Your eyelids are heavy and betray your focus on the headlights illuminating the path on this dark county road. The bright, sporadic glow of the moon punctures through tree limbs that appear to reach at you as they shutter in the wind. Your temptation to sleep is thwarted by the approach of a crooked brown sign that emerges out of the darkness ahead. The dashboard clock is faint. Its pale-green tint spells an omen that fills your mouth with acid and your stomach with lead. The sign beckons you and ushers you toward <br/><br/>(click: "toward")+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 12s)
[<center>''PORCUPINE MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS STATE PARK''</center>
[[Turn on the radio. Maybe some music will ease your mind.]]
[[Press the accerlator pedal into the floor. You have no time to waste.]]]
{
(track: 'freeway', 'loop', true)
(track: 'freeway', 'fadein', 8)
}You turn the chipped, metal knob to the radio. It //clicks// on and a song, indistinguishable by the array of static, hums on a signal being carried across the night. You adjust the tuning knob to dispell the white noise, but the interference is insistent. Whatever glam-metal ballad was out there, you weren't going to be picking it up tonight. You turn off the radio, twisting the knob from its shaft in the process.
In the absence of the radio, the silence is broken by the mewling sounds of a child.
[[Peer into the rearview mirror toward the source of the sound.|Rearview Mirror]]
[[Ignore the sound and focus on the endless road that stretches before you.|Focus]]
(track: 'static', 'play')The Volvo //purrs// in return and lurches you back into the driver's seat. Darkness bears down around you, parting only by the compelling glow of the headlights now seemingly invigorated by the added throttle.
Your desperation is stoaked by the shutter of the motor seeping through the peddle and climbing up your leg and from the trembling of the steering wheel as it attempts to wrench free from your white-knuckled grip.
A soft moan whimpers behind you.
[[Peer into the rearview mirror toward the source of the moan.|Rearview Mirror]]
[[Ignore the moaning and focus on the endless road that stretches before you.|Focus]]
(track: 'accelerate', 'play')As you peer into the rearview mirror, you notice beads of sweat surfacing on the boy's forehead. Suddenly, the tree line breaks and the moonlight illuminates your son resting on the wool cushions in the backseat. With the prominence of the moon highlighting his features and that panged look drawn upon his face, you see his father.
A longing emerges from that cavity of your memory which your boy now fills. He and all the hopes of a future you wish to realize for him. A future built on the reclaimed parts of a former life. One created with the man you now long for who still lingers in the child's words and expressions.
But your son is all that remains of the menace that came before -- and still lurks within him. The tree line resumes and both faces disappear under shadow.
Ahead of you, the road begins to fork.
[[Take the road less paved.]]
[[Continue down the main road.]]
{
(track: 'groan', 'loop', true)
(track: 'groan', 'play')
(if: (track: 'static', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'static', 'fadeout')]
}You ignore it and glue your eyes to the highway. Yet, it continues and when the tree line breaks and the moonlight spills into the car you clasp a hand over your mouth to muffle a whimper of your own from escaping.
The sounds you hear are ones of hurt. A noise that falls to your ears like lashes to your back. They come from a place of feral pain. Although he is still asleep in the backseat, soon the pain will be too much for your son to endure and he will inevitably surrender to it. And so you look on, down the road towards the only relief.
Ahead of you, the road begins to fork.
[[Take the road less paved.]]
[[Continue down the main road.]]
{
(track: 'groan', 'loop', true)
(track: 'groan', 'play')
(if: (track: 'static', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'static', 'fadeout')]
}Your car crunches over stones and twigs and its rickety chassis stirs the sleeping boy. He clenches his stomach now and moans something fierce. Under a colony of trembling aspens a vacant parking lot greets you. You pull up near the trailhead and the hum of the Volvo's engine slows to an idle.
[["We're here, pumpkin."|Spot]]
[[Silence. Your breath is too weak to carry any words.|Spot]]
{
(track: 'groan', 'loop', false)
(if: (track: 'groan', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'groan', 'fadeout')]
(track: 'freeway', 'loop', false)
(track: 'freeway', 'fadeout', 4)
(track: 'pull-in', 'play')
(live: 8s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'idling', 'loop', true)
(track: 'idling', 'fadein', 2)
]}You continue down the main road as its winds and bends become more aritculated. You've only been here once before and that was in the light of day. Nothing looks familiar and that spot you had picked out earlier this month won't look anything like it now in the (link-goto: "darkness", "Nowhere").
(track: 'groan', 'loop', false)
(if: (track: 'groan', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'groan', 'fadeout')]You look over your shoulder and see your boy laying in the backseat. He starts pulling at his shirt and grinding his teeth. Whatever time you have left is sparse -- there's no telling when he may start to seize. He clutches his stomach and sweat drips from his nose.
(link: "Pop the trunk.")[(track: 'trunk', 'play')(goto: "Pop the trunk.")]
