Stephanie Godkin THE DARE

CHAPTER TEN – THE ALLEY

“Tay, let us come with you.” Joey pulled her to the side. “Let Jordan, Ken and I follow you down there. It’s dangerous enough as it is just to do this and throw John being out in public again into the mix, I don’t like it.” Joey was begging her.

“I’m sure John isn’t going to be following us anywhere tonight. He’s probably somewhere drinking and getting high with his goon squad and stewing on revenge. We’ll do this quickly, I’ll text you when it’s all over.” Taylor tried to soothe Joey, but he was not having it.

“Taylor, she’s insane for making you guys do this. What is her deal with this anyway?”

“Joey, relax, it’s just a dare.” She was getting impatient, all she wanted to do was get the night done and over with.

“She came up with this ‘surprise’ dare awfully quick, didn’t she?” Joey was suspicious. Taylor shook her head and thought he was being silly.

“I bet May spoiled it and told her what was going to happen with this dare thing and she’s had all damned day to think about it.” Taylor pressed her fingers to her temples again, her head was beginning to hurt again. “Joey, please, the faster we go, the faster I can be home. I just want this day to be over already. You and I can get together tomorrow, we’ll do our thing with the cops and then, let’s take some time for the two of us.” She smiled at him and slid her arms around his waist. He couldn’t say anything to the negative when she flashed her gorgeous smile. He bent down and kissed her hard and fast on her lips.

“You get any sense of danger, if anything looks off, you promise you’ll screw this dare and get the hell out of there.” Joey took her face in his hands softly. “Taylor, promise me, you will leave that hell hole if anything is off.”

“It’s Death Alley... everything is always off.” Taylor joked, but sensing his fear and urgency, she promised she would keep on driving if they saw anyone near the entrance. It was the best Joey could get out of the deal. Ken was pleading with May, as was Jordan with Kala. The girls stood firm on their decision to go through with the dare. They had all promised to keep going if there was anything amiss and they promised to text as soon as they were back on the highway, headed home. Judy was wishing she could go and was feeling left out. Why had Cristy just picked the three of them and not her? Marc had been drinking too much anyway though, Judy had to drive him back to their apartment now anyway. Taylor promised they would all get together and talk about the adventure to Death Alley over some coffee. Judy reluctantly nodded her agreement. They were talking about what to do about the police visit, when Jack’s car came to life and he peeled out of the drive way leaving a very angry Cristy in its wake. She was crying and upset when she approached the group.

“He’s such a jerk!” She cried.

“Cristy, what the hell just happened?” Kala asked. “He should not be driving!”

“We had a stupid argument earlier about one of my ex-boyfriends. He’s intoxicated and got pissed off about again! He wouldn’t listen to me! He’s mad that I was upset with him about the prank in the pool. He’s just a jerk sometimes.”

“Damnit, we better try to find him and stop him, or at least make sure he gets home. He had a lot to drink, I meant to take his keys from him.” Ken commented.

“May, can I borrow your car and drive to my parents for tonight? I don’t want to go back to the apartment if he’s there. I can bring it back tomorrow before we meet back up to go to the police.” Cristy pled.

“Sure, I won’t be needing it tonight, we’ll take Tay’s car. Maybe we should all meet back here tomorrow and go to the police station in a few cars, instead of us all meeting over there.” May agreed. The rest of them nodded.

“Thanks girl. You guys have a dare to do, remember, by midnight, no later. Hop to it ladies!” Cristy opened the car door and got in.

Joey, Jordan, and Ken were going to try to find Jack and make sure he was ok. Cristy sped off in May’s car before they left. They were all worried about Cristy. She seemed very nervous and it wasn’t just from the fight with Jack. They were surprised at Jack’s anger and taking off like that, none of them had ever seen him that upset before.

Each of the couples said goodbye and promised they would check in with each other soon. Kala, May and Taylor jumped into the red Chevelle and headed nervously to do their task. The guys wanted to forget about finding Jack and follow the girls, but they decided against it, they had to let them do it on their own. They had to make sure Jack wasn’t in trouble with the law, or worse. They helped get a stumbling Marc into the Jeep while Judy jumped into the driver’s seat. She was annoyed that Marc had drank so much and wasn’t really aware of what was going on. She was hurt that she wasn’t going to be a part of the dare.

