Dare

“Dare!” you exclaim.

“Okay, we dare you to go into the woods!” Your friends say. You look at them incredulously; go into the woods?! At this time of night? You are hesitant, but you would rather take a creepy, dark, damp stroll in the woods than be singled out as a coward.

“Alright! I’ll do it.” You say with a false note of bravado ringing in your voice.

You step out of your sleeping bag and casually walk out of the room. When it was impossible that any of your friends could see you, you take your mask of courage off and begin trembling. What’s so scary about the woods? It's just a bunch of trees and a few squirrels here and there. Yet, you couldn't shake the chilling feeling that something was very wrong.

You hesitantly exit the house, and gaze at the monstrous trees looming over you. //Here I go// you think to yourself as you slowly walk to the woods. You stand at the edge looking into the foreboding darkness. You feel like you spend hours or maybe just minutes, staring into the deep bowels of your own fears. //Crap, I can't do this.// You prepare to take your cowardly, little, wussy self back up to Ashley's room without entering the creepy woods. But before you can, a big, black crow flaps right down beside you. You freak the flip out. The mud squishes under your feet as you clomp spastically through the sea of trees. In the next few yards, you start to slow down. //It was only a bird, get a hold of yourself.// And just as your nerves were beginning to settle, you hear a loud and shrill scream.

Your muscles jerk into action and you sprint back to the house. //I knew something was wrong!// You tell yourself. //What if someone is hurt. Its okay...it's just someone watching a scary movie...// you try to tell yourself lies; you know that something is terribly wrong. //What...what if they're dead?// You ask yourself. //No...be reasonable, nobody is dead; this isn't a cheesy crime show!// You try to reason with yourself, trying to prove yourself wrong. //They're all just playing a prank on you. Yeah, that's it. You just have really horribly sadistic/unfunny friends.//

A cold sweat is dripping down your back as you sprint into the house and up the stairs. You hesitantly open Ashley's bedroom door and immedadetly notice that the lights are off. //Where are they?// You wonder frantically. It is then that you notice the blood splattered over the delicate pink walls; you stifle your terrified scream with your hand. Your eyes travel slowly down the blood soaked walls until you notice that your worst fears have come true: all your friends are dead.

What do you do...run away, or call the cops? Run Away or Call the Cops