Dare

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Chapter 1: Jacob's Dare

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1996...

"Hey guys! Wait up!" called out Jacob as he ran after the group of four older kids down the sidewalk in a small neighborhood. One of the kids, named Daisy, groaned and glanced over her shoulder at the younger kid. "Does your baby brother have to follow us everywhere we go?" she asked her friend, Caroline. Caroline sighed as she also glanced behind her to look at her younger brother, coming up behind them.

"Hey guys, what are you all up to?" he asked. Behind the two girls, followed The Jackson twins, Mike and Matt. The twins both exchanged irritated glances before looking down at little Jacob. "None of your bees wax, pipsqueak," Mike said. Matt nodded. "Yeah, go home to your mommy," he added. Jacob ignored the Jackson twins' and continued to walk with them. "You guys going to hang at that apple tree again? Can I come too?" he asked.

Caroline sighed. "Why don't you hang with kids your age, Jake?" she asked as she picked up a stick near her and began to run the end of the stick against the teeth of a white washed fence. The Jackson twins did the same.

Jacob sighed. "Because there is no one else in this neighborhood who is as old as me," he complained. The Jackson twins slowed down a bit and exchanged glances. They looked over to Caroline who looked back at them. The kids didn't realize it at first, but it was true. They all lived in a small town, a really small town, surrounded by farms and rolling, grassy fields, dotted with the occasional evergreen tree. With the population of only three hundred and seventy five, everyone pretty much knew everyone in the town.

Caroline sighed and motioned her hand. "All right, fine. You can join us, little brother," she said as she turned back and lead the way, with her friends following right behind her. Jacob grinned excitedly and followed with them. Daisy, Mike and Matt sighed in annoyance and kept their heads down. Caroline didn't say anything as she kept her eyes straight ahead towards their destination.

Caroline was the oldest of the group, being thirteen. She wore a pair of grass stained washed blue overalls with a white shirt sleeved shirt underneath. Her hair was long and blonde. Her shoes were dark brown and light brown sneakers. Her friend, Daisy, was twelve and a half. She was dark skinned with two black braids at the sides of her head. She wore a green and yellow dress and a couple colorful beaded necklaces around her neck. She wore little yellow rubber rain boots since it had just rained last night and might rain later in the day. The Jackson twins were both eleven and had rust colored hair and a spray of freckles across their faces. Matt wore a solid storm grey shirt, while Mike wore a solid blue shirt. They both wore dark blue jeans and walked barefoot.

Jacob was nine. He was turning ten tomorrow. He was really excited to be turning a year older, it meant that he wasn't a young kid anymore. On top of that, his mom was going to be making a chocolate and vanilla cake, his favorite. He wore a dark blue and red striped shirt with black shorts and red sneakers. Unlike his sister, his hair was dark brown, just like his mom's.

The sun began to set, turning the periwinkle blue sky into a painting of warm colors. Oranges and reds splashed across the sky, with dabs of yellow and purple here and there. The kids all arrived at the apple tree that sat alone in a dead, grassy field. Its limbs stretched upwards toward the changing skies. The chilly winds picked up, rustling its emerald green leaves. The kids trampled over the rotten, bug infested apples that were scattered all around the base of the tree and began to climb.

Caroline sat at the almost highest branch of the apple tree. She reached out for a delicious apple the same colors as the sunset and bit into it. Daisy sat on a branch that was slightly lower than Caroline's branch and feasted on an apple as well. The Jackson twins raced up the tree and stopped on the other side of the tree, both sitting on the same limb.

Jacob tried climbing up the tree, but the limbs were too high up. The Jackson twins snickered as they watched the small kid jump up and down, reaching for the limbs. Eventually he got tired and finally decided to sit at the base of the tree amongst the thick roots sticking out from the ground.

Caroline looked out over the dead grassy fields, in her own thoughts. The twins began plucking the fruit within their arms reach and began chucking them across the fields, seeing who could throw the furthest.

