Harry's Scenario

Page 1 (Entrance to antique shop)
The door to the antique shop is ominously open.

The open door connects to a staircase leading down to the basement. At the end of the stairs there is another door. I insert the key I was carrying and slowly turn it.

Page 2 (Antique shop)
The inside of the shop is small. I take a look around using my flashlight and find that the place is such a mess that it looks almost as if it has been ransacked by a thief. Is something here? At first glance I don't think that there is anything here that concerns me.

Page 3
However, I did not miss that which was hidden behind a shelf. I move the shelf step by step and an eerie passage leading into darkness appears.

Page 4
"What's this?"

"Harry!"

I look back toward the familiar voice.

Page 5 (Cybil appears)
"Cybil?"
Cybil, who should have left for the next town over to call for backup, was there.

Page 6
"I'm glad you're OK. I shouldn't have left you. Things are worse than I thought. It's nuts!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you left town."

Page 7
"I saw you go in here, so I followed you. I couldn't get out. All the roads out of town are blocked. Cars have completely stopped running. The phones and radios are still out, too."

Page 8
"What about my daughter? Did you see her?"

"I did see a girl."

My heart began to beat faster.

Page 9
"Was it Cheryl?"

"I only caught a glimpse of her through the fog. I went after her, but she vanished. I don't know about your daughter, but..."

Page 10
"And you just let her go!? Where was it?"

Page 11
"On Bachman Road. She was heading towards the lake. Now don't get excited. It wasn't like she ran off exactly. There was no place for her to go. The road has been obliterated."

Page 12
"What!? So then Cheryl..."

"It was like she was walking on thin air."

An uncomfortable silence occurs between the two of us.

Page 13
"What about you? Anything?"

"Yeah... I met this bizarre woman. Her name's Dahlia Gillespie. Do you know her?"

"Dahlia Gillespie. No. And?"

Page 14
"She said something about the town being devoured by darkness. Gibberish like that. Any idea what it means?"

Page 15
"Darkness devouring the town? Must be on drugs. They sell 'em to tourists. The force still can't figure out who's behind it. None of our leads have panned out, and the investigation is stalled."

Page 16
Drugs? Cybil's response was far from what I had imagined, so I shake my head back and forth.

Page 17
"What could drug trafficking have to do with all this?"

"I really don't know. But maybe that's the darkness she was talking about. That's all I can think of."

Page 18
Cybil looked slightly irritated and took a long breath. Then she shifted her gaze to the passage behind the shelf.

Page 19 (Passage entrance)
"What's this?"

"Just discovered it."

"Maybe there's something back there. Let's have a look."

Go to 9-2

Page 1 (Passage entrance)
"Cybil..."

A ) I will go first.
Go to 9-3

B ) I will let Cybil go first.
Go to 9-4

Page 1 (Antique shop) (Cybil appears)
"Wait. We don't know what's back there. I'd better check it out first."

Page 2
I'm a cop, I should go."

"No. I'm going."
I said in a rough tone.

"Alright. I'll cover you from here. Be careful. If anything looks fishy, get back here on the double."

"Okay."

Page 3
I peer inside the hidden passage. Inside it looks like an unseen barrier of darkness has been set up, which makes it look like a place no one should enter. I intuitively sense that it would be dangerous to move into this passage. It is that kind of passage.

Page 4
I look back at Cybil once.
"Cybil."

"Yes?"

"Do you know anything about... Well...like some other world... It's like some kind of bad dream...?"

Page 5
"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not quite sure. I try to make sense of it, but then my mind goes blank. Everything's dark there, and I hear sirens in the distance...

Page 6
I met this nurse...Lisa. It's like I was there, but not really. It's all a blur. Like some kind of hallucination, you know?"

Page 7
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Harry."
Cybil spoke while shaking her head from side to side.

"Oh... I was just wondering. Never mind."

"Harry. You're tired."

"Yeah, maybe..."

Page 8
Am I tired? Yes, I am tired. If that is all it is then that is fine. If my being tired is what caused me to see all the hallucinations up to this point then Cheryl should return to me.

Page 9
The only thing is the sensation I am feeling is not that of being tired. Rather my body feels as if I have been on the floor sleeping continuously like a human in cold sleep. And I am feeling the agonizing suffering of not easily being able to escape from that state.

Page 10 (Black)
Leaving Cybil behind I step into the passage.
I begin walking, carefully taking one step at a time.
Cybil can probably no longer see me from where she is.
Even if I could see her from where I am.

Go to 9-5

Page 1 (Antique shop) (Cybil appears)
I cannot beat her bravery.
"Even though I look like this I am a police officer. Please trust me."

