We Thought We Had Nothing To Fear, Until Fear Came For Us (Private w/ ephemeral.)

"You missed out on a lot of Dan being stupider than usual" Jack commented with a glance in Dan's direction, a grin spreading across his features when he caught sight of the sour expression that Dan bore. He snickered at this, only to try and scoot back when Dan went to kick him. "Hey! That's violence!" Jack exclaimed, the laughter still evident in his tone. "I know, why else do you think I'm trying to kick you?" Dan retorted, no shortage of amusement on his own face.

Meanwhile, Sarah was slowly shaking her head at Theo and Sam as they talked. The latter had since shoved the other off and reminded him that he was more drunk than what Dan had been, a statement that had her raising an eyebrow once more. It wasn't until Sam said that he was so out of it that he couldn't remember anything, did Theo interrupt him. Letting out an offended gasp that was to exaggerated to be genuine, Theo stated that he did remember stuff- Though he failed to mention what that stuff was. Instead, he said that Sam had been drinking along with them; having been the one that finished Theo's beer. "Well, then..." Sarah said as she stared at Theo, "It's definitely a good thing Sam made sure that you didn't bring booze. Because I wouldn't be the only one you'd have to deal with."

"She's right" Jack cut in, just as Sarah had finished speaking. "If my Aunt found out that we were out here drinking, she'd be pissed."

(Forgot to answer to this thread, sorry.)

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Jack asked when Theo claimed that they should still do a drinking game or two, just for the sake of learning each other's deepest, darkest secrets. "You never know, one of us could have a secret that you're better off not knowing" The blonde teen explained to him, trying to make himself sound as ominous as possible as he raised a brow at Theo. "What secrets do you possibly have that could be that bad?" Sarah soon piped up, having given Jack an incredulous look in response to Jack's statement. Even though she doubted that Jack was a perfect angel, he was still one of the most mild members in their group. It was hard to believe that someone as friendly and trustworthy as him could have secrets that registered as "dark".

a broad smile spread across Jack's face as if he was trying to hold in laughter, afterwards shaking his head slightly. "The depths of my mind are an enigma" He soon told her, prompting Sarah to just look plain confused. "What even are you?..." She questioned as she gave the other a long stare.

Eventually Sam spoke up again and brought the focus towards him, having asked Theo what game they should play. The younger teen frowned in response to this question, sighing that he didn't know. For a moment he seemed about ready to suggest that they play Truth or Dare, but that didn't really count as a drinking game. So, he began to look around at the others, seeming to be asking for help.

"What about Never Have I Ever?" Dan soon piped in, his brow raising as he glanced around at the others to see their reactions.

Theo seemed excited about the prospect of playing the game that Dan had suggested, immediately agreeing to it. The young teen took a quick sip of his soda before glancing at Sam with an impish smile on his face, claiming that he was going to spill all of Sam's secrets. The other didn't take to kindly to this, having fixed Theo with a glare. ""I know some of your secrets, too, Theodore. And I've seen you do some pretty stupid stuff" Sam reminded him with an even tone, right before he glanced around at everyone else.

"I'll start: Never have I ever eaten a sandwich that only had candy inside it" He abruptly announced, having given Theo a sharp look while doing so. Of course, Theo had some protests about this; stating that Sam was bullying him because he already knew that he did that. What followed was Theo spilling the beans about how Sam had licked a frozen pole on a dare, the latter beginning to look quite embarrassed. For a moment, it seemed that this game was just going to be Theo and Sam telling secrets about each other- But Theo put a stop to their pettiness before it could boil down to that.

"I got one for you" Sarah soon said, deciding to take the lead now. Having since grabbed her soda by its glass neck, she looked around at everyone before a mischievous smile came to her lips. "Never have I ever kissed somebody" She stated, gaining a bunch of looks from the others surrounding her. "Wow, starting it off strong" Jack commented, right before he went to raise his bottle to his lips. "Whoa, wait" Dan soon cut in, eyes widening slightly at Jack, "Who the hell did you kiss?"

"Peggy McCall from third grade" Jack told him after he had taken his sip, "She punched me afterwards and gave me a black eye."

"Funny thing is that I still had a crush on her all the way up to fifth grade" Jack added with a chuckle, listening as Theo laughed at his story. Before long though, the latter went to take a sip of his own soda- Giving a proud grin as he held up two fingers afterwards. He soon explained that his first kiss had been Evelyn Davis a couple of years back, and his most recent was Doris Miller. Jack's brow raised at this information, honestly, he had no clue that Doris had a preference for younger boys. But apparently, Theo wasn't the only one- Earl Avery from his English class having kissed her as well.

"I have to admit that out of everyone here, I did not expect Theo to be the one who kissed the most girls" Jack said as he glanced around at the group, soon noticing that neither Sarah, Sam, nor Dan had went to take a drink. Theo was the one who demonstrated the surprise which they both felt; staring at them all with wide eyes. "None of you have kissed someone?" He asked, a question which earned a scoff from Sarah. "Please, after hanging out with you guys, I don't think I'd want to" She joked. After all, being in a group of friends that were mostly boys, she had a deeper insight as to how they acted and what they did. "Fair enough" Jack commented as he soon shifted his gaze to Dan, soon asking, "But you Dan? You've never kissed a girl?"

