/% \tS3_P8\t %/\n\nThe drifts here are more than two feet deep. It reaches up over my knees and I feel like I'm struggling through quicksand. I'm almost at the line of trees when the front door bursts open and the Younger Man charges out. He hesitates a second, swiveling his rifle butted against his shoulder first to the left than to the right towards me. I crouch down low, hoping that somehow my tracks aren't as obvious as I think they are. A few seconds later there's another shot and the ground explodes around me but no pain so somehow he must have missed me yet again. He's probably blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI lunge forward, throwing my arms around the trunk of a pine tree and using it to drag myself out of a particularly deep bank and into the darkness. The snow's a shallower here and I scramble a few feet deeper and wait. I can't see him but that means he can't see me. \n I hold my breath and listen with all my attention. A double click. Is he locking the doors behind him? \nA distant crunch crunch sound. Coming closer. A cold beam of light suddenly glints in the trees above my head. Shit he must have a flashlight!\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P9\t %/\n\nMy intuition tells me to go out the back of the house and I let my feet propel me forward, trying to not let my thoughts distract me from my body's natural survival instincts. I slip and slide on the piles of broken glass littering the floor. What, were these assholes throwing bottles at the walls to hear them break?! \nSomething rolls out from under my feet and I trip and fall against a small end table shoved against the wall, knocking both of us over. One of the table's shelves falls open and a small box flies out, skidding along the floor and disappearing somewhere underneath a badly torn up coach across the room.\nI'm struggling back to my feet when I hear the wooden hatch to the basement behind me finally break open. The Younger Man shouts something incoherent about my skull but it's Aria's screams of “RUN! RUN!” that cut through my panic. She's still alive and now everything else is up to me. \nMy subconscious is telling me that little box is something important, but I don't have any time to waste. Leaving it behind, I run out the (thankfully unlocked) back door just as I hear the Younger Man kick down the door from the hallway.\n\n<<set $wentOutFront = "false">>\n\n<<set $sawBullets= "false">>\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P12]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P12\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P4\t %/\n\nI run to the left, following the prints in the trail as best as I can to keep up my pace. Along my right is high wooden fence with deep piles of snow build up around its' edges. I follow along the outside of the house, glancing up as I run. The house is a large three story log cabin with a balcony and railing wrapping around the top floor but from my current low vantage point I can't tell any more details. \nJust as I round the back corner I hear the front doors burst open behind me. The Younger Man shouts that he's going to find me, but I've got a little head start on him.\nBehind the house is a small yard that's fenced in on all sides. The clouds have shifted in the sky and the moonlight reflecting off the ice brightens up the darkness enough so I can see better. At the back of the yard is a small shed and in front of it is a chopping block with an axe buried into it and several large piles of dirt. Along the fence to the far left is a high wood pile that I could probably climb over. Beyond it I see a wall of tall pines that must be connected with the scrub thicket I saw from the front door.\n\n\n\n[[Run and hide in the shed.|S3_P5]]\n[[Grab the axe from the chopping block.|S3_P6]]\n[[Climb over the fence and run to the trees.|S3_P7]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Run and hide in the shed. ->S3_P5\n2) Grab the axe from the chopping block. ->S3_P6\n3) Climb over the fence and run to the trees. -> S3_P7\n\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P5\t %/\n\n\nI run to the shed and try to drag open the sliding metal door at the front. It's locked. There's another padlock at the top but of course I don't have the keys. \nI'm shaking the door violently, trying to force it open, when there's a sudden noise from behind me and instinct takes over. I throw myself at the ground just as a bullet flies by me and into the shed, ricocheting with a sharp metallic bang. The Younger Man's by the corner of the house, reloading his rifle. A dark black stain runs down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nGo to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I leap to my feet and sprint to the wood pile by the fence line, adrenaline surging me forward so quickly I barely even struggle in the icy quicksand. \nJust as I'm leaping one-handed over the top another bullet explodes in the logs under me, spraying me with splinters. Somehow he must have missed me yet again. Maybe he's still a somewhat blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI fall into a pile of deep snow on the other side. The drifts right through here are much thicker and give me a little padding. The forest's directly in front of me and I scramble back to my feet and run the short ways to it. \n As soon as I reach the first tree the snow becomes shallower and easier to move through. I push in a few more feet and crouch down in the darkness. I can't see the Younger Man but that means he can't see me either, right?\nWrong. A cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\n His shape drops down over the fence where I'd jumped from and the light flicks across the trees just above my head.\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P6\t %/\n\n\nI grab the axe handle and pull. Nothing. I pull harder and it doesn't budge. I try pushing on it the other way, trying to flip it out of the block in reverse. I'm only rewarded with a palm full of splinters. Then I remember when our dad used to chop firewood and the axe would get stuck in the log and he'd stand on the end of the handle.\nJust as I'm about to try that a sudden noise comes from my right and instinct takes over. I throw myself at the ground just as a bullet flies by me and into the shed, ricocheting with a sharp metallic bang. The Younger Man's by the corner of the house, reloading his rifle. A dark black stain runs down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nGo to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I leap to my feet and sprint to the wood pile by the fence line, adrenaline surging me forward so quickly I barely even struggle in the icy quicksand. \nJust as I'm leaping one-handed over the top another bullet explodes in the logs under me, spraying me with splinters. Somehow he must have missed me yet again. Maybe he's still a somewhat blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI fall into a pile of deep snow on the other side. The drifts right through here are much thicker and give me a little padding. The forest's directly in front of me and I scramble back to my feet and run the short ways to it. \n As soon as I reach the first tree the snow becomes shallower and easier to move through. I push in a few more feet and crouch down in the darkness. I can't see the Younger Man but that means he can't see me either, right?\nWrong. A cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\n His shape drops down over the fence where I'd jumped from and the light flicks across the trees just above my head.\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P7\t %/\n\n\nAs soon as I step off the outline of the path the snow rises up to my knees. I slowly kick my way through it towards the woodpile. Just as I almost reach it a sudden noise comes from behind me and instinct takes over. I throw myself at the ground just as a bullet flies by me and into the logs, showering me with splinters. I look over and see the Younger Man by the corner of the house, reloading his rifle. A dark black stain runs down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nGo to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I leap to my feet and scramble up, adrenaline surging me forward so quickly I barely even struggle on the icy logs. Just as I'm leaping one-handed over the top another bullet explodes in the logs under me, throwing me off balance and into the deep snow on the other side. Somehow he must have missed me yet again. Maybe he's still a somewhat blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nPicking myself up quickly, I wipe the ice out of my eyes and look around. The drifts right through here are much thicker and give me a little padding. The forest's directly in front of me and I scramble back to my feet and run the short ways to it. \n As soon as I reach the first tree the snow becomes shallower and easier to move through. I push in a few more feet and crouch down in the darkness. I can't see the Younger Man but that means he can't see me either, right?\nWrong. A cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\n His shape drops down over the fence where I'd jumped from and the light flicks across the trees above my head.\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P0\t %/\n<center>\nSection 3: On Your Own\n\n<<set $sawGraves= "false">>\n[[Start.|S3_P1]]\n</center>\n\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n
/% \tS2_P9\t %/\nI give the gun a quick swipe-down with one of the pieces of clothing. I'm guessing this should be enough, it's all they do in the movies. “Let's put it back right here,” I tell her, placing the gun on the seat of the chair and piling the clothes back on top of it. “If we need it we'll know where to find it.”\nAria stares at the chair indecisively then nods and helps me back up to my feet. “Shouldn't we arm ourselves, though?”\nI look into the darkness behind us. “Yeah... let's see if there's something else back there.”\nWe start to head to the back of the room to find a place to hide when a sudden sound comes from overhead and stop us in our tracks. It's a distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\n“Should we hide?” I whisper to her.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n\n<<set $hasGun = "false">>\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P10]]\n\n/% \tcont -> S2_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P2\t %/\n\n\nThe front door is my closest route to freedom and that's all that I need to know. I dash for it just as I hear the wooden hatch to the basement finally break open. The Younger Man shouts something incoherent about my skull but it's Aria's screams of “RUN! RUN!” that propels me forward. She's still alive and now everything else is up to me. \nOutside I'm greeted by almost total blackness. It's the middle of the night and there's a faint glow of the moon peaking through the clouds but because I was inside with the lights I can barely see anything once more.\nWith the light from the house behind me I can barely make out a footprint trail stomped through the snow and beyond it is the outline of their truck. To both of my sides the drifts are deeper and I'd have to post-hole through it which would significantly slow me down. There's a faint trail leading off to the left behind the house, like someone walked there a few hours ago but their prints have been partially filled in. To the right is a smooth unbroken field of snow leading to a thicket of pines and shrubs. The darkness and cover they offer is tempting but I'm taking a risk by not knowing what's beyond them.\n\n<<set $wentOutFront = "true">>\n\n<<set $sawGraves= "false">>\n\n[[Run forward to the truck.|S3_P3]]\n[[Use the trail behind the house to the left.|S3_P4]]\n[[Run to the thicket of trees to the right.|S3_P8]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Run forward to the truck. -> S3_P3\n2) Use the trail behind the house to the left. -> S3_P4\n3) Run to the thicket of trees to the right. -> S3_P8\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P3\t %/\n\n\nThe truck is my best bet for getting out of here. I don't know where I am but there must be a road nearby and I can drive out and stop at the first house I find. They can't follow me if I have their only vehicle, right?\nI must be getting more hysterical than I'd realized because when I reach the driver's door and it's locked I just can't stop screaming. I beat at the glass with my fists, trying to break inside, but of course even if I did succeed I don't have the keys to start it with.\nA noise behind me and instinct buckles my legs before my mind can process what's happening. I fall to the ground as the window above me shatters little flecks of glass rain down onto me. \nThe Younger Man is silhouetted in the doorway, reloading his rifle. I can see a dark black stain down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nRun to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I dash for the line of pines to the right, struggling and flopping as the deep snow clings to me like quicksand. A few seconds later there's another shot but no pain so somehow he must have missed me yet again. He's probably half blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI reach the thicket and hug the base of a pine, using it to drag myself out of the deep drifts and into the darkness. It's a little shallower here and I scramble a few feet deeper and wait. I can't see him but that means he can't see me. \n I hold my breath and listen. A double click. Is he locking the doors behind him? A distant crunch crunch sound, coming closer. It's not going to be difficult to see where I am. Helen Keller could probably follow my tracks. \nA cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P22\t %/\n\nAria comes around to my side and crouches down, patting the object over. \n“It's a table,” she says, separating from me and rapping her knuckles against it. I reach out and find its edge: wood, heavy construction, and two drawers. I open the first and its empty and very dusty. The second one has what feels like a small metal box in it. Whatever's inside is relatively heavy and I can't seem to pry the lid off. I feel something rotating under my fingers. \nGoddamn I wish I could see anything.\nSomething rattles off to my right. I hadn't noticed that Aria had continued on with out me. \n“You okay?” I ask to the darkness. \n“Yeah,” she says after a moment, frustration clear in her voice. “There's a metal... thing over here.” More rattling.\nI squint in her general direction. “Huh?”\nShe sighs and I leave the table to join her. “Yeah, it's a metal... screen. Or something. I dunno. Feel it, it's bouncy.”\nI reach out and touch something made of wire. I trace the shapes it makes. 6-sided.\n“Chicken wire?” I ask, trying to build a mental picture of the room.\nShe pauses and I feel her shake it. \n“Yeah,” she says after a moment. “I think so. Like a chicken wire cage.”\n“Why would there be-”\nA sound suddenly comes from up above us. A distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\nI grab Aria's arm to pull her away from the cage and she grabs my hand. “Should we hide?” I whisper.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n\n\n[[Quickly hurry back and hide in the corner with the armchair.|S2_P25]]\n[[Hide here in the corner. |S2_P26]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n2) Quickly hurry back and hide in the corner with the armchair. ->S2_P25\n1) Hide here in the corner. (aka. Hide in the Right side of the room WITH CAGE DISCOVERY) -S2_P26\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P23\t %/\n\nWe scurry forwards into the darkness, leaving the corner of the room with the chair and the noises behind us. I'm hoping the room will continue, lead us somewhere deeper and far away where we can find a spot to hide until... until what? I don't know. I don't have a plan and even if I did it wouldn't matter because we just ran into a wall. It's not actually a wall but rather something sort of springy but unyielding. I reach out and feel it: wires, criss crossing each other in a diamond pattern.\n“What is this stuff?” Aria whispers and I hear her shaking it.\nIt's some sort of chicken wire screen that we can't push through. Like some sort of cage? \nWe feel our way to the right, following the screen to where it makes a corner meeting with the wall. This is the best we can do to hide, it seems. All we can do it crouch here and listen.\nI hold onto Aria's arm, both holding her back from doing something reckless and closer to me for protection. \n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S2_P24]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P24\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P20\t %/\n\n\n“Come on, let's find out what else is in here,” I tell Aria and she holds my hand just like we used to do when we were children and we didn't want to get separated. I go first, swatting through the darkness like I'm clearing invisible cobwebs. After a few steps my knee bumps something with a hollow “thunk”. I kick it a few times but it doesn't move. Aria comes around to my side and crouches down, patting it over. \n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P22]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P22\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P8\t %/\n\n“You take this,” I tell her, handing the gun to her.\nShe hesitates, “Are you sure?”\n“Yeah, you're better at it than I am. We can always wipe it and dump it later.”\n“What are you going to use?”\nI look into the darkness behind us. “I don't know. I'll find something.”\nWe start to head to the back of the room to find a place to hide when a sudden sound comes from overhead and stop us in our tracks. It's a distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\n“Should we hide?” I whisper to her.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n\n<<set $hasGun = "false">>\n[[Continue.|S2_P10]]\n\n/% \tcont -> S2_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P26\t %/\n\nWe feel our way to the right, following the screen to where it makes a corner meeting with the wall. This is the best we can do to hide, it seems. All we can do it crouch here and listen.\nI hold onto Aria's arm, both holding her back from doing something reckless and closer to me for protection. \nAll of a sudden the room fills with blinding white light. For a few seconds I can't see anything; then as my eyes adjust the room starts to fill with shapes. The cage behind us. The pipe along the roof. The pillars with the chairs.\nThere's movement in front of us. It's the two men, walking down the staircase in the far left corner from us, opposite the armchair where we woke up. \nThe Younger Man's in the back, carrying his hunting rifle in his hands. In front of him is the Older Man, leaning on his metal cane with one hand and the railing with the other. \nHe stops at the bottom step and stares at us huddled together in the corner. \n“Well there you two are,” he says with a laugh, “hope we didn't scare you too much, keeping you down here in the dark all by your lonesome.” I feel Aria's shoulder twitch and jump like she wants to run but I hold her down.\nThe men step down into the room with us and I notice the Younger Man's carrying both our purses and my medical bag in his free hand.\n“Come on up and say hi, don't be shy,” the Older Man says to us, slapping on his thigh like he's calling a dog over. Still holding on tightly to Aria, I carefully rise to our feet, keeping my back flush with the wall. I glance around the room quickly, seeing what it looks like in full. \nThe room's smaller than it had felt in the dark. The only light is coming from a single long florescent light fixture mounted on the ceiling next to the large pipe. To the left of us is are the pillars with chains and the kitchen chairs. Across the room from them is the wooden kitchen table and behind it is the staircase going up and the armchair.\n“Okay ladies,” the Older Man addresses us, tipping his head down low so his cowboy hat blocks his face again. “You two are going to be difficult about this, aren't you?” He walks a step towards the table and snags the leg of it with the hook on his cane, dragging it closer too him. I'm surprised he's strong enough to do that.\n“That's alright though,” he continues, sitting on the edge and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. “We don't mind a doing little work, do we Son?”\nThe question's directed at the Younger Man who merely grunts in response. He takes a few steps toward us and Aria and I shift away along the wall before bumping into the nearer of the kitchen chairs chained to the pillars. He stops in front of us, out of arms reach but effectively blocking our route to the staircase and the only exit from the room.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S2_P33]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P33\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P27\t %/\n\nWe press ourselves against the edge of the armchair, crouching low. It's too heavy to shift so we can go into the corner behind it so this will have to do.\nI hold onto Aria's arm and we listen intently, afraid to move or even to breathe. Two men's voices. Of course it must be those two from earlier, who else could it possibly be? \nWe stay motionless and every sound coming from us and the floor above is intensified with our concentration. The voices are moving in circles. First one area of the floor, then the other. I can't make out the words, but the tone is light hearted. One of them laughs. It's an awful, hollow wheeze. The Older Man probably? The Younger didn't sound like that. \nI hear the hollow click-click of that metal walking stick. It echoes with a springiness that only a wood floor could provide.\nDoes that mean we're in an actual house? I'd been thinking it was somewhere industrial because of that giant water pipe. \nThe voices stop at the left corner of the room, above where the railing goes up. I hear the Older Man's voice followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged away.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P29]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P29\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P24\t %/\n\nAll of a sudden the room fills with blinding white light. For a few seconds I can't see anything; then as my eyes adjust the room starts to fill with shapes. Behind us is the chicken wire screen. It forms a caged off space with gardening tools behind it. \nThere's movement in front of us. It's the two men, walking down the staircase in the far left corner from us, opposite the armchair where we woke up. \nThe Younger Man's in the back, carrying his hunting rifle in his hands. In front of him is the Older Man, leaning on his metal cane with one hand and the railing with the other. \nHe stops at the bottom step and stares at us huddled together in the corner. \n“Well there you two are,” he says with a laugh, “hope we didn't scare you too much, keeping you down here in the dark all by your lonesome.” I feel Aria's shoulder twitch and jump like she wants to run but I hold her down.\nThe men step down into the room with us and I notice the Younger Man's carrying both our purses and my medical bag in his free hand.\n“Come on up and say hi, don't be shy,” the Older Man says to us, slapping on his thigh like he's calling a dog over. Still holding on tightly to Aria, I carefully rise to our feet, keeping my back flush with the wall. I glance around the room quickly, seeing what it looks like in full. \nThe room's smaller than it had felt in the dark. The only light is coming from a single long florescent light fixture mounted on the ceiling next to the large pipe. To the left of us is are the pillars with chains and the kitchen chairs. Across the room from them is the wooden kitchen table and behind it is the staircase going up and the armchair.\n“Okay ladies,” the Older Man addresses us, tipping his head down low so his cowboy hat blocks his face again. “You two are going to be difficult about this, aren't you?” He walks a step towards the table and snags the leg of it with the hook on his cane, dragging it closer too him. I'm surprised he's strong enough to do that.\n“That's alright though,” he continues, sitting on the edge and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. “We don't mind a doing little work, do we Son?”\nThe question's directed at the Younger Man who merely grunts in response. He takes a few steps toward us and Aria and I shift away along the wall before bumping into the nearer of the kitchen chairs chained to the pillars. He stops in front of us, out of arms reach but effectively blocking our route to the staircase and the only exit from the room.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S2_P33]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P33\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P25\t %/\n\nWe scurry forwards into the darkness, hurrying back to the corner where we'd first started. We press ourselves against the edge of the armchair, crouching low. \nAll of a sudden the room fills with blinding white light. For a few seconds I can't see anything; then as my eyes adjust the room starts to fill with shapes. The old yellow of the armchair. The pipe along the ceiling.\nThere's movement in front of us. It's the two men, walking down the staircase in the far left corner from us, opposite the armchair where we woke up. \nThe Younger Man's in the back, carrying his hunting rifle in his hands. In front of him is the Older Man, leaning on his metal cane with one hand and the railing with the other. \nHe stops at the bottom step and stares at us huddled together in the corner. \n“Well there you two are,” he says with a laugh, “hope we didn't scare you too much, keeping you down here in the dark all by your lonesome.” I feel Aria's shoulder twitch and jump like she wants to run but I hold her down.\nThe men step down into the room with us and I notice the Younger Man's carrying both our purses and my medical bag in his free hand.\n“Come on up and say hi, don't be shy,” the Older Man says to us, slapping on his thigh like he's calling a dog over. Still holding on tightly to Aria, I carefully rise to our feet, keeping my back flush with the wall. I glance around the room quickly, seeing what it looks like in full. \nThe room's smaller than it had felt in the dark. The only light is coming from a single long florescent light fixture mounted on the ceiling next to the large pipe. To the left of us is are the pillars with chains and the kitchen chairs. Across the room from them is the wooden kitchen table and behind it is the staircase going up and the armchair.\n“Okay ladies,” the Older Man addresses us, tipping his head down low so his cowboy hat blocks his face again. “You two are going to be difficult about this, aren't you?” He walks a step towards the table and snags the leg of it with the hook on his cane, dragging it closer too him. I'm surprised he's strong enough to do that.\n“That's alright though,” he continues, sitting on the edge and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. “We don't mind a doing little work, do we Son?”\nThe question's directed at the Younger Man who merely grunts in response. He takes a few steps toward us and Aria and I shift away along the wall before bumping into the nearer of the kitchen chairs chained to the pillars. He stops in front of us, out of arms reach but effectively blocking our route to the staircase and the only exit from the room.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S2_P33]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P33\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P28\t %/\n\nWe scurry backwards to the corner where we'd woken up in. Aria leads me around the chairs through the pitch blackness and when we reach the armchair we press ourselves against the near edge of it. I try to shift it so we can go fully into the corner behind it but it's too heavy. All we can do it crouch here and listen.\nI hold onto Aria's arm, both holding her back from doing something reckless and closer to me for protection. \nTwo men's voices. Of course it must be those two from earlier, who else could it possibly be? \nWe stay motionless and every sound coming from us and the floor above is intensified with our concentration. The voices are moving in circles. First one area of the floor, then the other. I can't make out the words, but the tone is light hearted. One of them laughs. It's an awful, hollow wheeze. The Older Man probably? The Younger didn't sound like that. \nI hear the hollow click-click of that metal walking stick. It echoes with a springiness that only a wood floor could provide.\nDoes that mean we're in an actual house? I'd been thinking it was somewhere industrial because of that giant water pipe. \nThe voices stop at the left corner of the room, above where the railing goes up. I hear the Older Man's voice followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged away.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P29]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P29\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P29\t %/\n\nAll of a sudden the room fills with blinding white light. For a few seconds I can't see anything; then as my eyes adjust the room starts to fill with shapes. The armchair is old leather, a yellowy brown. A pile of clothing on top of it. \nThere's movement in front of us. It's the two men, walking down the staircase in the far left corner from us, opposite the armchair where we woke up. \nThe Younger Man's in the back, carrying his hunting rifle in his hands. In front of him is the Older Man, leaning on his metal cane with one hand and the railing with the other. \nHe stops at the bottom step and stares at us huddled together in the corner. \n“Well there you two are,” he says with a laugh, “hope we didn't scare you too much, keeping you down here in the dark all by your lonesome.” I feel Aria's shoulder twitch and jump like she wants to run but I hold her down.\nThe men step down into the room with us and I notice the Younger Man's carrying both our purses and my medical bag in his free hand.\n“Come on up and say hi, don't be shy,” the Older Man says to us, slapping on his thigh like he's calling a dog over. Still holding on tightly to Aria, I carefully rise to our feet, keeping my back flush with the wall. I glance around the room quickly, seeing what it looks like in full. \nThe room's smaller than it had felt in the dark. The only light is coming from a single long florescent light fixture mounted on the ceiling next to the large pipe. To the left of us is are the pillars with chains and the kitchen chairs. Across the room from them is the wooden kitchen table and behind it is the staircase going up and the armchair.\n“Okay ladies,” the Older Man addresses us, tipping his head down low so his cowboy hat blocks his face again. “You two are going to be difficult about this, aren't you?” He walks a step towards the table and snags the leg of it with the hook on his cane, dragging it closer too him. I'm surprised he's strong enough to do that.\n“That's alright though,” he continues, sitting on the edge and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. “We don't mind a doing little work, do we Son?”\nThe question's directed at the Younger Man who merely grunts in response. He takes a few steps toward us and Aria and I shift away along the wall before bumping into the nearer of the kitchen chairs chained to the pillars. He stops in front of us, out of arms reach but effectively blocking our route to the staircase and the only exit from the room.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P33]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P33\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
\nAs soon as I see the black glove lying on the snow I know something bad had happened. Or maybe that it was about to. My intuition could only warn me to be generally afraid, the details of the time line of events I'd have to figure out on my own.\n“So what is it?” Aria whispers behind me, craning her head to see around my shoulder but not wanting to join me in the drift to see for herself.\nI pick up the glove and shake it off. One black men's glove, size large. “Just a glove,” I say, holding it up for her to see.\nShe squints at it. “Is that it? Anything else?”\nThe snow right here's been dramatically churned up and kicked into messy lumps, like someone started to make a snow-angel and took off running. I don't know about the angel part, but it definitely seems like whomever we'd been following had ran here and slipped. Probably tripped and lost their glove. And didn't bother to pick it up?\n“Yeah, that's it.” I kick at the top layer of the drift to be doubly sure. “We should get moving before it gets any darker.”\nThe wind has started to pick up with the temperature drops of the advancing evening. Aria gives the setting sun that special sideways glare she always gives when she's pissed off. Of course she is, I'm not exactly loving life either right now, except I know it's me she's pissed at and taking it out on the fading daylight. It had been entirely my idea to come here and now I'm starting to deeply regret it. We'd been lost for hours, wandering through the woods hopelessly turned around. Even worse was that we'd left our phones in the car because we hadn't wanted anyone to bother us and now it was mid-evening and starting to get uncomfortably cold. \nWithout saying another word, Aria turns on her heels and crisply stomps down the “trail” we'd been following. Great attitude there, sis. Really helps improve the situation.\nWhatever. I look back at the glove. It's only a piece of clothing, but something about it just bothers me.\n\n[[Keep the glove. |S0-P2]]\n[[Leave the glove behind. |S0-P3]]\n\n/% CHOICE\n1) Keep the glove. -> S0-P2\n2) Leave the glove behind. -> S0-P3\n %/\n\n/% %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/%\tS0_P5\t %/\n\nI start to move toward the spot when Aria stops me with a tug on my elbow. “What are you doing?!” she whispers, eyes wide and trying to keep quiet. “Let's go back,” she pleads, tugging on my sleeve.\n“I'm only taking a look, don't worry.” I try to gently pull my coat free from her grasp but she doesn't let go.\n“Maybe we should get out of here?” she insists quietly, trying to pull me backwards. “I don't like this.”\nYeah, I don't either, but we've got a limited choice of options here. We're probably even more lost now than when we'd started following the prints. \nI brush her hand away and motion for her to stay put as I walk in a circle around the bloody area, careful not to step on any of it, and go to the tossed up snow. \nThere's even more blood here; I didn't see it before because the ground here has also been kicked up in piles. It's a smaller pool and quite fresh too, otherwise it would have been more frozen. There are also more footprints leading away to the left down the hill. These are sloppier and closer together than the others and there's more blood puddles making a trail toward-\nA dark shape. About a hundred feet further down the hill. I can't see exactly what it is but my heart suddenly jumps in my chest. It doesn't look like a deer...\n“Kat? What is-” Aria's question ends abruptly as she sees what I see. She gasps and presses a hand to her mouth. “That... That's... what is that?” \nSomehow, right at that very moment, I know exactly what we're looking at. It come to me as a pure instinctual certainty that it's a-\nI turn and grab Aria's arm and start dragging her away back up the hill. What should we do now? Even if there's been an accident we'd have no way to help because we don't even know where we are.\n“But... what if someone's hurt?” Aria protests, trying to pull away from me. “Shouldn't we...”\n“We can call for help back at the car,” I say quickly, pulling her a few steps backwards. “Let's get out of here.” \nNever mind that we have to find our car first. My plan had been to keep following the tracks downhill and hopefully run into-\n“Good evening ladies!” A cheery voice suddenly calls out to us from the right. \nI jump at the unexpected noise. Whirling around, I see a man in a camouflaged hunting suit swiftly walking towards us from higher up the right side of the hill. His dark cap and sunglasses hide his eyes, but his beaming smile is visible even in the fading light. \nAnd then I see the hunting rifle in his hands.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P0]]\n\n/% CONT -> S1_P1 %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% S0-P4\t %/\n\nWhen we'd first gotten lost we'd wandered aimlessly through the pine trees until we found the footprints. There were two sets of them, one slightly bigger than the other, and they were both heading unsteadily downhill. Without having any better options or ideas, we'd started following them because they seemed fresh and hopefully we'd catch up to their owners who could point us in the right direction back to the parking lot.\nIt was a decent plan in theory, but I was starting to get that horrible feeling in my gut that this wasn't a good idea after all. Normally I try and listen to my intuition and figure out what it's trying to tell me. Right now however, I'd been so distracted with getting lost in the woods and all the “oh shit, what do we do-s?”. I'd started to get that creeping tension nervous feeling, but I'd unintentionally drowned it out with trying to remember every snow-based episode of Man Vs. Wild I'd ever seen and making a lengthy mental list of what to do if it gets dark before we're safely back to our car.\nIt can't just be me who's feeling it. Aria had also gone quiet and that meant that she must have been getting the intuition pricks as well. I'd been getting increasingly alarmed at the state of the footprint's we'd been following and, without having any tracking skills whatsoever, I could only guess at the story they'd been telling me. \nFirst the smaller prints had been by themselves and were very careful steps, especially on the more slippery parts of the shallow ravine we'd been following. Then the larger prints had joined them off from the side. Next the prints had been in a circle, facing each other. Then they'd both taken off in wide messy strides. The bigger prints had no trouble with the snow, judging by the deep treads they'd been wearing boots, and they'd followed the higher areas that were easier to walk on. But the smaller prints went in a direct line of very sloppy wide strides. They'd gone straight through the deeper drifts even though that meant that they'd had to post hole their way back out. I know from hard learned personal experience that there are few things in the world more irritating and exhausting than post holing through knee deep or even higher ice-mush.