Written by Anastasia Kutselik of Richard Montgomery HS
Everyone knew the duo, Blake Johnson and Grayson Mith. They were complete party animals, and it was no surprise to find them at every party, mostly hosting them. Their looks were complete opposites; Blake had shaggy brown hair with piercing blue eyes, while Gray had short black hair with dark brown eyes.
Blake was hosting a normal Friday night party. Loud music blared through the rooms of the white seven-bedroom mansion that the Johnsons owned. The music and shouting made individual conversations impossible to hear.
“Yooooo, we got Mith in the house,” yelled the DJ as Gray walked through the doors.
The crowd roared loudly, made up of mostly “fan” girls. All the girls in the school were crazily obsessed with the duo’s looks; with hungry eyes, they all admired Grayson as he joined the boys in the kitchen. They took who knows how many shots of who knows what. The girls joined them, but after a drink, they became tipsy. In other rooms, people were making out, playing cup pong, or dancing to the trash music. Unexpectedly, Blake got up onto the stage, taking the mic out of the DJ’s hands.
“Who’s ready for a game of truth or dare?” his voice boomed.
“WE ARE!!” the crowd screamed as they all went into the basement to start the game.
The last one downstairs shut the door and the game began. The first few players all chose truth, and the game began to get boring. As Gray’s turn came, he chose dare.
“Alright, first dare!” exclaimed Ben, the DJ. He turned his head to Gray and whispered the dare. Grayson’s pupils dilated after listening to his dare, and although his face remained stone-like, his eyes held pools of emotions. Everyone stared back at Gray, mirroring his expression, as whispers spread around calling him a chicken.
“Cluck, cluck,” mocked Ben, flapping his arms.
Before Gray could say anything, Blake spoke up.
“Let him be,” he said. “The dare is probably insane”.
As the attention slipped away from Gray, he took the chance to sneak away out the backdoor. Almost no one noticed him, too focused on Jen’s dare as she sucked the faces of the football team. But a moment later, Blake slipped away too.
“Hey, Gray,” called Blake, picking up his pace to catch up.
“Hey…” replied Gray as Blake stopped him.
The two continued their conversation silently, Blake’s eyebrow raised, looking down at Gray. Instead of replying, Gray walked out the door, leaving Blake to go back. Being almost like brothers, they knew each other’s questions without the words. Although Blake wanted to follow him, he knew Gray would be back soon. Time passed, as the game went around, ending with Blake, who chose dare. This time, the dare was said aloud.
“Alright, for the finale,” Ben said with a drumroll, others started to copy him. “Blake, I dare you to go into the woods behind Ekler’s house.”
Gasps escaped from everyone, all slowly turning to look at Blake. The whole circle had turned a shade paler, but Blake was unfazed.
“Alright, I will!” he stated confidently. “Let’s go, Gray, let's show him how the duo is”.
But Gray was nowhere to be seen, although Gray said he’ll come back soon.
“Where’s Gray?” questioned Blake.
As everyone went to scout around for Gray, Ben stood there with a smirk on his face, the grin immediately disappearing when Blake faced him.
“You!” he hollered, shoving his finger into Ben’s chest. “Where did you send Gray off to?”
“Oh, you see, I sent him on a friendly dare into the woods, just as I dared you,” he answered. “Go find your little friend, Blake Johnson. And be careful; I heard Elker’s hounds still haunt the woods…”
Ben walked off into the crowd of people that had already stopped looking. He restarted the blaring music, and everything went back to the way it was.
Blake rushed out of the house and jumped into his Mercedes Benz. Revving up the engine, he sped off towards the forest. Goosebumps spread fast across him, his hands getting moist under his steering wheel. He looks out the window at the old wooden house of Elker. Alejandro Elker was a bright man with a bright future. That is until he was accused of drug dealing. He was found guilty about 25 years ago, leaving his hounds at home. He was put into jail, where he was bullied every day. A few years later, he appealed his sentence, knowing there was evidence of his innocence. But one night, a couple of his jail mates busted into his cell and choked him until he turned blue. His cold, lifeless body was found in the morning when the guard brought him food. It was the day before the court would have freed him out of his cell, back to normal life. The police kept the house abandoned, and the hounds took over the territory. They grieved for their owner with howls all throughout the night, but soon after, the howls died off and many thought the dogs too had died.