He figured that with Dan's sense of humor and friendly nature, he would of kissed quite a few girls. Dan gave a mere shrug in response though, staring at the glass bottle in his hands. He did his best not to appear as uncomfortable as both Jack and Theo questioned him, what was he supposed to say?

Thankfully Jack was there to change the subject, asking Sam if he wanted to go next.

Sam made his choice, stating that he had never cheated on a test before. Theo was first to comment, pointing out that it was a lame subject to choose. However, he winded up taking a drink anyway, something that earned a narrowed gaze from Sam. Theo was quick to defend himself though, explaining that it had been a math test in the second grade. "Don't worry, I'm with ya" Jack told him as he went to drink as well, followed by Dan and even Sarah.

Dan's eyes widen when he saw Sarah take a sip of her soda, nearly spitting out the drink in his mouth. He made a dramatic gasp after he had swallowed, giving Sarah an exaggerated look of shock. "Sarah" He said, his actions prompting Sarah to explain herself. "It wasn't on anything important!" She swore as her brow furrowed in the slightest, "It was a spelling quiz in kindergarten, I didn't know how to spell spaghetti."

Jack could be seen lurching forward as he tried to keep his soda in his mouth, Sarah's reply almost making him laugh and choke. When he was finished, he turned his head to look at her; his face slightly red from trying not to laugh. "You couldn't spell spaghetti?" He asked her, Sarah faking a glare at him in return, "I was five."

Dan was snickering in response to all of this, shaking his head slightly until Jack spoke up again, "I guess I'll go then" He said, afterwards going on to state, "Never have I ever written someone a super sappy love note."

"Aw" Sarah commented as Sam told them about the note he had written to Anne Hollman in the second-grade. Apparently he had gotten a response from her just a few days later, but never bothered to read what she had put. Theo went on to exclaim that she could of put something nice and Sam probably broke her heart. Sarah could only assume that the reason Sam never open the note was because he was nervous, he had been only seven after all. After Theo had finished teasing Sam about it, the younger teen went to take a drink; but explained that he was only thirsty. "Suuure" Jack said in response, making it sound as if he didn't believe Theo- But the reality was that he just messing with him.

As this went on, Dan went to take a sip of his own- This was something he could actually answer. "Joyce Meyers, fourth grade" He said after lowering his bottle from his mouth, "I gave her a Valentine's Day card that I made, but it turned out that she already had a crush on Ronald Doyle." Of course, Joyce wasn't the only one that Dan had written a note for. But she was the only one that he could bring up without it seeming unnatural. No way in hell he was going to admit that he had written a note for someone that was in this tent with him. His eyes glanced towards Sam just for a split second before he dropped his gaze to his lap. Deep down, he wondered what that thing did with the note that it had taken from his room... Hopefully it wouldn't try to use it against him later on, but Dan couldn't be so sure

Sarah too had taken a drink, giving Dan a empathetic look as she did so. "Lewis Nicholson in sixth grade, I don't think he ever read it though" She explained when she was finished, afterwards looking at Theo, "Your turn."

It was clear that Theo knew something that no one else did when he said this, having given Sam a look when he tried to protest against this. Eventually Sam let a sigh and took a sip, admitting defeat as he explained to the others that he had a huge crush on Audrey Sawyer. He saw her on the first day of school and brought her presents until his sister put an end to it, apparently thinking that Sam was just wasting stuff on this girl. "Wow" Jack chuckled in response to this right before he too took another drink.

"I was smitten with this girl when I was six. Her name was Jane Hurley and she was, like, eleven when I first met her. So you can guess why it would of never worked out, that and she moved when I started second grade. I'm pretty sure I cried when I found out she was leaving" Jack told them, an embarrassed smile coming to his face when he recalled that final part.

Dan chuckled at this, having refrained from taking a sip of his own drink. He wasn't sure if he shared the same sentiment as Sam and Jack, but it was fun to hear their stories. Apparently Sarah was on the same page as him, she never experienced that instantaneous puppy love. Though she was willing to share her story about how a boy in first grade had a crush on her, but he wasn't really good at showing it- Apparently he pulled her hair the first day that he had met her.

From there the game continued, until everyone's soda began to run low. Dan winded up finishing off his because he, like Theo, had been thirsty. Of course he had brought some extra soda in case anyone wanted to continue or start up a new game. They could of done Spin The Bottle with the one that Dan had finished, but that would of been really weird considering that it was mostly guys in the tent. Unless they mashed up the rules and decided to give dares to whoever the bottle landed on.

After having finished up the game of 'Never Have I ever', the group went on to play something that was a mashup between 'Spin The Bottle' and 'Truth or Dare- Only there was no option of picking truth. Theo had decided that they would only be doing dares since they weren't pansies and selecting truth was the easy way out. So The next hour or so was just a mixed bag of them making each other do stupid stuff; kisses excluded of course.

