Chapter 3

Before I could press her further, she grabbed my arm and started talking about our strict seminar tutor. I could tell she was trying to change the subject, but I couldn't figure out why. A small voice in the back of my mind was warning me that something was terribly wrong, but I ignored it. Instead, I let her lead me to the fraternity house.

When we arrived at the party, it was pretty much what I had expected: lots of toilet paper strewn around, shaving cream everywhere, and underage drinking in full swing. Loud dance music blasted from inside the house where people were dancing. I recognized a few faces from the football team, but everyone else was a stranger.

We entered the fraternity house as a group and were greeted by one of the fraternity's initiates. His face lit up when he saw me, and he said to Gina, "Isaac has everything set up."

Isaac again...

"Listen, Moore," she said, "whatever happens tonight, I want you to know it was never personal."

"What?" I replied, completely confused.

Suddenly, I felt hands grabbing me from behind, pulling me backward out of the house. Several frat boys had ambushed me, dragging me out onto the lawn.

Outside on the lawn, a large crowd of students had gathered, holding red cups filled with alcohol. They turned to watch as I was pulled out.

"Behold!" a voice thundered. "Our vi-r-gin offering to the Dark Prince."

"What?!" I exclaimed, shocked.

Students began clapping and cheering, including Gina Harris and her friends.

I couldn't believe it; I had been set up. I recognized this as one of the fraternity's rituals—a ridiculous urban legend they enacted every year to supposedly appease a fictional "Prince of Darkness." Each year, one of the boys would trick a nerdy girl into dressing as a bride and standing under the hangman's tree in the town graveyard.

Nothing ever happened to the girl; she usually just stood there until midnight and then walked home.

It seemed that the nerds had caught on, so the frat boys had sent Gina Harris as a kind of Trojan horse to trick some unsuspecting girl into becoming the next "bride." And that unfortunate girl was me.

"Tonight, we will offer Kala Moore as our virgin bride," explained one of the frat boys.

"Wait, hold on!" I shouted.

The crowd fell silent.

"Look, this is just a stupid urban legend. If getting out of here means standing under that tree at midnight, fine, I'll do it. But I demand you let me go right now. If you drag me to the graveyard against my will, I swear to God, I will scream the entire way there," I declared.

The frat boys pondered my words for a few moments. Then, one of them—presumably Isaac—spoke up. "Alright, Kala Moore, we accept your conditions. But only if you allow two of our fraternity members to escort you to the graveyard and guard the cemetery gates to ensure you don't run away.

Once the church bells chime midnight, you are free to leave... unless the Dark Prince has other plans for you."

"Fine," I agreed.

And so, I made my way to the cemetery, feeling as though I was walking towards my doom.

The cemetery was eerily quiet, and I began to deeply regret agreeing to this absurd dare. Standing alone in the biting cold, I secretly hoped that a few kids might be hanging around the tombstones for Halloween fun. But since entering the cemetery, I hadn't seen a single soul.

It was almost midnight, and I stood beneath the sprawling branches of the legendary Hangman's Tree, waiting for an urban legend to come to life. If it weren't for the cold, I would probably be panicking right now.

My outfit offered little protection against the chilly October night air. To distract myself from the fact that I was alone in a creepy graveyard, I focused on pulling Gina's lace gloves up my freezing arms by just another millimeter.

I shivered violently—this couldn't go on much longer.

For what felt like the millionth time, I checked my phone: 11:55 PM. I also noticed that I had no signal. A knot of unease formed in my stomach. "Come on, Kala," I whispered to myself, "Only five minutes left, and then you can leave."

Reluctantly, I had to admit that this place was really getting under my skin.

Nervously, I scanned the rows of tombstones, half-expecting a ghost to jump out and terrify me. Earlier, something similar had happened—a large owl had swooped down over my head and landed on a nearby tree branch.

Naturally, I screamed, feeling incredibly foolish when I realized it was just an owl. For a brief moment, I had actually thought it might be him—the infamous Prince of Darkness.

Impatiently, I glanced at my phone again. I decided to give the Prince of Darkness two more minutes before I left. Staring at my phone, I watched the seconds tick by, silently urging, "Come on, midnight."

The minute changed, and my clock read 11:59 PM.

"Okay, one minute to midnight is good enough for me," I said aloud.

I took a few steps toward the cemetery gates but stopped as a deep, resonant chime shattered the silence. The church bells were tolling—the witching hour had arrived. I looked around the graveyard once more, hoping or fearing that ghosts, witches, or demons might suddenly appear, but there was no one. It was just me. Alone in the stillness.