The Clock Tower
by d_Galloway

the events in the game from the point of view of the main character, Jennifer. So enjoy.

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Chapter 1: A New Home

"Hurry along, children! We haven't got all day!"

Jennifer could see Llote shake with anger at those words. But no matter; she knew that Llote hated

being called a child. Maybe there was a reason; after all, Llote was a lot older. But she still

needed to calm down more often.

Still, Jenny thought, she isn't as bothered as Laura is.

Laura was lagging behind the others. She wasn't exactly looking forward to living in the old Barrows'

place. No one knew much about Mr. Simon Barrows, and no one really cared to know much. He was the

man of mystery in the area, and Jenny thought he actually enjoyed being just that. A mystery.

Anne was her usual self, happy and perky, skipping around merrily. Jennifer had never seen Anne

worried, distressed or angry about anything before. No one had any idea how such a thing was done, as

the world is a place of misery and disappear. But no one bothered Anne too much.

"Ms. Mary," asked Jennifer, "Where is Mr. Barrows' house?"

Mary turned around and smiled at Jennifer. Jennifer seemed to be the closest to Mary, and Mary had an

eye for Jennifer. Mary was what is commonly referred to as an "old maid". She never married, had no

living family, and was the only servant Mr. Barrows had. Strange, Jennifer always thought, isn't Mr.

Barrows one of the country's richest men? Why doesn't he hire more than one servant?

Still, Jennifer politely kept her mouth shut.

"Don't worry, Jennifer," said Ms. Mary, "we're almost there. Just a little farther."

They continued their long, silent march for a few more minutes before Mary stopped the group.

"There," said Mary, pointing at an old mansion, "is your new home."

The mansion looked like it was more than a thousand years' old. The yard was overrun with weeds,

the walls were made from solid stone, and the doors and windows were old and rotted. But the thing that

caught Jennifer's attention the most was the large, ominous clock tower that stood on the side of the

house.

"No wonder they call this place Clock Tower," said Jennifer.

All four girls let out a single, astonished gasp when they stepped into the main foyer. Unlike the

outside, the inside appeared to be in good condition. The walls were freshly-painted, the floor clean,

the furniture of high quality. Doors leading to various hallways were placed all over the room, all

yearning to be explored.

"What an enormous house!", said Anne. "Yeah," agreed Laura, "I don't think we can get used to this."

"Now wait right here, children," said Ms. Mary. "I'll go get Mr. Barrows." And with that, she walked

through the door on the foyer's far end.

The girls got comfortable, talked about the house and the new life ahead of them, and, for the most part,

waiting for Mary to return. So they waited. And waited. And waited some more. It had been nearly an

hour, and Mary hadn't returned.

"This isn't right," mumbled Jennifer to herself. "It can't possibly take this long."

"Should I go look for Ms. Mary?" asked Llote.

"No," said Jennifer. "I'll go look for her."

And with that, she went out the hall door, closing it behind her.

"All right!" thought Jennifer, "while I'm looking for Ms. Mary, I might as well check the rest of-".

Her thoughts came to a sudden end with a blood-curling scream from the foyer. Jennifer quickly ran through

the foyer door, and let out a horrific gasp when she looked inside.

Everyone was gone.

"Girls?" asked Jennifer. "Come on, this isn't funny!" She looked around for a few seconds, then went back

through the hall door.

"Ms. Mary will know what to do," thought Jennifer. "She'll know what to do."

Chapter 2: The First Fear

As Jennifer began her walk down the hall, she kept repeating to herself "Mary will know what to do." Maybe

I'm just lulling myself into a false sense of security, Jennifer thought occasionally. Still, those words

gave her some comfort; comfort was exactly what she needed at a time like this.

Then again, maybe the girls were just playing a trick on her. Maybe Mary had already returned to the foyer

just after she left. Then again, neither of these explained the scream she heard. It was too forceful to

be a prank, and why would anyone scream at the sight of a figure they loved? Yep, something definitely

wasn't right.

As Jenny was getting closer to the end of the hallway, the sound of dripping water echoed from behind one

of the doors. "That's it!" Jennifer exclaimed. "They just went to the bathroom!" And with that, she went

through the door.