(link: "Comfort him.")[(goto: "ComfortA")]
{
(track: 'idling', 'volume', 0.5)
(unless: (track: 'idling', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'idling', 'fadein')]
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'loop', true)
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'play')
}You pull the lever and hear the //pop// of the Volvo's trunk detaching. Outside of the car his moans are muffled, but his figure continues to struggle behind the windows. Inside the trunk is a neon-colored gym bag. Embroidered across the top of the bag is the name:
<center>''ELI''</center>
You open the bag:
* (link: "A change of clothes")[(track: 'clothes-bag', 'play')(goto: "change")]
* (link: "A thin metal whistle")[(track: 'whistle-bag', 'play')(goto: "whistle")]
* (link: "A plastic container")[(track: 'wipes-bag', 'play')(goto: "wipes")]
* (link: "A spray bottle containing yellow liquid")[(goto: "spray")]
{
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'volume', 0.5)
(if: (track: 'spasm', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'spasm', 'fadeout')]
(unless: (track: 'idling', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'idling', 'fadein')]
(if: (track: 'idling', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'idling', 'fadeto', 3, 1)]}You reach into the back seat and stroke his bare skin where the leg of his pants is hiked up. He //spasms// and you withdraw your hand. The pain was likened to you once as something wholly unreal. Like a migraine of the body that throbbed through every nerve ending.
"It's like there's a raving lunatic inside. At first, he's tearing the wallpaper apart and turning up whatever's not nailed down. Then he begins smashing the windows and swinging from the trellises of my skull. Until, he finally just starts bashing down the door to get out."
If that was how a grown man told it...
His small figure //spasms// again. Time to get to work.
(link: "Pop the trunk.")[(track: 'trunk', 'play')(goto: "Pop the trunk.")]
(track: 'spasm', 'play')A change of clothes for Eli. A small, red-and-black-checkered flannel shirt; a pair of faded blue jeans; a clean pair of socks. "His little lumberjack outfit," you say.
(link: "Duffle bag")[(track: 'duffle', 'play')(goto: "Duffle bag")]A whistle looped with a frayed line of twine to carry it around your neck. Something his father had told you about that proved to be useful when you set out on your own. It hasn't failed you, yet.
(link: "Duffle bag")[(track: 'duffle', 'play')(goto: "Duffle bag")]It's always best to start further from the trail even if it was late enough that he would most likely not encounter any hikers. You start spraying the yellow mist a few yards from the thick of the woods. The spray gives off a pungent smell that forces you to breathe through your mouth. You create a scented path from asphalt and gravel to branches and shrubs. Hopefully it's enough to point him toward game.
The car is still running when you return, but inside is still and quiet. Your time is nearly spent -- any more delay will lead to trouble.
[[Undress Eli|Undress]]
[[Carry Eli|Carry]]
{
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'loop', false)
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'fadeout', 6)
(track: 'idling', 'fadeout', 6)
(live: 3s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'spray', 'fadein', 3)
]
(live: 12s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'idling', 'volume', 0.5)
(track: 'idling', 'fadein', 6)
]}* (link: "A change of clothes")[(track: 'clothes-bag', 'play')(goto: "change")]
* (link: "A thin metal whistle")[(track: 'whistle-bag', 'play')(goto: "whistle")]
* (link: "A plastic container")[(track: 'wipes-bag', 'play')(goto: "wipes")]
* (link: "A spray bottle containing yellow liquid")[(goto: "spray")]You swing the rear door open and begin to loosen the laces of his shoes before slipping them off and tossing them to the floor. Then, you roll his snug corduroys down and peel the socks from off his feet. His slender arms have to be guided through the pits of his shirt.
You cradle his limp body and carry him from the car. There is a soft patch of leaves and grass where you set him down. As he lay there, he looks to you an angel worse for wear. His damp hair clings to his forehead and his soft breathing labors. You stroke his hair with your hands and give him a kiss goodnight before striding back to the [[car]].
{
(set: $Undress to true)
(if: (track: 'spray', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'spray', 'fadeout')]
(track: 'door-open', 'play')
(live: 4s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'undress', 'play')
]
(live: 12s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'carry', 'play')
(track: 'crickets', 'fadein', 6)
(track: 'idling', 'fadeout', 6)
]}You cradle his limp body and carry him from the car. There is a soft patch of leaves and grass where you set him down. As he lay there, he looks to you an angel worse for wear. His damp hair clings to his forehead and his soft breathing labors. You stroke his hair and give him a kiss goodnight before striding back to the [[car]].
{
(set: $Carry to true)
(track: 'door-open', 'play')
(if: (track: 'spray', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'spray', 'fadeout')]
(live: 3s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'carry', 'play')
(track: 'crickets', 'fadein', 6)
(track: 'idling', 'fadeout', 6)
]}tw-sidebar tw-icon {
display: none;
}The suspension creaks and you shift into reverse and back up, facing the entrance of the parking lot. The Volvo idles for a moment while you study the stiff, tangled silhouette of your son in the dim red of your brake lights. You sigh away a fit of tears and peel out of the lot. The loose gravel wails against the car.
He is in Nature's hands now; a Mother crueler than you could ever be; one to spite him with such a blight upon an otherwise kindly conscience. You are but a surrogate for this curse to continue.
(link: "Follow the road back.")[(goto: "Follow")]
(link: "Pull off onto the side of the road.")[(set: $pull to true)(goto: "Pull")]
{
(if: (track: 'undress', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'undress', 'fadeout')]
(if: (track: 'carry', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'carry', 'fadeout')]
(if: (track: 'crickets', 'isplaying'))[
(live: 20s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'crickets', 'fadeout')]]
(track: 'wailing', 'fadein', 2)
(track: 'changingq', 'play')
(if: (track: 'idling', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'idling', 'fadeout')]
(newgroup: 'dream', 'guitar', 'Nyquil', 'fireplace', 'knock', 'thump')
}You follow the road back to a rest stop populated by a few lonesome semi-trucks and a station wagon. Vending machines glare a chill blue hue through your windows, reminding you of a nightlight your mother had carved him: the wooden outline of a bear cub dangling from a tree while its mother reached up with great big paws, silhouetted by the warm, incandescent glow of the bulb behind it.
