Several people scream as the sky suddenly darkens. You look up; the sun is gone, and the stars are shining much brighter than you normally see in this area. You look back down to discover that the ring of ash has erupted into flames. You lift your gaze; the salt trail has likewise begun to burn, and you see people running from the shops you had walked through; they become even more confused and terrified as they step outside into the darkness.\n\nYou hear a groan beneath you. For a moment you think it’s the security guard, but suddenly the Architect shifts beneath you. “Oh shit!” you gasp. He has come alive.\n\nYou try to tighten your grip, your legs dangling over his shoulders; you don’t really know what to do next. You look over at Maria. She has moved down to the Beast’s shoulders, holding tightly onto its head with her hands. She looks up at you, sees your bewilderment, and lets out a short but frustrated sigh. [[“The final incantation.”|12]]\n

You take a quick look around, then the two of you hop the low fence around the statue. A woman in a denim skirt says, “Excuse me!” but you ignore her. Maria draws a cross on the Beast’s forehead with blood from her thumb. You stretch, trying to reach the Architect, but you can’t quite make it. You grab hold of his outstretched arm and pull yourself up. “Hey! You girls get down from there!” a voice behind you shouts. You twist your body around and see a security guard coming over the fence. You pull your legs up to your body, but he grabs at your feet and tries to pull you down. “Maria!” you shout, and she pulls sharply at the security guard’s shoulder. She punches him in the jaw, and several onlookers gasp. He groans as he falls to the base of the statue.\n\nMaria gives you a boost, and you clamber up onto the Architect’s shoulders. Maria mounts the Beast, adopting an uneasy sidesaddle pose around one of its huge ears. You squeeze your thumb to draw more blood, then scrawl a cross on the Architect's forehead. “Now!” you think to your friends. You hear them, in your head, reciting the incantation with you: “Klathanu ghuritak, stumyn krinuraf kertak fosy!” By now a small crowd has gathered. The security guard has regained composure, and tries to get at you again. You kick him in the face, hard, and he falls. “Look,” says Maria, and she points to the circle you have drawn around the statue; smoke is rising from the ash. Before you have a chance to say anything, you hear Caroline’s voice in your head. “The ash is smoking. Does that mean it’s working?” You tell her the truth: [[“I don’t know.”|11]]\n

“Klathanu ghuritak, krinytaf wongo glo koryt bona tsesy.” You hear your comrades’ voices in your head, reciting the incantation from across the infernal city. Almost immediately you feel as though you are stretching. Alarmed, you look down at your legs, but they don’t look any different. After a moment, you realize what you are actually feeling: the Architect has become //connected// to you, as if it were an extension of your body. Tentatively, you imagine him raising his left arm, and your heart jumps when his arm rises. You turn to Maria, beaming; she has the Beast kicking its legs one after the other. People in the crowd back away, but you don’t notice. You and Maria tentatively guide the statues down from the pedestal and over the low railing. You are now walking—the Architect and the Beast are now walking—out in the world, unencumbered.\n\nYou glance over at Maria, biting your lip to stifle a wicked grin. “What?” she smiles at you. “I want to try something,” you reply. You look forward at the crowd, none of whom are willing to stand within twenty yards of you. You concentrate your thoughts. You lean the Architect forward, and he spits out a plume a flame above the crowd’s heads. They run, screaming. Maria giggles, then collects herself and reminds you. “We have work to do.”\n\nYou hear clanking thuds and look around. Your comrades are striding up to meet you on their own statues. Caroline is riding a slithering cobra, Joey is on a merman, Hex is straddling a shrouded woman, and Zey is riding a carousel horse; all of the figures have crosses of blood on their foreheads.\n\nYou all look at each other. You raise your eyebrows and give a tentative smile.\n\n“Are you ready?” you ask.\n\n“We’re ready.”\n\nThe Architect takes the Beast’s hand. You and Maria look at each other. "Let's go."\n\nYou let out a yell and lead the charge. The six of you bound down Main Street and into the world beyond.\n\n[[The end|epilogue]]

