Chatterbox: Inkwell

Choose your own path through the adventure! Pick wisely…this adventure is not for the faint of heart, and one decision could change the course of your life.

 

~ ~ ~

So, this is (as you can see) a choose your own adventure! I told myself that if I ever finished writing it, I'd post it on the CB for you all to enjoy.

At every 'crossroads', I'll take a vote of what you all would like to do, and then every few days I'll post the corresponding part. At the end, you're welcome to restart and do it over again--the entire thing is already completed, and there are tons of different storylines you can go down.

 

There are a total of five endings. Enjoy!

---

A1

It was a dark and stormy night. The lights in the mansion flickered with every bolt of lightning that sparked down from the treacherous sky, causing thunder to echo over the mountain, shaking the mansion to its core. Expensive antique paintings rattled on the walls. The salads were mixing themselves in the kitchen, and the bottles of dressing were about to vibrate off the counter. It was violent weather indeed, the worst kind to befall a night like this.

Nothing out of the ordinary, of course,” Zerin was saying to his guests, you included. “We get this weather all the time, living up here on this mountain. I’m just sad it had to happen tonight while you’re all here.”

Indeed,” Ethan agreed as another rumble of thunder exploded through the house. He was one of the three guests that had come to visit Zerin in his mountaintop mansion for the night.

I’m glad we made it here before the weather began,” commented Theresa, the other guest, graciously. “And thank you so much for having us over.”

Yes,” you agree. “It’s been fun so far, and dinner smells delicious.”

Zerin smiles as his two cats come running in, frightened by the thunder. They jump in his lap and cower under his arms, watching the company with wide eyes. This sitting room is vast and elaborately decorated--not cozy at all. You’re a little unnerved by the atmosphere yourself, and you understand why the cats would feel more comfortable under their master’s protection. “Well, it’s no trouble,” Zerin says. “It gets lonely up here and Erin and I love having guests. Plus, you three are old friends, and ever since I moved I haven’t gotten to see much of you.”

Speaking of which,” Ethan says, “didn’t you say you were expecting some more guests?”

Zerin coughs. “Oh, yes. They’re due to arrive later in the night, but with this weather…” He looks at us, abashed. “They may not be able to make it until tomorrow. They’re just some other friends of mine who were going to stop by for dinner.”

I hope they manage to find something to eat if they can’t make it,” Theresa says.

Me too. But I have a feeling they’ll get here eventually,” Zerin says, stroking his cats thoughtfully.

Thunder rumbles again, sounding not farther off but louder and closer. Your mouth is watering from the smell of dinner, and you cast a longing glance in the direction of the kitchen.

So tell us,” Ethan says, “what made you decide to move up here to the middle of nowhere? I hadn’t even heard of this place until you invited us.”

Oh,” Zerin replies. “It’s a long story, actually. I inherited it--it’s a family lot, uh, and I couldn’t sell it…”

Huh. Funny you never mentioned it to us before.”

Frankly, I never thought I’d be living here,” Zerin says. “Which is why I never talked about it.”

Suddenly, Zerin’s wife Erin pokes her head into the room. “Dinner’s ready, finally. The dressing only fell of the counter three times.”

Oh good, I’m famished,” you say, rising. “Now where did I put my map?” you joke. “I’d hate to get lost on the way to dinner.”

Zerin laughs. “Don’t worry, I’ll--”

Suddenly, something that’s not thunder rings through the house. It’s the doorbell, loud and raucous, echoing through the halls and into the sitting room.

Is that them?” Ethan asks. “The other guests, I mean.”

Zerin looks quizzical. “If it is, they got here earlier than expected. Unfortunately, all our butlers are off duty, so we’ll have to run to the door.”

You have butlers?” Theresa queries.

No,” Zerin laughs. “We clean it all ourselves. Who wants to get the door with me?”

I will,” Ethan offers.

I might go to the dining room,” Theresa says. “What about you?”

Oh,” you reply. “I think I’ll…”

Do you go with Erin and Theresa to the dining room?

Or will you go with Ethan and Zerin to the door?

submitted by Micearenice
(December 27, 2018 - 5:35 pm)

I'll stay with the strangers. 

...

...

...

