#manyroadsdivergejse

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Six

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see? You all are being so incredibly reasonable this whole run fdhjakslh None of you are like "hmm, what if I saw the bad choices?" Or, well, some of you might be, idk, I can't see into your heads. Wonder how you'll deal with this choice, then... :)c

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 20th at 12:00pm PST. Part Seven will be up the next day, April 21st, at the same time.

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“Bro, it’s not gonna be that hard to tell us what you’re talking about,” Chase says.

Marvin raises an eyebrow. “It’s also not gonna be that hard to walk three meters from where you’re standing to the room.”

It’s farther than that, JJ says.

“Semantics.”

“Marvin, I think what we are trying to say is that... you have been acting a bit unusual,” Schneep says delicately. “We need some trust.”

“Yeah, maybe when we walk in you’ll lock us in the room or something,” Jackie adds.

“What the fuck? No!” Marvin folds his arms. “Okay, fine, if you guys are being so weird about it. The room is pretty much empty except for some chairs. But there’s a pattern burned into the floor that I know is a ritual circle for spells.”

Jackie blinks. “What?”

Marvin throws his hands in the air. “See? You have no idea what that means! My explanation is fucking useless to you!”

Even that is better than going in completely blind, JJ says. Thank you, Marvin. We’ll check it out now.

“Finally. You guys are being weird.”

“No, you’re being weird!” Chase insists. “You’ve been weird since we came down to see what you were doing!”

Marvin starts to snap back, but stops. He frowns, like he’s considering something. For a moment, he looks worried. Then he pushes past it. “Well... I’ll try to stop being weird, then. Come on. I’ll go in first, if you’re so worried about me locking you in.” And he turns around and walks back into the room he came from. The other four glance at each other, a bit concerned, but follow him.

The room is exactly as Marvin described, empty except for four wooden chairs. A single dim bulb lights it up, though there are still shadows around the edges. And on the floor—wooden boards instead of the blank concrete in the basement hallway—is a design. Chase traces the lines with his eyes. A circle. With lines crisscrossing back and forth, and six strange symbols burned into the empty space in the center. The four chairs sit on the edge of this circle, evenly spaced between each other.

“So... you said this was a ritual circle?” Schneep asked. “For what?”

“I don’t really know, actually,” Marvin says slowly. “I don’t recognize the pattern. And actually, patterns aren’t really used that much, it’s usually just the circle, maybe with some runes around the edges if you want to be fancy.”

“What about these?” Jackie points at the symbols in the center. “They seem important. Do you recognize them?”

“I... kind of?” Marvin says. “It’s weird. I don’t know how I know this, but it’s something about... life? And... change? Transformation, o-or maybe transference, I don’t know.”

“Why’s it burned into the ground?” Chase mutters, tapping one of the lines with the tip of his shoe. “Seems like a lot of effort.”

“I’m guessing whoever did it was planning on using it a lot.”

JJ frowns. Why is this in Jack’s cabin? Along with all those magic books in the other room? I didn’t think he was into that sort of stuff.

“Maybe it belonged to some other family member,” Jackie suggests.

Chase gives the room a second look, as if he could find something new. And, surprisingly, he does. “Hey, these chairs were in the other room,” Chase says. “With the table. Marvin, did you move them in here?”

Marvin stares at Chase for a moment. Then at the chairs. He blinks, confusion clouding his face. “I... don’t know. Maybe? I—ow!” Marvin flinches a bit, pressing a hand to the side of his head.

“Are you okay?” Schneep asks.

“Yeah, I just... my head... started... hurt...” Marvin’s words trail off. He slowly lowers his hand. And he steps further into the room, going right up to the symbols in the center, looking down as he stands on them.

“Marvin?” Jackie asks, concerned.

Marvin looks up. “I remember what one of these means,” he says in a slow, almost monotone voice. “It means ‘blood.’ And I found something else in this room.” He puts his hand behind his back and then takes it out again. A knife is clasped in his hand. A thin blade, almost a dagger.

“Whoa!” Jackie steps forward, holding his arms out protectively in front of the others. “Okay, uh, cool? Th-that makes sense, I guess. Now, uh, can you put it down?”

Marvin grins. “Does it make you nervous?”

“No!” Jackie protests.

“I-it does a little,” Schneep says quietly.

“Really? What are you afraid of? That I’ll hurt you? I’m hurt that you’d think that.” Marvin flips the knife in his hand. “I’ll show you how hurt I am.” Slowly, he raises the shaking knife to his throat.

Chase gasps. He pushes past Jackie. “Marvin, no!”

JJ also tries to push past him, but Schneep grabs him and pulls him back. “Be careful!” Schneep hisses.

“Be careful?! Be careful?! Are you seeing this?!” Chase takes a couple steps forward. “Marvin, put the knife down.”

Marvin just laughs. The blade presses against his neck.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Two

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. Don't mind me accidentally voting on the poll myself, I tapped on the option while scrolling fhdjkalh So the results are actually even more in the favor of playing video games :)

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 12th at 12:00pm PST. Part Three will be up the next day, April 13th, at the same time.

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“Yeah, I’m sure the food situation is fine,” Chase says. “I want to check out the consoles that Jack’s been keeping from us.”

“Hell yeah!” Jackie grins.

Schneep rolls his eyes. “Fine. But if there is no food in the kitchen you will have to drive back to town.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” That was the price of being the only friend with a driver’s license. “Look, if something’s up, I’ll stop what I’m doing and head down there. But I doubt it is.” Chase leaves the bedroom, closing the door behind him. “C’mon, let’s go check it out.”

Jackie whoops and hurries to the staircase. Chase follows at a slower pace with Schneep trailing behind him.

Marvin and JJ are already downstairs, sitting on the sofa closest to the window. “Can’t believe it’s already getting dark,” Marvin mutters. “Love the fall, hate the lack of daylight.”

“Ah, Marvin, JJ,” Schneep says. “It is getting close to dinner time. What would you like to eat? There is no guarantee Jack will have stocked the food, but I will ask anyway.”

“You already know my list of foods I like,” Marvin says, shrugging.

I’m fine with whatever you want to make, JJ says. It sounds like we may have limited options.

“We may. I have not checked yet.”

“Hey, do you guys want to check out the PS5 with me and Chase?” Jackie asks.

“Uh, sure, I’ll watch whatever you guys do,” Marvin says.

JJ stands up. I’d rather help Henrik in the kitchen, if you don’t mind.

“Aw, I thought we were making so much progress teaching you the ways of the future!” Chase pretends to look sad.

JJ chuckles. I may join later, don’t worry.

He and Schneep headed into the kitchen while Chase, Jackie and Marvin started setting up the console and checking out what games were on it. “Jesus, does he have every Resident Evil game on here?” Chase mutters. “He does! There’s no way he’s played them all, though, since he straight-up forgot about this cabin until recently.”

“Oo! Oo! Spider-Man!” Jackie says excitedly. “Let’s play that!”

“We should choose something multiple people can play,” Marvin points out.

“Yeah, well, doesn’t look like he has a lot of those,” Chase says. “Look, Monopoly. You want to play Monopoly?”

Marvin makes a face.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“Good news, everyone!” Schneep reappears in the archway leading to the kitchen. “Everything is full of food. I don’t think we are eager to cook, but JJ found some frozen pizzas in the freezer.”

“Hell yeah,” Jackie says. “How many? What toppings?”

“Well it looks like there is one for each of us, as there are five, one for each of our preferences.”

“Oh cool, I don’t have to pick off toppings!” Marvin says excitedly. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

“The oven is not big enough for all at once, so who can wait?”

“Uh, I’m not that hungry,” Chase says. “And I doubt that Jackie will want to eat right away, since he went straight for the PS5.”

“Hey! ...Well, that’s fair,” Jackie admits.

“Three is fine,” Schneep says, and turns around, going back into the kitchen.

“Sooo what are we playing?” Jackie asks.

“I saw Grand Theft Auto back there, let’s choose that,” Marvin suggests. “It’s always fun to watch even if you’re not playing.”

“Sounds good to me,” Chase says, selecting the game.

They play for about ten minutes, with Chase having primary control while Jackie and Marvin tell him what to do and occasionally try to grab the controller from him. Chase is just about ready to tell the other two to take their turn, if they’re so focused on playing, when—

The screen and lights in the room go dark.

“Aw, what?” Chase presses buttons on the controller as if that can fix it. “Did the power go out?”

Marvin groans. “We were tempting fate earlier when we said we won’t have to go down into the basement.”

Schneep and JJ run into the living room. Did everything go out? JJ asks.

“Looks like it.” Jackie punches his fist. “God damn it! Well, at least we didn’t get far.”

“Jack said the fuse box was in the basement, right?” Marvin recalls. “Schneep, you still have the house keys. Can they open the basement door?”

“I am sure they... oh.” Schneep digs around in his pocket. Then his other one. “Where did they..?”

JJ walks over to a table by the entrance and picks up the keys from there. He looks at Schneep with a raised eyebrow. You didn’t remember where you put them?

“W-well, I am sure one of those can open the basement,” Schneep stammers, embarrassed. “I will, ah, keep an eye on the... the food.” And he disappears back into the kitchen.

Jackie sighs. “Okay then. One of us should stay up here and keep an eye on things. Get everything set back up the moment the power comes on. Chase, are you okay with doing that? You were figuring out the controls faster than I was.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Chase agrees. “So who’s going downstairs, then?”

Jackie, Marvin, and JJ all look at each other.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Five

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see? We're about halfway through the choices now! It doesn't seem like much has happened, but trust me, things get crazy from now on in all choice branches.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 18th at 12:00pm PST. Part Six will be up the next day, April 19th, at the same time.

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“Alright, fine, we don’t have to drag Marvin upstairs,” Jackie groans. “But the moment he gets up here, I’m asking him why you guys thought he was being weird.”

JJ glances back at the basement door, looking a bit uneasy. But he relents now that the three others have made their decision. Alright. I hope he won’t be long, he says.

“It will be fine,” Schneep says. “Besides, I do not think we should leave cooking food unsupervised. Especially in a cabin that is not ours. If we burn the oven Jack will be so angry. Speaking of which, I am going back to keep an eye on them.” He says that last part as he turns around and heads back into the kitchen.

Jackie and Chase sit back down on the sofa. JJ hovers for a bit before sitting down in a nearby armchair. “Are we all good?” Chase asks.

“Yeah, of course,” Jackie says. “Now let’s catch up to where we were before. Maybe it’s my turn now?”

“We’llll seeee,” Chase says as he picks up the controller. “If you didn’t mess with the game while I was downstairs with JJ, then you’ll have earned your turn.”

“What?! What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, like you wouldn’t take the opportunity to fuck with me by putting me halfway across the map.”

Jackie grins. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Everything is in order, though, so Jackie gets his turn. But he doesn’t play for that long before the basement door opens. Marvin stands in the doorway. He glances at the TV. “Continuing without me?”

“We didn’t know how long you’d be down there!” Jackie says defensively.

“It’ll be a little while longer,” Marvin says. “Where’s Schneep?”

Right as he says that, Schneep appears in the kitchen entrance. “Ah, Marvin. Good to...” Schneep trails off. “Are... are you okay?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I... don’t know...” Schneep says quietly. Chase has to agree with him. There’s something... different about Marvin right now. He sees the same faint confusion on Jackie and JJ’s faces. Maybe Marvin is standing differently, somehow?

“Well, I’m fine,” Marvin says. “I found something strange. Come on, I want to show you guys.” And he turns around, going back down the stairs.

JJ gets to his feet. Now we are DEFINITELY going after him, he says, glaring at the others. There’s no room for argument in his face.

“Okay, okay,” Schneep says. “Let me just turn off the ovens. This may take a while.”

He does that, and the four of them get up and go down the stairs to the basement. The hallway extends before them. Marvin is nowhere in sight. “Uh... where’d he go?” Jackie asks.