“You going to be ok getting this guy into your place? You want us to follow you home before we head out to find Jack?” Joey asked, seeing the worry on Judy’s face.

“No, it’ll be fine. He’ll sleep this off and I’ll catch him up in the morning. Joey, I’m really worried. Don’t you think it’s odd that Cristy dared those three and not me? Then she wouldn’t even go with them? “Judy asked.

“It is weird, I don’t know what her end game is here. I’m not even sure how Death Alley got put into her head in the first place. It’s been years since anything’s taken place there. She always was one to be dramatic though.”

“True,” Judy sighed as Marc gave a loud belch. “Ugh, I better get him home. Good luck finding Jack. I hope he’s okay. I’ve never seen him act like that.” Judy said good bye to Jordan and Ken through the window and pulled out of the driveway with Marc. He started snoring loudly against the open window, Judy sighed and headed home. She was very worried about her four friends.

“Let’s take my truck guys, we’ll all be back here tomorrow. You can crash at my place tonight if you want to.” Joey said as they jumped into his Silverado.

“I don’t like any of this.” Ken commented, worried. “Cristy was acting really strange. Then Jack getting pissed like that? That guy never gets angry. Then our girls going off to that damned alley. I mean what the hell is Cristy thinking?” The guys shrugged trying to come up with an answer.

“We have to see if we can find Jack first. He shouldn’t be out driving in his condition. It’ll be DUI city for him if the cops find him first. Cristy and his parents will have a cow. The girls are tough, they’ll be okay.” Jordan tried to convince himself and them of that fact. He rolled the window down to let in the fresh air from the summer night. This turned out to be one strange ass party, he thought. But the silver lining in it all was that he and Kala were finally going to be together. Remembering their first kiss on the hillside as the sun set, only a few hours ago, made him smile. He couldn’t live without her. That realization stunned him, he was head over heels for her. He wanted so badly to follow them to the alley. Dread crept into his stomach thinking about where she and his two other friends were headed. He didn’t like it at all.

“We’ll see if we can find Jack,” Joey’s talking snapped Jordan out of his thoughts, “We’ll stop at their apartment too. If we can’t find him, we’ll have to trust he went somewhere and is okay. We can’t drive around all night.” Joey continued. He too had other worries on his mind. He wasn’t only keeping an eye out for Jack’s car, he was looking for that beat up old pick up John and his friends were driving earlier. He had this nagging feeling John wasn’t at home just stewing about revenge. They drove in tense silence. Each of them wanting that text from the girls to come in quickly.

The red Chevelle carrying the three friends flew down the interstate towards downtown. They had the windows open and the summer night felt good on their skin. Each of them was on edge and nervous but refused to admit it out loud. Taylor kept the music low, her head was aching, she was worried and tired. Death Alley was never a place any of them thought they would ever go to. Why was Cristy so insistent about them going? She had also made them promise to be there right at midnight. For effect, Taylor thought. Cristy was the more dramatic one out of the group and Taylor thought this was just part of her personality. She wanted, after all, to teach theatrical arts so this wasn’t out of her ’norm’. It still bothered her the way Jack had left. What ex-boyfriend could they have been talking about that made Jack so angry? Had Cristy been in contact with this mystery ex recently? Who was the guy she had never told them about? She and Jack seemed to be doing fine together. Maybe there was some trouble in their paradise right now. It plagued her mind as she turned the car onto the downtown exit.

“Taylor, I just love this car!” May smiled as she ran her hands over the back seat, the leather felt smooth and cool to her touch. She was trying to keep the mood light, it wasn’t working though.

“Thanks, my dad worked really hard getting it together for me.” Taylor smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. She knew May was nervous, they all were. There were so many things about the day and about this dare that were nagging at their minds.

“He did a wonderful job, it’s a beast of a car.” Kala added in, small talk seemed to make the drive worse, so they gave up talking for a bit.