[[Turn on the radio and play a cassette tape.|cassette]]
[[Chug some Nyquil to help you fall asleep.|Nyquil]]
{
(track: 'reststop', 'fadein', 2)
(if: (track: 'wailing', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'wailing', 'fadeout')]
(if: (track: 'changingq', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'changingq', 'fadeout')]
}You don't remember seeing anybody else since you pulled off the highway, so it should be fine if you park on the side of the road here and wait until dawn. You'll be a lot closer come morning, and if anyone asks you can just explain that you were too tired to drive.
Speaking of -- how are you even going to calm down enough to fall asleep?
[[Turn on the radio and play a cassette tape.|cassette]]
[[Chug some Nyquil to help you fall asleep.|Nyquil]]
{
(track: 'pull-off', 'fadein', 2)
(if: (track: 'wailing', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'wailing', 'fadeout')]
(if: (track: 'changingq', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'changingq', 'fadeout')]
}An old Willie Nelson cassette tape of //Always on My Mind// starts to play as you recline in your seat. He had learned this song on his guitar and sang it for you, once. You always liked his cover of the song better. Willie was great, sure. But when your husband used to sing to you, he sang it with such soul and effort and apology as though he was communicating something he could not in mere words alone. Words without rhythm, without rhyme. He sang to you a [[truth|nights]] that he was otherwise unable to express.(set: $cassette to true)
{
(if: (track: 'reststop', 'isplaying'))[(track: 'reststop', 'fadeout', 2)]
(if: (track: 'pull-off', 'isplaying'))[(track: 'pull-off', 'fadeout', 2)]
(track: 'guitar', 'fadein', 4)
}You chug a few good gulps of Nyquil. The can't-quite-pinpoint-it flavor that tries so hard to resemble something real almost makes you gag, but you push it back down. You've tried smoking grass -- it just make your mind pull at endless threads. You've tried melatonin -- it's just not strong enough to take the edge off. So here you are: at a rest stop drinking cough syrup because nothing else just quite nurses the [[numb|nights]] you really need.(set: $Nyquil to true)
{
(if: (track: 'reststop', 'isplaying'))[(track: 'reststop', 'fadeout', 2)]
(if: (track: 'pull-off', 'isplaying'))[(track: 'pull-off', 'fadeout', 2)]
(track: 'Nyquil', 'play')
}This is usually how the night of your monthly ritual comes to a close. (if: $cassette is true)[Music drowns the guilt. A guilt that personifies itself as your child.](elseif: $Nyquil is true)[You nurse yourself to sleep with Nyquil and dull the guilt to a quiet murmur.] But on these nights you always sleep best for reasons that run and hide from you.
//He starts school again in a couple of weeks. We haven't even gone [[back-to-school]] shopping.//When he runs toward the teachers and the kids on their first day of primary school, his oversized backpack does this thing where it flings up and down across his back. It makes him look like such a little thing, his bag over-filled with anticipation. You chuckle at the recollection and wipe away tears for a normalcy that no longer exisits. Innocense was a comfort your son lost much too soon. You've already gone through more than half of your savings just to make the move out here.
//It's worth it. I love seeing that kiddo smile. Does he still like those shoes that [[light]] up when you walk in them?//
(track: 'school', 'play')It's midnight. The moon swells full and luminous in the mid-sky. Your son will be hunting for sustenance soon. Only it's not your son, but the foul pedigree he's had the great misfortune of inheriting. The first light of dawn will wake you if for tonight the [[devil]] should still refuse to take you.
(track: 'school', 'fadeout', 6)
(track: 'fireplace', 'fadein', 9)There is a thumping that echoes in the room. You are with your grandmother, knitting away by the fireplace. The thumping inspires the flames to jump from the hearth! They cling to your grandmother's knitting, consuming the yarn as they climb up her arms. The thumping fills the house.(if: $pull is true)[
{(link: "Try to douse the flames from your grandma!")[(set: $path to "douse")(go-to: "Over")]}
{(link: "Run for the door before the fires consume you!")[(set: $path to "run")(go-to: "Over")]}]
(else:)[(link: "Try to douse the flames from your grandma!")[(set: $path to "douse")(go-to: "dream")]
(link: "Run for the door before the fires consume you!")[(set: $path to "run")(go-to: "dream")]]
(track: 'thump', 'play')
(track: 'fireplace', 'play')(if: $path is "douse")[You grab an afghan and hurry to your grandmother's aid, tackling her out of the rocking chair in your fervor to douse the flames.](else:)[You jump to your feet and rush to the door. The chill from the outdoors startles you.] You wake to a man knocking on the driver-side window. You look around the lot -- deserted save for a station wagon with the hood popped. You comb your fingers through your hair and crank the window down a few inches.
"I'm terribly sorry to wake you like this," he says. "But could I trouble you for a jump?"
The light of the dashboard clock ebbs dimly into vague digits. Whatever time it reads, the sun is far higher than it should be.
[[Yes.]]
[[No.]]
[[I don't know.]]
