Dares in the- What was that?

"How about dares in the-" Nicole only got halfway through whatever she was about to say, when an inhuman shriek followed by a hard thud and a crashing of leaves came from outside. Everyone in the room fell as silent as Sarah after that, the only sound in the room being the snap and crackle of the fire.

"What the fuck was that?" Miranda whispered, wide eyed.

Beside her, Tom leapt into action first, springing to his feet and crossing to the room's wide bay windows. The curtains had long since been drawn, so he had to pull the heavy wool back to peek around them outside. Not to be outdone in front of their crushes, John and Matt stood up to, moving to peer through the other side and the middle of the burgundy drapes.

"What's out there?" Nicole asked, taking a tentative step towards them and trying to peep over John's shoulder.

"Nothing."

"I can't see anything."

"Fuck all."

Matt, John, and Tom answered her, respectively.

"You heard the noise, there has to be something out there," Miranda argued.

"Or someone," Nicole whispered, the cozy room suddenly feeling noticeably chiller at her suggestion.

The darkness outside the window seemed to only become more impenetrable as John strained his eyes staring into it, vainly attempting to discern anything but the silhouettes of trees. Earlier, the moon had been so full and bright that John had walked down Sarah's long driveway with no fear of tripping over anything, despite not carrying a torch. Now, the moon must have been eclipsed by a thick cloud, because all he could see was vague shadows, that all threatened to conceal something in his alarmed mind.

The dragging, ominous silence of the living room was eventually broken by Tom muttering, "probably just some kids playing a prank."

"That'd be some prank," Matt scoffed, "it sounded like a tree falling!"

Miranda put forward her theory next. "Maybe it was a car crash," she said, "and that first thing we heard was them slamming on the brakes, before they crashed into a tree."

That idea made more sense to John, not just because his crush was suggesting it. "Maybe you're right," he nodded, turning away from the window to face her. "The main road's not far through the woods up that way."

Looking at her, still in her sexy Halloween costume but now with her stocking clad knees pressed together and a look of concern beneath her cat whiskers, John had to fight the urge to go over there and wrap his arms around her. He could hold her close to him, resting his head on her silken, perfumed, brown hair while she pressed her 36C chest against his own. Just to console her, of course.

"What do you think, Sarah?" Matt asked, seeking the input of his own crush.

If he had been expecting her to say anything, then he was disappointed. Instead, Sarah raised one hand in the air before bringing it diagonally down to the couch beside her, whistling to simulate the sound of falling.

"A plane crash?" Nicole guessed, like she was playing charades.

"A comet falling?" Miranda suggested.

"A UFO?" Tom said, drawing doubtful looks from everyone else. "I never said I thought it was a UFO," Tom defended himself, "I'm just guessing what Sarah might've meant."

Before they could play any more party games, Nicole **** her way under Tom's arm to look out the window for herself, her innate curiosity overriding her initial fear. "A car crash seems like the most likely explanation," she said, straining her eyes in the direction of the main road, that was from this distance just a faint glow above the trees.

Leaning over her, Tom looked out the window again. "What, can you see something?" He asked, pressing himself against her, his crotch inconspicuously pushing against her cute butt from behind.

John almost couldn't believe that even at a time like this, part of Tom's tiny brain was still thinking about being a perv. Or maybe John was just assigning some of his own motives to someone else. He had just been thinking about Miranda after all, and when Nicole had bent over the windowsill to look outside, his eyes had been briefly drawn to her short dress rising up her slender thighs to the point that her tight ass had almost been poking out.

"No, I can't see anything," Nicole replied, shoving her ass into his groin to **** her way out from beneath him. "It's just the most reasonable explanation."

"So," she continued as she straightened up, "I guess you three should go investigate." John wondered who she was speaking to, until he looked around and realized that she meant himself, Matt, and Tom.

"This isn't Scooby-Doo, why does anyone have to investigate the creepy sound at all?" Matt asked, stepping away from the curtain to look at Nicole incredulously.

"Because if it is a car crash, then the person who crashed might need our help," Nicole stated it like it was simple, effectively shaming Matt into silence with her altruistic point.

As soon as Matt was shut up, however, Tom opened his mouth. "And that's a job for me and these two, why?"

"Because you're men," Nicole rolled her eyes as she turned to face him, staring defiantly up at him even as he loomed over her. Despite being a foot shorter than him, Nicole never hesitated to stand off against Tom when she thought he was wrong, and this was clearly one of those times. Tinkerbell versus Johnny Cage was never a fight you had thought about before, but looking at it right now, you wouldn't bet against the fairy.

"Because we're men?" Tom scoffed, "I thought you were little miss feminist. Isn't it "patriarchal" just to call this a man's job?"

Nicole snorted in irritation, nostrils flaring right in Tom's face. "It's not patriarchal, it's practical! Are you dumb enough to think young women alone in the dark woods is a good idea?"

"No but-"

"And three is safer than one, right?"

"Yes-"

"Glad you understand, because if you don't go, then we will," Nicole pointed to Miranda and Sarah, who looked less than enthused by the idea of going outside with Nicole. "Are you just gonna let that happen, or will you be a man?"

Matt and John simply looked on as Nicole chewed Tom out, the latter trying to hide a grin at the sight of him being brought down a peg. They weren't actually planning on following his lead, but they were instead just waiting to see what he had to say, and if he could find a way to make an even greater fool of himself.

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Thank you for reading, I hope you're enjoying the Halloween fun thus far. If you want to know who goes to investigate the spooky noise, and what surprises await them when they do, then please consider joining my Patreon. The next two chapters in this thread are already available there for paid subscribers. All your support means a lot to me!

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