“C’mon… truth or dare?” Josh asked Scott, evil gleaming in his eyes.
Scott stared long and hard at him, if he chose dare, what could Josh have him do that’s so daring? Kiss Megan? “Dare… in fact, double dare!” he replied with a grin.
“There is no double dare!” Josh snapped, shaking his head.
“Well, it is truth, dare, double dare, promise to repeat!” TJ reminded Josh, who was swinging on the swings along with Megan.
Josh shot TJ a glaring look, and then looked back over at Scott. “Fine, alright!” Scott said with a sigh. “I’ll do whatever your gonna have me do first, and then you’ll do it.”
“That’s how it’s suppose to be anyway stupid!” Josh retorted. “Fine, whatever… I want you to go in that old building right across over there, walk into one of the rooms, and stay there… by yourself, in the dark!”
Scott turned and stared at the old, busted down building for a while. “That’s it? What, is something suppose to happen to me? I mean, will I be looking or waiting for something?”
All Josh, TJ, and Cody laughed hard at him. “You obviously hadn’t heard any of the stories, have you?” Josh asked while he wrapped his arm around Scott’s shoulder’s and began walking him towards the building.
Both TJ and Cody approached Josh and Scott from behind. “You see all that land over there?” Cody asked Scott. “And even this land, this park that we stand upon right now…” TJ continued.
They all stopped and Josh, TJ, and Cody stood right in front of Scott. “It’s the devil’s playground!” Josh whispered in an eerie tone.
“What do you mean, this is where the devil plays?” Scott questioned in puzzlement.
The three of them groaned and rolled their eyes. “No stupid! These acres and acres of land is haunted by thousands of restless souls… this acre of land is a.k.a. … Satan’ Playground. It’s been said, this is no place for the living to roam, for the spirits walk this ground. It’s rumored, that whoever enters Satan’s playground, and disturbs the deceased in anyway… they’ll never return home, or they’ll never live to see another day…”
Scott stared at the three of them as if they were crazy. “And you guys believe such bullshi…”
“You think we’re making this all up?” Josh had interrupted him. “This has been childhood stories since my greatest of great grandma was a kid. But… you can deny it all you want, but when you discover that we’re right… the don’t come crying to us!”
Scott glared at the three of them and then started making his way towards the building. Cody, TJ, and Josh turned and stared at each other in shock, not believing that Scott would actually go through with it.
Megan jumped off her swing and ran over to Josh, TJ, and Cody. “Don’t you dare make him do this Josh!”
“A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do!” Scott said with a shrug.
Megan ran in front of Scott to prevent him from proceeding any further. “But your not a man… your just a boy!”
Scott caressed Megan’s cheeks and stared into her eyes. “What’s the worse that could happen?” He took a long pause, before he continued. “You know… I was kinda hoping for this to be my dare…”
“What? To get yourself killed?!” Megan exclaimed, desperate to make him change his mind.
“No,” Scott replied with a chuckle. “I was kinda hoping, well… actually praying that Josh would dare me… to kiss you!”
Megan’s mouth slightly fell ajar, and then she grinned. She grabbed Scott by the neck and pulled him in to a passionate kiss. “No one should have to dare you to kiss me… you just do it!”
Josh broke through them and slightly pushed Scott away from Megan. “What’s the hold up with you two lovebirds? Scottie boy here has a job to do!”
They continued walking towards the building without saying a word to one another. Once they approached the door, TJ, Cody, and Josh had settled down on an old concrete bench and table. Both Scott and Megan were left standing and staring at the building in awe.
“Well, what you waiting for Scottie?” Josh taunted. “You ain’t gonna see no ghost unless you go in there.”
Scott glared at Josh, and then turned to stare at the building yet again. This old, broken down building was once a hospital, where many live were either born or lost everyday. He can just hear the nurses calling off the time of deaths, echoing throughout the empty hallway. He could visualize the nurse pulling the sheet over the cold, stiff body, the family collapsing to the ground, tears flowing from their puffy eyes. This place was bound it have roaming spirits, but he was brought up not to believe in ghosts.
Scott took a deep breath in and slowly approached the large glass doors.
“Wait!” Megan exclaimed while pulling Scott back towards her by the arm. “You don’t have to do this Scott… it’s just a silly dare!”
Scott smiled and grabbed her hands. “If they had dared me to kiss you… that wouldn’t have been such a silly dare, now would it?”
Before Megan could respond, Scott pulled her in for another kiss, and once he broke away, he made his way up the stairs, right to the glass door.
“Hey Scott!” Josh called out before he made his way into the building. “Word to the wise… make sure you don’t wake the dead… wouldn’t want your soul to be apart of their realm.”
Scott slightly chuckled at his stupidity. “Hey Josh! My faith is stronger in God!”
Scott carefully placed his hands on the dirty, cold glass door and gave it a slight push. It wouldn’t budge on his first attempt, but slowly, the door began creaking as the rusted brass hinges were forced to bend out of it’s rusted state.
