Zee’s eyes grew huge with alarm and when she looked at the rear-view mirror, the car was nowhere in sight. It seemed to have disappeared into thin air. What she saw behind her was an approaching Peugeot.
It felt like she was reliving the last few minutes as the group of trailers that had made her stay behind the mysterious beetle, slowly approached. She did not realize that she had slowed down until she began to hear the impatient blare from the Peugeot behind her.
“Come on, step on it.” She heard a man’s voice yell from the vehicle but she was still too shocked by what had just happened to move any faster.
Buried in shock, she managed to keep driving until the trailers finished passing by her, and then the Peugeot fell into line beside her with the driver cursing out at her.
“Damn you!”
As he drove past her, Zee could not respond. She did not even bother to try because he was the least of her problems right now. At this point, shock at the familiar dark words was all she could think about and she could feel the cold hands of fear, gripping her and letting her know that disaster was in the air, for she was in deep trouble.
Zee was still driving at a slow pace until three cars that seemed to be moving in a convoy breezed past her.
The harsh breezy sound they made as they sped past her was enough to jolt her out of her state of shock. She took a glance at the time on her dashboard. It was hard to believe that fifteen minutes had already passed since the last time she had checked.
Zee took a deep breath and tried to calm herself from her fears driven by the ugly episode of the last dare’s warning.
She would have words with that damn spiritualist. The old bat probably left important details out. She had thought that she was free from the game but from what had just happened, she was far from free.
Her mind drifted to Inara and she felt a pang of guilt stabbing at her stomach. Where the game was concerned, she had not been entirely truthful to her friend.
She had been selfish. To save her skin, she had gone behind her back and found a way to cheat the game, or so she thought she was doing. Nevertheless, it seemed like the act had only bought her some time while her friend was forced to dive headlong into the game. Luckily for Inara though, despite all she had suffered, everything had turned out well for her and she was entirely free of the game. And hers was just beginning.
A couple of cars sped past her and an approaching lorry blasted its horn, the sound, loud and piercing. The noisome sounds were enough to jolt her out of her gloomy thoughts a second time.
Zee cast her gaze on the time again and swore under her breath. Despite the disturbing event that had just played out, she had to be strong and focus on achieving her purpose for leaving the house. She was already late by an hour.
She stole a glance at the back seat of her truck to confirm that she had brought her proposal with her. It was a relief to see the small brown envelope lying back there. After coming out of her hangover, she had prepared and left the house in a rush. She remembered grabbing it from her bedside table but it was only human to check again and ensure that everything was in order.
Exerting pressure on the accelerator, she gathered speed and propelled the truck forward. She had to achieve her major goal for the day and see if she could use her creativity to good use.
Thinking outside the box was the only thing she seemed to be good at and she must make good use of it. It’s not like she needed to work, anyway. Her parents made enough but if she didn’t do anything with her life, boredom would kill her.
It took her about seven minutes of reckless driving to reach her destination which was a nameless restaurant that had just been built alongside the expressway for the benefit of travelers who often used the road.
The structure which was a large bungalow stood to give life to the otherwise lonely expressway on that axis. It was located a few yards off the road with a low gate that was currently open.
The large parking lot was currently empty except for a couple of cars. One was a Range Rover, the other, a Camry.
The sight of the cars gave her some hope. Perhaps, they belonged to people she could talk to. She just hoped that they were people who mattered where the restaurant was concerned. It would be such a shame if she had cracked her brain in vain.
Zee drove into the parking lot and parked the truck beside the parked cars. As she killed the engine, she noticed a middle-aged couple emerging from the restaurant.
Quickly, she reached for the envelope at the back seat of the truck and opened the door, letting herself out and shutting it. She hurried towards the couple who were already headed her way and began waving the envelope at them which caused them to pause until she reached them.
“Hi, I’m here to submit my proposed name for the restaurant.”
“Sorry, we are closed.” The man responded dismissively. “We already have a name among the submitted ones.”
“Why did you come so late?” the woman asked and Zee spent a few seconds thinking of a reasonable excuse, but none was forthcoming.
“It’s a long story.” She finally answered.
“Honey, don’t pay any attention to her.” The man said to his wife. “Just look at how she’s dressed. She is unserious. I doubt that anything intelligent can come from her.”
As he was speaking, Zee’s eyes had fallen back to her outfit. Damn, she was wearing her grey dress backward and her legs were in two different flip flops.
“Shit!” she swore.
“Mind your language, young woman.” His wife cautioned.
