The game had ended. The day had dragged itself into night, but none of them could shake the weight pressing down on their chests. They lingered in the café, restless, picking at empty cups and half-finished plates. Fear clung to them like a second skin. Each had seen something—a shadow, a sign, a whispered omen of how they would die. And now, every laugh, every silence felt like waiting for a noose to tighten.
Conversation faltered when a shape moved outside the window. A figure stood just beyond the glass, hand raised in a signal meant only for Barbara.
Her heart jolted into her throat. She leaned forward, squinting, until her breath caught. Brandon Myers.
She shot to her feet so fast her chair screeched against the floor. Before anyone could warn her, she was already at the door. Nancy, ever the teasing guardian, rolled her eyes and hurried after her.
Barbara stepped outside, words catching on her tongue. "Uh… hi… Brandon."
Brandon gave her a crooked smile, nervous but trying to look composed. "Yeah… Barb. What's with the doom-and-gloom look?"
A laugh bubbled out of her, forced and shaky. She felt the heat in her cheeks. "Oh, it's nothing!"
"I had to make some calls just to track you down here," he said, moving closer.
Nancy smirked, folding her arms. "Aw… that's sweet."
His voice trembled for a beat, then steadied. "I've been meaning to tell you something. I like you, Barb—a lot. You're smart, kind, beautiful. You keep your cool no matter what. I think that's incredible." His jaw tightened, and then it came out in a rush. "I want to ask you out. Would you… Be my girlfriend?"
Barbara's eyes widened, a shocked laugh breaking through her lips. "B-boyfriend? Me? … Yes!"
She didn't think. She just launched herself forward and kissed him, heart hammering, the world tilting with impossible joy.
Nancy giggled, puffing her cheeks, pretending to kiss an invisible boyfriend. "You two are so—"
A shriek cut her short.
Tires howled against asphalt. Metal tore against metal. Headlights burst into view, blinding and wild. The driver's face was frozen in terror, hands jerking uselessly at the wheel.
The car slammed into Nancy.
She was sent flying toward an electricity pole. Her face struck first, lips pressing against a naked wire. Sparks exploded, the night cracking open with light. The scent of ozone and burning flesh filled the air. Her body twitched once—and then nothing. Nancy was gone before she even hit the ground.
Barbara tore herself from Brandon like she'd been stabbed, running forward with a scream clawing her throat. She fell to her knees beside Nancy, hands hovering, trembling too hard to touch. "Nancy! No, no… wake up, please, wake up!"
Tears blurred her vision. Her breath came ragged, choking on grief and disbelief. She shook her head violently, stumbling back. "No… no…"
Her friends shouted behind her, voices urgent, but she couldn't hear them. Each step dragged her backward, blind with panic.
And then the ground vanished beneath her feet.
Barbara plummeted.
She tumbled down the cliff, bones crunching against steel scaffolds, body twisting, slamming, until she crashed onto the roof of a power plant below. Pain erupted through her body, but somehow—impossibly—she rose.
Her face was streaked with blood, her limbs quivered as if her bones might give out at any second. She sobbed, staggering forward, voice breaking.
"I'm dead," she whispered. "I know it…"
The power plant seemed to breathe around her. Pipes hissed like serpents. Steam curled in whispers. The air grew heavier, acrid, each breath burning her throat. She pushed forward, dizzy, body swaying as if the ground were tilting beneath her.
The chemical stench grew unbearable. Her knees buckled. She pitched forward into a chamber.
She splashed into concentrated acid.
A hiss louder than her scream tore through the chamber. Skin blistered instantly, sloughing off in yellow ribbons. Her hair dissolved into black strands. Her eyes clouded white before she could even shut them. She thrashed, clawing at the rim, but every strike peeled away muscle in ribbons.
She screamed again, voice cracking, throat shredded by fumes. Acid surged into her chest in a bubbling gasp.
Her movements slowed. Twitch. Jerk. Stillness. One arm dangled limply over the rim, stripped to red sinew, before slipping back into the vat.
Bubbles rose. Scraps of cloth and flesh floated, then vanished. The chamber stank of acid, ozone, and cooked flesh. Soon, even the scraps were gone. Barbara had been erased.
"Where did she fall!?" Nathan shouted, his voice breaking under panic.
Ella stood frozen, face pale, lips trembling, unable to form words.
Anna's voice cut through, cold and flat. "It's safe to assume she's already dead. And then—"
"I'm next," Nathan blurted, shaking. The words tasted like poison in his mouth.
Anna's gaze darted to him, sharp. "We have to call him. Now."
Ella blinked, confused, barely managing, "Who?"
"Dan," Anna whispered.
The café fell into silence, their grief already clawed through by the greater terror of what was still to come.
Anna pressed the phone tight to her ear, her pulse drumming harder with each ring. Then came the voicemail, flat and lifeless. She lowered the phone.
"He's not picking up."
Ella's face tightened. "Then we go to him."
