The Halloween Dare

Beep..Beep..Beep..Beep

David rolled over and hit the snooze on his alarm clock. Six A.M. was too early no matter what day of the week it was.

Today was special. It was the school party for Halloween. David's mother volunteered to make cupcakes. They were going to be Devil's food cake, with green food coloring added to the crème cheese topping, giving it the illusion of slime. Little candied pumpkins, ghosts and skeletons would decorate the tops. Instead of using all the water and milk in the mix, his mother liked to use applesauce to make the cake melt in your mouth.

"Davey? Are you up yet?" His mother's shrill call from the base of the stairs found him and wrangled him from his sleep.

"Yeah, I'm up!" Dave missed the mornings when his mother used to knock on his door and ask nicely instead of screaming.

He yearned for the affection he received when younger. Being on the verge of adulthood, he had accepted the more grown-up approach to his morning wake up call.

After his morning duties were finished, David went downstairs for breakfast.

His mother kept her promise and on the counter were enough cupcakes for his entire class. While in the cooking mood, she made breakfast for everyone. Two eggs over easy, 3 strips of bacon, toast and OJ were ready for him on the table.

David knew his classmates might come in costume to school. He was too grown up for that, but not too old to trick or treat. He was between sizes, too big for the cute costumes of the younger children, but not filled out enough for adult sizes. While the holiday has lost its darker attraction, his stomach yearned for the sweet delights to be had.

He was anxious to find out what his friends were going to wear, so his own sinister mind could come up with something better.

"You should chew your food before you swallow it." His mother snickered as she boxed up the treats.

This was the first year that his parents were allowing him to trick or treat alone with his friends. The only stipulation was that David had to promise to stay in a group. After a hug and quick kiss, he ran to his bus stop on the corner. The bus was already halfway down the block. When it stopped and the doors opened, he boarded with his usual zest, anxious to see his friends.

Joey and Sam were in their normal seats, and waved him over. The regular morning chat began. What was on TV, what games were best, who was hot, and even homework was mentioned, briefly.

The quartet was complete when Roger boarded the bus. The planning of the evening festivities began. The boys started to imagine all the things they could do, a night all to themselves, and the possibilities were limitless.

A sudden bounce on the bus gained everyone's attention. The children held their breath while they stared at the old abandoned mansion. No one spoke, not wanting to break the spell that had been cast over them.

This house has been vacant for as long as anyone could remember. Most of the parents couldn't think of anyone living there in their youth either. It had the haunting charm of an old abandoned cemetery, and looked worse.

The house was ancient and the architecture was fabulous. It had the normal southern charm, with the columns up the front. The porch was huge, or at least what you could see from the road. In the morning sunlight, the vine strangled columns appeared to be the haggled teeth of some monster with its mouth open, waiting to swallow any who trespassed. The wrought iron fence kept it almost secure, but it was the stories that were passed around that kept everyone at bay.

The grass and weeds had taken over what must've been a lovely front yard. The three-foot tall greenery could hide all kinds of creatures, especially snakes and scorpions. With a slight breeze, the grass danced like ocean waves.

The two-story structure stood and cast an ominous shadow on the land. The slope down the front yard made the house appear to be thrust up from the landscape, giving the 'monster" effect, more credence when the wind blew. The window shutters would sway in the wind and hit the shingles, like some unnatural heartbeat. The windows broken long ago were boarded up, as if someone had tried to keep trespassers out, or something in.

The ride to school went on as normal as can be expected. The talk centered on homework and what was on TV the night before. The ideas for the evening had worked its course, but would again be brought up at lunch time.

The class parties went as expected. The parents and teachers agreed long ago that using fake sugar would be in the best interests of all involved. There is no good time to have whole classes of children all wired out.

By lunchtime, the four boys were ready for a break. They gathered around their normal table, off to the side by the windows. They tried to stay away from the jock section of the cafeteria.

David was quiet as he listened to his friends chatting. His mind contemplated the night out with his friends.

Joey's bangs drooped over his eyes, as he hunched over the table and whispered across the table to Sam. Joey had dishwater blond hair, and the bluest eyes around. The girls always asked for his phone number.

Sam had brown hair that he kept short and spiked. His light brown eyes would melt anyone's heart when he smiled at you.

Roger wore his hair longer than Sam, but shorter than Joey's. His black hair contrasted the lighter shade of brown in his eyes.

David kept his short blond hair combed, and his eyes were almost turquoise in color. They captivated anyone who dared look.

David looked at his group and smiled. They were all good-looking guys, and they would get to spend a few hours of freedom by themselves.

David also didn't think about girls the same way as the rest of his friends. Females were okay, but not sought after for anything more than friends.

