Rehearsed Storyline

Story line has branched from the basic story it was into two separate stories, both leading from similar starts and towards similar endings however very different basis:

Vindicated Story Line 1:

Game starts to show an old worn road side, dusty and withered with the title of the game along with the menu burnt into the road like skid marks. On game starts an engine revs from afar and the sound of a nearby vehicle becomes louder and louder. A white can zooms across the screen blowing dust into the camera.

The camera changes to inside the vans as the camera slowly reveals as if it were behind the eye as it opens, the player merely here's the melody of Johnny Cash's "God's gonna cut you down". After a moment the camera switches to the eye of the driver, who's identity is disclosed as a figure from behind. The driver looks into the rear view mirror toshiba the player bound and covered in a rag, disclosing his identity also possibly. The camera will return back to the player flowed by his eyes slowly closing back up to a black out. 

In the black we see beginning credits, "Electric Bandwidth Presents", "Vindicated". 

Scene Change, eyes gradually open to revealed you are no longer bound and the van is unlocked, cinematic takes the player and slowly crawls out the van, the player then takes control to find he is out back of a gas station on a long windy open road through a forest. Behind the player is a collectible, a photograph of two girls, possibly sisters, written on "my angles". The player is brought around the front to find a flickering lamp post shining down on an gas station which has become apparent it is abandoned and left wide open, it's dark and has been ransacked, what is left is either broken or trash. Upon finding the back room the player will come across a newspaper titled: "Mayor struggles to shed light onto Brighthaven" along with a Zippo lighter, upon picking up this collectible the player will flick open the Zippo. As the player exits the back room a black figure will be spotlighted by the lamp post outside the front door, upon approaching it the light will shut off and the figure will flee to the left up the winding road, the road is blocked by construction to the right and doesn't seem to be civilisation for miles, the player must either follow the figure up the path through the woods or follow the road, the road leads to a desolate house in the woods, however both paths lead to the gates of Brighthaven the local town.

The player upon following the mysterious disappearing figure will be himself to the town square, atop of the square is a large building, the town hall. In the centre resides frail broken be CDs and dead flower beds, the town seems to be unkept, in the centre lies a fountain with a make shift cross planted against it, tied to this cross is a scarecrow. As the player approaches the scarecrow the camera will swoop into the profile of the scarecrow as it shrieks at the player, a flash will cover the screen back to normal as if it was a vision, a collectible will then be present pinned to the scarecrow, it is a basic map of the town. 

From this point onwards the player is free to do as he will, the town is filled with a variety of random events such as alleyways with sounds and movement coming from them, various stray animals crossing your paths etc. The town comprises of several buildings, each holding their own scenario and story, and they will be represented with a clicking lamp post outside of it. All others will be locked and inaccessible. 

One of the first buildings the player will come to is the Town Hall. Upon entering the player will be within the waiting room of the town hall. The town hall comprise of a waiting room and reception which leads down a long winding corridor that is full of offices, and eventually leads to the mayors office, the doors of each office adjacent to the corridor will be all closed, when following the maze that is the corridor the player will hear a variety of conversations dancing from the news of a drug epidemic around the local school, to the fire at the general store, and finally the murder of a newly moved in family. Various events will occur such as the store room will slowly open and a janitor's cart will roll out, and the vending machine flickering on and off with a can roll out of it. When entering the toilets the player will merely trigger a figure to flash behind the player, however on looking it will cause it to vanish. At the end of the corridor is the mayors office, within it is another collectible, a newspaper article describing how a lot of towns folk have moved on and left, businesses have shut down etc. On exiting the building the lamp will shut off, declaring the event is complete and making others more apparent.

The drug store would be the closest building at this point, an old fashioned building ran by Mr Watson, it blends in seamlessly with its neighbouring stores, as the player enters he will be joined with a one sided argument, where a middle aged sounding man is shouting at someone over the shelving units, as the player gets closer it is apparent it is the clerk behind the counter, after approaching the couple they'll flicker and a lifeless body will be sat on the chair the clerk was on. Going closer will cause the body to shriek at the player then disappearing in a flash, another vision. Behind the player will be the dark figure from earlier, which will flee into the back room, in there will be a store room and further an empty office, on the desk is another collectable: a recall letter, stating how the a certain drug is to be recall due to the adverse effect, along side it is a bottle of pills. This concludes the drugstore.