Joey continues the salt trail from the end point of Caroline's. You walk through a small wooded area, then emerge outside a group of buildings designed to look like medieval Europe. You head through a passageway leading through the side of the castle, past a small lagoon, and into a cramped "futuristic" zone with little room to breathe. You make your way past a large circular building, where Joey ends the trail outside a pizza shop. He switches boxes, leaves, and a minute later you hear him say "I'm in place."\n\nThe remaining four of you walk on, Hex continuing the trail. You walk west across the city, taking care to give the statue as wide a berth as possible. You find your way to a train station, the same one where Joey picked up Caroline's trail on the loop around the city. You leave Hex to find his way to his assigned position, and Zey continues the trail to the next destination.\n\nYou begin to feel a knot in your stomach as you, Zey, and Maria walk on. You try to have faith that the plan will work, but you can't help worrying. You look at Zey and Maria; though all three of you are silent, you can tell that [[they feel the same|7]].

The day of reckoning has come.\n\nYou and your comrades stand near the gateway. The security inspectors have already picked through your bags and allowed you to pass. They didn't know what was hiding in the boxes in your purses and backpacks, and they wouldn't understand the significance if they did. Now, as you stand before a bed of flowers meticulously arranged to resemble the Beast, you gather together and open your bags. You make sure everyone has all their supplies—salt hidden in emptied cracker boxes, small knives disguised as lipstick, walkie-talkies set to channel 6—review the plan one last time, and take a breath\n\n"Ready?" you ask.\n\n"Ready," your compatriots reply.\n\n[[You walk through the gateway.|2]]

!Infernal City\n!!by Emily\n\n//Content warning: violence, blood//\n\n[[Go|1]]

The statue stands at the meeting point of the roads that lead to all parts of the city. It depicts the Architect gesturing toward the future as he holds the hand of the Beast. Both bear genial smiles, with no trace of knowledge of the misery they have caused, the death and destruction left in their wake.\n\nA ringing train bell brings you back into the moment. The six of you board, eager to begin step one of the plan. The train pulls out of the station as a prerecorded voice welcomes you aboard the [[Disneyland Railroad|4]].

The six of you stand at the end of the infernal city's main road. Hundreds of people mill about, walking in and out of the quaint shops and dodging the carriages making their way down the street. Your group turns right and climbs the steps to the train station. You turn and take another look down the street. The first thing you see, obviously, is the castle. It would be incongruous if it weren't so familiar, but with its pink and blue spires it is impossible to miss. After a moment, however, your eyes find their target: [[the statue|3]].

The group looks to you, and you nod. You all take out headphones and put them on, plugging them into the walkie-talkies in your pockets. Caroline takes out her box and begins pouring salt as the five of you walk to the northwest. The trail is thin, even thinner than the one left from the train, as you don't want anyone to notice it and sweep it away.\n\nThe official maps are sanitized and falsified—everything about this place is—so you printed out accurate maps beforehand and plotted your course with colored highlighters, which you are doing your best to follow. Caroline is in the middle, protected by the rest of you as she walks through shops and restaurants. You pass through a large wooden gateway, and walk past a pair of employees dressed in a muted pastiche of Old West garb. Caroline tenses, but the workers don't notice you as you stride on by.\n\nYou walk around a tall mountain, built out of what resembles orange rock. A roller coaster train zooms around a corner, and you fleetingly remember screaming in delighted terror on the same ride when you were a kid. But that's how they get you, you remind yourself: build up the pleasant association when you're young so you won't see the suffering when you're old.\n\nYour group has finally reached its destination, just outside a petting zoo behind the fake mountain. Caroline puts her box away, grabs a second box from her purse, and walks briskly out of the area. A few minutes later, you hear her voice on your headphones: "I'm in place." The rest of you [[continue on your way|6]].

As the train embarks on its journey, Caroline pokes a small hole in a Girl Scout cookie box and surreptitiously holds it out of the car. A thin trail of salt spills from the box, small enough to last at least until the next stop, but to any observer it looks only as though she is leaning her arm around the railing.\n\nStill, you worry, and look around. The other passengers are talking to each other or looking out the window. Your heart skips a beat when a woman turns in your direction, but you quickly realize her eyes are closed; she is only stretching her neck. Maria takes your hand. "Relax."\n\nThe train pulls into the next station. Passengers get off, and more get on. Your group remains, and Caroline puts her box in her purse. Joey takes a Wheat Thins box from his backpack and pokes a hole; when the train resumes its journey, he adopts the same stance Caroline had and continues the trail.\n\nAt the following station, Joey's trail ends and Hex's begins; at the one after that, Zey takes over. When you pull into the original station, your group gets off the train. You have left and unbroken ring of salt, completely surrounding the infernal city. [[Step one is complete.|5]]

