For the day before Halloween, I hope you agree this one fits the scary bill. It's also a bit gory, but that's perfect for the season, too, right? I wonder how many of you played this game as kids. If you're reading this, the results were nothing like this tale. Enjoy!
Bloody Mary
by Eric J. Krause
Jenni handed Samantha a
thumbtack. "Jab your thumb and wipe the blood on your forehead. Then
spin around three times and say, 'Bloody Mary,' each time."
"No," Samantha said. "That'll hurt."
"But you said 'dare,'" Melinda said. "If you don't do it, you lose."
"And we tell the whole school you like Gerald Wilcox," Jenni said.
Samantha
froze. They would, too. They'd been holding that threat over her head
to make her do whatever they wanted ever since Jenni saw her doodles
proclaiming her love for Gerald on the inside of her notebook. Fine.
What was a few seconds of pain compared to an entire school year of
torture?
"What happens after I spin and say her name?"
"Bloody Mary will show up in the mirror over the fireplace," Melinda said.
Samantha chuckled. "And then she'll grant me my greatest wish, right?"
The
other two girls rolled their eyes. "No," Jenni said. "She'll probably
do something bloody. Why do you think they call her Bloody Mary?"
Samantha
held out her thumb and positioned the tack over it. The two girls
squealed in delight and pushed closer. They hadn't thought she'd do it.
She nicked her thumb, bringing a quick sting, and fought hard not to jam
it in her mouth. Instead, as the rules said, she rubbed the blood on
her forehead and spun three times, chanting "Bloody Mary," with each
spin. Only then did she suck her thumb to quell the bleeding.
Jenni
was the unlucky one who noticed first. She let out a gasp and pointed
to the mirror. Blood poured down her face as her eyeballs melted.
Melinda screamed and tried to run out of the room, but her yells turned
to gags, and she skidded down on the carpet. Her tongue turned to gore,
and blood gushed from her mouth.
An evil presence grabbed
Samantha by the chin and forced her to look at the mirror. A beautiful
woman with alabaster skin, a blood-red dress, and glowing eyes smiled
down at her.
"How did you trick them into letting you call me, my daughter?" Bloody Mary asked.
Samantha flashed a wicked grin. "Mind manipulation. These two stupid sluts proved to be no challenge."
"All because of the boy?"
Samantha
scoffed and gave her mother a look that said she was getting a bit dull
in her old age. "Not any boy. Unwittingly or not, they did almost force
out the Anti-Christ before his time. The agents of good would have no
doubt intervened and put an end to his wicked ways before we could even
start. And where would that leave us?"
A whimper escaped Jenni as
she tried to look around the room with holes where her eyes used to be.
A strangled moan erupted from Melinda as she reached into her mouth,
only to find her tongue obliterated.
"Let me put them out of their miseries, Daughter. I swear, sometimes you surpass even me in your cruelty."
"Don't
go soft on me, Mother. We've been planning this for two millennia.
These girls mean nothing in the grand scheme of things."
"Fine, fine. Shall I take my leave for now?"
A
look of hate flashed across Samantha's face. "Not yet. The blind one's
parents are around somewhere. Don't you think their genitals need to be
punished for breeding such a stupid bitch?"
