A game of Truth or Dare goes wrong and Bloody Mary comes for college students in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Megan* and three childhood friends settled in for a night of sangria and juvenile fun. They had just finished finals week at different universities scattered across the Midwest. The four friends hadn’t seen each other in more than a year and they wanted to have a childhood theme for the night. They decided on a  7th grade sleepover like they had as kids.

Now that they’d all reached 21, they introduced some alcohol to their shindig. They jettisoned their Capri Sun juice drinks for sangria, and talked about their boyfriends, not their middle school crushes.

Then, Carly* wanted to play their favorite game, Truth or Dare.

It seemed harmless enough. Most of the young women picked the truth option and told each other sordid tales of sorority parties, wild spring breaks and hookups.

But Megan chose dare and Carly sent her into the bathroom to summon Bloody Mary.

The other two women, Samantha* and Jade*, gasped at the thought of calling a killer spirit, but voiced their support for it after a quick slug of red sangria. They needed some liquid courage.

Megan didn’t seem bothered by the request at all. She stood, took a long drink, and made her way to the bathroom. Jade handed her a candle and told her to keep the light off and to speak loudly and clearly. The ladies would listen on the other side of the door. If they couldn’t hear and understand Megan, then she’d get another dare that would be worse.

Megan entered the bathroom, flipped the light switch to off, and left the door slightly open, just enough for a peering eye to see her. In front of her and above the bathroom sink was your standard, rectangular mirror with the shower and Megan reflected in it. Megan wasn’t happy with the dim candle light: It made her look like she had bags under her eyes.

She flipped her dark brown hair back and leaned into the mirror, casting a glance at the door to make sure her friends saw her. Megan saw Carly’s little beady green eye fixed on her.

Megan repeated “Blood Mary” five times in the fashion a stage actor, without a microphone, would project from Radio City Music Hall.

The bathroom remained still for a few seconds after she finished saying that dreadful name. Then, the candle flickered, sparked and flared bright enough to fill the bathroom like it was daylight.

Megan stepped away from the mirror as her friends flung open the door and turned on the light. Samantha hugged Megan. They asked in unison if she was okay.

Megan was stunned, but raised her hand to point at the mirror. There was something in the reflection. More like someone in the reflection and it was none of the girls.

A dark silhouette had formed. Second-by-second, it grew more detailed. It was a female form by the length of its hair. She was pale, almost chalk-white, with chubby cheeks, a button nose and thin, pink lips. Black veins crawled across her temples. Her eyes were sunken in with black circles around her eyes, like Megan had worried about. Her pupils were lemon yellow. The figure seemed to be college aged.

It glared at Megan, lifted its index finger and wagged it ‘no.’

Carly sprung into action and took a metal soap dish from the sink counter. She hurled it into the mirror, shattering it into dozens of glittering shards. Each fell like a twinkling star to the beige tile floor.

Bloody Mary never manifested in the other mirrors.

The next day, Carly had the housed blessed by a priest from nearby Glen Ellyn. There have been no signs of the specter at the house since this event.

Editor’s Note: There were inconsistencies in the young ladies’ stories about this night. Please treat this story as an urban legend, not a true ghost story.

*Names changed to protect the ladies’ identities