The Legend of the Mothman

**The Legend of the (color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]]** By: John Hansen On December 15, 1967, 64 people were on the Silver Bridge connecting Ohio and West Virginia when it collapsed into the ice-cold river below. Only 46 made it out. The government knows what happened, but it's up to you to foil their cover-up. [[I'm ready]]

It's too late. Chunks of concrete (text-style: "fade-in-out") [fall out from under you, crumbling away.] (text-style: "upside-down") [You plunge into the frigid water.] Somehow, you (text-style: "condense") [squeeze] through a broken window and escape. You're close to shore when you reach the surface. [[Swim to shore]] [[Save people]]

You turn up the radio, in the hopes that it will make your commute go faster. You take your camera out of your bag just in case the creature returns. All of a sudden, the bridge (text-style: "rumble") [buckles, sways, and groans.] [[Turn around, get off the bridge]] [[Get out of car]]

(text-style: "rumble") [Large cracks (text-style: "fade-in-out") [consume the bridge,] swallowing whole cars. You run toward land, weaving between doomed vehicles. In your haste, (text-style: "upside-down") [your camera falls from your hands.]] [[Pick up camera]] [[Leave it]]

You try to turn around, but traffic is just as gridlocked going the opposite direction. While you're stopped, (color: red) [leaves in the trees rustle.] (color: red) [Branches bow.] You grab your camera from your bag. As you focus the image, the bridge begins to creak and (text-style: "rumble") [rumble.] [[Get out of car]] [[Wait it out, take a picture]]

(text-style: "rumble") [Suddenly, a path opens up to get off the bridge. You //floor it//, making it just barely.] On sturdy ground, you get out of your car and assess the situation. [[Save people]] [[Go to a phone to call for help]]

Suddenly, the concrete crumbles. You look in your rearview mirror. (text-style: "mirror") [Cars behind you] (text-style: "upside-down") [below. the river into tumble] [[Get out of car]] [[Shelter in your car and hope for the best]]

As you reach down to grab your camera, the ground disappears from under you. (text-style: "upside-down") [you plunge into the ice cold water.] Luckily, you're close to shore. [[Save people]] [[Swim to shore]]

You make it off of the bridge as it (text-style: "fade-in-out") [disintegrates] into the river. Wind, a woosh, (text-style: "superscript") [pulses from above.] Dozens of people emerge from the depths of the river, yelling for help. [[Follow the creature]] [[Save people]]

(color: red) [You begin //running//. Your heart **pounds**, you (text-style: "expand") [gasp] for breath as you try to keep up.] But you run into arriving emergency personnel. A police officer inquires about why you are running. [[Explain what you saw.]] [[Keep running; there's no time for explanation]]

The current (text-style: "upside-down") [pulls you under.] Submerged in the ice-cold water, you open your eyes. (text-style: "blur") [Gargantuan wings cast a shadow on to the river's surface. Two red orbs stare down at you as the world around you] (text-style: "blurrier") [Disappears] (background: red) [You have drowned. [[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

You arrive at a gas station a half mile down the road, slip a quarter into the pay phone and call for help. Instead of a calm voice on the other end, however, a flood of //sounds// rings into your ear. It sounds like words (text-style: "condense") [jumbled together.] [[Hang up and try again]] [[Keep listening]]

(text-style: "shudder") [Shivering] on the shoreline, you watch the rest of the bridge (text-style: "upside-down") [fall into the water.] (text-style: "super-script") [From above you,] you hear a //woosh//. Bright red eyes look down on you, amidst a wing span at least 7 feet across. You try to take another picture, but it comes out blurry. [[Follow creature]] [[Go to a phone to call for help]]

As you reach into your pocket for another quarter, you see a dark (color: red) [disturbance (text-style: "blink") [//flies by//]] in your periphery. It's the creature, now perched on top of the gas station. [[Follow creature]] [[Make another call]]

You're able to make out a few words: moth, attack, again, follow. Out of the corner of your eye, a dark flying object catches your attention. It's the creature, now perched on the roof of the gas station. [[Follow creature]] [[Make another call]]

Emergency services are on their way. They tell you to go back and help as many people as you can. [[Return to the collapsed bridge]] [[Follow creature]]

