Barrow, Alaska; the coldest city in the state.
The old, abandoned Eben Hopson Middle School building stands before you; it had been replaced a year ago by a newer, more modern building. The paint is worn down, the lettering has faded, and the windows are broken.
The remains of Ms. Terwilliger, a 6th grade math teacher, have been rumored to lay in the back of the building after she had been declared dead a decade ago.
Ms. Terwilliger was known to have worn a ring adorned with a Pink Star diamond, a precious gem worth millions and deeply coveted by collectors. A local jeweler has noted that you will be bringing it tomorrow. You have noted that you will become a millionaire tomorrow.
[[Let's go.|hall]]As you enter the derelict hallway, the entrance door creaks and abruptly slams behind you. The smell of mold and must fills your nostrils. The floor beneath you is even broken in some places.
To the left of you are two doors: a door to the [[front office|frontoffice]], and a door to a [[multipurpose room|multipurpose_door]]. To the right of you is a single door that leads to a [[classroom|classroom1]].
Directly in front of you, there is a wooden barrier that is built from the floor all the way up to the ceiling.
(if: $axe is 1)[[[Pursue the barrier.|barrier]]]This door is locked.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]
(if: $multipurpose_key is 1)[
[[Unlock the door.|multipurpose_room]]
]As you enter the office, some residue from the doorknob stains your hand. The floor is covered in various paperwork, swollen from moisture and colored a deep green with mold. The administration desks have fallen apart and are covered in cobwebs.
(if: $code is 0)[
[[Check out the desks.|desks]]
[[Look through some of the papers.|papers]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]
](else-if: $code is 1)[
Looks like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]
(set: $gotcode to 1)]After struggling with a barely-functioning doorknob, you're finally able to make it into the classroom.
A tree seemed to have made its way through the window on your left, covering that whole side of the clasroom with branches and dead, sun-deficient leaves. The majority of the floorspace is occupied by rows of chairs and desks, some laying on their side. At the opposite end of the room is the teacher's desk, and a vandalized blackboard, strewn with crude penises and gang names.
(if: $multipurpose_key is 0)[
[[Rummage throught the teacher's desk.|teachersdesk]]
[[See what the various student desks have to offer.|class1_desks]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]
]
(else-if: $multipurpose_key is 1)[Looks like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]
]You decide to look through the desks.
After a few minutes of opening drawers (the ones that //could// open, anyway) and beaming your flashlight through all of the cobwebs, the only things you could find were crumpled up gum wrappers and black widows. They really cleaned up the place.
[[Bummer.|frontoffice]](if: $code is 0)[You decide to rummage through the papers all over the floor.
Though the touch of the paper to your hand made you feel queasy, eventually you were able to find a decently clean piece containing some sort of numbered code. You decide to stick it in your pocket.
[[Sick!|frontoffice]]
(set: $code to 1)] (else-if: $gotcode is 1)[The smell of wet paper and mold is //reeeaaally// getting to you.
[[I'm done here.|frontoffice]]]
Clumsily navigating your way through the sea of neglected student's desks, you make your way to the teacher's desk. You're closer to the crude drawings on the board than you'd like to be.
Going through each drawer, you first come upon a crumpled up piece of paper. Curious, you unfold it to find a roughly written sentence reading: "I luv you Ms. Terwigleerr!!!!!!" with a smiley face on it. A chill runs through your body, and you set the paper down.
Finally, you discover a lonely key on a keyring, engraved with the initials "MP". You decide to place it into your pocket.
(set: $multipurpose_key to 1)
[[Alrighty...|classroom1]]One by one, you rummage through the storage space of each student desk. The most interesting things that you find are various drawings by students and even a rotten apple. None of these things end up in your pocket, however, and you sigh disappointedly as you finish looking through the last desk.
[[Anyway...|classroom1]]The multipurpose room is surprisingly more spacious than the other rooms, but is still quite derelict. A light had fallen from the ceiling and decorated its radius with shards of broken glass.
On the opposite end of the room, there was a small platform resembling a stage. Next to it there was a door labeled "SUPPLY CLOSET". On the sides of the room were metal shelves, the one on the left tipped over and surrounded by sports balls. The one on the right was still upright, but its contents were spread out on the floor.
(if: $axe is 0)[
[[Rummage through the shelves.|multipurpose_shelves]]
[[Check out what's in the closet.|multipurpose_closet]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]]
(else-if: $axe is 1)[Looks like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall]]]
You look through the shelves on both sides of the room, beginning with the shelf that was standing upright. On the floor, there were various deflated basketballs and soccer balls, which didn't seem too useful. There was nothing much else interesting on the actual shelf, either.