{
(live: 3s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'guitar', 'stop')
(track: 'Nyquil', 'stop')
(track: 'fireplace', 'stop')
(track: 'knock', 'play')
]
(live: 6s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'window', 'play')
]
(if: (track: 'thump', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'thump', 'stop')]
}The stranger steps back when you open your door. He looks at you funny.
"I can't very well drive it over here, ya know?"
(link: "<q>Oh, Right.</q>")[(goto:"Next1")]
(link: "<q>You //did// just wake me up, ya know?</q>")[(set: $sarcasm to true)(goto:"Next1")]
(track: 'open-door', 'play')
{
(if: (track: 'guitar', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'guitar', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'Nyquil', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'Nyquil', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'fireplace', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'fireplace', 'stop')]
}Your keys dangle in the ignition. You grip them and //twist//. The engine only stutters and the man outside says, "You might need jumped yourself."
The clock flickers with the ambivalence of the engine and your face flushes with blood. You press the accelerator and turn the keys again. The Volvo turns over with vigor.
"Look at that! All is not lost," the stranger shouts over the motor.
The clock glows just shy of seven o'clock and you grip the shifter.
The man outside knocks again. "Hey, wait! Aren't you going to help me?"
[[Yes.]]
[[No!]]
(track: 'twist', 'play')
{
(if: (track: 'guitar', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'guitar', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'Nyquil', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'Nyquil', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'fireplace', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'fireplace', 'stop')]
}You look around the car.
"I don't know where it is."
"What?" he says. He lifts up a coil of cables. "I've got jumpers if you could just let me take some of your juice." He smiles.
[[Yes.]]
[[No.]]
{
(if: (track: 'guitar', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'guitar', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'Nyquil', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'Nyquil', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'fireplace', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'fireplace', 'stop')]
}"I can't!" you shout through the window. "I've got to be somewhere."
"Well, so do I!" he pleads. "It'll only take a minute, please. There's nobody else around here."
[[Fine!|Yes.]]
[[Sorry!]]You avoid his eyes as you pull past the man by your window. These mornings have left no room to alter routine, especially now that you are running later than you would like. He stands dumbfounded in the rearview mirror, the coil of cables strung about his feet. You pull out of the rest stop and back onto the [[freeway]].
(track: 'twist', 'fadeout', 2)
(track: 'sorry', 'play')(if: $screw is true)[These mornings have left no room to alter routine, especially now that you are running later than you would like. You accelerate onto the onramp and spot him standing dumbfounded in the rearview mirror, the coil of cables strung about his feet. You pull out of the rest stop and back onto the freeway.
]The sun has already climbed above the horizon casting a warm orange that fades into purples and blues. Morning commuters only sparsely populate the road. A horse and buggy driven by a young Mennonite couple crawls ahead of you. You pass them on the same county road you navigated the night prior. Lonely farmhouses, weathered barns, and windswept pastures peppered with alpaca sprout where nothing but darkness existed just hours before. The crooked sign appears in the distance and welcomes you [[back]].
(track: 'sorry', 'fadeout', 4)
(track: 'freeway', 'fadein', 4)Even the lot looks different in the light of day. You fear for a passing moment that you are there in error before noticing a patch of flattened grass and snapped tree branches. You park the car close to the trail and turn off the engine.
(link: "Pop the trunk.")[(set: $trunk to true)(set: $trunk2 to false)(go-to: "trail")]
(link: "Head down the trail.")[(set: $trunk to false)(go-to: "trail")]
(track: 'freeway', 'fadeout', 2)
(track: 'back', 'play')(if: $trunk is true)[You pull the duffle bag from the trunk and sling it over your shoulder. From the bag you pull out the whistle and drape it around your neck. {(track: 'trunk', 'play')
(live: 3s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'duffle', 'play')]
(live: 5s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'whistle-bag', 'play')]}]You crouch to inspect the onset of his tracks. (elseif: $Carry is true)[His clothes lay in tatters around the trailhead. The seams are split apart and tears scar what's left of the fabric. You should have undressed him last night before leaving him. You scurry around to pick up the loose threads(if: $trunk is true)[ and stuff them in the duffle bag]. ]The imprint of his little hand is pushed into the dirt. You trace the outline with your finger and try to fit your own hand into the crater of his. A few feet from his childlike traces are deep gashes carved into the side of a birch.
You hold back tears, trying not to fathom the pain your boy had to endure after you left him. If it's anything like what made his father holler those guttural noises when the affliction came -- but for a body so small to withstand as much. You shun the feeling that starts to creep on you and continue along the newly born trail that months of relocating him have trained you to [[follow]].
{
(if: (track: 'back', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'back', 'fadeout')]
(track: 'forest', 'loop', true)
(track: 'forest', 'fadein', 4)
(track: 'hike', 'fadein', 6)
(live: 12s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'hike', 'stop')]
}(if: $trunk2 is true)[You retrace your steps back to where you lost his trail. {
(track: 'hike', 'fadein', 2)
(live: 9s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'hike', 'stop')]
}](else:)[You track him a few hundred feet before his markings become sparse and the gap in his tracks wide. {
(track: 'hike', 'fadein', 2)
(live: 9s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'hike', 'stop')]
}](if: $trunk is true)[You pull the whistle to your lips and blow until your breath expires. No matter how hard you push the air in your lungs through the narrow chamber of the whistle, the sound emitted always falls deaf on your ears. But to your son, the screeching note will pierce throughout the thick of the woods and resonates in the expanse.