They seem suspistions. 

submitted by Moonfrost, age Who Cares?, Mars
(December 30, 2018 - 4:15 pm)

I'm staying with the guests. Who knows what would happen if they were left alone?

submitted by elementgirl18917
(December 30, 2018 - 4:41 pm)

Well, the votes are leaning towards staying with the guests to crack the cat case. I'll give the others until tomorrow afternoon to cast their votes, and then the next part will be posted!

submitted by Micearenice
(December 30, 2018 - 6:19 pm)

E1

I’m kinda curious about what’s happened to the cats,” you admit. “I might tag along with Chad, Sandra, and Daisy.”

Okay,” Erin says.

I’m going with Erin,” Ethan announces. “Finding Zerin is important to me.”

I’ll go with Ethan and Erin, too,” Theresa declares.

Okay,” you reply. “Will we regroup later?”

Sure,” Erin replies. Then, she leads the way out of the dining room, and you are left alone with the strangers and the cats.

I wonder who could’ve done it!” Sandra exclaims, looking around. “Thanks for sticking with us, by the way. I knew I could trust you.”

Oh, er...no problem.” You glance down at the cats.

Let’s see if we can identify the murder weapon,” Chad suggests, crouching down.

The four of you observe the cats. They’re stiff, their fur is on end, and their eyes are open, but there aren’t any wounds on them.

It, uh, looks like they got electrocuted,” you suggest.

Aha! You’re right!” Daisy exclaims, and Chad begins to scribble in his notebook.

How could they have gotten shocked, though?” asks Sandra.

Lightning,” you mention.

Chad scribbles some more.

See, I half expected something like this to happen,” Chad chatters while he writes. “It’s just too suspicious. Your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere and there JUST SO HAPPENS to be a giant mansion at the top of the mountain! It’s dark and stormy, and when you get in, there’s an already-set dinner table and a suspicious group inside.”

You honestly don’t know how to respond to this.

Good thing we’ve seen this kind of movie before. It’s always the butler,” Sandra comforts Chad. “We just have to figure out how to catch him.”

There isn’t a butler,” Daisy reminds her.

Oh. Maybe he’s hiding.”

I’m pretty sure Erin and Zerin know what they’re talking about when they say there aren’t any butlers in their house,” you cut in. “Let’s see if the cats touched any elecrical wires while the power was out. Who knows, maybe the power surge electrocuted them.”

Your suggestion is sensible enough, but it’s refuted by Chad. “Unlikely,” he says.

You can’t find any plugs.

Well, no clues so far....,” Daisy declares.

How about we go over what we know so far?” you suggest.

Okay. Go ahead,” Sandra prompts.

So. There was thunder, and then the grandfather clock--it dinged again, without warning! When the power came back on, Zerin was gone, and the cats were dead.”

The grandfather clock! That’s our first clue!” Sandra exclaims.

You all rush over to the enormous heirloom clock and begin to scour it for anything suspicious.

I’m a clock mechanic,” Chad states, “so I should be able to find anything suspicious.”

I don’t think we should take apart Zerin’s clock…” you begin, but Chad is already at work.

He looks at the swinging medallion, the clock face, and finally, the gong and gears inside the top of the clock.

Looks pretty normal...except, wait, what’s this?!”

You hear a snapping sound and pretty soon Chad is pulling his arms out of the gear box, holding a little device with metal sticking out. It’s as big as a fingernail and kind of resembles an antennae.

This doesn’t belong in a clock. What do you think it is?”

Did you break that off?! Chad, Mr. Gordan is not going to appreciate that.”

No, I didn’t break it. It was just sitting next to the dinger, like this.” Chad shows us what it looked like while it was in the clock. Sitting in that position, it appears to be a receiver of some kind.

You say this out loud and the others glance at each other. “A receiver? You mean like a spy put it here?” Sandra begins. “Maybe the ding was a secret message! Maybe there are spies here, hidden butlers, and the gong went off when the power went out to alert another spy!”

Chad and Daisy gasp.

And the other spy...has to be...Mister Gordan!!!” Sandra finishes dramatically. “It was a plot to kill the cats! We cracked the case!”

But why would someone want to kill the cats?” you shoot back. “And why would Zerin kill his own cats? He wouldn’t,” you finish.

How do you know?” Daisy proposes. “How long have we known this strange man? A few hours?”