As you approached the shelf that had fallen over, something caught your eye. There were jerseys on the floor, but strangely, a couple of them were moving...
[[Pursue the moving jerseys...|mouse]]The closet seemed like a very cramped version of the multipurpose room, with the walls covered in various shelves. At the opposite side of the closet, a bright red metal box on the wall catches your eye.
[[Check out the box.|mp_red_safe]]There is a door on the red box, with a three-number code lock. If you knew the code, you could try your hand at unlocking it.
(if: $code is 1)[[[Try the code on the piece of paper you found.|axeget]]]
[[Return to the multipurpose room.|multipurpose_room]]Inching //very// cautiously toward the jerseys, you utter an "eep!" as you fling them off. Stepping back a few feet very quickly, you realize you have simply revealed a mouse munching on some crumbs.
It runs away.
[[Phew...|multipurpose_room]]You reach in your pocket and pull out the piece of paper you had retrieved from the front office earlier. Entering the code 6-2-1, you turn the door's handle to reveal a fire axe. Must've been for emergencies, or perhaps breaking down barriers...
The axe is small enough to fit inside your backpack, and into your backpack it will go. (set: $axe to 1)
[[Return to the multipurpose room.|multipurpose_room]]Before you stands a great barrier of wooden planks; the only thing between you and Ms. Terwilliger's beautiful, gorgeous, //expensive// Pink Star diamond ring. You retrieve the axe from your backpack, and grip it firmly with both hands.
[[Have at it!|barrier_down]]The first swing of your axe lands a dent in the barrier. You pull it out, and swing back at the barrier again. You continue, hacking at the barrier like the scene from The Shining. At long last, after your face and clothing have become drenched in sweat, the barrier is no more, and the floor in front of you is covered in its remains.
[[Onward!|hall2]]Tearing down the barrier has revealed a second hallway. After stepping over the pieces of broken wood, you take a minute to look at your surroundings.
On your left, there is a door to a [[kitchen,|kitchen]] and a door to the [[teacher's lounge|teachers_lounge_door]]. On your right, there is a door to the [[health office.|health_office_door]]
At the end of a hallway are the doors to the gymnasium, sealed shut by a barrier of ice.
There is a trail of blood connecting the health office to the gymnasium.
(if: $knife is 1)[[[Try the gymnasium doors.|gym_door]]]
<font size="36"><center>Ms. Terwilliger's</center></font>
<font size="36"><center>Ring</center></font>
<center>[[Begin|disclaimer]]</center>
<center><font size="2">by Henry Klotz</font></center>
(set: $multipurpose_key to 0)
(set: $code to 0)
(set: $gotcode to 0)
(set: $axe to 0)
(set: $knife to 0)
(set: $loungekey to 0)
(set: $coffeepot to 0)
(set: $jkey to 0)
(set: $cutdown to 0)<center>This is a work of fiction. Though the location in this game is an actual location that exists, names, characters, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
[[Continue|start]]</center>Stepping into the kitchen, a foul stench of rotten meat engulfs your nose; they must've forgotten to take some stuff out when they left the building behind. The stove, oven, and center counter have turned a deep shade of maroon from rust.
Wooden cabinets containing pots, pans, and other utensils have broken down and now cover the floor. The flickering light of a partly-opened refrigerator on the other side of the room catches your attention.
(if: $knife is 0)[
[[Check out the fridge.|fridge]]
[[Search through what's left of the cabinets.|cabinets]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]](else-if: $knife is 1)[Looks like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]]The doorknob to the teacher's lounge is adorned with what appears to be a slot for a card key.
(if: $loungekey is 1)[[[Insert the card key.|teachers_lounge1]]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]](set: $cutdown to 1) An unnerving image greets you as you enter the health office. On the other side of the counter was a large dried-up pool of blood that appears to be the start of the blood trail that leads to the gymnasium. A strong smell of iron and rotting meat permeates the room.
(if: $loungekey is 0)[Beneath your feet is a plastic card, stained with blood.
[[Pick up the card.|loungekey_get]]
[[Ignore it and return to the hallway.|hall2]]]
(if: $loungekey is 1)[Looks like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]]
Various areas on the gymnasium doors are completely encased in ice, rendering it impossible to open them with just the doorknob.
