Natalie turned to Chloe, desperation in her eyes. "Chloe, you have to do something!"
Chloe nodded, trying to keep her cool. Her dad was a doctor, and she knew a few things about basic first aid. "Okay, let's clean up the blood first," she said, pulling out some supplies from a nearby cabinet.
She carefully cleaned the blood from Jake's legs and then applied some ice to his knees to reduce the swelling. "This should help for now, but your knees are in bad shape. Don't try to move too much," she said as she wrapped his legs in bandages.
A few minutes later, Ava returned from the storeroom carrying a pair of crutches. The others stared at her in shock.
"Where did you get those?" Natalie asked, her voice full of surprise.
"I found them in the storeroom," Ava replied, shrugging like it wasn't a big deal.
"Well, at least there's something useful in this nightmare," Lily muttered.
Jake grabbed the crutches and, with some help from Noah, managed to sit up a bit, though the pain was still etched across his face.
Suddenly, a loud thud echoed from upstairs.
"What was that?" Ethan asked, his voice trembling.
Everyone turned toward the stairs, their hearts pounding in unison.
"Let's go check it out," Ava suggested.
With hesitant nods, they all walked towards the stairs, their breaths shallow. The sound grew louder as if something heavy was being dragged. They reached the bottom step and peered up into the dark, ominous stairway.
THUD. THUD. THUD. Then, a final, deafening BANG...
THUD.
THUD.
And BANG.
The noise persisted, growing louder until they were all huddled together, staring at the piano that seemed to move on its own.
Ethan's voice quivered, "What the hell?"
Natalie stared in disbelief. "The piano is moving."
Jake, wide-eyed and pale, stammered, "Oh my God, it's a ghost!"
The piano stopped at the edge of the stairs, an eerie silence following its sudden halt.
Noah frowned, "Why did it stop? What happened?"
"I don't know," Ava whispered,
"Why are you asking me, stupid."
Chloe, trying to be rational, said, "I think someone is behind the piano. I'll go check."
But as she stepped forward, the piano keys began to play a haunting melody by themselves. Chloe froze, fear paralyzing her.
"Chloe, come back! I don't think it's safe."
Ava shouted, clearly concerned about Chloe.
"Yeah, Chloe, just get down now," Natalie added, her eyes wide with fear.
Chloe took a deep breath and continued, her footsteps hesitant. Suddenly, the piano started moving again, tumbling down the stairs with a deafening crash.
"CHLOE, RUN!" Jake shouted, his voice filled with panic.
Her eyes widened in terror as she saw the piano barreling toward her. She leaped to the side just in time, hitting the ground hard as the piano smashed into the floor where she had been standing moments before. Noah, Ethan, and Natalie managed to stop the piano from crushing her by holding it back with all their strength.
Chloe opened her eyes, realizing she was still alive. "What the hell is happening?"
Ava's voice broke through the chaos. "CHLOE, GET AWAY FROM THERE! WE CAN'T HOLD IT FOR TOO LONG!"
Chloe scrambled away, and the three of them let go, letting the piano crash to the floor.
Jake's voice was a mix of anger and relief. "I told you to get down! What if you got hurt? You could have—"
"I'm sorry," Chloe said, shaking. "I thought someone was messing with us, so I went to check."
"Whatever," Jake muttered. "Next time, be careful. I can't see you get hurt, okay?"
"Yes, I'll be careful," Chloe assured him, tears in her eyes.
Suddenly, the lid of the piano creaked open, and everyone flinched at the unexpected sound.
"What the hell, man?" Ethan exclaimed, his voice shaky.
Chloe peered inside the piano. "Wait, there's something in there."
She reached in and pulled out a card, reading it aloud. "Dare for Noah: Put your hands on the stove."
Natalie gasped. "That's ridiculous! Who wrote this?"
Ethan looked around nervously. "What's going on, man?"
Suddenly, the TV flickered on. Everyone turned to face it.
Words appeared on the screen, written in what looked like blood:
DO THE DARE OR THE DARE WILL DO YOU.
Ethan's voice was barely a whisper. "What does that mean?"
Natalie shook her head. "I think someone is trying to prank us, but this prank is going too far."
Ava's voice was steady but serious. "Wait, guys. I think we should do the dare."
Noah frowned. "What do you mean?"
Ava explained, "Remember when Ethan got a card saying he slept with Jake? He denied it, and then we all got a message calling him a liar. After that, Jake picked a card and got the dare to hurt his knees, which he didn't do, and then he got hurt badly. If we follow the logic, if we don't do the dare, something worse will happen."
Lily, who had been silent, finally spoke up. "Yeah, if we do it, we might get hurt a little, but if we don't, we might get hurt badly or worse."
Chloe nodded, her face pale. "That means Noah has to do the dare."
Everyone looked at Noah, who was visibly shaken. "What the hell? Are you guys serious? How can I put my hand on the stove? This is crazy!"
Ethan's voice was calm but firm. "If that's the case, then how do you explain Jake getting hurt?"
Noah paused, the reality sinking in. "Fine. I'll do it. But this is insane."
"Okay, we'll all go to the kitchen," Ava said, trying to stay calm.
They moved to the kitchen, the atmosphere thick with dread. The stove was already on, its flames flickering ominously.
Natalie whispered, "Who left the stove on?"
"No one did," Ethan replied. "It happened by itself. Remember, we haven't used it today."
Noah approached the stove, his face set in grim determination. Ava handed him a cloth. "Here, wear this so it won't hurt as much."
Noah wrapped the cloth around his hand, his heart pounding.
Ava counted down. "On the count of three. One... two... three."