]]

Lots of people with lots of places to go, you guess. You follow the flow of people-- mostly your fellow students heading to the same classroom building as you. On your way, you pass by a public art statue. It's a bunch of spiky-looking trees at ankle height. You think it's supposed to make people realize their potential for affecting the environment or something. You normally don't pay it much attention. [[Except for today.]]

It catches in the door. and you panic for a moment, worrying if this is going to do that thing where it pulls you up towards the ceiling and crushes you. It doesn't, but the momentary spike in mortal fear sets your heart racing and it keeps going faster and just before the elevator actually starts moving again you drop dead of a heart attack freaking out the rest of the people in the elevator. [[You have died.]]

Should you have worn something over your hoodie? Maybe. Did you? No. Oh, well. Your actions have consequences. Around you, a crowd of your fellow students flows towards the classroom buildings like a river towards the sea. You let yourself be buoyed by the current, passing a couple of public art pieces that the college thought would liven the place up that you never look at. [[You're at the classroom building.]]

Today, you are foced to pay attention to it when you trip on the stupid fucking laces from your boots and plunge facefirst into them, tearing up your-- well, you get the picture. [[You have died.]]

Last leg! The fear in your stomach has begun to lessen. Maybe you can make it after all. Your class is on the second floor. [[take the elevator.]] [[take the stairs, like normal.]]

You feel guilty about it but take the elevator. Hey, you're scheduled to die today. You could have fallen down the stairs! People die from less. When you get off at the second floor someone glares at you for not being environmentally conscious enough. [[Finally, you arrive at class.]]

You take the stairs. There's fewer people there, plus it's better for the environment. You're a strong young college student. You can handle a single flight of steps. Or so you thought. [[You're halfway up when someone's spilled latte causes you to slip.]]

Nobody in class takes notice of you. The professor hasn't arrived yet, and people are talking quietly amongst themselves. You don't have any super-close friends here, so you just sit and get out your notes to do some last-minute studying. {(if: $deaths is 0)[You are so fucking awesome. You don't know why you were so worried! That was a piece of cake. You have a feeling this curse won't bother you anymore.] (if: $deaths is 1)[You are a little shaken for a reason you can't define, but that's fine. You have some friends with like, anxiety and stuff. You can probably ask them how they deal with it, and then you'll be fine. Still, you have the creeping sensation that something bad happened, even if nothing really did.] (if: $deaths is 2)[You have reached your class, but you feel like this curse isn't over yet, and that kind of unnerves you. And somehow, the tone today seems to match that. Occasionally, one of your classmates will look over at you from one of their conversations, and you swear they all gaze at you as though already mourning your passing. It's just nerves. You're just stressed. That's what you tell yourself, anyways.] (if: $deaths is 3)[You scroll through social media nervously on your phone. You feel skittish. Nothing happened. You got to class fine. So why are you still so fucking nervous? You've never been one for anxiety but you're considering that maybe you, what? Caught it somehow? You don't know. You feel a little separated from reality at the moment. You hope it's just stress from the final, but somehow you seriously doubt it. There is something wrong. And while you cannot begin to understand what it is, you are certainly afraid of it.] (if: $deaths is 4)[You can barely pay attention to your phone. You keep glancing up and around, looking for-- something. That fear that you felt at the beginning of your day, in the pit of your stomach, hasn't gone away in the slightest and instead has grown, like a living thing, reaching into your organs and making them squirm inside your skin. You are going to die today. You may have escaped from the morning's dangers, but you will definitely die later on. You try to avoid the realization for as long as possible, but it sits there in your mind, tormenting you. You want to tell someone, but who can you tell? You are on your own. ] (elseif: $deaths > 5)[You go on your phone for barely a minute. It doesn't help. Nothing helps. You are overwhelmed with terror. The other students. What are they talking about? Are they planning to kill you? Will there be some kind of natural disaster, another earthquake, a tornado, a lightning strike that kills you? One thing is certain: you are going to die today. And that's when you die, not from any godlike catastrophe with aims to stop your heart, but from the fear. Sorry, kid, but there's no coming back from this one.]} THE END. You died $deaths time(s). Try dying different amounts of times for different ending text!

Now, a fall down a mere seven steps might not normally kill people, but you're having an unlucky day, looks like, because you land headfirst, at the worst possible angle. You hear a sickening crack, and then you don't hear anything at all. [[You have died.]]