“He was in this big room at the back before,” Chase says. “He’s probably there now. Come on.”

But when they arrive there, Marvin is still nowhere to be seen.“Uh...” Chase’s mind goes blank. “Did any of you guys notice anything in the other rooms? Was one of the doors open?”

“I did not see anything,” Schneep says.

“Yeah, they were all closed except for the one with the fuse box,” Jackie says. “And that one was open. I didn’t see Marvin in there.”

“Well he wanted us to see something, so he’s down here somewhere.” Chase shakes his head.

He could have gone into one of the other rooms and closed the door behind him, JJ suggests. But... He suddenly stops signing. His eyes have landed on the nearest bookcase. Frowning, he walks over.

“Jamie?” Schneep asks. “What is it?”

JJ doesn’t answer right away. He crouches down to the ground and reaches into a small gap between the bookcase and the wall behind it. When he stands up again, he’s holding a book in his hand. A thin, old-looking book, with yellowed pages and a cracked leather cover. He stares at it, turning it over in his hands.

“What’s that?” Chase asks.

JJ puts the book on the bookcase’s middle shelf, freeing his hands for sign. It was behind the bookshelf. I don’t know if it fell down there or... if someone put it there deliberately.

“Does it really matter? It’s just some old book.”

JJ frowns. I suppose that’s true. But it’s odd that—

His signing is interrupted by the sound of a door opening. In unison, the four guys turn and stare down the hall. One of the doors has opened. The one next to the room with the fuse box. And Marvin walks right out. “Guys, I’m right here,” he says, sounding a bit impatient.

Jackie throws his hands in the air. “Well how the fuck were we supposed to know that? The door was closed!”

“It was?” Marvin looks back at the door. He laughs a little. “Oh yeah. I guess I closed it. Must be a habit. Sorry, guys. Anyway, you guys need to see this. It’s a bit, uh...” His faint smile fades. “It’s weird.”

“What is it?” Schneep asks.

“Uh... I-I don’t know how to explain it. It’ll be easier if you guys just see it. I mean... you’re right here. You just have to walk down the hallway.”

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Four

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. I love how this is the first 100% vote in either of the two runs dfhjskah Everyone really was like "don't you f*cking dare go by yourself, JJ! Chase, go with him!" I mean, it's understandable, really. When you know the cabin is dangerous, you're going to stick together.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 16th at 12:00pm PST. Part Four will be up the next day, April 17th, at the same time.

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“Alright, JJ.” Chase sets the controller down and stands up. “I’ll go check on Marvin with you.”

JJ slumps, visibly relieved. Thank you, he says. I know I’m probably being silly, but I can’t shake this feeling that something’s happened.

“No, it’s okay, really,” Chase assures him.

Jackie picks up the controller. “Well while you guys are gone, do you mind if IIIII...?”

“Don’t you touch a button on that,” Chase threatens.

Schneep laughs. “You heard him, Jackie. Put it down.”

“Aw.” Jackie sets the controller down again. “Fine, fine. You guys be back quick with Marvin, okay?”

We will, hopefully, JJ says. Chase, come on.

The two of them walk over to the open basement door and descend the eleven steps of the staircase.They end up in a long hallway. It extends forward for a little while before opening up into a wide open space. On the left side of the hallway are two doors. On the right side are three. The nearest door on the right is slightly ajar, and Chase glances into it, seeing a room full of cardboard boxes with a metal cabinet mounted on the wall. “Oh hey, there’s the fuse box,” he says. “Now where’s Marvin?”

Probably down the hall, JJ says. He starts walking forward. Chase follows.

The wide open space at the end of the hallway is a wide room, lit up by six yellow lights mounted into the ceiling. The middle is clear, but there’s a bunch of old-looking junk around the edges. More boxes, a wooden table with deep scratches in its surface, and above all, bookcases full of dusty books. Marvin sits in a wooden chair that looks like it matches up with the table. (There are four other identical chairs dotted around the room—a dining room set, perhaps?) He’s hunched over a thick book, scanning the first pages so intently he doesn’t realize JJ and Chase have walked into the room.

“Uh... Marvin?” Chase calls.

Marvin looks up. He smiles. “Oh hey! You came down to look for me?”

Of course we did, JJ says. We were worried. We’ve been texting you.

“Really? I didn’t notice.” Marvin shuts the book closed and stands up, leaving the book on the chair. “Two of you? Are Jackie and Schneep coming downstairs too?”

“Nah, they stayed upstairs,” Chase says. “Uh... what were you reading?”

“One of the books down here. They’re so fascinating. I got curious and decided to look around, and I’m so glad I did!” Marvin’s eyes are alight. He hurries over to the others, so quickly that Chase actually takes a step back in surprise. “Here.” Marvin grabs JJ by the hand and pulls him into the wide room. “I can show you.”

“Uh, bro, we were kind of in the middle of something upstairs,” Chase says, stepping forward and grabbing JJ’s other arm to stop Marvin from dragging him off. “If you want to stay down here and read, that’s fine, but we’re kind of busy.”

Marvin’s head snaps over to Chase. For a moment, he looks angry. But the expression only lasts a split second. Chase must have imagined it. “True.” Marvin lets go of JJ’s hand. “You guys were doing something. You can go back to that, don’t worry about me. I’d much rather keep reading. But I probably won’t notice any texts so you might have to come downstairs again if you want to get me.”

JJ shakes his hand, wincing a little. Tight grip, he signs.

“Oh.” Marvin starts a little, looking guilty. “Sorry, I-I didn’t realize.”

It’s okay. What are these books about anyway? Why are you so interested in them?

“Oh, it’s fascinating.” Marvin laughs. “I just said that, didn’t I? Well, it is. What I’ve found has been, uh, very relevant to my interests. I didn’t know Jack’s family was into magic. Or, was, at one point. Clearly they’re not any more.”

Chase blinks. “Huh. Yeah, that’s a bit weird.”

Marvin takes a step closer to him. “Want to see some?”

“No, no, I’m good. We’re good.” Chase has goosebumps on his arms. He’s not sure why, but he doesn’t want to be here anymore. “Come on, JJ. We’ll tell Jackie and Schneep what happened.”

JJ nods slowly, then follows Chase out of the room.

“Come back if you want!” Marvin calls. “I’d love to show you!”

Chase and JJ head straight back to the staircase, not diverting to look at the other rooms. They’re quiet until they start up the steps, at which point JJ stops and looks at Chase. Did that seem... odd, to you? he asks.

“Yeah,” Chase agrees. “I know Marv can be a bit weird sometimes, but that... that wasn’t his normal weird. I think? I don’t know. I-I don’t want to be rude or anything.”

JJ shakes his head. That wasn’t normal. Something about it was just... off.

“Well, what do we do then?”

Let’s talk about it with Jackie and Henrik.

The two of them start walking up the stairs again. When they reach the top and return to the living room, Chase instinctively closes the basement door behind them. Schneep and Jackie are still on the sofa. They look over towards them in unison. “Oh, no Marvin? After all that?” Jackie asks. “What happened?”

“He, uh... found something,” Chase says. He quickly explains the whole encounter they had.

“Hmm.” Schneep frowns. “You are right. Marvin can be intense about his interests, but he does not usually get so intense that he would pull Jamie into the room. Especially by the hand.”

JJ nods. That’s what really bothered me. He knows I don’t like people grabbing my hands, and yet he did it. He sighs. At least he had the presence to apologize for it.

“Okay, so Marvin’s being a bit more intense than usual,” Jackie sums up. “What do we do about that? It’s not like we can drag him upstairs.”

I mean... we COULD, JJ considers.

“He’ll probably be upstairs eventually,” Chase says. “He has to go to sleep after a while, and we all know he’s not the type to fall asleep wherever. We could just wait for him to come up and ask him what the hell was going on when he does.”

“I do not think we should drag him upstairs,” Schneep says. “That seems a bit... intense, ha.”

“Yeah, but Marv was being weird and intense, maybe if we go get him he’ll realize that,” Jackie says.

“So we’re at a tie,” Chase says. “Unless someone changes their mind.”

They all go quiet, each one looking at the others.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Finale

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You have reached the end of your path. Will you be happy with what you've found?

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event! It was so much fun to do :D I'm hoping on releasing the full, all-possible-branches experience as a work on AO3, but at this point I've only finished one of five possible routes, sooooo it's going to be a LONG while before we reach there XD So I hope you're all happy with the ending you've reached! I am :)

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“Schneep.” Chase keeps his voice quiet, slowly raising his hands in a ‘calm down’ gesture. “Henrik. We know something’s wrong with you. We don’t want to hurt you.”

Schneep laughs. “Then you’re a bit outmatched, aren’t you?” The knife moves a bit closer to Jackie’s throat. “I don’t have any problems hurting you.”

“That’s because—because you’re not Schneep, are you?!” Marvin says accusingly.

The knife stops. Jackie is trying not to breathe. “So one of you isn’t an idiot,” says the voice coming from Schneep’s mouth. “Not that it matters in the long run. I’m going to kill your friend, you know, it doesn’t change anything if you know the truth or not.”

Henrik. JJ looks at Schneep sympathetically. We know you’re in there. Keep fighting.

“You dumb little m—” Schneep stops suddenly, his whole body tensing up. The knife trembles. Jackie tries to lean away from the blade.

JJ nods encouragingly. Yes, that’s you, isn’t it?! Henrik. Henrik. He keeps signing Schneep’s name sign over and over. 

“I-I...” Schneep’s eyes squeeze shut, then shoot open again. His chest rises and falls quickly. “Th-there is... something i-inside,” his voice gasps out. “I cannot—cannot keep him—c-cannot fight him...”

“Of course you can,” Chase gives him a small smile.

“It doesn’t have to be for long,” Marvin says gently. “Just let go of Jackie. Put the knife down.”

“I-I cannot...” Schneep’s eyes roll back in his head. “This isn’t going to work, you fucking morons,” the other one hisses. “You can’t get rid of me with a few simple pleas to your psycho friend—” He’s suddenly cut off by a strangled cough.

“Don’t fucking call him that you bastard!” Marvin snarls.

“Don’t listen to him, Schneep!” Chase adds. “It’s your body, you’re stronger than him!”

The other one laughs. And again, it’s cut off by a choked sort of noise. Tears slip out of Schneep’s eyes. “I cannot do this,” he whispers. “I cannot do this.” His fingers are turning white with how hard they grip the knife and Jackie’s hoodie.

You can! JJ signs firmly.

“H-he is so much more than just me...” Schneep’s voice trails off. The lights overhead, alight now that Marvin switched the power back on, flicker for a moment. “Things a-are not—they should not be—I-I hurt Jackie, a-and Jamie—”

JJ shakes his head. It’s not your fault. I forgive you.

“Just for a moment, Schneep,” Chase says quietly. “Just for a moment, then we’ll take care of it.”

Schneep is shaking all over, teeth clenched together, head twitching occasionally. The blade is coming closer to Jackie’s neck, then moving farther again a second later. Nobody dares say anything else. Marvin glances back at Chase and JJ, unsure, but both of them shake their heads. It’ll work. It has to work.

Jackie takes a deep breath. He closes his eyes. “It’s okay, Schneep,” he says quietly. “It’s okay.”

Schneep’s eyes snap towards him, locking onto his face. For a moment, he goes very still. Then, with a scream that fills the tiny room, he flings Jackie across the room, leaving him to crumple against the bed.

Marvin and Chase rush forward. Chase grabs Jackie and pulls him back, and Marvin runs towards Schneep. He grabs him by the arms. “Alright, you motherfucker,” he hisses. “Get out of my friend.”

