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Your Little Haunting
by
Christina Nordlander
Played 341 times
View game source
(spoilers!)
Download the
.z8 file
Source Code
"Your Little Haunting" by Christina Nordlander The story genre is "Horror". The release number is 1. The story creation year is 2024. When play begins: say "You've been walking along a road you don't know, until your feet hurt.[paragraph break]Night has fallen, black as a sheer gap above you, any lampposts far off on the highway. You approached this house to ask to borrow something to light your way.[paragraph break]When no-one answered, you tried the door. It's not locked." Victorycondition is a number that varies. Victorycondition is 0. Characterdied is a number that varies. Characterdied is 0. Poisoned is a number that varies. Poisoned is 0. Diedfrompoison is a number that varies. Diedfrompoison is 0. Ghostexamined is a number that varies. Ghostexamined is 0. A room can be haunted or unhaunted. A room is normally unhaunted. A thing can be untaken or taken. A thing is normally untaken A ghost is a kind of person. Description of the player is "[playerdescript]." To say playerdescript: if Characterdied is 0: if Poisoned is 0: say "You are you"; otherwise: say "There is a ripping pain in your organs. Nothing you do seems to pacify it"; otherwise: if Diedfrompoison is 1: say "The pain has abated, thankfully"; otherwise: say "You have to assume, you're still the same". Murky Hallway is a room. "It doesn't look particularly run-down, or romantically old, but all furnishings have been stripped out. It is impossible to tell what pattern the wallpaper was.[paragraph break]There is an empty doorway to the south, and a stairway at the end of the hall leading up into blackness." The front door is a door. The front door is west of Murky Hallway. "The heavy front door leads back out to the west." Description of the front door is "Scratched wood, heavy with brass details. On the other side lies the dark country road." Instead of going west from Murky Hallway: if Victorycondition is 0: say "The darkness shows no sign of abating. You need a light source."; otherwise: say "The door creaks as you open it. You step out onto the wet-rotted porch.[paragraph break]You don't have the flashlight. Your hand, and arm, and the rest of your body, is generating its own pale light.[paragraph break]Turning back to the hallway, you see the faces of your ghosts, bidding you to stay."; end the story saying "YOU WERE NEVER GOING TO LEAVE". The stairway is backdrop. The stairway is in Murky Hallway, Upper Storey Hallway, Attic, and Western End. Description of the stairway is "[if the player is in Attic]You don't see any light coming from below[otherwise if the player is in Western End]A dark gap leading down[otherwise]Plain wood. It looks dark, but that may be the bad light[end if]." Understand "stairs" or "staircase" as the stairway. Instead of touching the stairway: if the player is in Western End: say "It is too distant."; otherwise: say "It feels sturdy enough." Instead of taking the stairway: if the player is in Western End: say "It is too distant."; otherwise: say "No." Country Road is a room. Country Road is west of the front door. Kitchen is a room. Kitchen is south of Murky Hallway. "A square room, as stripped as the rest of the house, lit with large slashes of shadow from the electric lantern outside the window.[paragraph break]A doorway to the north leads back to the hallway." The window is scenery in Kitchen. Description of the window is "All you can see outside is the glare of the lantern on the facade, then a blackness that might be forest or just sky." Instead of taking the window: say "You can't take a window." The stove is a device. The stove is in Kitchen. "An ancient electric stove stands along one wall." Description of the stove is "White enamel, peeling in the corners. Plates dark with rust." Understand "oven" as the stove. Instead of switching on the stove: say "You get no reaction." Instead of taking the stove: say "You wouldn't even be able to budge it." The sink is a device. The sink is in Kitchen. "A sink and tap stands next to the oven." Description of the sink is "An empty hollow of metal, a tap jutting out over it. The metal looks clean in the slivers of light from the window, but this close up, there is an unpleasant smell." The tap is part of the sink. The description of the tap is "A simple, narrow metal pipe sticking out over the sink, glinting where it catches the light." Understand "faucet" as the tap. Instead of switching on the tap: try switching on the sink. Instead of turning the tap: try switching on the sink. After switching on the sink: say "Water rushes out of the tap."; now the water is in Kitchen. The water is a thing. "Water rushes from the tap into the sink in a sparkling ribbon." Instead of taking the water: say "It's cold where it slides through your fingers." Instead of drinking the water: if Poisoned is 0: say "You crane your head under the jet and drink a few mouthfuls. The water is cold and metallic-tasting, but you feel a distant, acerbic undertaste that doesn't fade away."; now Poisoned is 1; the timer rings in 1 turn from now; otherwise: say "You crane your head under the cold jet and drink a few mouthfuls." After switching off the sink: say "You turn the tap with a squeak. The water stops."; now the water is in Fakeroom. Instead of taking the sink: say "It's bolted to the floor." At the time when the timer rings: say "You feel a sudden sliver of cramp through your entrails. It's enough to make your steps falter for a second."; the second timer rings in 2 turns from now. At the time when the second timer rings: say "You can't keep pushing against the pain. You double over with your arms clutching your midsection, reeling, the floor wavering before your eyes. As a last-ditch effort, you try to vomit, but the pain isn't that kind. The lights wink out, and only the agony remains.