Bad Ideas [original story]

Chapter 4

I can't believe I'm actually letting these idiots drag me into playing Deadman's Tag in an actual, authentic cemetery. Guess that makes me an idiot too, huh?

Walking to the graveyard, close to the end of sunset on a cloudy night, my friends and I approach the area we have chosen as home base: a small building with a few names inside for commemoration. It was the only building here, so it seemed like the best choice. Walking inside, we realize how untouched it is; there's tons of dust in here, and the fact that cobwebs practically coat the corners of this place doesn't make it any better.

Callie, who was holding all our supplies, handed each of us a flashlight and a timer. Once we all, including Callie, had our supplies, she tossed the cheap plastic bag used to carry it all on the ground. "Wow, haven't even started yet and you're already pissing off the dead people," Robin joked, resulting in Callie rolling her eyes. "Whatever you say, Robin. You won't be laughing when the ghosts grab you!" She replied humorously, all four of us laughing.

It felt good to laugh, considering the fact that we've basically just been doing dark magic left and right. I wonder how come it hasn't taken its toll on us yet. I wondered to myself, waiting for one of them to decide how much time we should get to hide.

After several moments of silence, I decided to speak up. "How about we do 75 seconds for hiding time?" I asked, hoping it was somewhere close to what they'd want. Waiting for a response, I felt relieved when Cora nodded. "It seems l-like a pretty r-r-reasonable amount of t-time to hide for th-this game," she responded, Callie nodding in agreement. "Alrighty, then!" Robin exclaimed. "Let's get this show on the-"

"Hold it," I told her calmly. "We have to wait until night has completely fallen, remember?" I stated, seeing her pause for a moment before she sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right..." she mumbled under her breath. "So what do we do, then?"

Not knowing, I shrug and look over to Cora and Callie. "Any ideas?" I ask, hoping they've got at least one idea. I didn't bring anything to do, and I don't want to lay around on this dirty stone floor not knowing what to do.

We ended up laying around on the dirty stone floor, not knowing what to do. I'm... not surprised, to say the least. I shouldn't have jinxed it...

Staring out the building, I saw it was almost completely dark. Probably only about five minutes until we could start. I still dunno how to feel about this, I wondered. I could very easily die tonight...

What would happen if one of us actually did die tonight? Would the police come and ask what happened? Well, we wouldn't be able to tell the truth, because then we'd probably seem like cultists, and that's just a weird thing to say seriously about a death. Like, what would I say exactly? 'Sorry, my friends and I were playing tag with dead people in the middle of the night in a cemetery, sorry to-'

"It's time, guys!"

Jumping up, I glare at Robin, who scared me so bad that I probably nearly died. "Jesus Christ, Robin," I sighed, standing shakily. "Never scare me that badly again," I stated, Robin obviously holding in a chuckle.

"Awww, sowwy! In all seriousness, though, it is legitimately time to start," she replied, somewhat humorously at first. Callie and Cora stood up individually, picking up their timers and flashlights as they stood.

Walking outside, we all decided to just touch one wall of the building for home base. Looking around, I wondered who'd be the one to actually start the game. Seeing that everyone just looked at me, I rolled my eyes as I spoke, all four of us facing out into the darkness. "We invite you to play a game of tag. Home base is Sunrise," I began, remembering that they had wanted a name relating to time. "When the game begins, we have until the count of 75 to hide. Then you may look for us. Once we have all returned home, the game is done," I concluded. Looking to my friends, motioning for them to be ready to finish it off. All of us setting our timers for 75 seconds, we all howled in unison as the game commenced. "You're it!"