The Quarry - Hackett Woods

Cԋαρƚҽɾ 4 - Tɾυƚԋ σɾ Dαɾҽ

What do you get when you cross a drunk group of 20-somethings with a game of truth and dare? Fucking chaos.

"This isn't a good idea." I reiterated.

"Lighten up." Tori says.

I groan.

"Okay so who wants to go first?" She says.

"Shouldn't we set up... boundaries? Or something?" Parker asks.

"Hmm..." Tori looks to the sky and taps her index finger on her chin in a sarcastic way.

"No." She finally says.

"Seriously?" Parker says.

"Don't be boring!" She yells, drunkily.

"Okay I'll agree if you stop yelling." Parker says while covering her ears.

"Deal. I'll go first!" She volunteers.

She looks around, deciding who to pick.

"Liam!" She says.

Liam looks up, flustered, not expecting to be called upon.

"Truth or dare?" Tori asks.

"Oh um I... truth. I guess." He says quietly.

"Okay," Tori begins "What's your... worst fear?"

"Boring!" Tom shouts.

Tori throws a marshmallow at him. "We have to start off light. Thems the rules." She states.

She looks back at Liam. "Well?" Tori says while leaning forward.

"Um, I don't know..." He says. "I guess I'm scared of... dogs?"

"Dogs?" Tori says while laughing. 

"What?" Ben jumps in.

"That's such a lame fear." She mocks.

Liam looks down again.

"No it's not. They have like sharp claws and one of them bites you you get like 500 diseases." Ben says.

"So if Tori gets bitten by a dog she'd get 1000 diseases." Tom snorts.

Tori glares at him, if looks could kill Tom would be a pile of ashes on the ground.

"Anyway," she says. "Liam, you go next."

Liam, once again looks back up.

"Oh um, I can't think of one, someone else go." He says.

"I'll go!" Parker volunteers.

Liam looks back down.

"Ben, truth or dare?" She asks.

"Truth." Ben says.

"What's your biggest fear?"

"Um, you literally just stole my question." Tori interrupts.

"You said to start off light." Parker answers back.

"Not by stealing my question!"

"That's the only light question I can think of."

"Ugh, fine." Tori finishes.

Parker turns her head back round to Ben.

"Well?" she begins. "Whats your biggest fear?"

"Republicans." Ben answers.

A few more rounds go by and it ends up being Tori's turn again. Her eyes dart around the group, looking for her next victim.

"Tom!" She ends up choosing. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Tom says, excited.

Tori looks at Parker. Then smirks.

"I dare you to kiss me."

The energy immediately turns awkward. The only people who aren't uncomfortable are Tom and Tori. Parker looks at Tom but Tom doesn't look back. His eyes are only on Tori. I wait for Tori to say she's just joking. She doesn't.

"Alright." Tom says with a smile.

"Are you kidding me?" Parker asks.

"It's just a dare." Tom says and gets up.

He walks to Tori and leans down. Their lips connect. It lasts longer than it should've. Tom that puts his hand on Tori's jaw. And Parker reaches her limit. She gets up and walks into the woods. The kiss finally finishes and Tom goes back to his seat, not caring that his girlfriend just left.

"Are you gonna go after her?" I asked even though the answer seemed obvious.

"If she wants to throw and tantrum and storm off she can. Not my fault she's being so dramatic." Tom says with a shrug.

"You're such an asshole." I say and get up. 

I walk in the direction Parker left and as I leave I hear Tom asking what he did wrong and the sparks of an argument forming between Tom and Ben. 

As I stray further from the group the woods seem to get darker and colder, like at any moment someone or something could jump at me. A place which once felt like home to me has now changed into something that makes me feel uneasy and unsafe. I hope I find Parker soon...

Authors note: Wow, that was a pretty long hiatus. 7 months. I want to finish this for the 2 people who read it when it first came out and I have an idea for another story.