No one moved. Through the crisscross of flashlight beams they all looked at Ga Yeon, as if some massive gauntlet had been hurled at her feet.

  Challenge glimmered in Tae Yeon’s eyes, but it ran so much deeper than the mattresses. They were just a prop, everyone else the audience. This was about her, and Ga Yeon. And Kai.

   Tae Yeon was taking her claim, daring Ga Yeon to make a move. Ga Yeon  was supposed to back away, to run, giving Tae Yeon the satisfaction of scaring Ga Yeon away from the house… but from Kai.

   They explore every room in the house without missing one. Determine not to buckle, Ga Yeon stepped deeper into the room and saw. Lightning flashed in from a cloudless sky, replacing shadows with harsh silver light. And in that one cruel flash, everything came into horrible focus. Filth littered the warped wood floor. Some kind of greasy grime coated the windows. Dark copper smeared against the walls. And on the mattresses, something really red.

  A single pink Converse lay upside down.

  A phone in the corner.

  On the bed…

  Ga Yeon gasped. The girl lay limp as a rag doll, long legs barely covered by short denim shorts. And the hair long dark-

  Ga Yeon recoiled, tried to breathe. burned. Her chest hurt a lot that she might faint there.

  Ga Yeon grabbed onto the oath, the familiar voice, used it to pull me back. Somehow she managed a forceful blink, returning the shadows to the room and revealing everything exactly as he had been; Tae Yeon and Hyuna crouched among the candles by the mattresses, a scowling Suho a few steps away, Soo Yeon hovering close to Kai, Sehun next to Ga Yeon. They all stared as if Ga Yeon was terribly scared.

  “Your hand is cold as ice,” Sehun muttered. Only then Ga Yeon realize he grabbed her hand. Ga Yeon yanked back from him, willing the stupid images to clear. There was no light, no blood. No knife on the floor.

   I wasn’t lying discarded on the bed… Thought Ga Yeon. The thought of it makes her shiver. Ga Yeon missed having someone to hold onto. Aunt Hyeri was awesome, but it wasn’t the same. She wasn’t the same. She didn’t know. Shw couldn’t. Gran had never lt Ga Yeon tell anybody about her vision.

   “A nice shade of pale, too.” Hyuna smirked, exposing Ga Yeon with her flashlight . “What’s the matter? See a ghost?”

   “Maybe,” Ga Yeon said with a hint of smart- she didn’t come close to feeling. Forcing her own smirk, Ga Yeon keep her eyes on the girls, absolutely refusing to look at Kai.

   “Don’t you feel it?” said Ga Yeon, playing innocent. She cross her arm to fend off the shiver she felt – but the others don’t. “The cold…”

   Sehun laughed. “Sorry, babe, but it’s hot as hell in here.”

   “Uh-huh. That’s why my shirt is sticking to my chest.” said Tae Yeon as she pushed her hair back from her face, rolling her eyes.

   “Wait a minute,” Hyuna closed her eyes and opened her arms in welcome. “I think I do feel something.”

   “The candles, the mattresses,” she purred, opening her eyes. “It’s perfect!”

   “ Perfect?” Ga Yeon echoed.

   “ For a séance! We could do one, see if there really ghost here.” Said Hyuna turning around.

   Ga Yeon was bewildered for a second. Hyuna kneeled near the candles. “Anyone got a lighter?” She asked  already holding a candle  in her hand.

   “I-I don’t think this is a good idea,” Soo Yeon said.

   But her sister joined Hyuna, lining up the votives in two little rows. “Awwh… come on. Don’t you have anyone dead you wanna talk to?”

   The wave of grief hit so hard, Ga Yeon couldn’t breath for a second. Omma…

   Going down on one knee, Ga Yeon leaned in for a better view, counting to ten before twisting toward Tae Yeon. “I dare you touch it.”

   The surprise in Tae Yeon’s eys felt good. Beautiful and popular. “Touch it?”

   “The blood,” Ga Yeo said as the others bunched closer.

   Sehun laughed histerically. “Yeah, babe, touch it… It’s nothing.”

   TaevYeon looked around the room and then turn to Ga Yeon. “If I do,” she said quietly. “What will you do?”

   Hyuna spoke first. “Truth or dare,”she answered before Tae Yeon could. “If Tae Yeon takes your dare , you owe her.”

   The room got crazy quiet . The stillness vibrated.

   “Ga Yeon-ahh”

   Kai’s voice, the tense undercurrent, stopped Ga Yeon. “You don’t have to do this.” He said.

   “I’m not afraid.” That was so a lie. Ga Yeon put on a fake smile.

    Tae Yeon got down beside her, whispering, “Maybe you should be,” before leaning over the mattresses. She made a show of lifting her hand toward the copper stain, the lowering her palm tomthe center of it.

    “Happy?” she asked. “Give me your flashlight.” Said Tae Yeon as she get off the mattresses.

    Ga Yeon’s heart slammed- she didn’t need to look down at her death grip to know her knuckles had turned gone white. Game! Game!  She told herself.

