House of Mystery

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<<timed 2s t8n>> Rain pours down on you as you are walking in the woods at night.<<next 3s t8n>> It's a horrible idea to walk alone in the woods at night, but here you are anyway.<<next 3s t8n>> You see an old slightly overgrown house in the distance.<<next>> It looks a bit rundown, but a small light flickers inside, distinguishing it from the rest of the dark forest.<<next 4s t8n>> You decide to take [[shelter|main hallway]] there.<</timed>>

<<timed 1s t8n>> You enter the house through the front door. The hallway you are in has dim lights that flicker on and off sporadically. <<next 3s t8n>> The hardwood floors below your feet have a thin layer of moss along the seams and small plants growing through deep cut clawmarks. <<next 3s t8n>> A combination of old vines and spiderwebs drape across the ceiling and top edges of the walls. The vines are thick enough that the ceiling can't be seen, yet you think you can almost see something take slow controlled breaths behind their tangled mess. <<next 4s t8n>> [[Look at clawmarks]] [[Look at vines]] [[Continue forward|Main Hall entrance]]<</timed>>

You decide to turn around and leave. You open the door to the outside, stepping out into the open forest again. You are once again plummeting by harsh cold rain. You hear loud thunder in the distance. Best to stay inside until the storm passes so you don't freeze or get struck by lightning. You [[go back inside|Main Hall entrance]].

You crane your neck back, looking up at the vines on the ceiling. The vines are a twisted mess, like a solid structure or pathway above you. They seem to cover the entire ceiling of the house. The vines shift every so often, like something is moving slowly above them. Through a gap in the vines you only see darkness, pure black abyss. [[Continue|Main Hall entrance]]

You kneel down and look at the clawmarks on the floor. They go deep into the wood, splintering even the innermost layer. Unlike the natural cracks between the wood planks, the inside of the clawmarks are clean and bare with no trace of moss or other small plantlife. They must be fresh. [[Continue|Main Hall entrance]]

<<timed 2s t8n>> In the dim hallway entrance of [[clawmarks|Look at clawmarks]], small plants and [[vines|Look at vines]], ahead of you the main hallway continues, but to your right is another smaller hallway. <<next 3s t8n>> <<if visited() gte 2>>You can continue down the [[main hallway|more hallway]], turn to the [[hallway on your right|right hall]]. <<else>> You can continue down the [[main hallway|more hallway]], turn to the [[hallway on your right|right hall]] or [[turn around and leave]]. <</if>> <</timed>>

<<if visited("pull harder") is 1>><<timed 1s t8n>> Walking makes the floorboards creaks beneath your shoes. At the end of the hall there are openings to other parts of the house and the large pile of bones directly to your right. Just past the hall closet is a [[children’s playroom]]. Straight ahead of you is the entrance to the [[kitchen]]. To your left is the door to a [[laundry room]], then the [[stairs]] leading down just past the laundry room, and finally at the end of the hall to the left is the [[master bedroom]]. <<next 3s t8n>> You can continue to any of these areas, or go back to the [[main hallway entrance|Main Hall entrance]]. <</timed>> <<else>> <<timed 1s t8n>> Walking makes the floorboards creaks beneath your shoes. At the end of the hall there are openings to other parts of the house including a [[hall closet]] directly to your right. Just past the hall closet is a [[children’s playroom]]. Straight ahead of you is the entrance to the [[kitchen]]. To your left is the door to a [[laundry room]], then the [[stairs]] leading down just past the laundry room, and finally at the end of the hall to the left is the [[master bedroom]]. <<next 3s t8n>> You can continue to any of these areas, or go back to the [[main hallway entrance|Main Hall entrance]]. <</timed>> <</if>>

The right hallway is simaler to the main hallway in that it still has the vines and cobwebs all across the ceiling, though it seems to have even more clawmarks on the walls leaving bits of wallpaper torn and dangeling off. This hallway is smaller than the main one, only leading to a [[guest room]] on your right, a small [[bathroom]] straight ahead of you, and a [[bedroom]] to your right. You can continue to any of these areas, or go back to the [[main hallway entrance|Main Hall entrance]].