\nAll possible meanings of this sequence of movements had been playing across my mind and competing for space against Bear Grylls, when we'd stumbled across that pile of disturbed snow that had suddenly made my inner voice start screaming to pay attention to it. That tiny piece of dark fabric had actually made me stop mid step because I'd thought at first that it was a black ribbon. \nI should probably explain: our mom took her intuition to a higher level by believing that a finding a black ribbon on the ground meant that someone was going to die. The “theory” behind that had something to do with how, when her father had died, she'd worn a black ribbon around her arm for a year. This was too far into the world of hoodoo nonsense for me, but for a moment when I'd seen that glove I'd been frozen by panic. Aria must have thought the same thing, she hadn't wanted to go anywhere near it. \nSo now here we are, following two strangers' increasingly alarming story in footprints, and my inner voice is telling me to stop, stop, STOP! Perhaps I'm being paranoid: it's getting dark and I'm scared and jumpy and I don't kn-\n“Oh holy shit, is that blood?”\nAria's voice cuts through the frozen air so suddenly I bump right into her and we slip on the icy path. I peak over her shoulder and see it: a gaudy bright splash of crimson glittering on top of the snow. My breath flinches at the sight and I instinctively reach out and tug on her coat, pulling her back a little.\n“Kat, I don't...” Aria starts to say something to me, but her voice fades with uncertainty. \nI blink several times, just to be sure I'm not seeing things. It's blood definitely and it's not a small amount by any means. It's about three feet wide and fanned out away from us in an broad spray.\n“The footprints go right through it...” she whispers. We've met hunters out on these trails before, but it's not in season right now and most of the forest animals are hibernating anyhow.\nI take a moment to scan the area before figuring out what to do. The snowfall in this ravine is quite heavy and the footprints have sunk in deep. I follow them with my eyes and they lead to behind the blood puddle, opposite where we're standing, to another disturbed area of the ground. \n\n\n\n[[Investigate the bloody snow.|S0_P5]]\n[[Continue following the path down the hill.|S0_P6]]\n[[Turn back the way you came.|S0_P7]]\n\n/% 1) Investigate the bloody snow. ->S0_P5\n2) Continue following the path down the hill. ->S0_P6\n3) Turn back the way you came. ->S0_P7 %/ \n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS0_P7\t %/\n\n“I, uh... I think maybe we should turn around,” I tell her, side stepping a few paces back up the path.\nAria hesitates and stares at the blood pool. I can feel her indecision. \n“Um, Kat... I think... we should check it out?” she asks, glancing back at me. She moves forward a step and gestures with a crick of her head for me to come with her.\n“Wait, hold on,” I grab her arm. “Why are we-”\n“What if someone's hurt? Don't we have to help them?” Her wide eyes are giving away her nerves but I see her point. Where could we go anyhow? We're probably even more lost now than when we'd started following the footprints. \n“Okay, let's... be quick. We don't have much light.” As if I need to tell her that. Or tell her that yes, I'm feeling the nervousness too. Could we both be overacting? It's easy to get carried away when you've been lost out in the woods for hours.\nWe gingerly edge around the bloody area, careful not to step on any of it, and glance at the pile of tossed up snow. More blood, this time a smaller pool and quite fresh too, otherwise it would have been more frozen and sunk in. I inhale sharply and Aria grabs my arm, pulling us together until we're practically one shape. Just like our dad used to tell us to do if we ever see a bear in the woods.\nWe keep going slowly, following the footprints down the hill. I don't see the bigger prints anymore; it's only the smaller and they're getting sloppier and closer together and there's more blood puddles making a trail toward-\nAria screams in my ear. I jump before I see it. A dark shape maybe 20 feet further down the hill. For a second I think it's a deer, maybe we'd been following hunters after all. Then I see the dark blue patterned coat on the shape.\n“Oh my god!” Aria whispers, pressing her hand over her mouth.\nFor a few seconds I'm frozen to the spot, unable to move or think. I'm... I'm looking at... Oh my god!\n“Fuck! We need to- let's get-” I'm stammering, unable to think.\n“Kat!” Aria yanks roughly on my jacket, snapping me back from my panic. “We've got to go help!”\nHelp? But- We don't even know where we are...\nAria starts dragging me forward, towards the shape. I squeeze her hand tightly in mine, forcing back my sudden hysteria and making myself think rationally. Someone's clearly had an accident. We have to help them. Period. Maybe it's not as bad as-\n“Good evening ladies!” A cheery voice suddenly calls out from behind us.\nI scream. I can't help it. It comes out as a strangled half-scream, half-yelp.\nWhirling around, I see a man in a camouflaged hunting suit swiftly walking towards us from the hill to our right. His dark cap and sunglasses hide his eyes, but his beaming smile is visible even in the fading light. \nAnd then I see the hunting rifle in his hands.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% CONT -> S1_P6 %/\n\n“Let's... let's keep going,” I tell her quickly. She hesitates and stares at the blood pool for a long moment before hurrying back to my side. Our previous spat is instantly forgotten and I almost want to hold her hand but... I don't want to scare her by letting her know how scared I am, if that makes any sense. It's my job to take care of her and stay clam, make sure everything is okay.\nWe gingerly edge around the bloody area, careful not to step on any of it, and glance at the pile of tossed up snow. More blood, this time a smaller pool and quite fresh too, otherwise it would have been more frozen and sunk in. I inhale sharply and Aria grabs my arm, pulling us together until we're practically one shape. Just like our dad used to tell us to do if we ever see a bear in the woods.\nWe keep going, following the footprints down the hill. I don't see the bigger prints anymore; it's only the smaller and they're getting sloppier and closer together and there's more blood puddles making a trail toward-\nAria screams in my ear. I jump before I see it. A dark shape. Around 20 feet further down the hill. For a second I think it's a deer, maybe we'd been following hunters after all. Then I see the dark blue patterned coat on the shape.\n“Oh my god!” Aria whispers pressing her hand over her mouth.\nFor a few seconds I'm frozen to the spot, unable to move or think. I'm... I'm looking at... Oh my god!\n“Kat?”\nIt's... We should... We need to... oh fuck, I don't know...\n“Kat!” Aria yanks roughly on my jacket, demanding my focus. \nI take a half step backwards, away from the shape, and Aria drags me back sharply. “What are you doing? We've got to go help!”\nHelp? But... We don't even know where we are...\n“Okay, okay,” I force myself to inhale and exhale. “Let's see what...” Let's see what we can do. It's possible that this person's injured and we can-\n“Good evening ladies!” A cheery voice suddenly calls out from behind us.\nI scream. I can't help it. It comes out as a strangled half-scream, half-yelp.\nWhirling around, I see a man in a camouflaged hunting suit swiftly walking towards us from the hill to our right. His dark cap and sunglasses hide his eyes, but his beaming smile is visible even in the fading light. \nAnd then I see the hunting rifle in his hands.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P0]]\n\n/% CONT -> S1_P1 %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P16\t %/\n\nIn between the tall pines the snow is lighter and more manageable to cross, but still deep enough that each of my steps leaves a clear and obvious print. My only hope is that the trees are quite close together and the frequently shifting cloud cover blocks out enough of the moon that I won't be as easy to shoot as if I was in the bright open.\nDuring the moments when the visibility is higher I notice that there are numerous other prints running through these woods. Most are small like from a deer but there's the occasional larger print that mingles in as well. A bear or a wildcat perhaps? It doesn't really matter, they're not the predator I'm most afraid of out here.\nAt the start of my flight I'd seen the flickers of the Younger Man's flashlight jump across the trees, sometimes gliding to a branch or trunk above my head but somehow always just missing the chance to give me away. I'm breathing too hard to hear him but at least his flashlight is a double-edged sword that lets me track his movements as well as he can track mine.\nI keep low, half crouched and bent at the waist. Moving like this is slower than a full-out sprint but speed could lead to sloppiness and one trip or stumble could be the end for me.\nThe one thing I don't do is turn around and see how close my hunter is. If he should be so lucky to get a clear shot into my back I'd rather not know that it's about to happen. Better to simply die instantly and not know that I'd made a mistake that got both me and my sister killed.\n As I move deeper the flashes of light become less and less until they stop completely. In other circumstances this might have been a source of relief, but here my instincts are screaming at me not to let my guard down and to keep moving. \n Surely it can't be that easy to escape, right? My instincts are telling me that something's wrong and I need to keep running. “Run. Run. Keep going. Don't stop now.”\nSo I keep on moving. Crouching, scrambling, ducking and weaving. Time passes by, spent in a mindless run that simultaneously seems to take forever and be over in seconds. As I get deeper into the woods I try to memorize any sort of landmarks so that I can find my way back. \nThe trees are huge here and block out most of the moonlight, filling the forest with inky black pools of shadows that seem to shift every time I look away. It's highly unnerving and I desperately wish I had any sort of real survival skills. This shit would never happen to Bear Grylls. He'd have found a way to hot wire their truck or turn the Younger Man's hunting jacket into a wind sail powered by rage... \nYes, I know I'm babbling. I'm trying to distract myself because I can't quite face the reality of what's really happening.\nFocus. I need to focus. Okay, I'm following a sort of trail, probably an animal path or maybe just a more worn area of the ground. It's significantly easier to move in but also the obvious choice for me to take. I might be better off breaking away from the path and cutting across through the woods to find a place to hide. Right at the base of each tree is a bald area of needles, if I'm careful I can use those to hide my footprints until I'm far enough away. It'll be slower going but maybe it's the safer choice. \n\n\n\n[[Keep following the trail. Speed and distance are more important.|S3_P17]]\n[[Get off the trail and find a place to hide. With luck, he might move right past you.|S3_P19]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Keep following the trail. Speed and distance are more important. -> S3_P17\n2) Get off the trail and find a place to hide. With luck, he might move right past you. ->S3_P19\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P17\t %/\n\nI keep up the sprint, forcing myself to keep going even as exhaustion starts to set in. I know what the physical stages of muscle fatigue are: excessive calcium, lactic acid build-up, over-firing nerves. All of that good stuff but my willpower is stronger and if I keep my mind focused I can drown it out for a while. \nSo where am I, anyhow? The park where we first started our walk was an hour outside town. Then we were... moved to here. Wherever here is. They knocked us out and drove us here but I didn't come to in the truck so it couldn't have been that long of a drive. It's still night so it can't be more than a few hours away, right? If we never came home people are going to be looking for us. Right? They might think we were out partying but when we don't answer our phones... Everybody knows where we like to go hiking. Maybe they'd go and check and then they'll find our car and how it's been broken in to. Next they'll call 911 and now the police are probably searching for us also. It's a nice thought, but will they find us on time? I doubt it. I have to figure out how to get us out of here on my own.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P18]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P18\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P14\t %/\n\nI grab the axe handle and pull. Nothing. I pull harder and it doesn't budge. I try pushing on it the other way, trying to flip it out of the block in reverse. I'm only rewarded with a palm full of splinters. Then I remember when our dad used to chop firewood and the axe would get stuck in the log and he'd stand on the end of the handle.\nI'm about to try that when something catches the corner of my eye. I'd been so focused on trying to get out that damn axe that I hadn't really paid any attention to what else was around me. \nFrom this angle I can see now that the dirt piles are in the shape of graves. Fresh graves, with the soil still holding enough residual warmth to partially melt the night's recent snowfall. Two bigger and one small, like it would fit a child. Worse still is the last one which is still an open pit in the ground. Some horrible voice inside me tells me that one was meant for me. \nI'm momentarily paralyzed by that idea, no, by that absolute certainty, that for a second my mind goes completely blank. Then there's a sudden noise from behind me and instinct takes over. I throw myself at the ground just as a bullet flies by me and into the shed, ricocheting with a sharp metallic bang. The Younger Man's by the corner of the house, reloading his rifle. A dark black stain runs down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nGo to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I leap to my feet and sprint to the wood pile by the fence line, adrenaline surging me forward so quickly I barely even struggle in the icy quicksand. \nJust as I'm leaping one-handed over the top another bullet explodes in the logs under me, spraying me with splinters. Somehow he must have missed me yet again. Maybe he's still a somewhat blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI fall into a pile of deep snow on the other side. The drifts right through here are much thicker and give me a little padding. The forest's directly in front of me and I scramble back to my feet and run the short ways to it. \n As soon as I reach the first tree the drifts become shallower and easier to move through. I push in a few more feet and crouch down in the darkness. I can't see the Younger Man but that means he can't see me either, right?\nWrong. A cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\n His shape drops down over the fence where I'd jumped from and the light flicks across the trees above my head.\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/.
/% \tS3_P15\t %/\n\nAs soon as I step down from the back porch the snow rises up to my knees. I kick my way through it towards the woodpile and it clings to my boots like quicksand. I get halfway up the pile when I stop and glance back at the house. Aria's still in there... Should I go back? This might be our only shot at escaping and getting help, but how can I possibly leave her there like that?\nNo. No, I have to go back to her. I just have to.\nI turn around around on the pile to start heading back when something catches the corner of my eye and I immediately stop in my tracks. From this angle I can see now that the dirt piles are in the shape of graves. Fresh graves, with the soil still holding enough residual warmth to partially melt the night's recent snowfall. Two bigger and one small, like it would fit a child. Worse still is the last one which is still an open pit in the ground. Some horrible voice inside me tells me that one was meant for me.\nI'm momentarily paralyzed by that idea, no, by that absolute certainty, that for a second my mind goes completely blank. Then there's a sudden noise from behind me and instinct takes over. I throw myself at the ground just as a bullet flies by me and into the shed, ricocheting with a sharp metallic bang. The Younger Man's by the corner of the house, reloading his rifle. A dark black stain runs down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nGo to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I leap to my feet and sprint to the wood pile by the fence line, adrenaline surging me forward so quickly I barely even struggle in the icy quicksand. \nJust as I'm leaping one-handed over the top another bullet explodes in the logs under me, spraying me with splinters. Somehow he must have missed me yet again. Maybe he's still a somewhat blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI fall into a pile of deep snow on the other side. The drifts right through here are much thicker and give me a little padding. The forest's directly in front of me and I scramble back to my feet and run the short ways to it. \n As soon as I reach the first tree the drifts become shallower and easier to move through. I push in a few more feet and crouch down in the darkness. I can't see the Younger Man but that means he can't see me either, right?\nWrong. A cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\n His shape drops down over the fence where I'd jumped from and the light flicks across the trees above my head.\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/.
/% \tS3_P12\t %/\n\nAs soon as I step outside I'm greeted by almost total blackness. Apparently it's still night and there is a faint glow of the moon peaking through the clouds but I can barely see anything once again. \nI close the door behind me as quietly as I can and crouch low just in case. I listen intently, trying to pick up any sound that might hint where my attacker's searching for me. I realize the generator noise has stopped. That's... odd.\nI hear a distant knock coming from the right. It sounds like a door being closed. The Younger Man must be on the other side of the house so I have a small amount of time to get my bearings and figure out what to do next.\nI check around the dimly lit back yard. Now the clouds have shifted in the sky slightly and the moonlight reflecting off the ice brightens up the darkness enough so I can see a little better. I'm standing on a covered wooden porch and behind me is a small yard is encircled by a high fence. Deep snow banks are piled up along its edges but to my right is a pile of firewood logs that I could probably use to climb over to the other side. Beyond it I can see the outlines of tall pine trees sticking up over the fence. At the far side of the yard is a small shed and in front of it is a chopping block with an axe buried into it and several large piles of dirt. \nI glance back up at the house behind me. It's a large three story log cabin with a balcony and railing wrapping around the top floor but from my current low vantage point I can't tell any more details. \nI'm debating sneaking back inside and trying to get Aria when I hear the crunch of footsteps. The sound is coming from the front of the house and moving towards me.\n\n<<set $sawGraves= "true">>\n\n[[Run and hide in the shed.|S3_P13]]\n[[Grab the axe from the chopping block.|S3_P14]]\n[[Climb over the fence and run to the trees.|S3_P15]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Run and hide in the shed. ->S3_P13\n2) Grab the axe from the chopping block. -> S3_P14\n3) Climb over the fence and run to the trees. -> S3_P15\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P13\t %/\n\nI think that the best choice is a compromise: I want to stay close to the house and Aria, so maybe I should find some place nearby to hide? \nDucking low, I run the short distance across the yard, glancing back over my shoulder for any sign of the Younger Man. I hurry to the shed and try to drag open the sliding metal door at the front. It's locked. There's another padlock at the top but of course I don't have the keys.\nI turn around to leave and immediately stop in my tracks. From this angle I can see now that the dirt piles are in the shape of graves. Fresh graves, with the soil still holding enough residual warmth to partially melt the night's recent snowfall. Two bigger and one small, like it would fit a child. Worse still is the last one which is still an open pit in the ground. Some horrible voice inside me tells me that one was meant for me. \nI'm momentarily paralyzed by that idea, no, by that absolute certainty, that for a second my mind goes completely blank. Then there's a sudden noise from behind me and instinct takes over. I throw myself at the ground just as a bullet flies by me and into the shed, ricocheting with a sharp metallic bang. The Younger Man's by the corner of the house, reloading his rifle. A dark black stain runs down the front of his jacket from where I must have broken his nose when I kicked him.\nGo to the trees! The thought is singular and absolute. I leap to my feet and sprint to the wood pile by the fence line, adrenaline surging me forward so quickly I barely even struggle in the icy quicksand. \nJust as I'm leaping one-handed over the top another bullet explodes in the logs under me, spraying me with splinters. Somehow he must have missed me yet again. Maybe he's still a somewhat blinded by the lights from inside like I was.\nI fall into a pile of deep snow on the other side. The drifts right through here are much thicker and give me a little padding. The forest's directly in front of me and I scramble back to my feet and run the short ways to it. \n As soon as I reach the first tree the drifts become shallower and easier to move through. I push in a few more feet and crouch down in the darkness. I can't see the Younger Man but that means he can't see me either, right?\nWrong. A cold beam of light suddenly gleams on the trees in front of me. Shit, he must have a flashlight!\n His shape drops down over the fence where I'd jumped from and the light flicks across the trees above my head.\nI don't have any other choice: I turn and run deeper into the woods, away from the house and Aria.\n\n\n\n[[Continue. |S3_P16]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P16\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P10\t %/\n\nMy intuition tells me to go out the back of the house and I let my feet propel me forward, trying to not let my thoughts distract me from my body's natural survival instincts. I slip and slide on the piles of broken glass littering the floor. What, were these assholes throwing bottles at the walls to hear them break?! \nSomething rolls out from under my feet and I trip and fall against a small end table shoved against the wall, knocking both of us over. One of the table's shelves falls open and a small box flies out, skidding along the floor and disappearing somewhere underneath a badly torn up coach across the room.\nI'm struggling back to my feet when I hear the wooden hatch to the basement behind me finally break open. The Younger Man shouts something incoherent about my skull but it's Aria's screams of “RUN! RUN!” that cut through my panic. She's still alive and now everything else is up to me. \nMy subconscious is telling me that little box is something important, but I only have a few seconds to get out of here. If I try to dig it out from where it fell I'd loose any head start I have.\n\n<<set $wentOutFront = "false">>\n\n<<set $sawBullets= "false">>\n\n[[Try to grab the box from under the couch.|S3_P11]]\n[[Don't risk it, run out the back door immediately. |S3_P12]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Try to grab the box from under the couch. ->S3_P11\n2) Don't risk it, run out the back door immediately. ->S3_P12\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n
/% \tS3_P11\t %/\n\nI sprint the short distance across the room and leap over the couch, dropping down onto my stomach on the other side of it. Only a moment later I hear the Younger Man kick down the door from the hallway and rush into the room that's behind me. \n I try to make myself as small as I can, ignoring the small bits of broken glass that dig into my face when I press myself tighter against the bottom of the couch.\nI turn my head the slightest fraction so I can see out the small crack at the bottom. I can only see his boots. He's about 12 feet away and very slowly walking across the room. I hold my breath; if he comes toward me I don't have a chance...\nHe takes three steps into this room and pauses. Then he turns and starts walking away, towards the front door on the opposite side of the house. A few more steps and I hear the door open.\nBlinking rapidly, the only outer showing of relief I allow myself, I quickly scan the underneath of the couch again. The box is in the corner, pressed up against the wall. I wriggle my arm under the edge and drag it out.\nIt's a small box of bullets. It must be for a small magazine size or else the box would be bigger. The gun we found downstairs?\n I open it and it's almost empty, there are only three left. \nI don't know what to do with them. Bullets and nothing to shoot them with don't do me any good. Maybe... maybe if Aria somehow gets out AND finds the gun AND comes up here...\nLots of maybe-s, right? \nI slip the box back under the couch and mentally bookmark them just in case. Then I crawl out from my hiding spot and hurry to the back door.\n\n\n<<set $sawBullets= "true">>\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P12]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S3_P12\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
Following Me
/% \tS2_P1\t %/\n\n“Kat.” \nI don't want to go out anywhere. Let's spend the night on campus. We can go over to Amber's and have a beer or two. \n“Kat.” \n Bullshit Aria, you mean a beer or seven or eight. I've got a final early tomorrow morning, I don't want to have to haul your drunken ass home again at god-knows-what hour. \n“Kat.”\n Aria chimes my name in repeat like a bad alarm clock. Fine Kat, how about a short walk? Like an hour or two. What?! You want to drive all the way up there? Why? \n“Kat.” \nAria's voice is the auditory portrait of irritation. Don't tell me we're lost. You said you knew a way to cut across to the other hill. \n“Kat.” \nYes, Aria. I DO know there's a shortcut around here. It just... looks different when everything's covered in snow. All we have to do is climb over this hill and... yeah. We should end up close to that old bridge. \n“Kat.” \nScrew you, Aria. Let's retrace our footprints and we'll get back to the main trail. Yeah yeah, I know it's going to take us forever to walk all the way back, we shouldn't have kept going, blah blah blah.”\n “Kat!” \nI don't fucking know where the trail is, ok Aria?! It should have been right here! \n “Kat!” \nHey look, there are some footprints over there! Let's follow them and they'll probably lead us back to the main road. I know it's getting dark but we've got to be almost-\n“KAT!!!”\n\nAria's voice shouting my name finally jerks me awake. For a moment I don't know where I am or why she's shaking me. What, did we oversleep and I'm late? Why's it so dark in here? \nI reach out my arm, fumbling for my nightstand and table lamp, but my fingers only sweep through the air. Whatever I'm lying on isn't my bed but something firm and slightly damp.\n“Whatis...” I mumble, trying to figure it out. I'm feeling disoriented and the side of my head's starting to pound sharply. I try to yawn but even my jaw's sore and locked up. Did we go out drinking or-\nSuddenly it all comes back to me. The man. The body. The other man. We tried to fight them, tried to escape, but...\n“Aria,” I wheeze, pushing myself onto my elbows. I can't see anything. Am I blind? Blindfolded? No, my eyes are open, it's really totally dark. I reach out for her and she emits a shrill whine and crushes me in a hug.\n“Jesus fuck Kat!!!” her face is wet against my neck. “I was trying to get you to wake up and you weren't moving and I thought you were dead! I thought you were...” her voice disintegrates to incoherent mumbles and she sobs against me.\nI try to hug her and reassure her as I slowly sit up and scoot backwards, finding a wall behind me to lean against. Holy shit my head hurts. I keep clenching and opening my eyes, hoping to find some tiny glow of light but I literally can't see my own hand in front of my face. Total pitch darkness. Where the hell are we?\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P2]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P2\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P39\t %/\n\n\nI've never been the physical type, never even been in a fight before, but some primitive part of my brain takes over as I turn direction and charge at the older man. Aria had the other idea and had started to run towards the hill leading to the main highway, but at the sound of my battle cry she shouts “FUCK!” and dashes after me. Wait, did I really give a battle cry? Where in the hell did that come from? \nThe man freezes as we charge towards him. “Son! We've got-” he starts to call out but I throw myself at him, trying to knock him off his feet. He spins at the last moment before impact and something solid collides with the side of my head in a blaze of stars and pain. I collapse to the ground stunned as the world spins around me.\nA gunshot rings out and Aria screams and falls. I scream, desperately trying to pick myself off the ground and thinking for a moment she must have been shot, but she instantly is back up and running to me. She flies at the older man and and I struggle to get back up to my knees and help her. I grab his belt and try to pull him down only to have my head snap violently backwards as the younger man catches up to us. He pulls my hair sharply, practically yanking it out of my scalp, as he crushes me in a headlock.\nSpots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the older man gains the advantage in the fight with her. He drags her under him and starts to strangle her with his cane. The silver handle flashes in the passing headlights as the car on main highway passes us by. I try to scream. If the car hears me someone will see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance, or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n
/% \tS1_P8\t %/\n\nI quickly unzip my wool coat and shrug it off. I toss it at the ground and hug my arms around myself. It's going to be a freezing cold night without it but I don't want anymore trouble. I want to get out of here.\n“Thank you kindly, ma'am” he speaks the words with a fake southern accent. “Now it's your turn,” he nods to Aria.\nShe sputters in indignation. “Fuck you! I'm not giving you my fucking-”\n“ARIA!” I hiss. Hurry up!\n“No! Why should we? This is ridiculous!”\n“Aria! Just-”\n“No!”\n“Ahem...” The man clears his throat. “Aria sweetie, I know it's a cliché, but we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” He twirls his rifle like a baton but his eyes don't share the same playful demeanor. \nAria looks to me to back her up. She's right, this is ridiculous but she's only making it worse for us. I tug on her sleeve and whisper “c'mon.” Just hurry up and we can leave.\n“Oh goddamnit!” she curses before finally shrugging it off and hurling it at the man who merely steps to the side, a crooked smirk on his face. It falls in a pile on the ground and the bright red color against the snow is disturbingly reminiscent of the blood splatter behind us. The man bends over to pick it up, leaning on the stock of his rifle like a walking stick.\n“We're going to fucking freeze out here!” she shouts. “You know that right?!”\nHe pauses mid-bend and glances up at us from under the brim of his hat. “Come again?” he asks, his light hearted tone returning.\n“We don't know where our car is you asshole! You're going to make us stay out here all night without our fucking coats!” \nI grab her shoulders and try to pull her back. I don't care about any of that right now; let's leave!\n“It's over there,” he says with a shrug, grabbing her coat and straightening up. He nods his head at the hill to the left but all I see is more trees. “Go up there a short ways and you'll find the main path. You're only about a half mile from where you parked.” \nSeriously? We were almost there? If we hadn't followed these fucking prints we'd be driving out of here right now?!\nI grab Aria's wrist and start yanking her up the hill, keeping our back facing away from the man. He suddenly starts laughing as he pulls something out of her coat pocket.\n“Aria? Sweetie?” he calls out, bouncing a ziplock bag at us. “Hope you don't mind that I'm gonna keep this!” I squint at it in the dim light. Aria murmurs “fuck” under her breath and pushes me forward, suddenly ready to get out of here.\nWhat is th- oh for the love of...\n“Jesus Aria, you brought some fucking pot with us?!” I hiss. Sometimes I can't believe how stupid she can be.\nShe slides a little as we rush up the slippery bank. “I forgot that I had it,” she mutters, scrambling past me. I look down and see that the man has slung both of our coats over his shoulder and is walking down the path away from us. \n“Dad's old lighter was in there, too,” Aria says quietly and it takes me a moment to figure out she that she's referring to her coat pockets.\nGreat. That's just great. I'll yell at her for that one later.\nWe hurry on, never fully leaving the man from our line of sight. Just as we mount the crest he waves goodbye to us. “Have a good one, ladies!” he calls out before turning back towards the shape down the hill.\n\n<<set $haveCoats = "false">>\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P16]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n\n\n/% \tcONT -> S1_P16 OR S1_P17\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P1\t %/\n\n\nI throw myself up the stairs, not daring to glance back because I know what will happen if I hesitate for even a single moment. A resistance gabs my ankle and I blindly kick backwards, my heel finding something fragile enough to crunch and recoil. A wave of jumbled curses and a bullet fly by my ear but then I'm at the top and there's a wooden hatch I can slam down behind me. It has two loops on my side but there's no lock so I settle for dragging a nearby metal box over it. It makes the same scraping noise we'd heard earlier and it jumps as the Younger Man charges into it, trying to shake it out of position. \n More curses and threats that I don't bother to listen to and I have to shove that image of Aria into the farthest corners my mind. The only way I can help her now is to escape from this myself.\nNow I find myself in some sort of hallway. The walls are made of thickly varnished pine logs and from somewhere further away I can hear the distinct sound of a generator. Ahead of me is a door and I run to it just as another gunshot comes from below and starts to shatter the boards of the hatch. It probably won't hold for more than a few seconds. \nI assume that the door's locked but I probably should've checked first before I did a flying body slam against it. I practically rip the thing off its hinges as it busts open and I fall to my knees, clutching my arm and gasping. OKAY, the movies totally lied about that! Busting a door down with your shoulder hurts like all goddamn hell! Is anything broken? No, but Shit! Stupid idea, stupid idea...\nThe sound of another gunshot gets me off my knees and back on my feet. I'm in what seems to be a trashed living room. The windows are boarded up and I can't see what's outside but there are a few lights on in here. Furniture and bottles are thrown around, broken glass is everywhere, and ohfuckme there's some noise behind me. \nShit! Okay... Focus. Um, in front of me is a front door. To the right is an open framework wall that leads to a kitchen area and a back door. There's also a staircase going to a higher floor but I sure as hell won't be going any place I could be so easily cornered. \n\n\n\n[[Run to the front door.|S3_P2]]\n<<if $hasGun eq "true">>\n[[Run through the kitchen to the back door.|S3_P10]]\n<<else if $hasGun eq "false">>\n[[Run through the kitchen to the back door.|S3_P9]]\n<<else>>\n[[Run through the kitchen to the back door.|S3_P9]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Run to the front door.-> S3_P2\n2) Run through the kitchen to the back door. -> S3_P9 OR S3_P10\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P31\t %/\n\nAll of a sudden the room fills with blinding white light. For a few seconds I can't see anything; then as my eyes adjust the room starts to fill with shapes. Behind us a the chicken wire screen. It forms a caged off space with gardening tools behind it. There's a door on it but it's padlocked.\nThere's movement in front of us. It's the two men, walking down the staircase in the far left corner from us, opposite the armchair where we woke up. \nThe Younger Man's in the back, carrying his hunting rifle in his hands. In front of him is the Older Man, leaning on his metal cane with one hand and the railing with the other. \nHe stops at the bottom step and stares at us huddled together in the corner. \n“Well there you two are,” he says with a laugh, “hope we didn't scare you too much, keeping you down here in the dark all by your lonesome.” I feel Aria's shoulder twitch and jump like she wants to run but I hold her down.\nThe men step down into the room with us and I notice the Younger Man's carrying both our purses and my medical bag in his free hand.\n“Come on up and say hi, don't be shy,” the Older Man says to us, slapping on his thigh like he's calling a dog over. Still holding on tightly to Aria, I carefully rise to our feet, keeping my back flush with the wall. I glance around the room quickly, seeing what it looks like in full. \nThe room's smaller than it had felt in the dark. The only light is coming from a single long florescent light fixture mounted on the ceiling next to the large pipe. To the left of us is are the pillars with chains and the kitchen chairs. Across the room from them is the wooden kitchen table and behind it is the staircase going up and the armchair.\n“Okay ladies,” the Older Man addresses us, tipping his head down low so his cowboy hat blocks his face again. “You two are going to be difficult about this, aren't you?” He walks a step towards the table and snags the leg of it with the hook on his cane, dragging it closer too him. I'm surprised he's strong enough to do that.\n“That's alright though,” he continues, sitting on the edge and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. “We don't mind a doing little work, do we Son?”\nThe question's directed at the Younger Man who merely grunts in response. He takes a few steps toward us and Aria and I shift away along the wall before bumping into the nearer of the kitchen chairs chained to the pillars. He stops in front of us, out of arms reach but effectively blocking our route to the staircase and the only exit from the room.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P33]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P33\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P30\t %/\n\nWe scurry forwards into the darkness, leaving the corner of the room with the chair and the noises behind us. I'm hoping the room will continue on and lead us somewhere deeper where we can find a spot to hide until... until what? I don't know. I don't have a plan and even if I did it wouldn't matter because we just ran into a wall. It's not actually a wall but rather something sort of springy but unyielding. I reach out and feel it: wires, criss crossing each other in a diamond pattern.\n“What is this stuff?” Aria whispers and I hear her shaking it.\nIt's some sort of chicken wire screen that we can't push through. Like some sort of cage? \nWe feel our way to the right, following the screen to where it makes a corner meeting with the wall. This is the best we can do to hide, it seems. All we can do it crouch here and listen.\nI hold onto Aria's arm, both holding her back from doing something reckless and closer to me for protection. \nTwo men's voices. Of course it must be those two from earlier, who else could it possibly be? \nWe stay motionless and every sound coming from us and the floor above is intensified with our concentration. The voices are moving in circles. First one area of the floor, then the other. I can't make out the words, but the tone is light hearted. One of them laughs. It's an awful, hollow wheeze. The Older Man probably? The Younger didn't sound like that. \nI hear the hollow click-click of that metal walking stick. It echoes with a springiness that only a wood floor could provide.\nDoes that mean we're in an actual house? I'd been thinking it was somewhere industrial because of that giant water pipe. \nThe voices stop at the left corner of the room, above where the railing goes up. I hear the Older Man's voice followed by the sound of something heavy being dragged away.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P31]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P31\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P33\t %/\n\n“What the hell are we doing down here?!” I demand even if I know that the time to talk our way out of this has come and gone. The Younger Man says nothing, just shakes his head at me with a silent frown. A click of the lighter comes from behind him as the other man lights his cigarette.\n“You'll find that out soon enough, don't worry,” he says, setting the lighter on the table next to him. “First off we're going talk. There are a few things we need to go over before we can get started.”\n“We don't have any fucking thing to say to you,” Aria snaps. She's still slightly crouched over and is eying the distance between us and the man and the staircase. I loosen my grip on her arms slightly in case she comes up with a better plan than my current nothing.\n“Not up to you,” the Younger Man mutters and his partner snaps his fingers at him. “Give 'em over here, Boy” he says, patting the top of the table he's sitting on.\nKeeping his gaze on us, the Younger Man tosses our bags behind him where they land on the floor next to the table. The Older Man flips his cane over and hooks their straps around the handle, lifting them up and putting our purses on his knee and my medical bag next to him. \n“Here's the thing,” the Older Man begins. “We haven't been introduced yet. My Son and I like to get to know who we're dealing with before we deal with them, isn't that right?”\nAgain the other man doesn't answer, instead he takes another step forward and leans his shoulder against the furtherest pillar and waits. \n\n\n\n[[Ask them who they are.|S2_P34]]\n[[Stay quiet and wait for the right moment.|S2_P35]]\n[[Tell them off.|S2_P36]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask them who they are.-> S2_P34\n2) Stay quiet and wait for the right moment. -> S2_P35\n3) Tell them off. -> S2_P36\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