In the distance, something gleams in the morning mist.
[[Inspect the clue.]]](else:)[You look around in vain for some clue as to where his trail picks up again. You've forgotten the duffle bag with the whistle. What chance do you have to find him, now? Sweat starts to form on your brow and your heart throbs against your breast. Your breathing shallows and white space begins to crowd your vision from the periphery. You've already diverged far enough from the trail that it'll be harder to find your way back. You could press on, but who's to say how long you could be out here searching aimlessly?
(link-goto: "Return to the car for the duffle bag.", "Return")
(link-goto: "Press on. Maybe you can still find him.", "Press on")](if: $path is "douse")[You cast all doubt aside and press on. Whatever you left in the duffle bag are simple items. Instead, you'll let your motherly intuition guide you.
You look around the cavernous forest. A breeze carries through the trees the scent of pine. And rot! You turn upwind and start towards the familiar odor. Brushing aside tree limbs, in the distance something gleams in the morning mist.
[[Inspect the clue.]]{
(track: 'hike', 'fadein', 3)
(live: 15s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'hike', 'stop')]
}](if: $path is "run")[You wander through the woods for what must be hours. The sun is overhead and every landmark you thought you were pointing looks just as similar as the last. Your throat is dry and your tongue is swelling. You've stopped sweating. Perhaps if you lay down and rest for a moment, you can regain your sense of direction. So you stoop to the ground and stumble over against the side of a tree. As you pant and look up at the canopy of maples and hemlocks, you say to yourself:
"I'm coming, Eli. Just gotta catch my breath."
(text-style: "blur")["Just gotta catch my breath."]
(text-style: "blurrier")["Just gotta catch my breath."]
Retry(click:"Retry")[(reload:)]{
(track: 'forest', 'fadeout', 4)
(track: 'spooky', 'fadein', 4)
(track: 'bamboo', 'fadein', 16)}](if: $path is "douse")[You wander back the immediate direction from where you came. A few small landmarks look familiar, but others still seem totally unrecognizable. After a few minutes, a narrow clearing emerges and reveals the trail. You set back on it and return to the car.{(track: 'hike', 'fadein', 2)
(live: 9s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'hike', 'stop')]
(live: 9s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'trunk', 'play')]
(live: 11s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'duffle', 'play')]
(live: 13s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'whistle-bag', 'play')
]}
When you return, you pull the duffle bag from the trunk and sling it over your shoulder. From the bag you pull out the whistle and drape it around your neck before heading back into the (link: "woods")[(set: $trunk to true)(set: $trunk2 to true)(go-to: "follow")].](if: $path is "run")[You wander through the woods for what must be hours. The sun is overhead and every landmark you thought you were pointing looks just as similar as the last. Your throat is dry and your tongue is swelling. You've stopped sweating. Perhaps if you lay down and rest for a moment, you can regain your sense of direction. So you stoop to the ground and stumble over against the side of a tree. As you pant and look up at the canopy of maples and hemlocks, you say to yourself:
"I'm coming, Eli. Just gotta catch my breath."
(text-style: "blur")["Just gotta catch my breath."]
(text-style: "blurrier")["Just gotta catch my breath."]
Retry(click:"Retry")[(reload:)]{
(track: 'forest', 'fadeout', 4)
(track: 'spooky', 'fadein', 4)
(track: 'bamboo', 'fadein', 16)}]You'd almost lost his trail when you come upon the wrecked carcass of a doe. Its fur is glazed with its own blood and most of its belly is torn apart. Its lower innards lay discarded by its side. You know your son's nocturnal habit -- that instinct dictates he find shelter shortly after gorging. You look around for any kind of makeshift shelter.(if: $path is "douse")[ A downed tree rests beyond the devoured deer and the pink of Eli's flesh contrasts with the rotting bark.(if: $trunk is true)[ You put the whistle to your quivvering lips, inhale and blow ever slightly through the chamber. His body //jerks// at the familiar pitch.] You hike over to his side as he awakes groggy and inebriated.
His face is caked with blood and his tummy is swollen. (if: ($trunk is true) or ($trunk2 is true))[You bend down and unpackage a wet wipe to clean around his lips and nose. From the duffle bag you pull a fresh set of clothes and help him into them. You tie the laces of his boots when he says in his drowsy way, "Good morning, mama."](else:)[You bend down and wipe the dried smudges of ichor from around his mouth and part the hair aside his face when he says in his drowsy way, "Good morning, mama."]
You chuckle. [["Good morning, pumpkin."]]]
(if: $path is "run")[You search around the immediate perimeter of the deer carcass for a lead to where he sought to bed down. You blow through the whistle, each time more desperate than the last. It feels like like blowing through a straw with some kind of obstruction. It feels fruitless. Your hope begins to dwindle as you set out in a seemingly random direction. You try to listen to your gut for some sort of direction, but it only answers with a timid (link: "gurgle.")[(track: 'gurgle', 'play')(goto: "Return")]{
(track: 'hike', 'fadein', 3)
(live: 15s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'hike', 'stop')]
}]Good instincts.
Thank you kindly for playing.
Song: //Some Say (I Got Devil)//
Lyrics by Melanie Safka
Performed by Tortoise & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
{
(if: (track: 'hike', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'hike', 'fadeout')]
(track: 'forest', 'fadeout', 24)
(track: 'devil', 'volume', 0.1)
(track: 'devil', 'play')
}
[[Credit]]A plastic tin of wet wipes to clean up after little piggies who make a mess of their food.
