Truth or Dare?

“How are y’all doing? Enjoying the party?” Shane asks, his looming quarterback frame taking up the doorway of the guest bedroom we’re sitting in.

“Yeah, sure, whatever. I’ve literally been sitting here waiting for this loser to pick truth or dare for, like, an hour. It’s not that hard, you know.” Veronica quips, turning to me.

“Oh, shut it. Just because you’re popular doesn’t mean you need to act like a brat.” I retort. “I choose dare.”

“Okay, I’m just gonna go now. I’ll check up on y’all later.” Shane turns on his heel and leaves, closing the door behind him. We watch the door after he left, in a trance. Veronica seems to snap out of it first.

“What’s your name again?” It takes me a second to realize she was talking to me.

“Jade. Jade Williams.”

“Alright, Jade Williams, I dare you to kick or punch someone in this room.”

I glance around the room and make eye contact with Josh. My eyes hold a question, and he gives a slight nod. “Okay, sure.” I stand up, dusting off my jeans. Moving towards Josh, I’m thinking about what I’ve gotten myself into. I stop right next to him and take a deep breath. “I’m sorry for this,” I whisper under my breath. And then I kick him in the stomach. Hard. Oops. Now I feel bad. Well, too late anyways. “Done. Now it’s your turn, V.” I walk back over to my spot in the corner of the room.

“Don’t call me V,” she snaps at me.

“Um, okay. Chill. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Why don’t you want me to call you V?”

“Seriously? That’s what you want to ask me? Out of all the possible questions? You don't want to ask me who I'm dating or something like that?”

“Nope, I don't care who you're dating to be honest. So? Why not?”

Veronica rolls her eyes. “Fine. My mom used to call me V before she died.”

I don’t really know how to respond to that, so we sit in awkward silence for a minute. “Oh. I’m so sorry, Veronica.”

“It’s fine, it was a long time ago.” That’s when she realizes she’s telling this to people who are practically strangers. “Okay, I answered your question. Moving on. Hayden, you’re up. Truth or dare?”

“Dare. Duh.” he replies automatically.

“K, I dare you to go in the closet and take off all your clothes, and then run back into the party, screaming ‘I’m a brain-dead idiot!’” Veronica tells him after a moment of thinking.

“Seriously?” he asks. Veronica just stares at him. “Okay, sure.”

He stands up and walks into the closet, shutting the door behind him. We hear him shuffling, taking off his clothes. The lights suddenly go out, and we hear a thump, like the sound of a body falling to the floor. And then silence.

The light comes on again.

“Hayden? Bro, you all good in there?” Josh asks. No response.

“Dude, stop trying to be funny. You’re not.” I say. Still no response.

“Okay, I’m coming in if you don’t answer us. In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Alright, you made me do this! I'm coming in!” Veronica counts down.

She slowly opens the door, and then lets out an ear-splitting scream. Hayden’s body falls out of the closet. His eyes are glassy, staring out at nothing. And the blood. The blood is everywhere, covering and spilling onto everything: the floor, the clothes in the closet, his face, his chest, his legs, his entire corpse. His corpse. He’s dead. I can’t believe it. I mean it’s a high school party! How on earth does someone die?

“I have no clue.” Josh says. Did I say that out loud? Well, it doesn’t matter. Everyone was thinking it. I glance up at Veronica, and I see tears streaming down her face. She starts sobbing, long, racking cries, and I go over to console her, saying it’s fine, that everything will be okay.

“How did this even happen?” Veronica managed to choke out in between sobs.

“He was in the closet alone. Maybe we should check the closet?” I asked. Josh and Veronica both nod, and ever so slowly, we walk over to the blood-soaked closet.

“Actually, I can’t. I’m sorry. I just… can’t. I have to go. See you guys later.” Veronica races away from the closet towards the bedroom door. She puts her hand on the doorknob, but it won’t turn. She jiggles the knob, but the door doesn’t budge. “Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. This can’t be happening.”

“Are you serious? The door’s locked? Hold on, let me try.” Noah jogs over to the door and grabs the handle, attempting to open it. It still doesn’t move.

“Oh, great. Now we’re locked in here.” I mutter to myself. The smell of the blood is suffocating. Josh and I walk over to the closet, looking for what could’ve possibly killed Hayden, when we hear the bedroom door open.

“Are you guys doing…” Shane trails off. “Woah. Why does it smell blood in here?” he glances down and sees Hayden’s bloodstained body. “What the hell? Why’s Hayden on the floor?”

“We don’t know. One minute we were playing truth or dare, and then the lights randomly go out. There was a thump, and when Veronica opened the closet, Hayden was dead.” I told him.

“That’s not what I meant, darling. I meant why’s Hayden the only one on the floor?”

What? He doesn’t mean…?

“All of you were supposed to be dead, darling.”

Oh no. That was wrong on so many levels. Veronica, Josh, Hayden, and I somehow ended up in this room and we didn’t know why. I guess now we do. Shane wanted to kill us. My entire life flashed before my eyes. Veronica and Josh have the same terrified looks on their faces. The last thing I remember seeing was the evil glint in Shane’s eye. Then he killed us all.