Next were brought to the clinic, a clean white washed building that has been run down, the car park has few cars abandoned and derelict, scattered with trash and fenced off. Upon entering the player will be within the waiting room, comprised of sofas and a television on the wall, a reception desk with broken computers on the opposite side of the room along with toilets. On entering the room itself the television will bang on to static, spotlighting down on the player like a searchlight. The static will echoed through out the building yet after a certain amount of time a crackled voice will play, it is the sound of a man asking another man questions, it becomes apparent that this is a psychiatrist counselling his patient, they talk about how we feels about his store burning down, and loosing his daughter, possibly go as far to confessing the murders he has committed. The player can venture through the balls of the clinic, in each room and at the end of the corridor a wheelchair will wheel out from the darkness, past this at the end will bring the player to a room, this room will have the same conversation as the television playing, however it sounds live, as if it's happening in this room, so the further from the television the player gets the more real it becomes, upon opening the door the real conversation disappears and it is merely a psychiatrists office, on the table will be the notes of the previous conversation. This concludes the clinic.

Opposite the clinic on the other side of the town brings us to the police depot, just as old and run down as the clinic with a just as desolate car park. Again the entrance leads to a waiting room with toilets to the left and reception desk on the right, as the player enters a radio will go off, calling for units at a specific location, following into the centre of the station will comprise of random police equipment and another radio stating of a fire, in the locker room to the left will contain another radio stating the death of s boy in the fire, in the office/reception a radio stating the murder of the drug store owner, the father of the boy in the fire. After these the player will then be brought into the back room containing the cells, 
The cells will be dimly lit and a man will be locked in one of them, nattering away about how things aren't going to change any more, the town stays how it is, no new comers etc, getting closer will cause the figure to turn and shriek at the player flickering and then disappearing, leaving the cell open and revealing his scribblings on the wall, along with a collectible on the floor, release papers and transfer papers to a mental institute. This concludes the police depot.

Moving up through the town brings us to the abandoned house in the centre of the town, unlike the other house this one is not locked up or boarded but rather left open and run down. Upon entering the home it becomes daytime, and the house is immaculate. There are 3 doors all locked downstairs, the player is forced to move upstairs, each room a different conversation can be heard, the first is a bathroom, silent however poking into the mirror flashes an image of a two girls, the next room is what seems to be a shared girls bedroom, where you hear conversation between two girls about starting school, meeting new friends etc, lastly is the master bedroom where upon walking in you hear the parents talking about newly moving in and how the plan is to go out to get the last of their belongings tomorow, finally entering the en-suite you hear the parents saying bye to their daughters, and a door unlock and open. Downstairs the lounge is now open, leading the player to hear the girls watching television, through each of these sound bites the house gets darker and darker, the diner then projects the conversation of the daughters wondering why their parents are taking so long, and they can't contact them, along with a clatter showing the living room wrecked, the kitchen then shows the girls question if they heard a sound, and questioning if someone's in the house, is it mum? Dad? Also the diner becomes trashed, finally coming to the study it is silent and a scream shriek and the kitchen clutters this finishes as the player enters the playroom to show missing person reports for the two girls. This concludes the abandoned home.

Leading to the top of town through an old poorly lit graveyard is an old fashioned church, as the player enters it echoes with emptiness, walking down the aisle, lighting strikes with a scream of crying as candles ignite the alter, further it strikes again producing two coffins and a crying figure, lighting strikes again closer and these all disappear again, leaving a leaflet to float to the ground, a collectible showing funeral direction for the girl's funeral. This concludes the church. 