Daisy finished her apple and dropped it to the ground, missing Jacob by a couple feet. Daisy looked down at the ground for a while, till she looked over to Caroline. "How about a game?" She asked. Caroline broke away from her thoughts to look over at her friend. The Jackson twins stopped throwing apples and looked over to the girlside above them.

Caroline thought for a moment till an idea came to her head, making her smirk. She picked an apple near her head. "Truth or Dare," she announced.

Mike and Matt smiled and both pointed down to Jacob below. "Jacob first," they said together. Jacob didn't hear them as he kicked away the rotten apples with his feet.

"Jacob!" Caroline called from above. Jacob stopped kicking the bruise colored apples and looked up, squinting from the sunlight that remained just above the pale gold fields. Caroline dropped the apple from where she sat, down to her younger brother. "Truth or Dare," she said again.

Jacob stared up at her with bewilderment. Jacob knew the basics of the truth or dare game. Usually when he was allowed to join the group, which was a few times, he had watched Caroline and her friends play games in the fields or amongst the trees, occasionally the game Truth or Dare. He had never been asked the question. In some cases, he felt scared, but excited at the same time. He was being asked for a truth, or a dare!

Jacob thought for a moment. For "Truth," he would have to spill a dark secret. The kids didn't really have anything that was secret or personal. On top of that, Caroline most likely knew everything about him, because she was born before he was. A "Dare" was more defiant; challenged the player if he was brave, or a coward to do such a task. Caroline was good at bringing up dares. Most of the time her friends would chicken out, and be ridiculed and mocked at, before the friend finally did the dare.

Jacob knew that if he did a dare, he would prove that he wasn't a coward, that he was worthy in joining Caroline's group. That he was a brave soul and he wasn't afraid of his sister's dares. With that, Jacob stood up, apple in his hand, looked up at Caroline and stared straight at her. "Dare," he said loud and clear. Daisy and the Jackson twins looked down at Jacob, small smiles of excitement spreading across their faces. They looked over to Caroline, who was quiet for a minute.

Jacob smiled to himself, knowing that she wasn't ready for him to say Dare. She expected him to say Truth, to stay in the cautious zone and not do anything dangerous. Jacob watched his sister as she turned her head and looked back out over the field. The minutes passed. Daisy went back to picking another apple and eating it. The Jackson twins began punching each other playfully.

Caroline looked back over to the trail that led back to town. She looked across the rooftops, the tree tops, and the streets, then her eyes landed on something in the distance. A smile formed on her face. "Jacob's dare," she declared. Jacob's smile slowly disappeared. His dare. As if he signed it in blood. He was tied to the dare.

Caroline looked down at her younger brother below. "Is to go into the abandoned Freddy Fazbear Pizzeria..." she said. Daisy gasped and looked up at Caroline, at the same time the Jackson twins stopped punching each other. Jacob looked up at them in the tree. They were silent from the mentioning of the place. Caroline didn't stop there. "...at midnight," she continued. Daisy quivered in the tree, "Caroline..." she started. Caroline still didn't stop, as if the first offer of the dare wasn't enough for Jacob to handle. "...and bring something back as proof," she declared. Daisy dropped her half eaten apple, nearly hitting Jacob.

Jacob waited for any other add ons to the dare from Caroline. After hearing nothing else form her, Jacob slowly turned his head out towards the direction of the sunset where in the middle of the dead grassy field, darkended by the sunset, was the abandoned building itself.

A dark silhouette, isolated and alone to the right of the town, sat the once known Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria. Jacob and Caroline's mother always told them, as well as other parents telling their kids, never to go near the place. It was the dark secret of the town. A mystery to the children, but a horrific past to the parents.

"Give him a different dare, Caroline," Daisy said. Caroline looked over to her friend. Before she could speak, Jacob interrupted her. "I can do it. I can do the dare," he said. All four looked down at him from above. They were quiet for a while till Carolines three friends all turned their heads back to Caroline. Caroline and Jacob stared down till Caroline smiled a small smile.

"Allright," she said. "Your dare begins at midnight," she declared.

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