<<timed 1s t8n>> The closet is closed tightly shut, but you can hear small squeaks from inside. <<next 2s t8n>> You decide to <<cycle "$closetdoor" autoselect>> <<option "open the closet">> <<option "leave the closet closed">> <</cycle>> <<next 4s t8n>> [[do action|closetdoor]] <</timed>>

<<timed 1s t8n>> This was once a dining room, though clearly turned into a kids play room. There is no dining table, instead a toy train table sat in it's place.<<next 3s t8n>>Toys once made for children, dollhouses, horse stables, and cars now house small rodents and birds. Sticks, twigs, and animal fur tufts poke out from most of the exposed small cubbyholes in various objects, some moving ever so slightly with each breath, some cold and still. <<next 4s t8n>> On the train table there are a couple trains lined up, a drawing, and a small music box playing a quiet song on repeat. <<next 3s t8n>> [[look at drawing]] [[Look at music box]] [[Look at trains]] [[Leave room|more hallway]] <</timed>>

nothing here yet sorry [[continue|more hallway]]

Approching the laundry room door, you see a heavy metal lock on the door. The door is closed, locked, and a sticky note is still stuck to it reading: "Remember to do your laundry after your homework" You [[check your pockets|check pocket laundry]].

<<timed 1s t8n>> What once was a full set of stairs is now broken and chipped wood except for the first three stairs leading down into the basement. The last step is covered in deep claw-like gouges, splintering the wood into sharp points. <<next 3s t8n>> The basement below is like a void of darkness, sludge, and quiet. If you were to fall in, it's not known how long you would fall if you ever reach the bottom. <<next 4s t8n>>You don't go any closer. <<next 2s t8n>> Go back to [[main hallway|more hallway]] <</timed>>

nothing here yet sorry [[continue|more hallway]]

<<if $closetdoor is "open the closet">> The sliding doors to the hall closet struggle to open at first. you hear a ratteling sound inside, like many hard objects clinking together. [[pull harder]] [[giveup|leave closet]] <<elseif $closetdoor is "leave the closet closed">> You leave the closet as it is, deciding maybe it's best to not know whats inside... [[continue on|more hallway]] <</if>>

The doors break free from whatever was holding them, sliding open quickly as a large pile of something hard and brittle slides out onto the floor by your feet. Small mice and rats scurry out into the hallway avoiding being crushed by the sliding pile. You look down at the pile of bones. Skulls and other bones all picked perfectly clean, no longer stuffed tight into every inch of the closet. You look down at the pile at your feet. You don’t want to try to shove it all back into the closet, so you [[leave it as is.|more hallway]]

You leave the closet as it is, deciding maybe it's best to not know whats inside, or maybe you just dont want to admit how physically weak you are. Either way you [[continue on|more hallway]]

<<timed 1s t8n>> You pick up the drawing gently. The edges of the white paper have gone yellow with time. The crayon marks are still as clear as ever, showing a drawing of a young child standing next to her mother in a childlike style and crayons. The bottom corner of the page though has dark scribbles and a stain of something red that had long dried into the paper.<<next 4s t8n>> You decide to <<cycle "$drawing" autoselect>> <<option "take the drawing">> <<option "leave the drawing">> <</cycle>> <<next 2s t8n>> [[do action|drawing]] <</timed>>

<<timed 1s t8n>> You pick up the small wooden music box. It stops playing music at your touch, now going quiet. The music box has a (whatever the metal turny things are in old music boxes) and a small wind up metal crank on the back.<<next 4s t8n>> You decide to <<cycle "$musictake" autoselect>> <<option "take the music box">> <<option "leave the music box">> <<option "wind up music box">> <</cycle>> <<next 2s t8n>> [[do action|musicbox1]] <</timed>>

