Choose Your Own Adventure Story: The Haunted House — Part II
OPTION A — RETREAT
This is a choose-your-own adventure story, so if you didn’t just arrive from reading Part I, you might want to head back to this post.
The message spells out RETREAT, which I’d gladly do.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea. Maybe we should retreat,” I say to Eliza and Frank.
But Eliza doesn’t listen to me. She types retreat into the keyboard. Next thing I know, the lock to The House unclicks, and the door swings open with a creeeeaaaaakkk.
Eliza and I grab each other’s arm, but Frank doesn’t even hesitate; he just skips into the house.
“We said open sesame, and it opened sesamed!” Frank says gleefully. “It’s like magic!”
As I step inside, the old wood groans under my feet, and I’m met with a face full of spider webs. I don’t know what’s worse: the spiral staircase leading up, up, up — or the rickety steps leading down, down, down.
“Now what?” I ask Eliza. Then I realize I’m asking the wrong person. “Frank, where did you throw that wallet?”
“Over there!” Frank says. “But it’s gone.”
“What do you mean, it’s gone?”
“Look,” he says, walking over to one of the front windows. “There’s the window hole. Here’s where my mom’s wallet would have landed. But here’s where it isn’t. Unless money can run. Can it run?” he asks his big sister.
“No,” Eliza says, “but I can give you a run for your money.”
I groan, and Frank clearly does not get it. “But where did it run to?” Frank says, shaking Eliza’s arm.
I roll my eyes. “Frank, I’m sure it just — ”
All of a sudden, the creepy music starts up again. Every hair on my body is standing on edge, and now that I’m inside The House, I know for sure it’s coming from the basement.
“You hear that, right?” I ask.
Eliza looks concerned. “Hear what?”
“That! That music!”
Aaaarrrroooooooo! Three howls — coming from upstairs. But I’m confused: the legend said the howls only come out on the full moon! It’s not even nighttime right now.
“Are you talking about the howling?” Eliza says. “Because I hear that loud and clear. Should we go investigate?”
If I chase after the howling noises, I might finally get to the bottom of this legend. But there’s something compelling me to follow the music — my curiosity is at a fever pitch.
So which sound do I follow?
To follow the music to the basement, click here.
To follow the howls to the attic, click here.
About the Author:
Lauren Magaziner is the author of Wizardmatch, Pilfer Academy, and The Only Thing Worse Than Witches. She is originally from New Hope, Pennsylvania, and she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she writes full-time. Lauren is also a secret, undercover international detective — but don’t blow her cover. You can visit Lauren at http://laurenmagaziner.com/.
About Case Closed #1: Mystery in the Mansion:
Choose-your-own-adventure and puzzle-packed mystery collide in the first book in Lauren Magaziner’s new hilarious and high-stakes middle grade series in which the reader must help Carlos and his friends put together the clues to save his mom’s detective agency. In this wildly entertaining and interactive adventure, YOU pick which suspects to interview, which questions to ask, and which clues to follow. You pick the path — you crack the case!