People yell for help in the water. (text-style: "shudder") [Hypothermia] will soon set in if nothing is done. [[Save people]] [[Wait for help]]

Emergency crews arrive and help survivors out of the water. You look around; the mysterious creature is (text-style: "fade-in-out") [nowhere to be found.] (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

His expression makes you feel like you've (text-style: "outline") [lost your mind.] He asks, "Well, do you have any (color: red) [proof]? Any (color: red) [evidence]?" [[Show him the pictures]] [[Don't waste his time. He has lives to save]]

Icy air stings your lungs, blood **pounds** in your ears, which are red and numb. Your eyes, burning, cannot spot (color: red) [anything] in the sky. (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

(color: red) [Your heart pounds, you gasp for breath as you try to keep up.] But you run into arriving emergency personnel. A police officer gets out of his car and asks you, "Were you on that bridge? Are you alright? Where are you running to?" [[Tell him what you saw.]] [[Keep running; there's no time for explanation]]

His expression makes you feel like you've (text-style: "outline") [lost your mind.] He asks, "Well, do you have any proof? Any evidence?" [[Yes]] [[No]]

Because you're lying, he arrests you on suspicion of causing the (text-style: "upside-down") [collapse] and places you in the back of his police car, (text-style: "mirror") [glaring at you through his rearview mirror.] (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

He says that you're probably in (text-style: "shudder") [shock.] As he departs, you look around for (color: red) the [creature], which is (text-style: "fade-in-out") [nowhere to be found.] (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

He tells you to get in on the passenger side and (color: red) [direct him where to go.] You tell him to head (color:red) [South, towards town.] "Code 3, code 3, we've got (color: red) [visual]," he says into his radio.] As the police car speeds down the street, he takes a sharp turn (color: red) [into an abandoned lot.] A sign, riddled with bullet holes from teenage hooligans and burn marks, reads "Point Pleasant TNT Manufacturing." [[Continue to pursue the creature]] [[Wait for backup]]

He gets back into his car. You've lost sight of the (color: red) [creature.] (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

The (text-style: "outline") [abandoned] TNT plant is decrepit now, falling apart at the seams. The (color: red) [creature] disappears into the entrance, which is (text-style: "shadow") [pitch black,] surrounded by overgrown (color: green) [vegetation.] You and the police officer //run// into the plant, but the (text-style: "shadow") [darkness] quickly overcomes you both. [[Use flashlight]] [[Continue in dark to not give away your cover]]

By the time backup arrives, (color: red) [the sky is empty.] [[You must start over->I'm ready]]

You flip the switch, causing a (color: yellow + white) [beam of light] to illuminate the hall. However, the (color: red) [creature] notices you, and attacks and kills both of you. (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

You encounter a fork in the passageway. [[Right]] [[Left]] [[Split up]]

The police man lets out a (text-style: "shudder") [howl] and is suddenly gone. (color: red) [Gusts of air] brush against your face, pulsing as if from (color: red) [beating wings]. [[Turn back]] [[Search for the officer's flash light]]

The plant evolves into a maze of hallways, with dead-ends and (text-style: "mirror") [contorted passages.] Both of you lose track of the (color: red) [creature.] (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

The officer insists you take the flashlight, just in case you need it. You head to the right, while he heads to the left. Everything is still bathed in (text-style: "shadow") [darkness,] but you feel a gust of wind on your cheek. In your chest, you feel a **pulsing** that is not yours. There are wings beating somewhere, and they're only getting closer. [[Turn back]] [[Keep going]]

As you run away, the //woosh// of the wings get louder and more intense. You become weightless, claws digging into your shoulders. Numbess overcomes you, as if life is leaving your body. The (color: red) [creature] kills you. (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

You find a heavy metal tube on the floor -- this must be the flashlight. Except there's no switch! You're completely blind! But you quickly realize that what you're holding is the officer's baton. [[Turn back]] [[Throw baton at the creature]]

The beating gets closer and closer. You can hear your heartbeat in your ears. Two (color: red) [eyes] pierce through the (text-style: "shadow") [dark] in front of you. You decide to turn on the (color: yellow + white) [flashlight,] and the creature lunges at you, (text-style: "fade-in-out") [killing you.] (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