The four boys had been friends since anyone could remember. They had grown up together since they were in diapers. They would play in each other's yards, and had many sleepovers, when allowed.

"What're you spacing out on?" Joey nudged David to get his attention.

"Huh? Oh nothing. I was just thinking what a great opportunity this is, being able to go out and do anything we want, without the 'rents looking over our shoulders." David regained his composure as his mind came back to earth.

"Yeah, it's sure gonna be some night. What're we going to do, exactly?" Sam raised his brow as he leaned toward the center of the table.

Roger shrugged his shoulders as a big hand landed on his shoulder.

"Look at the wimps, they're trying to make plans for trick or treating, haha." It was one of the football players. Bill has been the star of the football team since he transferred here a couple of years ago.

Behind him were a couple more members of the team, Ted and John. Ted was the definition of large, being about 5 inches taller than the rest of his class. John was built to do his job on the team, lean and mean.

"Hey, we're not causing you guys any problems, just leave it be." Sam stared Bill in the eye.

"You gonna stick up for all your lil friends? Or do they have voices of their own?" Bill crossed his arms daring anyone to question his authority.

"Why don't you just leave us alone?" David mumbled more to the table, than to anyone there.

"I bet the lil boys are too afraid to really go out and do something, heh." Ted stepped forward and rested his hands on the table.

"We're not afraid of you or anything that you guys can do." Roger's voice started to crack.

"I bet that you guys are too scared to go to the old house then." John stood next to Bill and grinned.

David, Joey, Sam and Roger exchanged glances around the table. Their eyes went wide with disbelief that anyone would even think of doing such a thing at night, let alone on Halloween.

The jocks stood shoulder to shoulder, and waited for an answer.

"Only if you guys are with us, then we will." David only half smiled, knowing even the bravest of souls wouldn't dare do such a stunt.

"You're on. Come on guys, let's leave the wimps to enjoy the rest of their lives as they know it." Bill patted his friends on the back knowing all too well, that the others would not carry through with it.

The rest of lunchtime went by without many words spoken. Food was left uneaten, for their fears consumed even the insatiable appetites of growing boys.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by. The bus ride home was almost as quiet as was the midday meal. No one was excited anymore. The sense of dread hung over their heads like the impending doom of a falling piano.

Being young adults, wearing complete costumes were out. Fancy masks had replaced the one-piece suits of younger years. David had already started a collection, so he wasn't without many ideas for dressing up.

Having not eaten much lunch, when dinner time came around he was starved. His eating ritual was more subdued than normal.

"Why aren't you eating your dinner?" Dave's mom looked at the half-eaten plate of food.

"I just want to save room for more dessert later, is all." David lifted another bite of food to his mouth, and chewed. His mind was still wrought with fear and caused him to lose most of his appetite.

At the agreed upon time, David left the house to meet with his friends. He took along an extra mask just in case one of his friends failed at coming up with an idea.

As he walked down the street, the moon peaked out from behind the clouds. A chill ran up his spine as the moonlight cast shadows that danced on the sidewalk as the wind blew. The leafless tree branches looked like long talons reaching for their next victim.

The rest of his little group was already waiting. None had full costumes, but had tried to coordinate their clothes with the mask.

After making sure everyone was ready with flashlights in hand, they moved down the block. As the distance between them and the house grew shorter, they got more nervous.

Sam was the first to admit that he was scared.

The others agreed, albeit reluctantly. They tried to laugh it off, to take the edge off.

"Why don't we just trick or treat on the way there? At least we would have some candy to munch on." Roger drug a plastic shopping bag out of his back pocket.

With the group in quick agreement, they started going door to door. Time has the unusual ability to pass by when unnoticed.

After the twentieth house, they had quit the haul of candy.

"Umm, guys, what're we forgetting?" Sam looked deep into his candy bag as he dug his hand around feeling for that one special piece of chocolate.

The four looked at each other, and didn't realize they were still half a block from their destination.

As the group stood in the middle of the sidewalk, they all nodded their heads. They were going to do this. Regret hung heavy in the air with each step they took closer to the house.

They approached the rusty gate with caution. The walkway opening had been tampered with, and swung in the breeze with the creak of ancient steel. The chain that held it closed lay in the grass like some piece of unwanted trash.

The four boys looked up the path to the porch. There had been recent trespassers as the grass was matted down where they had walked.

David was first to grab his flashlight, and led the rest up to the house. Once they all were standing on the porch, the tension mounted as they waited for someone to open the front door first.

The wait was short. The door opened with the next gust of wind. It hadn't been latched all the way.

The four stood and stared wide-eyed into the old house. Fresh footprints showed clearly on the dusty floor.

They looked at each other, and with a simple nod, they entered together.

They all jumped when the door slammed behind them. The boys turned and faced the entrance with their flashlights centered on the knob. There was no one there.