To the left of the church is the school, with an empty playground and smashed windows it is desolate. The player is put in a long corridor of lockers, walking down a school bell will alarm and echo the hallways. Following the corridor to the left the player will see a ball roll out from a classroom, past this is the boys toilets, in here upon looking into the mirror the player will see the reflection or projection from the toilets of boys talking to the boy that died in the fire, about drugs that he gets from his dads drug store that has been newly taken over. The opposite corridor will show a figure of a girl run from one room to another room and leaving the doors wide open. Leading up the centre of the school upstairs bring the player to another hallway, in the opposite side there another doorway where a figure runs from one room to another, opposite this is the girls toilets, in here the player will here another a scenario of a girl doing these drugs in a toilet and her friend screaming as she ODs, a figure flashes up behind the player and the stall door idea open showing a school ID and an empty baggy. This concludes the school. 

Lastly were brought to the general store. The store looks as if nothing has changed, still in business just empty. The storeroom is locked and so are the back rooms, on approaching the back rooms you here, boy shouting to get off him, and a man shouting at him, the boy try's to apologise yet the man does not a accept and in a massive clatter you here the man panicking, and rustling around, you here the pour of liquid and a match, suddenly the store is engulfed with flames and a maze of fire is the obstacle, the storeroom contains the keys with the mans name on which is required to exit, the owner is the same an in the clinic, who lost his daughter in the school, caused by this boy bringing drugs to school.
From this point the only place to go is the desolate house. It is a respectable family house that has been kept in good shape, nice car in the drive yet empty. Upon entering it the player will find it is a perfectly normal house, it's clean, and well kept, there are two bedrooms, a girls bedroom and a double room, and a spare room. each room will project sounds of the family, arguments about daughters drug taking, despair of daughters death, wife leaving. In this spare room there are scribblings and photos everywhere, words "DIE" and "KILL" plasters over the walls along with "PAYBACK". When existing this room and looking down the hall, a cinematic will start where the black figure is present. The player will run at him and reveal it is a mirror and the figure fades to himself. The player stumbled back falls down the stairs and through another door down into the cellar. The player will black out but on waking will Find himself in an empty cellar with nothing but a bed, and more pairings and scribblings, upon finding the last collectible, stating ex-father kills family over school drug incident" the player then blacks out and awakes chained to the bed surrounded by the towns people, a man steps forward and talks to the player, gives a monologues based on what has been done by this "killer" and depending what you have unraveled depends on what he will say, each collectible will reflect on this. The ultimate reveal will be that you are the killer, you went crazy after the loss of your daughter and decided to stop all new comers and kill them off as it was a newcomers fault towards your daughters death and ultimately "payback" was needed. The man will club the player blacking out and revealing credits.

Vindicated Story Line 2:


New plot thread Ace: ace is a drug that is edited from blood pressure medicine leaving the user mellow and draining them of energy while at the same time producing a mental ‘high’ the comeback from this drug when in a withdrawal state is a sudden spike in blood pressure that can stop a human heart. The substance is injected directly into the blood for maximum effect.



Drug Store Scene (flashback1)


A frantic young woman approaches a man at the counter


Michael: what are you doing here, Mary

Mary: I need more of those pills you sold me…. that Ace stuff

Michael: I have already told you Elijah refuses to make any more, anyway did you have to do this here

Mary: I couldn’t find you in the usual place, and you got to have some left, you got to, c’mon you know what happened to Billy, withdrawal from Ace caused his heart to give out for fucks sake.

Michael: I’m telling you I can’t. Anyway Billy was 63 and a hardcore user, you wont end up like him I’m sure you’ll be fine if you just ride out the addiction.

Mary: I just, I just wanna try and cut down on the stuff…. slowly you know to be sure I don’t get a full body shock like Bill. Would £150 for a quarter ounce change your mind?

Michael: listen I cant get you anymore…but I watched Elijah work I know what kind of drugs he mixed I could look out back and take the meds I need from the supply room then mix something up… meet me out the back of (insert name of general store here) tomorrow and I will have something for you. It wont be Ace but it will be close enough to get you and any of your stoner mates of this stuff… if they are interested it will be £200 a quarter ounce and I will have about 2 ounces on me come tomorrow…. see I do look after my customers.