(link: "Duffle bag")[(track: 'duffle', 'play')(goto: "Duffle bag")](if: $sarcasm is true)|chance>[<q>Wake up on the wrong side of the car, did we?</q> he chuckles.
(link: "<q>I don't have time for this.</q>")[(goto: "Next2b")]
Close the door and move your car next to his.](click: "Close the door and move your car next to his.")+(replace: ?chance)+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 2s)
[You close the door and backup out of the parking space. You sigh.
//You really <u>don't</u> have time for this//, you think.
As you coast toward his car, you watch him from your side mirror strolling behind you.{
(unless: (track: 'twist', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'coast', 'play')]
(if: (track: 'twist', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'coast', 'play')
(track: 'coast', 'fadeto', 3, 0)]}
(link: "//Screw it, just take off.//")[(set: $screw to true)(goto: "Sorry!")]
(link: "Help the stranger.")[(goto: "Next2a")]]<chances|(else:)[(show: ?chances)]From behind you, you hear him shout,
"Keep her runnin'!"
You pull up next to his station wagon and exit the car.
"Pop the hood, if you please," he says with a smile.
You reach underneath the dash and pull the lever and hear the //pop// of your front hood detach. A stiff morning gust of wind blows through the rest stop and catches you unawares. Goose pimples bubble across your bare neck and a shiver runs down your spine.
The stranger disappears behind the front hood of your car. He mutters to himself while connecting the jumper cables to the battery terminals of his own car first. You come around the front hood to watch him when he paces back towards your car. A faint electrical sound //zaps// momentarily. (click: "zaps")[(goto: "Next2c")]
(track: 'zap', 'play')As you close your door, the stranger drops the coils and //rips// the door back. You turn around to see him lunging after you. A deep-seated scream begins to rise out of you, but he muffles you with a gloved hand while wrapping another around your neck.
(click: "neck")+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 4s)[Both his hands now grip your neck when he begins to squeeze. You try to hit him, but his elbows pin down against your arms.
(text-style: "shudder")[He throttles your neck.]
You try to gasp for air.{
(track: 'neck', 'play')}]
(click: "gasp")+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 8s)[Whiteness begins to encroach your vision as you notice the man's mustache parts and dangles away from his upper lip. (text-style: "fade-in-out")[Your vision begins to fade.]
Retry (click:"Retry")[(reload:)]
{(track: 'gasp', 'play')
(live: 7s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'strangle', 'play')]}]
(track: 'rips', 'play')Something flickers from the stranger's hand. He lunges at you with his arm extended and a stun gun spitting sparks like a rabid dog!
{(click: "sparks")+(t8n:"flicker")+(t8n-time: 2s)
[You drop to the ground and (text-style: "rumble")[your body spasms uncontrollably] while your jaw clenches shut.
(track: 'collapse', 'play')]}
{(click: "shut")+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 2s)
[The stranger stands over you and pockets the taser into his jacket. He dons a pair of gloves while looking around the rest stop. He pulls out a roll of duct tape and wraps your mouth shut. From the back of his waist, he unfolds a black hood. He crouches back down and cocks his head to the side, tilting it to look at you square in the face. Your eyes slowly begin to roll to the back of your head. Just before he covers your head with the black hood, he whispers:
(track: 'hood', 'play')]}
<br/>
(click: "whispers")+(t8n: "dissolve")+(t8n-time: 8s)
[[<center>(text-rotate:30)+(css: "font-size: 110%;")[<b>"Sweet dreams."<b>]</center>]
Retry (click:"Retry")[(reload:)]
(track: 'lullaby', 'play')]
(track: 'stun', 'play')devil: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_14420024b869489aa1d9366837866c95.mp3
freeway: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_4a2a43a40b194588a962d4f009a7b136.mp3
accelerate: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_6bbf5b802e414066b7a80cda508b5c2a.mp3
static: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_22fc1a0f5f104b2e9ff1e05bbe059718.mp3
groan: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_ca14c45d48114363b795410e0ad46b40.mp3
pull-in: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_f38f05a3db154761830c3d245e2e4779.mp3
arrive: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_74e953a1eed149c3b0e1f9a557a9e93b.mp3
run: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_75d6b6bce7b94e39b3e6377d53ef1647.mp3
clothes-teeth-groan: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_64213e3d469a49fab9af3814a2b0f550.mp3
spasm: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_5cd3c84765234210a68740c937df6406.mp3
idling: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_730976e271f0443aa5e7ebbfc2e01132.mp3
trunk: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_7da75d6ae15b431294032624724052a6.mp3
clothes-bag: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_5dd4c26c9e7b46e7ae6b5b9edb7fee85.mp3
whistle-bag: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_8d90b775684b4fc68d74a2d7314b58de.mp3
wipes-bag: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_ef00f6f3d7bc48b3995b67cb4f4db1bc.mp3
duffle: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_e9135e6fc8a749e6aee389d87d0177f6.mp3
spray: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_52e57aaaef9e46f588cabea592b09a6f.mp3
crickets: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_1ec7794a088d4b07a7feb064e124cc53.mp3
carry: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_7be7c3aebbf44cb1a0f9571d8b5a1001.mp3
undress: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_d7579530dd6e4669bcfb27a4491809bd.mp3
door-open: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_e579c6c2746549fc921d0a68b581bb37.mp3
wailing: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_59592303fe424727b3c8c246bf39c845.mp3