Schneep twitches, and the other one laughs again. “It doesn’t work like that,” he says in a singsong voice. Then his head jerks forward and smashes into Marvin’s nose. Marvin jerks back instinctively, shouting as blood starts to leak from his nostril. The other one pushes him aside and lunges towards Jackie and Chase. But suddenly JJ jumps forward, moving fast despite his injury, blocking the two of them. Schneep’s body collides with him. A strangled yell comes from JJ’s throat. It scares the others—JJ doesn’t scream. And yet he did. When Schneep pulls away, staggering to his feet, the handle of the knife he was holding sticks out of JJ’s stomach, the blade buried within.

Chase cries out in horror. Marvin rushes to JJ’s side. He hesitates, then presses down on the wound around the knife, trying to help stop the bleeding. “You—y-you just—” he gasps. “Jameson, you didn’t h-have to—”

I did, JJ signs weakly.

Schneep’s body shudders. “No,” he breathes. “N-no, I—Jamie, I-I am so sorry, he is too—” Schneep screams out, grabbing his head. “Go away!” he cries. “Leave me alone!” He stumbles away from the others until his back hits the windowsill—of the open window. He suddenly stiffens. A single eye twitches. “No!” he shrieks. He spins around and—before anyone can do anything about it—grabs the windowsill and pushes himself out.

“Schneep!” Jackie screams.

Chase runs forward and leans out the window. Schneep’s form is visible on the dark ground outside. For a moment, he doesn’t move. And then he stirs. A single arm reaches out.

“He’s moving!” Chase gasps, jerking backwards. “I-I’m going to check it out! Marvin, help JJ and Jackie!”

“On it!” Marvin is already looking at the medical kit they brought in earlier. And with that, Chase spins around and rushes out of the room.

He sprints down the hall, doesn’t slow for the stairs, then bolts across the living room and bursts out the front door. He takes a moment to orient himself, then turns and keeps running across the ground. It’s blind luck that he doesn’t trip on a loose pebble.

Schneep’s body is crumpled under the window. Or, slightly to the side of the window. He’s been crawling slowly away. Chase comes to a stop a few feet away. “...Schneep?” he says.

Schneep’s head snaps up. Chase can already tell by the look on his face that the problem hasn’t been solved. “You... you fucking bastard,” the other one says, baring his teeth. “Damn you. Damn you all! This isn’t fucking over! Even if you break his body, you can’t get rid of me!” He laughs. “You don’t even know anything! You don’t know where you are! Fucking—pieces of shit, I’m sure any of you would’ve been better—fuck you. Fuck you.”

Chase stares down at him. He feels strangely empty looking at this. “It’s going to be okay, Schneep,” he whispers.

“No, it’s fucking not,” the other one hisses.

“Shut up.” Chase bends over and grabs Schneep’s body, wrapping his arms around his torso in an awkward half-carry half-drag. The other one screams and tries to wriggle out of his grasp, but stops abruptly, going almost still. Almost. Chase can feel Schneep shaking. “It’s going to be okay,” he repeats. “It’s going to be okay.”

He ends up leaving Schneep in the first-floor bathroom. It doesn’t have a window, only one door that Chase wedges a chair under. Then he sits on the floor in front of it and stares.

A couple minutes pass. Then Chase hears footsteps coming down the stairs. It’s Marvin. “Hey, Chase,” he says quietly.

Chase swallows a lump in his throat. “How are they?”

“I... did what I could. Jackie’s fine, I-I’m more worried about JJ, but... I’m sure he’ll be fine. The police are coming soon.” Marvin tries for a reassuring smile. “What about... you know?”

“He’s alive,” Chase says. “That was a terrible fall, I bet he has at least two broken bones. But he’s alive. That... thing, though... it’s still there.” He laughs. “What a way to find out ghosts are real.” The laughter dies quickly. 

Marvin looks at the bathroom. “You locked him in there?”

“Not sure what else to do.” Chase shrugs. “How are we going to explain this to Jackie? How are we going to explain this to anyone? I-I don’t think people will believe us if we say that a serial killer from the 20s possessed our friend and tried to kill us.”

“Yeah,” Marvin agreed. “I’m wondering why all this was in Jack’s cabin. He better have a good explanation for why he didn’t get rid of any of that shit.” He folded his arms. “Well... I-I’m going to go back upstairs and... sit down. With the others. I’ll try... to tell Jackie everything that happened.”

“Tell them I say hi,” Chase says.

Marvin nods and goes back upstairs. Chase continues to stare at the bathroom door. It’s not long before the banging and shouting begins.

Luckily, it’s also not long before the sounds of sirens fill the forest.

<><><><><><><><><><><> 

...The cabin was located in the Scanrúil Forest, an hour and a half away from the nearby town of Asphodel. While two of the party were injured (Jackie Mann, 30, and Jameson Jackson, 30) they are expected to recover. The police have released a statement saying they believe the fifth occupant of the cabin, a Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein, 31, was the intruder the others had called about. Dr. Schneeplestein was recovered with a broken leg and arm that he claims happened when he fell from one of the cabin’s second-story windows. He has pleaded guilty to the assaults while also denying that he was responsible. This confusion, along with erratic and violent behavior, has led to his admittance to Silver Hills Mental Hospital for a psychological evaluation. The owner of the cabin, Jack McLoughlin, 32, was contacted for a statement. But when the police were unable to reach him, they found entry into his house and found Mr. McLoughlin asleep and unable to be awoken. Doctors at St. Mark’s Hospital have confirmed the man is in a coma, though the cause is unknown. The police say they do not suspect McLoughlin of being personally involved with the attack, but he may have been an accomplice...

Ending Reached: Slasher Survivors - Alter 4

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Finale

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You have reached the end of your path. Will you be happy with what you’ve found?

Thank you to everyone who participated in this event! It was amazing to see everyone still chip in to a second run of this fic. And if you guys are wondering, yes, the full thing is currently up on AO3! Whoo! I'll include a link at the bottom of this part beneath a Keep Reading, but basically, the name is "Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - An Interactive Story" and my username is CrystalNinjaPhoenix! So basically the same as here XD There are about 300k worth of more routes to explore! I'd love to see you all there ^-^

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Wait a minute.” Chase’s eyes go wide. “JJ, you didn’t just get blood all over your hands. You got it on your sleeves, too. Your white sleeves.” He tugs on one of JJ’s cuffs. “Even if you wiped your hands off, there should still be a stain!”

“Wait, wait!” Schneep grabs JJ’s other arm, and JJ promptly yanks both his hands free. “Gah! Sorry, Jamie, I was just checking to see. You are right, Chase. There is no sign that there was ever any blood.”

“And... why does this matter?” Jackie asks, frowning. “I-I know it’s weird, but... what does it mean?”

The others are silent for a moment. Then JJ raises his hands to speak. Maybe... maybe I was right. Maybe Marvin isn’t dead.

“But—but we all saw that, right?” Chase says. He shudders just remembering the sight—the sounds—all of it. “He definitely slit his own throat.”

“And JJ definitely got his hands and sleeves covered in that blood,” Schneep says. “And yet...” He trails off, looking thoughtful. “What if... what if it was not real?”

“How the hell would it be ‘not real’?” Jackie demands. “There was no pulse!”

“I know! But if we are dealing with the supernatural, we have to account for perhaps—perhaps some sort of elaborate trick,” Schneep says. “Some sort of magical illusion that could also feel real as well as look real.”

“I-I guess it’s possible,” Chase says. “Meaning... Marvin isn’t dead? But then... Look, he’s the only one of us who would be able to make a magic illusion. And why would he do that?”

Unless it wasn’t him. JJ taps the book Chase is still holding open. Specifically, the illustration.

“You mean—you mean some sort of spirit possessed him?” Jackie asks in a hushed voice.

“In that case... where is it now?” Schneep wonders.

JJ suddenly stiffens. He turns and runs back down the hallway.

“JJ! Hey!” Chase drops the book as he tries to reach out and grab JJ, but he’s moving too fast and his grip just barely closes on empty air instead of JJ’s arm. So instead he runs after him, leaving Schneep to pick up the book again. “Where are you going?!”

He was going to the room with the ritual circle. Chase catches up with him as he hesitates outside the open door. JJ glances at him—and at Schneep and Jackie, who are running down the hallway after them. Once everyone is there, he reaches into the dark room and turns on the lights.

A figure is crouched in the center of the ritual circle, one hand pressed against the burned lines making it up. Somehow, the four wooden chairs from the other room are in here now, spaced evenly around the edge of the circle. A rope is coiled on the seat of one. The figure looks up. It’s Marvin. It’s definitely him. But his eyes... They’re all black, no whites or irises to be seen. A smile stretches across Marvin’s face. It is not his smile. “So... you figured it out?” he asks. Or, rather, the creature using his body asks. “No matter.” It raises Marvin’s other hand, and—

Suddenly, Chase feels something push against him, shoving him forwards into the room. He cries out as he falls to the floor—and then again as Jackie falls on top of them. All four of them had been pushed forward by some mysterious force and are now in the room, lying on the floor. And behind them, the door slams shut. “Y-you!” Jackie gasps, standing up first. “What are you?!”

“So much more than you. That’s all you need to know.” The creature gets to its feet in one smooth motion. “Now. Are you our first volunteer?” That smile stretches Marvin’s face again—and suddenly there is a knife in his hands, a thin silver dagger, and he rushes towards Jackie.

Jackie cries out and dodges to the side. The creature starts to lunge for him again—but Chase, thinking fast, reaches out and grabs Marvin’s ankle, now nearby. The creature gasps in surprise and stumbles, almost falling but catching itself against the wall. “Guys?! What do we do?!” Chase asks.

JJ gets to his knees. He points at Schneep—no, he points at the book that Schneep is still holding. Schneep looks at him. Read! JJ says.

“O-okay.” Schneep nods. “You all keep him distracted!” He opens the book up to the marked page and starts scanning it.

“What is that?” the creature asks in Marvin’s voice. Is that surprise in its words? “Where did you get that?!” Marvin’s body spins around and runs for Schneep—but Chase launches himself from the ground and right towards Marvin, knocking him back. The creature screams in frustration. There’s a flash of silver—but then Jackie grabs Marvin’s arm right before he’s able to plunge the dagger into Chase’s back.

“I-I just have to read what’s written out loud,” Schneep stammers. “I-if we—if we do it right his body will seize, r-remember not to hold him when that happens.”

“You motherfucker!” The creature growls. With one arm being held by Jackie, it moves Marvin’s other hand, wrapping it around Chase’s throat and squeezing. JJ gasps and hurries over, prying his fingers free. Chase gasps as his airflow resumes.

“Do it, Schneep!” Jackie shouts.

Schneep nods. He looks down at the page, hesitating, and starts reciting the words. “Sp—spiorad gan i-iarraidh, a... ordú againn... duit im-imeacht.” He goes slowly, unsure how to pronounce the words.

“No!” The creature shouts. Suddenly, Jackie, JJ, and Chase are all thrown away. Marvin’s body scrambles upwards again and he lunges towards Schneep again, But, yelling in rage, Jackie gets to his feet and tackles Marvin to the ground. The dagger falls from Marvin’s hand and skitters across the ground. JJ quickly scoops it up again. The creature notices this and growls. “Do you think I need that to kill you?!” it threatens.

 JJ nods. He looks at Chase and points towards Marvin and Jackie. The two of them are struggling on the ground as Jackie tries to keep Marvin’s body pinned. Normally Jackie would have been easily stronger than Marvin, but the creature is fighting with all of Marvin’s strength, not caring if it hurts Jackie or Marvin in the process. Chase nods back to JJ and hurries over, arriving just in time to stop Marvin from punching Jackie in the face. The creature screams wordlessly and thrashes against Chase and Jackie’s grip.

Suddenly, the lights go out, plunging the room into total darkness. Schneep’s voice, slowly chanting the words, falters. Then JJ pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight feature, shining it towards Schneep, who continues.