[[cont|S2_P31]]
/% \tS2_P35\t %/\n\n I watch the man pick up my purse and shake it slightly, like he's testing out the weight. Aria shifts behind me and I hear the slight rustle from the chains on the pillar. I'm waiting for something to happen, for them to let their guard down or get distracted for just a moment so we can make our move.\nThe Older Man takes a long drag at his cigarette and looks us both over before his eyes settle on Aria.\n“You two are really quiet,” he says after a moment. “I don't like the quiet. I like talking. We came here to talk and you two are just being rude.”\nThe Younger Man raises glares at us and shifts his grip slightly on the rifle. His glances over his shoulder. “Dad?” His unspoken questions hangs in the air.\n“Ah, nevermind them, Son,” he shrugs. “I think I know what the problem is.” He unzips my purse and shakes it again as he examines the contents.\n“The four us, we got off on the wrong foot.” He pulls out my wallet and sets it next to him. “All that... %mess back there, by the parking lot,” he waves his hand through the air dismissively, “it was fun and all, but it wasn't what we had in mind.” \nHe picks up Aria's purse and pulls out her pocketbook. He thumbs out one of the cards and places it on his leg before repeating he motions with mine. I see the bright blue banner of our University's student ID label. \n“So let's see whom we've got here,” he says, tossing both our purses onto the ground in front of him.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P37]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P37\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P34\t %/\n\n“Who are you?” I ask, stepping forward in front of Aria. “You attacked us, dragged us here, the least you can do is tell us who you are.”\nThe Younger Man raises his eyebrows and shifts his grip slightly on the rifle. His glances over his shoulder. “Dad?\nThe Older Man takes a quick drag at his cigarette and looks us both over before his eyes settle on Aria. She shifts behind me and I hear the slight rustle from the chains on the pillar.\n“Why you asking? Planning on turning us in if you get away?” A faint grin lifts at the edges of his beard.\n“We've seen your faces now,” Aria mutters, stepping next to me. “That's a lot better than knowing your names.” I wince slightly and shake my head at her, silently willing her not to say anything that could make this worse.\nThe Younger Man seems about to speak up but his partner just laughs and slaps his thigh, “Don't mind it, Son. Don't mind it at all. She's only being a little... resentful. That's all.”\nHe picks up my purse and unzips it, shaking it slightly as he examines the contents. “But I think I know what the problem is,” he says with a shrug. “The four us, we got off on the wrong foot.” He pulls out my wallet and sets it next to him. “All that... mess back there, by the parking lot,” he waves his hand through the air dismissively, “it was fun and all, but it wasn't what we had in mind.” \nHe picks up Aria's purse and pulls out her pocketbook. He thumbs out one of the cards and places it on his leg before repeating he motions with mine. I see the bright blue banner of our University's student ID label. \n“So let's see whom we've got here,” he says, tossing both our purses onto the ground in front of him.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P37]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P37\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P37\t %/\n\nThe Older Man stares at our ID cards for a long moment taking one last drag from his cigarette before blowing the smoke up towards the light above us. \n“Son?” he says finally, voice lifted slightly from it's usual gravelly smokers tone. “You gotta see this.” His hat's blocking his face again and I can't see his eyes.\nThe Younger Man pushes away from the pillar he was leaning on with a grunt and walks over to the table, never quite turning his back on us. \n With the way the table's been dragged and the how he's standing there's no way we could get by them up the stairs. We have to wait until either they move or we get a better chance. \nI shake my head at Aria. No, not yet.\n“Katarzena and Arianka Nezavdal,” the Younger Man says our full names, breaking the silence. He looks back at us with a smirk. “So you're sisters, huh?” \nAria squeezes my hand that I hadn't even noticed she'd grabbed. That had to be the single creepiest tone that anyone's ever asked us that question.\nThe Older Man takes the cards back from him, eyes glittering with no small amount of amusement. He holds them up in front of his face, squinting as he ostentatiously goes back and forth between us and our IDs. “Kat-are-zhen-ya” his voice rounds over each syllable in my name. “Am I saying right?” He asks with a grin before setting my card on the table and turning his attentions to Aria. “October 9, 1989.” Her birthday. “Younger sis by two years. I guess that makes you the special one, huh?”\nI turn to Aria again but she refuses to meet my eyes. I wonder what she's thinking?\n“No answer?” the man asks, nodding to himself and tucking her ID into his pocket. \n“Son, you done good,” he says after another moment. “Looks like you've brought in quite the find.” He shifts his weight onto one arm and twiddles my card around the table top, spinning it in patterns following along the grain. \n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P38]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P38\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P36\t %/\n\n“You know what? Go to hell. Both of you.” I snap, stepping forward in front of Aria. If they're going to try to do something to us I'd rather they get started so we can fight back instead of this piece of shit “friendly” routine.\nThe Younger Man raises his eyebrows at my outburst and shifts his grip slightly on the rifle. His glances over his shoulder. “Dad?” he asks, apparently waiting for instructions. \nThe Older Man takes a long drag at his cigarette and looks us both over before his eyes settle on Aria. She shifts behind me and I hear the slight rustle from the chains on the pillar.\n“Well that's not very nice,” he comments with a shrug. “I think I know what the problem is, though.” He unzips open my purse and digs around before pulling out my wallet. “The four us, we got off on the wrong foot. All that... %mess back there, by the parking lot,” he set my wallet next to him and waves his hand through the air dismissively, “it was fun and all, but it wasn't what we had in mind.”\nHe picks up Aria's purse and pulls out her pocketbook. He thumbs out one of the cards and places it on his leg before repeating he motions with mine. I see the bright blue banner of our University's student ID label. \n“So let's see whom we've got here,” he says, tossing both our purses onto the ground in front of him.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P37]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P37\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P39\t %/\n\n“I've had enough,” Aria whispers to me under her breath. “We've got to get out of here.”\nYes, that's definitely the plan, but I don't have any ideas about how exactly-\n“Sweetie?” The Younger Man addresses me. “You see that chain and loop right over there?” He gestures at the manacles hanging on the pillar with the end of his rifle. “Go ahead and pick one up and put it on little sis's wrist.” His voice sounds almost bored, like he's already completely over this. \nI peek back at Aria and her cheeks are damp but she's got that look in her eyes that she gets when she's planning something. Okay? I make a micro-nod at her, trying to tell her without words that I'll follow her lead.\n“Go on with it,” he prompts me. “Here are the keys,” he reaches into his vest pocket and pulls out a keyring which he tosses at the floor by our feet. “Open 'em and slip them on.” He accents the last three words with a “hurry up” gesture with his gun.\n“You know what?” Aria snaps, “why don't you both go fuck yourselves? We don't have to put up with this!” She stomps forward, pushing me behind her. When I try to grab her and drag her back I feel her nudging me to the left, towards the stairs. She wants me to try and run while she makes a distraction?\n“That's not exactly your call to make,” the Younger Man tells her, stepping forward only to have Aria slap him straight across his face. He looks as surprised as I am by her outburst but I take her cue.\nI know that I need to even the playing field. While the Younger Man's distracted, I have a chance to take out the Older Man and then it's two against one.\n\n\n\n<<if $hasGun eq "true">>\n[[Use the gun on them.|S2_P40]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Grab the Older Man's cane.|S2_P41]]\n[[Grab your medical bag.|S2_P42]]\n\n/% \tIF KAT HAS THE GUN:\nContinue.\n\nELSE IF KAT DOESNT AHVE THE GUN:\nChoice\n1) Grab the Older Man's cane.\n2) Grab your medical bag.\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P38\t %/\n\nThe Younger Man clears his throat and walks back towards us, resuming his perch the further column. “Who's bag is that?” he asks, gesturing with his head to the brown leather medical bag on the table.\nAgain with that? Surely they know what it is, why did they bother bringing it with them? If they were going after the pills I'm not allowed to keep anything that's-\n“Answer,” he growls irritably at our continuing silence. Unlike his friend, he seems to have very little patience for us not being cooperative. He taps his foot against the ground and the Older Man lights up another cigarette behind him.\n“Mine.” I say after a moment. I can feel Aria staring at me intently. Did she expect me to lie? \n“So you really are a doctor?” the Younger Man asks. “I'd figured that some bullshit little sis was babbling about earlier.”\n“No, I'm not.” I don't want them to think I'm important in some way. “I'm... I'm just a student. We're both just students.”\n“Two student sisters, huh?” the Older Man comments, standing up from the table and leaning on his cane slightly. “So what about you, Goldilocks?” he asks Aria. “What's little sister want to be when she grows up?” I push back against Aria, shoving her further behind me.\n“Psychology,” she eventually replies, cutting her answer down to a single word. I'm surprised she said anything at all.\n“Psychology? Wow.” The Older Man nods, giving her three claps of applause against his leg. “So you like to get in people's heads, is that it? I guess we've got that in common, huh?” It's not really a question. “And Big Sis likes to get in people's bodies. Well you two have sure got it figured out.”\nI hate this. I hate this so much. I look around the room, trying to find %anything we could use as a weapon. There's really nothing. I guess that's why they locked us in here, so we'd have nothing to defend ourselves with.\n“Son, give me that phone of yours,” the Older Man says, stretching his palm out. The Younger Man pulls a phone out of his coat pocket and passes it back to him. \n“What the hell are you doing?” I cry, torn somewhere between panic and disgust. The Older Man turns it on and points it at us, holding his cigarette in his mouth as he navigates the menus. \n“Trying to figure out how this damn thing works,” he mutters as he takes one last inhale and spits the stub out onto the floor. “Don't laugh girls, but Grandpa here's trying to figure out a smartphone.”\nI stare at him in confusion. What the hell is-\n“Look at the camera, sweeties.”\nThe sudden flash makes us both jump. \n“The fuck?!” Aria yelps. I can't tell if she's scared or angry or both. \nHe chuckles as he stares at the picture. “That was a good one.” He smiles, handing the phone back to the Younger Man who nods with a passively before sticking it back is his coat. \n“One for the records?” he asks.\n“For sure, for sure,” the Older Man agrees, looking us over once again. “Bet you two didn't know we scrap-booked, did you? Don't we look like the type?”\nI ignore him as much as I'm able to and glance back at Aria. Her head's turned to the side away from me but I can see her cheeks are wet.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P39]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P39\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P13\t %/\n\nWe cross the room to the other corner. A plain open back pine staircase climbs up the wall to a hatch in the ceiling above us. There's a metal post of what was probably a handle sticking out from the hatch, but most of its been broken off. However, with a little muscle and effort combined we could probably push it open.\nAria steps up onto the first step of the ladder and the thin pine board creaks noisily, sounding absolutely booming against the still of the darkness. She freezes and stares up at the hatch.\n“Kat?” her voice is very small.\n“Hmm?” \n“There's blood.”\nMy breath freezes mid-inhale. She has the lighter and I can't see much from behind her. \n“Where?” I say finally, barely above the faintest whisper.\n“Um...” her voice falters, “next to the handle. There's a... hand print.”\nOh Jesus fuck... I stand on my toes and look. There's a bloody smear on the hatch. It doesn't look fresh but it also doesn't seem terribly old either.\nI gently tug on her shoulders and she steps back down, the board creaking again loudly.\n“Let's... let's try to find something down here first,” I tell her, not needing to say anymore. \nThat horrible feeling's coming back into my stomach and I think I know what its telling me but hell if I know what to do about it...\n\n\n\n[[Investigate the arm chair in the corner to the left.|S2_P4]]\n[[Investigate the unknown dark right side of the room.|S2_P11]]\n[[Investigate the wooden chair behind you.|S2_P12]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Investigate the arm chair in the corner to the left. ->S2_P4\n2) Investigate the unknown dark right side of the room. ->S2_P11\n3) Investigate the wooden chair behind you. ->S2_P12\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P21\t %/\n\n“Come back to me here,” I tell Aria, tapping on the ground so she knows where I am. “Let's see what else's in here first and after that we can go back and check things.”\nI hear her shuffle towards me and I reach out and find her shoulder. We carefully stand up, testing the height of the ceiling and the air around us as we go. We start to slowly move forward, deeper into the room. I go first and she holds my hand just like we used to do when we were children and we didn't want to get separated. I tap with my feet and swat through the darkness like I'm clearing invisible cobwebs. After a few steps my knee bumps something with a hollow “thunk”. I kick it a few times but it doesn't move. \n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P22]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S2_P22\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P14\t %/\n \nThe ceiling in here is pretty low, around 7 or 8 feet high. Aria holds up the lighter above her head, illuminating a small circle above us. The pipe runs from our end of the room and into the darkness to the right. It's quite large, a lot thicker than a normal water supply line would be. \nRunning next to it is a yellow rubber electrical line that's tacked into the concrete. We follow it for a few steps and it flows into a single florescent light mounted to the ceiling. Standing on tip-toe, I run my fingers around the dusty edge searching for a button to turn it on. Nothing.\n“Maybe if we follow it?” Aria offers. It runs toward the railing to the left and out of sight to the right. \n\n\n\n[[Investigate the arm chair in the corner to the left.|S2_P4]]\n[[See what's off in the darkness to the right.|S2_P11]]\n[[Investigate the wooden chair behind you.|S2_P12]]\n[[Go forward to the railing going up.|S2-P13]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Investigate the arm chair in the corner to the left. -> S2_P4\n2) See what's off in the darkness to the right. -> S2_P11\n3) Investigate the wooden chair behind you. -> S2_P12\n4) Go forward to the railing going up.\t-> S2-P13\n %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
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/% \tS4_P7\t %/\n\n\nI have to assume that when Aria and I were grabbed in the parking lot they took us a long ways away from any other houses. There are no power lines, the radio's shit, and earlier when I was by the cliff I didn't see any other lights. Once I get Aria back I need to figure out how to get us out of here. Walking out probably isn't an option. I'm sure Aria's... fine. But I don't know how more many miles I can go in conditions like this. Unless I can miraculously get the keys and take this truck our next best bet is to get this phone and run off and hide somewhere and call for help. I wouldn't' have thought there would be reception out here but he got that call earlier so...\nI need to decide if I should try to steal the phone now or wait for a better opportunity later. If there's a better opportunity later. If I wait I'm taking the risk of this being my only shot at it, but if I go for it now I need to try and distract him first so I can slip it into my pocket without him noticing.\n\n\n\n[[Leave the phone for later.|S4_P8]]\n[[Distract him: pretend to try and escape the truck.|S4_P9]]\n[[Distract him: try to talk to him.|S4_P10]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Leave the phone for later. ->S4_P8\n2) Distract him: pretend to try and escape the truck. -> S4_P9\n3) Distract him: try to talk to him. ->S4_P10\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P5\t %/\n\nWell, there's an unfortunate lack of sharp points objects in my limited arms reach. Even if I were to grab the rifle off his lap I'd never be able to flip it around and fire it before he could stop me. My only other options are the cigarette lighter and his cellphone which he's stuck in one of the cup holders and is charging off the tape deck. I didn't even know you could do that.\n\n\n\n[[Cigarette lighter.|S4_P6]]\n[[Cellphone.|S4-P7]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Cigarette lighter. ->S4_P6\n2) Cellphone. -> S4_P7\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P4\t %/\n\n\nAs is often the case with head wounds it takes a while for all my senses to come back and check in with my brain. The next thing I notice is that he's got the radio on and it's trying to play some sort of old-school country song but it keeps getting interrupted by bursts of static. Wherever we are must be a long way from the transmitter. \nAnd what is that, Rainy Day Woman? Goddamnit, now I'll never be able to listen to the Waylon Jennings again. Asshole.\nOkay, between the cold and the music and the slippery road he's not paying me any attention so I'm going to take the chance and look around. The tape around me is loose enough that I have some movements in my arms and even though my wrists are tied up I can still use my fingers to grab things. So let's see if there's anything I can use to shank him with. Yeah, if there ever was a time when a good shanking was in order it's now.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P5]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P5\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P15\t %/\n\n\n“How did this happen?” I ask, bending down to pick up my medical bag. Inside it they are several scalpels and needles and other tools that I might be able to improvise into weapons if I get the chance. First though I have to find out where Aria is and make sure that she's okay. There's also that whole “Hippocratic Oath” thing that I'm possibly in some way honor bound to help this man if he's dying, despite everything he's done or tried to do.\nWhen the Younger Man continues to silently brood I try a different strategy.\n“Listen, it would help me treat him if I knew what happened to him. If.. If there was some sort of accident, or...” Or what? I'm grasping at straws. All I know was that there was a pool of blood and a broken railing, but I'm still missing a piece of the puzzle. “Or if he fell and-”\n“She did this,” he interrupts me suddenly, shoving himself away from the table and walking closer. “Your fucking sister did this.” He stalks towards me and I immediately back up until I'm pressed flush with the wall. I hold up my bag as a pathetic line of defense as he stomps to in front of me, looming over me and filling the small space of the room up with his presence. “I came back here after I got that call,” he growls, a piece of his spittle hitting my face. “And do you know what I found when I got back? My dad lying on the front porch, covered in blood. I don't know what the hell happened, but now you're going to fix him.”\n\n\n\n[[And if I refuse?|S4_P16]]\n[[Aria...|S4_P17]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) And if I refuse? ->S4_P16\n2) Aria... -> S4_P17\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P14\t %/\n\n\nIt's not actually as pitch black in the house as it looked like from the outside but it's still very dark. The only brightness is coming from a single candle on a table and whatever light can slip past the gaps in the boards over the windows. All of the electric lights are off and I try to remember the layout of this floor from when I ran out of the basement.\n“Get up,” the Younger Man orders and he grabs me from under my armpits and hauls me fully to my feet. He rather violently rips the tape off from my wrists and I take the rest off myself as he presses the end of the rifle between my shoulder blades and directs me to walk forward deeper into the room.\nI tentatively step forward, afraid of what I might see beyond the open scaffolding connecting the kitchen and back room. He has us follow the bloody trail and at one point he pauses to grab a candle and bring it with him. The trail ends at a shape lying on an arrangement of cushions on the couch, covered by a blanket. For a second all I can do is stare. Then I see the black cowboy boots peaking out from the bottom of the makeshift bed.\n“What the hell happened?” I turn to face the Younger Man, in the very least he owes me some answers about why he's brought me back here. Now that my eyes have adjusting once again to the minimal lighting I can see that the room's been trashed. It wasn't exactly a Martha Stewart moment before, but now even more of the furniture's been turned over and scattered around the floor. \nInstead of answering he steps away and moves sideways to an end table in the corner, avoiding making eye contact with me. He opens the large bottom drawer and pulls out my medical bag. The last place I'd seen it was downstairs in the basement.\nHe tosses it by my feet and sits down on the edge of the table, watching me expectantly.\nI stare at I the bag dumbly before the realization dawns on me.\n“You... you want me to treat him?” I gesture over my shoulder at the the shape under the blanket behind me. \nIt's not really a question and he stares at me silently for such a long and tense moment that I'm surprised when he eventually answers. “Yeah,” he says, shifting his gaze first to the shape on the floor then to the back door of the cabin. “You fix him and you can go. Both of you.\n\n\n\n[[How did this happen?|S4-P15]]\n[[Both of us?|S4-P18]]\n\n/% \t1) How did this happen? -> S4-P15\n2) Both of us? -> S4_P18\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P13\t %/\n\n\nWhen the truck stops the Younger Man drags me out and has me walk in front of him at gunpoint. I again consider the possibility of trying to run off as soon as his back is turned but would that really do me any good? Even if I managed to get away I'd be right back to where I'd started a few hours ago: running through the woods. Except this time I'd be half tied up and even further away from finding Aria and getting her out of here.\nHe directs me up the steps to the front porch and I get a closer look at where the balcony had collapsed. Shards of glass are sprayed over the wooden planks and they must have come from one of the upper windows because all the ones on the lower floor are boarded up. A section of railing has also fallen down and collapsed through a hole in the porch canopy. Next to it is large pool of blood that's spreading accords the porch and dribbling off the ends. I stop walking when I see it. It can't be very old or it would have soaked in deeper into the floor boards. \nThen I see the twin lines of blood leading from the pool towards the front door and I turn to face the Younger Man.\n“Where's my sister?” I ask quietly.\nHe pauses as he unlocks the front door and stares at a gap in the boards over the glass. \n“She's fine,” he eventually says. He slips the keys back into his vest pocket and puts his hand on the door knob but doesn't open it yet. Instead he stares down at his feet where the bloody streaks are and steps back. The strangest expression is on his face and once again I wish Aria was here to read him.\n“Where is she?” I ask again, more insistently than last time. \nI can't tell if he's angry or regretful or what but his sudden 180 in temperament is profoundly alarming. “Why am I here?” I demand when he doesn't answer me for a second time. If my sister's dead why did he bring me back here? He has to know she's the only leverage he can use on me. So she has to still be alive, right?\n“Get inside,” he says finally, throwing the front door open. I take a single step forward and pause again. The blood trail disappears into darkness. Why are all the lights off?\nI look up at him with a frown and am about to protest when his patience apparently give out. He grabs me by my bound arms and throws me inside. I have no way of catching myself but I manage to twist in mid air and land on my butt instead of my face. I'm awkwardly trying to get to my knees when he steps inside behind me and shuts the door with the deadbolt.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P14]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P14\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P18\t %/\n\n\n“Both of us?” I repeat, bending down to pick up the bag. Inside it are scalpels and needles and other tools that I might be able to improvise into weapons if I get the chance. “You mean Aria's still here? Where is she?”\nThe Younger Man stares at the shape on the couch for a moment before answering. “I guess I left that part out before.” he says. “When I came back and found my dad your sister was there too. She wasn't looking too good so I locked her up out back. I would have shot her but I figured I'd need to keep her alive to keep you... cooperative.”\nReally? He's going for the “evil villain speech” now? I'm honestly surprised, he'd more seemed like the quiet type.\n“Is she okay?” I ask again. I'm not going to believe it until I see her for myself.\n“She was alive last I checked,” he pushes away from the door and comes back into the center of the room. “Okay might be a bit of a stretch. Now are you going to get to work,” he points at the medical bag I'm holding with his rifle, “or are we going to have a problem?”\nSomething about he way he says it makes me pause. This is the most talkative he's ever been.\n“When I'm done you're going to let me see her, right?” I ask , not believing it for a second.\n“That's what I said before,” he crosses his arms and waits.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P19]]\n\n/% \tcont. ->S4_P19\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
data:image/jpg;base64,
/% \tS1_P9\t %/\n\nNo. This is ridiculous. I shouldn't have to put up with this crap, we've done nothing wrong!\n“No. I... I don't think I'm interested in doing that.” \nOuch. What an awkward way to say that. Aria winces next to me and I push against her, backing us both away.\n“Ladies...” the man calls out, matching our steps backward. “Let's not make this difficult.” He twirls his rifle like a baton but his eyes don't share the same playful demeanor. \nI look back at Aria and she shakes her head and mouths “no” at me. She's right, this is ridiculous but I'm worried that I'm only going to make it worse for us. I tug on her sleeve and whisper “c'mon.” Hurry up and we can leave.\n“Oh Jesus Christ,” the man mutters to himself at our hesitancy. For a second I think he's going to let us go. Then, quick as lightning, he lunges out and grabs Aria's forearm, wrenching her away from me. I scream and jump at him, but he violently jams the butt of his rifle into my gut. I collapse on the ground, wheezing and holding my side. \nHoly shit that hurts! For just a moment I can't even move, it hurts so much.\nAria shrieks as he rips her coat off her and shoves her away from him, sending her face first into the snow. She scrambles back to me and pulls on my shoulders, helping me stand up. “Kat?”\n“Fine. I'm fine.” I hiss breathlessly. At least I don't think anything's broken.\nThe man tosses her coat down onto the ground in front of him. It falls in a messy pile and the bright red color against the snow is disturbingly reminiscent of the blood splatter behind us. \n“Well that was unnecessary,” he mutters, wiping at a split on his lip where she must have hit him. “Aria, sweetie,” he calls out, “tell your friend to hand over her coat. Now.” \nHe doesn't have to say anything else. I want to get us out of here as quickly as I can. If he wants my coat whatever, just take the damn thing.\nI hurriedly unzip it, my ribs are still aching too much to do it myself. Aria wads it up and tosses it at him, her anger returning now that she sees I'm okay. He grabs it from the air and starts patting it down.\n“We're going to fucking freeze out here!” Aria shouts as we scramble away from him. “Was that you plan this whole time?!”\nHe pauses and glances up at us from under the brim of his cap. “Come again?” he asks, his light hearted tone returning.\n“We don't know where our car is you asshole! You're going to make us stay out here all night without our coats!” \nI grab her arms and try to pull her back. I don't care about any of that right now; I just want to leave.\n“Your car?” he raises his eyebrows. “It's up over there.” He gestures with the rifle at the hill to our left but all I see is more trees. “Go up there a short ways and you'll find the main path. You're only about a half mile from where you parked.” He starts going through my coat pockets, ignoring us completely.\nSeriously? We were almost there? If we hadn't followed these fucking prints we'd be driving out of here right now?!\n\n\n\n<<set $haveCoats = "false">>\n\n\n\n<<if $haveGlove eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P10]]\n<<else if $haveGlove eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P11]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P11]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tcONT -> S1_P10 OR S1_P11\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P2\t %/\n\n\n“We, um... we saw some blood and thought that...” my voice fades when I can't think of a good way to end that sentence. \nThe man's smile fades slightly from a broad grin into a smirk. He glances at the pool of blood behind him then back to us. “So you saw all that, huh?” he says after a long moment and Aria squirms behind me. “So I guess that means you also saw that, right?” He gestures down the trail with the index finger of his free hand. \n\n\n\n[[Ask him what happened.|S1_P5]]\n[[Ask him if he's a hunter.|S1_P6]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask him what happened. -> S1_P5\n2) Ask him if he's a hunter. ->S1_P6\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P3\t %/\n\n\n“Um...” I pause to steady my voice. “We're, uh... we're lost.” Ouch. That came out really awkwardly. I hear Aria make some weird embarrassed noise behind me.\nThe man stares at us for a long moment. “Lost?” he finally repeats. \n“Um, yeah... We went for a walk and we got off the path and... now we're lost.” I shrug, trying to act casual.\nAnother long pause as the man regards us. “I bet you are,” he says finally. \nI glance back at Aria and we exchange a “what the hell does that mean?” expression.\n“Um...” I don't know what else to say. He doesn't seem like a very helpful type.\n“Do you know how to get back to the highway?” Aria interrupts, peaking out from behind me. She tries to step forward but I shove her back behind me. I really didn't want him to get a good look at her.\nThe man smiles and wiggles his fingers in a childlike “hello”.\n“Y'know, I saw you two back there, following me earlier,” he ignores her question as he shifts to a more comfortable stance. “I would have gone and said “hi” to you, but as you can see I was busy,” he double-clicks his tongue in the direction of the shape down the path. \nShit. I want to leave. Now. \nThe man's smile fades a little from a broad grin into a smirk. He glances at the pool of blood behind him then back to us. “So I take it you saw that mess back there, huh?” Aria squirms behind me and I take us a step backwards. “So I guess that means,” he gestures down the trail with the index finger of his free hand, “that means you also saw that, right?”. \nHe cocks his head to the side and waits.\n\n\n\n[[Ask him what happened.|S1_P5]]\n[[Ask him if he's a hunter.|S1_P6]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask him what happened. -> S1_P5\n2) Ask him if he's a hunter. ->S1_P6\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS0_P0\t %/\n<center>\nSection 1: The Older Man and the Younger Man\n\n[[Start.|S1_P1]]\n</center>\n\n/% \t\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n\n\n/% \tS1_P1\t %/\n