Clearing his thoughts, Blake opened his car door. An icy breeze whipped across his face. Taking a deep breath, Blake stepped towards the house. He walked along the side of the broken-down house, trying to look through the window holes, but he saw nothing. As he approached the trees, he prepared himself for the worst. He stepped into the woods, gripping the knife that he kept in his car. He took slow and cautious steps, his eyes scattering around on the lookout. Just a few moments into the woods, he made out the outline of a figure among the trees. Blake’s heart beat faster as he edged towards it. Just two feet away, he stopped in his tracks, and his knife fell into the leaves. Nothing came out of his mouth as he gazed at the sliced, chopped, body, mixed with dark blood, stuffed in a glass figure. He eyed down the figure in pure disgust, but the chain with the black gem stood out. The chain belonged to Gray’s younger sister before she passed away. Ever since then Gray had it with him for support. Blake remained frozen for a moment before racing out of the woods, not caring about how much sound he was making. He rushed into his car and zoomed into the horizon, going 100 mph.
Blake drove straight to the police station at 2 am. He banged on the door until a short, sleepy man answered.
“What do you want, kid?” questioned the officer between his yawns.
“Ummm...I...Uhhhh...” stuttered Blake, unable to answer in words.
The officer noticed the terror in the boy’s face and guided Blake into a room. Blake told him every little detail, starting from the truth or dare game at the party. After the information, the officer insisted Blake get rest and come back in the morning for more details.
A week had passed since the news had spread around town. Everyone was standing in front of a black wooden casket that held the remains of Grayson Mith. Most were shattered at the news of his death; even Ben seemed out of place after the body was found. Blake was not at the funeral. Instead, he had locked himself in his room. He knew he couldn’t face attending the funeral of his dear friend and decided to take this mystery into his own hands. But after a week of research, he was left with nothing but the police report that was posted.
Bredtown News Report: Unfortunate death of Grayson Mith
Last week, Grayson Mith entered the Elker woods with no witnesses. Blake Johnson, his good friend, was dared to go into the woods as well and discovered the body of his friend. No fingerprints or evidence was left at or near the scene; the murderer had done well in covering his tracks. After speaking with classmates, we still have no trace or clue on why Grayson was murdered. We searched across town and interviewed the close peers and family of Grayson Mith. Anything that we found, concluded to us that Mith's death was an unfortunate event. We advise others to not go anywhere near the Elker woods or house. Due to the lack of evidence, the police have been forced to stop their searches.
Blake never believed that there wasn’t any evidence, as to what kind of accident would put his friend in a glass figure. So he continued to search the area himself. Every night, he snuck out and drove back, hoping to find a clue. He walked along the border of the forest, making sure not to go far in. For days, he discovered nothing. But one night, he found something.
Blake had snuck into his garage, carefully taking out his bicycle, and raced to Elker’s forest. He trailed along the border of Elker’s backyard, debating his pathway for tonight. Tired of not finding anything, he gripped his small backpack and darted into the forest itself. He crept around, eyes searching for clues or signs. Snap. Blake’s head whipped to the sound, his heart raced just like his eyes around the area. As frightened as he was, he still crept closer and closer to where the sound had come from. Each footstep was carefully placed onto the ground avoiding sticks and leaves. His heart banged silently behind his rib cage, and he took deep breaths in and out following the pattern of his footsteps. He paused after a few steps, analyzing his surroundings. Nothing looked familiar to him as his eyes focused on the background, his brain couldn’t recall how many steps he had taken and from which direction. His breathing quickened as he realized he was lost. He took one step forward and felt himself falling down. The deeper he went, the further he became from the light above, and soon enough, he only saw black. He kept falling until he hit a soft surface.
“We got him,” a voice stated. Then Blake felt a sharp pain and everything disappeared.
Blake awoke in a small room with nothing except a bowl of water. With his mouth feeling like sandpaper, he crawled towards it cautiously. He took the small metal bowl into his filthy, rough hands and chugged the water down. He kept the bowl in his hand and stood up. His eyes scouted the small area for any way out as his mind started to plan an escape. There was a sharp knock at the door. It opened to reveal a tall man with a black leather mask. A smaller man stood beside him. They rolled in a cart, and when Blake saw it, his eyes expanded a million times. His hands trembled out of fear, his fight or flight instinct turned on as he tried to dash for the door. All he got was a hand on the knob before a hard object hit his head, slicing it open. Blake gasped in pain, his eyes rolling back in his head. His body fell to the ground, as the blood flowed onto the ground around him. The small stream of red turned into a puddle around the lifeless body.
“Great job, Mith,” the strange voice approved Miths action.
Blake’s body was taken up into the woods by the stranger. He took him into Elker’s backyard where there was a premade hole fit for the body. The stranger dropped in the body, yanked a shovel out of the ground, and began to cover him in the dirt. He placed a rock on top almost like a headstone.
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