It was a bathroom, but the room was filled with steam. In fact, the steam was the same kind that comes from

a running shower.

All right, thought Jennifer. Someone's just in the shower.

With that, Jennifer went to the shower curtain and opened it.

Laura was in there, but she wasn't taking a shower. Instead, an extendable shower head hose was wrapped around

her neck in the style of a hangman's noose. Her skin was completely pale. She was dead.

Jennifer was officially freaked out. This wasn't some joke; something was happening! Despite the tears

welling up inside her, she looked at the body.

It was probably doing that that saved her life.

For a second later, something burst out of the shower floor. It looked like a pair of scissors, except they

were the size of hedge clippers. And holding onto these scissors was a boy- no, a creature, one that would

strike fear even in the bravest of men. Its skin was a purplish-gray, its face horrifically deformed, its body

slender, yet strong. Its eyes were stark black, and its teeth appeared to be solid yellow. The "thing" raised

the scissors, brought them together, then lurched toward Jennifer.

Jennifer ran as quickly as she could out of there. She could here the sounds of the creature-like boy following

her, its footsteps loud and horrifying. When Jennifer reached the end of the hall, she nearly ripped the door off

its hinges.

The door led to another foyer. This one, however, had no furniture, and had several doors connecting to it. No

time for that, thought Jennifer, that thing's following me! She quickly bolted up the stairs, and ran through the

first door she could find. It led into another hallway, except this one had one door on the side and a dead end at

the other side. She quickly ran through the side door.

The door led to some sort of storage room. Most of the room was cluttered with junk, with a large closet at the end

of the room. Just when it seemed like Jennifer was trapped, she got an idea. She ran to the closet and, using every

ounce of strength in her body, flung herself up on top of the closet. Fortunately, there was enough space behind

the closet to hide. She quickly climbed down the other side. And not a moment too soon.

For a few seconds later, the boy ran through the doorway. Jennifer could hear the steps stop, the sound of someone

growling in frustration, the snapping of the scissors, and finally, the sound of the boy leaving in frustration.

As soon as Jennifer knew he was gone, she climbed back up, over the closet, and back down. If this... thing was

behind the disappearances, she would have to find the others and escape. There was no other choice.

And so, Jennifer began her quest. She took some ham out of the kitchen, a few keys from various places, and was

able to learn the name of the boy: Bobby. We join up with her somewhat later.

Chapter 3: Simon Barrows

Jennifer was quite exhausted. She had found several keys, walked through half the house, and had yet to find any trace

of Anne, Llote, or Ms. Mary. Still, she took her newly-acquired Silver key, and, thinking that she had seen a lock

similar to the key's design, returned to the second foyer to try out the key. She found the door and put the key into

the hold.

It fit perfectly.

When Jennifer looked inside, she saw the person she was hoping to see all along.

"Ms...Mary?"

"Jennifer! It's good to see you're all right."

Jennifer ran forward and hugged Mary as hard as she could. Now she felt safe. Now she got escape from this house.

"Don't worry about the others," said Mary. "They'll be alright. Now, why don't you have a drink? It will help calm

your nerves."

With that, Mary went to the cabinet in the back of the room. Within a few seconds, she returned with a glass with some

sort of liquid. Jennifer was quick to finish it.

Just as she finished it, however, a feeling of fatigue overwhelmed her. The whole room began to spin wildly. Colors

began to melt into each other. A cruel smile appeared on Mary's face.

With that, Jennifer passed out.

When Jennifer returned to her senses, she was in some sort of shack. The wooden walls were old and rotted, the ground

filthy. Cobwebs hung in every corner of the roof. And to make matters worse, she was in some sort of prison cell.

"Why?" she thought to herself. "Why did Ms. Mary do this?"

She slowly stood up. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she saw that she wasn't the only one in the cell.

Her fellow inmate was a man, somewhere in his mid-40's. His hair was long and filthy, and a beard covered most of his

face. His nails had grown quite long, and his teeth were stained yellow. His clothes were nearly rags, and it was

obvious that he had been there for a long time. The expression on his face was lined with madness, and he stared at

Jennifer with an expression of wonder.

