A Love So Wicked (BWWM Paranormal Romance) | Book 1 (Complete)

03 | THE DARE, PART 2

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MAGGIE'S POV

I use the GPS on my phone to help navigate me towards where I'm supposed to go, hoping that Andrew's coordinates take me in the right direction because dying out here would truly suck.

A cold gust of wind abruptly attacks me from out of nowhere, making me shiver to the point where my teeth start chattering. It's then for when I begin questioning what I care about more: getting $200 for proving a boy wrong or being able to feel my face when I wake up tomorrow.

"Is it getting colder the farther I walk? I swear I'm not imagining this change in temperature," I talk like I'm not alone on this very sketchy journey.

My somewhat unsettling thoughts continue to keep me company as I march and shudder my way through the thick forest. I find it surprisingly effortless to navigate, just a few fallen branches occasionally getting in my way. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad sign. Either way, it makes this process speed along quickly, so I don't dwell on it too much.

"Get in, get out, get paid," I chant repeatedly, trying to stay focused on the end goal while ignoring the part of me that knows it's easier said than done.

It eventually gets to a point where my eyes won't stop watering due to the extreme cold, and my thighs start to ache thanks to how long I've been walking. A painful sign that I need to apply for a membership to somebody's gym because my endurance apparently isn't shit.

When I later check the time on my phone, I'm shocked to see that almost an hour has passed. It trips me out because it certainly doesn't feel like I've been out here for that long.

"Oh no. This isn't good." I peep the upper righthand corner on my phone, my heart sinking as I read the words NO SERVICE.

I anticipated this would happen, but it still shakes me up, nonetheless. I do my best to remain calm while setting my things on the ground to pull the map from out of my bag now that my GPS is down. I also change the batteries in my flashlight, hoping to fix the weird flickering that it has been doing for the last ten minutes.

"I owe you a big one, old man. Pretty sure you just saved my life tonight."

I'm grateful to my father now more than ever for having dragged me along on all those camping trips that he and my brother used to go on when we were kids. That's how I learned how to read maps. Had it not been for those adventures, I'd be totally screwed right now.

"I'm going to be hella pissed if I end up getting mauled by bigfoot out here," I whine to myself, regret growing more intense as the second's pass.

I soon finish getting my life together and then get back to the task at hand, continuing to march forward while wondering why I no longer hear any insects chirping.

"Pay it no mind, Maggie. Just keep walking."

And that I do. I walk and walk and walk some more until finally, I reach the clearing. I shamelessly drop to my knees to thank the God that I barely believe in.

Looking around and seeing nothing but tall trees still, hearing nothing but the sound of my own heavy breathing, I would be lying if I said that I wasn't a bit spooked out. The overall vibe of this place feels... wrong. Like I shouldn't be here. Like no one should ever come here. And not only that, but something else that's disturbing is how the time on my phone says that I have now been out here for almost two hours when it's felt way less than that.

I don't know what's going on with my phone and I don't care enough to waste any more time trying to figure it out because I'm beyond ready to finish up this stupid dare and go home. I'm embarrassed for taking things this far just to prove Andrew, someone that I'm not even close to, wrong. I guess this really all boils down to me needing to get better at not allowing people to get under my skin whenever they tell me about something that they think I can't or won't do.

"Alright, Lucy. Let's get this party started, shall we?" I stand and quickly make my way to the center of the clearing to get started on this dumb ritual that sounds like it came from a poorly written creepypasta.

I remove the tactical knife from my jacket pocket, something my father gifted me for my thirteenth birthday, and then set it aside. He told me that it would be more effective against taking down "bad men" compared to the pepper spray that I had been carrying whenever I left the house. My mom had been completely against me having a knife, but my father somehow ended up getting his way, later teaching me how to properly wield it to defend myself.

As I've grown older, I make sure to have at least one weapon on me wherever I go.

"Damn. Almost forgot." I set my phone up against the bag and make sure that it's positioned at me before I start recording, per Andrew's request. He told me that he wanted video proof that I completed the ritual because evidently, my word isn't enough for him. Whatever.

After I'm done with all of that, I stand and prick my index finger with the tip of the knife, going deep enough to draw blood. I squeeze until six drops hit the ground, and then I wrap my finger to stop the bleeding while proceeding to chant 'Lucifer' twelve times.

I don't take off immediately when nothing happens. I give it some time, about fifteen minutes, and when the devil still doesn't show, I look at the camera and flip Andrew the bird because I win. I win and I can't wait to rub all of this in his face when I get back to the car. Now he can't return to campus and run his mouth to everyone about how I chickened out of the dare that he made such a fuss about back at the warehouse party.

"This was such a waste of my time, but hey, I'm $200 richer than what I was yesterday. Thanks, Andrew." I smile and blow a kiss to the camera.

Honestly, I feel bad for coming out here and wasting the devil's time. I'm sure if he were real, he'd have other important tasks to tend to rather than being forced to take time out of his busy schedule of corrupting people to pop up in the middle of this forest every time an eager idiot comes to summon him for some bullshit wish they probably don't deserve.

Nah. Satan is way too busy wreaking havoc elsewhere. He doesn't have time to waste on a loser like me. I chuckle to myself while packing up and making haste in exiting the eerie forest.

Oddly enough, the journey out of here feels quicker than the walk I made in.

. . .