Nerve

eight

- emma -
{ unedited }

"Alright watchers, first and foremost, thank you for a spot in the top five," I say, speaking to my phone that I held near my face, "But I'm going to need a badass enough dare to be in the finals. So I'm going to need an epic dare." I claim, looking over to Lukas as we approach his motorcycle.

My eyes wandered over to the corner of my phone that showed how many people were watching me: nearly 200K- which is insane.

Lukas tossed me a helmet for the motorcycle, as he strapped his own on. We were preparing to take off for the next dare, but we obviously had no idea where the watchers would send us. It was also getting chillier by the minute as the cold rain hit our skin.

While strapping on my helmet, my phone buzzes.

"SPRAY PAINT SUBWAY TRACKS $7,000."

"Another spray paint dare?" Lukas questions, positioning himself on the motorcycle.

"I guess so," I shrug, "But this could be the one to send me to the finals." Lukas just nods at my comment, nothing more. I could tell he seemed indifferent about my dare, but I had to if I wanted to be able to be in the finals with him.

"You know where the closest subway stop is?" I ask him, hopping on the motorcycle.

"Yeah," he says, turning on the motorcycle's ignition, "It's not too far from here." The vehicle roars to life, and my arms wrap around his waist to hold on. Lukas then tightens his grip on the handlebars and we take off.

I quickly click ACCEPT for the dare as we grow closer and closer to the subway station. Once the station comes into view, I inform Lukas and he pulls over to the side of the street to park again. Watchers already were racing over to catch and see my dare, their phones pulled out and already recording. My legs swung over to the side of the motorcycle as I hopped off, placing my helmet on the seat. I run over to the descending stairs, Lukas right behind me. I reach the bottom of the stairs in hardly any time, glad to see a subway train wasn't currently sitting on the tracks.

"Flo!" A voice shouts to me, causing me to look in the direction of the sound. A blue spray can is thrown my way — I'm assuming from a watcher — and my hands were quick to catch it. I knew the clock was ticking against me, so I went over to the edge of the floor and jumped down to the tracks as fast as I could.

My hand grasped onto the can as I shook it, popping off the lid. I held my phone infront of me to show the watchers what I was doing. The clock had been limiting me from thinking of something clever to paint, so I instead kept it simple. I planned to write 'eflow' to keep it easy and even make my mark. The sound of spraying paint filled my ears as I dragged the paint can over the bumpy tracks. Blue coated the rusted tracks, as I sprayed the quickest I could.

"Emma!" Luke called, as the sound of a train heading our way was heard in the distance. I hurriedly attempted to finish my work, and once I did, the subway is close; too close. I'm given no choice but to drop my can and run towards the underground wall, hearing shouts from the audience that surrounded me.

The subway train zoomed by as soon as I reach the wall, my foot catching onto part of the track and and causing me to stumble into the wall. I felt my head hit against the thick wall as I fell into it, a gasp suddenly escaping from my lips. My body hugged the wall for my life as I stood there, my eyes screwed shut.

All of a sudden, I feel something inside of me being torn from me. Nothing physical, but mental. I felt as if my strong shield had broken into two, and I no longer felt safe. This game no longer appealed to me, it only had tried to piece back together shattered edges that didn't fit with each other and never would. This game had brought no good to me, with the exception of Luke. I had lost my best friend, my safety, and my strength.

I felt warm tears rush down my cold cheeks as my eyes squeezed shut once again. The subway train had just about passed, but I still stood still. Once I appeared to the crowd as alive and well, they all began to cheer with joy.

"DARE COMPLETE
YOU ARE IN FIRST PLACE."

I felt my body shake, as I slowly flipped my body so that my back was now leaning against the wall. Luke came into my vision as he jumped down from the floor and onto the tracks with me.

"Emma — shit — are you okay?" He asked, but my mind was spinning. My gaze snapped to his in an instant. I felt my eyes bulging out of my head, but also they flickered back and forth, as if I couldn't focus on one thing at a time.

"I," My voice trembled softly. I looked to the blue paint on the tracks that I had created, then back to Luke. He looked fuzzy. I didn't feel okay, if anything I felt dizzy... really dizzy.

"Emma," Lukas said, and then said something after that. I can't hear what he's saying, my body felt unreal as I felt my mind be transported into a deep dark world of black.

-

hi hello don't hate me for the short chap & cliffhanger!

posted this chapter just in time for the holidays. i hope you all have a merry christmas and happy holidays :-)