Truth or Dare... and Die

Chapter 8

I'm honestly not sure which bothers me more... being all alone in total darkness, or the sneaking suspicion that the cause of all this isn't entirely the fault of whom I've been blaming.

Two down.... two to go? That leaves one of us out.... Cody...?

My heart is sinking at even the mere notion that my beloved friend would mastermind something so gruesome. Then again, he did ditch me, or let me leave, without any hesitation. Perhaps I've been running from the wrong kind of evil, though the murderous men at large are no laughing matter. Maybe they are still crazy, but that doesn't mean my friends and I are their current targets. It doesn't make sense, considering that if they are the same criminals whose crime we stumbled upon all those years ago, they are now getting up there in years, age-wise, and may even be physically incapable of such demanding a task as multiple murders.

Now that I ponder the situation.... do I really know Cody as well as I think? The men, as insane as they may be, had no previous knowledge of us coming out here tonight. Nobody knows, save the five of us, for if anyone did they would never have let us get out of the gates. The only explanation that fit this new information, is that we have a traitor among us. Dylan's hand has been severed and due to the lack of screams, he is probably gone , Charity just lost her life, as far as I'm aware my time tonight is not being spent killing my childhood buds, which leaves either Clara or Cody...

Something tells me Cody isn't as easy to read as, until this very moment, I have always believed; memories flashing through my head give me the strength and motivation to move forward, to keep pushing on through the tangled woods.

I've got to get home, safe at home... nobody can hurt me there...

A sudden realization stops me short; Cody will be waiting. He has a key to my house, his own key my mom gave him when we started going everywhere together. I can't imagine him ever hurting me, at least not until this dreadful night- now I have nowhere to run, no idea what to expect, and no immediate help- I am terrified of how this could go any more wrong. It seems as if we are stuck in a warped game of truth or dare, in which the question of truth is who killed whom? and the dares end in fear, mistrust, and death.

I've never been an avid fan of horror, though mysteries and thrillers almost always strike me as entertaining; As of this night ( if i make it to see the sunrise): this will most certainly be my last night outside the gate after curfew.

However dangerous it may be, I have to check on my family. I can't live with myself if something happens to my loved ones. They're everything to me- sure, each of us has our flaws, but at the end of the day I wouldn't trade them or my life for all of my dreams combined. After all, what good is a dream without someone to share it with? At the same time, I would trade my life for their safety in a heartbeat.

But I digress. Now... where was I? Oh yeah, I have no idea what to do now; my first thought is my family, my second thought is the police, and my third thought is that I can't do anyone any good if I don't make it back alive. So there ya go, I guess. I need to make it back alive, before I worry about anything else.

Just two questions remain...

Can I?

Why is this happening?

Unfortunately, I have no answers for myself.