(if: $knife is 1)[[[Use the knife from the kitchen.|knife_fail]]]
(if: $coffeepot is 1)[[[Splash hot water from the coffee pot onto the ice.|ice_down]]]Intrigued by the flickering light, you decide to pursue the refrigerator at the end of the room. The closer you get to it, the stronger the rotten meat smell becomes. Pulling your jacket over your nose, you extend your hand to open the refrigerator door and reveal...
An old bag of sliced ham, caked in mold and surrounded by a dried-up pool of ham juice.
[[Gross!|kitchen]]Rummaging through the chunks of broken wood and trying not to get splinters in your fingers, you discover a rusted-over knife. What a //sharp// eye you've got! You make it a //point// to take it along with you. Maybe you can take a crack at the ice surrounding the gymnasium doors.
(set: $knife to 1)
[[Nice!|kitchen]]You attempt a couple jabs into the icy barrier, but to no avail; the best you could get in was a couple of tiny dents. The knife isn't going to work here.
[[Well, shoot.|hall2]]The teacher's lounge was very small. A round table accompanied by four tipped over chairs, a counter with a sink, a minifridge, and a small motivational poster filled the space of the room.
A coffee pot stands on top of the counter, and you can see a cellphone laying in the corner of the room.
(if: $coffeepot is 0)[
[[The cellphone catches your eye.|cell1]]](if: $coffeepot is 1)[It seems like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]]You walk over to the cellphone and pick it up. The screen is shattered, and there is a dent in the top left corner. It seems as if it's been thrown across the room.
[[See if you can still power it on.|cell2]]The teacher's lounge was very small. A round table accompanied by four tipped over chairs, a counter with a sink, a minifridge, and a small motivational poster filled the space of the room.
A coffee pot stands on top of the counter, and a cellphone on the floor, where you have thrown it.
(if: $coffeepot is 0)[
[[Take a closer look at the coffee pot.|coffeepot]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]](if: $coffeepot is 1)[Seems like you've finished your business here.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]]Much to your amazement, the screen lights up. The phone is on! It takes a moment for the phone to boot and display various logos before an image appears that sends a chill down your spine.
It's Ms. Terwilliger smiling with her husband.
This is Ms. Terwilliger's phone.
Before you get a chance to take a good look at the picture, the phone blows up with text notifications from someone named Barry.
[[Check out the notifications.|cell3]]The first 16 notifications you see simply consist of
-barbara
-barbara
-barbara please
-barbara are you there
-barbara please say something
-barbara
-barbara please
-barbara are you okay
-barbara
-barbara
-barbara the police are on their way
-barbara the news says everyone's being evacuated are you okay
-barbara
-barbara
-barbara
-barbara please tell me he didn't get you
Maybe the messages before these will explain all of these texts...
[[Open the Messages app.|cell4]]
You open up the Messages app, hoping there may be some context to why Ms. Terwilliger kept getting all of these messages...
Barry: barbara i just heard the news is everyone ok is the school on lockdown
Barbara: all the kids were sent in when the lockdown bell went off. i think everyone's okay, i'm alone in my classroom but the door's locked and the windows are closed. i should be ok.
Barry: please stay safe honey, i love you. keep me up to date
[[Continue.|cell5]]The timestamps on these texts are much later than the previous texts.
Barbara: honey i am so scared someone smashed in my window i ran as fast as I could to the health office
Barry: barb stay in there. are you okay, are you hurt? i heard police sirens I think they're on their way
[[Continue.|cell6]]The timestamps on these texts are much later than the previous texts.
Barbara: honey oh my god he's after the ring i could hear him
Barry: barbara you're going to be okay. I'm watching the news the police are there
Barbara: i swallowed the rign
Barry: what?????
Barbara: it hurt so much i swallowed the ring i'm not gonna let him take it from me
Barry: jesus christ barbara
Barry: we'll get it out when you get out of there.
[[Continue.|cell7]]The timestamps on these texts are much later than the previous texts.
Barbara: barry?
Barry: yes my love
Barbara: i love you. please don't ever forget that. tell our kids that i love them and tell my grandkids i love them so mu
Barry: I love you too but please don't talk like that, you're going to be ok. tell me you're going to be ok
Barry: barbara?
[[Continue.|cell8]]The timestamps on these texts are much later than the previous texts.
Barry: barbara i just heard gunshots. please tell me you're safe.
The timestamps on these texts are much later than the previous texts.
Barry: barbara please text me back
[[Continue.|cell9]]The timestamps on these texts are much later than the previous texts.
These texts are the same ones you saw when you first turned on the phone.