He slowly entered the building, his brand new white shoes dragging across the dusty and dirty wooden floor. Muck and must clung to the atmosphere, only allowing 1% of the pure oxygen flowing from the cracked windows to circulate through the building.
The corridor seemed endless, no matter how far he walked, his destination would drift further and further away. He passed an old, broken down elevator and a large, aging staircase leading all the way to the 6th floor. Some of the steps had gaping holes, and sawdust would rain to the ground as the termites continued to gnaw their way through the old wood.
Most of the hospital rooms either had their doors ajar, closed, or completely off the hinges. There must have been at least 20 hospital rooms down this first floor corridor itself. His heart was telling him to stay in the room nearest to the exit, just to play it safe, but his mind told him to stay in the very last room at the end, just to prove to himself that there was indeed no ghost.
He finally reached the last room, finding the door to be ajar. He hesitantly placed his hands on the door and slowly pushed it open. To his surprise, the door did not make the slightest bit of sound, not even a squeak. He quietly walked into the room and observed his new surroundings.
There was an old, broken television set resting on a broken wooden dresser. The hospital bed seemed to be sturdy still, but the sheets were torn and covered in a musty aroma. The curtains were drawn close, a small tear in the curtain had allowed very little light to shine through a crack in the window. The sunlight had barely seeped through, casting a faint glow in such a gloomy atmosphere.
His eyes darted across the room, where he saw a chair positioned perfectly in the corner of the room. It seemed sturdy enough to sit on, and strangely enough, it seemed as if the chair was not disturbed bu anyone physically, nor any dust that the whole room itself had collected.
He slowly made his way over to the corner of the room and had slowly sat on the chair. He sat there, staring at the open door, and then he glanced down upon his watch. He began tapping it, trying to bring it back to life, but it was useless. He sighed and leaned back into his chair, how was he suppose to know when his time was up?
Once he turned to gaze out the dirty window, he saw a dark shadow dart right by his door. He quickly fixed his eyes on the open door, but saw nothing. Maybe it was a cat, maybe even a rat, but he wouldn’t allow his mind to convince him that it was a ghost.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile…
“Why is it taking him so long?” Megan frantically questioned, pacing back and forth. “I mean, he’s going over his one minute limit!”
TJ, Cody, and Josh sat there, giggling at her anxiety. Megan turned and glared at all three of them.
“It’s not funny!” Megan snapped. “Something could’ve happened. What if he got hurt?”
Josh continued to giggle as he got up off the bench and walked over to Megan. “What the hell could possibly happen to Scottie boy? He’s only sitting there, by himself! If it makes you feel any better… I don’t recall ghost physically hurting the living!”
“Well, it doesn’t!” Megan bellowed as she shoved Josh away. “I swear to God, if anything happened to him, your all going to be on my…” but she was cut short when she saw Scott walking out from the glass doors.
Scott walked over to Megan and embraced her in his arms. “Your turn!”
“You can’t do that! You can’t change the rules!” Josh snapped.
“Well, the rules are, and TJ clearly stated that this game is truth, dare, DOUBLE DARE, promise to repeat… I doubled dared you, and if I recall, I didn’t change anything!” Scott replied calmly.
Josh tore his glare away from Scott and looked up at the building. “Well… ho, how is it… in there?” he stuttered.
Scott turned to look at the glass doors, then he turned back to look at Josh. “You’ll see once you get in there… and why would stallin’? You ain’t gonna see any ghost unless you go in there…”
Josh could hear Megan, TJ, and Cody snickering at the way Scott used his saying as a comeback. He didn’t see what was so funny… if Scott could do it, hell, he could do it too! He quickly walked up to the building and pushed the glass doors.
“Wait… Josh!” Scott called out frantically, which caused Josh to jump slightly.
“Please… tell me I don’t have to go in there… please tell me that your just joking!” Josh’s mind pleaded and prayed, but he heard the total opposite.
Scott grinned evilly, “Word to the wise… make sure you don’t wake the dead… wouldn’t wantcha to die too, now do we?”
Josh flipped him off before he walked into the building. Why couldn’t he just dare Scott to kiss Megan, so that he could do the same? Well, there’s no turning back now for he now stood before the glass doors. He took a deep breath in and raised his trembling hands to place it on the glass doors. He slowly pushed it open and walked in hesitantly, as if waiting for something or someone to greet him.
He stared down the long corridor in awe, wondering which room he should stay in. He should’ve asked Scott which room he stayed in before he came in here. He began to walk down the hallway but came to a stop in front of a large staircase that seemed to go on forever. Deep inside, he knew he should just settle on one room close to the doors incase anything was to happen, but something was tempting him to walk up the broken stairs. He was always known to be the rebellious one in his family out of his four brothers, always doing his own stuff and no one could tell him otherwise.