"I bet those jocks wired the door or something. Hey, let's give them a taste of their own medicine." Joey used his light to trace the door.

"I think we should stick together, until we find those guys." Roger squinted into the darkness and tried to focus beyond his pocket light.

"I agree." David looked like he was about to get whiplash, looking from one side to the other as quick as his muscles allowed.

The agreement was made. No more words were needed. This was not a time or the place to try to act brave.

As they crossed the entryway and walked toward the living room, Sam saw something out of the corner of his eye.

It was a tennis shoe and relatively new, but in the dim light, it appeared to be red and wet.

Upon closer examination, it was one of the jocks favorite shoes. And that was blood that had it soaked.

Joey was the first to puke. He tried to turn away from his friends, but failed. He did miss hitting any of them, with his projectile vomiting though.

Sam ran back to the door, only to find it locked. They were trapped.

"Let's see if the back door works, or we can always break another window." Roger looked around the room, and noticed that the windows were boarded up from the inside as well. A sour look came over his face as he realized the windows weren't an option.

"This place is huge, how're we gonna find another door?" David's voice was shaky and full of panic, as the color drained from his face.

They crossed the room looking at every shadow the full moon cast and found a long hallway on the other side. The hall stretched off in two directions. Both looked endless, as they stretched off into the dark.

Being in a rush to get out, they split into two groups. David and Joey would go left, while Sam and Roger went right.

As they exchanged glances, they went their separate ways. David stopped after a few steps, and turned to watch his two friends diminish into the shadows. The faint light from their flashlights was swallowed up by the obscurity in the house.

Joey nudged his shoulder, and tilted his head. He wanted to get out of this house, and in a hurry.

David tried every doorknob along the corridor. They were all locked, or rusted shut.

Joey was sniffling after the fifth door that wouldn't open. He was close to having an episode that most teenage boys won't admit to. He was ready to cry.

David turned around and faced him. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around Joey to comfort him.

"Don't worry bud. We'll get out of here, I promise." David whispered into his ear as his arms snaked around him.

A creak in the floorboards broke not only the mood, but made them almost piss their pants.

They both turned with their lights shining in the direction of the sound. Another door, but this was partially open. But wasn't it closed a few seconds ago?

The pair approached the door taking baby steps and barely breathing. As they pushed on the door, the stench from inside the room washed over them.

"Oh God, what is that smell?" Joey had his hand over mouth and nose, trying to minimize the inhalation of the putrid odors.

David shrugged his shoulders, and continued into the room.

The smell of something dead, or dying choked the air, making it almost impossible to breath.

A muffled sound in the corner caught David's attention. He turned and signaled Joey to stay close.

What lay in the beam of light, made David's almost stop.

Twisted on the floor, was a corpse. Whoever it was, had been dead for some time, indicated by the decay of the body. There were maggots crawling all over the exposed skin, with something moving underneath the person's shirt.

As the two boys stood and stared at the dead body, a rat finally chewed its way through the rotting cloth that covered the remains.

That was all it took for Joey to scream like a little girl. He stumbled back as he tried to

hold his stomach in, and tripped over something in the dark.

His flashlight fell and went out. David was quick to light up the darkness, but was petrified at what he saw.

Joey's eyes almost jumped out of his skull. He looked to see what he tripped over, and saw John nailed to the wall. Not really nailed, but he had a stake through his open mouth, pinning him to the wall. The body twitched, either he was still alive or was convulsing.

David helped Joey up, and drug him from that room. They started running. As they cleared the door it seemed to lock itself after they left.

Twenty feet down the hall, Joey had to stop. The dry heaves got to him. He'd never seen such a horrific sight in his life.

David urged him on, sick or not. They had to get out of there.

David called for Sam and Roger. No reply was heard. Did they make it out of the house, or were they just out of hearing range?

Joey had a hard time keeping up with David. His stomach hurt, and he was out of breath.

David knew he didn't want to leave his friend, and slowed down his rapid pace. He thought they were at the point they separated, but in all the confusion, he wasn't sure.

He called out again, only to hear his own voice echo within a raspy reply.

David was beyond being scared. This just wasn't right. Where did his friends go? Did they get out and abandon him?

The two continued down the hall, in a more subdued manner. They stopped and listened every few feet, and used their lights in a fanning motion to lighten as much of the hall as they could.

They tried to open doors as they progressed down the corridor, their desire to escape grew stronger with each step...

They were about to give up hope when the bend at the end of the hall caught their attention. Now, the decision was again, to go either left or right.

After a few seconds, with no sounds coming from either direction, they decided to go to the right. It made sense that should be the direction to the front of the house. At least they hoped so.