"Fo..food!" With that, the man rose and lurched toward Jennifer. His gaze was now one of complete hunger.

Jennifer thought this was the end, when she remembered the ham she got from the kitchen. She quickly threw it at the

starving man. The man quickly grabbed it and finished it off within a few seconds.

Jennifer stared at the individual. Her feeling changed from fear to sympathy. This man was certainly kept here for

a long time. Does Mr. Barrows know about this?

"What's your name?" asked Jennifer.

The man looked up at her, a mask of insanity plastered on his face. "Si...mon Bar..rows."

Jennifer let out an astonished gasp. What was going on here? Wasn't Mr. Barrows in charge of the house? Then why was

he here? Was Mary behind this to?

"The...the star," stuttered Mr. Barrows. "Under the...star is...the cra...dle."

Now Jennifer knew he had gone insane. Then she began to think about the "star" Mr. Barrows mentioned. Hadn't she seen

a star on the floor of that church-like room? Still, there wasn't anything leading under the floor there, and she

shuddered at the thought of returning to that place. The bodies of dead crows and the smell of rotting flesh still

lingered in her mind.

Her cellmate wasn't much help, either. After mentioning the star, he went back into his little corner and began to

sleep. Jennifer didn't have to worry about any star. She was still locked up in there.

"Why, Lord, why?" cried Jennifer.

"Jennifer? Is that you?"

Jennifer recognized the voice. "Llote!"

Llote quickly walked to the cell door, a green key in hand. "I found this in a hole in the library. It had the word

'cell' on the handle, so I thought of this place. By the way, what happened to you?"

As LLote opened the door, Jennifer quickly retold the story of Ms. Mary, Mr. Barrows, and the drink. Llote was unfazed.

"Jennifer," said Llote. "I found a book in Ms. Mary's room that told me of a little

secret. Look in the storage room at the back of the house. You might find something there of interest."

With that, Llote ran ahead and went outside. Jennifer was right behind her when she heard the sound of a knife cutting

meat, followed by a familiar voice.

"Oh, Jennifer!"

Ms. Mary!

Panicked, Jennifer quickly looked for something-anything!-that she could use as a weapon. Then she saw the wooden board...

Mary walked into the room, knife drawn, ready to gut poor Jennifer. But Jenny was prepared. She had grabbed the board and ducked into the corner by the shack door, waiting for Mary to enter the room. And when she did...

Jennifer jumped with the speed of a pouncing leopard, and, before Mary could turn around, struck her on the back of the head.

The blow was so hard, the board broke clean in two. Mary crumpled to the floor.

At first, Jennifer thought she had killed Mary. But then she heard her breathing. Yes, her deep breathing gave her away.

Jennifer bolted out of the shack as quickly as she could.

She was in a courtyard of some sort. Long weeds grew everywhere, and tangles of vegetation hung from the walls. An empty pool sat in the middle of the area, and it appeared to have been out-of-use for some time.

No time for this, thought Jennifer. I need to escape!

She then spied the large metal door on the side. She tore across the courtyard, flung the door open, and ran inside, shutting it behind her.

She was back in the mansion.

Chapter 4: The Father

Jennifer quickly reached the second floor of the house. She remembered what Llote said, about the storage room in the back.

Still, how did Llote know of this? Did she go there? Was there some sort of secret passage? Jennifer didn't care. Llote

was her friend, and even with her dead, she trusted her.

Jennifer reached the storage room. She remembered the path well, as she had once checked this area out. Except she ignored the storage room, seeing no good reason to investigate it. Well, know she had a reason!

She walked over her plank-bridge (the hole was quite deep), went to the door, and walked inside. The room was just as she remembered it. Clutter everywhere, an old crate on the far side, a cart full of crates blocking some sort of crack in the back wall-Wait! That was it! The secret passage was behind that cart! Jennifer ran to the cart, pulled it aside, then examined the crack. No switches, no levers, no buttons, but maybe the wall could be broken down...