changing: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_0fdde47e97ad4f0d847785ef3976e031.mp3
changingq: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_e0263b26d9f049e987bc24de19429c26.mp3
reststop: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_dd10576aac5143938325067956a3e536.mp3
pull-off: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_5eb572ec9c6b4ac3af7b2ff3b38f1a6e.mp3
arrested: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_c98552e07ca14b5c828cae9001091b6b.mp3
guitar: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_adb05785db904e8d933c7ea7a4894fab.mp3
Nyquil: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_868121c5b6c44cd89657f227ca383e88.mp3
school: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_76ad9f5a25a647f492c06c7d5555133c.mp3
thump: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_0e2222072a56402fb19edf6d1239ca1d.mp3
fireplace: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_fe757d86749a48ef9b3bf865f065c8d1.mp3
knock: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_8f4080bdb08a46c69c8877ade33eeb4c.mp3
window: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_9a497a68d84f49e0b593943fea6d193d.mp3
open-door: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_a8d1f62477f7496cba29b53752acf7c5.mp3
coast: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_9241d8fc3ea946738671e897c585cc43.mp3
zap: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_4cd2bd5c68354100a5ee5b875975e53e.mp3
stun: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_a2ffb60ebe6c4373a5959c2550e422dc.mp3
collapse: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_fc3817a20e444962bb33f31832f44118.mp3
hood: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_069b2517377b4efdb2c97aaa5d509005.mp3
lullaby: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_f125249928564006ad69d914c67dae83.mp3
rips: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_132979b5cb73412ea2b4070e9e888fa7.mp3
neck: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_6d490fd90c754088bb21ee9abec673c5.mp3
gasp: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_e1e437b706ce435a8eac8a8a580c1597.mp3
strangle: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_1fff304041c14307a9c11dc5b4158791.mp3
twist: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_bfb271c431df4539a092f3503393ccc9.mp3
sorry: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_3ecdb41579a44b0caadf65443133b618.mp3
back: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_1d9c510d794f49aca82215a59e75d45c.mp3
hike: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_f917bb667b374edd8466518372b64c7a.mp3
forest: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_875e2c12bc8e449fa8191c119419e10a.mp3
spooky: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_c5c08b81e3ed44e7a94e6eea19474afa.mp3
bamboo: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_d0afaa059fac4d24bbb29724b9922025.mp3
gurgle: https://static.wixstatic.com/mp3/30cad4_06d80fb1ef3c47c2a4187b2baacf1d80.mp3<center>Instincts
By: Madison Vassari</center>
(link-goto: "Play", "Long Dark Drive")
Enjoy with headphones.
//Disclaimer: Some of the audio depicts scenes that may upset some players. Your discretion is advised.//(if: $path is "douse")[You grab an afghan and hurry to your grandmother's aid, tackling her out of the rocking chair in your fervor to douse the flames.](elseif: $path is "run")[You jump to your feet and rush to the door. The chill from the outdoors startles you.] You awake to a man knocking on the driver-side window. The ceiling is aglow with the flickering of red and blue light. A flashlight beam hovers across the seats and floors of the Volvo.
"M'am," a voice says. "Sheriff's Deputy. You were parked on the side of the road, so I'm checking on your wellbeing."
(link: "<q>I'm fine.</q>")[(set: $fine to true)(goto:"NextA")]
(link: "<q>Is everything okay?</q>")[(set: $fine to false)(goto:"NextA")]
{
(live: 3s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'guitar', 'stop')
(track: 'Nyquil', 'stop')
(track: 'fireplace', 'stop')
(track: 'idling', 'volume', 0.2)
(track: 'idling', 'play')
(track: 'knock', 'play')
]
(if: (track: 'thump', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'thump', 'stop')]}(if: $fine is true)|fine>[<q>That might be, m'am,</q> he says as the flashlight scans your body before climbing up your chest to your face and blinding you.
<q>Can you roll down the window for me, please?</q>
(link: "<q>Yeah.</q>")[(set: $comply to true)(goto: "NextB")]
(link: "<q>Everything's fine.</q>")[(set: $comply to false)(goto: "NextB")]]
(elseif: $fine is false)[(replace: ?fine)[<q>Just wanting to ensure your safety, m'am,</q> he says as the flashlight scans your body before climbing up your chest to your face and blinding you.
<q>Is there anyone else with you?</q>
(link: "<q>My son.</q>")[(set: $alone to false)(goto: "NextB")]
(link: "<q>No, I'm alone.</q>")[(set: $alone to true)(goto: "NextB")]]]
{
(unless: (track: 'idling', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'idling', 'volume', 0.2)
(track: 'idling', 'fadein')]
(if: (track: 'guitar', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'guitar', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'Nyquil', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'Nyquil', 'stop')]
(if: (track: 'fireplace', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'fireplace', 'stop')]
}{(if: $comply is true)|comply>[You roll down the window and the chill of a night breeze creeps inside and slithers across your skin.
<br/>
<q>You mind showing me some (link-goto: "information", "NextC") so I can help you out a little better? Just have to confirm you as the legal owner of this-here vehicle.</q>(track: 'window', 'play')]
(if: $comply is false)[(replace: ?comply)[You sit up in your seat and put yourself together. You reach for the ignition when his voice drops a full register and says,
<br/>
<q>Don't.</q>
<br/>
His body shifts and he reaches his free hand back to his holstered sidearm.
