CYOA: The Marathon - Chapter 1 (Story) (Patreon)

I wasn't sure if I was going to do a Halloween CYOA this year, especially when I forgot to get it started at the end of last month, but I had an idea that I think would be fun, and I realized that I could get five chapters in anyway, so here we are.

"Your destination is on the..."

The sound cut off as Fawn pulled into the parking lot, which wouldn't have been a huge deal, except that the music she'd been listening to didn't start back up, either. She resisted the urge to immediately pluck her phone from the seat beside her to see if it had disconnected from her car's Bluetooth again. There was no real point, not when she was already at her destination, even if it did frustrate her. Glancing over at the radio's screen, it seemed to be showing the icon that indicated it was connected, still showing the information of the song she'd been in the middle of. Had she been quick enough to check before it updated, wiped all that away?

She'd expected the parking lot to be more full than this, though she was there relatively early. There were only a few cars scattered around, making it simple for her to pull up into a spot right by the entrance. She definitely didn't see any of her friends' cars, which was both not surprising and very annoying. She was, to be fair, a few minutes early, as usual, but there was no point in cutting it close... They still had decisions to make, and they wouldn't want to miss the trailers!

With a turn of the key, the engine shut off, and, at last, she picked up her phone to see what had happened. To her surprise, it had the Bluetooth connected icon as well; when she unlocked it, however, her maps app was telling her it had lost internet, and her music streaming app did the same. Looking back up at the top of her screen, she saw that, indeed, she had no reception here.

"Wonderful," she grumbled. Now, she couldn't even message her friends to see how far they were away, when they were going to arrive. She sighed, leaning back against the headrest, closing her eyes for a second. This had been their idea in the first place... She hadn't heard of any of the movies showing here, though she had agreed that there was something fun about that, about getting to experience them all for the first time together, not knowing what to expect.

She could wait for at least one of them to arrive so they could go in together, discuss their options, but with no data connection on her phone, she couldn't scroll through her feeds, couldn't listen to music, couldn't do anything to distract herself. They'd see her car, she thought, right by the door, and see that it was empty, know she was inside. She might as well take a look around.

For its location, out in practically the middle of nowhere, it was a nicer theater than she'd been anticipating. Given that neither she, nor any of her friends, had heard of, and that it was only showing older movies, she had been worried, although she'd convinced herself it couldn't be some creepy murder shack in the wilderness with a sheet hung on the wall and a projector with as many screens as they had to have to be showing multiple movies at once.

It was old and opulent, a true movie palace, the ceilings high and held up by massive columns, covered in intricate carvings, along with the walls, trimmed with gold and red velvet... She gawked at it in awe, stunned that she'd had no idea it was here, that it existed in a place like this. She had to assume it had been built a long time ago, perhaps in preparation for a town to spring up around it. How it had survived this long here, she had no clue, but she was glad it had. 

There was only one, long, counter, the refreshments laid out on it, an old-timey cash register in the center with a pretty girl around Fawn's age standing behind it, wearing a suitably vintage seeming usherette outfit, a red dress with gold trim, a matching red jacket with gold epaulets over it, and small, round, red hat.

"Umm... H-Hi," Fawn blushed, waving awkwardly, wondering if the girl had seen her wandering around, staring at the lobby. She must have, honestly... There was nothing else for her to look at, and she was just standing there, waiting, not busy with any other tasks. "Th-This place is cool."

The usherette didn't blink, didn't crack a smile, making Fawn all the more self-conscious. "Ticket?" she asked.

Fawn turned her head back to the entrance, hoping to see her friends appear through it. They didn't. Silly as it was, considering there was no line, nobody else waiting, or milling around, nobody else at all that Fawn could see, she felt obligated to finish up as quickly as possible, to not bother the other girl.

"Y-Yeah," she nodded. They hadn't even decided, for sure, how many movies they wanted to see. The theater was having a horror movie marathon for Halloween, showing six movies all day long for them to choose from. The most it would be possible to see, however, was four, and the ticket to get into that many had been the best deal as well; Fawn and her friends just hadn't made up their minds about if this was how they wanted to spend their whole day, when none of them could vouch for any of the movies, or if they wanted to catch one or two and then do something else.

It was a good deal, though, and this building was so gorgeous, Fawn was happy to stay here. If her friends changed their minds, wanted to do fewer, she might let them go on without her, or, if she didn't, if she did leave early, she wouldn't be upset, letting her money go towards helping support this place.

"You, uh... probably don't take cards, do you?" Fawn frowned. She didn't see a card reader, and the flyer they'd found advertising the marathon didn't mention anything one way or the other, nor had the meager information the maps app had given her. She'd assumed they would, but now that she was here, she was less certain. Even if there was no cell reception, they must have a phone line they could connect their machines to. That would almost feel wrong, somehow, here, though.

"No," the usherette answered simply.