You decide you have finished your business with the cell phone.
[[Continue.|teachers_lounge2]]You take a closer look at the coffee pot. Curiously flicking the switch on the bottom of the pot, the LED next to it lights up. It works!
[[See how much more it can do.|coffeepot_get]]
[[Turn it off and return to the hallway.|hall2]]Curious, you decide to run a full brew cycle; you fill up the pot with water, put it into the coffee maker, and let it brew. After a few moments, the pot is filled with steaming hot water, tinted slightly brown from the whatever remnants of coffee grounds were left in the maker.
You now have a coffee pot filled with hot water!
(set: $coffeepot to 1) [[Return to the hallway.|hall2]](if: $cutdown is 0)[The door to the health office is completely plastered with various strips of duct tape, as well as caution tape.
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]
(if: $knife is 1)[[[Cut through the tape with the knife from the kitchen.|health_office]]
]]
(if: $cutdown is 1)[The strips of duct tape and caution tape now lay on the floor in front of the health office door.
[[Enter.|health_office]]
[[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]
]
With the smallest bit of your fingertips, you pick up the card key, wipe it off on your shirt, and slip it into your pocket.
(set: $loungekey to 1) [[Return to the hallway.|hall2]]You decide to pour hot water all over the spots of ice that encrusted the door shut. A sizzling sound and a plume of water vapor fill the room as the ice melts, and after just a few moments, the gymnasium doors are finally free from the bonds of the ice.
[[Enter the gym.|gymnasium]]The scent that you had hoped would stay in the rooms you first encountered it -the scent of iron and rotting meat- had followed you into the gymnasium, and it had gotten much more intense. Your uneasiness grows, as you notice the trail of blood leading to a [[small door|janitors_closet_door]] at the opposite end of the gym, parts covered by lights that had fallen from the ceiling and shattered pieces of wood. Every step you made echoed and resonated through the large space. Immediately to the left of you was a door to the [[coach's office|coachs_office]].You turn to enter the coach's office. As you shine your flashlight in various places on the wall, you locate a key rack. There is a single key hanging from it, with "JC" etched into it.
(if: $jkey is 0)[[[Take the key.|jkey_get]]]
(if: $jkey is 1)[You have finished your business here.
[[Return to the gymnasium.|gymnasium]]]Step by step, you make a long, grueling journey to the small door at the other end of the gym. The smell gets stronger.
Upon turning the doorknob, you realize that it is locked.
(if: $jkey is 1)[[[Unlock the door.|janitors_closet]]]
[[Return to the gymnasium.|gymnasium]](set: $jkey to 1) It almost seemed too easy.
[[Return to the gymnasium.|gymnasium]]You insert the key, and open the door. The sight before you sends a tremor through your body that almost brings you down to the floor.
The rumor was true.
[[Observe.|end1]]Ms. Terwilliger's dead body lay in front of you. The blood trail from the previous hallway led to this very spot. Though it had decayed some, the Alaskan cold had done an okay job keeping bits of the former teacher preserved.
[[Why did this happen?|end2]]As her body decayed, it created a large puddle of fluids, mostly consisting of blood. It appears that someone tried to mop up the mess, given the bloodied mop tossed off to the side, and various spots where the blood appeared to be spread.
There was a pistol tossed off to the side of the closet.
[[Who could have done this?|end3]]Upon further inspection of her body, there appeared to be divets in her arms, like the shape you make when you squeeze a ball of clay and then let go. She must have been dragged into the closet. That would explain the trail of blood.
Beneath what appeared to be bullet holes in her chest, you notice a small growth pushing out from the surface of the teacher's stomach. It is in the shape of a ring.
[[What happened to her students?|end4]]It is the Pink Star diamond ring. It is inside her stomach, just as her text suggested.
[[Her husband must have been devastated.|the choice]]<center> [[Use the knife from the kitchen to cut the ring from Ms. Terwilliger's stomach.|ending1]]
[[Leave her be. The ring belongs to her.|ending2]]</center>You retrieve the kitchen knife you acquired earlier from your backpack. Kneeling down, you press the tip of the blade into what's left of Ms. Terwilliger's stomach, and cut out the Pink Star diamond ring. At long last, you carry it in your hands.
Your first attempt a decade ago may have failed, but that doesn't matter at all anymore.
<center> [[Return to title|title]] </center>You leave her be. The ring belongs to her. She died to keep this ring from getting into anyone else's hands but hers.
<center> [[Return to title|title]] </center>