The Dare Game

Prologue

“Come on Kendal! You got to do it remember the consequences,” Skyler James shouted at her friend. She tied her hair back in a ponytail. Yelling again she told Kendal Jade, “What? You chicken!” Kendal touched the knob of the door and shivered. She flung the door open and a rush of cold air jutted out. She gripped tighter onto an umbrella she was holding. Skyler and I ran inside of the old abandoned barn outside our little town. She shouted, “Now walk across the rope and it’s your turn.

The game had started when we were eight. During a simple game of truth or dare, Skyler tumbled upon a box. It was almost as if someone left it there for us. I was the one dared to open the box. I think they chose me because of my name, Pandora S. Bocks. The box creaked when it opened but it was signaling us into the contents.

Inside the box were thin scraps of golden paper. On each piece was written a different dare. Whoever wrote these dares knew everything about this town because most the dares had to do with the town. The weirder thing was as the town changed and we aged the dares on the paper seemed to change. It was like some one was writing new ones with time and switching them.

There were consequences too. On the back of the dare was another dare. If someone refused to complete a dare, they would have to do the dare on the back. Some seemed a little extreme some seemed a little personal. But the scariest thing, whoever wrote the dares and consequences, seemed to know everything about the three of us.

Kendal, Skyler, Brandon, Caleb (who weren’t there) and I had been friends as long as we could remember. Kendal was the strong-minded but incredibly nervous girl. Skyler was the irrational, ready for anything kind of girl. My friend Brandon was your typical guy. Caleb, my boyfriend, is a sweet, caring, funny guy. And me, well I guess you could say I’m sort of in between the Kendal and Skyler.

Taking a breath, Kendal stepped out onto the rope. I shouted up, “Anything you want to say before you do this?” Kendal stood in a perfect balanced position, “I’d really like not to fall. I really, really don’t want to fall.” She opened the umbrella.

Carefully, Kendal walked foot by foot across the rope. She held the umbrella out in one hand and held her other arm out to balance. 5 feet from the end of the rope she stumbled. A scream ricocheted through the barn. Quickly Kendal pulled her foot back onto the rope. Skyler shouted up at her, “Kendal it’s past midnight keep it quiet.”

Kendal collapsed onto the platform on the other side. Skyler and I ran up the stairs on the side of the barn to the platform. We helped her up and started to head back towards home.

Kendal panted, “Why’d you choose that one, Sky?” Skyler shrugged, “You can’t look at the dare you choose.” I laughed, “O.k. Kendal, who gets the next dare?” Kendal thought for a second, “Brandon.” Sky took the umbrella from Kendal, “Where are the guys?” At that moment our friends, Brandon and Caleb came running down the street.