Before You Cross

·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:·

ABOUT THE STORY

·:¨༺ ♱✮♱ ༻¨:·

Before You Cross is a fully illustrated psychological horror visual novel based on my own Creepypasta AU and interpretation of Jeffrey Clarence Hodek. The story follows Daria, a foreign student living in the United States, whose first meeting with Jeffrey happens by accident one evening when she becomes distracted by her phone and nearly steps into the road against a red light. He catches her by the sleeve before she can move any farther, and from Daria’s point of view, that is all he is at first: a strange, slightly unsettling man who happened to stop her at the right moment. She knows nothing about his past, the years he has spent receiving psychiatric treatment, his problems with impulse control, or the violence he keeps carefully separated from the life other people are allowed to see.

Jeffrey sees the encounter very differently, because Daria was never supposed to become somebody important to him. At first, she is simply another potential victim, and he approaches her with habits that have worked before: watching her reactions, testing boundaries, controlling the situation and waiting to see which combination of fear, curiosity or attraction will give him the response he wants. The problem is that Daria keeps responding to the wrong things. Deliberate intimidation and aggressive flirting make her uncomfortable, while gestures Jeffrey barely considers meaningful remain with her for much longer: being walked home, having someone notice when she is cold, being stopped before stepping into traffic, or simply having another person quietly stay nearby when she needs it.

As their meetings continue, something that began as part of Jeffrey’s usual pattern slowly becomes harder for him to explain in the same way. Control starts mixing with genuine concern, habits that once belonged to the hunt begin to resemble care, and the amount of time he spends around Daria grows far beyond what he originally intended. Daria, meanwhile, is becoming attached to someone whose real life is still largely hidden from her, which means that the tenderness she experiences and the danger surrounding Jeffrey continue to exist at the same time. His feelings do not erase what he has done or turn him into a harmless person, and the story does not treat affection as a cure for him; instead, their relationship develops around the uncomfortable contradiction of being able to feel safe beside someone who may be the person you should fear most.

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

HOW THE STORY IS TOLD

✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦

Daria is a fixed protagonist with her own appearance, personality, background and relationships, rather than a blank player character. The player is also not meant to become Jeffrey, because Before You Cross is told from an outside perspective, closer to following an illustrated story than stepping directly into either character’s role. This is also why the game does not use the traditional visual-novel presentation of character sprites placed over static backgrounds. Conversations, gestures and physical interaction are shown through full illustrations, so when two characters are speaking to each other, their presence and body language are part of the artwork itself.

The prologue is intentionally linear and focuses on introducing Daria, Jeffrey and the atmosphere surrounding their first encounters. Later parts of the story are planned to give the player more influence over Daria’s reactions and decisions through choices connected to two main values, Love and Fear, which will gradually affect the direction of the story and its endings.

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

JOURNAL & SECRETS

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

The game includes a journal that fills as Daria learns more, so information about the people around her is discovered together with her rather than presented in advance. Names, details and notes can remain hidden until the story gives Daria a reason to know them, and I also plan to make some additional information available during repeat playthroughs if the technical side allows me to implement it the way I want.

Phone messages, notifications and other interface elements can appear directly inside scenes as part of the storytelling, while the journal and the rest of the interface use their own custom designs instead of the default Ren’Py presentation. An additional unlockable section is also planned for players who complete the main storyline, although its contents are something I would rather leave for the game itself.

⊹₊⟡⋆ ───────── ⋆⟡₊⊹

DEVELOPMENT

⊹₊⟡⋆ ───────── ⋆⟡₊⊹

The first public version of Before You Cross will contain the prologue and is currently in the final stage of development. Most of the remaining work involves finishing several illustrations, completing the custom interface, adding music and sound, and going through the technical testing and polishing needed before release. The story will continue to grow after the first version rather than ending with the prologue.

ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ ✦ ༘࿐

LANGUAGES

ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ ✦ ༘࿐

The first release is planned to be available in both English and Russian. Romanian, Japanese and French versions are planned for later updates as development continues.

⛧°.⋆༺♱༻⋆.°⛧

CONTENT WARNING

⛧°.⋆༺♱༻⋆.°⛧

The story deals with dark and potentially disturbing subjects, including psychological horror, violence, blood, murder, stalking, invasion of privacy and personal space, manipulation, unhealthy relationship dynamics, psychiatric treatment and medication, substance abuse, smoking, sexual themes, coercive behaviour and references to sexual violence. Some of these subjects belong to later parts of the story and may be discussed or depicted more directly as new chapters are released, so the warnings on this page may be expanded together with the game.

ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ ──── ✦ ──── ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

PRICE & SUPPORT

ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ ──── ✦ ──── ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎

Before You Cross will be completely free to play. Optional donations on itch.io are simply a way to support the time spent writing, drawing, programming and developing the project, and they are never required to access the game.

If you enjoy my work and would like to support what I create, you can also find me on Ko-fi

────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆────

FAN PROJECT DISCLAIMER

────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆────

Before You Cross is a free, non-commercial fan project inspired by Creepypasta and Jeff the Killer. Jeffrey Clarence Hodek is my own AU interpretation created specifically for this story, with his own background, appearance and characterization, and should not be treated as a retelling of every existing version of Jeff the Killer. This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by the original creators or rights holders associated with the characters and concepts that inspired it.

· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·· · ─ ·𖥸· ─ · ·