He reached his hand out towards the railing and had let his fingers drag lazily over the dust that stained the aging wood. Just as he took his first step, he stopped when he heard a noise, much like claws scratch against the wooden floor. He quickly spun around only to find a black cat sitting in front of him, licking it’s paws and minding it’s own business. Once the cat felt the presence of Josh being there, it stopped cleaning it’s paws and looked up at Josh, it’s striking yellow eyes gleaming in the pale light.
Josh slightly grinned, but the cat only hissed at him in return. He shook his head and then turned back around to continue walking up stairs. Unfortunately, he wasn’t watching where he stepped, and his foot slipped through a hole that was in the steps. Frantically, Josh tried to pull his foot out of the hole, but his panicking and squirming only caused the wooden steps to break even more. As he continued to struggle, he didn’t take notice of a black figure that loomed ahead of him at the top of the staircase.
All of a sudden, the steps beneath him broke and he could remember was feeling himself fall. His squinted his eyes close as he felt a throbbing pain in the back of his head. He slowly pushed himself up from off the ground and had looked up, seeing the gaping hole he had fallen through on the stairs. He dusted himself off and stopped when he heard a creaking noise that seemed to be enclosing on him.
Josh quickly started to jump up and down, trying to grab a hold of the steps so he could pull himself out of the hole. After a few attempted jumps, he was finally able to grab a hold of something and had quickly raised himself from out of the dark hole. He stumbled down the rest of the stairs and had darted right out of the building.
As soon as Cody and TJ seen Josh bust out through the glass doors, they quickly approached him and had helped him walk over towards the old picnic table. “What the hell happened to you?” TJ asked.
“I fell…” Josh replied, trying to ease his panting. “through the stairs… there’s something in that building… I’m telling you…”
They all turned and stared at the hospital in silence, the only thing being heard was the ragged breathing coming from Josh. All of a sudden, the skies turned to being overcast, and there was a low mumbling noise that came from the building.
“What… in the world… did you do?” Cody asked Josh as they all slowly inched away from the building.
Josh glanced over at Cody but ignored him. “He woke the dead…” Megan mumbled.
All of a sudden, a gust of wind had blown out from out the house, shattering the glass door and windows. They all turned and sprinted away, not wanting to take a chance to look back. Cody began heaving when he realized that he was the last person in the group running for the lives. Curiosity soon caught the best of him when he found himself glancing over his shoulders to see what exactly they were running from. A cloud of blackness took shape of an older man’s face, and before a scream could escape from his mouth, the black cloud consumed him whole.
Megan skidded to a stop and had turned around only to find Cody no longer behind them. “CODY!” Megan screamed as she felt both TJ and Scott pulling on her arms, urging her to continue running.
They could see themselves nearing the playground, but even that didn’t mean they were safe, for they would still in what was supposedly called “Satan’s Playground”. TJ was running right behind Scott, when he felt himself trip over a rock and had fell to the ground. He started screaming in pain when he felt an immense pain course throughout his leg, and he began crying and yelling when he looked down and had seen that his ankle was twisted in an awkward position, his bone protruding from his torn and bloody flesh.
Scott quickly came to a halt and had turned around to see TJ on the ground, screaming in agony. He began running back towards TJ, and just as he reached out his arms to scoop TJ up, he felt something fly him backwards as the cloud of black encased TJ. Both Josh and Megan had pulled a disoriented Scott from up off the ground and had continued to run towards the playground.
They were successful in running past the playground, nearing the end of Satan’s territory. They all skidded to a stop all of a sudden when they felt the earth they ran upon beginning to decline. They all looked down and seen that they would have to jump off this 10 foot cliff, into a raging river in order to escape.
Both Megan and Scott had grabbed hands, intertwining their fingers with one another. Just as they were all about to jump, something had grabbed Scott and began pulling him back, ripping the grip he had on Megan’s hand. Megan spun around only to find Scott being dragged back by something invisible, and all of a sudden, a cloud of darkness swallowed him whole.
“SCOTT!!!” Megan screamed and cried as she began running towards where Scott was, but Josh had stopped her and had pushed her off the cliff.
Just as Josh was about to jump off the cliff, he felt something grab him from behind as he was still in the air, and he just felt himself being sucked back, being engulfed in complete darkness. Megan submerged from the frigid water and had looked up, seeing no one on the cliff.
“JOSH!” Megan cried, thinking maybe he had jumped off already and had made it, but to her dismay, no one surfaced, which only meant that Josh was taken too.
Author's Chapter Notes:
Okay, here's another story that I posted on Vaffel and decided to move it here. Unlike "Incomplete", I'm not just gonna throw up all the chapters that were completed. Even though the chapters are done, I'm gonna post it gradually so people won't get lost (even though I have like five or six stories posted and none of them are completed except for one, lol) But, as you read the prologue, don't let it throw you off. As you read more into it, you'll find it focused more on BSB, the prologue is like a backstory. =) Hope you guys enjoy this... small thriller!!