/% \tS1_P1\t %/\n\n\nThe man in the hunting suit steps in front of us, blocking the path back up the hill. He smiles broadly as he pulls off his orange tinted sunglasses, the kind that skiers wear, and tucks them in the front pocket of his vest. He shifts the rifle onto his right shoulder, barrel pointed at the sky but with his fingers still cradling the trigger. I shove Aria further behind me and I feel her fingers worrying at the back of my coat.\n“Kat?” she whispers in my ear. Should we try to run? Is that overreacting? He has a gun but...\n“Something wrong, ladies?” he asks, breaking the silence. His voice is very warm but for some reason that sets my teeth on edge.\n\n\n\n[[Ask him about the blood. |S1_P2]]\n[[Tell him you're lost.|S1_P3]]\n[[Ask him what he's doing out here.|S1_P4]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask him about the blood. ->S1_P2\n2) Tell him you're lost. -> S1_P3\n3) Ask him what he's doing out here.\t -> S1_P4\n%/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P6\t %/\n\n“Oh, um...” I struggle to find the right words to say. “Yeah, I guess you're out here hunting deer, right? I didn't think it was in season.” God, the words sound even stupider coming out than in my head. I hear Aria make some weird embarrassed noise behind me.\nThe man pauses, staring at me with a raised eyebrow. “Shit,” he snorts, breaking out again into a wide grin. “No, it's not hunting season. Not for deer, at least.” He cocks his head to the side to wink at Aria hiding behind me.\nRight, okay... I think I've heard enough. Time to go. \n“Yeah, okay. Um... we'll be on our way.” I push back against Aria, shoving her behind me as I try to make us walk backwards up the hill. \n“Wait, we can't just go!” Aria says quickly, stepping away and in front me. “My si- my friend's a doctor, maybe she can help?” I shoot her an expression that she ignores completely. At least she didn't say we were sisters, the less this creep knows about us the better.\nThe man in question's eyebrows raise as he looks me up and down appraisingly. \n“A doctor?” he asks, voice laced with skepticism. “Really? Aren't you a little young?” \nI shake my head. “Well, no. I'm-”\n“She's in medical school, maybe she can-” Aria starts to move down the path and I snap out and grab her, pulling her back. Jesus Aria, shut the fuck up would you? The man sticks his hand in his pocket and watches us calmly. I notice that he didn't have a glove on that hand, only on the one holding the rifle.\n “Aria,” I say quietly, keeping a firm grasp on her arm as she tries to squirm away. “The man says he doesn't need our help,” I smile nervously at him. “We should get going.”\n“You should listen to your friend, sweetie,” the man says, now watching us with open amusement. We must look like two deer in the headlights...\nAria peeks up at me, uncertainty all over her face. I mouth “get moving!” at her and start to drag her back up the trail. I don't know where we're going but we only get a few paces before the man whistles loudly at us.\n“Ladies, there's one more thing before you can go.”\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P7]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P7\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P7\t %/\n\nWe slowly turn around to face him. “What are you talking about?” I ask, getting a sinking feeling in my stomach.\nHe walks towards us and I try to shove Aria back behind me again but she stubbornly stays rooted to the spot. \n“Well,” he begins, his voice suddenly much more serious than before. “I've got some business back here I need to take care of. I can't have you two running off and calling the police until I'm ready for them, can I?” \nShit, this “conversation” sure has gone downhill quickly. \nThe man stops walking right in front of us and for the first time I can see him clearly. He's older than us by a few years. Late 20s or early 30s I'd guess. Tall and with a 5 o'clock shadow and dark hair hidden under his cap but I can't tell if it's brown or black in the dim evening light.\n“So what do you want?” Aria demands, trying to sound brave but I know her better.\n“You can both give me your coats.” He says flatly, beckoning us forward with a quick flick of his wrist.\nAria and I exchange another look. Did we hear him right? “What? Why should we-”\n“No! I'm not going to give you my coat! You can't be serious!” Aria clutches her jacket tighter around herself.\n“Ladies... Don't be stupid,” he warns, his remaining smiles fading. “Just give me your coats and you can leave. No problems if you don't make them for yourselves.”\nAria stares at me incredulously and shakes her head. \n“Why the fuck do you want our coats?!” she snaps.\nThe man sighs deeply and un-shoudlers his gun. He keeps it pointing at the ground but the unspoken threat is clear.\n“Already told you: I can't have you calling anyone on me. So I'm gonna keep your coats and phones. You can toss them right here,” he gestures at the ground by his feet with the gun barrel, “and then you both can go back to your car and drive off. By the time you get back to town we'll be long gone.”\nWe? Oh... he must mean him and the... shape down the hill. This is so fucked up.\n\n\n\n[[Give him your coat.|SI_P8]]\n[[Refuse.|S1_P9]]\n[[Convince him you left your phones in your car.|S1_P12]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) give him your coat. -> SI_P8\n2) Refuse to give him your coat. -> S1_P9\n3) Convince him you left your phones in your car.\t ->S1_P12\n%/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P4\t %/\n\n\n“We're, um... We're lost.” I try to sound casual. “We didn't think there was anyone else out here but we saw some footprints and...” My voice fades as I try to think of what to say. \n“And?” the man asks expectantly when I fall silent. “And now... here I am.” He shrugs, grin never fading.\n“So, uh, are you... out here looking for something?” I'm still trying to keep it conversational and convince myself this isn't actually what it appears to be.\nA long pause as the man regards us. “Nope,” he says flatly, letting the monosyllable hang in the air.\n“Um...” I don't know what else to say. This isn't going very well...\n“Do you know how to get back to the highway?” Aria interrupts, peaking out from behind me. She tries to step forward but I shove her back behind me. I really didn't want him to get a good look at her.\nThe man smiles and wiggles his fingers in a childlike “hello”.\n“Y'know, I saw you two back there, following me earlier,” he ignores her question as he shifts to a more comfortable stance. “I would have gone and said “hi” to you, but as you can see I was busy,” he double-clicks his tongue in the direction of the shape down the path. \nShit. I want to leave. Now. \nThe man's smile fades slightly from a broad grin into a smirk. He glances at the pool of blood behind him then back to us. “So I take it you saw that mess back there, huh?” Aria squirms behind me and I take us a step backwards. “So I guess that means,” he gestures down the trail with the index finger of his free hand, “that means you also saw that, right?”. \nHe cocks his head to the side and waits.\n\n\n\n[[Ask him what happened.|S1_P5]]\n[[Ask him if he's a hunter.|S1_P6]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask him what happened. -> S1_P5\n2) Ask him if he's a hunter. ->S1_P6\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P5\t %/\n\n\n“Wait... What's going on? Is someone hurt?” The answer's pretty obviously “yes”, but maybe playing dumb will help. \nThe man pauses to regard me before he answers. “Sure, someone's hurt, but don't you worry about that. I'll take care of it.” He cocks his head to the side to wink at Aria hiding behind me.\nOkay... I think I've heard enough. Time to go. \n“Yeah, okay. Um... we'll be on our way.” I say quickly as I push back against Aria, shoving her behind me as I try to make us walk backwards up the hill. \n“Wait, we can't just go!” Aria says quickly, stepping away and in front me. “My si- my friend's a doctor, maybe she can help?” I shoot her an expression that she ignores completely. At least she didn't say we were sisters, the less this creep knows about us the better.\nThe man in question's eyebrows raise as he looks me up and down appraisingly. \n“A doctor?” he asks, voice laced with skepticism. “Really? Aren't you a little young?” \nI shake my head. “Well, no. I'm-”\n“She's in medical school, maybe she can-” Aria starts to move down the path and I snap out and grab her, pulling her back. Jesus Aria, shut the fuck up would you? The man sticks his hand in his pocket and watches us calmly. I notice that he didn't have a glove on that hand, only on the one holding the rifle.\n “Aria,” I say quietly, keeping a firm grasp on her arm as she tries to squirm away. “The man says he doesn't need our help,” I smile nervously at him. “We should get going.”\n“You should listen to your friend, sweetie,” the man says, now watching us with open amusement. We must look like two deer in the headlights...\nAria peeks up at me, uncertainty all over her face. I mouth “get moving!” at her and start to drag her back up the trail. I don't know where we're going but we only get a few paces before the man whistles loudly at us.\n“Ladies, there's one more thing before you can go.”\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P7]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P7\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P40\t %/\n\n\nNo time to loose! I grab Aria's hand and we bolt away from the two men, running as fast as we can up the hill to the main highway. My lungs are on fire from the sudden exertion in the cold air but I've got enough adrenaline coursing through me that I barely even notice.\nA gunshot suddenly rings out and Aria screams and falls, dragging me down with her. \nI scream, thinking for a moment she must have been shot, but she instantly is back up and running ahead of me. I lunge back to my feet only to slip on the same icy puddle that she must have and it's a seconds delay too long. My head snaps backwards violently as the younger man catches up and pulls my hair, practically yanking it out of my scalp. He throws himself at me and we both topple to the ground.\n“KAT!” Aria screams and she starts running back to me, her terrified expression illuminated by the approaching headlights. I want to tell her to run, keep going, but he's got me in a headlock and is steadily choking me out. I try to claw at his face, I know that if I can dig my fingers into his eyeballs he'll go into shock but instead it makes him squeeze even harder.\nSpots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the shadow of the older man descends upon her, the silver handle of his cane flashing in the lights through the trees as the car passes by. I try to scream. If the car hears me they'll see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance, or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P27\t %/\n\nI grab the chain and pull it sharply. \nThere is a small bit of slack but whatever it's attached to is secured to the ground. I follow it, digging it out of the foot of deep snow with my free hand, and it ends in some sort of wide metal disk. What the hell? I feel like I'm having a Lost moment here.\nI push on the disk but it's very very heavy and there's a spring mechanism on one side. Okay... I think I know what this is but I'd better make sure. If there are more of these out here I'm in trouble.\nGrabbing a nearby branch, I start probing through the ground in circles, trying to find the middle of the thing. Suddenly it violently snaps shut, cutting my branch clean in half. I recoil and yelp before I can catch myself. Holding my hand tightly over my mouth I look down at it.\nYep. That's a bear trap. I was afraid of that. Maybe it's the only one or maybe there are more, but this is sure going to make going around this way a whole lot slower.\nSuddenly I feel the cold pressure of the rifle barrel against the back of my skull and I squeeze my eyes shut, waiting.\nAfter a second of nothing I sigh deeply and let my hands fall limply to my sides. “What...the fuck... do you want?” I growl through clenched teeth, my eyes still closed. I don't need to see him. I don't want to. Just fucking kill me or leave me the fuck alone.\n“I'd love to shoot you,” he says quietly, as if reading my thoughts. “But we've got a problem and I need your help.”\nI snort. Is he for real?\n“Listen, you asshole,” I start to say, taking a step forward and turning around to face him. Before I can continue though the butt of his rifle hits me square across my temple. The last thought I have is “at least it's on a different side than last time”.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P26\t %/\n\nEven if it takes me longer to go this way it's worth it so I don't have to take the risk of being caught out on the middle of the lake. For all I know if the Younger Man would have seen me out there he probably would have shot the ice out from under me or something like that. Before he'd seemed reluctant to kill me directly but perhaps his Dad had given him the all clear or whatever that call he'd gotten was about. \nThe lake begins to narrow the further along it I go. Hopefully soon I'll find the stream that feeds into it and I can cross to the other side and start working my way over to that road on the far hill. I neither see nor hear any sign of the Younger Man behind me but I doubt it can be this easy to avoid him. The avalanche covered a wide area and it could take his quite a while to work his way through it all. And here by the lake the grass is dead but still springy and I'm barely leaving any prints at all.\nI reach a rotten poplar tree that had partially fallen into the lake and as I weave through it's tangle of branches I look back behind me. The moon is fully out and now that the clouds have moved on it's almost bright enough to read. I actually wish it was darker, which is an odd thought given that I'd spent the last few hours hating the darkness, but if it was cloudy he'd have to use his flashlight and I'd at least know where he is.\nPast the tree is a wider flat area where some underground spring must feed into the lake. The drifts are very deep here and I step down into it carefully, expecting a wet bog underneath. Fortunately the ground is frozen solid but the snow comes almost to my waist. \nNo, I can't go this way.\nI push back up onto the ledge I came from and start heading inland, away from the lake. There's a trail here but with no prints so I can't tell if it's from people or animals. \nA short ways forward and my foot gets caught in something hidden under the icy top layer. I kick it with my toe and it sort of jangles. I check behind me again, just to reassure myself that there's still nothing there. Okay. I bend down and dig out the snow a little until my fingers feel something metallic. There's a chain buried here...\nI flash back briefly to the the basement before shoving the thought from my mind. Can't be thinking about that now.\n\n<<set $wentLake = "false">>\n\n[[Pull up the chain.|S3_P27]]\n[[Keep moving.|S3_P28]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE \n1) Pull up the chain. ->s3_p27\n2) Keep moving. -> s3_p28\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P19\t %/\n\n“Did you check the other corner?” I ask, turning back to the left and using the pipe as a guide. \nShe hesitates a moment before following me. “No, I went to the armchair and came back here. I assumed it was empty.”\n“Let's go find out what's over there.” I try to keep my voice conversational, but in truth I'm more than a little scared to investigate the unknown. As irrational as it may seem, this corner we've been in since waking up has been verified as “safe” and I'm not sure I want to know what else's out here.\nThe water pipe leads straight into a small hole in the left wall and continues on to whatever's past it on the other side. The electrical cable follows it but right near the end it bends to what's now our right, opposite of where the armchair Aria found is. I follow it first, swatting through the air like I'm clearing invisible cobwebs, and Aria follows close behind with her hand on my shoulder.\nA few more steps and my foot hits something solid. I kick it a few times but it doesn't move. Aria comes around to my side.\n“It's wooden,” she tells me. Thunk thunk. “Um... I think it's a staircase.” She shifts further away from me and it gives a loud creak as she puts her weight on it. The noise sounds absolutely booming against the intense silence.\n“Should we go up?” she whispers and I step forward, feeling the handrail rise up at a steep angle. \nI take a moment to think it over. Okay, we don't know what's up there. It could be an ambush or it could be another pitch black room. I'd feel a lot better if we had something, anything, to arm ourselves with. Just in case. So maybe we should finish checking down here first. On the other hand we might be wasting valuable time. There could just be more of nothing down here and-\nA sound suddenly comes from up above us. A distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\nI grab Aria's arm and pull her back down off the step. It creaks again loudly. “Should we hide?” I whisper.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n\n\n\n<<if $beenToChair eq "true">>\n[[Hide in the corner with the armchair.|S2_P27]]\n<<else if $beenToChair eq "false">>\n[[Hide in the corner with the armchair. |S2_P28]]\n<<else>>\n[[Hide in the corner with the armchair.|S2_P28]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Quickly move to the right, deeper into the room.|S2_P30]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Hide in the corner with the armchair. ->S2_P27 OR S2_P28\n2) Quickly move to the right, deeper into the room. -> S2_P30\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P18\t %/\n\nI trace my fingers along the ceiling above my head, searching for changes in texture or any clue as to where we are. The subtle hum noise is louder from up here. It sounds like an engine or some sort of motor, but it's running steadily and consistently.\nI move forward carefully, kicking ahead of me in case there's anything I could trip over. I hear Aria off to the left, rustling through the clothing she's found.\nA few more steps and my fingers run into a round double bump. Some sort of cable is attached to the roof and is running from the left to the right of the room.\n“Aria? I think I found some wiring,” I say. It feels like the basic two conduit electrical wiring we helped install in our old garage when we were converting it into a room. Next to it is a large plastic pipe about 6 inches in diameter. Part way along it is a joint that's leaking and causing the dripping sound I heard earlier. I catch a droplet in my fingers and sniff it. \n“There's a water pipe also,” I tell her, tapping it with my knuckle. “It's a pretty big one, a lot larger than the one in our house.”\nI hear her stand up and walk toward my voice.\n“A water pipe?” she asks. “So we're in some sort of... treatment plant? A factory?”\nI blink into the darkness, trying to build a mental picture of the room. “I doubt it. I think we're in a basement because everything is made of concrete. And do you hear that?”\nA pause. “You mean that hum?”\n“Yeah. I think it's a generator. We should check and see if there's a light down here somewhere.”\nShe reaches out to me and I guide her fingers up to the pipe and cable. “Well, the armchair was in a corner and there wasn't anything else there. Should we follow the wiring down and see where it goes?”\n\n\n\n[[Go back to the left and investigate the other corner opposite the chair.|S2_P19]]\n[[Follow the lines to the right and see what else's in the room.|S2_P20]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Go back to the left and investigate the other corner opposite the chair. --> S2_P19\n2) Follow the lines to the right and see what else's in the room.\t ->S2_P20\n %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P23\t %/\n\nSnow twirls around me in a vortex, quickly enveloping me in an icy blanket and I feel like I'm in one of those cartoons where a character gets caught in a drier and just spins around and around. I force myself to go mostly limp and let gravity take me where it wants me to go. \n I hear a gunshot at one point but it's quickly drowned out by a massive rumbling sound. I feel the ground start to slip away under me as I and I realize his shooting must have triggered an avalanche that I'm now caught in. \nEverything around me turns to strobe: black sky, white snow, black sky, white snow, black, white, black, white. Soon it's more white than black as the mass of ice piles on top of me. It's getting harder to breathe so I try to swim through it, letting my bodies natural sense of direction tell me which way is up. \nA sudden impact hits my bruised ribs and I cry out, only to get a mouthful of snow and debris. I must have hit a tree and I try to grab out blindly and catch it but the weight bearing down on me is too much and it gets pulled out of my hands.\nAnother awful tumbling minute and I feel the avalanche wave start to slow and there's a sensation of less steepness. I guess I'm nearing the bottom of the hill? I try to force my eyes open that I hadn't realized were clenched shut but everything in darkness. I must be at least a foot under the surface and I start kicking out wildly. I'm not sure which way is up anymore but I know that as soon as the avalanche comes to a stop the snow is going to settle and I'll be trapped under it. This is my only chance to get out. \nMy elbow hits something solid and I feel bark and I grab onto it and cling. The momentum tries to pull me down with it again but it's lost its' strength and I manage to hold on this time, wrapping my arms around the trunk in a desperate bear hug.\nAnother moment and then the sound is gone and there's nothing but stillness. I briefly wonder if I'm still alive but then everything that's taken a hit starts to hurt too much for me to be dead. \nI wriggle and try to pull myself up against the tree trunk. It had partially blocked the avalanche and the snow on the downhill side is lighter. I can first feel a tiny bit of give above me, then a little more, and finally my fingers swish through the open air.\nI pull myself up out of the drift. Luckily I was only a little under the surface and I can't help but wonder if I must look like a white zombie rising from the grave. When I'm finally free I lie flat,sprawled out on my back in the snow and try to recover. I stare up at my breath fogging over the stars and I feel more exhausted than I ever had before in my life. \nTurns out falling down a mountainside really takes it out of you. Go figure.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P24]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P24\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P22\t %/\n\nI spin to the right and run along the edge, trying to find the easiest possible route down. Below me is a snowy valley spiraling out from the bottom of the cliff. No other houses or lights in sight.\n“STOP!” The Younger Man shouts at me and I glance over my shoulder as I keep running. He's charging out of the woods after me, gun drawn but not actively trying to shoot me. \nIt turns out going this way wasn't this wasn't a good idea after all. The cliff's descent is much sharper than it had first appeared to be and the snow is up over my knees and as thick and heavy as wet sand. \n“I said fucking stop!” he yells at me again, sounding both furious and out of breath. At least he's having as difficult a time moving in this sludge as I am. \nHowever, he's still much taller and stronger than I am and he quickly begins to close the distance between us. So I do the only thing I can: I take my chances and jump off the edge of the cliff, tucking my arms and legs into my chest like I'm doing a cannon ball into a pool. I hear him shout something again but I start to tumble rapidly a short ways down the hill before coming to an abrupt stop. \nI hadn't seen it from higher up (actually I hadn't really looked and instead just jumped blindly) but there is a little ledge in the cliff side that I've landed on. It doesn't go anywhere but there's a rocky overhang that I can crouch under. I squeeze into it just as the beam of the flashlight shines on the slope next to me.\n“You're a fucking idiot,” he calls out. “Where you gonna go now? Didn't think about that, did you?” Even if he can't see me he must know where I am because the snow below me is smooth and distinctly unbroken.\n“Do you have any idea how much of a pain in my ass you've been?” The beam of light flickers erratically as I imagine he shifts to holding the flashlight with his chin or knees. I hear the deliberate cock of his rifle and I guess he's trying to scare me out of my hiding spot with the sound.\nI stay quiet, pressing as deep into the shallow cave as I can. He's right: I'm in trapped here but he's about 12 feet above me and can't get to me easily either.\n“Godfuckingdamnit!” he curses after a moment of silence. I hear him shift and the light moves ands settles on a different spot of the cliff. He must have set it down on the ground for some reason and I wonder if he's not going to try to shoot at me through the rocks.\nThen I hear the strangest sound: electronic beeping. What the-\nIs he... He's... he's making a phone call? What the-\n“Dad, I got her,” he voice says from directly up above me. “Do you want me to kill her now or try to bring her back?” A pause. I shift slightly, trying to find if there's some angle where I can see him.\n“Dad? Dad, what's going on?” His voice elevates with the last two words. He almost sounds... concerned? “Dad?! I can't hear you! What are you-”\nHis voice ends abruptly. I guess the call got disconnected. I'm surprised there's reception out here at all. \n“Shit...” he mutters under his breath. Whatever's happened has distracted him from me for a second so I do the only option I have left: I jump forward, pushing myself away from the rock wall and tumbling down the cliff.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P23]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P21\t %/\n\nI cling to the edge where the woods meets the cliff, trying to gain a small amount of distance between us before I try to push back in through the deep underbrush. I risk a millisecond glance behind me and see him standing there on the cliff edge where I'd come out. He's watching me with his rifle drawn but not aiming at me. Instead, he takes something out of his pocket, stares at it for a moment, and then puts it back. Huh? After a moment he turns back and disappears into the shadows of the trees again.\nI keep pushing forward and I begin to think that I may have made the wrong choice picking to go this way. The cliff edge is becoming narrower and narrower and there's a nearly impassible wall of dormant thorns and shrubs preventing me from going back into the forest. If I tried to go through it now I'd get stuck like a moth on flypaper.\nA few more meters and the cliff makes a bend. I round it and abruptly come to an almost dead-end: Another cliff line intersects this one, rising maybe 20 feet above my head in a sheer wall. The brambles go right up to it and the only way forward is on a narrow and icy ledge. Down below me is darkness but like before the angle of the descent is slightly more mild, like a double diamond ski slope instead of an absolutely sheer fall.\nJust as I'm considering my limited options a light falls on me from up above.\n“Freeze.” The Younger Man's voice is both breathless and furious. \nHe's up on the ledge above me and he must have known he could catch me here at this corner. Holding my fingers in front of my eyes I look up at him, wondering why he doesn't shoot me now and be done with it. \n“Don't fucking move,” he orders and the light shifts slightly. I hear the click of his gun and guess that he must be having trouble holding both it and the flashlight at the same time.\nRight at this moment I'm oddly not as scared as I was earlier. In fact the main emotion I'm feeling is intense anger laced with a bitter web of regret.\n“What the hell are you waiting for?!” I demand, glaring into the blinding light to where I guess his eyes must be. “Either fucking shoot me or leave me the fuck alone!” \nTo emphasize my point I stomp forward on the ledge, clinging to it with my left hand and sheer willpower.\n“Do you have any idea how much of a pain in my ass you've been?!” he calls out, the light flickering erratically as I imagine he shifts to holding it with his chin or knees. He cocks the rifle deliberately in warning but I ignore him, continuing to inch forward into the unknown. It's not until I hear an odd beeping that I pause and look up again. The flashlight must be propped on the ground because I'm largely in darkness now but his face is illuminated by a bluish light.\nHe's... he's making a phone call? What the-\n“Dad, I got her,” he says, not caring that I'm trying to get away. “Do you want me to kill her or bring her back?” A pause. I move forward a little more but I'm almost out of ledge. “Dad? Dad, what's going on?” His voice elevates and I look back up. He's frowning into the phone and sounds... concerned? “Dad?! I can't hear you! What are you-”\nHis voice ends abruptly. I guess the call got disconnected. I'm surprised there's reception out here at all. \n“Shit...” he mutters under his breath. \nWhatever has happened has distracted him from me for a second so I do the only option I have left: I jump forward, pushing myself away from the rock wall and tumbling down the cliff.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P23]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P20\t %/\n\nUp until now the forest had been relatively flat but now it's starting to descend sharply. So where am I? Where is the house? I'd thought I was heading back towards it but-\nA beam of light to my left again. I twist further to the right, slipping repeatedly on the angling ground but always catching myself before it becomes a full tumble. \n The forest starts to get thicker and I must be near the edge of a clearing where the undergrowth can grow denser. The flashlight finally lands on me and my heart lunges as I see my own silhouette illuminated. The sound of the rifle again and my only thought is that I'm about to die, but instead it's a young Aspen sapling next to me that gets shattered in two.\nI jack-rabbit through the air, my feet seeming to barely even touch the ground. How is it possible that he-\nHe's missing me on purpose! He must be! I was in his light, but he deliberately missed me at least twice in a row! In fact, all of his shots have been to my left, so... he's trying to force me somewhere? He's trying to force me to go to the right and towards something. \nProving my theory, yet another shot hits the empty ground by my left side. Up ahead I can see a clearing in the woods. The space beyond it is a smooth blue white, illuminated brightly by the moonlight in the now clear skies. \nI leap forward through the last of the underbrush, imagining that the Younger Man is always just out of arms distance behind me when in truth his rifle has a scope and he wouldn't need to exert himself so much to reach me. Suddenly the ground gives out from under me and I fall gracelessly onto my butt, my feet kicking out into open air.\nThe clear space ahead wasn't a field after all, but rather a cliff line that ended the forest abruptly. Beyond it the blue white was from the distant peak of another mountain. This was what my hunter was trying to herd me to: he wanted me to blindly plunge off here and fall to my death. Why not just shoot me?\nA loud snap and curse from not too far behind me. I guess he decided to exert himself after all. \nI can either run to the left, following the cliff edge and back dipping into the woods, taking the chance that I have enough of a head start to avoid my attacker. Or I can run to my right where the drop off falls at a less severe angle. It's still steep enough that I'd have to tumble down and it could be a considerable distance to the bottom, but it's the only other option I have.\n\n\n\n[[Run to the left and back into the woods.|S3_P21]]\n[[Run to the right and down the hill.|S3_P22]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Run to the left and back into the woods. ->S3_P21\n2) Run to the right and down the hill. ->S2_P22\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P12\t %/\n\nThe chair is a pretty standard kitchen chair. Pale wood, five spoke back, slightly sturdier construction than most. I pick it up to turn it over and check out the bottom, but it's chained to the floor. What in the hell?\n“Aria, give me a little more light,” I tell her. She crouches next to me and we trace the chain back a few feet to where it's attached to a concrete support column. Several more lengths of heavy chain are wound around it and there's another matching chair on the other side, also tied down.\nAria steps ahead to check it out and I examine the column as best as I can in the minimal light. Part way up it, just above my head-height, are a row of metal loops. They look like heavy duty plant hooks. One of them has another length of chain extending out from it through the air. \nAria stands up from where she was crouched and we share a look. I know, right? \nWe very hesitantly follow the chain deeper into the room, holding hands like we used to do when we were children and we didn't want to get separated. It attaches to another column slightly further down. More chains are suspended except these don't connect to a chair but are dangling freely. Aria pulls one up and at the bottom is a wide loop of metal. The loop looks like it can be opened but it's held closed by a padlock.\n“Is this... is this a manacle?” Aria asks.\nI blink at it in disbelief. “Yes?” I'm guessing. Where the hell do you even find manacles outside of an old movie? What kind of person even has manacles in their base- \nNevermind. I'm going to stop that line of thought right there.\n Aria's face scrunches up and she closes her eyes, needing a moment\n“Kat,” Aria whines, squeezing my hand even tighter. “I hate this place.” \nI couldn't be more speechless in agreement. “Let's keep going and get out of here.”\n\n\n\n[[Go back and investigate the arm chair in the corner.|S2_P4]]\n[[Keep going forward and see what else is in the room beyond this.|S2_P11]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Go back and investigate the arm chair in the corner. ->S2_P4\n2) Keep going forward and see what else is in the room beyond this. -> S2_P11\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P11\t %/\n \nThe room isn't as big as I originally thought it was, maybe 30 feet long at the most. Part way down it is a heavy wooden table pushed against the wall and sitting between two ceiling support columns. The top surface of the table is heavily scuffed and below it are two drawers, both of which are empty.\nAt the far end of the room is an area caged off by double layers of chicken wire and a metal screen. It has wooden support beams running from floor to ceiling and a door is crudely attached to one of the posts. I push on it but it's also secured with a padlock. \n“Let's keep an eye out for a key for this,” I comment to Aria. \nShe presses the lighter next to the screen and we try to see through it.\n“Looks like gardening tools mostly,” she says. I can faintly see the outline of shovels, a rake, a small saw, and a few other things hung on the back wall. \n“Why would these be locked up?”\nI'm getting that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach again. Pity we can't get in there now, some of that stuff we might have needed. \nA sound suddenly comes from up above us. A distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard since waking up.\n“Should we hide?” I whisper to her.\nShe quickly searches around the room. “Where? There's no place to go.”\n“Maybe here in the corner? This is a far as we can get away from the steps.”\nAnother creak from above us and we both immediately snap silent. I hold onto Aria's arm and we listen intently, afraid to move or even to breathe. Two men's voices. Of course it must be those two from earlier, who else could it possibly be?\nAria pulls on me, trying to drag me backwards further into the room. I shake my head. “Hold on.” I say it so quietly it's barely audible but she must have heard me because she stops dead still.\nWe stay motionless, every sound coming from us and the floor above intensified with our concentration. The voices are moving in circles. First one area of the floor, then the other. I can't make out the words, but the tone is light hearted. One of them laughs. It's an awful, hollow wheeze. The Older Man probably? The Younger didn't sound like that.\nI hear the hollow click-click of that metal walking stick. It echoes with a springiness that only a wood floor could provide.\nDoes that mean we're in an actual house? I'd been thinking it was somewhere industrial because of that giant water pipe.\nThe voices stop at the left corner of the room, above where the railing goes up. I hear the Older Man's voice then a heavy dragging sound. \n“They're coming down here!” Aria whispers, tugging on my sleeve. “We need to hide!”\nI frantically search around the corner we're in. There's really no place to hide that won't be blatantly obvious. \n “The lighter!” I hiss. We have to turn it off.\nShe blows the it out and the room falls into darkness once more. We creep backwards half-crouched, away from the men and feeling our way along the wall.\n Damnit, I really wish we could have found something to arm ourselves with. But now there's no more time to look, we have to decide where to hide.\n\n\n\n[[Hide here in the corner behind a column. |S2_P26]]\n[[Run and hide in the corner with the chair. |S2_P25]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE \n6g-e 2) Hide here in the corner behind a column. WITH CAGE ->S2_P26\n6g-d) Run and hide in the corner with the chair. if they hadn't been to the staircase ->S2_P25\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P10\t %/\n\nI hold onto Aria's arm and we listen intently, afraid to move or even to breathe. Two men's voices. Of course it must be those two from earlier, who else could it possibly be?\nAria pulls on me, trying to drag me backwards in the room. I shake my head. “Hold on.” I say it so quietly it's barely audible but she must have heard me because she stops dead still.\nWe stay motionless, every sound coming from us and the floor above intensified with our concentration. The voices are moving in circles. First one area of the floor, then the other. I can't make out the words, but the tone is light hearted. One of them laughs. It's an awful, hollow wheeze. The Older Man probably? The Younger didn't sound like that.\nI hear the hollow click-click of that metal walking stick. It echoes with a springiness that only a wood floor could provide. \nDoes that mean we're in an actual house? I'd been thinking it was somewhere industrial because of that giant water pipe.\nThe voices stop at the left corner of the room, above where the railing goes up. I hear the Older Man's voice followed by a heavy dragging sound. \n“They're coming down here!” Aria whispers, tugging on my sleeve. “We need to hide!”\nI frantically search around the room. The only place to go is deeper in to the right. “The lighter!” I tell her. We have to turn it off.\nShe blows the it out and the room falls into darkness once more. We creep backwards away from the men, feeling our way along the wall.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P23]]\n\n/% \tcont ->S2_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P17\t %/\n\nThe chair feels like a pretty standard kitchen chair. No armrests, five spoke back, slightly sturdier construction than most. I pick it up to turn it over and investigate the bottom at the bottom, but it's tied down to the floor with something. I feel around and find a heavy chain attached to the legs and leading off away to the right. What in the hell?\nI start to follow it, crawling on my hands and knees, when I bump into something solid. \n“Crap,” I mutter, feeling around for where I dropped the chain.\n“Kat?”\n“Yeah, I'm...uh. The chair was tied down and I bumped into something.”\n“Into what?” I hear her rustle with the stuff she found on the armchair.\nI find the chain and follow it back up. It's looped around what feels like a concrete column. The chain makes two twists and runs up above my head.\n“Some sort of pillar. Why don't you come over here, I don't want us to get separated.”\nMore rustling. “Yeah, ok. There wasn't much over here except some clothes and a few books.” I hear her patter in my general direction.\nThe chain goes part way up the column where it makes another circle and threads through a metal loop. It continues away from the column and leads out further away from us. \n“Here,” I say to Aria as she catches up to me. I lead her fingers to the chain. “Let's follow it.”\nIt leads a few feet forward to another chair. It feels about the same as the first one and the chain continues on, climbing up from the ground to someplace higher. I stand up and something brushes the top of my head. I give a little squeak and crouch low.\n“What is it?” Aria whispers, reaching out and finding my shoulder.\nI carefully reach back up, swatting at the air until my fingers brush against something metal. I run the pad of my thumb over it. “There's some... hooks here.” I feel around again, counting three of them hanging from the roof. \n“Hooks?” She squeezes me tighter.\n“Um... yeah. Like, plant hooks. I guess.” I'm beginning to get a sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach but I don't want Aria to get nervous. Hell, for all I know it really is plant hooks hanging here... next to some chairs with chains...\nOkay, let's move on.\nWe very hesitantly follow the chain around the chair deeper into the room, holding hands just like we used to do when we were children and we didn't want to get separated. This chain attaches to another column slightly further into the room. More chains are wrapped around the column except these don't connect to another chair but are dangling freely. \nAria shifts next to me and I hear them jangle. \n“They all have this weird loop at the bottom,” she says, handing me one of them.\nThe loop is also made of metal, about an inch and a half wide, and it has some sort of hinge that's closed by a small padlock.\n“Jesus Christ,” Aria hisses. “Is this... is this a manacle?” \nI blink at it in disbelief. A gesture that's no doubt lost in the darkness. “Yes?” I'm guessing. \nWhere the hell do you even find manacles outside of an old movie? What kind of person even has manacles in their base- \nNevermind. I'm going to stop that line of thought right here.\n Aria squeezes my hand even tighter.\n“Kat, I hate this place.” \nI couldn't be more speechless in agreement. “Let's keep going and get out of here.”\nWe start to cautiously push ahead, further into the room and away from the columns, when a sound suddenly comes from up above us. A distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\n“Should we hide?” I whisper to her.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n\n\n<<if $beenToChair eq "true">>\n[[continue|S2_P27]]\n<<else if $beenToChair eq "false">>\n[[continue|S2_P28]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S2_P28]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Quickly move to the right, deeper into the room. |S2_P30]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Hurry back to the armchair in the corner. -> S2_P27 OR S2_P28\n2) Quickly move to the right, deeper into the room. (go 1x deeper to the right) ->S2_P30\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
