The Dare

"Truth or dare?"

"..."

"Oh, m- louder!"

"Louder!"

"For real, I didn't hear you and I'm sitting next to you."

"... Truth."

"Well, of course."

"Booooring!"

"So boring. Choose dare."

"Yeah, choose dare. Come on, we all did one already!"

"Say dare!"

"..."

"Da-re! Da-re! Da-re!"

"O-okay... Dare, then."

"Yass! Okay, here's what you're gonna do. Ring the neighbor's doorbell and run away."

"B-but... But they have a dog!"

"A big one, yes. That's why it's a dare."

"I don't-"

"That's dumb. I've got a better one. Aaand – you don't have to leave the house. So. What will it be? The neighbor thing or my thing?"

"And-and... And what's your thing?"

"I'll tell you, I'll tell you. Do you want to do my thing, then?"

"..."

"Hurry up, hurry uuuup!"

"O-okay, then. Your thing."

"Okay, but no backsies."

"And what is your thing?!"

"Okay, so. Go to the bathroom, stand in front of the mirror and say Bloody Mary three times."

"Oooooo!"

"What? I don't understand..."

"Wait. You don't know about Bloody Mary?"

"No..."

"Agh, it's not cool then."

"Yeah, it's not fun if the kid doesn't even know the story."

"Okay, scratch that and let's go back to my-"

"Gah, you're all lame! We can tell her the story!"

"..."

"I mean... Fine. Fine! But you'll take her home when she shits her pants."

"Wow, big deal."

"Will someone just tell the story already?"

"I'll do it. I suggested it anyway. So. Mary was a woman who died in a traffic accident a long, long time ago. Except – it wasn't an accident. She killed herself because she was nuts. Like, she went crazy because someone took her baby, but she probably just killed it herself. And when you stand in front of a mirror in a dark room and say her name three times, you'll see her in the mirror. She might look like she did before the accident, or maybe after it... I don't know that part, everyone says something different."

"And wh-what happens when she... when she shows up?"

"That's for you to find out."

"I really-"

"Look, I don't know what happens. I've never tried. But I heard all kinds of stuff. She could answer your questions or tell you the future."

"Pfff, that's not what I heard. I heard she scrapes your whole face with her long nails until you no longer have it."