There’s a terrible storm overhead, and you’re running for your life from someone chasing you. You just know tonight, is your last night on Earth if you don’t do something about it. You’ve tripped over curbs and fallen into puddles, you’re bleeding from your fight to keep moving forward as lightning cracks above you. After what seems like forever, you stumble upon a large home back against some cursed looking trees.

It has an iron fence surrounding it, and its nearly falling off its hinges, swinging back and forth in the wind. You do your best to get passed the hazardous gate, to make your way towards cover. Upon arriving at the door and creaking your way up the wooden stairs, you become increasingly aware that the monstrous home has no electricity to truly save you from the storm.

You try the doorknob, nothing.

You throw yourself behind it and twist, still nothing.

You try and try, and try again, mixing your weight and twisting in all combinations…but the door just won’t budge. You’re struck with the thought, “is this really how this its going to end”. For whatever reason, you decide to twist the knob the other way before sinking down along the length of the door in defeat.

click. The door gave way and your back hits the welcome mat inside the home.

You unstick yourself from the entrance and turn in to observe the interior of the home. It’s like someone just left. Paintings covered in dust of the family members still hang on the walls. The paint, wainscotting and wallpaper all reveal the feel of the room around you, it was a loved home at one point. There are dead flowers in vases scattered around ledges in the room, and you can just make out three stair cases heading into various parts of the upstairs. One is off to your left, seemingly it goes straight up. The huge ballroom L style foyer stair case leads you up marble steps to a small greeting area of sorts. And the stairs to the right spiral up passed the floor to another nook in the house. Which one do you choose?

After heading up your set of stairs the home opens up, and the lightning outside illuminates the way forward enough for you to seek a place in peace for shelter. There are doors all around you, a couple wooden doors, a metal door, a Dutch door still ajar halfway.

You investigate the Dutch door cautiously peering over the lower half, when you gasp and realize the floor beyond the threshold had fallen through giving way to the room beneath it. Imagine if you had jumped over the door in a rush for safety, you’d be back to square one. Finding shelter might be tougher than you thought, especially if the home is condemned all around inside.

Treading lightly across the floor now you venture to the metal door. You take the handle and twist to find jars, and science equipment littered over laboratory desks. There are biohazard stickers and placards all around you. While most jars are still preserved, there a a number that are cracked, oozing, and beyond expired. In a flurry of discomfort you turn to run, only to be face to face with a notice on the back of the door marking most of the lab off limits to the home due to contaminates. That was all you needed to move on.

There are two basic wooden doors left for you to choose from. Someone had graffitied “but did you die” like a sick joke onto the left door. You try it first, and it’s locked. But, not locked just by key, but by the weight and force against it. In your shape there is no way to move it. I mean, how much energy did you use just trying the front door, and now this.

In a last ditch effort you try the other door, and you find a strange chair. It has medical hookups, a head strap, a somewhat comfortable looking seat when you hear them. They’ve found you.

“Welcome to the haunted house of horrors, my friend. I dare you to find a way out.” they laugh, making you feel oh so small.

You tiptoe around the room searching for cover behind a corner desk, praying the wood floor beneath you doesn’t creak.

“This home long abandoned, is my favorite place to trap souls like you”, you’re amazed by how the voice carries through the house and passed the loud storm sounds outside. It’s like they’re next to you, though you can tell they’re beneath that Dutch door from before.

You take a second to peer under the desk, and realize the chair is an electrocution chair. A chair of the death penalty and you’ve decided to hide there.

“I like to think you souls pick the way you die, the room you end up in always tells me how you’ll go. Unless you’re smarter than you look.” You can almost hear the evil grin plastered on their face. “There is only one safe door to hide behind, which one is it?”