    “You’re not scared , are you?” asked Hyuna.

    “That’s enough- “ Kai started.

    But Ga Yeon cut him off. “What if I’d rather a truth?”

    “Then the truth it is.” She said in an arrogant voice.

    “Tae Yeon.” Kai broke toward her and took her hand, yanked to her feet. Heled her to the corner – the same corner where Ga Yeon had seen the discarded phone.

    There was edge to his voice, sharp, angry, but the words were lost to others. He stood stiff and rigid, like he wanted to drag her out of there. But his girlfriend held her head high, letting her hair pass down her shoulders.

    “Trust me,” Ga Yeon heard her whisper as she pushed up to give him a quick kiss. She then approach Ga Yeon so close that she need to look down to see her.

    “Who in this room,” she began in measured, singsong voice, “do you most want tyo hook up with?”  Ga Yeon saw Kai frown as she added, “ – and what exactly, you want to do with him?”

    Mouth dry, Ga Yeon looked up to Tae Yeon. Everyone else faded from her awareness.

    “I’m not here to hook up with anyone,” Ga Yeo said pushing her feet. It was better standing.

   “Most,” Tae Yeon repeated. “Who do you most want to be with?”

    There was absolutely no winning with that questions. So Ga Yeon return to Tae Yeon and held out her flashlight. “A dare for a dare.” Ga Yeon said as her phone buzz.

    Tae Yeon ‘s hair fell into her face. “ Sorry, Yeonnie,” she said, taking Ga Yeon’s flashlight and letting it fall to the ground. “You already got your do-over.”

    Which meant that she was left with the truth she could never give.

    “You better check your phone,” Kai said, with absolutely no emotion in his voice. “        Unless you  want your aunt to freak and call the cops.”

    Downstairs, wind blew through the broken windows. Ga Yeon take out her iPhone from her pocket. Aunt Hyeri had text her. Three times. Not sure how she missed the first two.

                I’ll be home around midnite.

              Home now… will wait up n case u forgot key.

              Worried, Yeonnie. Let me know u r okay.

    Ga Yeon immediately reply.

           Everything okay. With friends. Home soon.

              U sure?

              Yeah. Kai is here.

Aunt Hyeri like Kai.

              Good. CUITM.

    “Hyuna ,” Ga Yeon said, and seemingly on cue, Soo Yeon’s light found her sister’s friend. Suho, not much taller than she, still stood behind her. “ I most want to be with Hyuna.”

    Ga Yeon loved the flash of surprise in Tae Yeon’s eyes. “Hyuna?” Tae Yeon scoffed. “But -“

    “And for her… I’m thinking a dare.” With a deliberate smile, Ga Yeon let the word dangle.’

    “Now we’re talking,” Hyuna whispered, and over the scratch of a branch along the window, Ga Yeon swear that she heard Tae Yeon growl.

    “What,” Ga Yeon started. Dragging the words out for effect, “… were you doing … after football game last Friday night –“

    Just like that, the room quit breathing.

    “- in the backseat …” Tae Yeon moved closer to Ga Yeon. “… of Sehun’s car?” Ga Yeo made herself finish. Hyuna stiffened. Suho’s hand fell away. Tae Yeon let out a strange noise.

    Hyuna’s eyes met Ga Yeon’s. “You said a dare,” Tae Yeon snapped. “That’s a truth.”

    Either way everyone knew the answer. “It’s all the same to me.”Ga Yeon said.

   
“Then I dare her to say the truth,” Sehun said. Ga Yeon couldn’t tell whether it was a possession she saw burning in his eyes – or contempt.

    “It’s not your turn, jerk-off,” Tae Yeon snapped , as Suho took another step away from Hyuna.

    Ga Yeon sighed. “I dare you…” Ga Yeon looked at her apathically. “ … to lie down on the mattress.” Maybe Hyuna didn’t deserve a do-over.

   Sehun muttered under hi breath and stormed out of the room, leaving Hyuna hugging bony arms around her body while Suho hovered nearby – but no longer touched.

      Like a (as if!) sacrifice, Hyuna moved to the mattress lay her back, covering the stain.

      Through the darkness, her eyes met Ga Yeon’s. “ My turn,” she whispered.

      Hyuna was on her feet now. “Walk down the hall,” she said. “Alone.” Then she held out a hand. “Without any light.”

      “No.” The word come out in response. The room shifted as everyone twisted toward Ga Yeon.

      “No?” Hyuna asked.

      “It’s not your dare.” Tae Yeon pointed out.

      “Ga Yeon-ahh” Only then Ga Yeon realize Kai had left Tae Yeon’s side and moving toward her.

      But Ga Yeo shook him off. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.” She looked around. “What if there’s someone else here.”

      “Ugh… please…” Tae Yeon yanked the sole remaining flashlight from her sister and handed it to Hyuna. Then she flashed a bright smile and trotted from the room.

      Few second later she screamed.