“Sorry, Ma’am, Sir, but please, give my submission a chance. I know I’m late, but I didn’t give up, did I? I still came, knowing I probably won’t get a chance. Please accept my submission, please?”
The woman looked at her husband. “It won’t cost us anything.” She told him.
“Honey, we’ve already decided on one of those names. It’s just to contact the winner so he knows that he won and then we send him his money. This girl is wasting our time.”
“I know what you both want,” Zee said, unfazed. “You want a name that speaks to the driver as they ride by, probably exhausted from their travel. You want it fun and natural. You want it down to earth, spontaneous, and somewhat humorous.”
“Yes. And we’ve already picked one.” He answered. Then he smiled in a self-satisfied way. “Tell her, Honey. When she hears how perfect it sounds, she’ll give up and return to wherever she came from.”
Her smile mirrored his and Zee could tell that they already liked the name that they had chosen. At that point, she didn’t care anymore whether she won or lost. All she wanted was for them to at least look at what she was submitting.
“The name we chose is perfect.” She informed Zee. “We are calling it the last dare will no longer wait.”
Zee gasped, shocked to the marrow with trepidation.
“What?”
“Wayside Restaurant. It suits the place.”
“Perfectly.” Her husband added. “What a brilliant submission.”
Zee painfully accepted that somehow, the last dare was still haunting her. It was haunting her more aggressively. She tried not to let it affect her as she struggled to concentrate on the couple.
“Sorry, I didn’t get that.” Damn, she had truly forgotten the name she had just heard.
The couple exchanged exasperated looks.
“Tell her, Hon.” Said the man, tiredly.
“No, you tell her.” The woman responded.
Zee threw them her best smile. “Please?”
The couple exchanged looks and the woman rolled her eyes.
“Wayside restaurant.” She said.
As far as Zee was concerned, it wasn’t a fun name. It was just a normal name.
“It’s fine, but not humorous or spontaneous as I believe you expect.”
“Good. So why not tell us yours?” the man taunted.
“I have two suggestions. Belly Time and Pause and Eat.”
The couple stood silent for a beat. Zee could tell that they liked her suggestions as they started smiling at each other. And next, they were hugging.
They disengaged and drew her into their arms. Zee started smiling.
“You are a genius, girl.” The woman praised.
“A creative and brilliant young woman.” The man praised.
“Thanks. So which would you take?”
They freed her from their embrace.
“Belly time.” They chorused excitedly and the woman held out her hand to Zee. Zee was confused.
“The envelope, please.”
“Oh,” Zee said and handed it to her.
“Congratulations.” They both told her.
“You are the winner.” The man added.
“Thanks.”
“We’ll wire in the pay according to the terms already outlined.” The woman informed her.
“I look forward to that,” Zee replied. “I guess I can go now.”
“Sure.” Answered the man.
“What’s your name?” asked the woman.
“Elizabeth Daniel.”
“Okay, Elizabeth.” the woman said in an ominous voice that troubled Zee. “You should hurry. The last dare will no longer wait.”
Zee quickly put herself under control. She already knew it was the game, so she pretended like all was normal and waved them off. Then she left them hugging each other with excitement and hurried to her car. Inside, she pulled out a contact card from her wallet.
Violet May The name read. Spiritualist. Zee’s eyes took in the address. “You old hag, it’s time you got a visit from me.” She mumbled. Then she nosed the car off the building and drove her way back towards town.