The creature growls and flings Marvin’s hand out. The book jerks forward, like someone is trying to pull it from Schneep’s grip, but he holds it steady—though he glances at the others with a panicked expression.

JJ glances back at the struggle. Marvin, he signs, causing the light to waver, but not enough to deter Schneep. Fight.

“H-he’s right!” Chase gasps. “Marvin, you have to be in there somewhere! You have to fight this!”

“Fuck off!” the creature snaps.

“Ní l-leatsa an corp a... ghlacadh,” Schneep continues. “Ní leatsa an ai-aigne a... úsáid. Ní leatsa an t-anam a... a-adh-adhlacadh.” He still stutters a bit, but it’s clearly not affecting the spell. 

Jackie grabs Marvin’s hand and pulls it back. “If you can hear us, Marv,” he says, “we need your help! C-can you hold it back? Please! Try, at least!”

“You don’t have to do it forever!” Chase adds. “Just long enough for Schneep to finish!”

Marvin’s body shudders. The creature starts to snarl something—and then abruptly stops. The black in his eyes flicker back to normal for a moment. “T-try...” Marvin whispers. His limbs jerk, but overall he stops fighting. Jackie still holds him, though, arms wrapped tight around Marvin’s torso. Chase watches, tense, waiting.

And then, suddenly, Marvin’s muscles tense again. He screams, head throwing itself backwards and arms and legs starting to shake. “I-it’s the seizing!” Chase gasps. “Like Schneep said! Let go of him!”

Jackie abruptly does so, scooting backwards across the ground. He watches Marvin with wide eyes. As do Chase and JJ. They all stay where they are, looking and feeling helpless as Marvin convulses and screams on the floor. “W-we have to do something,” Jackie says desperately.

“Maybe we can hold his head still.” Chase reaches out—

“No! Th-that’s gotta be as bad as holding him!”

“I don’t want him to hit his head, though!”

Jackie hesitates. “I got it!” He takes his jacket off, bunching it up and placing it under Marvin’s head. “B-better than nothing.”

Schneep glances at this and nods approvingly as he continues to chant. He’s getting a hold of the words. Soon his voice rises, more confident. “Díbrím thú! Fág an corp, aigne agus anam seo. Díbrím thú! Téigh go dtí an domhan eile atá ag fanacht leat. Díbrím thú!”

All at once, Marvin goes still. His screams end abruptly, but his mouth stays open as a thick black smoke pours out. It rises into the air, and there is the shape of a person in the cloud, a writhing mess of limbs struggling to reach back in. Glowing green eyes appear, glaring at the others with unmistakable malice... and then they wink out as the smoke disperses. Marvin goes limp against the floor. The lights turn on again.

CRACK!

All of them jump in surprise at the sound—and look down at its source. The wooden floor has splintered, a large divide going across the ritual circle burned into the ground. A red liquid pools in the new crack and spills out over the floor.

But they have more to be concerned with. JJ drops his phone and rushes to Marvin’s side, falling to his knees next to him. He grabs him by the shoulder and starts to shake. Schneep runs over as well, and Jackie and Chase crowd around Marvin in turn. “Marvin?!” Chase says. “Marvin! A-are you okay?!” 

Marvin groans and opens his eyes. They are back to normal again. “All of you... get... the fuck away from me.”

They all abruptly jerk backwards. JJ laughs, a sound of relief. “Well sorry for being concerned,” Jackie says, sounding irritated but smiling nonetheless.

“No, he is right, he needs his space,” Schneep says, gently pushing the others back. There are tears in his eyes. “Marvin, I-I... I am so glad you are okay.”

“Yeah...” Marvin breathes. “You.. y-you did great, Schneep. Mispronounced a few things, but I don’t blame you. And it worked. Th-thank you.”

How do you feel? JJ asks.

“...tired,” Marvin mumbles. “That sort of tired where it’s on the edge of everything hurting.”

“Are you okay to move?” Jackie asks. “I... don’t really want to be in a room where the floor is bleeding.”

“Th’what?” Marvin turns his head to the side, seeing the red liquid bleeding across the floor. He frowns. “I think... I think that means whatever spell it’s about is... broken? Whatever. Blood isn’t good. I dunno if I can move, but... if you guys wanna get out of here... I can try.”

Jackie shakes his head. “No, don’t make yourself. Uh, I can carry you, if you want?”

“That’s fine.”

“Okay.” Jackie stands up, taking Marvin with him. The other three stand up too and follow them out of the room.

Are you really okay, Marvin? JJ asks. That must have been terrible.

“I-it was... more confusing at first,” Marvin says quietly. “Things were... I saw... I-I don’t really remember some of this night. Then I woke up again, and I... saw him. And he... was using my body...” He shudders.

“It’s fine, Marvin,” Chase whispers. “It’s over now. We can get out of here.”

“Is that what we do now?” Schneep asks. “Just... leave?”

“I think so. I don’t want to stay in the cabin with a weird evil ritual circle in the basement. And I want to ask Jack what the hell this was all about. It’s his cabin, he has to know.”

“I don’t think we can ask Jack...” Marvin says. “He... th-that spirit, he made a comment... something about getting Jack out of the way...”

Fear jolts through Chase’s heart. “Then we definitely have to get out of here.”

Maybe we should rest first? JJ asks. Marvin’s not in great shape. All of us are exhausted.

“I’m fine with leaving soon,” Marvin says. “I can... can lie on the couch while you all pack your stuff.”

Jackie nods. “Sounds good to me. What about the rest of you?” 

“I can drive in the dark,” Chase says.

“I do not think we should stay here,” Schneep mutters.

Whatever you all think, JJ adds.

“Then we’ll do it. Come on.” And Jackie heads for the stairs. The rest of them follow.

It doesn’t take them long to re-pack their stuff. They didn’t really have time to unpack fully before everything went terribly. Marvin lies on the sofa, and the others take turns waiting by him, not wanting to leave him alone. He keeps muttering things that don’t make sense. Things about blood being life, and life being power, and what the symbols in the circle meant. When someone asks, he says he doesn’t know what he’s saying. That there is just knowledge in his head now. Knowledge he doesn’t want.

They load the car with their stuff, then head on out. Marvin claims the passenger seat, saying he doesn’t want to be crowded by the others right now. The others let him have it. It’s the least they can do. As Chase starts the car and heads out, they debate calling someone. But in the end, who could they call? Who would believe them?

As the cabin disappears into the woods, Marvin leans his head against the cool window. “Guys...?” he says. “Th... thanks. I-I lov... I really appreciate it. Thanks.”

They all know what he almost said. And they all feel the same.

Ending Reached: Banishment

(Congratulations for reaching the best ending on the Marvin route! :D And here's the link for the full version now uploaded to AO3!)

[crystalninjaphoenix]

I'm gonna post so much writing this month fjdkahljkdh

You know why?

Because Many Roads Diverge—the interactive fanfic that I first showed off here in October—is Basically Done. It's not entirely complete, but you know what? I realized that with the time limits for polls on Tumblr, if I started another runthrough here soon, I would definitely be done by the time Tumblr reaches an ending.

So...

On Tuesday the 9th, we will be starting ANOTHER runthrough of Many Roads Diverge!

For those of you who weren't there for the first one, or who don't remember, here is the first part, and here is the tag for all the parts and my progress updates!

Here's how the runthrough will work.

I will post a part of the story at 12pm Pacific Standard Time. Starting with me REBLOGGING the original first part! At the bottom of the post will be a poll where YOU can vote for what will happen next in the story. The poll will only be open for 24 hours. So if you want to participate, you’ll have to do it quick. The day after the results the NEXT part of the story will be up, and so on and so forth until you reach an ending ^-^

Some choices will not matter all that much, merely giving you more information or different dialogue. But SOME choices will be VERY important. There is danger in the cabin. If things go wrong, characters WILL die. So if you’re uncomfortable with character death, maybe don’t participate.

If you want to join, be sure to check my blog every two days starting April 9th. OR I’ll be putting all parts under the tag “manyroadsdivergejse” if you would prefer to check that instead.

Afterwards, I'll start posting all the parts to AO3! It will take a long time for everything to be uploaded, considering the whole thing is 310k words and counting. But then people can pursue it at their leisure!

I hope to see you all there! :D

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Nine

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see?After the landscape 100% vote a while ago it's strange to see so many close votes come after it XD Well that's just how it works sometimes.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 26th at 12:00pm PST. THIS IS THE LAST PART WITH A POLL. Your last chance to affect the ending! After this, the final part will be uploaded on April 27th at 12:00 PST.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

Nobody says anything for a while. Then Chase sighs. “Well, that’s all the answer we need. If we don’t know what to do, we have to get out of here.”

“Do we call the police?” Jackie asks in a hushed voice. “Wh-what the hell do we even say?”

“We should try, at least,” Schneep says.

“I’ll do that, then,” Chase says, opening up the number pad on his phone. “Let’s walk as I do that. Get out of here.”

JJ walks to the room’s door and gently opens it, looking outside. As Chase dials the number, he jerks back and looks at the others. Marvin is gone, he says, hands shaking slightly.

Schneep blinks. “What do you mean?”

Gone! JJ repeats, gesturing down the hallway.

The other three also look outside. They’d left Marvin’s body on the hallway floor just outside the next door down. It’s not there anymore. “...run for the stairs,” Jackie whispers. “Now!”

They all move as one, bolting down the hallway and up the stairs. Chase keeps his phone pressed to his ear even as he runs up the steps. It’s ringing. It’s ringing. It’s ringing. Why isn’t the call being picked up?!

The door at the top of the staircase is closed. Jackie reaches it first, grabbing the doorknob—and stopping short as it doesn’t turn. “Oh come on!” he cries. “Not this shit again!” He looks back at the others, and his eyes land on Chase. “Tell them we’re stuck!”

“I-I don’t think it’s going through,” Chase says shakily.

“What?!”

“It’s just ringing forever.” But just as he says that, the ringing stops. “Oh! Hello?”

SKREEEEEE—

“Gah!” Chase drops his phone, which clatters to the floor. Its screen is covered in static as white noise blares from the speakers. And then the screen cracks and the static disappears. A small puff of smoke comes from his phone. “O-oh... That’s... not normal.”

“Fuck it!” Jackie slams the door some more but it doesn’t even move. “We’re going back downstairs to find some way out of here!”

“There are no other ways into the basement, though!” Schneep says.

“Well clearly we’re stuck here! So maybe there’s something to help break it down!” Jackie turns around and rushes back down the stairs. The others glance at each other, then follow.

Jackie runs straight down the hallway towards the big room at the end. It’s unchanged, with the bookcases and junk and wooden chairs. He starts searching through the boxes. Schneep and JJ glance at each other, then help him. Chase hangs back, uneasily glances around. He can’t shake this feeling that something is going to happen at any moment. And then his eyes land on the nearest bookcase. Specifically, on the middle shelf. “Wait. Guys.”

The others all glance back at him. What? JJ asks.

“Remember this?” Chase walks over and picks up the book from earlier. “It was hidden, right? I think you mentioned this earlier, JJ, something about... maybe it was hidden deliberately?”

JJ nods. He hurries over to Chase, signing as he walks. Open it up and look through it. Maybe there’s something that can help.

“So we’re going back to that, then?” Jackie stands up straight. “We’re doing something, not leaving?”

“I suppose it’s worth a try,” Schneep agrees. “But Jackie, I think we should keep looking, just in case.”

Chase flips through the yellowed pages of the book, trying to go slowly out of fear of damaging it. And that’s when he notices it. One of the pages has its corner folded over. He stops to look at that one. The book is handwritten, like a journal, with ink that was once black but has faded to brown with time. The left page has an illustration of a person lying on the ground, some sort of smoke emanating from their body and forming a vaguely humanoid shape. The right page has a block of text and a title that reads “Expulsion of Unwanted Spirits.” JJ’s eyes widen. He whistles to get the others’ attention.