You reach the loading dock of a boat ride. You leave with Maria as she picks up the trail, leaving Zey to get into position.\n\nAs the two of you walk back to the main train station, you bump into a security guard, dressed as a Victorian-era policeman. "Excuse me," you stammer, half expecting to be arrested. Instead, he smiles, tips his hat, and says "not at all." Maria takes your shoulder and asks if you're all right. You avoid her gaze. "Let's keep walking."\n\nYou make it back up the train station steps. The pentagram is complete, with the statue in the center. You look at Maria. She sees the apprehension in your face, and gives you a reassuring smile. "Let's show them why we're here."\n\nThe two of you descend the steps. "The star is complete," you say into your walkie. [["We're on our way to the statue."|8]]

Infernal City

You and Maria take out the small knives, the ones that look like lipstick. You exchange glances, and then hold the knives to your thumbs. You wince from the pain, but drag the knife down a little bit farther; you need as much as you can get.\n\nYou and Maria look at each other and nod. You both close your eyes and begin the incantation. “Klathanu ghuritak, jyrtav vrisy me koryt wongo sry tsesy.”\n\nYour eyes open in surprise—you can hear your friends in your head. Not on your headphones, in your //head//.\n\nCaroline: “It’s working!”\n\nHex: “It’s amazing!”\n\nMaria: [[“It’s time.”|10]]\n

Emily\n\n([[back to Games|http://emilythekiller.neocities.org/games.html]])

!Gang attacks Disneyland, Anaheim Police; 46 dead\n!!Police chief among slain\n\nANAHEIM—Six individuals unleashed a rampage on the city of Anaheim yesterday, killing 46 police officers and causing major damage to the city, including Disneyland and all four police stations, according to authorities. The assailants' identities and motives are unknown, and they remain at large.\n\nCoinciding with an unusual astronomical phenomenon that plunged most of Orange County into darkness in the middle of the day, the attackers struck at Disneyland Resort, where they burned down or demolished most of the buildings and destroyed vital infrastructure, park officials say.\n\nThe gang, riding vehicles described by witnesses as resembling animal and human figures, then attacked the nearby Anaheim Convention Center, where they warned attendees to leave the complex. They then struck at several support columns and load-bearing walls. The buildings collapsed a short time later.\n\nThe rampage continued north on Harbor Boulevard, where the assailants attacked the Anaheim Police Department headquarters. A wall of the jail was destroyed, allowing dozens of inmates to escape. The attackers then struck at responding officers, killing dozens, including the city's chief of police. Polie reports describe the assailants as heavily armed, but civilian witnesses claimed the attackers had no weapons. The attackers set the building on fire before leaving.\n\nFron there, the gang attacked Anaheim City Hall and the nearby Chamber of Commerce. As in the convention center attack, occupants were warned to evacuate, and then the building was destroyed.\n\nFinally, the attackers struck the remaining three police stations in the city; at each station, most police officers fled and avoided engagement. Those who remained to fight were reportedly killed. Some witnesses describe the attackers as striking at fleeing officers. The three stations were burned to the ground.\n\nThere have been no confirmed sightings of the gang or reports of further violence since the attacks on the police stations. The attackers remain at large and are considered extremely dangerous. City officials have instructed citizens to avoid encounters with the gang and to contact authorities immediately if they are spotted.

You finally make your way up to the statue. You look up at it, studying it. The Architect seems normal enough; just a kindly-looking old man with a mustache. But the Beast is eerie. The Architect is carved with intricate detail, from his hair right down to the folds in his suit. But the Beast is too smooth. Devoid of any real human features, his face is formed from abstracted geometrical forms, and his eyes are almost frightening in their inhumanity.\n\nYou shudder and look away. It's time to complete your task. You take a raisin box out of your bag. It is filled not with salt but with ash. You walk clockwise around the base of the statue, pouring slowly and looking around. A few tourist families are resting or taking pictures, but you don't see any employees.\n\nYou nod at Maria. She takes the walkie-talkie from her pocket. "Step two is complete. [[Begin step three.|9]]"