<<timed 1s t8n>> Four trains sit in a row neatly on the train tracks. Each train is a different color,<<next 2s t8n>> the first train is red. <<next 2s t8n>>The second train is blue, <<next 2s t8n>>the third train is yellow, <<next 2s t8n>> the final train is purple. <<next 4s t8n>> You decide to <<cycle "$looktrains" autoselect>> <<option "take the trains">> <<option "examine the trains further">> <<option "leave the trains">> <</cycle>> <<next 2s t8n>> [[do action|trains]] <</timed>>

<<if $drawing is "take the drawing">><<timed 1s t8n>> You fold up the drawing neatly, placing it into your jacket pocket. [[Continue|children’s playroom]] <</timed>> <<else>><<timed 1s t8n>> You set the drawing back on the train table where you found it. Why would a kid's drawing have any signifigance? [[Continue|children’s playroom]] <</timed>> <</if>>

<<if $musictake is "take the music box">><<timed 1s t8n>> You close the lid to the music box, gently placing it into your jacket pocket. [[Continue|children’s playroom]] <</timed>> <<elseif $musictake is "leave the music box">><<timed 1s t8n>> You set the music box back on the train table. It's exactly how you found it, only now it no longer plays the soft tune it did monents ago. [[Continue|children’s playroom]] <</timed>> <</if>> <<elseif $musictake is "wind up the music box">><<timed 1s t8n>> You [[wind up the music box|wind music box]] <</timed>> <</if>>

<<if $looktrains is "take the trains">><<timed 1s t8n>> You pick up a train, but then realize it is too large to put in your pocket. You set the train back down where it was. [[Continue|Look at trains]] <</timed>> <<elseif $looktrains is "leave the trains">><<timed 1s t8n>> You leave the trains how you found them. [[Continue|children’s playroom]] <</timed>> <<elseif $looktrains is "examine the trains further">><<timed 1s t8n>> You pick up one of the trains, the blue one. <<timed 2s t8n>> On the underside of the train you see a number. 7. <<timed 1s t8n>> You decide to [[Continue to look a|children’s playroom]] <</timed>> <</if>>

<<audio "music" play>> You start to wind up the music box, then let it play for a few [[moments]].

<<cacheaudio "music" "https://ia800204.us.archive.org/34/items/wind_20251031/midnight-music.mp3">>

<<set $seconds to 10>>\ When the counter is done the music will suddenly stop! <span id="countdown">$seconds seconds remaining</span>!\ <<silently>> <<repeat 1s>> <<set $seconds to $seconds - 1>> <<if $seconds gt 0>> <<replace "#countdown">>$seconds seconds remaining<</replace>> <<else>> <<replace "#countdown">>The music box stops, and it is quiet once again. [[Continue|Look at music box]] <</replace>> <<stop>> <</if>> <</repeat>> <</silently>> <<timed 10s>><<audio "music" stop>><</timed>>

unfinished if has $laundrykey, open door if not has $laundrykey, the door is locked, you cannot open it without a key. [[Continue|more hallway]]

you find a key! This key is old, rusty, and smells vaugly of laundry detergent. This must be the $laundrykey

nothing here yet sorry [[continue|right hall]]

<<timed 1s t8n>> You enter the bedroom, opening the door with the painted sign that reads "Willow" <<next 2s t8n>> Inside the room, you notice the pink painted walls, a small bed filled with blankets and plushies, drawings up on the walls, and horse toys along with the entire Wings of Fire book series sat on a tall bookshelf next to the closet. <<next 3s t8n>> It is a child's room, cute and playful, but the longer you look at it the more you notice it seems... <<next 3s t8n>>off. <<next 3s t8n>> [[examine bed]] [[examine drawings]] [[examine bookshelf]] [[examine closet]] [[Return to hallway|right hall]] <</timed>>