Taylor took the turns they were supposed to, passing all of the downtown hot spots full of life. The thumping bass of the music from the night clubs could be heard filtering out of the open doors and balconies overlooking the streets. People with bright colored drinks in their hands waved and laughed at the passing cars. Shouting and cheering could be heard on the sidewalks, people out and about, enjoying the summer night. Kala looked at all of them, wishing May had done something like that instead of this ridiculously long and cliched party. May liked long party’s though. Every birthday of hers they had all spent together were always sleep overs and long nights of girlish chatter. This night however, was turning very dark and nothing like the easy-going nights of their teenage years. Kala had her pepper spray in her hand already. She nervously fidgeted with the little canister, thinking what she would do should it come down to them requiring its use. She would be ready at any sign of trouble. She, like Joey and Jordan, was also keeping an eye out for that beat up old truck. The last thing she wanted was another confrontation with John, especially without the guys there.

“We’re almost there and we should be right on time for midnight.” Taylor sighed as she slowed for a red light. She stopped and watched the cars pass by in front of her. Her head ached more staring at the oncoming lights of the cars on the other side of the street. She looked up at the red light, the blazing color was much like the red flags that were flailing in the winds of her mind. She was also looking for the pickup truck John and his friends drive. She wasn’t so sure that John was at one of his friends’ houses like she told Joey earlier. She was more inclined to believe that he was probably out, not necessarily looking for them, but out. She grimaced at the thought that they were sticking out like a sore thumb in a bright, cherry red muscle car. If John was out on the prowl, he would definitely spot them. She wished now that they had taken one of the other quieter cars that blended into the sea of random cars on the road. She seriously considered trying to convince the other two they should just turn back, but she was the one that agreed to the dare originally, so she felt an obligation to go through with it. Her light was green and she turned down the street, appropriately named “Back Alley Road,” that lead to the numerous alley ways. The energy of the night clubs, colors and music died away as they drove down the long stretch of alleys created by the sky scrapers of downtown. The very last one would be Death Alley. The stench stung their noses immediately as they continued down the darkened road. The street lights were broken and burned out and it seemed the city was in no hurry to replace them. The car lights gave an eerie glow to the endless, damp roadway. Steam rose from manhole covers in the street. The darkened windows of the high-rises looked like empty, cold black eyes staring down at the bright red Chevy driving through its derelict streets. Taylor rolled up her window and advised Kala to do the same. May nervously clenched her seat with her hands. The rumble of the car echoed and bounced off the high walls. Taylor gripped the steering wheel tight, her nerves becoming more and more frayed as they drove towards their destination.

“Keep your eyes open for anybody on the streets. We are not going anywhere near that entrance if there is a single person hanging around.” Taylor warned. “I don’t care what Cristy says, if it’s not empty and quiet, we’re gone. This is ridiculous and I’m regretting talking you guys into this.”

“You have no argument here on leaving. But, don’t feel bad Tay, if we really didn’t want to go, we wouldn’t have. I think in some strange way our curiosity won out over our common sense.” May piped up. She was visibly trembling and biting her lower lip.

“Tay, we do this quick and easy. I was thinking that you stay with the car, keep it running and in gear. May and I can run down take the picture and haul ass back to the car.” Kala suggested.

“No, we do this together.” Taylor’s tone left no room for argument.

“Why do you think Cristy didn’t include Judy in this?” May had asked as she was peering out the window, shaking her head at the ridiculous dare they’d been given.

“I have no idea. You would think she would have wanted us all to go. She’s been acting strange since she mentioned her dare.” Kala tried to come up with an explanation for Judy being left out but found no logical reason.

The air seemed to grow thicker as they reached the mouth of Death Alley’s entrance. The stench of garbage and decay was even stronger here. The walls seemed to ooze with some kind of slimy film from neglect and rot. The entrance though, was devoid of any people, quiet and very dark. They could see a very dim light further down the dank alley and hoped it wasn’t a person with a light on or a fire in one of those empty metal barrels. Large garbage cans and dumpsters lined the alley. Trash was piled everywhere, mountains of filth and rot clinging to the walls.

