Glowing

By day, the mountains were a great location to visit on a holiday trip or a mini-vacation - easy to access, great view, activities, etc. They were beautiful and chock-full of tourists during the tourist season. But by night they were a different story -

Every evening, the mountain guards would lock up the base of the mountain and escort anyone who happened to be in any of the tourist locations out. After a quick round around their designated spot and a call to make sure no one was on the mountains, they left and they mountains stood alone. But sometimes, a few stupid people would dare each other to go onto the mountain. The ones who wimped out were berated by the others to no end, yet they were the smart ones.

One day, there was a group that was much below the average intelligence. They were dumb daredevils who constantly dared each other to do things they knew they didn't have the skills to do, such as climb Mt. Everest without oxygen or go to Mars. They also were in love with horror stories and proving them true with experience. It's a miracle that none of them had been badly injured at that point.

They are sitting around a campfire, trying to get warm in the cold, chilly dusk.

"Hey, let's play truth or dare!" One of the suggests.

"Aw, come on! That's a child's game!" Another pouted.

"Okay, how about dare or dare?" The suggestion was brought forth and everyone, eventually, agreed.

They played their little game for a while, until one of the group finally said the dare they had all been waiting for -

"I dare you to go to the mountains - at night."

Even though they had all been expecting an deven anticipating this, it seemed as though everyone was surprised - or they acted it, at least.

"Really?" Another one protested.

"Yes" They replied back.

A couple of them "Wimped out" and the others mocked them to no end. They said that because they were leaving meant that they could never be friends again and much, much more. But they stayed strong and refused point-blank to go.

"Fine. Be a loser then" the others mumbled under their breaths, but they pretended to not hear.

The group who was dumb enough to go packed bags with snacks and coats and off they went. They easily bypassed the security - which was less late a gate and more like the idea of a gate - and were in. As soon as they stepped foot on the mountain itself, though, the hairs on the back of their necks stood up.

"I don't think this is a good idea. Maybe we should go back." Said one of the smarter ones.

"No way! Not yet. We only just go here!" They all said back.

This continued on until the one said ;

"Okay but you have to go back alone." Of course, the one who had wanted to leave was much too scared to do that but pretended not to hear anything. Eventually, though, they were forced into submission and they came along. Along that twisting, turning road they went, creeping along as stealthily as they could, goosebumps breaking out on each of their arms.

They came to a fork and chose to go left, slowly gaining the nerve to whisper and eventually laugh, keeping the fear at bay with their merriment.

"You know, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be! I thought it would be a long walk, but look! We're already halfway around the mountain!" One pointed out to the jolly of the others.

"Yea, and nothing had happened! You'd think it would have happened if something had been happening, it would have happened already!" It seemed that this jinxed them and soon they began to feel that oh-so-familiar creeping sensation of prickly fear and sheer terror began to butt it's head in.

"Hey, guys, maybe we should just leave." Said one of the members and the others, realizing that they would soon be alone, joined in.

"No, you are not." Said an unfamiliar voice. "You will stay here - as a dare."

The people in the group froze in terror and turned to the voice, yet it seemed to resonate from everywhere at once.

"As you have come here on a dare, you shall have a dare. How about I dare you to ..." The creature's voice sat in silence, as if contemplating the most evil thing it could do. The group looked back and forth at each other's terrified faces and shook.

"How about you never come back." The voice said as the trees leaned in, covering the friends. The last thing they ever saw was a pair of red glowing eyes.

As the dawn broke, the guards were sent in to check on the mountain per normal morning routine.

"Those kids - they should learn to not come out here at night." One of them shook their head in distaste and turned away from the cracked porcelain faces.

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