The Spiritualist’s home was an abandoned truck on a quiet street on the outskirts of the city. It was situated a kilometre away from the street, resting behind a backdrop of trees that led into the woods. A gas station, an ATM stand, a call booth, and an average standard motel, were the neighboring structures around the area. Zee sighted a worn-out-looking vehicle parked outside the truck turned home. It told her that the Spiritualist was around. A rustic handmade wooden marquee before the house proclaimed the words-Know Thy Future. Zee often wondered how the woman could live like that. Well, it was not her business. After all, people like that were often kind of spooky. It was ironic how they often claim to see the future but still live like paupers. She regretted getting herself involved with this kind of darkness. Lucky Inara, she thought. She wished she were in Inara’s shoes right now. At least, she would not be thinking abo
Zee could not control her fear. “Oh my god!” “I’m so sorry, Zee.” “Wait a minute, does the game say crash a wedding or the wedding?” “It says, crash the wedding,” Inara repeated. “Why?” “Jesus Christ!” Zee said fearfully. “That would be Michael’s wedding.” “How?” “A weddingwill just be any wedding,” Zee said wearily. “Butthe weddingis personal. It’s the one that currently relates to my life, sort of.” She also remembered Michael’s dire threat about making her suffer if she ever sought him out to use him again. “I am finished.” She added brokenly, her eyes clamming up with tears. “I am finished.” “I’m sorry, Zee.” Tears blurred Zee’s vision as she sat inside her car, parked before her home. Then she ended the call. Inara looked at Lemuel and he hugged her comfortingly. “It’s because she cheated the game. Now she just has to do the game’s dare.” “Which is
Zee could not face the fire of anger in Michael’s eyes, so she shifted her gaze and just could not resist seeing the look on Cassy’s face. If looks could kill, she knew she would have been dead by now. Cassy was glaring daggers at her. Her eyes were full of hate and unbelief. It seemed like she was still trying to comprehend what was going on. Some of the spectators had risen in confusion and she could see Eve and Amy staring at her with hate in their heavily made-up eyes. Zee noticed for the first time, that Eve was holding a bouquet of white flowers. She guessed Eve was the Maid of Honor. The Priest raised his hands and waved at the guests. “People of God, please calm down, sit down, settle down. Do not fret. By God, this happ
Michael led Cassy into the privacy of the corridor and thrust the photographs into her hand. Then he folded his arms across his chest and quietly watched her reaction as she stood nervously before him, her eyes falling on the indecent pictures.She scanned the photographs, shame overwhelming her. Then she lifted her pleading eyes to his angry amber ones. “Please, I’m really sorry.” She implored him.“I’m trying to figure out how you hoped to prove your virginity to me.”"I…actually…” she began to stutter, and he gave her a curt wave of dismissal.“Let me guess.” He interrupted in the same vein. “You were going to cry and pretend it hurts, right? After all, it is said that some women do not bleed. They probably lost it from rigorous physical activity like exercise, right?”She started shaking her head in denial.“No?” he pressed. “Okay. Maybe you had plans of using the fake blood capsule, which I hear can be inserted a few hours before penetrative interc
With Michael steadily advancing behind her, Zee ran along the common hall that held the doors to each of the halls holding a wedding. She whipped past the double doors of the entrance and the moment she was outside the Church, she took hurried steps towards her truck. “Elizabeth!” she heard him thunder behind her, but she neither responded nor turned back around. Instead, she fished for her car keys inside her purse, her hands trembling. She managed to get a hold of the key and struggled to slide it into the keyhole between trying to open the car door and taking quick nervous glances behind her to catch a glimpse of an angry Michael storming towards her. Her heartbeat had escalated. Christ! He was close…so close. Her hands fumbled frantically with the keyhole, her eyes round with fear. Given her uncontrollable state of nervousness, she could not open the door on time and ended up turning around and backing herself against the car in surrender.
Zee searched for an excuse to avoid or delay doing as he had said. “They are …they are not in town.” She sputtered. “Tell them over the phone.” He said emphatically. Giving up on looking for even the least excuse, she gave him an imploring gaze, a frown, creasing her brow. “There is no love in this.” She said brokenly. He didn’t respond but focused his gaze on four of his best men who had emerged from the church and were searching for him with their eyes and body movements. Upon sighting each other, they hung around his range rover, working together to tear off the balloons and ribbons that decorated the vehicle. He returned his gaze to her face, taking in the nose ring she had on. To him, it stood there as one of her obvious signatures that marked her as unruly and thoughtless.
Her parents looked at her with interest. “Oh, my dear.” Her father said. “That is wonderful. I can tell it’s pretty serious.” She nodded in confirmation. “When are we meeting him?” her mother asked. “Soon.” She answered. “But I’ll be precise when we decide.” “Are you getting married?” her mother asked. “You’re too young.” “Hey, you were twenty when I married you.” Her father reminded her mom. “She’s twenty-two going on twenty-three.” Her mother shrugged resignedly. “How long have you known him?” her father asked. “For a long time,” Zee answered wit
Zee sat before her dressing mirror and watched her phone ring, the name, Stanley flashing across the screen. She was dressed in a little black dress, her hair held in a single braid that lay flat on her head and flowed down to rest on her back. She was wearing a black choker and other red accessories, her lips painted a bright shade of red lipstick. Her eye makeup as usual was smokey. She had her trademark nose ring in her hand, about to put it on but she was reminded of Michael’s warning-when I say I don’t want to see it on you again, I mean it… She hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t like she was going out with Michael. This was Stanley and he already knew who she was. If she appeared differently, it would look like she was trying to impress him or it would look like she was trying to c