"Okay," Fawn opened up her purse. She had gotten out enough cash, just in case, but only to get in the door. "Guess I won't get any snacks," she mumbled to herself. She hadn't thought she was that hungry, yet the smell of fresh, buttery popcorn, the sight of all the boxes of candy lined up on the counter, was making her reconsider. She'd have to hope that one of her friends would bring extra money and let her borrow some, especially if they were going to stay the whole marathon. There was a little time between showings, to give all of the movies time to finish up, let the viewers have a bit of a break before going on to the next one, however, Fawn doubted there would be time to go get any real food, not when she hadn't seen anywhere to get it from for a few miles, at least, on the drive here.

"Full marathon?" the usherette asked, looking down at the cash.

"Oh, right," Fawn blushed, realizing she hadn't actually said that. "Yeah," she announced, a swell of pride in her chest for making the choice all on her own. Her friends were always telling her she was too timid, too quiet... Maybe she ought to do more stuff on her own. 

"Refreshments included," the girl told her, hitting a button on the register, making the drawer slide open with a chime.

"Wait, really?" Fawn blinked. She hadn't noticed that on the flyer! That made it an even better deal! "Great!"

"Hand," the usherette said.

"Huh?" Fawn furrowed her brow, giggling nervously when she saw that the other girl had pulled out a stamp and an ink pad. "Of course."

She held out her hand, letting the other girl push the stamp into the ink, then onto her, leaving behind some odd symbol in purple. She couldn't quite tell what it was supposed to be, although, if anything, it looked like a cage. "Does this mean I'm trapped here?" Fawn teased, the usherette not responding. "S-Sorry," she shook her head. 

She could certainly understand, sympathize with, being bored with your job, not being in the mood to joke with your customers. This girl really did seem like she was doing the absolute minimum, however, and, with as few people as there were here, Fawn would have assumed she'd be grateful to have anyone to talk to at all. She did appear to be the only worker, too, though, at least in the lobby, so perhaps she had a lot that she was in charge of that she wasn't able to do while she waited for Fawn to finish up.

"Refreshments?" the girl asked, Fawn taking that as confirmation. 

She almost felt guilty now, taking free snacks. And she really wasn't that hungry yet... Even if she had technically paid for them, she'd been happy for that money to go towards just the movies. Refreshments were a nice bonus; it didn't mean she had to have some for every movie. Then again, she might change her mind, want something to eat partway through, and she'd hate to miss out on part of the movie.

She made her decision, then went on to the next. Since nobody was familiar with any of the movies, her friends had said they were going to choose when they got there, making a vow not to look them up, to go in as blind as possible and pick what they wanted to see based on the posters alone. The theater did have the posters all lined up along the wall, Fawn walking slowly past, taking them all in. At this rate, she might be the one who had to make the choice... By the time they arrived, bought their tickets, got their snacks, they weren't going to have time to check them all out, debate the options among themselves.

With another little swell of pride - and a bit of panic, feeling like, if she picked wrong, and made them watch a dud, it would be her fault - she looked at the posters, trying to figure out what they were.

The first one, The Gateway, appeared to be a mad scientist movie, with a man in a white lab coat and goggles grinning maniacally, standing in front of a glowing portal. After that was a movie called Curse of the Moon, the poster, appropriately, a moon with the silhouette of a woman in front of it, head thrown back, presumably howling, since Fawn assumed it was about werewolves. 

She was less certain about the next one, The Hillsboro Horror. There was a woman on that one, too, staring out, an unsettling smile frozen on her face. She was wearing an old-fashioned dress with an apron, though Fawn wasn't sure if it had been old-fashioned when the movie came out, or just normal. There was a whole legion of other women standing behind the one in front, all dressed exactly the same.

The Offer of the Vampire was much easier for her to decipher, if only from the title, the poster showing her very little, a dark shadow in the shape of a bat's wings and a woman in a low-cut dress, in terror, blood dripping from a pair of puncture wounds in her neck. Camp Nightmare appeared to be a bit newer - compared to the others, anyway - giving her a very 80's vibe, the title written on a sign with a large knife stuck into it threateningly.

The final poster was for The White Altar. Like the others, it didn't give away much, but it seemed like it was some sort of occult thing, with people in dark cloaks around the titular white altar, a pentagram drawn onto the floor beneath them. The leader, Fawn guessed, was standing right behind the altar, horns emerging from under the hood of their cloak, though not lifting it enough to make their face visible.

She really wasn't sure what she wanted to see first, but by the time she'd taken them all in, she realized she had to decide now, without any of her friends. She groaned, squirming, trying to make up her mind as she walked back over to the counter. "S-Sorry to bother you," she told the usherette, still just standing there. "My friends are supposed to meet me here. If they come in, can you tell them I'm seeing...

What movie will Fawn watch first?

...'The Gateway'?"

...'Curse of the Moon'?"

...'The Hillsboro Horror'?"

...'The Offer of the Vampire'?"

...'Camp Nightmare'?"

...'The White Altar'?"

And what refreshments did Fawn get?

Popcorn and a soda?

Popcorn and candy?

Popcorn, candy, and soda?

Candy and soda?

Just popcorn?

Just candy?

Or just soda?