My friends and I have known him almost our whole lives,” you respond shortly.

...Oh.”

Well back to this device. I think a message was being sent through it,” Chad says. “I’ve seen this in some radio clocks, but this looks a little different.”

I wonder what the gong meant, then,” Daisy ponders.

Suddenly Sandra snaps her fingers. “I know! We need suspects! And witnesses! We’ve got to go ask others what they saw.”

Witnesses? Well, that would be all of us.”

And suspects…,” Sandra continues. “So far we’re all suspects.”

Who are you going to interrogate?” you ask Sandra.

I don’t know,” she goes on, looking down at the cats. “If we could find Mr. Gordan I’d love to interrogate him. But we don’t know where he is.”

Or we could interrogate someone else,” Chad says, giving you an odd look. “One of the other guests.”

Well, it’s come down to two choices. Do you go off and look for Zerin? If so, turn to H1.

Or do you agree with Chad, that you should interrogate your friends to get their take on what happened in the dark? Go to E3. 

submitted by Micearenice - E1
(December 31, 2018 - 3:54 pm)

INTERROGATE *Only slightly insane laugh*

submitted by Rogue Wildling
(December 31, 2018 - 8:32 pm)

Let’s go find Zerin!

submitted by Leeli
(January 1, 2019 - 12:59 am)

LET"S FIND ZERIN! These people are too weird and we've know Zerin our whole lives!

submitted by Moonlight
(January 1, 2019 - 12:40 pm)

Find Zerin! I think these people have read too many mystery novels... 

submitted by Soren Infinity, age 27 eons, BeaconTown
(January 1, 2019 - 4:00 pm)
submitted by Top!
(December 31, 2018 - 6:13 pm)

Go find Zerin! Go find Zerin! Hurry, before its too late!!

 

submitted by Tuxedo Kitten
(December 31, 2018 - 6:25 pm)

Zerin! We should have looked for him in the first place, and if this will allow us to do so without leaving these guests alone, then we definitely need to look for him.

submitted by Kitten
(December 31, 2018 - 6:35 pm)

Alright, search for Zerin it is!

H1

We should look for Zerin,” you tell Chad. “He lives here, so he’d know more about what this thingy is anyway.”

Hm. But we don’t even know where he went,” Daisy says.

Yeah but--we could look for him. It’s either that or look for Erin, Theresa, and Ethan, and we don’t know where they are either.”

Hm,” Chad replies, scribbling in his notebook. “Okay, let’s go. Since I’m the head detective, I’ll lead the way.”

Excuse me, but you don’t own the place, so I think I’ll be doing the leading,” you reply. These guests are really getting on your nerves, breaking Zerin’s clock, waltzing around like this is their own house. They’re lucky to be here for goodness’ sake!

Chad hesitantly lets you lead the way. You did get the tour, after all, and though you haven’t memorized all the pathways, you feel good about your sense of direction around the place.

Where do you think he’d be? Are there secret passages in this house?” Sandra questions.

There might be,” you reply. “If there are, Zerin didn’t show them to us. Maybe he hasn’t found them either.”

Or maybe he was just hiding them from you,” Sandra suggests.

You sigh. “Let’s just shout really loudly and maybe he’ll hear us,” you suggest.

And so you and the guests begin wandering the halls, shouting for Zerin all the way. You don’t have any clue where he might be, and pretty soon, you find yourself at the back doors, near the entrance to the garden in the backyard.

The tour for the garden was supposed to take place after dinner. But since dinner had been interrupted by the guests, and by the power outage, you doubted this would happen.

Could Zerin be in the garden? If you think he might be, go to L1 on page 39.

If you want to keep searching the house, go to H2 on page 41. 

submitted by Micearenice - H1
(January 3, 2019 - 7:45 am)

1) These people are nuts.

2) I'll say keep searching the house. Gardens are creepy. 

submitted by Leafpool
(January 3, 2019 - 2:17 pm)

Stay in the house!!! It's still storming, isn't it?? 

submitted by Jwyn, age 13, The Realm Of Creativity
(January 3, 2019 - 2:52 pm)

I agree with Leafpool that these people are definitely nuts. And that gardens are creepy. Which is why I’m gonna say let’s look in the garden XD

submitted by Leeli
(January 4, 2019 - 9:28 am)