"I will stay here. If anything looks wrong, then yell back to me."

Page 2
Cybil brightly smiled and then disappeared into the darkness.

Page 3 (Black)
After a bit I was not longer able to hear the echoes of her footsteps from the passage. It looks like the passage is longer than I thought.

Page 4
I took another look around the disorganized antique shop. The shop in itself is just beyond the bottom of the stairs leading down from the entrance. Inside it looks like what I would expect an antique shop to look like, as it is all cozy and such.

Page 5
So things like that passage leading deeper in are unimaginable.

Page 6
.........

Page 7
Drowsiness is threatening my consciousness. It is not unreasonable. We left past midnight and without sleeping a wink I have been walking all over town while searching for Cheryl.

Page 8
I am on the verge of falling asleep
............
A scream from what I think was Cybil brought me round.

Page 9
I know I heard it. I energetically stand up and rush into the passage. There is something at the end of the passage. Something dangerous is...

Go to 9-5

Page 1 (Altar in the other church)
I made my way into the room at the end of the passage. It is small, and the smell of something having been burned is in the air. Once I saw an altar appear in the darkness I realized that this is the "church" that Dahlia was talking about.

Page 2
I look around the area. An axe have been displayed on the wall. But nothing else stands out. While shaking my head I decide to try going back through the passage I came from.

And at that moment...a light bright enough to make me look away emanates from the altar.

Page 3 (Flame appears on altar)
I think I heard the sound of a giant match being stuck, and then two enormous pillars of flame rose from the altar, as if a ritual were beginning or something. Even at the distance I am at I can feel the heat from those flames.

Page 4
My surprise and that heat cause me to fall into a state of barely being conscious, and then I gradually lose myself, until I finally end up lying face down on the concrete floor. And the coldness that remained in the floor was drawn away by the heat as my consciousness grew distant...

Page 5 (Black)
"...rry? Are you OK? Harry? Harry?"
..............................

Where am I?

"Harry."

Lisa... Then I'm in the hospital.

Page 6 (Nightmare examination room) (Lisa appears)
"You were having a bad dream."

"Was I?"

"Hey, you don't look too good. Are you OK?"

"I'm fine. Nothing you need to worry about."

"Well, if you're sure..."

Page 7
"Lisa... Do you know a woman named Dahlia Gillespie?"

Page 8
"Oh yeah, that crazy Gillespie lady. She's kinda' famous around here. She never sees anybody, so I don't know that much about her.

Page 9
But I heard her kid died in a fire, and supposedly she's been crazy ever since."

"Well, she says the town is being devoured by the darkness. Do you have any idea what she's talking about?"

Page 10
"The town...devoured by the darkness. Yes, I think I do. Before this place was turned into a resort, the townspeople here were on the quiet side.

Page 11
Everybody followed some kind of queer religion. Weird occult stuff... Black magic, that kind of thing.

Page 12
As young people moved away, the people figured they'd been summoned by the gods. Evidently, things like that used to happen around here all the time.

Page 13
Before the resort, there wasn't really anything else out here. Everyone was so flipped out. Gotta blame it on something. Then a lot of new people came in and everybody clammed up about it."

Page 14 (Lisa looks down)
"A cult..."

"Last time I heard anything about it was, gosh, years ago... When several people connected with developing the town died in accidents. People said it was a curse.

Page 15
Oh, I'm sorry. I'm rambling... I'll shut up."
...............................

Page 16 (Antique shop)
The reverberation of Lisa's "I'll shut up" remained in my ears. I wonder how long had I been asleep? I found myself in that antique shop again, lying face down in the same position I was in just a short while ago.

Page 17
Was that another dream? Did I pass out again? I don't want to think so, but maybe this is all just going on in my head.

Page 18
I could have had a car accident, and now I'm lying unconscious in a hospital bed...

I don't know what's real anymore...

Page 19
Cybil said Cheryl was heading towards the lake. But, the road to the lake is blocked... Aren't there any other roads? Lisa would probably know...

Page 20
Although I am limited in what I can do, I still have one piece of information for finding Cheryl. So I cannot just remain here. I energetically stand up, open the door of the antique shop, and rush back into the town.

Go to 10-1

Page 1 (Street corner, heavy fog)
After leaving the hospital I began to walk at a loss. It's not that I am tired, but that I am sick of the constant weather.

Page 2
I recall what Kaufmann said.

He is person that lives in this town. Yet he did not appear to know why everyone disappeared.
"When I woke up, it was like this." That is most certainly what he said.

Page 3
Dahlia...

She is a mysterious woman. She seems to be holding some secrets, but she always disappears before I can ask her anything. Her timing in meeting me and talking to me was just a little too convenient.