Jennifer spied the lead pipe on the shelf. Grabbing it, she swung it down like a baseball bat. A few blows later, the wall came crumbling down.

Jennifer's hunch was right. There was a room behind the wall. She quickly darted inside.

If Jennifer was scared before, she was horrified now. The room looked like some sort of padded cell, with papers and various other items thrown about. The walls were scrapped with markings. They appeared to be Roman numerals.

Was this a prison cell, too?

Jennifer took a step inside-and stifled a scream.

Inside the room was a skeleton. It appeared to be an adult of large posture, and, judging from the remains of its clothes, a doctor. There was a nametag on its coat, but the writing was old with rust and mildew. If Mr. Barrows had been locked up for a long time, this poor man was locked up even longer.

Jennifer then began to rummage through the pieces of paper left on the floor. One said "Patient: Mrs. Mary Barrows." Now Jennifer understood. Mary was the wife of Mr. Barrows! And that demonic child was their child. Still, why would Mary just lock up her husband like that?

The second note was too illegible to read. Still, reading was somewhat hard in the dim light of the room. Jennifer viewed it as both a godsend and a curse.

But of all the things on the floor that caught Jennifer's attention, one stood above the rest-the doctor bag. There seemed to be something written on the side of the bag. Maybe a name?

Jennifer leaned closer to the bag. Wiping the dust off the side, she read the name.

"Doctor Walter Simpson"

Jennifer let out a startled gasp. How could this be? How could anyone have done this?!

"Fa...father?!"

Jennifer couldn't believe what was happening. Her father was here? The same man who went on a house call and never came back?

But, why? Was Mary behind this too? Jennifer's mind was racing a mile a minute. She fought back the tears, fearing that

crying would alert her to Bobby or Mary. But still, she had one more thing to do.

She went to the body.

There was little stench from the body, which was a welcome relief. No traces of skin or muscle existed-only a skeleton. The clothes were literally rags, and its hands were clenched around something.

Jennifer leaned forward and, with much force, moved the dead hands. The item was a note, but it appeared to be handwritten.

From the looks of it, the note was done shortly before he died. Jennifer picked up the paper and slowly began to read:

I will not last long.

Before my end I will record what I know.

There are twin children who will bring disaster to this world.

When the lady was to give birth, I was called to this house.

The infants were twin boy- no, demons.

When they were born, they ate my right hand.

They shouldn't have lived, and yet they did.

They should be killed...killed!

Breathing is painful.

The air in the room is gone.

"It" is under the star in the cradle.

Jennifer...

Jennifer...

Jennifer...

Jennifer couldn't fight it anymore. She broke out into quiet sobs. Here she was, holding onto the body of her only father, the man who was killed by Mary. Her mother had died shortly thereafter of grief, and she had ended up in an orphanage. Then she was adopted by Mary, the very one that killed her father! Was something else at work here?

And the note mentioned twins. She knew that Bobby must be one of the twins, but who was the other one? The answer soon came to her: Dan. She had seen that name in the same place where she learned of Bobby. He was in the smashed photograph in the master bedroom. He was probably "under the star", like the note and Mr. Barrows had said. Still, she shuddered to think of how this "Dan" looked.

Jennifer got up, wiped her eyes, and went back to the storage room.

She was almost to the door when she heard a strange sound. She turned around, and saw the old box begin to shake. Oh no, thought Jennifer. What now?

The scissors burst out of the box.

BOBBY!

Jennifer quickly ran through the door, the child murderer right behind her. She tore down the hallway, until she walked over the plank bridge.

She had an idea.

Jennifer quickly picked up the board and placed it against the wall. She then backed up, in order to get out of the scissors' range. Bobby reached the hole and, instead of stopping, tried to jump over.

He didn't make it far.

Instead of clearing it, he fell straight down to the first floor. Jennifer saw the scissors slip out of his hands, then saw them impale his right leg.

Bobby laid motionless for a few seconds. Then he slowly got up, bulled the scissors out of his leg, and limped away. He seemed to have given up. Temporarily.

