Chapter 1: AMY

Amy Stone

“Truth or dare?”

Melissa’s sugary-sweet voice drips with challenge as she leans forward, a sly smirk playing on her glossy lips. Everyone around the circle leans in, eager, almost hungry.

The room reeks of booze and weed, the air so thick it feels like I’m inhaling smoke and sweat with every shaky breath. Empty bottles litter the floor, bodies pressed together like this whole house is one big, disgusting orgy.

This was supposed to be my night — a surprise visit to see my fiancé after months apart. A romantic reunion. Instead, I’m trapped in some twisted frat house nightmare.

“Truth,” I say cautiously, hoping to keep it safe.

A chorus of groans erupts around me. Someone actually boos.

Melissa gasps dramatically, clutching her chest like I’ve offended the gods of this filthy little gathering.

“Ugh, truth? Boring.” Her blue eyes glimmer with mock disappointment. “Come on, Amy, don’t be a buzzkill. Pick dare.”

Others join in, chanting Dare! Dare! Dare! like they’re summoning demons.

I glance at Chad, silently begging him to shut this down, to tell everyone to leave me the fuck alone. Instead, he just smiles, his arm lazily draped across the back of the sofa behind me, his expression unreadable.

The pit in my stomach grows heavier.

“Fine,” I snap, trying to match their energy even though my gut screams this is wrong. “Dare.”

Melissa squeals, clapping like a demented cheerleader. The circle explodes in excitement, their laughter loud and wild.

Chad leans forward, his grin sharp enough to cut glass.

“I dare you to swim in the river.”

For a moment, I think I misheard him.

“The… river?” My voice cracks.

A collective snicker ripples through the crowd. Melissa tilts her head innocently, her long hair spilling over one shoulder.

“Careful,” she purrs, “there’s fish in there.”

The way she says it makes my skin crawl.

“It’s just a swim,” I whisper to myself. Just cold water. Just a stupid dare.

But when I glance at Chad, there’s nothing playful in his expression. His dark eyes gleam with something sinister.

Before I can protest, he grabs my hand, yanking me to my feet. Melissa grabs my other hand, and together they drag me through the house, out the back door, and into the biting night air.

“Chad, please,” I whisper, shivering. “You don’t really want me to do this.”

“You picked dare,” he says flatly, no trace of warmth in his voice. “Now, prove you’re not a coward.”

My stomach twists. This isn’t my Chad. This is a stranger wearing his face.

Melissa steps closer, smirking.

“Take it off,” she orders, her tone gleeful. “Everything but your underwear.”

Heat floods my cheeks, but I comply, stripping off my dress with trembling fingers. The thin fabric sticks to my skin, damp from sweat and mist. I stand in my bra and panties, arms wrapped around myself, feeling exposed and humiliated.

Chad’s gaze roams over me, slow and possessive. For a brief, stupid moment, I think he might call it off. That he’ll laugh, pull me into his arms, and tell me this was just a fucked-up joke.

Instead, he shoves me. Hard.

My feet slip in the mud.

“Chad!” I shriek, windmilling my arms — but it’s too late.

I plunge into the freezing water, the cold so vicious it’s like a thousand knives stabbing into my skin. The shock rips a scream from my throat as the current drags me under.

I kick and thrash, breaking the surface just long enough to gasp, “Chad! Help me!” before the river swallows me again.

From the bank, his voice floats down — calm. Almost amused.

“Swim, Amy.”

Something brushes against my leg. Slimy. Fast.

My heart stops.

“What was that?” I choke, spinning wildly in the dark water.

Then pain. Blinding, searing pain.

“AHHHHH!” My scream echoes across the river as something bites me, tearing into the tender flesh of my thigh.

The water erupts around me. A frenzy of movement.

And then… I feel them.

Dozens of tiny, razor-sharp mouths clamping onto my skin, biting, ripping, devouring.

Piranhas.

“Oh my God, oh my God!” I sob, thrashing violently, but every movement just draws more of them.

They bite into me like living saws, peeling away strips of flesh. Warm blood gushes from the wounds, clouding the water in swirling crimson clouds.

I scream until my throat shreds raw.

They don’t stop.

They can’t stop.

My hands claw uselessly at my body, trying to rip them off, but their teeth sink deeper, anchoring them to me.

Chunks of skin tear free beneath their relentless assault. My calf is gone before I even realize it, bone gleaming pale under the moonlight.

The water churns violently as my body convulses in pure, animal terror.

“CHAD! PLEASE!” I shriek, sputtering river water and blood. “HELP ME!”

On the shore, Melissa’s laughter rings out, high and delighted.

“Oh, Chad,” she coos, “finally. She’s gone.”

“No!” I try to scream, but only bubbles escape as the water rushes into my lungs.

My vision blurs, the moon above me smearing into a silver haze.

The last thing I see before the darkness takes me is Chad’s silhouette — standing perfectly still, watching with his arms wrapped on Melissa's waist.

"Oh Amy, you should never have trusted me with your properties..." Chad growls as the darkness overtakes me

Watching as the river devours me alive.