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Literary: Truth or Dare
It was a cold December night when my cousins and I gathered around the fireplace to thaw our freezing skin from the icy breeze of Baguio. Our parents decided to go out for a drink, leaving us all alone in the cabin. It was already midnight and we decided to break the silence with small talk and a few mini-games. We weren’t exactly close growing up, simply because we didn’t have time to bond with one another, so today was the perfect opportunity for us to get to know each other better. We played games such as Monopoly and Uno, but after a while, we got bored and decided to play Truth or Dare. The game started out easy, but then some of my cousins chose to switch things up. Little did I know, it will be the biggest regret of my life.
When it was my turn, they dared me to go to the basement and lock myself in for ten minutes straight, with all the lights off. I didn’t agree at first because it was nonsense, but then being the oldest of the group, I saw this as an opportunity to show my bravery to them, plus, I wouldn’t want them to think I’m a coward. Thus, I accepted the challenge. I didn’t mind going there, really, because I didn’t believe anything about ghosts or the creatures that “lay beneath.”
One minute in, and I could already feel the cold breeze once again touch my skin. Let’s hope this dare won’t give me hypothermia and put me in a coma. To get my blood flowing, I started to walk around the room. Thank God it wasn’t too dark because of the light shining through the windows. I stumbled upon a box filled with pictures. Curious, I picked it up and moved closer to a window to see the pictures more clearly.
“Hey, it’s Grandma!”
It’s nice to see her smile even from a picture. ‘oh how I miss her already’. She used to bake me cookies every time I came to her house, she would create scary costumes for me to wear on Halloween, and she would sing me lullabies whenever I get scared. Grandma, why did you have to go?
As I scrolled through her pictures, I kept seeing this lady standing with an eerie smile and a dark aura. She somehow appears in every picture and is always behind my grandma.
“Huh? Weird.”
I flipped through the pictures to look for names, dates, or clues to find out who this creepy lady is.
“Aha!” something was scribbled behind one of the pictures. Anne.
“Anne? Who’s that?”
I yelled at my cousins to open the door to show them what I found, but all I got in return was complete silence. I knocked and shouted to hear if they were there, still no response. After about a few seconds, I heard a soft knock. I didn’t mind it at first, but after a few more seconds, I heard it again. I figured that it was just my cousins pulling a prank on me.
“Okay guys, you can stop now. I have to show you something really cool.”
I noticed the room darken a bit. My heart skipped a beat and my hands started to sweat when I saw a figure in the window, tapping the glass. I slowly walked towards it to see who it was, but when I got closer, the figure disappeared. I turned around only to see a woman standing in front of me, smiling and staring blankly. I wasn’t able to scream but I felt my feet running towards the door. I tried to open it as fast as I could but my hands were shaking so badly. Luckily, someone opened the door from outside.
“What’s wrong, sweetie?”
The sweet voice of Grandma immediately calmed me down. I hugged her as tightly as I could with my eyes wet from tears, my hands cold from trembling in fear. She hugged me back and the silence comforted me.
“Ah, I see you’ve met my friend Anne.”
My eyes opened in complete shock only to remember that Grandma passed away a year ago.
Who was I hugging? I slowly looked up to see who it is. My body started to tremble in fear when I saw its big red eyes staring deep into my soul and that eerie grin slowly turned into a wide vacant smile.
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