Jennifer ran downstairs. She then saw a room she hadn't entered before. When she went inside, she was glad she hadn't gone here before.

The room was even more horrifying than seeing her father's body. The walls were stained with blood. Sharp knifes lined the wall, and cages were lined on the floor.

But it was what was on the cages that scared Jennifer. It was crow bodies. The same type of bodies she saw on the alter. Their little throats had been severed in the most horrific way possible. Jennifer felt her stomach tighten up.

But then she saw some live crows in the cages, and her heart was moved to pity. Spying a key on one of the cages, she opened them up, releasing the birds. They flew around for about a minute before flying through an open window.

"Good luck!" said Jennifer. "Maybe I'll find a way to escape, too."

One bird looked back at Jennifer. It was as if it was thanking her...

Chapter 5: Dan

Jennifer slowly climbed down the ladder. She found a golden scepter in the music room and, having seen a mural depicting a ceremony in the Religious Library, put the scepter in a vase in the chapel. A trap door opened in the middle of the star on the ground, and she began to climb down a long ladder leading deep underground.

When she reached the bottom, she saw another figure, all dressed in black, walk down the corridor, then disappear. Jennifer quietly followed in suite, until she reached a guard dog.

The formerly sleeping dog immediately woke up when Jennifer got close. It began to emit a low, ominous growl. At first, Jennifer thought she was trapped. Then she remembered the black cloak and the bottle of perfume...

After creating her disguise, she easily walked pass the dog. Once she was a safe distance away, she removed the disguise, and went down a passageway to the left.

This whole place looked like one giant cave. Stalactites and stalagmites were everywhere, the ground was damp with moisture, and the passageway was lit with several torches. Further ahead, Jennifer could see a red light.

While walking toward the light, Jennifer saw several canisters lying by a steel table. Bending down carefully, Jennifer examined some writing on the side of the canisters: Kerosene. Jennifer remembered hearing that this was a highly flammable liquid. Why would anyone leave cans like this lying around?

When Jennifer reached the end of the cave, she found herself in a large room. The red light from earlier completely filled the room, giving it a strange glow. But what really attracted Jennifer's attention was the large curtain in the center of the room.

Jennifer calmly walked to the curtain and peeked behind it.

One peek was all she needed.

She ran back, screaming. Unfortunately, that was what probably gave her away, for as soon as she began to run, the curtain parted, revealing a sight that would strike madness in the heart of any man.

The creature resembled a giant baby. Its skin was the same shade of purple as Bobby's. Long, sharp claws stood in place of toes and fingers. It had sharp fangs for teeth, and it's entire body was quivering and bulging. As Jennifer ran out the room, the beast crawled after her.

Jennifer ran as quickly as she could, but lost her footing and fell. She could hear the heavy breathing of the creature behind her, and a solemn truth raced into her mind: that thing was Dan! Dan wasn't even slightly human. He-it-was a complete monster!

Jennifer quickly got up. Must run! Must escape!

Jennifer returned to her quick pace. Still, Dan was a giant, and had a giants' reach. It quickly began to gain on her. Jennifer soon reached a small creek. Beyond it was a small cliff face. Seeing no other way around, Jennifer quickly ran through the creek and began to climb the cliff face.

She lost her grip, and slipped back down. Dan was getting closer.

Jennifer quickly tried again. This time, she succeeded, but while she was climbing, she felt a bit of dirt come loose. And, as luck would have it, a can of kerosene was resting on that bit of earth. The can went rolling down, and the cap came off.

The kerosene splashed onto Dan-and was ignited by a nearby torch.

Jennifer looked back at Dan. She watched him burn until there was nothing left.

Suddenly, the whole cavern began to shake, as if the house itself was outraged at Dan's death. Jennifer tore down a nearby corridor.

She saw an elevator at the end of the corridor. She ran to it, opened the door, and went inside.

Chapter 6: The Clock Tower

Jennifer pushed the third floor button. She thought that, by going as high as possible, she could find a place to hide. She was wrong.

As the elevator passed the second floor, the lights went out. Jennifer was startled, but what was even worse was the familiar sound of metal hitting metal.