The (color: red) [creature] (text-style: "shudder") [shrieks,] and there are two resounding **thuds** as the officer and the creature hit the ground. The officer is weak, but alive, and he turns on his flashlight. Lucky shot! You hit the creature in the head. Its crumpled body rests on the ground, defeated. You and the officer approach the lifeless heap of wings and oddly human-like extremities. The officer gasps. "I knew it. That's the (color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]]," he says. You have no idea what he's talking about. [[Ignore him and continue exploring the lair]] [[Ask him who the Mothman is]]

"The Mothman...well, there's no real way to describe him. He just //is// the Mothman." "What do you mean?" You ask. "He -- //it// -- popped 'round these parts after the accident here a few years back, the one that got the place shut down." "What happened?" "Everyone tells a different story. There is no truth. Or at least not one that everybody agrees on. Whatever happened, something spilled, something that wasn't TNT. What's real or isn't real doesn't matter here. The consequences are the same." You look at him blankly. "Listen, I've told you too much. We should get out of here." The officer grips your shoulder and leads you out. As you make your way out of the plant, you feel wind on your the back of your neck. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up, a prickly feeling cascades up your spine. [[Hide]] [[Run]]

You look around frantically, knowing that it's impossible to outrun the (color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]]. The officer shines his flashlight around, looking for an escape route. "Turn that thing off!" You exclaim. "(color: red) [It]'ll see us!" As you the world around again becomes pitch black, you feel along the wall for a doorway, a hall, anything. A jagged edge cuts your finger -- a hole! It's barely big enough for the two of you, but the (color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]] flies past, none the wiser. [[Keep hiding]] [[Run back into plant]]

You try to escape, but the (text-style: "strike") [Mothman]'s speed cannot be matched. He kills you both. (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

You and the officer hear noise coming from the hallway. Except, not the low humming, or the ear-piercing screeching. Instead, clacking. Like shoes. Human's shoes. People! A flashlight shines on you. "Are you two alright?" A man in the same clothes as the officer asks. There are five of them. "We saw you chasing (color: red) [//something//], and we figured you might need help."

Now with the flashlight and less panic, you walk down a corridor until it opens up into a large room. Some kind of laboratory office, it looks like, but it hasn't been touched in years. "What should we do?" You ask the officer. "//Shh!//" You both remain quiet. Finally, he breaks the silence. "It went towards, the exit, so maybe we should go back to the office and wait it out. He might notice us here." You walk back down the hall. As you enter the office, the flashlight shines directly upon a filing cabinet that appears to be unlocked. [[Open the drawer]] [[Leave it alone. It's not your business]]

You disregard the officer's puzzling comment and walk down a corridor until it opens up into a large room. Some kind of laboratory office, it looks like, but it hasn't been touched in years. Trash and mouse droppings cover every surface. A thick layer of dust cakes the floor. Cobwebs veil the old, unused phones. "Oh, good Lord. They didn't maintain this place at all." The officer remarks. "Who's they?" You ask. "The agents -- they promised -- listen, kid, I've told you too much already. We should get outta here and call for backup." "Yeah, yeah, we probably should," you say as you shine your flightlight on a filing cabinet. You reach out and try jiggle the handle. It's unlocked. [[Open the drawer]] [[Leave it alone. It's not your business]]

Hundreds of manila folders packed with documents with a (color: red) [**SENSITIVE**] stamped on them are sitting in the cabinet, aligned alphebitcally. A file in the "M" section pops out at you. Its label: "(color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]]." [[Close the cabinet]] [[Grab the file]]

(background: red) [You continue to poke around but the mothman returns and kills you both. [[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

Pushing th drawer back in, you poke around some more. Out of the corner of your eye, you see some cassette tapes scattered across a desk. They all have different labels. You pick one up. "Board Meeting Q3 09/25/64" The one under it reads, "Accident/Spill Briefing 10/01/64" You uncover another: "Post-Spill Contamination Briefing #4 10/07/64" Written on the label of the fourth: "Failure of Containment by Gov. Agents Briefing #1 11/17/64" However, a cassette player is nowhere in sight. [[Put them in your pocket]] [[Leave it alone. It's not your business]]

The officer pulls his gun, pointing it at you. Your mouth falls open, in shock at the officer's sudden change in attitude. . "What are you holding? Put it back. Now." [[Return the file]] [[Ask why]]