No more words. They moved. The streets were damp with night air, the sound of their shoes echoing too loudly in the emptiness.
Nathan walked a step behind, muttering nervously to himself. His boot sank with a wet squelch into fresh cement, leaving a sloppy gray print. One of the construction workers had warned him earlier to dig it up and fill it, or pay for the damage.
He chuckled under his breath, but it was hollow. "Boys will be boys, right?" he said to the girls, forcing a grin. "Go on without me. I'll catch up."
Anna glanced back, hesitated, but his grin made it easier to turn away. Soon, it was only Nathan and the stretch of unfinished road.
He grabbed the shovel. The cement resisted every strike, sucking at his boots and splattering across his hands. Sweat streamed down his forehead, dripping into his eyes. Finally, he carved out a cavity deep enough, dark, and waiting to be filled. He hauled himself out, chest heaving, and waved for the machine.
The claw descended with a mechanical groan, coughing up thick waves of gray. The concrete poured like sludge, filling the hole.
Nathan's boot slipped. A smear of residue betrayed him. He stumbled too close to the edge, his footing uncertain. For one terrible heartbeat, he hung there, flailing at empty air. Then the ground betrayed him. His weight tilted forward.
He plunged.
The cement welcomed him like quicksand, splashing cold against his chest. He screamed, clawing at the edges, but the slurry clung and dragged, pulling him deeper. His arms slapped at the surface, frantic. Each gasp filled his mouth with dust and lime. The machine kept pouring, burying him, muffling his cries until only bubbles rose.
The noise dwindled to the steady churn of the machine. Then—silence. The stench of wet stone lingered, sharp and metallic.
Farther down the road, Anna and Ella froze. Anna's head whipped back, eyes wide. The machine had gone quiet.
"Do you hear him?" Ella whispered.
The silence answered. They didn't dare return, but their stomachs sank with the truth: Nathan wasn't coming.
Dan's house was a blur of desperate knocking. The door creaked open, and there he was—tired eyes, a lazy suspicion in his stare.
"Where are the others?" he asked.
Anna swallowed. "They're… they're gone."
"What?"
The words tumbled out—Barbara, Nancy, Nathan. Each name pressed like a bruise. Each story is filled with choking details. Dan listened, his face unreadable. Then he sighed, grabbed his phone, and dialed one by one. No answer. He shrugged.
"Maybe it's a prank."
Ella snapped. She shoved him hard in the chest, tears streaking. "A prank? You think we'd come here begging if this were a prank? They're dead!"
Dan blinked, unfazed. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Call it off!" Ella sobbed, voice cracking. "Please, Dan—we're begging you!"
Dan tilted his head, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Call what off?" His words carried mockery, like he was humoring a child.
"The dare!" Anna cut in, her voice trembling with both anger and fear. "It's the root of all of this—call it off before it kills anyone else!"
"Begging me?" His laugh was bitter, hollow. "You don't get it. A dare can't be called off."
"Why not?!" Ella shouted.
"Because it's not a game you can just walk away from," he said coldly. "You either do it… or you pay the price."
"Then what's the payment?" she pleaded.
Dan just stared. The silence pressed into the room, heavy, suffocating. Ella's breath hitched. He said nothing. His silence was louder than words.
Anna drew in a trembling breath. "…Don't worry about it, Ella. I'm next."
"No." Ella's voice cracked. "I won't let you die." She grabbed Anna's wrist, but Anna pulled away, walking toward the door. Ella followed anyway, shaking her head in disbelief.
"Wait," Dan muttered, something flickering in his eyes. "I'll come along."
Anna's reply was bitter. "Fine. Watch me die, then."
They walked. Step after step, the city streets stretched like an endless loop, carrying them nowhere. None of them spoke.
Then the old woman appeared. Her eyes gleamed in the lamplight, her crooked spine casting her shadow across the sidewalk. She pointed a gnarled finger. "You look like people with a great purpose," she rasped.
They said nothing, brushing past. But she shifted her gaze onto Ella, tilting her head at an impossible angle. Her grin spread wide, teeth cracked and yellow. "Don't fight it, child—it's destiny" she whispered. "You've already been chosen."
The laugh that followed was jagged, unnatural, like glass scraping against stone. It clung to them as they walked on, even after her figure melted into the dark.
At the crosswalk, the air pressed down heavily. Ella's hand trembled in Anna's. Her skin was clammy, sweat dripping fast.
"Are you okay?" Anna asked, but Ella's lips only moved in silent mutters.
The light changed. They stepped forward.
Ella stopped. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed on the asphalt. Her body twisted into a split, hands clawing at her arms like something was crawling beneath her skin. Her breath came in ragged gasps.
Anna knelt beside her. "Ella, talk to me—what's happening?!"
Ella's eyes widened, whites flashing. She shook violently, words spilling out in broken whispers: "Shadows…they're everywhere. I can't—"
Her voice ripped into a shriek that split the night open.
"DEATH!" Ella's scream tore raw from her throat. "It's here!"
To be continued...