\n\n/% \tS2_P16\t %/\n\n“Hold on, I'm coming over to you,” I say and I start crawling in her direction, feeling along the floor. Cold bare concrete. Occasionally a droplet falls on me from above. This room must be mostly empty.\n“Aria?” I can't find her.\n“Polo.” Her voice comes from ahead and to the left. “Really?” I mutter dryly. I don't know how she can joke at a time like this. \nMy fingers scrunch up a piece of fabric. I hear her shift and her hand first bumps into my nose before tracing down and finding my arm. \n“Right here.” She pulls me into a crouch next to her. “Here, go through these.” She scoops some of the clothing onto my lap. “Let's check the pockets and see if there's anything we can use.”\nI paw through the pile, finding the hems and seams and following them to work out the shapes. A small top, probably a child's size. Some sort of sweater. A large pair of pants, probably men's. Nothing in the pockets. Something heavier with buttons and a zipper. A jacket? No, nothing in the pockets either.\nI place them on the floor next to us and reach out and find the edge of the armchair. It feels like leather and it's shoved against the wall. To the other side is another wall meeting the first behind the chair. \nOkay, so we're in one of the corners of the room, apparently. I'm going to call this as progress.\nAria rustles around next to me and digs in deeper into the pile. A few thunks followed by a hollow clink against the floor. \n“Anything?” I ask.\n“Just some books and a cup. How about you?”\n“No, but all the clothing was in different sizes. It didn't smell really moldy so I doubt it's been down here for that long.”\n“So why would anyone- OW!” She recoils suddenly and I squirm away from the chair.\n“What?! Are you-”\n“Damnit,” she mutters and I relax slightly. “I'm fine, I cut my hand on something.”\n“On what?”\n“I dunno. I think there was some broken glass down in there. It's fine.” \nI sigh and shift back. I start to carefully poke through the pile when a sound suddenly comes from up above us. A distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\n“Should we hide?” I whisper to her.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n<<set $beenToChair = "true">>\n\n[[Hide here in the corner. |S2_P27]]\n[[Quickly move to the right, deeper into the room.|S2_P30]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Hide here in the corner. ->S2_P27 0R S2_P28\n2) Quickly move to the right, deeper into the room. -> S2_P30\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P15\t %/\n\nAria starts to crawl away and I reach around me in a circle, feeling all the different textures of the surfaces around me. The floor is gritty and damp with a strong mold smell. The wall feels like it's made out of concrete blocks and I try to develop a picture of the space in my mind. Are we in some sort of industrial building? I hear an infrequent drip-drip from somewhere to my right and a very distant hum from somewhere above us.\nI carefully rise to my feet, running my fingers along the wall behind me in case the roof's not high enough for me to stand. It is, but it's still a low roof: I'm not very tall but I can touch the ceiling with my arms not quite fully extended above my head.\nAria makes a sound off to the left.\n“Kat?” she whispers. “There's something soft over here.”\nOh god... “Aria, don't-”\n“No no, its not like that. There's like a pile of clothes here and...” she makes more rustling sounds and I drop back down to my hands and knees. I can't see if there's anything I can trip on or bump into so it's safer if I'm lower profile. \n“Aria?” I ask as she stays quiet. I can hear her patting at something. \n“I think it's an armchair.” A swiping noise. \n“Huh?”\n“Yeah, there's a bunch of clothes piled here on an armchair. I don't know if there's more. Did you find anything?”\nI hadn't really been looking, actually. It's incredibly disorienting not being able to see anything and there's really not a single spot of light anywhere. I really wish we hadn't lost our coats earlier, Aria had that lighter in her pocket.\nI crawl forward and sweep my hands out. Nothing.\nI reach to the right and touch something solid next to the wall. It's smooth and feels like a piece of wood. I push at it and it makes a scraping sound. Whatever it is must be pretty light.\n“Kat?”\n“Uh, yeah.” I pat my hand up it. Smooth square shaped wood running into something flat. “I think it's a kitchen chair,” I tell her, trying to imagine how these shapes are coming together.\n“Wait- So we're in a kitchen?” She sounds as confused as I am.\n“Probably not. Everything's concrete and... there's an armchair and...” My voice trails off. I don't know what else to say.\nSeriously, where the hell are we? \n\n\n\n[[Go to Aria and search the armchair.|S2_P16]]\n[[Investigate the wooden kitchen chair.|S2_P17]]\n[[Investigate the roof.|S2_P18]]\n[[Move forward and see what else's in the room.|S2_P21]]\n\n\n\n/% \t1) Go to Aria and search the armchair. ->S2_P16\n2) Investigate the wooden kitchen chair. ->S2_P17\n3) Investigate the roof. ->S2_P18\n4) Move forward and see what else's in the room. -> S2_P21\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P28\t %/\n\nI decide to leave the chain and what it was attached to behind, it would probably be more trouble than it's worth to dig it out. I continue on the trail, perhaps a little more cautiously than before. At one point I hear a snap behind me but when I look back I see nothing. Maybe it's my mind playing tricks on me, but somehow I doubt it. \nA few more meters, another bend, and I see a dark shape lying in the snow in the distance. I have to close my eyes and take a moment. Oh god, not this again...\nI slowly walk up to it. It's hidden by a shadow but it's large enough to be a small person. My eyes focus on it and everything else fades away. It couldn't be Aria. She's blonde and this is dark. She couldn't be out here. There's no way she could have escaped and somehow passed me.\nThe shape moves slightly and I recoil and yelp before I can catch myself. Holding my hand tightly over my mouth I look down at it.\nIt's a wolf. Its' foot is caught in a bear trap and it's nearly dead. It must have been out here for days, unable to get free and dying slowly. It's too weak to raise its head but its eye falls on me and I know that it wants me to kill it and put it out of its' misery.\n“I'm so sorry,” I whisper, not wanting to get too close. I don't have anything I could...\nI look around. Maybe there's a rock or something I can use to... If I get a big rock and hit it over the head it'll be quick and-\nI feel the cold pressure of the rifle barrel against the back of my skull and I freeze, squeezing my eyes shut. Waiting.\nAfter a second of nothing I sigh deeply and let my hands fall limply to my sides. “What...the fuck... do you want?” I growl through clenched teeth, my eyes still closed. I don't need to see him. I don't want to. Just fucking kill me or leave me the fuck alone.\n“I'd love to shoot you,” he says quietly, as if reading my thoughts. “But we've got a problem and I need your help.”\nI snort. Is he for real?\n“Listen, you asshole,” I start to say, taking a step forward and turning around to face him. Before I can continue though the butt of his rifle hits me square across my temple. The last thought I have is “at least it's on a different side than last time”.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P18\t %/\n\nFinally, when my lungs can't take anymore of the frozen air and my legs are about to shake out from under me I come to a stop. I duck behind a raised area of ground where a tree had fallen and pulled the ground up with its roots. I huddle inside it like a cloak, keeping my back pressed tightly away from the open darkness, and I listen.\nNothing. Not a sound.\nTotal quiet and that's even worse than if I had heard a noise because at least I would know something. The woods should have sound, right? It's a cold winter's night but there are still plenty of things that aren't hibernating. I should be able to hear deer shuffling, or squirrels in the trees, or possibly a raccoon coming out to see what the hell I'm doing in his home.\nIt's so unfair. Humans aren't meant to be in situations like this. Our senses are so weak compared to most other animals, and especially at night we're at our most vulnerable. I want to hear some well adapted forest creature tell me it's okay. Tell me that there's nothing around for either of us to be afraid of.\nInstead, there's absolute silence. That means he's out here, doesn't it? I know it. It's through a pure, instinctual certainty that I just know that he's somewhere close by.\nSo what should I do? I could keep running, I've caught my breath a little and I could keep going and going until I find a road. But out here in the woods it can be miles between roads and at this time of night I doubt anyone with good intentions would be out driving.\nAnd what about Aria? This is the first time since we separated I've let myself fully think about what she must be going through. Are they torturing her now? Is she already dead? What if she somehow escaped like I did and is now out in these very same woods just like me, terrified and close to hysterical and at a total loss of what to do next? What if she's looking for me?\nIt's the thought that she might somehow still be alive is enough to force me out of both my thoughts and my hiding spot. I can't give up now. She needs me and I'm her older sister and it's just something I have to do. Maybe if I double back now my hunter will keep going forward and never know that he's passed my trail. Surely he won't think I'm so bold as to return right back to the house he chased me from? \nI start to crawl out from under the root pile and peek back the way I came. Trees and darkness.\nSuddenly the thunderclap of the rifle explodes through the silence of the woods so abruptly that I can't stop my scream. Snow and dirt showers down, choking me, and for a moment I wonder if he didn't miss on purpose. \n I leap forward, belly flopping into an unexpectedly deep drift before catching my balance and taking off on the run again. Another shot, this time into the solid trunk of a tree inches from my left foot. The impact shakes snow off the high branches but I'm already several meters beyond by the time it drifts the distance to the ground.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P20]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P20\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P19\t %/\n\nI race forward down the trail a little more, trying to pick the best possible spot to take off and find a new way. I choose the fourth close pine tree I pass, remembering some random tidbit my sister had once told me about how people always go for the third choice or something something about humans liking the number 3 so if I ever have to guess a random number I should go for 4 instead. \nI take a running leap off the trail, trying to jump over the deep snow drifts and prevent any marks from giving away my change in direction. I land in the clear spot of needles, churning them up slightly with my impact but I quickly smooth it back over before ducking under a pine bough and crawling out the other side. \nThis spot was a good choice, there are several smaller pines that form a long line down towards a gulch and I can easily gain some distance from the path without having to worry about leaving footprints. I pause briefly when I come to the last tree before the woods opens up again. I risk sticking my head out and glancing about but I don't see any lights or movement. Nothing but shadowed trees and the faint outline of the shape of the land.\nMaybe he's turned around? Decided that he'd lost me and has gone back to the house? Or maybe he's figured out that his flashlight's giving him away, and if he wants to sneak up on me he'd be better off doing what I am: sneaking through the shadows and trying to pick the right path?\nIt's a disturbing thought and it's enough to prompt me to crawl out from this line of trees and go a little further away from the main trail. I don't want to go too far and get lost (if I'm not already). I need to find a spot that's slightly better than this and hide for a few minutes, then I'll start working my way back to Aria.\nThe gulch I'm in now runs perpendicular to the line of pines I was just in. To the left it goes gently up a hill and to the right it's angled more downwards before making a sharp curve into shadows. I hesitate for a moment, trying to get my bearings. I think that to the left leads back towards the house but these woods are like a maze, especially at night. Maybe if I head down to the right I'll intersect a road, but would that do me any good? This far in the middle of nowhere it can be miles between roads and at this time of night I doubt anyone with good intentions would be out driving.\nLeft and up I guess it's going to be. Just as I start to take a few steps a snap of a branch in that direction freezes me in my tracks. I realize that it's the first noise I'd heard since diving into the pines. The woods should have sound, right? It's a cold winter's night but there are still plenty of things that aren't hibernating. I should be able to hear deer shuffling, or squirrels in the trees, or possibly a raccoon coming out to see what the hell I'm doing up at this hour.\nIt's so unfair. Humans aren't meant to be in situations like this. Our senses are so weak compared to most other animals, and especially at night we're at our most vulnerable. I want to hear some well-adapted forest creature tell me it's okay. Tell me that there's nothing around for either of us to be afraid of.\nInstead, there's absolute silence. That means he's out here, doesn't it? I know it. It's through a pure, instinctual certainty that I just know that he's somewhere close by.\nI crouch down and start to crawl back to the shadows under the pine trees. Another noise and I look over my shoulder. Trees and darkness.\nSuddenly the thunderclap of the rifle explodes through the silence of the woods so abruptly that I can't stop my scream. Snow and dirt showers down, choking me, and for a moment I wonder if he didn't miss on purpose. \n I leap forward, belly flopping into an unexpectedly deep drift before catching my balance and taking off on the run again down the hill. Another shot, this time into the solid trunk of a tree inches from my left foot. The impact shakes snow off the high branches but I'm already several meters beyond by the time it drifts the distance to the ground.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P20]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P20\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P25\t %/\n\nThe first few steps out onto the ice are nerve-wracking, but once I get a meter or so out it starts to feel more solid and the layer of snow on top helps with my grip. I move forward as quickly as I feel confident in, listening for any sounds either from below or behind me. \nIn the beginning I would sweep my feet ahead of me first, clearing away the top layer so I could see if the ice was shallower. I quickly give up on that though because everything is a uniform black under me and I really should have found a walking stick or something like that. Bear Grylls always said to have something with you that you can use to brace yourself with if you start to go under. Too late to go back for it now, sorry Bear.\nI'm about halfway across when there's a loud “pop!” and I feel a fracture run straight under my feet. I quickly step backwards and there's another sequence of cracks spreading around me like a spider web. Ohshitshitshit!\nI stop moving and freeze, arms out and caught mid-step in an awkward dancers pose. Another crack and the ice in front of me starts to slump.\n“Run!” A voice shouts from behind me. I squeeze my eyes shut before forcing myself to glance back. The Younger Man is standing at the edge of the lake, rifle in one hand and gesturing to me with the other.\n“The ice is too shallow! Come back here!” He reaches out towards me like he expects me to run back and grab it. Is he for real?\n“Fuck you!” I shout. It comes out as a panicked squeak and I bolt forward, running toward the shore 30 meters ahead. \nImmediately the ice begins to collapse under me, the greater impact of my steps fully breaking the fractures. I hear Bear's voice in my head shouting to never move quickly on ice but I see the Younger Man out of the corner of my eye. He's running to the side, trying to circle around and intercept me before I get to the shore. It makes me run all the harder, my feet rolling out from under me like I'm running across a pile of logs. He shouts something at me again and my foot breaks through the ice and I trip, landing on my hands and knees.\n“Shit!” He turns and runs directly towards me and in that moment the ice breaks and I go under.\nHoly shit it's cold! It comes as such a shock I almost loose consciousness. My lungs fill with the icy water and for a second I can only think that this is what drowning feels like. I start kicking and thrashing wildly but I can't find the hole I just fell through. Above my head is solid ice and I punch and claw at it. With the snow on top it's close to pitch black under here. I know I should try to stay calm but I'm about to fucking die and I'm scrabbling and scrabbling and my lungs are burning and-\nFingers tangle in my hair and jerk me upwards, yanking on my scalp painfully. I don't fight it though, I couldn't even if I tried. I'm so cold I'm only vaguely aware of being body-slammed onto the rocks. I can taste blood but all I can do is lie there on my stomach and cough, curling up into a little ball. I claw my fingers into the ground as my body tries to hack up all the water it breathed in. It burns my nose and eyes and I feel a hand crush my arm, shaking roughly me and trying to drag me to my feet.\n“Get up!” the Younger Man yells at me, practically jerking my arm out of its socket. He's dripping wet also. He must have also fallen in when he went after me.\n“Fuck you,” I manage to wheeze and my legs collapse underneath me. He mutters something and kicks me in the stomach which ironically helps to get more of the water out of my lungs.\n“What...the fuck... do you want?” I hisses through clenched teeth, squeezing my eyes tightly closed. I don't need to see him. I don't want to. Just fucking kill me or leave me the fuck alone!\n“Goddamn I wish I could kill you” he growls, as if reading my thoughts. He grabs a fistfull of my hair again and start to drag me by it. I try to kick out but I'm to weak to do anything other than claw at his arm.\n“Let me the fuck go-” I start to say, trying to get my feet under me. Before I can continue he drops me suddenly and the last thing I see is the butt of his rifle swinging toward my face yet again. At least it's on a different side than last time. \nThen everything goes black.\n\n<<set $wentLake = "true">>\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS3_P24\t %/\n\nI think that despite the gravity of my situation and everything that's happened, my exhaustion must have been so complete that I actually drifted off for a brief moment. I wouldn't call it an actual sleep, but more of taking a quiet moment with my eyes closed before I revive and have to start fighting again. For a few minutes I just let myself float, teetering on the edge of consciousness, and let my aching and bruised muscles melt the ground under me.\nFinally my breathing and heart rate return to normal and I crack my eyes open. Something is wrong. It's not just that I'm lying down in bare snow and probably borderline hypothermic, but now I'm hearing in the distance a hum. Similar to the hum I heard earlier from the basement, but this time it's moving and fading in and out as it bounces around the trees. I push myself up onto my elbows and listen closer.\nAn engine. A loud engine that's in the distance but moving towards me. A loud engine like the truck our kidnappers had.\n“Oh fuck my life...” I whine softly, wadding up a handful of snow and toss it to the sky, directing it to whatever god I don't believe in that I must have so savagely pissed off to deserve a night like tonight.\nI crawl to my knees but it takes a little longer to come fully up onto my feet. \nI lean heavily against my rescue-tree for support and look around my new area. More of the same: tall pine trees and deep shadows. \nThe rumbling hum grows louder. Yeah yeah, I'm moving. \nThe avalanche slope is behind me, the noise is coming from the right, fuck-knows-what is to the left, so I go straight. Why? Why not. I'm so over this nature shit. If I somehow survive this I'm never leaving the city ever again. \nAt first I halfheartedly try to disguise my footprints but give up because it's a losing battle when every other step is a post hole. The engine noise follows me for a while before coming to a stop and I assume that my hunter must have driven to the edge of the avalanche and is either searching for me buried in all the debris or is following my obvious trail.\nAnother meter slog and the forest ends again, this time at a frozen over lake instead of a cliff edge. The lake is long but narrow and it's probably not more than 100-150 meters to the far shore. Beyond it from this angle I can see a bright strip of white cutting through the trees and running up and over a low hill. A road? \nI take a cautious step out onto the ice. A little cracking but it holds and I know that the edges of a lake are the thinnest. Going straight across is going to be the shortest route to the other side, but I'd have to cross out in the open. \nI glance around the shoreline for alternatives. The sound was coming from the right so I can't go that way. To the left the lake bends and continues out of sight but the edges are rimmed with dormant cattails and grass and shouldn't be too difficult to walk through.\n\n\n\n[[Cross the lake and go to the road.|S3_P25]]\n[[Go to the left and follow the shore.|S3_P26]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Cross the lake and go to the road. ->S3_P25\n2) Go to the left and follow the shore. ->S3_P26\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P19\t %/\n\n\nMy skin crawls at the thought of what I have to do, but nevertheless I reluctantly step over to the side of the couch and assess my new “patient”. The Younger Man watches me from a distance but he seems hesitant to come any closer. Somehow I doubt it's because he's afraid of a little blood.\nMore than a little blood as it turns out. When I start to pull off the blanket the Older Man groans very faintly under his faltering breath and the fabric peels back wetly.\nHe has some sort of wound on his neck that I'll assess later, but it's the gaping hole in his side abdomen that's brought him this close to death. He's clearly been impaled by something and it would take a significant amount of force to go all the way through him like this.\nIf he's this badly off I can't help but wonder what condition Aria must be in. If she's even still alive... The Younger Man refuses to let me see her but somehow, deep in my heart, our sisterly psychic connection is telling me not to give up on her just yet.\nI shake my head, clearing my thoughts and focusing back on the task at hand. Whatever struck him must have missed the most critical organs or he'd be dead by now. However, the bleeding is still very heavy and there are limits to what I can do for him. Maybe the Younger Man will listen to reason and let us go so he can take him to the hospital? Yeah, unlikely. But if I can stabilize him I can try to convince him that-\nI suddenly hear a scraping noise come from outside the cabin. A slushy scraping noise followed a second later by another one. \nWhat in the hell?\n“What did he get hit by?” I ask the Younger Man, hoping that he didn't hear anything. I squint at the wound, contemplating the distinctly square shape to the edges. It's so dark in here with only that one candle I can barely see. I look over my shoulder at the him and he shifts his feet uncomfortably, keeping his distance.\n“Piece of railing,” he says flatly, keeping his eyes on the floor.\nRailing? Okay... So, he somehow fell out of the attic window and landed on the railing on the front porch. That would explain the severity of the injury but why was he even...\nI look up at the ceiling, noticing that a few of the floorboards separating the upstairs from us have been recently broken.\n Jesus Christ Aria, what happened when I was gone?\n\n<<set $yesFlashlight= "false">>\n\n[[Ask him more about what happened.|S4-P20]]\n[[Ask him to turn on the lights.|S4_P23]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask him more about what happened. ->S4-P20\n2) Ask him to turn on the lights. ->S4_P23\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
Tia Orisney\n
/% \tS4_P17\t %/\n\n\n“Where is Aria?” I demand, growing more desperate each time he evades the question. He squares his jaw and tries to glare me down but I'm not letting him ignore me this time. “If you don't tell me where she is, I'm not going to help you.”\nRather than answering he takes another step forward and I weakly try to shove him away and get a little distance but he grabs my wrist hard enough that I can feel the bones shift. \n“You can't take him to the hospital, right? I continue, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. “Otherwise you would have by now.”\nHe abruptly lets me go and walks quickly towards the door at the back of the room. “Then I shoot your precious sister,” he says, hand on the door knob.\n“Wait!” I call out, scrambling up to my feet.\nHe pauses expectantly, like he knew that's what I would say.\n“Aria's out there?” I look at the back door and he leans against it, blocking it with his shoulder. “Is she okay?”\n“I guess I left that part out before.” he says. “When I came back and found my dad your sister was there too. She wasn't looking too good so I locked her up out back. I would have shot her but I figured I'd need to keep her alive to keep you... cooperative.”\nReally? He's going for the “evil villain speech” now? I'm honestly surprised, he'd more seemed like the quiet type.\n“Is she okay?” I ask again. I'm not going to believe it until I see her for myself.\n“She was alive last I checked,” he pushes away from the door and comes back into the center of the room. “Okay might be a bit of a stretch. Now are you going to get to work,” he points at the medical bag I'm holding with his rifle, “or are we going to have a problem?”\nSomething about he way he says it makes me pause. This is the most talkative he's ever been.\n“When I'm done you're going to let me see her, right?” I ask , not believing it for a second.\n“That's what I said before,” he crosses his arms and waits.\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P19]]\n\n/% \tcont. ->S4_P19\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P16\t %/\n\n\n“What if I don't want to help him? What are you going to do then?” The answer to the question seems obvious, but I need to test him first and see how much slack he's willing to give me.\nRather than answering he takes another step forward and I weakly try to shove him away and get a little distance but he grabs my wrist hard enough that I can feel the bones shift. \n“You can't take him to the hospital, right? I continue, forcing the words out through gritted teeth. “Otherwise you would have by now.”\nHe abruptly lets me go and walks quickly towards the door at the back of the room. “Then I shoot your precious sister,” he says, hand on the door knob.\n“Wait!” I call out, scrambling up to my feet.\nHe pauses expectantly, like he knew that's what I would say.\n“Aria's out there?” I look at the back door and he leans against it, blocking it with his shoulder. “Is she okay?”\n“I guess I left that part out before.” he says. “When I came back and found my dad your sister was there too. She wasn't looking too good so I locked her up out back. I would have shot her but I figured I'd need to keep her alive to keep you... cooperative.”\nReally? He's going for the “evil villain speech” now? I'm honestly surprised, he'd more seemed like the quiet type.\n“Is she okay?” I ask again. I'm not going to believe it until I see her for myself.\n“She was alive last I checked,” he pushes away from the door and comes back into the center of the room. “Okay might be a bit of a stretch. Now are you going to get to work,” he points at the medical bag I'm holding with his rifle, “or are we going to have a problem?”\nSomething about he way he says it makes me pause. This is the most talkative he's ever been.\n“When I'm done you're going to let me see her, right?” I ask , not believing it for a second.\n“That's what I said before,” he crosses his arms and waits.\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P19]]\n\n/% \tcont. ->S4_P19\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P11\t %/\n\n\nFor the remainder of the drive the only sounds is the crunching of ice under the tires and the radio. Pretty soon the truck reaches the top of the long mountain that we'd been driving up and slows as we pull into the driveway of the house. Dawn has progressed a little more by now and I get my first real view of what the building actually looks like: it's a large 3-story log cabin that probably used to be a quite nice summer home in the past. Now though all the windows on the 1st and 2nd floors have been boarded up and the balcony on the 3rd story has collapsed.\nWait- It wasn't like that before when I first ran outside. Back then the balcony had been intact so this must have happened after I left. Was this why the Younger Man had ran off when he'd gotten that phone call?\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P13]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P13\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P10\t %/\n\n\nOkay, so obviously he wants to keep me alive for some no doubt horrible reason, but deliberately antagonizing a serial killer can only end badly for me. So instead I'm going to try a more subtle approach to distracting him. \n“Can you take this thing off me?” I try to ask from under the tape over my mouth. It comes out as an unintelligible mumble. The Younger Man gives me a sidelong glare before turning his attention back to the road and shaking his head. \n“I want to talk. Take this off me.” I try again, trying to push the tape off with my tongue. Mumble mumble but it works this time. He reaches over and grabs the edge of the tape. “You start screaming and I'm going to hit you,” he warns. I shrug and nod. Yeah, and as soon as I get the chance I'm stabbing you with something and taking your car, asshole, so let's call it even for now.\nHe yanks the tape off without any concern to the layers off skin from my lips he takes along with it. \n“What?!” he snaps, eyes focused on the road and his free hand resting on the trigger of the rifle.\n“Your check engine light's on,” I say, my voice cracking slightly. I could really use some water. \n“What the fuck?!” He gives me an expression like I've grown two heads.\n“Look,” I gesture at the dashboard panel with a tip of my head. “Your check engine light's just come one. It wasn't when we started.” Actually I was unconscious when we started but I'm banking on a man like this having a relationship with his truck that can be easily exploited\nHe gives me an incredulous sneer but my plan works: he frowns at the control panel and taps at the glass with his index finger if that'll somehow fix the problem. I use the opportunity to quickly grab the phone and yank it out of the charger. I slip it into the waistband of my jeans and put my hands back onto my lap, trying to appear innocent. \n“Well?” I ask him when he glares back at me. “Aren't you going to do something about it?”\nHe sighs and rubs his temples. “Shut the fuck up.”\nThe music gets turned up higher to drown me out.\n\n<<set $hasPhone= "true">>\n\n<<if $wentOutFront eq "true">>\n[[Continue |S4_P11]]\n<<else if $wentOutFront eq "false">>\n[[Continue |S4_P12]]\n<<else>>\n[[Continue |S4_P12]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P11 or S4_P12\t\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P8\t %/\n\n\nI decide it's not worth the risk of trying to steal it now. Once I grab Aria we can always smash one of the windows and get it then. Actually, there must be another phone in the house that he used to call the Older Man on. If we don't have the chance to get back to the truck we can try to find that one or take off into the woods again without it.\n\n<<set $hasPhone= "false">>\n\n<<if $wentOutFront eq "true">>\n[[Continue |S4_P11]]\n<<else if $wentOutFront eq "false">>\n[[Continue |S4_P12]]\n<<else>>\n[[Continue |S4_P12]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P11 or S4_P12\t\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P32\t %/\n\n\nI grab Aria's hand and we bolt behind our car, running as fast as we can up the hill to the main highway. My lungs are on fire from the sudden exertion in the cold air but I've got enough adrenaline coursing through me that I barely even notice.\nA gunshot rings out and Aria screams and falls, dragging me down with her. \nI shout her name, thinking for a moment she must have been shot, but she instantly is back up and running ahead of me. I lunge back to my feet only to slip on the same icy puddle that she must have and it's a seconds delay too long. My head snaps backwards violently as the younger man catches up and pulls my hair, practically yanking it out of my scalp. He throws himself at me and we both topple to the ground.\n“KAT!” Aria screams and she turns to run back to me, her terrified expression illuminated by the approaching headlights. I want to tell her to run and keep going, but he somehow gets me into a headlock and starts choking me out.