Bobby.

Jennifer quickly began to push the "open door" button. She could here the panel on top being pried loose. She anticipated Bobby jumping into the elevator to finish her off...

Finally, the elevator reached the third floor. The door open. Jennifer ran through it the instant she could. Bobby bashed through the top of the elevator a few seconds later, and followed Jennifer.

Jennifer found herself in a large room. She saw gears everywhere in the background, and a control box at the top of a platform. She knew where she was instantly.

This was the famous clock tower.

Jennifer ran toward the ladder leading to the platform. She could hear Bobby running behind her. She raced up the ladder, and ran toward the control box. She could hear Bobby climbing up the ladder. Could nothing stop this creature?

Jennifer quickly pulled all the switches on the control box. She could feel the exhaustion overwhelm her. She fell to her knees. She saw Bobby get closer, and closer, and closer...

Suddenly, the clock tower's alarm went off.

Jennifer covered her ears for protection from the noise. But she could see Bobby screaming and twitching. It was as if the noise was like some sort of torture to him. He began to walk toward the edge of the platform, then, with a horrific crash, fell into the gears.

Blood began to spray onto the platform, Bobby's last screams muffled as his body was crushed and mutilated by the gears. He was soon no more.

The alarm soon stopped. Jennifer stood up, a sense of security once again filling her. Then she heard a familiar voice.

"Jennifer!"

She turned around. "Anne!"

It was Anne! She was still alive! Jennifer ran forward to embrace her friend.

She stopped when she heard another familiar voice. "Murderers!"

Mary!

Mary leapt from behind the control box, knife drawn. She lunged at Jennifer, but missed, hitting Anne instead.

Jennifer felt anger welling up inside of her. She had such hope. She had a friend still alive. She had nearly escaped the house.

She had gone too far to die now!

Jennifer looked at Anne. She still appeared to be breathing, but barely. Mary soon turned around and lunged toward Jennifer. She

missed, but Jennifer was now on the edge of the platform, by the ladder. Mary grabbed her throat and raised the knife.

Suddenly, the room was filled with the sounds of screeches. Then, through an open door on the other side of the platform, the crows came flying in. It was the same crows that Jennifer had released earlier! Soon, in the blink of an eye, they were upon Mary.

"AAAAAAHHH! Get off me, get off me!" screamed Mary as she tried in vain to stab the crows. Suddenly, Mary lost her footing on the platform.

Jennifer suddenly felt sorry for Mary, despite all the evil she had done. She reached out her hand to catch her. She missed.

Mary hit the bottom with a crash.

Jennifer walked to Anne. She still appeared to be alive. The crows flocked to the control box and perched, looking at the young girls. Anne

looked up at Jennifer. "Jenn, it's over. Mary's dead. The monsters are dead. Everyone else is dead. I'm dying. You are the only one left."

"No," said Jennifer, "don't die on me, Anne. Not now."

Anne began to cough violently.

"Come on!" said Jennifer. "Just hang on a little longer!"

"Good-bye," said Anne. With that, she died.

Jennifer slowly walked outside. The clouds in the sky began to part, and the sun shined in, with more radiance than ever before. The crows flew away, chirping with happiness. The grass became greener, the trees lighter; the very house itself lost it's dark shade. It was as if the very world itself was celebrating the defeat of Mary and her demonic children.

Jennifer sighed. "Rest in peace, my friends. Burn in hell, Mary."

Jennifer returned to the orphanage that very day. She explained to the authorities about Mary and her children. Of course, she left out the part about them being demons; she needed someone to believe her. The police searched the house soon after. They found the bodies of Mary, Dr. Simpson, and Mr. Barrows (the police ruled it as a death from disease). Her father was given the burial he rightfully deserved, and the police rewarded her for solving a case that stumped everyone for years. She soon began to settle back at the orphanage. Things were looking good.

And sometimes, Jennifer would tell her friends "It looks like there might be a happy ending to my life."

THE END

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Gallo_note: Well, thank you for reading. Honestly, I can't think of anything witty to say! Stop

reading! *signs out*