The second door they tried was unlocked. They were unsure if they wanted to look inside, but did anyway as the urge to get out of the house was overwhelming.

The door opened with some persuasion, and creaked on its rusty hinges. It hadn't been opened in some time.

The room appeared to be an old library, or at least had enough shelves to be one. The books were long gone, and dust covered the bookcases. Spider webs were everywhere, from shelf to shelf, and from wall to bookcase. It seemed as several hundred spiders had been busy, when in reality, it was just done over time.

David walked on eggshells, until they were both in the room. He peered around the room, but failed to see anything unusual.

Not wanting to get locked in, they left the door ajar and went all the way in and started searching with their weakening lights.

David continued further into the room, peaking around the tall shelves towards the middle of the room.

He froze still, when he stepped in something that squished. Joey bumped into him, not expecting the sudden stop.

Joey turned his light back on. He had turned it off to save the batteries. What he saw would make even a butcher vomit.

There was a trail of blood, and guts that ran between the rows of shelves. A little chunk of liver, some intestine, a bladder, all were drenched in a river of blood.

The start of the trail, was a pool of red. It started off about ten feet in one direction, and continued down the aisle.

"Oh my God!" David screeched. He was visibly shaken, but morbidly curious as to who or what the innards belonged to.

As he stepped over the trail of intestines, a figure was outlined in his light beam. David stopped in time, but recognized who it was.

It was Ted. Or more precisely, what was left of him. He had been disemboweled, and his chest had been ripped open. The look of sheer horror still on his face, his mouth open as his last scream escaped his lips.

David and Joey knew what happened to two of the jocks, but what about the third? Where was Bill? And more important, what happened to Sam and Roger?

As the terror sunk in, something dripped on David's shoulder. He looked up, and found one of his questions answered.

Bill was strung from the ceiling, by his own intestines. He dangled like a puppet from his own guts.

'That explains all the blood on the floor, but how did he get up there?' Terrorized David's thoughts. The reality of his friend's lives began to sink in.

David looked at Joey. The green pallor of his skin indicated his state of mind, and the stress his body was in.

David needed to find a way out of this zoo of a house. If it wasn't haunted, there was a killer in here.

He grabbed Joey's hand and forced him to keep up with the urgent pace he walked.

They approached the entry with as much caution as they could muster. Seeing so many gruesome dead bodies had them shaken up.

The batteries in the lights, were losing their charge. In the dim beams that were cast, two carts had been placed in front of the door.

On those carts, were the remains of Sam and Roger. The head lay on the middle of the body on the top, and the legs and arms were organized on the bottom. The two boys were drawn and quartered, but no overflow of blood was present.

David lost the contents of his stomach. That was too much for him.

All those bodies, blood, and guts would make anyone lose their lunch.

Joey fell to his knees and cried.

David regained as much of his composure as he could. He pushed the carts out of the way of the door.

Whatever, or whoever, had done this, might still be in the house and they needed to get out in a hurry.

David picked up Joey and helped him walk. Joey was near catatonic, and could barely move.

They moved as fast as they could, but Joey slowed down their progress.

David didn't forget and continued to check for an open door. Maybe they could at least hide until morning.

All the doors were locked.

They wandered down another hallway, and found more of the same.

It appeared they were being led deeper into the house. They rounded another corner, to find another long corridor. The doors were further apart, and they too were all locked.

At the end of the hall, one door remained open.

They entered, to find a small bedroom. The window had been boarded years ago, which meant no getting out from this room either.

Time had not been kind to the furniture. The layers of dust and cobwebs proof of being forgotten long ago.

David shook his flashlight. The batteries were nearly dead.

Joey's flashlight was barely noticeable in the abyss of darkness that surrounded them.

David held Joey's hand as he broke down in tears. The sudden jerk of Joey's hand startled him.

The look of terror was etched on Joey's face. A hand held him by his hair as the glisten of a steel blade glowed in front of his throat.

With a sickening swish, the blade traveled the distance across Joey's throat. The splatter of blood was loud in the quiet room.

David pissed his pants, as the gory scene played out in front of him. The blood droplets ran down his face as he looked around the room. There was no way out.

He backed up and bumped into the wall. As he felt along the wall, he kept the visage of his best friend standing there bleeding to death in view. As long as he knew where the attacker was, he felt better.

David's flashlight was losing its energy quick. It was just enough to highlight the blood soaked blade.

David was backed into a corner. Whoever was behind that blade, was between him and the door.

He slid down to the floor and tucked his legs up to his chest. He started to cry. Whatever would happen, he wanted it quick.

Beeep...Beeep....Beeep....Beeep

David opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm clock.

He remained crouched in the corner of his room, as he looked around. The sound of his mother calling him made him jump. The splatter of blood, still fresh upon his face.