Jackie and Schneep glance at each other, then stop searching and walk over to join Chase and JJ. “What is this?” Schneep mutters.

“It’s like... an exorcism,” Jackie says. “Do you guys think this is why Marvin... did that?” He touches his throat, shivering.

JJ leans forward and reaches for the book, intending to indicate part of the text. Chase jerks the book away from him. “Hey, careful! You’ll get blood on it!”

“What?” Jackie looks at him, then at JJ. “What’re you talking about, Chase?”

“JJ’s hands. They’re covered in...” Chase trails off, staring at JJ’s hands. There is no blood on them. “Huh?”

“Oh, you mean because he was trying to stop the bleeding, yes?” Schneep says. “He wiped his hands off.”

“O-oh...” That makes sense, but Chase still frowns. Something’s bothering him about that. And it’s bothering JJ, too, as he looks down at his own hands with a hard-to-read expression.

This is... just a weird feeling, right? There’s nothing wrong with JJ’s hands and clothes being clean. It’s not... important, is it?

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Second Run - Part Eight

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You've made your decision. Wonder what you'll see?After the landscape 100% vote a while ago it's strange to see so many close votes come after it XD Well that's just how it works sometimes.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on April 24th at 12:00pm PST. Part Nine will be up the next day, April 25th, at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“I’m gonna help you, Jackie!” Chase scrambles to his feet and rushes towards the door. “W-we can get it down together!”

“Alright!” Jackie says. “Where are you?” He reaches out to the side and grabs Chase’s upper arm. Chase yelps, and he quickly lets go again. “Sorry! Just, uh—here, g-get next to me!”

“JJ, where are you?” Schneep asks. “W-we cannot hear you—ah! There you are. Maybe we should help them?”

“We don’t want to all go tumbling out,” Jackie says. “Let me and Chase try together first—”

Someone laughs.

The group goes silent. “That—that wasn’t any of us, was it?” Chase says slowly.

“It definitely wasn’t me,” Jackie says. The door rattles in its frame some more. “Ch-Chase! On three we’re gonna try to break the door down together, okay?! Aim directly in front of you, we don’t want to run into each other. On three, okay?”

“Okay!”

“One... two... three!”

As the two of them run at the door together, a strangled scream rings out behind them. They bounce off the door and Chase spins back around. “What was that?! JJ?!”

“JJ?!” Schneep shouts. “What are you—let go! Let—” He suddenly gasps. “Wh-what is this?!”

“What’s happening?!” Jackie asks.

“Something i-is—is—just keep trying!” Schneep says. “I-I can take care of this!” Some sounds come from their direction, the rustling and light thudding of a scuffle.

“O-okay,” Jackie says reluctantly. “Chase, we gotta try again!”

“Didn’t you say something once about aiming for a spot on a door?” Chase asks. “Some specific spot where it’s weak?”

“Right, right! We have to aim for the handle. We’re gonna end up hitting each other, maybe, but—”

Schneep shrieks. The scuffling sounds intensify.

“Just do it!” Chase says. “On three, right?”

“Right!” Jackie pulls Chase slightly closer to him. “On three! One—two—three!”

The two of them ram the door together. It judders in its frame.

“Again! One, two, three!”

They rush forward together, each of them putting everything into the motion. Chase’s shoulder hits the door hard and he winces as something bends awkwardly—but then the door flies open and he tumbles onto the floor with a yelp. Jackie manages to stay on his feet and leans down to help him up. The hallway is just as dark as the room was. “G-guys!” Chase gasps. “We can go!”

“We are trying!” Schneep snaps. Groans of effort come from the room, followed by the sound of something dragging across the wooden floor.

“What the hell is happening?!” Chase reaches into his pocket and grabs his phone, turning on the flashlight feature and pointing it into the room just as Schneep and JJ come rushing out.

Schneep is pulling JJ by the arm—just one arm, because the other one is in the grasp of someone else. Marvin’s hand is wrapped around JJ’s wrist, the skin unnaturally pale and veins strangely dark. His body remains limp as it’s dragged along, but that hand will not let go.

“Jesus fucking hell!” Jackie gasps. He rushes forward and stomps on Marvin’s arm, right in the elbow. The arm spasms and the hand lets go of JJ’s arm, who goes flying backwards as Schneep continues to pull him forward. Schneep yelps and stumbles but doesn’t fall. “What the fuck?!”

Chase shines his flashlight on Marvin’s face. It's just as pale as his arm was, with those same dark veins. His eyes are inky black. And then his mouth twitches into a smile. “What the fuck?!” Chase gasps. He grabs Jackie and runs down the dark hallway.

“H-hey!” Schneep and JJ follow the two of them.

Chase goes into the first room he sees, rushing inside and slamming the door closed as soon as everyone is inside. He breathes heavily, heart pounding in his chest. “D-did you guys see that?”

“See what?” Schneep asks.

“M-Marvin’s face! He—he smiled.”

“What?!”

Jackie pulls out his phone and turns on the flashlight as well, looking around the room. It’s the room with the fuse box. “Well... the lights went out again,” he says, stating the obvious. “We might as well turn them on again.” He walks over to the box mounted on the wall, opening it up and fiddling with it.

Are you sure about the smile, Chase? JJ asks.

“One hundred percent, bro.” Chase nods.

“Th-that could have been some—some post-death twitching,” Schneep stammers.

Is that what him grabbing me was? JJ raises an eyebrow. I don’t know much about dead bodies, but I don’t think they have the strength to hang on like that.

Schneep looks like he wants to protest, but he doesn’t, shoulders slumping. “You are right. A-a fresh body should not be—rigor mortis should not be—Wh-what the fuck was that, then?!”

Maybe something... not normal, JJ says slowly.

Chase raises an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting, like... some supernatural shit?”

The lights suddenly turn on. “I got it!” Jackie says. “What were you all talking about? Something supernatural?”

“I-I do not want to believe it,” Schneep says haltingly. “But... maybe?”

“We all saw that thing on the floor in the room,” Chase says. “Marvin called it a ritual circle. For spells. Maybe... maybe some sort of spell... made him... do that?”

“Whoa whoa whoa, I agree, that was fucking weird,” Jackie says. “But Marvin was always clear that his witch stuff was harmless. That’s not—I mean, obviously what just happened—It can’t be the same thing, right?”

Maybe... the witchcraft HE does is harmless, JJ says. But... not all of it is?

“If we’re right about this, and this is some—some magic shit going on,” Chase says, “what do we do now?”

“W-w-we need to get out of here, I think,” Schneep says, going pale. “None of us know anything about this sort of stuff. W-we cannot fight against it.”

“Y-yeah, but... it feels... wrong to just leave,” Jackie says quietly. “What if this spell will—will spread or something? We don’t know anything! Oh!” He snaps his fingers. “Those books in the other room! What if there’s something there?”

“It’ll take us a while to look through everything there, though...” Chase says slowly. “And I don’t think it’s safe here. We can’t just sit and read.”

But we have to do something, JJ says.

“Can we do something?” Chase asks quietly.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Part Nine

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You have made your choice. Wonder what you'll see? Honestly I expected the other option to win XD You all really were like "There's no time! Smash it!" Anyway. THIS IS THE LAST PART WITH A CHOICE. This is YOUR LAST CHANCE to affect the ending. Good luck ;)

The FINAL poll to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on October 26th at 12:00pm PST. Your ending will be revealed on October 28th at the same time.

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“Ah, fuck it, we can’t waste a moment!” Chase backs up. “Move! I’m going to break it down!”

Marvin backs out of the way and says, “Aim for near the handle! That’s where it’s supposed to be weakest!”

“Got it.” Chase takes a few breaths to psych himself up, staring at the door. It’s heavier than the ones upstairs, but it’s still wood. It shouldn’t be that hard, right? He braces one foot against the ground, then—SMACK!—kicks the door right above the handle.

“Keep going!” Marvin encourages. “Something broke!”

“Okay!” Chase nods. “H-hang on.” His leg aches a bit from the impact. He takes a step closer to the door—the last one felt like he was about to fall down the stairs—and kicks again! This time the noise of splintering wood is louder.

A whistle comes from down the stairs. Marvin and Chase spin around, instinctively expecting any number of awful things—but it’s just JJ. He’s halfway up the stairs, clutching the bannister to keep himself upright. The pain on his face is clear but he smiles and asks, What are you doing?

“Sorry, J,” Chase says, wincing. “We kind of—but we left Jackie, we have to—”

JJ blinks, then nods in understanding. Keep going, then!

“Don’t have to tell me.” Chase turns back to the door. He braces himself, then kicks a third time—

SLAM! The door flies open. Chase stumbles and almost falls, but Marvin catches him. “You okay?” he asks.

“I’m fine.” Chase regains his balance. “JJ?” he calls over his shoulder.

Another whistle. Marvin turns, going down the staircase, then reappears at the top carrying JJ in two arms. “There’s no time to waste!” he says, and JJ nods.

“Let’s go, then!” Chase breaks into a run, the others right behind him.

They run across the living room, up the stairs to the second floor, and down the hallway to Jackie’s bedroom. The door is wide open. They rush inside—but stop just a few steps after the doorway.

Schneep is there. So is Jackie. He’d put on his hoodie over the bandages around his torso, but that proved to be a bad idea, as Schneep now holds him up by the front of it, one hand clutching the fabric. Schneep’s other hand holds another kitchen knife up against Jackie’s throat. Jackie’s hands are wrapped around Schneep’s wrist, trying to push the knife away, but he doesn’t even have the strength to stand up, much less fight off his former friend. His eyes land on the three in the doorway, and he shakes his head. “Get... out of here...” he whispers.

Nobody moves. “Schneep,” Chase says, surprised at the steel in his voice, “put Jackie down.”

Schneep’s head turns to look at the three in the doorway. He smiles. It is not his smile. “This won’t take too long,” he says in that voice that lacks its usual accent.

“I don’t know what the fuck’s gotten into you, but this isn’t you,” Marvin says. “You wouldn’t—”

Schneep laughs, interrupting him. “‘This isn’t you’?” he repeats. “That’s funny, that really is. ‘What’s gotten into you,’ that’s also funny. You don’t even know, do you? You all just think your insane friend has snapped. That’s what the papers will say in the morning. I suppose that’s one benefit of this ill fit.”

You’re not insane, JJ says. He pushes away from Marvin, wincing as he lands on his feet. Whatever you’re going through, we can still help.

“Hmm?” Schneep blinks, looking confused at JJ’s gesturing. “What are you—” His eyes widen. He gasps suddenly, and he pulls the knife away from Jackie. “M-mein friends,” he whispers. “Th-there is something—i-inside—you h-have to run, I c-cannot—” His body shudders again, and the grip on the knife handle tightens.

“Get out of here,” Jackie pleads weakly. “Please. You... you guys can still...”

“We’re not leaving you,” Chase says stubbornly.

“You’re not leaving at all,” Schneep says, a cruel light in his eyes. He lifts the knife again, raising it to Jackie’s neck. Jackie gasps and tries once more to push his hand away, but he can’t. The blade stops only an inch from his throat. “None of you. Only me.”

There has to be some way out of this. Chase’s eyes dart around the room. He sees Marvin and JJ do the same.

“Shouldn’t have left that pan downstairs,” Marvin mutters. “But it’s still two on one. JJ, stay back.”

JJ shakes his head. We can’t fight him.

There’s no time to think. They have to figure something out quickly.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

Part One

Welcome, everyone, to the special Halloween event: a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style fanfiction! I'm super excited to get this started, and very curious about what the collective of Tumblr will decide to do. The five septics head out to a cabin in the woods for a fun vacation. Little do they know that everything is not as they seem in this place...

A reminder, the poll at the bottom to decide what happens next will only be open for one day, expiring on October 2 at 12:00pm PST. The next part will be up on October 4th at the same time.

