Sara, are you there?

The air was cold but my skin felt like it was on fire. I could hear my heart pumping in my ears. I was running for my life through thick woods.

"WHY did I do this?.", I thought to myself, "It was just a stupid game of truth or dare - I didn't HAVE to do it.", I was panting, my lungs hurt, my legs hurt.

"Screw all of them, I swear when I see them again I'll kill them.", I kept running. Twigs and small branches breaking behind me. I was crying, trying to keep as silent as I could despite the running. I was looking at the ground to avoid any sticks and trying to land as quietly as I could. But I guess I need to tell you how I got here, running for my life.

I was at a friends house hours before and we were playing truth or dare. Normal teenager game, not supposed to mean any harm. Just all in good fun. But we ran out of dares and truths, so we started talking about urban legends and scary stories. There's a famous one in our town about a river that's haunted by a girl who was drowned by her friends. They say if you go to the river at a certain time and say "Sara, are you there? Sara, are we friends and Sara, are you dead?" three times she'll rise out of the river and try to drown you too. But you can stop it by offering her her favorite flowers or candy and saying -

"I wish you be at peace". Yea, kinda stupid, right? It's an urban legend and they're not supposed to be clever. But it is based on a real event where a girl did drown in the river - but the details of it are different. Some people say her "friends" did it as a joke not knowing she couldn't swim. Some say her boyfriend did it because she was pregnant, and then others say a water spirit or demon took her because they were jealous of her beauty. Her name was Sara and she was 16 when she died in that river 70 years ago.

So, now that the story of Sara has been told here's what happened next. I was at my friends house, like I said, playing truth or dare that turned into telling scary stories. That's when Amber came up with the great idea of doing dares involving these stories and legends. We laughed and agreed because they're fake, right? It started off doing things like 'Bloody Mary', 'Candyman', then using a ouija board and so on. None of it was working so she came up with the idea of going to Sara's River. I said no because it was late and the river is in dense woods. Told her it was too dangerous for any of us to go there when we don't know the area that well. Which she responded by saying,

"Well, we have GPS and flashlights on our phones.", she grinned,

"Yeah Alex, we have our phones so it's safer.", Everyone else was saying. I groaned and reluctantly agreed.

"I dare you to go to Sara's River and say her chant...by yourself.", Amber said to me with a smile.

"WHAT?! NO. WAY!.", I looked at her shocked that she would tell me to go there by myself in the middle of the night. "If I go YOU need to come with me because it's too dangerous.", I looked at her and our other friends, pleading with my eyes and hoping they would just say 'never mind'.

"Oh come ON, it's not even real. It's just stupid urban legend and there's a road near the river.", she was grinning ear-to-ear. I sat there and thought about it and finally said -

"Fine, I'll do it BUT you need to be waiting with the car ready to go and on the phone with me.", Amber nodded giggling with excitement.

"So then, let's go!", Amber hopped up and grabbed her car keys, dragging me by my arm out the door. We got in her car and drove the 45 minutes to where the road is closest to the spot at the river you need to go to.

"Smile!", she said as she snapped a very un-amused picture me, flipping her off. "Oh come on, don't be like that.", I just looked at her. "Nothing is going to happen. BUT just in case, here's some candy and a rose!.", then she practically pushed me out the car. I called her and she answered as promised. I turned my flashlight and GPS on also sharing my location with her so she'd know I was really going there. Then I started walking to the river.

"I hate you so much.", I said to her.

"I know.", she giggled back, "Everything will be fine, I promise."

I got to the spot I needed to be at and waited until 1:45 A.M. to start. Just as the time hit 1:45 the moon came out from behind the clouds and it sent a chill down my spine.

"It's not real,", I thought to myself, "It's just a stupid urban legend." I then looked to the river and it seemed to be very still. Like it wasn't moving at all. I shuddered thinking of what could be down there.

"Sttaarrtt alreadyyy.", Amber's voice came through the phone.

"Yea, yea I'm starting,", I said back to her. I looked at the moon one last time before looking at the river again and said -

"Sara, are you there?"

"Sara, are we friends?"

"Sara, are you dead?"

I said them two more times and - nothing. I looked at the river and no girl came rising out of the depths.

"See? I told you - ", Amber started.

"Told me, what? Amber?", I tried asking her. But she didn't respond. I looked down at my phone and realized it died.

"Ugghh, great.", I groaned to myself, "Well, whatever I'll try it again, it's not like anything will actually happen.", so I started again. I said the "chant" four more times before stopping and laughing at how scared I was before.