Of course, it was only a matter of time until the sugar from the soda and snacks wore of and everyone began to crash. By now it had grown dark out and Jack wouldn't have been surprised if his family had gone to sleep in the house. Before they set out to camp outside, Uncle John had said something about leaving a light on in case any of them needed to come into the house for something. That way if someone needed to use the bathroom or get water, they wouldn't be stumbling around in the dark.

Sam had turned on the flashlight he brought along, waving it across everyone and causing them to wince in response. Theo let out a muffled whine of protest when the beam of light was focused on him, the younger teen moving to cover his eyes. Sam apologized before he told Theo to have a Mentos, chucking one of the mints at him. A prominent yawn came from Sarah as she lazily watched the two, having since grabbed one of the blankets to wrap around her shoulders. "I guess so" She responded before then telling the group, "Just a reminder though that there's only three sleeping bags, so if you want one, claim it now."

After having told everyone who wanted a sleeping bag to grab one, Theo immediately flopped forward; having no issue with pushing passed Sam. The rest of them leaned back a bit, not wanting to get in Theo's way as he scrambled for a sleeping bag- All the while Sam grinned and shook his head. "You guys can have the sleeping bags, I'll be fine" Sam said to Jack and Dan, he being fine with settling for a blanket. "Same here" Sarah piped up, already pretty comfy with the one she had wrapped around herself. This gave both Jack and Dan the opportunity to take the last too sleeping bags, because there was no way Theo was giving up his.

"Alright, if you two say so" Jack said as he went to crawl over towards one of the unoccupied bags, having to move passed Sarah to do so. He spent the next few moments getting into the sleeping bag before he grabbed a pillow and slapped in down, plopping his head onto it afterwards. Dan raised an eyebrow at Jack while he did this, he seeming ready to fall asleep now at any moment. "Comfy?" He asked the blonde teen, to which Jack responded by lifting up his arm and giving Dan a thumbs up. "The comfiest." Before long, Sam announced that he wanted to get a drink of water. He asked if he should leave the flashlight here with them, to which Theo told him yes- Though he didn't understand why Sam didn't just drink more soda if he was thirsty. "I don't want to ingest anymore sugar, Theo" The older teen replied as he handed the flashlight over to Theo, afterwards rising to his feet in a crouched position. "Be right back, guys" He told everyone, right as he exited the tent. "Don't trip over anything!" Dan called after him, soon moving to get the remaining sleeping bag.

The night air was warm, but not unbearably so- An orchestra of crickets and other nighttime critters there to accompany Sam as he made his way for Jack's house. From the outside, it was clear that all of Jack's family members had gone to sleep; there being no light from the windows upstairs. As promised though, a light near the front door had been left on for them; it's glow able to be seen from a nearby window.

However, as Sam bounded up the porch steps and went to open the unlocked door, he would be able to see that something was horribly amiss. This wasn't Jack's house. No, it wasn't because it was dark and the shadows made things unrecognizable- This really wasn't Jack's house. The interior of the place had gone from a home to that of a place that had been abandoned for decades. The inside was dark and dreary with wallpaper that had begun to peel off in large pieces, revealing the stained walls underneath. A thick layer of dust coated the stairs, debris covered the dull wooden floors, and it seemed that mold had begun to grow near the ceiling. The musty smell which surrounded Sam told him that this place hadn't seen a visitor in some time. But of course that couldn't be right, this had to be Jack's home. His family had no close neighbors, so it wasn't like Sam could have mistakenly stumbled into the wrong house.

Walking through the house revealed the same scene as the entrance way. Everything in each room was decrepit and dirtied by age, with any furniture that was left being broken or torn up. It really was like walking through a haunted house, but even in attractions like that there would be other patrons and actors in the space with you- This house just seemed deserted. That brought the question though of where Jack's family was, they should've been right upstairs.

But rounding his way around the house and back towards the stairs, there came no reply when Sam called out- Just the still, musty air and the clatter that came when Sam dropped the piece of wood he had. It was a good thing that Sam was wise enough to make the decision to head back to the tent, rather than stick around. He knew something was wrong and he was going to rally up his friends to investigate, when he would have strength in numbers. But something in the house didn't want him to do that. Just as Sam turned away to head for the door, an audible creak sounded from behind him.

It was the sound of weight causing the old floorboards to groan in protest- Deep, raspy breathing there to accompany it. This was all it took to let Sam know of the presence behind him, but he would regret ever turning around to look.

Behind him was a man, but not quite. He was massive and easily towered over the teen with a build that easily told of his strength, having skin that had begun to turn a sickly green with decay. His face was horribly deformed, his cheeks and eyes having sunken into his skull and an empty cavity where his nose should've been. Worst of all though had to the prominent scar that circled around the top of his head, being held shut by the large, gruesome staples embedded into his skin. He stared down at Sam with vacant eyes plagued by cataracts, his expression stiff and emotionless.

Before long, he took a lumbering step towards Sam- Then another, and another. All the while he slowly opened his mouth and revealed the crooked, rotting within in. "Saaam..." The creature said in a low, hoarse voice; the stench which came his mouth being almost unbearable. It smelled like something had crawled into his mouth and died- Which judging by the bits of old, bloodied flesh stuck between his yellowed teeth... That assumption probably wasn't too far off.