The Dare

Chapter 14

Hazel is still sobbing uncontrollably when we reach a room that was probably once a sunroom. There are large windows that take up a majority of the wall across from the door. The moonlight casting through illuminates the deep red curtains draped to the side of each side of the window. There are various forms of lounge decor around the room, Grayson brings Hazel over to a mustard yellow armchair and lays her in it. She slumps on it, her hair draping over her damp face.

"What is this? It looks so...cozy." Avery says, running her fingers over a blanket that looks as though it was once very fuzzy and warm.

"I read somewhere once that old hospitals like this used to have sun therapy. They thought if the patients received enough sunlight then their illness would go away." I explain, walking over to the windows and looking out at them. First floor, easy enough to get out. Finally, we're free. I turn back to the others and they're staring at me like I'm crazy, which is mind-blowing considering all the crazy we've been through tonight.

"Cool, fun fact Sage." My sister says sarcastically, rolling her eyes and striding across the room to the windows. "Does it look like I care about mentally ill people getting enough vitamin d?" I shrug at her, knowing she's right. Even if she was being rude about it. I unlock the window and yank it, hard. It doesn't budge, not even a little.

"It won't open-" My voice has an edge, tears already in my throat.

"Move." My sister barks, pushing me with her shoulder. She pulls on it with no prevail, two then three times. After three yanks she whirls around and points at Grayson with her manicured finger. "You, try it." Grayson marches over, pulls a few times, grunting with each attempt.

"What the fuck, is it locked?" Conner asks, coming over as well and double-checking the lock. "Oh, screw this. Move." He says, stepping back from the window and waving his hands to move us away. What's with him and my sister both being very bossy? I guess we all react to stress differently.

We move away from the window as he instructed, Grayson put an arm around me as if to protect me; but I don't know what good it will do. Conner lunges hard, putting his strength into the push and he shoves his shoulder into the window. I flinch hard, shocked at the impact. The window creaks with the pressure but doesn't break.

"Shit." Conner grunts, rubbing his shoulder.

"Wait, man-" Grayson starts, but he's cut off by Conner hitting his shoulder off the window again hard. There's no change, not even a slight crack. We're doomed, really screwed.

"What the hell!" Conner yells, whirling around looking for something. He grabs a small circular table from beside a couch and runs at the window again, this time he twists his body and then chucks the table at the glass. Grayson shields me with his body from the shattering wood, but I can see through his arms that the glass remains unharmed.

"Conner stop!" Grayson yells, moving so he stands in front of the window; blocking Conner from attempting any more damage. "This isn't working! Take a step back, breathe. We need to think, to make a game plan-" Conner waves us off with an exclamation of anger and takes out of the room.

"Great, you pissed him off." Salem snaps, glaring at Grayson; as if it wasn't the window that had done it.

"Yeah well, last I checked he willingly came into this place so he can get over himself." Grayson snaps back, and my sister just rolls her eyes at him and leaves to go get her boyfriend. "How are we supposed to get out of here and stay alive if your sister and her boyfriend keep throwing tantrums?" Grayson asks me and I just shrug. Honestly, I'm not concerned with how my sister acts, I'm more worried about getting us out alive. But I don't know what to do, I feel a major loss.

"You know she wasn't always like that?" I tell him, slumping against the unbreakable window. "My sister and I were very close before the accident." Avery looks at me, her eyes sad. Grayson looks at me a little shocked, probably in awe that I'm remotely opening up.

"What happened with your mom, Sage?" Avery asked quietly, pulling her arms tightly around her torso. I don't think this is the time to wallow in my past, there's never a time I want to reflect on that night.

"I don't think my mom's death is what we should be concerned about.." I trail off because Avery just goes and sits with Hazel, making herself comfortable; and Grayson sits on the ground, they both just wait for me to continue.

"Yeah you're not wrong, we have bigger issues." Grayson says, "however this room is pretty comfy and if we're all gonna die I'd rather it be in here." Avery laughs, and I realize what's happening. We've reached this point where it feels like there is no way to survive this. We've given up. I sigh, running my palm over my head and my fingers through my hair.

"My mom, she passed away in a car accident." The words taste like metal in my mouth, never spoken aloud by me. "I'm not a great person. Like, at all. At my last school, I got into a bad friend group and my best friend Amber invited me to a party. I'm sure you can guess, I went. I partied, as you do. And yeah, that's it." They're staring at me, eyes wide, waiting for me to finish. But I don't know how to finish, how to own my truth.

"So you went to a party, ok..." Avery trails off, pushing me to keep talking. My tongue feels heavy, waves crush my head and I don't know how to keep going. The silence is roaring, and they just stare at me waiting. Even Hazel has stopped crying, and she's peering at me with red-shot eyes.

"I called my mom to pick me up, and she did. Because she's nice like that. She's awesome like that. And...I told her I got a tattoo because it was hurting and I was worried about an infection. So I showed her my side, and when she was looking at my tattoo she drifted into the wrong lane and a truck hit us head-on." My words hang in the air, still, nobody speaks. They want me to keep going.

"The driver that hit us had been on his way to work, he had his kids at home. He died too, I'm the only one who survived the crash. My mom died of a brain bleed, and I don't remember much after the impact." I'm done, I'm done talking. I've spoken my truth and now they know how people around me just die. They know how dangerous it is to be around me since I'm just a beacon for this stuff.

"What kinda tattoo?" Grayson finally asks, breaking a silence that I thought may kill me. I laugh, my laughter is more of an awkward uncomfortable laugh. It sounds awful, but they smile at me. I'm glad that they don't pry about my mom.

"I said that my sister and I used to be close? Yeah.." I let myself trail off, but I pull up my shirt as much as the makeshift bandage will allow me and show them my side.

"What are those...seagulls?" Avery laughs and gets off the couch to come to get a better look at the tattoo. Grayson gets close too, but with his presence, I'm hyper-aware of how blue his eyes are in the moonlit room. The light streaming makes his skin look pale, his freckles prominent. I wonder if he can hear my heart pounding in the silence of the building. Black tea, and mint.

"No, it's just an awful tattoo." I laugh, knowing damn well it does look like some seagulls. "When Salem and I were kids we used to call each other bird names. She was Dove and I was Crow, so it's supposed to be a tattoo of a dove and a crow but yeah...it looks shitty." Grayson and Avery laugh again, but I can tell by the warmness that they're laughing with me, not at me.

"Jesus, it looks awful," Salem says, making us all jump. We hadn't heard her come back into the room. I pull my shirt back down in embarrassment, I'd never shown her the tattoo because I knew she'd hate it. It would remind her of a time when I wasn't her twin that had caused her mother's death. A time when we did everything together before I ruined everything.

"If you're done having a fun little storytime, come with me", she snaps at us. "Conner and I found a way out of here."