"God, this is soo stupid. 'Sara, are you ugly?, Sara, are you stupid? Sara, are you--.", *SPLASH* I turned around and there was a head coming out of the water, I froze. Amber had started walking down when the phone died to make sure I was ok and when she saw the head she screamed. The head turned to look at her and started moving unnaturally fast in her direction. Thinking fast I yelled out for it and screamed at Amber to run back to her car and drive.

It then turned it's attention back towards me, I barley had any time to think as I didn't want it going in the same direction as Amber and everyone else as well. I wasn't going to let them die for my stupidity. I ran in the opposite direction as fast as I could. I could hear it getting out of the river and I looked back to see it was having trouble standing. I laughed to myself thinking I'd be ok. But all that did was waste time for me to get away, it very quickly gained back its "earth legs" and snapped its head toward me.

"Oh, crap.", and I started running faster than I ever have in my life before. "I can't believe this is real. There's no way this is real. Someone MUST be messing with me.", But I knew the river current was too strong for someone to stay there with no help plus they would need diving gear to be able to stay under for so long. I weaved between the trees looking back every few strides to make sure it wasn't gaining on me. At one point I thought I had finally lost it when I heard a twig snap maybe 50 feet behind me. I started running again, also being careful I didn't trip and fall or put my foot in a hole. I got lucky it was a full moon out and that the clouds had disappeared. It was enough light for me to see where I was going. I was getting tired. I should have come to the road again but I either must have gone the wrong way or I was wrong that the road ever came this way.

It was too dangerous to just go in a straight line, when I tried that and looked back I could see her smile. I screamed and started weaving again. I was looking for a tree I could climb, because surely it couldn't climb trees, right? And nobody EVER climbs trees in horror movies which seems so obviously smart. Or maybe it's too obviously stupid. Maybe I would be able to climb to the very top of one and jump from tree to tree? Would that give my location away? As I was thinking this I heard her laugh, it was too close. I didn't dare turn around because I knew if I did I'd be dead. So I kept running.

The air was cold but my skin on fire, my lungs and legs also on fire. It was starting to get harder to move. Then, I remembered, how to stop it - but would it even work? The normal chant didn't even work so maybe it wasn't even Sara, maybe the legend about the water or demon spirit was true. Maybe I angered it by calling it ugly and stupid? I don't know but I should have never done this. That's when I saw it, a tree I could climb. I booked it to the tree and started climbing. It started laughing, it was a high pitch shriek of pleasure. I made a mistake. Oh god it wanted me to climb a tree. I can't back down, if I do it will definitely catch me. I need to keep going.

I reached the top and looked to see if I could jump to another tree. There was, just as I was about to jump I felt the tree I was in shake. It was climbing up towards me. I froze, trembling, tears and snot running down my face. Then a moment of survival and I jumped...I missed..I was falling. Just before I hit the ground I saw it, there at the bottom of the tree. Grinning, teeth sharp, eyes red, long hair and gray skin. It knew I'd jump snd would fall. It tricked me. I can feel myself being dragged across the forest floor. I can hear it humming, feels its claws diggin ginto my leg. I ask it to please stop. I apologize and it shrieks in laughter. I start crying again and say

"Sara, I wish you peace.", I look and it's stopped. It turns its head toward me and drops my leg. It starts walking over, the smile gone, bends over with its face in mine. God the stench but I bare it so I say again,

"Sara, I wish you peace.", hope pleading in my eyes as I reach into my pocket and pull out both the candy and rose and hold them up. It looks at them and takes them. The grin coming back onto its face I let out a sigh then..it drops them to the floor, laughing. It says -

"Sara is no longer here.", it grabs my leg again and we're getting closer and closer to the river. I close my eyes as I feel the water start to envelope my body. Then all of a sudden it lets go and I'm dragged out of the water. I can't see who it is as I'm blinded by sweat, blood and tears. He's talking but I can't hear what he's saying. When I wake up I'm in the hospital, Amber and our friends surrounding me. They said they went to the Sheriff's office and that's who pulled me out of the river.

I thank them for saving me but I have a sinking feeling in my gut. If that wasn't Sara then who - no. What was it? I asked if they made sure nothing followed us. They assured me nothing followed. I went home a few days later, happy to be home and away from any danger. I take a much needed shower but when I get out I scream. Written on my mirror in the steam -

"Alex, are you there?" with those eyes looking back at me through the window.