Caen's Lair

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The group look at each other, each hoping someone else will just give in. Then Caen sighs. "Fine! I'll go."

And she does. Only, she doesn't come back up. The remaining friends spend another 5 minutes worriedly glancing at the time, before Red grabs the remote to pause the tv. In the silence they turn to the others. "Should we go check on them? Or something?"

Will you

  all go down to check    
  send one person down    
  keep waiting    

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The others agree, so you all grab your flashlights and phones. Although it seems a bit like an overreaction, you're all on edge already, so maybe being prepared will make you feel a bit better.

You make your way down into the kitchen, but the place is spotless. Nothing stands out, except for the door, which has been left wide open.

back

You sneak around campus and encounter Tump outside the math building. When asked what in the world he's doing there, he explains he was on his way to the dorm when he remembered he'd left a book there. Both his explanation and his broad smile seem a little off, but none of you can really pinpoint why so you let it go. He's wearing a fully buttoned up coat, which is odd for the beginning of summer.

He claims to not have seen Caen of course, so you continue on past the math building.

Will you

  call her    
  keep searching together    
  split up    

back

Eventually you decide that even if she wasn't there when Tump was at the math building, not searching it at all would be careless. Tump doesn't seem thrilled, though you can't see a reason it would bother him.

The reason becomes clear soon enough in the form of Caen's dead body slumped against a tree in the yard of the math building. You stare in horror and don't notice at first as Tump silently slides a knife out of his coat pocket. You do notice when he runs it through Mess' throat, who was standing closest to him. It goes down, making truly bone chilling sounds as Cin and Red watch.

"Who's up next?" exclaims Tump.

Will you

  run    
  hide    

back

You exchange tense looks, and Mess pauses the tv. "I'll go check," says Red, and the others nod. They leave and the two remaining do their best to relax - it will be fine right? Surely she just got distracted with something and Red will be able to clear it up.

It is not fine. Your heads snap to the door at a yelp from downstairs. You both jump up and you pile into the kitchen, where Tump is standing frozen over an unconscious Red, still holding the knife block the scene suggests he just whacked them over the head with it. He's looking directly at you with unwavering focus.

Will you

  run back upstairs    
  jump him    

back

Sharing the unsettling awareness that something is wrong, you sit in apprehensive silence, but nobody gathers the courage to suggest anything. You all nearly jump out of your skin when there's a knock on the door.

It's Tump, who, upon being asked whether he encountered Caen on his way in, denies this, and his misplaced grin puts you off of pushing it.

Will you

  call her    
  keep waiting    

ENDING 1

to the beginning
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1/5 survive, the killer is caught

Red punches in Caen's number and they all wait in anticipatory silence. Then they hear her phone ringing - from inside Tump's coat pocket. Her phone isn't the only thing he has in his pockets, as they find out when he pulls a knife on them. Chaos descends, Tump stabbing at everything that moves, the rest of them trying to get their bearings, trying to wrestle it from him, trying to escape.

Even a non-fatal blow, as it turns out, can be quite debilitating, which allows Tump to eventually take out all three of them. He does get a broken nose and a lot of bruises in the process, but he doesn't seem to care much. As night turns to day, people notice the trail of bodies, of course, but he doesn't seem to care much about being apprehended, either.

ENDING 2

to the beginning
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2/5, the murderer is caught

You dash in different directions like scared prey animals, and Tump runs after you. He jumps a decorative fence and catches Cin as she's turning the corner. Red doesn't stop running until they're multiple blocks away from campus, where they sink down against a wall and try to calm down enough to regain their ability to speak before calling the police.

ENDING 3

to the beginning
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2/5, the killer is caught

You both have the same idea, each making for one of the 2 biggest buildings on campus. Tump takes a second to decide who to run after, and it gives you enough of a head start to make it inside. Cin flees to a dark corner by the cafeteria and counts her breaths out, listening for any and all sounds. When there's nothing but her own heart beat in her ears for what feels like ages, she slowly pulls out her phone to call the authorities.

He never finds her, but Red's body is recovered from where they've been stuffed into a locker. There is blood spreading out from under the door, colouring the shaggy off-white carpet in shades of red.

ENDING 4

to the beginning
back

1/5 survive, the killer is caught

You decide that this is taking too long. Obviously something is going on, and since you've now got an extra person, you'd be even faster splitting up to search.

He picks you off one by one, not even bothering to hide the bodies or his involvement, to add insult to injury.

ENDING 5

to the beginning
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1/5 survive, the killer is caught

You're all a bit confused but since nothing is actually out of place, you decide splitting up would let them cover the most ground. It's barely been ten minutes, so she can't have gotten very far anyway.

It happens like this: Red decides to circle the building, and is attacked by the locked back door. They are too surprised to scream. Mess is making its way past a bit of shrubbery by the administrative building when a figures charges at it. The light of its flashlight bounces off the knife as it whips around. Sylvi finds Caen's body in the yard of the math building, and is distracted by the sight for just long enough to have her throat slit from behind without a fight.

The ensuing investigation does result in a conviction, but it haunts the school for decades.

ENDING 6

to the beginning
back

4/5 survive, the murderer is caught

Mess snaps into action, pulling at Sylvi's arm. They rush up the stairs, and Sylvi manages to shut the door just as Tump makes it up the stairs behind them. You hear him impacting with the door, stopping from a full run, and hurriedly jiggling the door handle. You're both breathing far more heavily than this amount of physical activity would warrant under normal circumstances.

Together you push a dresser in front of the door and slump against it. While you wait for the authorities to arrive Tump talks to you through the door. You try very hard not to listen.

ENDING 7

to the beginning
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4/5 survive, the killer is caught

You see Tump's hand twitch, and you see the kitchen knife on the counter. In a split second decision, Cin leaps down the stairs to ram her elbow into his side - it works and he loses his balance, which gives Mess time to swipe the knife.

The tables have turned and you certainly make quite the sight herding Tump into a corner of the room with a bloody kitchen knife. Striking images aside, you call for help and get Red into a hospital and Tump to a police station.

ENDING 8

to the beginning
back

1/5 survive, the killer is caught

Cin calls Caen's phone, and you all expect the worst. What actually happens is somehow even worse than her not picking up however: you hear the phone ringing. From inside Tump's pocket.

The school never uses the room again, and the people living in the adjacent rooms claim the dorm is haunted for at least another decade.

ENDING 9

to the beginning
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1/5 survive, the killer escapes

Despite the still running tv, the room's atmosphere is oppressive. It will be ok, you'll investigate in the morning, or she’ll sneak in while you're sleeping after a prank that didn't land. Eventually, you go to sleep. This makes it easy for him.