The police officer turns around and sees you shoving the tapes in your pockets. He briskly walks over to you. "Hey! That's not yours, that's sensitive information. Put them back. **Now.**" [[Put them back]] [[Ask about what happened in 1964]]

(background: red) ["Fine." You conceed. You place the cassettes back on the dingy desk. "We should get going. You're sticking your nose places where you really shouldn't be. It's dangerous here." The officer grabs you and escorts you out. "Let's go." As both of you exit the laboratory office, a gust of cold wind brushes against your faces. At the end of the hall, flooded with darkness, (color: red) [eyes] appear. They get larger, coming closer, closer. You and the officer are frozen, the wind from the Mothman's wings getting stronger. Before you know it, it's right in front of you. It kills you both. [[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

He stutters, "I-it's none of your business. It's classified!" "//What happened?//" You insist. "You really haven't noticed everything that's happened since this place got shut down?" "You don't mean..." "**Yes.** The disappearances, the strange sounds in the night. All of it." "The bridge?" "Yes, the bridge." [[Ask why it's been covered up]] [[Oblige]]

"There was...an accident...and if any word of it got out, well...you know what, let's leave before that //thing// gets back." [[Oblige]] [[Ask what happened]]

You can hear the mothman returning. There are only seconds before (color: red) [it] bursts into the office and discovers you and the officer. [[Leave before it arrives]] [[Hide under a desk]]

You notice the cassettes sitting on the table. If you leave them here, no one will believe you. This place will probably be raided and destroyed after what happened today. No one in Point Pleasant knows what has been going on. Dogs have disappeared, children, mothers, fathers. In the middle of the night, you can hear a blood curtling screech resound through the starry sky. Whatever this is, it has to end. [[Slip them into your pocket]] [[Leave without the tapes]]

The Mothman bursts into the office, knocking over cabinets, flipping over desks. It knows you are here. The officer is hiding under another desk, across the room. As the ransacking continues, the Mothman gets closer, closer to the officer's hiding spot. The officer turns around, making himself as inconspicuous as possible. You remember the cassettes sitting on the table, and the officer certainly isn't looking. [[Reach up and take cassettes]] [[Don't risk being seen]]

"That-- that's how the mothman was created and now we're running around trying to catch it before he kills someone else and now -- now the collapse. Oh, God. Listen we have to go, come on. You hear that? Shit, it's coming back!" [[Oblige]] [[Hide under a desk]]

"Come on, we need to get out of here," the officer says as he turns his back to you. You hurriedly shove the cassettes into your pockets, trailing the officer into the hallway. A shriek echoes through the hallway -- but not an ordinary one. It was primal, guttoral, vicious. You can't see past the silhouette of the officer in front of you. But in the blink of an eye, a swirling wind, a flash of (color: red) [those eyes,] he's gone. There's no time to save him this time, you sprint with all of your might towards the entrance. You soon see the light from outside beaming back at you. If you can just make it there, into the sunlight, someone can help you. No one else has to die. You can put an end to everything. You chest aches, your legs burn. You close your eyes and run, run, run -- finally, you escape from the damp, odorous air, emerging ito the warm sun once again. [[Replay?->I'm ready]]

"Come on, we need to get out of here," the officer says as he turns his back to you. You leave the cassette tapes on the desk, trailing the officer into the hallway. A shriek echoes through the hallway -- but not an ordinary one. It was primal, guttoral, vicious. It was the Mothman. You can't see past the silhouette of the officer in front of you. But in the blink of an eye, a swirling wind, a flash of (color: red) [those eyes,] (Background: red) [you are both killed by the Mothman. [[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

Your hand clasps the stack of cassettes. You pull them towards the edge of the table, peeling away the layer of muck on the desk surface. The Mothman hovers just feet away, throwing furniture around in a mad haste to locate us. As you pull the tapes under the desk, the plastic against the wood makes a scraping noise. The Mothman stops, peering around the now-destroyed office. With every breath, you inhale dust. You clench your teeth trying not to cough in the deathly silence. The officer, however, chokes on the acrid air. The Mothman attacks and kills him. [[Try to make an escape]] [[Remain hidden]]