Page 4
Maybe she read the future or something... At any rate she seemed to have predicted that I would come here, and she spoke about this.

Page 5
And then there's Cheryl's whereabouts...

Page 6 (Entrance to antique shop)
Everything has been unreasonable and illogical. My irritation is increasing, and I will end up losing my cool.

The antique shop? Yeah...this is it.

Page 7
For a moment I was taken with the sense that someone was watching me, but without looking back I entered the door as if I was being swallowed by it.

Page 8 (Antique shop)
The inside of the shop is small. I take a look around using my flashlight and find that the place is
such a mess that it looks almost as if it has been ransacked by a thief. Is something here? At first glance I don't think that there is anything here that concerns me.

Page 9
However, I did not miss that which was hidden behind a shelf. I move the shelf step by step and an eerie passage leading into darkness appears.

Page 10
"What's this?"

"Harry!"

I look back toward the familiar voice.

"Cybil!?"
Cybil, who should have left for the next town over to call for backup, was there.

Page 11 (Cybil appears)
"Oh, I'm glad you're OK. I shouldn't have left you. Things are worse than I thought. It's nuts!"

"What are you doing here? I thought you left town."

Page 12
"I saw you go in here, so I followed you. I couldn't get out. All the roads out of town are blocked. Cars have completely stopped running. The phones and radios are still out, too."

Page 13
"What about my daughter? Did you see her?"

No, Cybil shook her head back and forth.

"Unfortunately...I haven't."

I looked down.

Page 14
"What about you, anything?"

"Yeah... I met this bizarre woman. Her name's Dahlia Gillespie. Do you know her?"

"Dahlia Gillespie? I just met her at the church. Something about her...she is quite a creepy person."

Page 15
"She said something about the town being devoured by darkness. Gibberish like that. Any idea what it means?"

"Hmm...I really don't know... As for me, she said "You can no longer make it time" and such, things I did not understand the meaning of."

Page 16
We then just looked at each other for bit, each of us thinking of something.

"How is the gun I gave you?"

Cybil asked with a bright smile.

Page 17
"There have been several situations in which I have had to use it... It seems like I have finally gotten used to using it."

"Well, you know you won't get over that if you don't use it after all."
Cybil brushed her finger on the tip of her nose.

Page 18
.........
.........
Just where is that feeling of emptiness that runs through this room coming from?

Page 19
My body, and the images entering my pupils, it all seems like I am in a dream and that my mind is isolated from them.

Page 20
Cybil's calls brought me back around.

"...rry..."

Page 21
"Hey! Harry?"

"Uh...yeah... What's wrong?"

Cybil looked slightly irritated and took a long breath. Then she shifted her gaze to the passage behind the shelf.

Page 22 (Passage entrance)
"What's this?"

"Just discovered it."

"Maybe there's something back there. Let's have a look."

"Wait. We don't know what's back there. I'd better check it out first."

Page 23
I'm a cop, I should go."

"No. I'm going."

Cybil placed her hand over my mouth to keep me from speaking.
"Even though I look like this I am a police officer. Please leave everything to me. Think of this as my job."

Page 24
I remained silent for a bit and then gave in to her.

"Okay, please be careful."

Page 25
I peer inside the hidden passage. Inside it looks like an unseen barrier of darkness has been set up, which makes it look like a place no one should enter. I intuitively sense that it would be dangerous to move into this passage. It is that kind of passage.

Page 26 (Antique shop) (Cybil appears)
I talk to Cybil once as she enters the passage.
"Cybil?"

"Yes?"

"Do you know anything about... Well...like some other world... It's like some kind of bad dream...?"

Page 27
"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not quite sure. I try to make sense of it, but then my mind goes blank. Everything's dark there, and I hear sirens in the distance...

Page 28
I met this nurse...Lisa. It's like I was there, but not really. It's all a blur. Like some kind of hallucination, you know?"

Page 29
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Harry."
Cybil spoke while shaking her head from side to side.

"Oh... I was just wondering. Never mind."

"Harry, you're tired."

"Yeah, maybe..."

Page 30
Am I tired? Yes, I am tired. If that is all it is then that is fine. If my being tired is what caused me to see all the hallucinations up to this point then Cheryl should return to me.

Page 31
The only thing is the sensation I am feeling is not that of being tired. Rather my body feels as if I have been on the floor sleeping continuously like a human in cold sleep. And I am feeling the agonizing suffering of not easily being able to escape from that state.

Page 32 (Black)
Leaving me behind Cybil steps into the passage.

I can no longer see her from where I am at.

Go to 10-21