(Next flashback) inside general store


sound of glass breaking


Micheal: (heavy breathing followed by a thudding sound followed by sound of a match)

Micheal: I don’t know what went wrong, I took the same amount she did and I’m fine, I didn’t fucking OD, maybe she had a reaction to one of the ingredients or something, shit. I hope this works.

(General store begins to catch on fire in players view)
Next Scene (police station flashback)

Local News anchor: the body of a young woman has been pulled from the wreckage of the general store and the police have confirmed the identity as that of Mary Wilnslow the police are treating the death as suspious and further investigation is set to continue in the coming weeks, in other news the search for the 2 missing school children has entered its second day and a statement from the parents has been released….

Elijah: I don’t know why you are doing this, I don’t know what you want please let my daughters go, for the sake of your soul, come clean and was away your sin.

Victims house scene (flashback)

Micheal (on other end of phone): Elijah, you will get your daughters back safe and sound when you confess to the production of Ace, I am not going to jail for your crime.

Elijah: my crime! I produced a medical drug that was meant to help people you where the one who said you could find people willing to test it when I couldn’t get the research grant, how was I meant to know you where using my product to get high.

Micheal: you have 3 days…. otherwise I may get desperate and its not a good idea to test me while I have these 2 beautiful girls (call hangs up)


Victims house( flashback)


Police officer: reporting the incident was the correct call Mr. creed, I speak on be-half of all of the police envolved in the incident we tried to save your 2 girls to the best of our ability but he was obviously expecting our envolvement, needless to say he will stand trial for the murders and is currently being held at the station

Elijah’s wife: (tears and crying)

Clinic flashback:(on the television)

Reporter: the miracle drug Ace, produced by esteemed local Doctor Elijah Creed has today been refused further medical trail due to its apparent unsafe natural, despite the fact that the revolutionary drug could be a cure to high blood pressure government officials are detailing that in its current state the product is too dangerous and unpredictable to warrant further medical trial while other similar, safer alternatives already exist…we now go live to Samantha bloom with the full story……


In BackOffice


Doctor: repeated use of a number of illegal products as well as a sudden spike in blood pressure has brought considerable damage to Mr. Warrens brain causing a series of mild strokes that have resulted in a weakened control over his motor skills and a degree of memory loss, as a side note the brain damage while visible from the mri scan may be a simple act of repression from the point of view of the memory loss, awfully convenient considering the subjects upcoming murder trail.


Church flashback


(Choir sounds)


(priest funeral precession)


School flashback


Micheal: hay girls, remember me. Your dad asked if I could pick you up from school today, you know how busy he has been with work lately.

(car door slams girls scream)



Final Scene


Elijah:

It’s been an incredibly long time Michael 12 years and now…

1(flashback) I don’t know how much you remember, and to be honest that’s gonna make me enjoy this a lot less, but I have thought about this for so long that’s why…

2(flashback), I planned everything so meticulously I considered each and every way imaginable. To punish you. I decided that if…

3(flashback) I could avenge my daughters I would have a reason to live, they where good girls Michael and I trusted you, you took their lives away its why…

4(flashback) I MUST punish you…all I wanted to do was help people its why I trusted you and now…

5(flashback) I see what you are, your greed lead you to misuse my trust and to kill your first victims…. that old drug addict and the girl at the general shop that YOU burned down to hide the evidence...

6(flashback) the guilt of all that lead you to Envy and despise me, thinking that I should take the blame for your crime against them both…. after all it was my refusal to make any more Ace that lead you to kill them both…

7(flashback) and when I refused you took out your wraith upon me by kidnapping my angels and even though I begged you to repent you desided to continue to demand that I admit to your crimes….the next part is my single greatest regret in my life, I revealed everything to the police and their feigned attempt to rescue my girls lead you to kill your hostages and flee from this very house….but they still caught you….and forced me to wait…. As your trail went on I was their…. As you remained in the asylum I kept a keep eye on all your transfers and medical notes, and when you where released and once again deemed safe to the general public I struck, a beast like you will never be safe for anyone that’s why..

END (plays regardless of how many ending you got) I brought you here, with the intention of triggering all those old memories before I killed you; so you could see why I hate you with every fibre of my being. Now like the dog you are DIE.