You can't go back

You should be back home now. But you can't go back. (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [ Your school bullies chased you on the way back home, and you took a (text-style:"fidget")[sinister], (text-style:"fidget")[unfamiliar] passage.] (transition-delay: 4s)+(transition:"fade") [ It smells putrid, it is revoltingly damp, and you hear little creatures scuttling all over your body, sending shivers up your spine.] (transition-delay: 6s)+(transition:"fade") [ And you know they're waiting for you, where you came from. [[Continue forwards->end of alley]]]

You come out into a mysterious clearing. You've never been here in all the 13 years of your life. The bullies are still waiting behind you. You can't go back. There is a path leading into a forest that meanders round into the darkness. Your heart thumps as you step a foot onto the dire ground. You look beside you. There are steps on the brick wall next to you. [[Climb the steps]] or [[Go forwards into the forest]].

You climb up. (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"slide-right") [Slowly.] (transition-delay: 4s)+(transition:"slide-left") [Slowly.] (transition-delay: 6s)+(transition:"fade") [Will it ever end? Thorns scratch past your cheek; the bullies' laughter have become a distant, faint memory.] (transition-delay: 8s)+(transition:"fade") [All of a sudden, your hand feels something soft in the long, drooping ivy. [[Grab it]] or [[continue climbing]].]

(set: $hasRing to false) The forest is dark. Murky. (transition-delay: 1s)+(transition:"fade") [Would it be better to just turn back?] (transition-delay: 3s)+(transition:"fade") [No. You can't go back. The sneering sounds of your bullies die away into a distant dream. ] (transition-delay: 5s)+(transition:"fade") [You steadily walk forwards into the darkness. The passage soon branches into two paths.] (transition-delay: 6s)+(transition:"fade")[You have to choose a path. [[Go left]] or [[go right]].]

It feels slimy. Slippery. Warm. Is it a corpse? You grab onto it, yet it slides away. Frustrated, you reach in further. Is that a (text-style:"rumble")[[heartbeat]]?

You continue up the steps, apprehensive of what is to come. (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [And up.] (transition-delay: 3s)+(transition:"fade") [And up.] (transition-delay: 5s)+(transition:"shudder") [Will this end?] (transition-delay: 6.5s)+(transition:"fade") [After [[years]],]

You pull hard, and disappointment overcomes your heart. It is an old, tawny bag that has nothing in it. (set: $hasTawnyBag to true) [[continue climbing]]

You continue up the steps, apprehensive of what is to come. And up. And up. Will this end? After [[months]],

You continue up the steps, apprehensive of what is to come. And up. And up. Will this end? After [[days]],

You continue up the steps, apprehensive of what is to come. And up. And up. Will this end? After [[minutes]],

You continue up the steps, apprehensive of what is to come. And up. And up. Will this end? After [[seconds]],

You continue up the steps, apprehensive of what is to come. And up. And up. Will this end? After no time at all, (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [You are at the top. [[Continue]] ]

A pair of eyes stares at you. You are stunned. But it's just a statue. A plain, stone statue. Strangely, you cannot turn your head down, or to the side. (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [From fear?] (transition-delay: 4s)+(transition:"fade") [From the beady eyes of the statue? It pulls you over, without hands. You feel the urge to scream, but your throat is drier than the rock that forms the statue. Firmly walking onwards, you [[pass the statue]]. ]

You place the tawny bag in the statue. (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [Did it just jerk? It must have been a trick on the eyes. Sweat dripping from your chin, your mind tells you to (text-style:"shudder")[run]. [[continue walking]].]

You leave the statue, though its sight still haunts your mind. As you walk forwards, the air getting hotter, not colder, amongst the thick, revolting undergrowth you see a drop (hole?). Apprehensive, you peer over. It is identical to the steps you climbed up eariler. [[Climb down the steps]] or [[venture forwards]].

Does it have eyes behind its head? There is a huge hole in the back of the statue. (if: $hasTawnyBag is true) [You remember your bag. The heartbeat. Is this the statue's heart? [[Put it in the statue]] or [[continue walking]].] (else:) [What is it? Trepidation fills you until you feel like you will burst. Perhaps you will. [[continue walking]]]

Your feet crunch on the ground. (transition-delay: 1s)+(transition:"fade") [What is that on the ground?] (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [Leaves? Surely leaves don't make that sound.] (transition-delay: 4s)+(transition:"fade") [Twigs? No. Twigs don't feel like that.] (transition-delay: 6s)+(transition:"fade") [Bones? The mere thought sends a shiver down your spine. But you don't eliminate the thought. All of a sudden, you see,(transition-delay: 1s)+(transition:"fade") [ (hear?) a ring amidst the //things// on the ground. [[Pick it up]] or [[walk forwards]]]]

As soon as you walk, something slams into your face. Was it a bat? Maybe. They like the darkness. Are those bones on the ground? Thoughts of home overwhelm your brain and your eyes start to water. All of a sudden, something else slams into your face. Your feet start to pace faster. More //things// slam into your face until you get impatient. As another one hits you, you grab it. It's slippery. Slimy. What is it? You remember the torch in your pocket. [[Shine the torch on the thing]] or [[ignore it]].

You pick up the ring. (set: $hasRing to true)It shines in the darkness as you turn it. You slip it on your finger. Continue to [[walk forwards]].

You continue walking forwards, your feet getting fast-paced. Something slams into your face. Was it a bat? Maybe. They like the darkness. Thoughts of home overwhelm your brain and your eyes start to water. All of a sudden, something else slams into your face. Your feet start to pace faster. More //things// slam into your face until you get impatient. As another one hits you, you grab it. It's slippery. (transition-delay: 1s)+(transition:"fade") [Slimy. What is it? You remember the torch in your pocket. [[Shine the torch on the thing]]]

It is a squirmy, ugly little creature that resembles a mythical creature you learnt today in Religious Studies. It almost makes your lunch come out the opposite way. (transition-delay: 2s)+(transition:"fade") [Its head suddenly turns and its eyes meet yours. You suddenly remember what your teacher told you in class: do not meet its eyes. (transition-delay: 4s)+(transition:"fade")+(if: $hasRing is false) [You collapse to the ground, forever lying on the bony ground of the forest that never existed, along with all other victims of the forest.]] (transition-delay: 4s)+(transition:"fade")+(if: $hasRing is true) [However, your ring saved you from death. The two paths branch back together. [[Continue through the forest]]]

You start to run through the passage until the two paths seem to form into one again. You can't go back. [[Continue through the forest]].

You dropped into a gigantic hole, which seemed to descend interminably... until you heard your mum's voice calling you for breakfast. But that was not a dream. Or was it?

You climb down the steps. At every step, you feel, //know//, that you will slip. Yet you don't. But the climbing is continuous, and you know that you have been climbing for //much// longer than you did when you came up. Soon your feet feel like splodgy mud, and you let your body fall into the abyss of something that never existed.

Is the ground getting steeper? (transition-delay: 1s)+(transition:"fade") [Surely not. You must be dreaming.] (transition-delay: 3s)+(transition:"fade") [Yet at every step your feet seem to slide further downwards against your will. Is something pulling you, or is it gravity? It might have been reality. Soon you reach a clearing, not the clearing you started at (at least you think), which branches into ominous three paths. Something at the back of your mind tells you that you cannot go back. [[Go straight]], [[turn left]] or [[turn right]].]

[[Continue through the forest]].