\nI try to claw at his face, I know that if I can dig my fingers into his eyeballs he'll go into shock, but he's surprisingly strong and manages to get me into a headlock. Spots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the shadow of the younger man catches up to her. I try to scream. If the people in the car hear me they'll see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance. Or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P33\t %/\n\n\n“Sir, could you-” I struggle to find the right words. “Would you mind stepping away from our vehicle, please? We'd like to leave now.” Yeah, that was awkward. But I remember a piece of advice someone once told me about how you rarely have problems with people if you show them respect. You don't have to meant it, but at this point I so badly want to get out of here I'll say about anything.\nAria shifts uncomfortably behind me and the man laughs at our oh-so-obvious discomfort. When he doesn't move or offer any response I reach out and pull on the door handle. I'm assuming it's not locked anymore since there's glass everywhere. I start to open it but the man shifts and leans against the frame where the window used to be, holding it shut with his weight. \n“Sorry sweetie, but you can't go until my son comes back.” He leans forward, getting into my personal space and I quickly back step.\n“Son? What is-” Oh shit... I've got a horrible feeling who he's talking about.\nI can't see what his expression is but as the uncomfortable pause between us grows he drums his fingers against the roof. For a few moments the soft metal thumps are the only sounds around us as we size each other up.\n“Oh, screw it!” Aria finally breaks the silence. She pushes past me and bends down to pick up our purses from the ground. The man suddenly slam the cane down onto them, spearing through them both with the point.\n“Uh-uh, honey. Those are mine now.”\nAria squeaks as I grab her arm and drag her back, giving us a bit more distance from the rapidly deteriorating situation. I know she's scared, we both are. But you know what? It's two against one and I'm not going to let him intimidate us. We're both a lot younger than him and since he's got a cane I think we got a good chance of taking him in a fight. On the other hand this may be a horrible idea and we're about to find that out the hard way.\n\n\n\n[[Be aggressive, move him out of the way and get in your car.|S1_P24]]\n[[Be diplomatic: Tell him he can keep your purses and you wont have any problems.|S1_P34]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Be aggressive, move him out of the way and get in your car. -> S1_P24\n2) Be diplomatic: Tell him he can keep your purses and you wont have any problems. -> S1_P34\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P30\t %/\n\n\nAbandoning the idea of the car, I scramble across to the passenger seat and throw the door open. I'm halfway out when my head snaps back violently as the older man reaches me and pulls my hair, practically yanking it out of my scalp. He throws himself at me and we both topple to the ground.\n“KAT!” Aria screams and she turns to run back to me, her terrified expression illuminated by the approaching headlights. I want to tell her to run and keep going, but he somehow gets me into a headlock and starts choking me out.\nI try to claw at his face, I know that if I can dig my fingers into his eyeballs he'll go into shock, but he's surprisingly strong and manages to get me into a headlock. Spots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the shadow of the younger man catches up to her. I try to scream. If the people in the car hear me they'll see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance. Or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P31\t %/\n\n\nI grab Aria's hand and we bolt behind our car, running as fast as we can up the hill to the main highway. My ribs are on fire from the blows but the primitive part of my brain's taken over and is telling my body not to cry about it. \nA gunshot rings out and Aria screams and falls, dragging me down with her. \nI shout her name, thinking for a moment she must have been shot, but she instantly is back up and running ahead of me. I lunge back to my feet only to slip on the same icy puddle that she must have and it's a seconds delay too long. My head snaps backwards violently as the younger man catches up and pulls my hair, practically yanking it out of my scalp. He throws himself at me and we both topple to the ground.\n“KAT!” Aria screams and she turns to run back to me, her terrified expression illuminated by the approaching headlights. I want to tell her to run and keep going, but he somehow gets me into a headlock and starts choking me out.\nI try to claw at his face, I know that if I can dig my fingers into his eyeballs he'll go into shock, but he's surprisingly strong and manages to get me into a headlock. Spots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the shadow of the younger man catches up to her. I try to scream. If the people in the car hear me they'll see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance. Or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P36\t %/\n\n\nThe older man snorts and steps away from us, leaning on his cane for balance in the snowy gravel. “Better than alright, Son. I was having a chat with this two fine young ladies.” He puts a theatrical emphasis on the last three words.\nHolding my hand up against the light, I can see that the younger man is slumped slightly to the side as he caries something large over his shoulder. A hint of dark blue plaid peaks out and I realize that he's carrying back the body from earlier.\nI hug Aria behind me, trying to shield from view her as much as possible. “We should run,” she whispers to me hoarsely. I glance at the car. We could open the door and get in it, I've got the key. But won't he shoot me before I can even turn the engine on? \nI risk a glance back through the passenger window and I can see flickers of headlights in the distance as another car starts driving down the main highway. If we run for it we might be able to reach there in time before it passes.\n\n\n\n[[Jump in the car and drive off.|S1_P27]]\n<<if $wasAggressive eq "true">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P31]]\n<<else if $wasAggressive eq "false">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<else>>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Jump in the car and drive off. ->S1_P27\n2) Run for the highway. -> S1_P31 OR S1_P32\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P37\t %/\n\n\nI don't know for sure what this creepy old man's doing by our car, but after what happened in the woods I sure don't want to find out. I softly pull backwards on Aria's shoulder, signaling to her that we should leave quietly. We turn to go, our shoes crunching loudly in the gravel.\n“It's a cold night out there, ladies,” the man calls out to us. “Why don't you come on over? I think we should have a nice chat.”\nAria mouthes “WTF?” at me. \nYeah... I don't know either.\n\n\n\n[[Talk to the man.|S1_P20]]\n[[Run into the woods.|S1_P38]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Talk to the man. ->S1_P20\n2) Run into the woods. ->S1_P38\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P34\t %/\n\n\nI've never been the physical type so fighting a stranger's not something I could imagine ending well. Aria really isn't either, even if her hot temper would suggest otherwise. So I'm going to try one more time to talk our way out of this, then I'm grabbing Aria and we're making a break for it. \n“Okay, that's fine. That's fine.” I hold my hand up in front of me in a “calm down” sort of gesture. “You can keep our purses, we've got plenty of money in them. I don't want any problems here.”\n“Kat,” Aria whispers under her breath, tugging on my arm.\nThe man snorts and scrapes his cane across the ground, using it to life up our purses and flick them underneath our car. “Oh I don't care about money. I just wanted to make sure you girls couldn't get to your phones.” I stare at him open mouthed for a moment and he lets he full implications of his words take effect.\nOh crap... Definitely time to go. I grab Aria's wrist and tug on it, trying to drag her back with me but she's rooted to the spot.\n“Kat!” she whispers, her voice strained and she cringes at something she sees in the distance. I quickly turn and see a someone with a flashlight walking towards us from the edge of the forest.\nThe light's suddenly shined on us and I'm blinded for a moment because my eyes had gotten used to the dark twilight.\n“'Evening Dad!” The figure cheerfully addresses the older man and I instantly recognize his voice from earlier. “Doing alright with everything here?”\n\n<<set $wasAggressive = "false">>\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P36]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P35]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P35]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT S1_P35 OR S1_P36\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P35\t %/\n\n\nThe older man snorts and steps away from us, leaning on his cane for balance in the snowy gravel. “Better than alright, Son. I was having a chat with this two fine young ladies.” He puts a theatrical emphasis on the last three words.\nHolding my hand up against the light, I can see that the younger man is slumped slightly to the side as he caries something large over his shoulder. A hint of dark teal wool coat peaks out and I realize that he's carrying back the body from earlier, wrapped up in our coats. \nI hug Aria behind me, trying to shield from view her as much as possible. We could open the door and get in our car now but we don't have the keys. They were in my coat pocket which is over the... Shit...\nOkay, we're running. Now.\nI grab Aria's hand and we bolt behind our car, running as fast as we can up the hill to the main highway. I can see headlights in the distance flickering through the trees. If we can get to the road before they pass...\n\n\n\n<<if $wasAggressive eq "true">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P31]]\n<<else if $wasAggressive eq "false">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<else>>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT S1_P31 OR S1_P32\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P3\t %/\n\nAria starts to crawl away and I feel around the wall behind me. Cold, damp, smells dirty. I'm still on my hands and knees, poking around carefully in case there's any- `\tWait a minute...\n“Aria?” I call out. “Dad's lighter? Check if you've still got it.”\nA pause, then a rustle of fabric from her coat. “Yeah, I do! Hold on...”\nClick. Click. Brief little spark. \nHer fingers must be stiff. Mine are so cold they've got pins and needles.\nFourth time's the charm: a soft amber light fills the room. It takes my eyes a moment to adjust and I scoot towards her, gingerly standing up when I see that the ceiling of wherever we are is high enough for me to stand. Aria presses next to me tightly for warmth and solidarity.\nThe room we're in is made of of concrete and seems like it's only half finished or like it was never intended to be a comfortable space. Probably a basement . The lighter doesn't give us much illumination and we can only see a few feet to any side. \nThere's a solid wall behind us with a plain wooden kitchen chair propped against it. To the immediate left is a corner with a large pile of clothing dumped on an old arm chair. Across the room in the right corner I can see the faint outline of a railing leading up to a dark area in the ceiling. Further to the right the room continues into darkness. I look above us: a wide pipe's running along the top of room. It's streaked with mold and the occasional drips of water splash onto the floor. \n\n\n\n[[Investigate the arm chair in the corner to the left.|S2_P4]]\n[[See what's off to the right.|S2_P11]]\n[[Investigate the wooden chair behind you.|S2_P12]]\n[[Go forward to the railing going up.|S2-P13]]\n[[Investigate the ceiling.|S2-P14]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Investigate the arm chair in the corner to the left. ->S2_P4\n2) See what's off to the right. ->S2_P11\n3) Investigate the wooden chair behind you. ->S2_P12\n4) Go forward to the railing going up. ->S2-P13\n5) Investigate the ceiling. ->S2-P14\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P2\t %/\n\n“Aria?” I'm not sure why I'm whispering. If anyone's around they'd have heard her shouting and know where we are. “Do you know what's going on?”\nShe pushes away from me and I instantly notice the lack of warmth. Wherever we are is freezing cold. We can't be outside, it's too dark and quiet.\nI run my hands around me. Cold flooring. Feels like tile or concrete or something really hard. Dirty and grimy, too. I encounter Aria's knee and she jumps. \n“Are you okay?” I ask. “Are you hurt or...?”\nShe exhales and I hear her shift, the vinyl fabric of her boots squeaking noisily. “I'm fine. I mean... not really. But I'm okay. What about you?”\nI take a brief pause to run a self-evaluation. “My head hurts like crazy. But I don't think anything's broken.” I don't think I have a concussion. Those make you want to puke and I'm not really dizzy.\nI push onto my knees, rising to a crawl. “But where are we? Can you see anything?” I cautiously bat around in front of me but feel nothing but more cold air.\n“Nothing,” she says after a moment. “Nothing at all. But we've got to be inside, right? We're on some sort of flooring. So... Let's find a light switch?”\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S2_P3]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S2_P15]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S2_P15]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P3 OR S2_P15\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P38\t %/\n\n\n“Forest!” I hiss at Aria under my breath and we both turn on our heels and break into a flat out run. The edge of the wood's only 20 feet away. Once we reach it the tall pine trees should block out the any of the light remaining from the late evening and then we can find a place to hide. \nI hear the man mutter “fuck” under his breath but I don't turn around. We're almost there, so close. But right by the edge of the parking lot the forest starts with a thick and nearly impassible wall of thorns and brush. We try to press through it quickly but it's so dense that it's difficult to see anything and Aria keeps slipping in those fucking boots of hers. I swear I'm going to burn those things as soon as I get the chance.\nWe don't even see the knee high ditch before we fall into it. Just as we're scrambling out of it, dragging ourselves up with the help of an adolescent ponderosa pine, a bright suddenly light falls on us. Shielding my eyes from the blinding light with my hand, I see the silhouette of a man partially slumped over. He's carrying something very heavy over his shoulders and the hunting rifle's illuminated in his free hand.\n“Need some help, ladies?” he chuckles and unceremoniously drops his burden to the ground. \nAria and I both scream in unison and lunge backwards, so desperate in our panic that we get tangled in each other's legs and fall right back into the ditch we'd just climbed out of.\nThe man's laugh echoes against the trees as he stalks toward us. “Dad! You gotta come see this!”\n“Dad”?! What-\n“Scare em good, did I?” A hoarse voice comes from somewhere behind us. “I ain't even done a thing yet.” \nOff to the side I see the dark shape of the man with the hat hobbling towards us quickly but with a visible limp.\nFueled by adrenaline, Aria and I practically fly out of the ditch and dash away from the men. The newcomer's between us and our car, but maybe we can take him? Just knock him down quickly before the other man can shoot us?\nBehind him in the distance a glint of light flashes and catches my eye. I can see the flickers of approaching headlights as another car starts driving down the main highway. If we can get to the road before they pass...\n\n\n\n[[Attack the man with the hat.|S1_P39]]\n[[Run for the main road.|S1_P40]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Attack the man with the hat. ->S1_P39\n2) Run for the main road. ->S1_P40\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P0\t %/\n<center>\nSection 2: In The Dark\n\n[[Start.|S2_P1]]\n</center>\n/% \t\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P7\t %/\n\n“We'd better hold on to this,” I tell her, slipping the gun into my pocket. “We can always wipe it and dump it later.”\nShe hesitates briefly then nods, peering over her shoulder into the darkness behind us. “Let's try and find something back there for me.”\nWe start to head to the back of the room to find a place to hide when a sudden sound comes from overhead and stop us in our tracks. It's a distant “thump” noise and its the first we've heard from anywhere else since we woke up.\n“Should we hide?” I whisper to her.\n“Where? We don't know what else is down here.”\nI look around the room. Or more correctly I turn my head in different directions in the darkness. Nope, still can't see shit. \nAnd then there's another noise from above us. This one was slightly closer than the last and is followed by a sort of “bang” sound and... voices? It sounds like a voice but I can't make out any details.\n\n<<set $hasGun = "true">>\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P10]]\n\n/% \tcont -> S2_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P6\t %/\n\nQuick as I can, I shove the clothes and items to the side and onto the ground. The armchair's made of old yellowed leather that's been well cared for but even the color is off-putting. On top of it there's nothing of much interest so I feel around the back of the cushions and-\nFind something hard. Buried deep in the bottom seat. \nAnother noise overhead. “Hurry!” Aria hisses. Practically sticking my whole arm into the unknown, I dig in deep and pull it out. I know what a gun feels like before I even see it. \nIt's a plain black .38. Aria gasps, “Holy shit!” I glance up at her and she looks nervous. “Should we touch it? I mean... what if it's been... used. Now your fingerprints are on it.”\nYeah... I turn the gun over in my hands, experimentally holding it in a firing position and testing how it feels. Our Dad had taken us target practicing a few times, but that was years ago and Aria was always better at it than I was.\n\n\n\n[[Keep the gun yourself.|S2_P7]]\n[[Give the gun to Aria.|S2_P8]]\n[[Wipe the gun and hide it back in the chair.|S2_P9]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Keep the gun yourself. ->S2_P7\n2) Give the gun to Aria. -> S2_P8\n3) Wipe the gun and hide it back in the chair. ->S2_P9\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P5\t %/\n\nI hold onto Aria's arm and we listen intently, afraid to move or even to breathe. Two men's voices. Of course it must be those two from earlier, who else could it possibly be? \nAria pulls on me, trying to drag me backwards in the room. I shake my head. “Hold on.” I say it so quietly it's barely audible but she must have heard me because she stops dead still. \nWe stay motionless, every sound coming from us and the floor above intensified with our concentration. The voices are moving in circles. First one area of the floor, then the other. I can't make out the words, but the tone is light-hearted. One of them laughs. It's an awful, hollow wheeze. The Older Man probably? The Younger didn't sound like that. \nI hear the hollow click-click of that metal walking stick. It echoes with a springiness that only a wood floor could provide.\nDoes that mean we're in an actual house? I'd been thinking it was somewhere industrial because of that giant water pipe. \nThe voices stop at the left corner of the room, above where the railing goes up. I hear the Older Man's voice followed by a heavy dragging sound. \n“They're coming down here!” Aria whispers, tugging on my sleeve. “We need to hide!” \nI frantically search around the room. The only place to go is deeper in to the right. “The lighter!” I tell her. We have to turn it off. \nShe blows the it out and the room falls into darkness once more. We creep backwards away from the men, feeling our way along the wall. \n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P23]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P23\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P4\t %/\n\nThe clothes on the chair are a mixture of adult and childrens sizes. They're been tossed in a careless heap but couldn't have been down in here for too long or they'd have mold on them. \nI sift through the top of the pile and check the pockets of a mans denim jacket but find nothing that could help us. A little deeper down are some womens clothes that should fit us: a pair of jeans and a dark gray sweater. We don't have any need for them right now, but I place them on top just in case.\n“Why are you-” Aria starts to ask, but I shrug and dig deeper. \nUnderneath the clothes are some random odds and ends: hairbrush, books, coffee cup, and house shoes. My fingers run against a piece of broken glass and I carefully uncover it. It's a large wooden picture frame wrapped in a dark cloth. The glass has been shattered and falls out onto the floor in pieces as I wriggle the whole piece out from under the pile.\nAria holds the lighter closer and I start to pull away the covering. It's a portrait of a group of people standing outside of a large log cabin. There are four of them in total but I can't see their faces because the cloth is stuck to it. I pull on it harder and it slowly peels off leaving a thick blackish red slime behind. \nBlood. Recent blood, within a few days or it'd have dried more.\nI glance up at Aria and she's worrying on her lower lip and shakes her head at me. Yeah, I know the feeling.\nWith a sick Velcro noise I very carefully peel the rest off so I don't cut myself on the broken glass. Underneath is a portrait of a family: both parents parents and two teenage daughters. Everyones faces have been smeared with blood. This pile of clothes down here could easily be theirs. \n“Aria...” I don't know what to say.\n“Is there anything else?” she says after a moment and I flash back to this afternoon when we found the glove. I carefully set the broken frame down on the floor, propping it up against the legs of the armchair. Aria clears her throat.\n“I meant down in the pile. Anything else?”\nI don't know about that. This was... an unpleasant discovery. I'm not sure I want to find what else is down here. \n\n\n\n[[Take the time to search the armchair.|S2_P6]]\n[[Hurry and hide in the far side of the room.|S2_P5]]\n\n/% \tTake the time to search the armchair. ->S2_P6\nHurry and hide in the far side of the room. -> S2_P5\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
<center>\n\n/% [img[fm-cover-v1_page]] %/\n\nFollowing Me\n\nby Tia Orisney\n\n\n[[START|s0_p0]]\n\n</center>
<center>Prologue:\n\n<b>A Walk in the Woods</b>\n\n[[Begin|S0_P1]]\n\n<<set $haveCoats = "false">>\n\n<<set $haveGlove = "false">>\n\n<<set $wasAggressive = "false">>\n\n<<set $hasGun = "false">>\n\n<<set $beenToChair = "false">>\n\n<<set $wentLake = "false">>\n\n<<set $wentOutFront = "false">>\n\n<<set $sawBullets= "false">>\n\n<<set $sawGraves= "false">>\n\n<<set $yesFlashlight= "false">>\n\n<<set $hasPhone= "false">>\n\n/% %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n</center>
/% \tS4_P6\t %/\n\n\nI remember seeing a movie where a girl who was being kidnapped turned the cigarette lighter on with her knee and shoved it in the eye of her attacker. Unfortunately that ended pretty badly for her and I don't really see how it could help me. A lighter doesn't have a lot of stopping power and at best I'd just piss the Younger Man off. At worst the car might swerve out of control and crash and possibly kill us both in the process.\nOkay, got to scrap the lighter idea. That leaves the cellphone.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P7]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P7\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P1\t %/\n\n\nI wake up to a mix of cold and pain. The pain comes from yet another injury to my skull, I'd hate to see my own reflection right now. The cold comes from outside where my face is apparently pressed against something icy and shaking. I really don't want to see what it is. I know that this night has been more than just a bad dream and opening my eyes won't wake me up to the safety of my own room. Duty calls though and I'm not finished yet so I force a deep breath in and out before finally cracking open an eyelid.\nI'm inside their truck and the cold thing pressed on my face is apparently the passenger side window. It's still very dark outside but I can see the first hint of an uneven brightness on the horizon peaking out through the pine trees. We're driving uphill on an icy gravel road and it's not much of a leap to guess I'm being taken back up to the cabin. \nI turn my head very slightly, trying to keep the movement from giving away that I'm awake. The Younger Man is driving with his rifle propped up on his knee. His eyes are focused straight ahead and it seems like the driving on the slippery conditions of the road are drawing all his attention. \n\n\n\n<<if $wentLake eq "true">>\n[[Continue |S4_P2]]\n<<else if $wentLake eq "false">>\n[[Continue |S4_P3]]\n<<else>>\n[[Continue |S4_P3]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P0\t %/\n<center>\nSection 4: Paging Dr. Kat.\n<<set $hasPhone= "false">>\n\n[[Start.|S4_P1]]\n</center>\n\n\n/% \t\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P28\t %/\n\n\nI push in the plunger and that's it. Just one second and that's all it took. \nI set the now empty syringe on the floor next to me, scratching the edge of the fire poker I'd hidden with one of my nails to reassure myself that it's still there.\nI lean back on my heels and stare at the Older Man for a moment, pretending to check his pulse. He's not going to die immediately, he'll stay unconscious the whole time and in an hour or so...\n“I'm done,” I tell the Younger Man, not looking at him even if I can feel his gaze burning into the back of my head. “Where's my sister? I want to see her.”\nHis deep sigh shifts the air around me. “Yeah... About that.” \nI hear the rifle click as he cocks back the hammer and I squeeze my eyes shut, torn between the idea of trying to fight back or just letting him shoot me and be over with it.\nSuddenly a creak comes from the other room and my eyes snap open. The little spots of light coming from the gap in the boards over the front door shift position. It's too dark to see what's happening over there but the creak comes again, this time from inside the house.\n“Hey!” I call out to the Younger Man suddenly, trying to distract him. No surprise he has the rifle pointed at my head but his expression seems almost apologetic \n“You said I could go after this!” I whine. “You promised!” That's not exactly true but he takes a step back as I rise to my feet, clutching the fire poker in my hand.\n“Don't try it,” he warns, shaking his head at me. “Just close your eyes and-”\nAnother noise from behind him and I see a glint of blonde hair at the edges of the light. Just as he spins around I lash out, grabbing the candle off the table and blowing it out, making the room dark once again.\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P29]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P29\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P29\t %/\n\n\nThe next few seconds happen so quickly I can't really describe it. There's a gunshot and a flash of light. Followed by a lot of screaming. I'm screaming, so is Aria, so is the Younger Man. He's shouting something about his leg and “that fucking bitch”. Then I see his outline get struck by something and the rifle flies out of his grip. \nI lunge at him, throwing my full bodyweight into my flying tackle. He falls to his knees and I swing the fire poker around his neck, trying to choke him out. \n“Move it!” Aria's voice howls at me. I can see the outline of the rifle in her hands. “Move and I'll shoot him!”\nHe tries to buck me off his back but there's something wrong with his knee and he the lack of oxygen's robbing him of his usual strength. Yeah, how do you like being on the other end of this, asshole?!\n“MOVE!” Aria screams at me again.\n\n\n\n[[Let her shoot him.|S4_P30]]\n[[Knock him out instead.|S4_P31]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE \n1) Let her shoot him. ->S4_P30\n2) Knock him out instead. -> S4_P31\n %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P3\t %/\n\n \nWhat's odd is that even though he's got the heater on full blast he's shivering slightly. I'm also incredibly cold but maybe I've gotten so used to it I don't really notice anymore.\nAfter he'd knocked me out he must have dragged me for quite a ways through the snow back to his truck. But why bother? He'd just spent a good portion of the night chasing me through the woods and trying to kill me. I doubt his sudden change of heart could be from his conscience catching up with him.\nI shift slightly and that's when I notice that my wrists are duct-taped together. There are several more loops wrapped around just above my elbows, pinning my arms to my sides. It feels like I also have a piece over my mouth. I guess he didn't want me screaming and giving him a headache. \nI wiggle my arms a little and there's some slack in the tape. I guess he was probably too tired to do a better job of tying me up and because my clothing is wet the tape isn't really sticking. With enough effort I could probably wriggle out of it but I need a plan first.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P4]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P4\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P21\t %/\n\n\n“In the very least I'm going to need hot water and towels. You've got those?”\nHe looks through the open framework wall at the kitchen and shakes his head. “No water. Power's off,” is his brief answer.\n Oh for fuck's sake..\nI open my medical bag and stare at its' contents skeptically. “How about alcohol then? I'm going to need some disinfectant.”\n“Yeah, got plenty of that.” \nI have to look away so he doesn't see me roll my eyes. Of course they would. Go figure.\n“Hold on,” he turns to go to the other room but thinks better about it and backs away, keeping his rifle on me. “Don't move a muscle,” he warns but I know it's a largely empty threat. I think I've gotten through to him about the severity of the situation and how he has to keep me alive. For right now at least.\nHe backs into the kitchen and I hear him open a drawer. The moment his attention is diverted I grab a scalpel from my medical bag and I'm about to hide in on the floor under the couch when I notice that there's something already there. I glance up but the Younger Man's still busy with whatever he's doing in there so I tuck the scalper into my boot and pull the other object out. A fire poker? No, a bloody fire poker. The blood's still fresh and smears onto my fingers.\nThen another noise comes from outside. A snap and creak in the direction of the front porch. Okay... I think someones trying to tell me something...\nI quickly slip the poker back under the edge of the couch, keeping it close to me but out of sight. The Younger Man starts walking back, carrying a metal bowl and a bottle of something in one hand and his rifle in the other. I wipe the blood on my hand onto the couch upholstery, figuring it'd get disguised by all the other stains on there.\n“Here,” he says, dropping the items onto the floor and kicking them over to me so he doesn't have to get too close. \nInside the metal bowl is a wadded up towel. I pick it up from a corner and eye it distastefully. Wonderful, a dirty, bacteria-soaked dishrag covered in what I choose to believe is grease. Exactly what everyone with a major internal injury needs.\nThe bottle is some sort of cheap off brand vodka. Just like the crap Aria would drink because she was too cheap to by anything half decent. I pour a good measure into the bowl and take a long swig myself as the events of the evening start to flood back to me. Nope, can't think about that now. I start coughing and shove the bottle away from me. God that's vile.\nThe Younger Man snorts and shakes his head at me but offers no other reaction. \nOkay, I guess it's time to get to work...\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P24]]\n\n/% \tCONT S4-P24\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P22\t %/\n\n\n“In the very least I'm going to need hot water and towels. You've got those?”\nHe looks through the open framework wall at the kitchen and shakes his head. “No water. Power's off,” is his brief answer.\n Oh for fuck's sake...\nI open my medical bag and stare at its; contents skeptically. “How about alcohol then? I'm going to need some disinfectant.”\n“Yeah, got plenty of that.” \nI have to look away so he doesn't see me roll my eyes. Of course they would. Go figure.\n“Hold on,” he turns to go to the other room but thinks better about it and backs away, keeping his rifle on me. “Don't move a muscle,” he warns but I know it's a largely empty threat. I think I've gotten through to him about the severity of the situation and how he has to keep me alive , for right now at least.\nHe backs into the kitchen and I hear him open a drawer. The moment his attention is diverted I grab a scalpel from my medical bag and I'm about to hide in on the floor under the couch when I notice that there's something already there. I glance up but the Younger Man's still busy with whatever he's doing in there so I tuck the scalper into my boot and pull the other object out. A fire poker? No, a bloody fire poker. The blood's still fresh and smears onto my fingers.\nI peek down again, checking to see if that box of bullets I saw earlier is still there. It's not. The room's been torn up more since I last saw it. Possibly they got kicked out and are somewhere around- \nThen another noise comes from outside. A snap and creak in the direction of the front porch. Okay... I think someones trying to tell me something...\nThe Younger Man starts walking back, carrying a metal bowl and a bottle of something in one hand and his rifle in the other. I quickly slip the poker back under the edge of the couch, keeping it close to me but out of sight. \n“Here,” he says, dropping the items onto the floor and kicking them over to me so he doesn't have to get too close. \nInside the metal bowl is a wadded up towel. I pick it up from a corner and eye it distastefully. Wonderful, a dirty, bacteria-soaked dishrag covered in what I choose to believe is grease. Exactly what everyone with a major internal injury needs.\nThe bottle is some sort of cheap off brand vodka. Just like the crap Aria would drink because she was too cheap to by anything half decent. I pour a good measure into the bowl and take a long swig myself as the events of the evening start to flood back to me. Nope, can't think about that now. I start coughing and shove the bottle away from me. God that's vile.\nThe Younger Man snorts and shakes his head at me but offers no other reaction. \nOkay, I guess it's time to get to work...\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P24]]\n\n/% \tCONT S4-P24\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P2\t %/\n\n\nWhat's odd is that he's completely soaked and shivering slightly even though he's got the heater on full blast. Then I realize that I'm also half frozen, just with everything else that had happened I hadn't really noticed until this moment. \nI guess he'd gone into the lake after me? Why? He'd spent a good portion of the night chasing me through the woods and trying to kill me. I doubt his sudden change of heart could be from his conscience catching up with him.\nI shift slightly and that's when I notice that my wrists are duct-taped together. There are several more loops wrapped around me above my elbows, pinning my arms to my sides. It feels like I also have a piece over my mouth. I guess he didn't want me screaming and giving him a headache. \nI wiggle my arms a little and there's some slack in the tape. I guess he was probably too tired to do a better job of tying me up and because my clothing is wet the tape isn't really sticking. With enough effort I could probably wriggle out of it but I need a plan first.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P4]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P4\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P25\t %/\nI start by swabbing the area around the wound with the dishcloth soaked in vodka. I don't have enough clean dressings to do this properly but right now bacterial contamination is the least of his problems. The Older Man barely shows any reaction even though the alcohol must be stinging terribly. \nI check the pulse on his neck: weak and unsteady. It really wouldn't take much for him to die right now. I peek from the corner of my eye at the insulin bottle on the table. \nOkay, so there's that. Keeping my head low so that the Younger Man can't see my expression I pretend to immerse myself in the task at hand as I finally allow my repressed thoughts to run unbidden.\nHow many other people have they done this to? How many have they kidnapped and tortured or just killed on the spot because they had the misfortune of being at the wrong place and the wrong time? I know of at least one more: that body we found back at the hiking trail. \nAnd of course there's the original owners of this cabin. I can make an easy guess about what must have happened to them. There were those graves I found outside at the back of the house. Is that where they put the family who owned this place? Or maybe they were meant for us. Is Aria in one of them right now? Did the Older Man kill her and bury her out there and now his son is lying that she's still alive so I can have the honor of saving her murderer?\nIt's this final thought that makes me reach for the bottle on the table. The Younger Man is watching me intently but he hasn't said a word. I almost feel sorry for him that he's so unaware of the murderous thoughts in my head. \nI pull out a syringe and fill it to the brim with the clear liquid. That should be enough to do it.\nIt's going to be too easy, really. I'm absolutely doing the right thing. My hand starts to shake as pull the sleeve of my patient's shirt up past his elbow. Hopefully the Younger Man doesn't notice how upset I am. I tip my head down, letting my hair block my face as I press the needle against his vein. \nI hesitate at the last moment. This isn't murder. This is me saving the life of their next victim. In all likelihood I'm about to die as soon as I'm done with him. If this is the last thing I do with my life I want to make it count.