This is the first part of an adventure series where YOU determine the next step in the story.
You are woken by a scratching sound. Rhythmic. Incessant. Needy. Your head is on a dirty floor, so close to the wall that your nose is almost touching it. The scratching is coming from the other side. You scramble away from the sound on your hands and knees, kicking up a cloud of dust in your wake. You stop in the center of the room and struggle to shake off the overwhelming grogginess. The scratching has stopped and all is still. A high-pitched ringing fills your ears.
Your head is pounding – whether it is from previous injury or the sudden movement, you aren’t sure. You can’t remember how you got here. The room starts to spin very slowly. Drawing a deep breath, you close your eyes and lower your head to the floor. The cool pavement against your scalp is soothing, though it makes you realize you lost your helmet. You open your eyes and scan your body armor: standard-issue Kevlar, black and green and beat to hell. Patches of duct tape hold it together and the front is coated in dried blood and black mucus. Other than the pain in your head, you feel no injury so you guess the blood isn’t yours. Your supply bag is gone, and so is your gun. To add insult to injury, your name tag is coming off. Slowly, so as not to scramble your brain again, you lift your head and scan the room.
It looks like an abandoned maintenance room. Directly in front of you, a long, wooden workbench is set against the wall, cluttered with tools and a thick layer of dust. To the right of the bench, a metal ladder leans against the wall next to a mop and bucket and a push broom. To the left, a flimsy interior door is covered with dark red splatters. You decide not to think about the splatters and keep your eyes moving. The walls on either side of you are blank, though scrapes and holes lead you to believe that shelving was once attached. You twist your neck to look over your shoulder and wince from the pain. Behind you is a closed metal door with an emergency push bar. The floor around it is brushed clean, so you guess that’s where you came in. To the left of the door is a window, the only source of light in the room. A massive, hastily painted occult symbol covers the glass. You’ve seen the warped crescent-and-star symbol before and know it will temporarily restrain evil. You don’t know how long it will hold.
You squint through the streaks of black paint, noting the waning light. You have no radio, no weapon, and experience tells you that you will not make it through the night alone with only a hasty ward.
The sound of wings beating draws your attention back to the spot where you woke up. The scratching resumes.
What do you do?
A: Open the metal door.
B: Look out the window.
C: Check the workbench for a makeshift weapon
Vote in the comments or on Twitter. Voting ends Tuesday night. The highest vote will be the next step in the story, posted on Fridays.
UPDATE: The voting is now closed. Looks like the C’s have it. A final count will be added in the comment section, in case you’re curious. The next step in the story will be posted Friday.
Jen Kirchner 
C!
(And also, how excited does this make me? I was just thinking how much I missed these books…)
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C: Check the workbench for a makeshift weapon.
Definitely.
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A good soldier would want to be able to defend himself, just in case. I’ll say C.
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I vote for B! A peek can’t hurt…
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Assuming you can’t be killed off for a wrong decision on page 1 (or can you?), why play it safe?
B. 🙂
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I love choose your own adventures, although I was always a little OCD about them: I would read through making my choices, then go back and read all the other scenarios. Guess you won’t let me get away with that 😉 I’ll go with C too. Can’t wait to see what happens!
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I love this 😀
I go for B!
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C. Definitely C.
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Definitely C. Get ready for whatever is flapping its way over.
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We are like Herman’s Head, here. I vote for B.
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C – weapon first!
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B I want to see what’s out there! Look it in the eye. If it wants to fight, I’ll use my hands!
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Fantastic idea!! I love this 🙂 I would go with C. Check the workbench for a makeshift weapon.
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I say “c” – it’s important to have self-defense options. Great story so far!
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Great start! I’d like to know what I’m dealing with first. I vote B.
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Mark is making me vote B. BUT I SAY A!
But B.
a
Tiffany!
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-SCOWL-
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We choose option “C.”
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C C C!!
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C. Without a weapon, I’m not so much as sneezing in this place. (Which, by the way, reminds me of my garage.)
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C. I’d find a weapon fast.
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I choose C! I’d love to talk to you about some ideas of mine to bring this to the next level if you’re interested.
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Definitely C
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A. Love this idea. I really enjoyed the Choose Your Own Adventure Books growing up.
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A.
Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.
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Definitely C. Strange place? Strange situation? Strange scratching noise. Oh, yes. Definitely C. 🙂
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C!
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I choose A. I am always up for an adventure.
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My vote would be A with ninja awesome Kungfu
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Scratching? Wings Flapping? Unless I remembered I left my hippogriff parked outside I’m heading for that workbench. C!
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Occult symbol on the window, red spatters on the door, hmmm I am thinking C – dusty tools most difinitely C…..
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B. Look out the window.
Then call Snakedoc and give him a sitrep.
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Woo!!! And we’re off… no slow starters here. Can’t wait to see how the vote turns out. Will make sure to vote next week! xx
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The voting is closed. For those keeping track, the results include three additional votes that came in via Twitter (2 votes for C and 1 for A).
A: 6
B: 7
C: 21
This Friday you will try to find a makeshift weapon on the workbench. Pray you find one.
Muaha…
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Hello! I’ve been following your web site for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and
give you a shout out from New Caney Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the good job!
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Thanks, Colin! Much appreciated. 🙂
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