A Deadly Game, A Dangerous Midnight

Let the game begin

Jake's P.O.V

Friday night, six o'clock. I ran the final two blocks, rushing to get to Alex's house. I rang the bell and waited. A few seconds later, the door opened wide, revealing the stocky build of Walter's body. 

"Hey," I greeted, stepping inside. 

"Jake?" Alex peeked at me from the kitchen. 

"Hey," I said lamely.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, obviously confused.

"To play, of course." 

"Come." she beckoned. I followed her to through the kitchen and into the guest room.

"I thought you didn't wanna play." she said matter-of-factly. 

"Well, I changed my mind." I replied, looking at the floor.

"Don't try and stop me."

"I won't."

"Good."

"Oh hey, Jake!" Paisley chirped as she entered the room. 

"Hi."

"Are you here to play?" she was bouncing on her tippy-toes.

"Sure, why not?" 

"Great!" Paisley exclaimed. "Now we have more than enough members!"

When she left to tell the others, I faced Alex.

"You're house is big, but there isn't much space to make it safe enough."

"What do you mean?" 

"The bigger the house, the harder it is for the Midnight Man to find you." I whispered.

"Oh."

I was really about to lose it. I wanted to yell in frustration. Don't get me wrong, Alex's house was big, but there wasn't enough space to move around due to the furniture, and we could easily get caught anytime. I shuddered, a wave of memories washing over my brain.

Alexandria's P.O.V

"Well, come on." I gestured towards the others. "Let's go."

"Okay."

Omg, I was getting more and more anxious by the minute! No doubt this would be a huge mistake, but I couldn't turn back now. Not while everyone was watching....

"Okay, everyone." Paisley announced dramatically, once we were all gathered together and the materials were laid out in front of us. "It's time to shed blood."

She toook out six slim, shiny, brand-new needles from a packet. Everyone held out their hands. She gave each of us one needle. Now I looked around the room. Everyone was hesitating, even Jared. I smiled, cheering up imediately at the atmosphere. If everyone was this unsure, then maybe there was a slight chance it could be cancelled? Hopefully....

Paisley was the first to prick her finger. She just stabbed it in! 

"Ouch!" she squealed, her body tensing up at once. 

"Are you okay?" I asked. 

"I'm alright, people." she relaxed her posture. 

Her blood was swiftly pouring out of the tiny hole in her index finger. She quickly held it over the paper with her name. I watched one fat drop of blood land on the paper. It coursed throughout the papery white surface like ink in a chromatography experiment.

"C'mon Alex, your turn!" Paisley urged. 

"Huh?" I looked up, bewildered.

"Here." she touched my fist, enclosed around the tiny needle. 

"Oh right." I snapped out of my confusion. "Right."

I opened my clenched fist, held up the needle and pointed its razor sharp end towards my left pinkie. I shuddered, considering what I was about to do. So many things could go wrong even with this simple, insignificant blood lost. With an open wound, I could possibly get an infection, or worse. Ugh. Don't think about it, Alex! Don't think about it.... I took a steadying breath and without thinking any further, jabbed it into the tender flesh. Ouch! It hurt! It was different from punches (fights with boys, don't ask). Punches just made me feel numb, shock, or the feeling of throwing up... piercing myself with a needle was different. I felt like I was stung, and I could feel every little detail of pain without being in shock. 

"How was it?" Paisley asked as I sucked in a sharp breath. 

"Stings a little, but otherwise I'm totally fine." 

I tilted my finger, giving it slight pressure to ensure more blood flow. A deep, velvety-red drop of blood spattered on my slip of paper, smudging my name. I stood up, grabbed a cotton gauze and wrapped my pinkie in it. I returned back to the circle of friends. I heard little shrieks of 'ouch!' and yelps all over the room as, one by one, everyone took their turn pricking their own little fingers. 

Seemed like none of them was bailing. I sighed. There really was no turning back. 

Jared took everyone's slips of paper and placed then on my front wooden door. I took another deep breath as Monique handed each of us unlit candles. On her count, everyone lit their candles in unison. The flame burned indefinitely, giving me a very slight sense of relief.

"Okay, since Alex's the host, she'll get the honor of performing the next few steps!" Paisley announced, pouting at me. 

I gave a weak laugh and my face scrunched up with concentration. At exactly the right moment, I began knocking on my front door. At the 22nd knock, the clock chimed midnight. I felt chills rising up my body like tremors. 

"Okay everyone, when I open the door, you must immediately blow out your candles." Everyone nodded. 

"Oh, you guys all have your lighters right?" They nodded, again. "Remember, they are only to be used for lighting your candle, not as a replacement." I reminded before proceeding.

I opened the door and blew out my candle along with everyone else. I hesitantly closed it, again. 

"Okay, relight it now!" We took out our lighters and re lit the candles as quickly as possible. 

No. Turning. Back. Fake or real, we had just sort of summoned a demon. I kept trying to muster the will to make myself believe that all of this was just a bunch of crap, but any will would be halfhearted. I just couldn't help feeling that I would be the one scared out of my wits, this time.

Let the game begin.......