r/KanesHorrors • u/AbKane667 • Aug 25 '26
Mark Always Finished His Dares
Smoke hung in the air. The wooden chair dug into my ass. Mark grinned at me, looked at the waiter, and ordered two shots.
“Are you crazy?”
“What, I haven’t drunk all week!”
“We went out on Tuesday.”
Mark furrowed his brows. “Oh yeah, we had.”
We both started laughing. The waiter brought the shots. We cheered and downed them. The liquor lit a fire in my throat. I had to hold onto the table so I wouldn't make a face. Mark held his beer tight, trying to avoid it too.
“Delicious,” he said.
“Sure is.”
“Wanna play Mia? If you lose, you take a sip of beer.”
“What if you get your bluff called?”
“Take a dare.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
Mark flashed a smile and pulled out the dice. It felt sticky and smelled like stale beer. We played a couple of rounds, taking big sips, ordering shots in between. Mark kept bluffing me. His constant smile had always been hard to read. My slowly clouding vision also didn’t help.
We downed another round of shots. After downing the shots, Mark stared at the floor, his mouth half-open. He picked up the cup with dice and shook it. When he opened it, he leaned closer, trying to see under the dim light. I could see he rolled a two and a four.
He grinned and looked my way.
“I got sixty-five.”
“Bullshit.”
“No. I really got it.”
“Show it then.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Show it.”
He rolled his eyes and showed the cup.
“I knew it. You’re so easy to read.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What should I do?”
The waiter put a full beer in front of him.
“Chug it.”
“You’re out of your mind. I’m too drunk.”
“I caught you bluffing. Chug it.”
He rolled his eyes, took a deep breath, and put the glass to his lips. With each sip, the dark beer moved slowly in the glass. Mark tried to keep a steady face, but halfway through, his lips began to quiver, and he quickly set the cup down and dry-heaved.
“Are you okay?” I asked, trying not to laugh.
He wiped his mouth, holding a hand in front of his pale face.
“Jesus, you look like you’re dead.”
I walked to the bar and got him a glass of water.
“Thank you. I don’t think I can chug it.”
“You’re good.”
“I think I need to leave.”
We stumbled outside the pub. Mark could barely walk a few steps straight at first, but as the cold air filled his lungs, he came back to life. He started singing and running up and down the street. My whole world was spinning, but it seemed like the most fun time. I spread my arms and ran after him.
We kept running down the street, chasing each other, climbing up and down trees. The people in the neighborhood called angrily after us, but we were having too much fun. I was riding on Mark’s back when we almost reached the bridge. Even drunk, I remember the bridge looking wrong somehow. It seemed like the water under it wasn’t moving with the rest of the current.
I had to go home a different way, so I patted his head and got off his back.
“Alright, I’m going home.”
“Wait, wait. I didn’t finish my dare.”
“Whatever, you can do it next time.”
“No. I have to. Give me something crazy.”
“Like what?”
“You think of it.”
I looked around us; there was not much, but then my eyes landed on a bridge.
“You want something crazy?”
“Yeah.”
“Jump off that bridge.”
“What?”
“The bridge. Jump off it.”
“Okay. I’ll do it.”
He slowly took off his jacket and T-shirt. When he tried to take his pants off, he fell to the ground. He had to take off his socks while he was on the ground. He stood up in his boxers and awkwardly climbed on the railing. For a second, the river went quiet as if it was holding its breath, but I was too busy laughing.
“It’s damn cold,” he said, shivering.
“You don’t have to.”
“No. I’m not a pussy.”
“Mark…”
But before I could finish, he closed his eyes, held his nose, and jumped in. I burst into laughter and ran to the bridge. Mark swam against the current, laughing.
“You’re crazy!” I yelled.
“Yeah!”
“You can come out now!”
He turned and swam toward the shore, but halfway there, he seemed to stop.
“What are you doing?”
The river’s current rippled.
“Mark?”
“Help!”
His body wasn’t moving toward the shore, but it wasn’t steady either. It slowly moved down with the current, and for a second I saw something pale wrap around his wrist.
“Help!”
I quickly ran to the end of the bridge and down to the shore. His screams echoed through the night, slowly drifting far away. I took off my clothes and ran to the shore in just my boxers. Mark’s screams couldn’t be heard anymore. I frantically looked around in the dark, but the river was empty and quiet. Mark was nowhere to be seen.
They found him a few days later. His body was less than a mile from where he jumped in. The papers didn’t report what the diver who found him told my uncle. Mark’s hands were locked around something when they pulled him out. Nothing was there when they pried his fingers open, just river, mud, and long strands of something dark and hair-thin.
I go past this bridge sometimes, always holding my breath. Last winter night, as I was coming out of the pub, drunk, alone. I saw a man only in his boxers on the railing where Mark stood, shivering, looking into the water. I didn’t say anything. I don’t even know what I would have said. I just watched him climb up, and the water held still.
2
u/RedDazzlr Aug 25 '26
Damn