Now, let's get started! :)c

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The others were complaining about it being a long drive, but Chase didn’t mind. It was mostly boring. The scenery outside was just empty fields for the longest time, until they finally got to the forested area that Jack had told them about. From there, the road lost its paving, becoming gravel and then the dirt it is now. The trees grow closer together, though never close enough to block out the sun completely.

“It’s really pretty,” Jackie comments, peering out the passenger side window at the passing trees. “Usually autumn leaves are kinda underwhelming, but this is really nice. Looks like a painting.” Indeed, the vivid, fiery color of the fall leaves are striking.

Marvin leans forward into the spot between the front two seats. “Chase, are we there yet?”

“You sound like Sam,” Chase mutters.

Schneep laughs. “He is calling you a child.”

“I got the implications, thanks.” Marvin rolls his eyes. “But seriously. Are we there yet?”

“Do you see a cabin?” Chase takes a hand off the wheel to gesture at the forest around them. “We have to be close, though. There wasn’t anywhere to turn. Was there?”

“Not that I saw,” Schneep says. “Marvin? Jamie?”

“Nah,” Marvin mutters. Beside him, JJ shakes his head.

“Oh! I think it’s clearing up!” Jackie leans forward. “There miiiight be something there.” He points out the windshield.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s it.” Chase puts his foot down on the gas, speeding up a little bit.

The trees part again, revealing a small clearing in the middle of the forest. In the center of this clearing is a house made of red-orange wood, with a green-tiled roof and wide windows. “Whoa.” Marvin raises an eyebrow. “When Jack said it was a log cabin, I was picturing something more... quaint.”

“Well it had to be big enough for all of us,” Chase says. The dirt road curls around the cabin, ending in a space barely big enough for two cars to fit. He pulls the car around and parks in that space. “Shame Jack couldn’t come, too.”

“Yeah, I feel kind of bad about it,” Jackie agrees. “Like we’re taking advantage of him.”

JJ clears his throat. Everyone turns to look at him as he raises his hands and begins signing words. You know Jack would feel even worse if we canceled. He was very insistent that we go.

“Yeah.” Chase sighs. “Still. Sucks that this, of all times, was the time he got sick. I hope he’s feeling better by Halloween. I don’t want him to miss JJ’s birthday, too.”

JJ smiles. I’m sure it will be fine. Now, shall we head out? 

“Sure.” Chase turns the car off, putting the keys in his pocket. “Everyone get your own bags from the trunk, we’re not making Jackie carry everything like at the beach.”

The group had talked about taking a vacation out of the city for a while now. It was only a couple weeks ago that Jack remembered his family had a cabin in the Scanrúil Forest, and suggested that they all go out and spend a few nights there. Everyone had jumped at the chance. It took them a while to arrange everything (Schneep had a hard time finding people to cover his shifts at the hospital, and Chase couldn’t have the trip take place on a weekend because that was when he had custody of his daughter) and by the time it finally came for them to go out there, Jack had fallen ill. Still, he insisted the others go without him. “I’ve been there a million times, anyway,” he said. So they headed out without him.

Jackie peers out at the trees surrounding him. “It’s a bit spooky, isn’t it?” he comments. “I guess it’s fit for the time of year. Hey Marvin. Is this the kind of place you’d want to live?”

Marvin pauses halfway through pulling his suitcase from the trunk. “Is that some sort of jab?”

“Well, you’re supposed to ‘commune with nature’ right?” Jackie says. “For your witch stuff.”

“I mean, I guess, but I don’t like the way you say that.”

“We all respect people’s beliefs in this group,” Schneep says. “Even if they are strange.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Marvin shakeshis head. Then he chuckles. “That’s a bit weird coming from the guy who asked Chase if I was his ‘occult friend’ the first time we met.”

Schneep goes red. “Well I-I did not fully understand at the time!”

You do dress a bit occult, Marvin, JJ adds, gesturing vaguely at Marvin’s mostly-black outfit.

“Being a witch and liking gothic fashion are a complete coincidence in my case. Most witches I know actually dress like you.” He gestures back at JJ.

“Speaking of which, JJ, are all the clothes you brought like that?” Chase asks. “I mean, they’re nice, but what if you want to go on a hike or something?”

JJ adjusts his sleeve cuffs and vest. I enjoy looking like this.

“The day JJ wears anything but formal wear is the day hell freezes over,” Jackie adds. “Now can we all just head inside? It’s kinda chilly out here.” He shivers. “And I’m the one who brought a hoodie.”

They all walk up to the cabin’s front entrance. Schneep pulls out the keys Jack had given them—everyone had deemed him least likely to lose them—and unlocks the door, letting them all in.

The interior of the cabin is somewhat rustic in design, but doesn’t lack modern conveniences. The front door opens up immediately into a wide living room, where the main feature is the circular coffee table that looks like a cross section of a tree. Oh yes, and the flat screen TV mounted on the wall. “Whoa!” Chase walks over, examining it and the nearby shelves. “Jack didn’t mention that he has a fucking PS5 here!”

“Wait, really?!” Jackie also hurries over. “No way! And an Xbox, what the shit?!”

JJ rolls his eyes. He walks straight past the living area and towards the staircase in the back of the room, putting down his suitcase to sign, Are the bedrooms upstairs?

“Yes, that is what Jack said,” Schneep confirms. “There are only four, so two of us will have to double up. There is also a second bathroom up there.” He looks around. “The kitchen and dining room are through those arches to the left, and those doors on the right are, I think, another bathroom and perhaps a closet. Oh, no, wait, this is the closet.” He opens a door right by the front entrance. “What is that second door over there, then?”

“That probably goes to the basement,” Marvin says. He walks over to the doors and tries opening them. One swings easily, revealing a bathroom beyond, but the other is locked. “Oh. Welp. Guess we’ll never know.”

“That is fine, we probably will not need to go down there. Jack said it is storage, laundry, and where the power box is.”

“Oh! Is the power on, actually?” Jackie asks. He picks up the TV remote from the table and uses it to turn on the TV. “Great. Now the question is, do we have wifi?”

Chase takes out his phone. “Yeah. And three bars, that’s really good for being out in the middle of a forest.”

You all need to think about things if you’re surrounded by a beautiful autumn forest and you’re still concerned with the internet, JJ says.

“Hey, we didn’t all grow up in an anti-tech family,” Chase says defensively. “We’re not used to this.”

JJ laughs silently. That is true. Well, let’s put our stuff away, then we can figure out what to do for our first day.

It only takes a few minutes for them all to get settled. JJ and Schneep end up sharing the largest bedroom, with Chase, Marvin, and Jackie all getting their own. Chase is pretty sure he got the best room, if not the biggest. The window looked out the front of the house, giving him a great view of the forest, and the bed was softer than the one he has at home. It’s also the one closest to the upstairs bathroom, so he would get first claim whenever he needed to.

Come to think of it, the bathroom has a pretty nice bath and shower. He hadn’t cleaned up in a while, since his water at his apartment had been out for a couple days. Hopefully it will be fixed by the time the trip was over, but in the meantime, maybe he should take a shower.

“Hey!” Jackie stops in the open doorway of Chase’s room. “Are you ready? Cause I was thinking about setting up that PS5 and trying it out.”

“Uh, yeah, I’m all put away and stuff,” Chase says. “That does sound fun.”

“Yeah, of course it does!” Jackie says excitedly. “I haven’t even seen one of those yet!”

“Am I hearing this right?” Schneep walks down the hallway and stops next to Jackie. “You want to mess around with video games? You can do that at home.”

“Not on this console!” Jackie protests.

“Okay, okay, if you are so excited, that is good,” Schneep relents. “But it is getting close to dinner time. Before we do anything, we should check out the kitchen. I think Jack mentioned stocking the cabin with groceries, but we should be sure.”

“Oh shit, yeah, we need to eat,” Chase agrees.

“Exactly!” Schneep nods. “That is sort of important, yes? If we have food, we should start cooking. If we do not, we need to drive all the way back into town to pick things up!”

Chase hesitates. There’s a clock hanging on the wall in the bedroom. The time is around 5 o’clock. It’s a ninety-minute drive back to town; if they don’t have groceries, they won’t be able to eat until 8 o’clock at least. “Yeah...”

“Jack said there’s food, I’m trusting him on that,” Jackie says. “And I’m not that great a cook anyway. I’ll just get the console set up. What about you, Chase?”

“Uh...” Chase thinks over his options. He can take a shower, like he was considering earlier. Or he could join Jackie in some gaming. Or he could check out the kitchen, getting food if they need to and cooking dinner if they already have stuff. Hmm... 

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Part Seven

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. Guys, seriously, we're so close to ties all the time dhjfkaslh It's interesting how we started out with very decisive choices and now we're here.

The poll to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on October 20th at 12:00pm PST. Part Eight will be up on October 22nd at the same time.

<><><><><><><><><><><>

“Bro... no way.” Chase shakes his head firmly. “We need to stick together, not separate the group. And we can’t drag Jackie down to the basement. Let’s go back to him and Marvin.”

JJ sighs. I suppose you’re right. I just... I have this feeling. Like we need to go after him.

“That’s fucking weird. I mean, there are probably reasons for it, but it’s a bad idea.” Chase puts his hand on JJ’s arm. “Come on. Let’s go back to the others.”

Alright, alright. JJ shakes his head, dismissing that feeling. Let’s go. He walks up a couple stairs, then stops again. But what do we do? Do we just close the door and leave Schneep down here?

“I-I mean... I guess?” Chase says. “We need to keep an eye on it. I don’t know if he could break it down like he did upstairs.”

Should we move our base of operations down here?

“I don’t know. Maybe we should get Marvin down here so we can talk about it. Why are we stopping to talk about this now? We’re getting out of the creepy dark basement!” Chase pushes JJ a little, making him stumble. “Go!”

They climb up the stairs, with JJ waiting for Chase at the top. One of us should go upstairs and get Marvin while the other stays here to keep an eye on—

“Where are you going?”

Chase stiffens. That voice—Schneep’s voice, but again, missing his German accent. He spins around, shining his flashlight down the stairs. The circle of light lands on Schneep, standing at the bottom with one hand behind his back. For the first time, Chase realizes how much blood covers his clothes. Is this really his friend? He looks so different. “JJ,” Chase says quietly. “Go.”

“Don’t go,” says Schneep. “Stay and play!” In one swift motion, he pulls his hand from behind his back and throws something at them.

Chase ducks instinctively, but JJ is looking the other way, preparing to run through the basement door. The thrown object hits the back of his head with a distinct THAK! sound. JJ stumbles forwards, then tries to recover and steps backwards again—

“JJ no!” Chase reaches out. But he’s too slow. JJ’s foot steps off the edge of the stair and he loses his balance. He only has time to let out a small squeak of surprise before he falls, tumbling down the staircase until he stops at the bottom, right at Schneep’s feet. “No!” Chase shouts.

Schneep grabs JJ by the arms and starts pulling him down the hall. Chase’s heart drops and he runs down the stairs, taking them two at a time. He jumps from the last one and lunges towards Schneep. But he drops JJ and dodges Chase’s grasp, running into the first door on the right—into the same room where he supposedly died. Chase runs after him, putting on a burst of speed and diving after Schneep. He collides with him. The two roll to the side, running into a pair of cardboard boxes that then tip over, spilling their contents over the floor.

Chase is dazed by the impact but Schneep recovers unnaturally fast. He grabs Chase by the throat, growling like an animal. And starts to squeeze. Chase flails. One hand pries at Schneep’s fingers while the other searches across the floor for anything that might help. Where? Where?! There! He feels something cool and heavy. Grabbing it, he swings it up towards Schneep’s head.

CLANG! The object hits Schneep in the side of the head. He falls, instantly unconscious, grip loose again. Chase pushes him off of him and sits up straight, gasping for air. He looks around the room. Light comes from his phone, which he dropped during the roll earlier. The whole room is filled with cardboard boxes. JJ is visible in the open doorway, lying on the floor but propping himself up with his arms. His eyes are wide, staring at Chase.