\nMy eyes are getting blurry. I hear another noise from outside but I really couldn't give a shit right now. I'm trying to convince myself to do something I know is wrong. Just fucking do it. Do it! But I can't quite force my fingers to press down on the plunger. This is absolutely the right thing. This isn't murder!\nOh god fucking damnit...\n\n\n<<if $yesFlashlight eq "true">>\n[[Kill him. |S4_P27]]\n[[Put the needle down. |S4_P32]]\n<<else if $yesFlashlight eq "false">>\n[[Kill him. |S4_P28]]\n[[Put the needle down. |S4_P33]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Kill him. -> S4_P27 OR S4_P28\n2) Put the needle down. ->S4_P32 OR S4_P33\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P26\t %/\n\n\nI start by swabbing the area around the wound with the dishcloth soaked in vodka. I don't have enough clean dressings to do this properly but right now bacterial contamination is the least of his problems. The Older Man barely shows any reaction even though the alcohol must be stinging terribly. \nI check the pulse on his neck: weak and unsteady. It really wouldn't take much for him to die right now. I peek from the corner of my eye at the insulin bottle on the table. \nOkay, so there's that. Keeping my head low so that the Younger Man can't see my expression I pretend to immerse myself in the task at hand as I finally allow my repressed thoughts to run unbidden.\nHow many other people have they done this to? How many have they kidnapped and tortured or just killed on the spot because they had the misfortune of being at the wrong place and the wrong time? I know of at least one more: that body we found back at the hiking trail. \nAnd of course there's the original owners of this cabin. I can make an easy guess about what must have happened to them. \nIt's this final thought that makes me reach for the bottle on the table. The Younger Man is watching me intently but he hasn't said a word. I almost feel sorry for him that he's so unaware of the murderous thoughts in my head. \nI pull out a syringe and fill it to the brim with the clear liquid. That should be enough to do it.\nIt's going to be too easy, really. I'm absolutely doing the right thing. My hand starts to shake as pull the sleeve of my patient's shirt up past his elbow. Hopefully the Younger Man doesn't notice how upset I am. I tip my head down, letting my hair block my face as I press the needle against his vein. \nI hesitate at the last moment. This isn't murder. This is me saving the life of their next victim. In all likelihood I'm about to die as soon as I'm done with him. If this is the last thing I do with my life I want to make it count.\nMy eyes are getting blurry. I hear another noise from outside but I really couldn't give a shit right now. I'm trying to convince myself to do something I know is wrong. Just fucking do it. Do it! But I can't quite force my fingers to press down on the plunger. This is absolutely the right thing. This isn't murder!\nOh god fucking damnit...\n\n\n<<if $yesFlashlight eq "true">>\n[[Kill him. |S4_P27]]\n[[Put the needle down. |S4_P32]]\n<<else if $yesFlashlight eq "false">>\n[[Kill him. |S4_P28]]\n[[Put the needle down. |S4_P33]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Kill him. -> S4_P27 OR S4_P28\n2) Put the needle down. ->S4_P32 OR S4_P33\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P27\t %/\n\n\nI push in the plunger and that's it. Just one second and that's all it took. \nI set the now empty syringe on the floor next to me, scratching the edge of the fire poker I'd hidden with one of my nails to reassure myself that it's still there.\nI lean back on my heels and stare at the Older Man for a moment, pretending to check his pulse. He's not going to die immediately, he'll stay unconscious the whole time and in an hour or so...\n“I'm done,” I tell the Younger Man, not looking at him even if I can feel his gaze burning into the back of my head. “Where's my sister? I want to see her.”\nHis deep sigh shifts the air around me. “Yeah... About that.” \nI hear the rifle click as he cocks back the hammer and I squeeze my eyes shut, torn between the idea of trying to fight back or just letting him shoot me and be over with it.\nSuddenly a creak comes from the other room and my eyes snap open. The little spots of light coming from the gap in the boards over the front door shift position. It's too dark to see what's happening over there but the creak comes again, this time from inside the house.\n“Hey!” I call out to the Younger Man suddenly, trying to distract him. No surprise he has the rifle pointed at my head but his expression seems almost apologetic \n“You said I could go after this!” I whine. “You promised!” That's not exactly true but he takes a step back as I rise to my feet, clutching the fire poker in my hand.\n“Don't try it,” he warns, shaking his head at me. “Just close your eyes and-”\nAnother noise from behind him and I see a glint of blonde hair at the edges of the light. Just as he spins around I lash out, grabbing the flashlight off the table and turning it off, making the room dark once again.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4_P29]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P29\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P21\t %/\n\n\nI give a quick glance to the back side of our car where our spare keys are tied up behind the license plate. When I'd hidden them there weeks ago I was thinking about keeping them from falling out, not how to make it easy to get them out in a hurry. \nSo now what do we do? We have to distract this creepy old man while we try to unscrew the bolts with... with what? A twig or something? Hell, maybe I should ask him for a coin from our freaking purses. \nWe stop right in front of him, just out of arms reach. He drops his cigarette on the gravel next to our purses and stomps it out with his boot. Black leather cowboy boots that match his hat. Who the hell wears a cowboy hat at night? He hasn't said anything else, I guess he's waiting for us to speak up first.\n\n\n\n[[Be aggressive: Demand he step away from your vehicle.|S1_P23]]\n[[Be diplomatic: He hasn't threatened you yet, maybe he'll listen to reason.|S1_P33]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Be aggressive: Demand he step away from your vehicle. ->S1_P23\n2) Be diplomatic: He hasn't threatened you yet, maybe he'll listen to reason. ->S1_P33\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P20\t %/\n\nOkay... We're not spending the night out here and we shouldn't have to. We have to get to our car. It's as simple as that. \nI take a deep breath to try and steady my nerves and start walking towards the man with what I hope looks like a confident stride. Aria hesitates for a moment but soon I hear the gravel crunching along behind me.\n“Excuse me!” I call out to him. “Do you mind telling me what's going on here?” \nThat's right Kat, keep it polite but assertive.\nWith a grunt, he pushes himself off the hood he was leaning on. He turns to face us and I can see in his right hand some sort of strange walking stick type thing. Like a wooden cane with a curved silver handle and a metal point at the end. Shit, maybe I should have tried to find a rock or something to arm myself with first?\nHe takes a long drag from his cigarette as he watches us walk up. “Evening ladies,” his voice has the hoarseness of a heavy smoker. “I was wondering how long you'd be standing back there before you came to say hi.”\n\n\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P22]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P21]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P21]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P21 OR S1-P22\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P23\t %/\n\n\n“Sir, um... I don't know what you think you're doing but this is our car you've broken into.” I cross my arms over my chest. Do I look as ridiculous as I feel now? The gravel behind me crunches as Aria moves closer to me.\n“Oh sweetie,” I can hear the smile in his voice even if I can barely see it, “I already know that. My son called and told me we're expecting company tonight.”\nSon? Oh Jesus Christ...\n“What the hell does that even mean?” Aria snaps, pushing past me. Her anger's coming a bit out of left-field but I know how she feels. She bends to grab our purses up and the man slams his cane down on them, spearing through it with the point.\n“Uh-uh, honey. Those are mine now.”\nAria squeaks as I grab her arm and drag her back, giving us a little bit more distance from the rapidly deteriorating situation. I know she's scared, we both are. But you know what? It's two against one and I'm not going to let him intimidate us. We're both a lot younger than him and since he's got a cane I think we got a good chance of taking him in a fight. On the other hand this may be a horrible idea and we're about to find that out the hard way.\n\n\n\n[[Be aggressive, move him out of the way and get in your car.|S1_P24]]\n[[Be diplomatic: Tell him he can keep your purses and you wont have any problems.|S1_P34]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Be aggressive, move him out of the way and get in your car. ->S1_P24\n2) Be diplomatic: Tell him he can keep your purses and you wont have any problems. ->S1_P34\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P22\t %/\n\n\nI surreptitiously pat the hidden pocket of my coat to reassure myself that our keys are still there. Thank god we didn't loose our coats earlier. Now we have to get the creepy old man away from our car and we can get out of here.\nWe stop right in front of him, just out of arms reach. He drops his cigarette on the gravel next to our purses and stomps it out with his boot. Black leather cowboy boots that match his hat. Who the hell wears a cowboy hat at night? He hasn't said anything else, I guess he's waiting for us to speak up first.\n\n\n\n[[Be aggressive: Demand he step away from your vehicle.|S1_P23]]\n[[Be diplomatic: He hasn't threatened you yet, maybe he'll listen to reason.|S1_P33]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Be aggressive: Demand he step away from your vehicle. ->S1_P23\n2) Be diplomatic: He hasn't threatened you yet, maybe he'll listen to reason. ->S1_P33\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P25\t %/\n\n\nThe older man snorts and steps away from us, picking his cane up from the ground where it must have fallen when Aria jumped on him. “No worries, Son. These two got a little... feisty, that's all.”\nHolding my hand up against the light, I can see that the younger man is slumped slightly to the side as he caries something large over his shoulder. A hint of dark teal wool coat peaks out and I realize that he's carrying back the body from earlier, wrapped up in our coats. \nI hug Aria behind me, trying to cover her up as much as possible as we huddle crouched at the edge of our car. “We should run,” she whispers to me hoarsely. I glance up at the broken window. If we're fast enough we could open the door and get inside right now but we don't have the keys. They were in my coat pocket which is slung over the... Oh shit.\nI risk a peek up through the passenger window and I can see flickers of headlights in the distance as another car starts driving down the main highway. If we can get to the road before they pass we can jump in front of it and they'll have to stop for us. It's not a great idea but it's all I've got right now.\n\n\n \n<<if $wasAggressive eq "true">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P31]]\n<<else if $wasAggressive eq "false">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<else>>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT ->S1_P31 OR S1_P32\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P24\t %/\n\nHard way it's going to be, apparently. I grab the man's arm and try to drag him away from the front door. I only get a few syllables into my “Sir, we didn't-” speech when he slams the head of his cane across my face. Spitting blood, I fall to the ground and get my feet tangled up in the strap of my very own purse. \nI hear Aria shout something at him but my head's still ringing and he hits me again across my ribs. I do the only thing I can think of: I grab a snowy handful of the gravel under me and hurl it at him as hard as I can, hoping to hit him in the eyes or something. Aria lunges forward, trying to knock him down, and he throws the drivers door open, knocking her off her feet. H grabs her and drags her part way into the car before slamming the door on her again. She falls down in a heap in front of me just as I'm dragging myself back up. \nSuddenly a gunshot cracks like lightning next to my ear. I immediately drop, crouching over Aria as we're both showered by a spray of glass as the back window shatters. \nA bright light is shined on us and my eyes had gotten so used to the twilight that I'm blinded for a second. The older man takes the opportunity to kick me again, not as much as before but in the same spot on my side and I clench my teeth to keep from crying out.\n “What the hell are you doing?!” Aria screams hoarsely as she tries to wrestle out from under my arms but I hold onto her tight. Squinting against the glare, I see a figure with a flashlight walking towards us from the edge of the forest.\n“Goddamn Dad, you need some help over here?” He addresses the older man and I instantly recognize his voice from earlier.\n\n<<set $wasAggressive = "true">>\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P26]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P25]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P25]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P25 OR S1_P26\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n
/% \tS1_P27\t %/\n\n\nWe don't have any time to second guess ourselves. Without giving any warning I throw the drivers door open and hurl myself in. I fumble with my shaking fingers and the keys and Aria dashes around to the other side.\n“GO!” I shout, partly to myself and partly so Aria knows to jump in the back or whichever door is closest. The older man lunges for me but I lock my door just in time. He tries to reach through the open window and I smash his fingers with my elbow and shove him away. Suddenly I hear Aria scream and see her silhouette running up the hill towards the road instead of towards-\nThe older man grabs my hair through the open window yanks my head back violently before shoving me forward against the steering wheel, trying to knock me out. He doesn't have enough leverage and instead my jaw gets smashed against the horn and the car keys drop out of my grip. My lip's split but I'm able to twist myself in the seat and kick him in the face. \nHe falls away from the car, howling curses, and I hear a gunshot outside. The younger man's shooting at Aria but she's still running and is almost halfway up the hill. The lights of the other car on the highway are getting closer, if I use the horn maybe they'll hear it? \n\n\n\n[[Use the horn again, try to alert the passing car.|S1_P28]]\n[[Turn the car on and try to run the men over.|S1_P29]]\n[[Jump out of the passenger seat and run after Aria. |S1_P30]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Use the horn again, try to alert the passing car. ->S1_P28\n2) Turn the car on and try to run the men over. -> S1_P29\n3) Jump out of the passenger seat and run after Aria. Maybe you can tackle the man from behind and take his gun? ->S1_P30\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P26\t %/\n\n\nThe older man snorts and steps away from us, picking his cane up from the ground where it must have fallen when Aria jumped on him. “No worries, Son. These two got a little... feisty, that's all.”\nHolding my hand up against the light, I can see that the younger man is slumped slightly to the side as he caries something large over his shoulder. A hint of dark blue plaid peaks out and I realize that he's carrying back the body from earlier.\nI hug Aria behind me, trying to shield her as much as possible as we huddle crouched at the edge of our car. “We should run,” she whispers and I peek up into the open door. The fucking steering wheel's right there and I've got the keys, but won't he shoot me before I can even turn the engine on? \nI risk a glance up through the passenger window and I can see flickers of headlights in the distance as another car starts driving down the main highway. If we run for it we might be able to reach there in time before it passes.\n\n\n\n[[Jump in the car and drive off.|S1_P27]]\n<<if $wasAggressive eq "true">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P31]]\n<<else if $wasAggressive eq "false">>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<else>>\n[[Run for the highway. |S1_P32]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Jump in the car and drive off. ->S1_P27\n2) Run for the highway. >S1_P31 OR S1_P32\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P29\t %/\n\n\nI flip over and desperately run my fingers across the floor of the car, trying to find where the keys fell. Broken glass from the window cuts into my knees and nicks my skin but I barely even notice. Suddenly I'm yanked back up as the older man grabs me again and tries to drag me out the window. How could he possibly be so strong? He uses a cane for fucks sake!\nMore bits of broken glass dig into my back as I lash out and claw at his face. I know that if I can dig my fingers into his eyeballs he'll go into shock, but he's surprisingly strong and manages to get me into a headlock. Spots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the shadow of the younger man catches up to her. I try to scream. If the people in the car hear me they'll see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance. Or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P28\t %/\n\n\nI slam my fist against the horn, nearly breaking it in my desperation. Another gunshot comes from outside and I see that the younger man is closing the distance to Aria. I try to blink the headlights so the passing car will see them, but I'm jerked away from the wheel by the older man. He starts to drag me out of the window and bits of broken glass dig into my back as I lash out and claw at his face. I know that if I can dig my fingers into his eyeballs he'll go into shock, but he's surprisingly strong and manages to get me into a headlock.\n Spots starts to fill my vision as I hear Aria cry out again as the shadow of the younger man catches up to her. I try to scream. If the people in the car hear me they'll see what's happening. All that comes out is a breathless wheeze. The lights quickly fade into the distance. Or maybe it's my vision fading to black. I'm not sure which one happened first.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT S2_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P34\t %/\n\n\nThe next few seconds happen so quickly I can't really describe it. There's a gunshot and a flash of light. Followed by a lot of screaming. I'm screaming, so is Aria, so is the Younger Man. He's shouting something about his leg and “that fucking bitch”. Then I see his outline get struck by something and the rifle flies out of his hands. \nI lunge at him, throwing my full bodyweight into my flying tackle. He falls to his knees and I swing the fire poker around his neck, trying to choke him out. \n“Move it!” Aria's voice howls at me. I can see the outline of the rifle in her hands. “Move and I'll shoot him!”\nHe tries to buck me off his back but there's something wrong with his knee and he the lack of oxygen's robbing him of his usual strength. Yeah, how do you like being on the other end of this, asshole?!\n“MOVE!” Aria screams at me again.\nI can't let her kill him but I know that as soon as I let him we're going to be in trouble. I can barely keep him from knocking me off even though he should be nearly unconscious by now. \n\n[[Grab Aria and run.|S4_P36]]\n[[Try to knock him out.|S4_P39]]\n/%\n<<if $sawGraves eq "true">>\n[[Grab Aria and run. |S4_P35]]\n<<else if $sawGraves eq "false">>\n[[Grab Aria and run.|S4_P36]]\n<<else>>\n[[Grab Aria and run. |S4_P36]]\n<<endif>>\n\n%/\n/%\n<<if $sawGraves eq "true">>\n[[Grab Aria and run.|S4_P35]]\n<<else if $sawGraves eq "false">>\n[[Grab Aria and run.|S4_P36]]\n<<endif>>\n%/\n\n/% CHOICE \n1) Grab Aria and run. -> S4_P35 OR S4_P36\n2) Try to knock him out.\t-> S4_P39\n %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n\n\n
/% \tS4_P37\t %/\n\n\nWe push forward, deeper into the forest that had been so alarming in the dark of night and is now actually kind of beautiful with the first lights of dawn. When we get far enough away from the house we stop to catch our breath and listen.\nNothing. Just the birds in the trees. That's a good sign.\nI look over at Aria and give her an up and down inspection. Her face is covered in bruises and scratches and she has that wound on her leg but she doesn't seem in desperate need of help. I notice that she's wearing a torn black wool coat that I'd never seen before. Some other time I'm going to ask her what happened in here but for right now I don't think either of us are quite up to that particular conversation.\nWe get up and walk a little further. I break off a pine branch for Aria to use as a walking stick and pull out the cellphone I'd stolen earlier. It takes a few more minutes before we get to a more open area of the trees where we can get reception.\nI dial 911 and start laughing. “They've put me on hold,” I tell Aria and she shakes her head at me in disbelief. \n“Good thing we're not in an emergency or anything like that,” she mutters.\nFor some reason that comment strikes me as unbelievably funny. We've survived everything else this night had thrown our way, I guess that a bit of waiting isn't going to hurt us. We're together and we're both okay.\nFor right now that's all I need.\n\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n[[link to design materials|http://fmdesignmaterials.weebly.com/]]
/% \tS4_P36\t %/\n\n\n“Hit him!” I shout and Aria doesn't have to be told twice. She trikes him hard across the face with the butt of his rifle and his head snaps to the side. He falls to his knees and I lunge off him, shoving my foot into his backside to knock him onto the floor.\nI grab Aria's wrist and hurl us to the back door, running so fast we slam into it and knock off one of the boards over the window.\nI throw the door open and yank her forward, dragging her at top speed to a pile of firewood placed like a ladder against the fence line. I notice now that she's limping badly and has blood staining her jeans from a wound over her right knee so I shove my hand under her armpit and let her lean on me. I take the rifle out of her other hand and push her up the first of the slippery logs.\nA noise comes from behind me and I whirl around, fully expecting to see the Younger Man charging out after us. Instead there's a slam from the front side of the house and I realize that he's starting the truck. Maybe he's carried his dad out and is racing to the hospital? I don't know, I'm only guessing. Part of me feels regret that they might get away and never be brought to justice, but the bigger part of me is just so unbelievably relieved.\nI hope over the fence in front of Aria and help her down. Even if the Younger Man's coming after us I know that the woods here is too dense to drive through. And we have his rifle. He may have a second gun but at least we're on an even playing field now.\n\n[[Continue. |S4_P38]]\n\n/%\n<<if $hasPhone eq "true">>\n[[Continue. |S4_P37]]\n<<else if $hasPhone eq "false">>\n[[Continue. |S4_P38]]\n<<endif>>\n%/\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P37 OR S4_P38\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n\n
/% \tS4_P35\t %/\n\n\n“Hit him!” I shout and Aria doesn't have to be told twice. She trikes him hard across the face with the butt of his rifle and his head snaps to the side. He falls to his knees and I lunge off him, shoving my foot into his backside to knock him onto the floor.\nI grab Aria's wrist and hurl us to the back door, running so fast we slam into it and knock off one of the boards over the window.\nI throw the door open and yank her forward, dragging her at top speed to the pile of wood I'd climbed over when I'd first escaped into the woods. I notice now that she's limping badly and has blood staining her jeans from a wound over her right knee so I shove my hand under her armpit and let her lean on me. I take the rifle out of her other hand and push her up the first of the slippery logs.\nA noise comes from behind me and I whirl around, fully expecting to see the Younger Man charging out after us. Instead there's a slam from the front side of the house and I realize that he's starting the truck. Maybe he's carried his dad out and is racing to the hospital? I don't know, I'm only guessing. Part of me feels regret that they might get away and never be brought to justice, but the bigger part of me is just so unbelievably relieved.\nI hope over the fence in front of Aria and help her down. Even if the Younger Man's coming after us I know that the woods here is too dense to drive through. And we have his rifle. He may have a second gun but at least we're on an even playing field now.\n\n\n\n<<if $hasPhone eq "true">>\n[[Continue. |S4_P37]]\n<<else if $hasPhone eq "false">>\n[[Continue. |S4_P38]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4_P37 OR S4_P38\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P23\t %/\n\n\n“Can you at least turn the lights on?” I snap, pulling the single candle on the end table closer. It's so dark in here, I don't know how he can possibly expect me to operate like this.\n“Can't.” He mutters it so quietly I can barely hear him. When I frown he gives me the pissiest of expressions. “Your sister broke them.”\nI look up at the ceiling where there's a 5-bulb mini chandelier hanging over the couch. It seems to be completely intact.\n“The fusebox,” he explains, looking both angry and slightly embarrassed. “When I came back in, someone had smashed it up.”\nAll I can do is stare at him, speechless and trying to imagine what could have possibly happened in this cabin while I was running through the woods.\n“How about your flashlight?” I ask after a long moment. “Can I have that at least?”\nHe hesitates then nods, unhooking it from his belt loop and kicking it across the floor over to me. It occurs to me that if it's dark in here I can use that to my advantage. I blow out the candle and put it to the side before picking up the flashlight and setting it at a good angle on the table. It would be better if he'd hold it for me but I'm not going to even bother trying to ask. \n\n<<set $yesFlashlight= "true">>\n\n<<if $sawBullets eq "true">>\n[[Ask him to bring more supplies. |S4_P22]]\n<<else if $sawBullets eq "false">>\n[[Ask him to bring more supplies. |S4_P21]]\n<<else>>\n[[Ask him to bring more supplies. |S4_P21]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT S4-P21 OR S4_P22\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n\n\n
/% \tS4_P33\t %/\n\n\nI can't do it. As much as I tell myself that the world would be a better place without this monster in it I just can't bring myself to do it.\nI pull the needle out of his vein and set it on the floor next to me. With the minimal lighting in here I doubt the Younger man could tell that the syringe was still full. I slick a fingernail across the edge of the fire poker I'd hidden under the couch to reassure myself that it's still there.\nI lean back on my heels and stare at the Older Man for a moment. His breath fogs the air slightly and I check his pulse. He's going to die if he doesn't get to a hospital soon, but I bought him at least an hour longer.\n“I'm done,” I tell the Younger Man, not looking at him even if I can feel his gaze burning into the back of my head. “Where's my sister? I want to see her.”\nHis deep sigh shifts the air around me. “Yeah... About that.” \nI hear the rifle click as he cocks back the hammer and I squeeze my eyes shut, torn between the idea of trying to fight back or just letting him shoot me and be over with it.\nSuddenly a creak comes from the other room and my eyes snap open. The little spots of light coming from the gap in the boards over the front door shift position. It's too dark to see what's happening over there but the creak comes again, this time from inside the house.\n“Hey!” I call out to the Younger Man suddenly, trying to distract him. No surprise he has the rifle pointed at my head but his expression seems almost apologetic \n“You said I could go after this!” I whine. “You promised!” That's not exactly true but he takes a step back as I rise to my feet, clutching the fire poker in my hand.\n“Don't try it,” he warns, shaking his head at me. “Just close your eyes and-”\nAnother noise from behind him and I see a glint of blonde hair at the edges of the light. Just as he spins around I lash out, grabbing the candle off the table and blowing it out, making the room dark once again.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P34]]\n\n/% CONT\t-> S4-P34\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P32\t %/\n\n\nI can't do it. As much as I tell myself that the world would be a better place without this monster in it I just can't bring myself to do it.\nI pull the needle out of his vein and set it on the floor next to me. With the minimal lighting in here I doubt the Younger man could tell that the syringe was still full. I slick a fingernail across the edge of the fire poker I'd hidden under the couch to reassure myself that it's still there.\nI lean back on my heels and stare at the Older Man for a moment. His breath fogs the air slightly and I check his pulse. He's going to die if he doesn't get to a hospital soon, but I bought him at least an hour longer.\n“I'm done,” I tell the Younger Man, not looking at him even if I can feel his gaze burning into the back of my head. “Where's my sister? I want to see her.”\nHis deep sigh shifts the air around me. “Yeah... About that.” \nI hear the rifle click as he cocks back the hammer and I squeeze my eyes shut, torn between the idea of trying to fight back or just letting him shoot me and be over with it.\nSuddenly a creak comes from the other room and my eyes snap open. The little spots of light coming from the gap in the boards over the front door shift position. It's too dark to see what's happening over there but the creak comes again, this time from inside the house.\n“Hey!” I call out to the Younger Man suddenly, trying to distract him. No surprise he has the rifle pointed at my head but his expression seems almost apologetic \n“You said I could go after this!” I whine. “You promised!” That's not exactly true but he takes a step back as I rise to my feet, clutching the fire poker in my hand.\n“Don't try it,” he warns, shaking his head at me. “Just close your eyes and-”\nAnother noise from behind him and I see a glint of blonde hair at the edges of the light. Just as he spins around I lash out, grabbing the flashlight off the table and turning it off, making the room dark once again.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P34]]\n\n/% CONT\t-> S4-P34\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P31\t %/\n\n\nInstead of jumping away from the Younger Man I drop all my bodyweight backwards, using it to dig the fire poker deeper against his neck. He tries to shout something at me and it comes out as a choked garble. \n“Move!” Aria screams again and I shove my knee into his kidneys, knocking him back onto his knees when he starts to rise. How the hell can he still be so strong?!\nSuddenly he changes strategy and falls back against me, knocking us both onto our backs. He spins around and straddles me, grip closing relentlessly around my throat. Bright stars fill the dark room and I claw and kick at him. He'd almost been choked out for Christ's sake, I should be able to overpower him! I should be able to-\nA deafening crack and he partially collapses on top of me. I try to shove him off and his fingers squeeze around my wrist, still trying to subdue me. \nAnother crack and he falls to the side and I realize Aria's hitting him with the stock of the rifle. It seems only fitting after he's done that so many times to me...\nHe slumps off of me and tries to get back to his feet, leaning heavily on the couch next to us. My fingers close around the fire poker I'd dropped and I swing it almost blindly. It hits with an impact that reverberates up along my arm but I'm so frantic I barely even notice it. \nHe falls onto his knees on the floor but he still tries to reach for me. Aria jumps forward and strikes him one last time with the rifle and he finally collapses and goes still.\nFor a moment all I can hear is my own breathing. In the dim light I can see Aria hovered over him, rifle drawn back and ready in case he somehow springs back to consciousness.\n“Aria?” I call out to her breathlessly. “Are you okay?”\nShe looks at me and for a moment I barely even recognize her. Then she runs to me and crushes me in a bear-hug, squeezing so so tightly my already bruised ribs feel like hot coals. I bury one of my hands into her hair and use the other to pat her down, feeling for injuries. \n“Are you okay?” I ask again and she slowly unlatches herself from me.\n“Y-yeah.” Her voice is strung tight and it's not very convincing but I know what she means. \nI take a step towards the Younger Man and she catches my hand, trying to drag me back.\n“I need to check his pulse,” I tell her, pulling her with me. She reluctantly nods and picks up the rifle from where she'd dropped it..\nIt takes me a moment in the near darkness to find the main artery in his neck, but his breathing and pulse are both steady. I breath a shaky sigh of relief. We didn't kill him. He's just unconscious.\nI pull the car keys out of his vest and shove them into my front pocket. \n“Open the front door,” I tell Aria. “We need more light.”\n“What are you doing?” she asks, voice skeptical.\n“We have to tie him up. We're going to drive out of here and call the cops but we need to secure him first.”\nI step away from him and look around, trying to remember where there's any rope or... Well, there must be some duct tape somewhere. Back in the truck?\nI come up to standing and the room fills with bright light as Aria opens the door. The Younger Man has several wounds on his temples but nothing that he'll immediately die from. I can't bring myself to look at the Older Man quite yet. Even if we were to call an ambulance now it would be too late for them to do anything for him.\n“How about downstairs?” Aria says, coming to my side. \nOh, she wants us to lock the Younger Man up in the basement. Yes, that idea appeals to me very much.\nI grab one of his ankles and Aria grabs the other and we slowly drag him out of the room and into that dark hallway I'd run out of when I first escaped without her. Some other time I'm going to ask her what happened in here but for right now I don't think either of us are quite up to that particular conversation.\nI throw open the hatch and we roll him in over and inside, letting him tumble down the steps like he's a roll of carpeting. Sure, we could have handled him more carefully but... I didn't want to. \nI close the hatch and slide the fire poker through the two loops on it and the floor. That should be enough to keep him in there.\nHolding Aria's hand I lead us both out of the hallway and towards the front door.\n“What about him?” Aria asks, referring to the unmoving shape lying on the sofa.\n“He... he's dead.” \nThe two words hang between us and I tug on her, trying to prompt her to move and get out of here. She pauses and stares at the couch and I can't see her expression with her back to the light from the door.\n“Good.” She finally says and pushes past me.\nWhen we step outside onto the front porch it's already well into dawn and the rising sun glares into my eyes. I realize now that Aria's limping and her face is covered in bruises and scratches. She's wearing a torn black wool coat that I'd never seen before. I frown at it and I have to ask her one question before we can leave.\n“Aria?” My voice wavers. “Back there, when I was gone. Um...” I don't know exactly how to phrase this. “Did he... did he do anything to you?”\nShe pauses and blinks at me a few times before she interprets through my sister-speak what I'm really asking.\n“No. God no.” She shakes her head. “It wasn't... I mean when I escaped he tried to kill me but... It wasn't like that.” \nI exhale a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. “So you're okay?”\nShe offers me a weak smile. “Not really. But we're both still alive and that's what matters, right?”\nYeah, it is.\n“I'll drive,” I tell her, opening the door to the truck and sliding in behind the wheel. She/Aria shuffles over to the other side and I put the truck into drive and start slowly working our way down the icy road. Fine is the definitely wrong word. But we're both alive and we're both getting out of here. Together.\nFor right now that's all I need.\n\n\n\nTHE END\n\n/% \t-> END PANEL\t %/\n\n[[link to design materials|http://fmdesignmaterials.weebly.com/]]\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P30\t %/\n\n\nI drop the poker and leap away, kicking him in his back to get a little more leverage and distance. “Aria!” I yelp when he turns and tries to grab my ankle but she sends the first shot into his back and it drops him to his knees again. \n“Fuck!” he screams and I can't believe that he's still trying to get up. \nI hear the rifle click hollowly but either it's out of bullets or Aria doesn't know how to reload it. \nThe Younger Man grabs me by the collar of my shirt and throws me to the ground, grip closing relentlessly around my throat. Bright stars fill the dark room and I claw and kick at him. He's been shot for Christ's sake, I should be able to overpower him! I should be able to-\nA deafening crack and he partially collapses on top of me. I try to shove him off and his fingers squeeze around my wrist, still trying to subdue me. \nAnother crack and he falls to the side. I realize Aria's hitting him with the stock of the rifle. It seems only fitting after he's done that so many times to me...\nHe slumps off of me and tries to get back to his feet, leaning heavily on the couch next to us. My fingers close around the fire poker that I'd dropped and I swing it almost blindly. It hits with an impact that reverberates up along my arm but I'm so frantic I barely even notice it. \nI've heard of the term “seeing red” before but I always thought it was a figure of speech. Now I get it. All the emotions of the night come rushing out from the dark compartment I'd put them in and the edges of my vision literally glow red against the darkness of the room.