“Dude, you guys, this place is ridiculously freaky and foul smelling. I might throw up.” May commented, her hands clenched tight on her lap. The champagne she was enjoying at her party was suddenly threatening to make its way out. Her fingers started to hurt from her fists being so tight. The girls silently nodded their whole-hearted agreement.

“Remember those murders a while back? Five men and five women were savagely murdered, the killer was never caught. One of those victims, was a co-worker of my mom’s when she worked downtown.” Kala noted, remembering the day her mother came home early from work. The poor woman was so brutally murdered her mother would not say what happened since Kala was so young. Kala found out sometime later that she had been beaten, stabbed and her neck was broken. Over-kill, that’s what the newspaper had printed. She had found the article when she was trying to find the comics page in the newspaper that weekend. The other victims were killed in a similar fashion. That murderer was still out there, somewhere. Kala had hoped with the years that had passed, the killer was dead or caught or found a new place to reign terror. There hadn’t been reports from Death Alley for years now. Perhaps that serial killer was a thing of the past.

“I remember. Your mom quit her job there and found work closer to home. I don’t blame her.” Taylor whispered as she stopped the car. “Let’s get this thing over with.” She was wishing her car doors weren’t so squeaky. It sounded like the dinner bell being rung for all criminals in the area to come check them out as the girls opened their doors. The loud squeaking and creaking echoed throughout Back Alley Road and Death Alley. Taylor winced a little and sagged back into her seat. She looked to see if anyone was drawn to the noise. No one so far.

“Ok Tay, I know your dad says that noise adds charm and character, but really? Get it fixed.” Kala whispered as she started to get out, Taylor put her hand on Kala’s arm to stop her.

“Wait.” She continued to squint into the darkness for any movements. “I don’t plan on making another trip back here to worry about the doors. Kal, don’t shut your door all the way when you get out. Close it just to the point before it would latch shut, that way we can just open it on our way back. May, keep the seat pushed forward. I’m going to lock my door, when we come running back, one of you will jump in the back seat, pull the front seat back up, let me slide over to the driver’s side, last one in slams the door, locks it and we are out!” Taylor whispered. They nodded quickly and silently in agreement.

“Come on ladies, let’s get this done, I really do not want to be here another second. It feels nasty just breathing in this air. We should have brought HAZMAT suits.” May laughed softly, once again failing to keep the chatter light. The girls were glad they had changed into jeans, tank tops and sneakers. There was no way either of them would go into that filth in flip flops or sandals.

The girls stood at the opening of the stinking alley way. The air really was thick and disgusting feeling. They felt like they were going into a tomb, never to return. To their surprise, there were no homeless people about. They probably figured with the alley’s past that it was too dangerous for any of them to set-up a place there. The girls noticed there really weren’t any sounds at all. Too quiet they thought. It felt off, red flags screaming at them to turn around. Not heeding Joeys words about getting out of there, the girls linked arms and proceeded into the void between the skyscrapers. Taylor held her mace, that was strong enough to fend off an attacking bear, at the ready. A large knife was tucked into her waistband at the back of her pants, ready to use if it was necessary. She prayed it wouldn’t be. Kala had her pepper spray at the ready in her hand as well. May held her phone with a shaking hand, the camera feature open. Nervously and as quiet as they could, they crept into the alley way. The humidity seemed to rise the further they entered. You could almost cut the air with a knife and make a visible mark. Sweat beaded their foreheads as the heat rose, stifling the air they tried to breathe. Kala took the hair tie off her wrist and put her hair up quickly. She was feeling suffocated by the growing heat. She tried to take in deep calming breaths, but the stink of the alley was too much for her senses to take in.

“This officially sucks guys and Cristy is so going to be hearing about it tomorrow.” May whispered harshly. May nervously looked around, Hell, this is Hell she thought looking around further into the dark, focusing on that dim light.

“May keep it down.” Taylor warned. “Get your camera ready, I think we are in far enough.” Taylor looked up at the endless buildings that made up the walls of the alley. They stretched on into the darkness blending with the night sky. It was ominous and dizzying to look

at. “Okay, let’s stop here, May-” Taylor was cut off by a large crashing sound of cans and garbage being thrown and an angry voice breaking the silence.

Next Chapter: THE MURDER