“I-I’m... fine,” Chase breathes. “I knocked him out. With... this.” He picks up the object from earlier: a crowbar. Then puts it back on the floor. “Wh-what about you?”

JJ shifts position, starting to stand up. Then he flinches and stops, sitting on the floor. My ankle hurts, he says. I must have twisted or broken it.

“Damn it.” Chase gets to his feet, picking up his phone. He stares down at Schneep. “What... what do we do with him?”

I’m not sure. JJ shakes his head. He’s clearly dangerous. And he won’t be out for long.

“...Hang on.” Chase crouches to the ground and pats Schneep’s pockets until he finds what he’s looking for. “Got it. The house keys. We can lock him in a room or something.”

This room? JJ asks.

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea to lock him in the room with the power box,” Chase says, grabbing his phone and putting it in his pocket with the flashlight still on. “Let’s find somewhere else down here. How about across the hall?”

JJ nods in agreement. You check it out. I don’t know if I can stand up.

“Right. Hang tight there, I’ll just...” Chase hesitates, then picks up Schneep and stands up. “I’m not gonna leave him unattended.” He walks out into the hallway, sidestepping JJ, and goes over to the first door on the left. After a moment of fumbling, he manages to unlock it. He pushes the door open. The room beyond is pitch black. “Uh, JJ, can you... provide some light?”

JJ looks around the floor and spots his own phone—luckily not too far away. He starts to stand up, winces, then decides it’s better to crawl. He reaches over and grabs it, then moves to the other side of the hall and points his flashlight beam into the new room.

Chase steps into the room—and immediately stops, shocked by what he sees. The room is completely devoid of furniture, but its walls are plastered with different papers. The one directly across from them is filled with what look like newspaper articles, while to the left are photographs and maps, and to the right are papers ripped from books and handwritten notes. Everything is old: yellowed and fragile looking. The only empty spots on the walls are where things have fallen down.

“What the fuck...?” Chase breathes.

JJ looks a bit pale. We should probably find some other room.

“Hey, you wanted to check out the basement. You don’t want to look at... whatever the fuck this is?”

I do, but we need to find some place to put Schneep first.

“I... yeah, but... what the fuck? Th-this... is probably important. You don’t want to look at it now?”

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Part Two

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been decided. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. Can't wait to see how you guys handle the situations that are coming :)c

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on October 5th at 12:00pm PST. Part Three will be up on October 7th at the same time.

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“Thanks Jackie, but I think the food situation is a bit more important,” Chase says.

Jackie sighs. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But hey, you can always join later.” He turns and heads down the hall, leaving Schneep and Chase there.

“Ah, thank you, Chase,” Schneep says awkwardly.

“Hey, it’s no big deal. You’re right, if we don’t have food that’s kind of a bummer.” Chase leaves the bedroom, closing the door behind him. “Besides, if we don’t have anything, I’ll have to drive over to the town to get groceries. You guys should really pass your driver’s tests, you know.”

Schneep shrugs. “There has never been a need for it until now.”

The two of them head downstairs. Jackie has convinced Marvin and JJ to help him with the PS5, so they’re all currently crowded around the TV. “Hey guys.” Chase waves at them as he and Schneep walk past. “How’s it going?”

“Hey Chase,” Jackie says. “We’re teaching JJ how to set up a console.”

“It’s not that difficult,” Marvin adds, nudging JJ teasingly.

JJ rolls his eyes. Alright, alright, I get the picture.

Chase laughs as he and Schneep head into the kitchen/dining room combo. The rustic look continues here, though Chase can’t help but notice the countertops are made of fancy-looking green marble. Those must have cost a fortune. In fact, this whole place probably cost a lot. How did Jack’s family have access to this? They weren’t that well-off.

Schneep opens the refrigerator. “Ah, good, Jack was right. There is food.” He lets out a little breath of relief.

“This was really worrying you, huh?” Chase says, opening the cabinets. Each one was full of dried foods.

“I would like everything to go as expected.” Schneep closes the fridge and opens the attached freezer. It is also full. “You know that.”

“Yeah, you get a little, uh... anxious.” Chase gives him a small smile, hoping to reassure him. “Everything needs to be in control. I’m actually surprised you left the house keys by the door.”

“I did?” Schneep pats his pockets. “Oh, I-I forgot about that. You are right, I should probably hold onto those. I would hate to lose Jack’s keys.” He leaves the kitchen to go grab them.

Chase walks over to the archway connecting the area to the living room. Jackie and Marvin are now arguing about what to play while JJ fiddles with the controller. “Hey guys,” Chase calls. “We’re good on food. What d’you guys want to have for dinner?”

“You already know my list of foods I like,” Marvin says, shrugging.

I’m fine with whatever you want to make, JJ adds. It sounds like we may have limited options.

“We don’t want to make a mess,” Jackie points out. “Is there anything that’s easy to clean?”

“Uhh let’s check.” Chase turns around and looks through the kitchen again.

Schneep joins him. “I saw frozen pizzas in here,” he says, opening the freezer. “Yes, five of them.”

“Aw sweet, one for each of us,” Chase says. “Hmm, but would that be too messy?”

“Not unless our friends eat like your daughter,” Schneep jokes.

“Hey!... Well, that’s true.” Chase laughs. “Pizza it is, then. I don’t think five could fit in the oven at once, though. We won’t need all five, will we?”

Schneep shuffles through the freezer. “Oh! I think each one is our favorite, actually. Look, this one has olives for me, there is Jackie’s pineapple—ugh—and Marvin’s plain cheese. Jack must have really planned this out.”

“Huh. Okay, then, I guess everyone will have their own. Who’s the least hungry and ready to wait?”

Before Chase can go into the living room to ask the others, the lights in the kitchen all turn off at once, leaving only the light of the setting sun to illuminate the area. He hears Jackie and Marvin cry out in dismay, and he and Schneep return to the living room. “Of all the times!” Jackie complains.

“The power went out?” Chase says. “That’s weird.”

Perhaps it has been a while since the house was used and the fuse box is old? JJ suggests.

“I can go check,” Schneep suggests. “Jack said that the power was in the basement.” He walks over to the basement door, taking the house keys out of his pocket as he does so. After a couple tries, he finds the one to unlock the basement door, which then swings open. “Alright.” He turns to look back at everyone else. “I will be right back.”

“Hey, I can go with you, if you want,” Jackie offers.

Schneep laughs. “It is just a basement. I’m sure the worst that will happen is spiderwebs.” And before the others can say anything else, he heads on down. “I will text you if something is strange,” he calls, his voice getting farther and farther, echoing up the staircase.

Jackie frowns. “I don’t like that basement,” he mutters. “Strange that it was locked.”

This is more of a vacation home than a real home, JJ says. Of course they would lock everything up when they’re not using it.

“The bedrooms and bathrooms weren’t locked, though.”

“That’s cause the bedrooms and bathrooms only lock from inside,” Marvin says. “If they locked them, they’d have to leave through the windows, and I don’t think the ones in the bathroom open up.”

Jackie sighs. “Yeah, you guys are right. I’m probably just being weird cause it’s October and I’m thinking about horror movies.”

“I mean, if you’re really that worried about Schneep, you can follow him even if he said it would be fine,” Chase points out. “No one’s stopping you.”

“I could,” Jackie considers. He thinks about it.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Part Eight

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

You have made your choice. Wonder what you'll see? Something that the guys don't like, that's for sure :D We're getting close to the ending, guys. Weird, huh?

The poll to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on October 23rd at 12:00pm PST. Part Nine—the final part with a choice—will be up on October 25th at the same time.

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We can look at it later, JJ signs firmly. We need to prioritize.

Chase sighs. “Yeah. You’re right.” He steps back from the door and turns his attention down the hall. “You want us to just check the next room?” 

Might as well, JJ agrees, turning his flashlight beam to the next door on the right.

“Right.” Chase walking over. He takes the keys out, fumbling again until he unlocks it. He pushes the door open with his shoulder, staring into the room beyond. There’s... things. Furniture? He can only see shadowy shapes. “JJ, I know this is inconvenient for you, but, uh... I can’t shine my own light that well with my arms full like this, so can you... get over here?”

JJ nods. He tries once more to get to his feet, using the open doorway to slowly pull himself up. Then, bracing himself against the wall, he limps over next to Chase and shines his light inside. He gasps and goes pale. Chase’s mouth drops open, horrified.

The room beyond could have been taken out of a horror movie. Its main centerpiece is a table with chains attached to it, as well as a couple chairs with leather straps. On the walls are blades and sharp instruments like you would find in a butcher’s shop. Other horrible things are piled along the edges: sawblades and hooks and things Chase doesn’t even want to think about. Everything is rusted and rotted, clearly having been unused for decades. The only new thing in the room is a metal box: some sort of freezer.

“Wh...” Chase can’t even say anything. He and JJ stand frozen in the doorway for a full minute before Chase finally manages to squeak out, “Wh-why is this... in the basement of... Jack’s cabin?”

JJ shakes his head slowly.

The sound of footsteps echo from the staircase. Both of them stiffen in unison and Chase spins around to stare down the hallway, just in time to see Marvin reach the bottom of the staircase. “Marvin!” Chase gasps.

Marvin stops in surprise, raising a pan from the kitchen ready to swing. But then he relaxes. “You guys are okay,” he breathes. “Thank fuck.”

“Yeah, we’re okay,” Chase says. “D-did you... did you bring a frying pan? Really?”

“Hey! This thing is heavy! I didn’t want to touch any of the knives in the kitchen, but I wanted some kind of weapon to defend myself, so—” Marvin shakes his head and drops the pan on the ground. “This isn’t the time. What happened? Why is Schneep asleep? Why is JJ standing on one leg?”

“I... we knocked him out,” Chase says slowly. “Marvin, this room is... i-it’s impossible, it’s... wh-what the fuck is going on here?”

How is Jackie? JJ asks, changing the subject.

“He’s fine. But we should go back after we check this out. Hang on, I’ll be right there.” Marvin walks into the room across the hall, the one with the fuse box. He continues to talk while he’s in there, shouting so the others can hear him. “I tried calling and texting you guys to see if everything was okay, but nothing went through! I guess the cell reception is still down! Probably a good thing, looking back on it, if you guys were hiding and the ringing gave you away, I-I... It would’ve been terrible.” A pause. “Got it!” Suddenly, the hallway lights turn on. Marvin leaves the room and comes over to join the others. “I didn’t want it to keep being dark. Freaky. Anyway, what’s in this room that’s got you so freaked out?”

Chase steps to the side wordlessly, while JJ makes sure to keep shining his flashlight into the room. Marvin steps forward—then backs up again. “What the fuck?!”

“Yeah,” Chase breathes. “Y-yeah.”

“What is this?!” Marvin reluctantly feels along the wall on the inside of the room until he finds a light switch. He flicks it on, and a couple bare bulbs light up the scene. Even the dim light they provide is enough to throw the scene into stark relief. “This is—I-is this a torture basement?!”

It must be, JJ says.

“Why is this in Jack’s cabin?!”

“I-I don’t know.” Chase shakes his head. “Maybe—maybe it’s a set of some kind. Like... for filming? One of Jack’s YouTube videos?”

“It looks too real,” Marvin mutters. He hesitantly takes a step inside. Chase and JJ stay in the doorway. Marvin walks over to the freezer and lifts up the lid. He gasps, and drops it again. “Th-there are blood bags in here. Definitely real.”

And it’s all so old, JJ says. Except for that freezer, I bet all of this is as old as the papers in the other room.

“The what?”

“Oh yeah, we checked this room before.” Chase walks back over to the first room. “But we wanted to look somewhere else because... because we thought this was creepy.” He laughs.