\nI swing the poker and strike him again. Hot dots spray across my face and I spit out the awful metallic taste. Fucking hell I got his blood in my mouth! That's so unsanitary! I hit him again for that and Aria grabs my arms, trying to pull me off the now unmoving shape I hadn't even realized I'd pinned to the floor. I slam the poker into his head twice more before Aria's voice finally overpowers the ringing in my ears.\n“Kat! STOP!”\nSuddenly it all goes away as fast as it came. The room goes back to black as all the adrenaline leaves my body. I throw the poker to the side and I feel like vomiting as I desperately scrub at my face with my sleeve. The smell is everywhere...\n“Kat?!” Aria calls out to me again, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me. I collapse against her knees and I can't tell if I'm crying or dry-heaving.\n“Are you okay?!” she crouches and cups my face and I think I'm probably scaring her more now than anything else that just happened.\nNO! No, I'm really, really not okay right now!\n“Go,” I mutter incoherently, trying to pull the pieces together.\n“What?” She rises slightly, pulling me up with her.\n“Let's go.” I push her towards light at the front door. I want out of here. I can't even think. Let's just go...\n“Kat? Are you okay?” she tries again as I yank the door open, filling the room with bright light. The rising dawn sun blinds me and I turn to away to face her. She shrinks back slightly and I realize I'm leaning most of my weight on her. I guess I must look pretty bad.\nI take a deep breath in and out, (desperately???) trying to calm down. \n“I'm fine,” I say, hoping I sound more convincing than I feel. “Get the keys.”\nI push my weight off her and against the door frame. Parked in the yard in front of us it their truck.\nAria doesn't move. Instead she stares silently at me and tries to wipe at my face with her cuff. \n“They're in his vest pocket,” I tell her, shoving her away. I can't go back in there right now. I just can't.\nShe pauses a second before figuring out what I mean and going back into the room. As soon as she leaves I rush out of the doorway and lean over the broken railing of the porch, puking out the tiny contents of my stomach followed by a painful and caustic steam of bile. I shakily go down the steps and crouch in the snow, continuously scrubbing handfuls of it into my face and mouth until it stops coming back pink.\n“Kat?” \nI look over my shoulder and Aria's watching me from the porch. “I think I'd better drive,” she says, coming over to me and helping me up to my feet.\nI realize now that she's limping and her face is covered in bruises and scratches. She's wearing a torn black wool coat that I'd never seen before.\n“Are you okay?” It's now my turn to ask her. I tuck my hand under her armpit and help her take the weight off her hurt leg. She gives me a sidelong stare and struggles to find the right words. \n“I'll live,” she eventually settles on. \nWe get to the car and I take the keys from her. She's about to object but I've already got the door open and am sliding into the drivers seat. “It's fine,” I tell her. “I'm fine. Don't worry. Let's just get out of here.”\nShe shuffles over to the other side and I put the truck into drive and start slowly working our way down the icy road. Fine is the definitely wrong word. But we're both alive and we're both getting out of here. Together.\nFor right now that's all I need.\n\nTHE END\n\n/% \t-> END PANEL\t %/\n\n[[link to design materials|http://fmdesignmaterials.weebly.com/]]\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P39\t %/\n\n\nInstead of jumping away from him I drop all my bodyweight backwards, using it to dig the firepower deeper against his neck. He tries to shout something at me and it comes out as a choked garble. \n“Move!” Aria screams again and I shove my knee into his kidneys, knocking him back onto his knees when he starts to rise. How the hell can he still be so strong?!\nSuddenly he changes strategy and falls back against me, knocking us both onto our backs. He spins around and straddles me, grip closing relentlessly around my throat. Bright stars fill the dark room and I claw and kick at him. He'd almost been choked out for Christ's sake, I should be able to overpower him! I should be able to-\nA deafening crack and he partially collapses on top of me. I try to shove him off and his fingers squeeze around my wrist, still trying to subdue me. \nAnother crack and he falls to the side and I realize Aria's hitting him with the stock of the rifle. It seems only fitting after he's done that so many times to me...\nHe slumps off of me and tries to get back to his feet, leaning heavily on the couch next to us. My fingers close around the fire poker I'd dropped and I swing it almost blindly. It hits with an impact that reverberates up along my arm but I'm so frantic I barely even notice it. \nHe falls onto his knees on the floor but he still tries to reach for me. Aria jumps forward and strikes him one last time with the rifle and he finally collapses and goes still.\nFor a moment all I can hear is my own breathing. In the dim light I can see Aria hovered over him, rifle drawn back and ready in case he somehow springs back to consciousness.\n“Aria?” I call out to her breathlessly. “Are you okay?”\nShe looks at me and for a moment I barely even recognize her. Then she runs to me and crushes me in a bear-hug, squeezing so tightly my already bruised ribs feel like hot coals. I bury one of my hands into her hair and use the other to pat her down, feeling for injuries. \n“Are you okay?” I ask again and she slowly unlatches herself from me.\n“Y-yeah.” Her voice is strung tight and it's not very convincing but I know what she means. \nI take a step towards the Younger Man and she catches my hand, trying to drag me back.\n“I need to check his pulse,” I tell her, pulling her with me. She reluctantly nods and picks up the rifle from where she'd dropped it.\nIt takes me a moment in the near darkness to find the main artery in his neck, but his breathing and pulse are both steady. I breath a shaky sigh of relief. We didn't kill him. He's just unconscious.\nI pull the car keys out of his vest and shove them into my front pocket. \n“Open the front door,” I tell Aria. “We need more light.”\n“What are you doing?” she says, voice skeptical.\n“We have to tie him up. We're going to drive out of here and call the cops but we need to secure him first.”\nI step away from him and look around, trying to remember where there's any rope or... Well, there must be some duct tape somewhere. Possibly back in the truck?\nI come up to standing and the room fills with bright light as Aria opens the door. The Younger Man has several wounds on his temples but nothing that he'll immediately die from. I look over the couch at the Older Man. I sure as hell am not taking him with us so he'll have to hang on his own until the police send an ambulance up here to get him.\n“How about downstairs?” Aria says, coming to my side. \nOh, she wants us to lock them up in the basement. Yes, that idea appeals to me very much.\nWe start with the Younger Man. I grab one of his ankles and Aria grabs the other and we slowly drag him out of the room and into that dark hallway I'd run out of when I first escaped without her. Some other time I'm going to ask her what happened in here but for right now I don't think either of us are quite up to that particular conversation.\nI throw open the hatch and we roll him in over and inside, letting him tumble down the steps like he's a roll of carpeting. Sure, we could have handled him more carefully but... I didn't want to. \nWe handle the limp body of the Older Man slightly more gingerly. He's lighter and easier to move and when we send him sliding down the steps his Son is conveniently already lying there to soften to landing.\nI close the hatch and slide the fire poker through the two loops on it and the floor. That should be enough to keep them in there.\nHolding Aria's hand I lead us both out of the hallway and towards the front door. When we step outside onto the front porch it's already well into dawn and the rising sun glares into my eyes. I realize now that Aria's limping and her face is covered in bruises and scratches. She's wearing a torn black wool coat that I'd never seen before. I frown at it and I have to ask her one question before we can leave.\n“Aria?” My voice wavers. “Back there, when I was gone. Um...” I don't know exactly how to phrase this. “Did he... did he do anything to you?”\nShe pauses and blinks at me a few times before she interprets through my sister-speak what I'm really asking.\n“No. God no.” She shakes her head. “It wasn't... I mean when I escaped he tried to kill me but... It wasn't like that.” \nI exhale a breath I hadn't even realized I was holding. “So you're okay?”\nShe offers me a weak smile. “Not really. But we're both still alive and that's what matters, right?”\nYeah, it is.\n“I'll drive,” I tell her, opening the door to the truck and sliding in behind the wheel. She/Aria shuffles over to the other side and I put the truck into drive and start slowly working our way down the icy road. Fine is the definitely wrong word. But we're both alive and we're both getting out of here. Together.\nFor right now that's all I need.\n\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n[[link to design materials|http://fmdesignmaterials.weebly.com/]]
/% \tS4_P38\t %/\n\n\nWe push forward, deeper into the forest that had been so alarming in the dark of night and is now actually kind of beautiful with the first lights of dawn. When we get far enough away from the house we stop to catch our breath and listen.\nNothing. Just the birds in the trees. That's a good sign.\nI look over at Aria and give her an up and down inspection. Her face is covered in bruises and scratches and she has that wound on her leg but she doesn't seem in desperate need of help. I notice that she's wearing a torn black wool coat that I'd never seen before. Some other time I'm going to ask her what happened in here but for right now I don't think either of us are quite up to that particular conversation.\nWe get up and walk a little further and I break off a pine branch for Aria to use as a walking stick. After a few more minutes the forest opens up to a clearing which leads to a slope heading steeply down into a valley. At the far end of the valley, around three or so miles ahead of us, is the black curving line of a paved road.\n“That's our way out of here,” I tell Aria. “You up to it?” \nShe gives me a faint smile. “Are there any other options?”\nI shake my head. If I'd managed to get the cellphone earlier maybe I could have called for help. But we don't have it so I guess we've got to walk out of here the hard way. No big deal, really. We've survived everything else this night had thrown our way, so I guess that a bit of waiting isn't going to hurt us. We're together and we're both okay.\nFor right now that's all I need.\n\n\n\nTHE END\n\n\n\n[[link to design materials|http://fmdesignmaterials.weebly.com/]]
/% \tS1_P18\t %/\n\nWe finally round the big bend in the trail that has that little wooden bridge and I know it's only a few more minutes until we're safely back at our car. It's getting darker now and I can't see far in any direction, but I don't think we're being followed. \nAria's been very quiet this whole time but she doesn't have to tell me how she's feeling right now. A part of me is terrified, and another part is slightly guilty that we didn't do anything for whoever that was back there. Maybe he or she was still alive and we could have overpowered the man and... and what? We'd drag the body back through the snow? We didn't even know how to get back to our car until he told us. \nI stop myself from falling into an endless line of what-if's and I squeeze Aria's hand tighter. She's slipping much more than I am because of those ridiculous “designer” winter boots she always wears that have no treads. Hopefully she'll learn from this and be a little more practical in the future.\nAnother minute passes in silence and we're almost there. I can see the faint lighter area where the trees break. Just a tiny bit more...\n“KAT!” Aria shouts suddenly, pulling me back from my monologue. “Jesus Christ Kat, there's someone by our car!”\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P19]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P19\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P19\t %/\n\nWe both immediately freeze in place, standing completely motionless and silent as we watch at the man leaning against the hood of our car. He's dressed all in black and his arms are crossed over his chest with his head is bowed low, a black cowboy hat covering his face. In the dim of twilight he almost looks like one of those strange cowboy cutout silhouettes people put in their front yards. There's a dark colored pickup truck parked behind him that wasn't there when we first pulled in. \n“Kat?” Aria's whisper is barely audible. I don't know if he's seen us yet but we weren't exactly being quiet as we came charging out of the clearing and running through the crunchy gravel of the parking lot. “What should we do?”\n“Shhh...” I quiet her immediately. The man hasn't moved at all and neither have we. I risk a glance back behind into the woods. The edge of the forest is nearly impassable with thick underbrush; we'd have to go back on the main trail we for a little bit before we could get into the more open forest. \nAnd what would we do next? Find some place to hide until morning? It's getting numbingly cold already and that other man is still out there somewhere. \nHowever, there's also the main highway as an option. It's only a short ways uphill from this parking lot, around 150 feet give or take. If any other cars pass by we can try to flag them down.\nA click sound comes from by the car and Aria's shoulders jump. The man leaning there has lit a cigarette and I can see his face briefly in the flash of the lighter. I'd guess he's somewhere in his 60s if not older. A long gray beard runs part way down his chest and he's staring at the ground in front of him. I shift my gaze down and both our purses are lying on the ground by his feet. I'd hidden them in the trunk before we'd left for our walk this afternoon. \nI suddenly notice that glass of the front drivers side window's been smashed in and is littering the ground like confetti. The man's lighter snaps closed and Aria and I exchange a helpless look.\n\n\n\n[[Confront the man.|S1_P20]]\n[[Run back into the woods, then circle around to the highway.|S1_P37]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Confront the man. -> S1_P20\n2) Run back into the woods, then circle around to the highway. ->S1_P37\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P14\t %/\n\nAll I have in my pockets is a single chapstic. I didn't take anything else because I didn't think we'd be gone very long. I open my palm and show it to him. “That's it. No phone.”\nThe man cranes his head to look, then nods. “Very good.” He turns his attention to my sister. “Now it's your turn, sweetie.”\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P15]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S1_P15\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/\n\n
/% \tS1_P15\t %/\n\nAria shifts slightly. “I don't have anything either.”\n“Uh-huh,” he says dryly and motions for her to hurry up.\nShe shrugs and backs away a few steps, keeping her hands firmly out of sight. “I told you, I don't have anything.” \nI frown at her, trying to keep her behind me. Aria, what are you...\nThe man rolls his eyes and steps forward, grin fading. “Sweetie, don't make me ask you again.”\nI elbow her roughly. Is she deliberately trying to get into fight? “Aria! Just...hurry up and do it.” \nShe gives me an exasperated sigh. “Fine! Here,” she angrily tosses a bag out of her pocket onto the ground by his feet. “That's all I've got.”\nI blink at it a few times. What the hell?\nThe man pokes at it with the end of his rifle, brows furrowed. Then he breaks out into a wide grin. “Oh sweetie, hope you don't mind if I keep that!” he laughs as he bends down to pick it up.\nI give her my “what the fuck” stare. All at once realization hits me. Oh goddamnit...“Jesus Aria, you brought some fucking pot with us?!” I hiss under my breath and we start hurriedly backing up the hill behind us. Sometimes I can't believe how stupid she can be. \n“Wrong way, ladies,” the man calls out. He's watching us with open amusement, twirling the plastic bag between his fingers. He points up at a hill to our left. “Your car's over there.”\nI look up but all I see is more trees. “How did you-”\n“Saw it when I pulled up. Only car in the lot. Now you can go on up that hill and you'll find the main path. You're only about a half mile from where you parked.” \nWith that, he turns and starts walking down the path, away from us. \nSeriously? We were almost there? If we hadn't followed these prints we'd be driving out of here right now?!\nGoddamnit... I grab Aria's wrist and start yanking her up the hill, alternating scrambling on the slippery ground and watching to make sure the man doesn't turn around. \n“I kept his lighter,” Aria whispers as she grabs onto a young pine tree to stabilize herself.\n“What?!” I ask, only paying her half attention.\n“Dad's old lighter,” she explains. “I had it in my pocket. That's why I hesitated to throw him the weed until I could hide it.”\nGreat. That's just great. I'll yell at her for that later.\nWe hurry on, never fully leaving the man from our line of sight. Just as we mount the crest he waves goodbye to us. “Have a good one, ladies!” he calls out before turning back towards the shape down the hill.\n\n\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P16]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tcONT -> S1_P16 OR S1_P17\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P16\t %/\n\nJust as promised, at the top of the hill we find the main trail that we'd started walking on this afternoon. It feels like a lot more than a few hours ago and the very last edges of sunlight are setting on the horizon. Ironically actually make it easier to see now that the snow isn't reflecting all the glare. The sky is a dark slate gray and I think there would be a full moon rising soon if it wasn't so cloudy.\nThere is a multitude of different footprints here going both in and out of the forest. Some of them are from us and other walkers but it's impossible to tell which is which and they're forming into icy puddles that making the trail even more slippery as they refreeze in the evening cool down.\nOur breath is fogging heavily in the air and I'd guess it's probably nearly freezing right now but I'm sweating under my wool coat. I can feel the car keys digging into my ribs from their hidden pocket lining. I'd completely forgotten I even had them with me but it's really lucky we managed to keep our coats or I don't know what we'd have done without them. \n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P18]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P18\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P17\t %/\n\nJust as promised, at the top of the hill we find the main trail that we'd started walking on this afternoon. It feels like a lot more than a few hours ago and the very last edges of sunlight are setting on the horizon. Ironically actually make it easier to see now that the snow isn't reflecting all the glare. The sky is a dark slate gray and I think there would be a full moon rising soon if it wasn't so cloudy.\nThere is a multitude of different footprints here going both in and out of the forest. Some of them are from us and other walkers but it's impossible to tell which is which and they're forming into icy puddles that making the trail even more slippery as they refreeze in the evening cool down.\nOur breath is fogging heavily in the air and I'd guess it's probably nearly freezing right now. Despite our panicked scramble up the hill I'm shivering in only my sweater. If that psycho was right and our car's just up ahead we shouldn't have far to go and-\nOh shit...\n“Aria!” I whisper, irrationally trying to keep my voice down even though I've checked behind us a thousand times to be sure we're not being followed.\n“What?!” she yelps, looking back to me. \n“I... I don't have the car keys.”\nShe blinks at me rapidly. “You what?!”\n“They were in my coat! I'd put them in the hidden pocket and...” What if that man has found them? Does he even know what our car looks like? When we first pulled up we were the only car there...\nAria seems torn between panic and anger, then I see the light bulb go off over her head. \n“You put the spare key back, didn't you?” \nI think back to when we last got locked out several weeks ago. “Yeah. I think so.” Our dad had taught us to always keep a spare key hidden behind the license plate. You can string it between the bolts with a thin piece of wire and you can unscrew them with something like a penny. I don't have any coins with me either, but anything thin and flat should do so at least we won't be stuck out here.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P18]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S1_P18\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P10\t %/\n\nI grab Aria's wrist and start dragging her up the hill, keeping our back facing away from the man. He suddenly starts laughing as he pulls something out of my coat pocket. It's the single black glove I'd picked up earlier.\n“Thanks Kat!” he calls out, bouncing it in the air at me. “I'd be mighty cold if I didn't have this!”\nAria slides slightly as we rush up the slippery bank. “What the hell was that?” she asks, scrambling past me.\n“God knows, let's get out of here.”\nWe hurry on, never fully leaving the man from our line of sight. Just as we mount the crest he waves goodbye to us. “Have a good one, ladies!” he calls out before turning back towards the shape down the hill.\n\n\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P16]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tcONT -> S1_P16 OR S1_P17\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P11\t %/\n\nI grab Aria's wrist and start dragging her up the hill, keeping our back facing away from the man. He picks up both our coats and slings them over his shoulder, watching us as we scramble up the slippery bank.\n“Kat?” Aria whispers, keeping her voice low. “I lost dad's old lighter.”\n It takes me a moment to figure out she that she's referring to her coat pockets.\nI glance back down. The man's turned around and is walking down the path, away from us, and carrying our coats with him. Damnit.\n“It... It doesn't matter,” I tell her. “Let's get out of here.”\nShe gives me an apologetic frown but right now that' the least of our problems. Just as we mount the crest he waves goodbye to us. “Have a good one, ladies!” he calls out before turning back towards the shape down the hill.\n\n\n\n<<if $haveCoats eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P16]]\n<<else if $haveCoats eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P17]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tcONT -> S1_P16 OR S1_P17\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
\n\n/% \tS1_P12\t %/\n\n\n“Um, sir...” I begin, trying not to sound so nervous. “We don't have our phones with us.”\nThe man raises his eyebrows skeptically. “Really?”\n“Yeah, we left them in our car,” Aria chimes in, catching my idea. \n“You expect me to believe that?” he asks. “You left them in your car? You're telling me you didn't take them out here with you?”\nI shake my head. “We didn't... y'know... We didn't want anyone to bother us.” \nA long pause as he regards us. “Sure. Sure. I like my quiet times, too,” he says with a nod. “Actually I was having a good one until I ran into our friend out here.” \nPresumably he's talking about the dark shape. I grab Aria's arm and start edging backwards up the path.\n“Hold on now,” he calls out, voice almost sing-song. “You got to prove it first. Show me your pockets.” His blunt demand stops us before we can take more than a few steps. \nAria and I exchange a look and she frowns and mouths “no” at me.\n“And why should we do that?” I ask him, still trying to talk our way out of this.\n“Because I asked nicely.” He twirls his rifle like a baton but his eyes don't share the same playful demeanor. “And so I know you're not lying. Show me that your pockets are empty and you two can be on your way.”\nAria looks up at me again and shakes her head. I don't like this either but refusing is going to make this worse for us. I tug on her sleeve and whisper “c'mon.” Just hurry up and we can leave.\nI reach into my coat pockets and grab the liner, turning them inside out.\n\n<<set $haveCoats = "true">>\n\n<<if $haveGlove eq "true">>\n[[continue |S1_P13]]\n<<else if $haveGlove eq "false">>\n[[continue |S1_P14]]\n<<else>>\n[[continue |S1_P14]]\n<<endif>>\n\n\n\n/% \tcONT -> S1_P13 OR S1_P14\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS1_P13\t %/\n\nAll I have in my pockets is a chapstic and the single glove I'd picked up earlier. I open my palm and show them to him. “See?” I ask. “That's it. No phone.”\n “Found my glove I see,” the man comments with a laugh. “Guess I lost it back there when I met our friend.” I move to toss it to him but he shakes his head. “Nah, you keep it. A little souvenir.” He nods at Aria. “Now it's your turn, sweetie.”\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S1_P15]]\n\n/% \tCONT ->S1_P15\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
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/% S0_P3\t %/\n\nI think about keeping the glove but it's black and I'm normally not superstitious but right now I don't want anything that could bring anymore bad luck. We're in a fair amount of trouble here and what good is one glove anyhow?\nI place it on top of the highest mound of snow in case the owner comes back for it and hurry down the hill after Aria who's already a good 20 feet ahead of me. At least we can still see the contrast of the footprints against the white ground well enough.\n\n\n<<set $haveGlove = "false">>\n\n[[Continue.|S0_P4]] \n\n/% CONT -> S0_P4 %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% S0_P2 %/\n\nI'm not normally superstitious but it's black and I don't want anything that could bring us anymore bad luck. On the other hand, we're in a fair amount of trouble and there's a real possibility we might have to spend the night out here. I only have those thin knit “Magic Gloves” with me and Aria's got her hands in her pockets. \nOkay, I slip the glove into my coat. Whoever the owner is didn't bother to come back for it so I'm going to count it as cleaning up litter. I turn and hurry down the hill after Aria who's already a good 20 feet ahead of me. At least we can still see the contrast of the footprints against the snow well enough.\n\n\n<<set $haveGlove = "true">>\n\n[[Continue.|S0_P4]]\n\n/% Continue. -> S0_P4 %/\n/% %/\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P40\t %/\n\nI pull the gun from my pocket. My best chance of getting us out of this is to shoot them, starting with the Older Man. I don't want it to come to this but if I have to, I'll pull the trigger. \nThe Older Man looks shocked when he sees the gun in my hands and pushes away from the table. “Let's not be hasty … now where did you find that little toy?”\n“You'd better get your son to let Aria go.” I warn, fighting to keep my voice steady.\nThe Younger Man turns to look. He's got Aria's legs tied to the chair and is holding her wrists as he readies more chain. “What the fuck?” he growls. He jerks the rifle strap off his shoulder and points it at me. \nThe Older Man is watching my gun. The barrel is shaking. My hands are shaking and I can't make them stop.\n“You know, I don't think she's got the constitution for this.” He smirks.\nThe Younger Man doesn't hear him or maybe he doesn't care. His eyes narrow, and his finger moves to the trigger.\nI leap to the side. Aria kicks at his legs and he stumbles as he's pulling the trigger. The bullet whizzes by, missing me by inches. I change my aim to the Younger Man and pull the trigger.\nClick.\nI think it's empty.\nClickclickclick.\nOh shit!\nThe Older Man smirks. “You finish up, boy, I'll take care of her.” He swings his cane at me again. It hits my fingers with a crunch. My whole arm goes numb and I drop the pistol.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P43]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P43\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P41\t %/\n\nI'm sick of that fucking cane. Let's see how he likes getting beaten with that thing for a change! \nI rush at him, closing the distance between us, and grab for it. \nThe Older Man laughs and holds it up high, out of the way.\nI punch him in the gut, aiming right for the solar plexus which is one of the most painful places to get hit. I'm rewarded with a choked sound and he doubles over. I snatch the cane from his hands and swing for the back of his head. \nAt the last moment, the he twists and grabs the end of the cane and tugs roughly, pulling me toward him. \nI'm losing my balance and have to let go or I'll fall. I jump back, narrowly avoiding another strike.\n“Oh, nice try. Did you want this?” He holds the cane up, balanced across his open palm, daring me to come closer and get it.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P43]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P43\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P42\t %/\n\nMy eyes are drawn to the medical bag lying on the table. It's next to the Older Man and it will be risky but I know that I packed several scalpels in there. If I can get the bag away from him and get one of those out I'll have a chance at this.\n“Now what are you looking at?” the Older Man asks.\nAdrenaline washes over me – he's a lot sharper than I'd thought. I turn and rush for the far side of the table.\nThe cane whistles through the air and clips me hard across my ribs, catching several bruises. I grab the medical bag and circle around, keeping the table between is. In the corner of my eye I can see that Aria's feet are bound and the Younger Man is chaining her arms. He's looked up from what he's doing and starts laughing at us.\nThe Older Man snarls and swings the cane again, catching the strap of my bag with the handle. He pulls firmly and I stagger. I have to let it go or I'll fall.\n“Okay, that's enough of that,” he says as he tosses the bag aside. \nI back away.\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S2_P43]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S2_P43\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS2_P43\t %/\n\n“Kat! Kat!” Aria starts screaming.\nI look over and see she's chained to the chair, there's no way I can help her now.\n“You have to run!” she screams. “Please, just go!”\n“Shut up,” the Younger Man says as he holds a hand over her mouth.\nI don't want to go, everything in me is telling me that I can't leave her … but I can't do anything more in here. I meet her eyes, hoping she understands that this is temporary, that I will be back with help. \nThe Older Man has come closer. I shove him aside, he stumbles on his bad leg, and I rush up the stairs two steps at a time.\n“Go get her, boy!” the Older Man shouts.\nI hear footsteps coming after me, and move faster. \n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S3_P0]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S3_P1\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P9 %/\n\n\nMy plan had been to throw open the door and pretend to try and jump out of the truck. Then while the Younger Man was dragging me back in I'd kind of lurch to the side and grab the phone and tuck it into my boot or somewhere.\nUnfortunately though, apparently he's in a really pissy mood because the moment I shift position and put my bound hands on the door handle he grabs the back of my neck and slams my head into the dashboard. “Don't even fucking try it,” he growls, taking his eyes off the road to glare at me. I guess he hadn't been totally ignoring me after all but his sudden movements send the truck sliding out on the ice. He curses again and spins the wheel into the skid and I use the opportunity to quickly grab the phone and yank it out of the charger. \nBy the time he gets control of the vehicle and looks back at me I've slipped it into the waistband of my jeans and am shaking my head, pretending to be trying to clear the stars from my vision. I pull off the tape from my mouth and am about to say something snarky when he raises his open fist like he's going to slap me.\n“Shut it!” he snaps, giving me a snarl that falls somewhere between disgusted and murderous. After a moment of quiet contemplation he shakes his head and turns up the radio to drown me out. \nOkay, well that was unpleasant but I managed to get the phone so I'm still going to call it a win.\n\n<<set $hasPhone= "true">>\n\n<<if $wentOutFront eq "true">>\n[[Continue |S4_P11]]\n<<else if $wentOutFront eq "false">>\n[[Continue |S4_P12]]\n<<else>>\n[[Continue |S4_P12]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P11 or S4_P12\t\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
<<set $haveCoats = "false">>\n\n<<set $haveGlove = "false">>\n\n<<set $wasAggressive = "false">>\n\n<<set $hasGun = "false">>\n\n<<set $beenToChair = "false">>\n\n<<set $wentLake = "false">>\n\n<<set $wentOutFront = "false">>\n\n<<set $sawBullets= "false">>\n\n<<set $sawGraves= "false">>\n\n<<set $yesFlashlight= "false">>\n\n<<set $hasPhone= "false">>
/% \tS4_P24\t %/\n\n\nI turn my attention back to the Older Man. Before I start the main operation I check the wound on his neck. It looks like he'd been stabbed by something but it again missed the main artery. \nI follow a thin chain wrapped around his neck and pull out a necklace that he'd kept tucked into the collar of his shirt before I opened it. Hanging on it are army dog tags, no real surprise there, and a plain metal circle with a red cross and the letter “D” in the center.\n“Is he diabetic?” I ask, an idea starting to form.\n“Mh-hm,” the Younger Man mutters under his breath. “Is that a problem?”\nUm, yes, that's going to be a big problem. “No, not at all. I just wanted to be sure.”\nDiabetic, huh? Okay...\nI pull out some basic supplies from my bag. A needle and string but I'm not sure stitches are even going to be possible. Scalpel and scissors and as much sterile bandages as I have. There really isn't much I can do beyond cleaning the wound and packing it with dressing.\nThen I find what I was really looking for: a bottle of insulin. I could... I could use it. I mean use it to... If I give him too much on purpose he'll go into a coma and... \nHe tried to kill us. They both did, but I don't know what happened to Aria. If she's not already dead and...\nFuck me, this should be an easy choice! If he lives through this and they start doing this to someone else and I was the one responsible by saving his life-\nI realize I must have been staring at the bottle with a pained expression for quite a long time. The Younger Man is watching me through narrowed eyes. “Something wrong?” he asks with clear distrust.\n“Um, no,” I answer quickly, voice wavering. I set the bottle on the table at the end of the couch. “This will help slow the bleeding,” I lie, half hoping that he'll come and see it for himself and take the decision away from me.\nInstead he leans against the far wall and crosses his arms. “Good. Hurry up with it.”\n\n\n<<if $sawGraves eq "true">>\n[[Continue |S4_P25]]\n<<else if $sawGraves eq "false">>\n[[Continue |S4_P26]]\n<<else>>\n[[Continue |S4_P26]]\n<<endif>>\n\n/% \tCONT S4-P25 OR S4_P26\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P12\t %/\n\n\nFor the remainder of the drive the only sounds is the crunching of ice under the tires and the radio. Pretty soon the truck reaches the top of the long mountain that we'd been driving up and slows as we pull into the driveway of the house. Dawn has progressed a little more by now and I get my first real view of what the building actually looks like: it's a large 3-story log cabin that probably used to be a quite nice summer home in the past. Now though all the windows on the 1st and 2nd floors have been boarded up and the balcony on the 3rd story has collapsed.\nWait- I don't think it was like this before when I first ran outside. The balcony wraps around the whole house and when I'd left at least the section at the back had been intact.\nSo I guess this must have happened after I got separated from Aria? Was this why the Younger Man had ran off when he'd gotten that phone call?\n\n\n\n[[Continue.|S4-P13]]\n\n/% \tCONT -> S4-P13\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/
/% \tS4_P20\t %/\n\n\n“So he fell on a piece of railing?” I ask as I unbutton my patient's shirt and push it to the side. “Did he pull it out himself or-”\n“I did it,” he says, quickly cutting me off mid-sentence. His arms are crossed tightly over his chest and he seems highly defensive.\n“You did it?” I ask incredulously. “You just pulled it out of him? You didn't think it would be better to leave it in?” Seriously? That's like First Aid 101: leave the cork in the bottle.\n“What was I supposed to do?” he snaps, his mood suddenly changing from petulant to angry. “I had to bring him in.”\n“You could have taken him to a hospital. He's lost so much blood by now that I all I can do is stabilize him. He'll need a transfusion and surgery and-”\n“So you can't fix him?” he interrupts again, staring blackly at his partner. His fingers tighten their grip on the rifle.\nWhat the hell does he expect from me? I'm just a medical student armed with a glorified first aid kit. “No, I can't exactly “fix” him”, I say, choosing my words carefully. I need to keep myself useful and not antagonize him too much. “But I can help him. I can slow down the bleeding enough that he can be moved. Then you really have to take him to a hospital. You can drop him off anonymously at the emergency room and-”\n“Fine,” he says quickly, taking his first step closer to us. “What do you need?”\nWell shit, that's one hell of a deep question to ask me right now. What I really need is to find a way to either convince him to let us go or distract him and make a run for it. First off though if I'm going to do this operation I'll need some better equipment.\n\n\n\n\n\n<<if $sawBullets eq "true">>\n[[Ask him to bring more supplies.|S4_P22]]\n<<else>>\n[[Ask him to bring more supplies. |S4_P21]]\n<<endif>>\n[[Ask him to turn on the lights.|S4_P23]]\n\n/% \tCHOICE\n1) Ask him to bring more supplies. ->S4-P21 OR S4_P22\n2) Ask him to turn on the lights. ->S4_P23\n\t %/\n\n/% ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ %/ \n\n\n