The Mothman hovers just feet away, throwing furniture around in a mad haste to locate us. As you pull the tapes under the desk, the plastic against the wood makes a scraping noise. The Mothman stops, peering around the now-destroyed office. With every breath, you inhale dust. You clench your teeth trying not to cough in the deathly silence. But you can't contain yourself anymore, and let out a choking cough. The (color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]] kills you. (background: red) [[[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

While the (color: red) [Mothman] is attacking the officer, you make a run for it. A shriek echoes through the hallway -- but not an ordinary one. It was primal, guttoral, vicious. You can't see past the silhouette of the officer in front of you. But in the blink of an eye, a swirling wind, a flash of (color: red) [those eyes,] he's gone. There's no time to save him this time, you sprint with all of your might towards the entrance. You soon see the light from outside beaming back at you. If you can just make it there, into the sunlight, someone can help you. No one else has to die. You can put an end to everything. You chest aches, your legs burn. You close your eyes and run, run, run -- finally, you escape from the damp, odorous air, emerging ito the warm sun once again. [[Replay?->I'm ready]]

Aching, you can't keep yourself from coughing any longer. The malicious pair of eyes (color: red) [eyes] shoots towards you. (background: red) [The Mothman kills you. [[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

(background: red) ["Okay, okay, I will," you conceed. You place the file back into cabinet. "We should get going. You're sticking your nose places where you really shouldn't be. It's dangerous here." The officer grabs you and escorts you out. "Let's go." As both of you exit the laboratory office, a gust of cold wind brushes against your faces. At the end of the hall, flooded with darkness, (color: red) [eyes] appear. They get larger, coming closer, closer. You and the officer are frozen, the wind from the Mothman's wings getting stronger. Before you know it, it's right in front of you. It kills you both. [[You must start over->I'm ready]]]

"It's confidential," says the officer. "Obviously, ahem, sensitive information. It won't make sense to you anyway." He clears his throat and shifts from left to right, his hands in his pockets. [[Ask why it won't make sense]] [[Return the file]]

It's 1967. The December air is frigid. You're stuck in traffic on the Silver Bridge, which towers over the Ohio River, connecting Point Pleasant, WV, and Gallipolis, OH. Just above one of the piers -- what is that? It is large, winged. It has the build of a man yet soars through the sky. Eyes -- (color: red) [red, (text-style: "smear") [glowing]] -- glare at you. Deep in your chest, you feel a vibration, like a low buzzing, a //humming//. [[Follow the bird-like creature]] [[Dismiss this as your imagination]]

Double-click this passage to edit it.

"There was...an accident...and if any word of it got out, well...you know what, let's leave before (color: red) [it] gets back." [[Ask about the accident]] [[Return the file]]

"That -- that's how the (color: red) [(text-style: "strike") [Mothman]] was created and now we're running around trying to catch it before he kills someone else and now -- now the collapse. Oh, God. Listen we have to go, come on. You hear that? Shit, it's coming back!" [[Find a hiding spot]] [[Return the file]]

The Mothman bursts into the office, knocking over cabinets, flipping over desks. It knows you are here. The officer is hiding under another desk, across the room. As the ransacking continues, the Mothman gets closer, closer to the officer's hiding spot. The officer turns around, making himself as inconspicuous as possible. You look around and see if there's any way you can distract the creature so you can make a run for it. You remember seeing some cassette tapes on the desk you're hiding under. [[Throw the tape across the room]] [[Don't risk being seen]]

The (color: red) [Mothman] thinks that the noise came from where the officer is, and proceeds to attack the officer. While the (color: red) [Mothman] is attacking the officer, you make a run for it. A shriek echoes through the hallway -- but not an ordinary one. It was primal, guttoral, vicious. You can't see past the silhouette of the officer in front of you. But in the blink of an eye, a swirling wind, a flash of (color: red) [those eyes,] he's gone. There's no time to save him this time, you sprint with all of your might towards the entrance. You soon see the light from outside beaming back at you. If you can just make it there, into the sunlight, someone can help you. No one else has to die. You can put an end to everything. You chest aches, your legs burn. You close your eyes and run, run, run -- finally, you escape from the damp, odorous air, emerging ito the warm sun once again. [[Replay?->I'm ready]]