Marvin walks over, JJ slowly following, and turns on the light in the room. He inhales sharply. “Whaaat the shiiiit...” He hesitates, then goes into the room. When nothing happens, he hurries across to the opposite wall and starts scanning the newspapers.

“What is it?” Chase asks.

“These... these are all about bodies being found,” Marvin says. “They’re all victims of a killer. The ‘Folasúl Slasher.’ What the fuck? Is this... a trophy wall?”

JJ gasps, and Marvin turns back around to look at him. Do you think that killer is here?!

“These are from the 1920s, so no,” Marvin says. “But... this could have been where... it happened. Do you think... Schneep saw this when he came down to turn on the power? And... decided to mimic it?”

Why would he do that? JJ asks. Schneep has problems, but not problems like that. And that doesn’t explain the—

A scream pierces the air. Chase flinches—the sound comes from Schneep, now awake in his arms. Before anyone can react, Schneep slams his fist into Chase’s face. Chase yells and instinctively drops Schneep, who scrambles to his feet and runs out the door. “Hey!” Marvin shouts, running after him. Chase follows right behind as JJ stares after them both.

Schneep runs up the stairs, Chase and Marvin following right behind. Marvin tries to grab him but barely misses. A second after that, Schneep is at the top. He runs out of the basement door, then turns around and slams it closed just as the other three reach it. Chase tries pushing the door open but Schneep is holding it closed on the other side. Then there’s a click from the doorknob. Chase grabs it and tries to turn it, but it won’t move. “He locked us in?! But he doesn’t have the keys!”

Marvin goes white. “Jackie! Jackie!” He pounds on the door, fists slamming against the wood.

“Shit!” Chase curses. “We gotta get through! I have the keys, I can—” He glances down at the doorknob. “No, wait! There’s no lock on this side! What the fuck?!”

Marvin laughs darkly. “I guess that makes sense.” He rattles the doorknob again. “This door looks a lot sturdier than the one for the bedroom. We need a tool!”

“Is there time for that?!” Chase asks.

“I-I don’t know!”

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Part Three

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much. It's insane that everyone voted for this one djhfsklahjk I never thought there'd be a 100% result on this story.

The poll at the bottom to decide what happens next is only open for one day, expiring on October 8th at 12:00pm PST. Part Four will be up on October 10th at the same time. ALSO: I'M GOING TO START USING KEEP READING LINKS HERE. I've never done that with a post with a poll before, so if there are any problems, LET ME KNOW. Thanks!

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“Yeah, better safe than sorry,” Jackie decides. He stands up. “I’ll be right back.”

“Great.” Chase nods. “See you.”

“See you.” Jackie heads for the door, disappearing down the stairs into the basement.

“You know, he’s surprisingly, uh... scared,” Marvin says.

Why is that surprising? JJ asks.

“Hey, I’m just saying, only one of us works out regularly. I’m pretty sure Jackie can fight off any threat that he might find down there.”

A couple minutes pass in silence. Chase plays with the controller. Marvin and JJ start up a conversation solely in sign language. Then—

A scream tears through the air.

“What the fuck?!” Chase drops the controller. “Was that—”

“The basement!” Marvin gasps, shooting to his feet.

The three of them don’t even have to talk. They all run for the basement door. The staircase leading down is dark, so they all take out their phones and turn on the flashlights. Chase leads the way down. There are fourteen stairs to the bottom. They meet up with a long hallway. It extends forward for a little while before opening up into a wide, shadowed space. On the left side of the hallway are two doors. On the right side are three. The nearest door on the right is ajar, a pitch black room beyond.

Chase slowly reaches forward and pushes the door open all the way. The others crowd around behind him, peering over his shoulders. Their flashlight beams dart around the room before settling on the same thing. The sight sprawled across the floor.

Marvin gasps. “Henrik!”

JJ and Marvin rush forward, but Chase finds himself frozen in place. Staring. This couldn’t be real. This couldn’t be real.

But there was no mistaking it. Schneep was lying face-down on the floor, unmoving, in a pool of blood. JJ slowly crouches down and feels his neck for a pulse. Nearby, Jackie was sitting on the floor, slumped against the wall, eyelids fluttering.

“Wh-what happened?” Marvin’s voice shakes. “What the hell happened?”

Suddenly, a crackling sound comes from the corner. Marvin jumps, spinning to point his flashlight in that direction. There’s a speaker on the wall. Like a school intercom. “I’m sorry for ruining your trip,” says a voice, distorted and near-unhearable from static. “But I am afraid you all must stay here.”

“Who the fuck—?!” Marvin starts to say.

“This message has been recorded beforehand, so I cannot respond to you,” the intercom continues. “I am somewhere nearby. What has happened to your friend will happen to you soon. I let you know so you can enjoy your last few hours. See you soon.” And with a squeal of static, the intercom shuts off.

“Wh-what the fuck?” Chase breathes. He can’t hold his phone steady. The flashlight beam shakes as his hand trembles. But slowly, he takes a step forward. “Jackie? Wh-what happened?”

Jackie’s eyes focus on him. He opens his mouth, trying to say something, but all that comes out is a breathy exhale. Chase hurries over, kneeling on the ground and looking Jackie over. He looks fine at first... but then Chase notices the streaks of blood on the wall. As if something hit it hard, then slid down. He hesitantly reaches out and pulls Jackie away from the wall. His back is covered in blood.

“Jesus fucking christ,” Marvin shakes his head, disbelieving. “We have to get the fuck out of here.”

What happened to Jackie? JJ asks.

“I... I don’t know, but if I had to guess... s-someone stabbed him in the back.” Chase doesn’t even want to say it. “Wh-what do we do? I-I know we should probably get out of here, but—but the—”

“Let’s get out of the basement first.” Marvin walks over. “Chase, help me carry Jackie.”

“Do we... take Schneep too?” Chase glances back at the limp body lying on the floor, wincing as he sees the blood again.

“I-I don’t think... I mean, can either of you carry him?” Marvin glances at them. “He’s a pretty thin guy, but... I don’t... know if I can...”

They all stare at Schneep for a moment. I think we have to leave him, JJ says, finally putting words to what they all knew but didn’t want to be true. It’s either that, or drag him, and that feels worse than leaving.

Chase and Marvin nodded in agreement. “Right.” Chase takes a deep breath. “Come on, Marvin, help me.” The two of them carefully lift Jackie up, draping his arms over their shoulders.

They all hurriedly leave the basement, with JJ shutting the door behind them as soon as they reach the first floor again. Chase and Marvin take Jackie over to the sofa and gently lay him down on his stomach. Jackie whimpers slightly as they do so.

“Wh-what do we do about this?!” Chase cries. “We—we have to call an ambulance, and the police, but—but we’re so far in the woods, they have to go so far to get here—”

“We need to find a medical kit of some kind,” Marvin decides. “Surely there’s one in this big ass cabin. Here, I-I’ll stay here and call emergency. A-and keep an eye on things. You two go look around.”

JJ nods. He looks at Chase. We should split up to find one quicker then. No time to waste. Do you want to check upstairs or downstairs?

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Many Roads Diverge in the Woods - Part Five

A JSE Interactive Fanfic

The Beginning | Previous

The results are in.

Your path has been altered. Strange how such a small choice can change so much.

THE KEEP READING IS BACK! XD The poll to decide what happens next is beneath it. The poll is only open for one day, expiring on October 14th at 12:00pm PST. Part Six will be up on October 16th at the same time.

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“Okay. Okay, I got it.” Marvin takes a deep breath. “It’ll be hard to take care of Jackie while in the car. H-he needs to keep laying down, and there’s not much room to do that in there.”

“Right.” Chase nods. “The car seat’s pretty narrow. So’s this sofa. A bed would be better. Can we handle getting him up the stairs to a bedroom?”

“Yeah. Yeah, we can do that.”

JJ lifts up the gauze. Then he puts it down to sign, I think the bleeding has slowed down.

“Good.” Marvin nods. “Now we just need to clean and pack the wound, then we can move him.”

That takes a couple minutes. Even as they work, the three of them can’t help but glance around. The wide-open, many-entranced living room is exposing. Being in here is nerve-wracking. Chase finds his eyes drifting towards the basement door more than once, expecting the attacker to burst through at any moment.

“I think... I think this is good.” Marvin steps back. “Or, as good as we can do. I-it’ll last until the police get here.” He takes a deep breath. “Now we move.”

Chase, help me, JJ says. Jackie is half-leaning on him, a bandage wrapped around his chest.

“No problem.” Chase spares a moment to grab the medical kit and Jackie’s hoodie—maybe he’ll want to put it back on when he’s recovered more—and then helps JJ lift Jackie to his feet. “Up the stairs we go.”

It’s slow-going, but after a couple minutes they make it. Without even talking, they head to Jackie’s room near the end of the hall. It’s the smallest one, barely big enough for a bed, a small wardrobe, and a desk with a chair, but they all find somewhere to fit. As soon as everyone’s in, Marvin locks the door. JJ and Chase gently lower Jackie onto the bed. “Put him on his side,” Chase says. “That’s supposed to be good.”

JJ nods. The two of them step back. How long until the police get here again? Ninety minutes? Do we just wait here until then?

“Yeah, that was the plan,” Marvin says.

“What if the guy tries to get in?” Chase whispers, setting Jackie's hoodie and the kit on the desk.

Block the door? JJ suggests.

Chase tries to push the desk, then the wardrobe. He shakes his head. “I think they’re bolted down. Weird.”

“What? Okay...” Marvin looks confused. “I... we could go out the window?”

“We can’t get Jackie out of a two-story window!”

As if on cue, Jackie groans and raises his head slightly. “Wha...?”

“Jackie!” Chase gasps. He kneels by the side of the bed. “How are you? How do you feel?!”

“...bad.” Jackie closes his eyes. JJ reaches forward and snaps his fingers in front of his face, making him open his eyes again. “Don’t... do that.”

Don’t close your eyes, JJ says. You’re not supposed to close your eyes like this!

“Wait.” Marvin holds up a hand. “Do you guys hear that?”

Everyone goes silent. And that’s when they hear the footsteps walking down the hall. Chase inhales sharply. JJ steps forward, as if trying to hide Jackie behind him. The footsteps get closer. They can hear the bathroom door opening, then closing again. Marvin and Chase back away towards the window.

The footsteps stop right outside the door. Silence follows, deep and deafening. Then it is broken as the doorknob jiggles, clattering as it tries to turn despite the lock. It clatters louder. Then stops abruptly. A strange scraping sound drifts down the wood of the door.

BANG BANG BANG!

JJ jumps back. Chase covers his mouth and swallows the scream in his throat. Whoever’s on the other side of the door is banging on it, trying to break it down. And it might work. With each impact the door rattles in its frame.

Marvin looks around the room, eyes wide with panic. Now what?! he asks in sign language, not wanting to say anything out loud.

We came up here to hide it out, JJ says. Surely they can’t get in. There’s not even a lock on the other side. We can wait. But as he says that, the banging on the door just gets louder, his face going paler with every echoing BANG!

What if they do get in?! Marvin asks. We can’t get Jackie out of here! This was a bad idea!

Jackie groans again. “Guys,” he whispers. “It’s... i-it’s...”

Chase shushes him. “Save your strength,” he whispers.

“No, y-you need... to know.” Jackie is breathing heavily. “Schneep... attacked me.”

The other three go silent, identical expressions of disbelief on their faces. He wouldn’t do that, JJ signs slowly.

“He did,” Jackie says quietly. “Open... the door. You’ll see... he’s...” His strength fades, and he puts his head back down.

The banging sound on the door is joined by a strange thunk!ing, like someone is throwing something against the wood. The doorknob rattles. Marvin shivers. We can’t open the door! he says. Can we?!

Chase presses his hands against his ears. It’s hard to know what to do! What do they do?!