[paragraph break]You open your eyes and get up from the floor. The pain is gone. You wait a few seconds, but it doesn't come back."; move the cramped ghost to the location of the player. The cramped ghost is a ghost. "A human figure of pale light is here. It doesn't seem to see you." Description of the cramped ghost is "[crampedghostdescript]." Understand "cramped human" or "cramped figure" as the cramped ghost. After examining the cramped ghost: now Ghostexamined is 1. To say crampedghostdescript: if Ghostexamined is 0: say "It stands completely still, hunched over, as if unable to straighten up. When you walk around to see its face, it is a rictus of pain."; otherwise: say "So many little things that unsettle you, distinct from its unearthliness: the shapes of its face, even hints of the texture of its unreal skin. Its clothes. It just took a little longer to realise, seeing it outside a mirror." Instead of touching a ghost: say "Your hand moves through it. If your eyes were closed, you wouldn't even notice.[paragraph break]The ghost doesn't seem to notice your touch." Instead of taking a ghost: say "Your arms pass through it." Instead of attacking a ghost: say "You don't want to come near it." Upper Storey Hallway is a room. Upper Storey is above Murky Hallway. "A dingy hallway, narrow around your shoulders, running east and west. At the eastern end, a stairway leads up and down." Every turn: if a ghost is in Attic: now Western End is lighted. The plain door is a door. The plain door is south of Upper Storey Hallway. "[if the player is in Upper Storey Hallway]A plain door leads south[otherwise]A doorway leads back north to the dark hallway[end if].". Description of the plain door is "Darkened, flimsy wood." Bedroom is a room. Bedroom is south of the plain door. "This one hasn't been cleared out. There is a bed, piles of bed-linen, a wardrobe; just lumpy dark silhouettes." Attic is a room. Attic is above Upper Storey Hallway. "An attic, dirt piled up around the edges, the roof too low to stand straight except in the middle. The house wall is to the east. To the west, the attic continues into pitch blackness. It makes you uncomfortable to have it so close. The stairway is a black hole down to the rest of the house." The fusebox is a device. The fusebox is in Attic. "On the wall next to you sits a fusebox, its door torn off." Description of the fusebox is "Inside it are stretched wires. Several have had the insulation gnawed off them, exposing the shining metal. Next to the wires is a Bakelite handle." Instead of taking the fusebox: say "You wouldn't know how to get it off the wall." The wires are part of the fusebox. Description of the wires is "Time or vermin have gnawed off the insulation in strips. You see the glint of the metal." Understand "wire" as the wires. The handle is part of the fusebox. Every turn: if the player is in Attic: if the fusebox is switched on: if a random chance of 1 in 5 succeeds: say "With an abrupt crackle, small blue-white sparks fly from the wires." After switching on the fusebox: say "You pull the handle. Nothing immediately obvious happens." Instead of pulling the handle: if the fusebox is switched off: try switching on the fusebox; otherwise: try switching off the fusebox. Instead of taking the wires: try touching the wires. Instead of touching the wires: if the fusebox is switched on: say "Your hand cramps around the wires. At first, there is only confusion, then the electricity shoots through your body, a force too bright to even be pain. You don't know whether your eyes are open or closed as the light passes through you. Your spine is just a lightning-rod as you spasm, locked to the wire by your translucent hand.[paragraph break]After a long empty space of time, you open your eyes. You can move. There is no pain."; move the glowing ghost to Attic; otherwise: say "Your fingers brush the wires. The metal is a little colder than the plastic, that is the only difference." The glowing ghost is a ghost. "A glowing human figure is here, standing on tiptoe, lit through with a wild glow." Description of the glowing ghost is "Transparent, its entire nervous system lit by fire. Its head is flung back, its hair streaming out. Its eyes are dark pits." Understand "glowing human" or "glowing figure" or "nerves" as the glowing ghost. Western End is a room. Western End is west of Attic. Western End is dark. "The bare end of the attic room. To the east, you can see the stairs." The flashlight is a device. The flashlight is in Western End. "A flashlight in a sturdy metal case sits on the floor[if the flashlight is untaken] near the bare wooden wall[end if]." Description of the flashlight is "A sturdy, military-looking flashlight in an olive-dark metal case[if the flashlight is lit]. It is lit[end if]." Understand "torch" or "lantern" or "case" as the flashlight. After taking the flashlight: say "Taken."; now the flashlight is taken. Instead of opening the flashlight: say "It's possible that it can be opened, but you don't have the tools." Instead of burning the flashlight: try switching on the flashlight. After switching on the flashlight: say "You press the large, comfortable button. A strong beam comes on."; now the flashlight is lit. Every turn: if the player is holding the flashlight: now Victorycondition is 1. Fakeroom is a room.