<br/>
<q>I'm gonna need ya to step out of the car, (link-goto: "now", "NextC").</q>]]}(if: $alone is true)|alone>[<q>Dangerous to be out here all by yourself,</q> he says. <q>You mind showing me some (link-goto: "information", "NextC") so I can help you out a little better?</q>]
(if: $alone is false)[(replace: ?alone)[<q>Where's your son tonight, m'am?</q>
You look around the car as if to see him there. It doesn't dawn on you until it's too late.
<q>(link-goto: "License and registration", "NextC") please, m'am.</q>]]He already knew everything before he knocked on your window. When he scanned your license plate, it showed a picture of the registered owner. And how she was an (text-style: "fade-in-out")+(color: red)[active suspect] in a (text-style: "fade-in-out")+(color: navy)[missing child investigation]. You should have found somewhere more secluded to stop.
Your son's out there, now. Alone. He'll be alone when he wakes up in the morning. And nobody has the first clue as where to look for him.
Maybe you tell them. Or, at least, where to start looking. But god help them if they find him tonight when the moon is still up. Or if //he// finds //them//, first.
Retry (click:"Retry")[(reload:)]
(track: 'idling', 'fadeout', 2)
(track: 'arrested', 'fadein', 2)You look over your shoulder and see your boy laying in the backseat. He starts pulling at his shirt and grinding his teeth. Whatever time you have left is sparse -- there's no telling when he may start to seize. He clutches his stomach and sweat drips from his nose.
(link: "Turn back around.")[(goto: "U-Turn")]
(link: "Comfort him.")[(goto: "ComfortB")]
{
(track: 'freeway', 'fadeto', 3, 0.5)
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'loop', true)
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'play')
}You reach into the back seat and stroke his bare skin where the leg of his pants is hiked up. He //spasms// and you withdraw your hand. The pain was likened to you once as something wholly unreal. Like a migraine of the body that throbbed through every nerve ending.
"It's like there's a raving lunatic inside. At first, he's tearing the wallpaper apart and turning up whatever's not nailed down. Then he begins smashing the windows and swinging from the trellises in my skull. Until, he finally just starts bashing down the door to get out."
If that was how a grown man told it...
His small figure //spasms// again.
(link: "Pull over.")[(go-to: "changing")]
(track: 'spasm', 'play')You pull off to the side of the road. When you come to a stop, you notice he's stopped moaning.
In fact, he's stopped moving at all. You check to see if he's still breathing.
And then...
{(click: "then")+(t8n:"instant")
[Suddenly, his body violenty arches up and his voice begins to change as he gasps and moans in agony. You push the door open and fall to the asphalt.<br/>
As soon as you jump back up to your feet and make for the woods, uncaring as to where you're running just so long as you're running //away//.
(track: 'changing', 'volume', 0.3)
(track: 'changing', 'play')
(track: 'changing', 'fadeout', 12)
(track: 'idling', 'fadeout', 15)
(live: 6s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'run', 'play')]]}
(click: "away")+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 8s)[You run until you collapse. If you make it until morning, perhaps you can find your way back. You lost your bearings the minute you set foot into the thick of the woods. Or maybe you should have turned off earlier at that fork in the road? Regardless, you were the boy's keeper. His ward.
And just as you have abandoned him to his fate, so now are you forsaken to these woods.
Retry (click:"Retry")[(reload:)]]
{
(if: (track: 'spasm', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'spasm', 'fadeout')]
(track: 'clothes-teeth-groan', 'fadeout', 2)
(track: 'freeway', 'fadeout', 2)
(track: 'arrive', 'fadein', 2)
(track: 'idling', 'fadein', 10)
}Although this stretch of road is narrow, you get your car turned around and head back to that first fork in the road. You've lost some time with that last detour, but you pray it was little enough time to still get things ready.
(click: "ready")+(t8n:"dissolve")+(t8n-time: 3s)
[As you round the bend, you hear him start to //spasm// in the back seat. You recall that the pain was likened to you once as something wholly unreal. Like a migraine of the body that throbbed through every nerve ending.
"It's like there's a raving lunatic inside. At first, he's tearing the wallpaper apart and turning up whatever's not nailed down. Then he begins smashing the windows and swinging from the trellises in my skull. Until, he finally just starts bashing down the door to get out."
If that was how a grown man told it...
His small figure //spasms// again just as you return to the fork in the (link-goto: "road", "U-Turn2").
(track: 'spasm', 'play')]Your car crunches over stones and twigs and its rickety chassis stirs the sleeping boy. He clenches his stomach now and moans something fierce. Under a colony of trembling aspens a vacant parking lot greets you. You pull up near the trailhead and the hum of the Volvo's engine slows to an idle.
(link: "Pop the trunk and get to work. You've got no more time to lose.")[(track: 'trunk', 'play')(goto: "Pop the trunk.")]
{
(if: (track: 'spasm', 'isplaying'))[
(track: 'spasm', 'fadeout')]
(track: 'freeway', 'loop', false)
(track: 'pull-in', 'play')
(track: 'freeway', 'fadeout', 4)
(live: 8s)[
(stop:)
(track: 'idling', 'loop', true)
(track: 'idling', 'fadein', 2)
]}Sounds acquired through freesound.org and mixed in Audacity
Female vocals captured by AmeAngelofSin on freesound.org