#glowing reader

The night started out almost suspiciously normal.

The Salvatore boarding house had that rare, peaceful vibe—as if the walls had momentarily forgotten all the times they’d been stained with blood, or echoed with Klaus’ taunting threats. The fireplace was flickering softly. A lazy indie playlist hummed in the background. Someone—probably Caroline—had strung fairy lights across the ceiling, giving the space a soft, golden glow that made the worn-out furniture feel cozier than it had any right to.

For once, no one was fighting. No one was bleeding. No ancient evil was crawling out of a crypt. It was just the Mystic Falls crew, lounging in a makeshift circle with blankets, pillows, pizza boxes, and a dangerously underestimated sense of peace.

You had just taken a sip of soda when Elena, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, said the cursed words.

“Truth or dare?”

Bonnie, immediately suspicious, gave her a withering look. “Seriously? Can we not tempt fate for one night?”

Jeremy snorted. “You say that like we haven’t already tempted, pissed off, and danced with fate about twelve times this week.”

“It’s a harmless game,” Elena said with a shrug.

Damon raised his glass. “Says the girl whose last harmless game got us locked in a haunted corn maze with a headless banshee.”

Stefan gave his brother a pointed look, but his lips twitched with amusement. Still, despite Bonnie’s half-hearted protests, and the unspoken what could go wrong hanging in the air like a warning, everyone agreed. Maybe it was boredom. Maybe it was habit. Or maybe it was the kind of collective denial only a group of supernatural misfits could afford.

The bottle was retrieved from the kitchen, placed in the center of the circle, and given a spin.

It started off... well. Manageable. Funny, even. A few tame truths. A few harmless dares. Stefan reluctantly jogged shirtless around the house after losing a bet. Caroline was dared to speed-clean Damon’s liquor shelf alphabetically and did so with glitter and flair. Elena admitted she once fantasized about making out with Elijah during a particularly weird dream—and then pretended she hadn’t said it by stuffing her mouth with chips. Damon was dared to compliment Jeremy ten times in a row and got through five before dramatically fake-gagging and muttering something about his “tragically average bone structure.”

Everyone laughed. The laughter was warm and real. Then the bottle landed on Bonnie.

She arched a brow. “Truth or dare?” you asked, unable to hide your grin.

Bonnie didn’t hesitate. “Dare.”

You leaned in. “Use a spell.”

Immediately, the mood shifted. Everyone exchanged glances. Bonnie straightened, her expression unreadable.

“Nothing serious,” you added quickly. “Just... something fun. Something dumb.”

Caroline tilted her head. “Like what? Turning the lights different colors? Floating snacks?”

“Sure,” you said, already regretting everything. “Something like that.”

Bonnie stared at you for a long second. Then she sighed and stood up. “Okay. Fine. One spell. No promises.”

She reached into her bag and pulled out a small crystal, whispering under her breath as she moved to the center of the room. The lights dimmed slightly. The fire crackled louder. And then, in a voice that sounded just a little too ancient for your comfort, she muttered something in Latin and waved her hand.

There was a brief shimmer in the air, like heat rising off pavement. The fairy lights pulsed. The candle flames danced.

Then silence. Nothing exploded. Nothing caught fire. You exhaled. Too soon.

Stefan suddenly sat up straighter and, with perfect seriousness, said, “What in the name of hell just occurred? My chest feels tight, my thoughts are slurred.”

Everyone blinked.

“Did you just... rhyme?” Elena asked.

Stefan opened his mouth again. “I fear my voice is not my own. These cursed words—I speak in tone.”

Bonnie’s eyes went wide. “Oh no.”

Damon, who had been halfway through sipping his bourbon, looked up with narrowed eyes. “Oh no what?”

“I think the spell... reacted,” Bonnie said, backing away. “It might have tied itself to the game.”

“That doesn’t even make sense,” you said. “It was just a dare.”

“Yes, and I dared chaos. So... congratulations, you’re welcome.”

While everyone tried to process that, Damon stood up and stalked over to the mirror near the staircase. He paused, stared, and screamed.

“Oh, hell no.”

He turned slowly, seething. His perfectly tousled hair—his pride, his signature—was now a blinding shade of neon pink.

“Someone fix this before I set the entire block on fire.”

“You can’t threaten arson in a tiara-colored mop,” Caroline deadpanned, half-laughing, half-horrified.

You blinked and looked down at your hands. Oh. You were glowing. No—radiating. A soft, golden shimmer rolled across your skin, pulsing in time with your heartbeat.

“Bonnie?” you said carefully.

She turned. Her eyes widened.

“Oh my god.”

“I’m glowing.”

“Yep.”

“Like a radioactive lightning bug.”

“I think the spell is bonding to each of us,” she said slowly, scanning the room. “Based on who we are, what we dared, or maybe... I don’t know... emotional resonance?”

Damon flailed. “My emotional resonance is not pink, thank you very much!”

Stefan sighed and sank into the nearest chair. “Of all the things to make me do, why rhyme? I’d rather die than waste my time.”

“You are wasting our time,” Damon muttered, still glaring at his reflection. “At least try a haiku or something.”

“Guys,” Bonnie said, rubbing her temples, “the spell is unstable. If we don’t finish the game, the effects could stick.”

Jeremy perked up. “So we have to keep playing?”

“No,” Stefan said dramatically. “We must continue this cursed affair, or suffer longer in despair.”

“That’s a yes,” Bonnie translated.

And so the game resumed.

—

If the first half had been silly, the second half was absolute supernatural anarchy. Elena’s next dare gave her brief telepathy—just long enough for her to hear Damon’s thoughts and physically recoil.

“Oh my god.”

“What?” he said.

“You—think—in French when you lie.”

Damon didn’t even deny it. “Helps with finesse.”

Caroline, ever the overachiever, accepted a dare to teleport—but immediately vanished mid-sentence and reappeared on top of the kitchen counter. Then again in the hallway. Then, horrifyingly, in Stefan’s shower.

Matt turned into a stone statue for five whole minutes when he refused to answer a dare, only revived after Bonnie waved a candle and sang Beyoncé under her breath.

And you—your glow was brighter now. It shifted with your emotions. Every time someone shouted or shrieked, you pulsed like a heartbeat monitor on espresso. You were afraid to stand too close to anything flammable.

Stefan, rhyming now with bitter elegance, was narrating the entire night in tragic couplets like some cursed Shakespearean bard.

By the end, everyone was slumped in various states of exhaustion and spiritual damage.

Bonnie stood slowly. “One more round. Then I can end it.”

“Don’t you need, like, an actual reversal ritual?” you asked.

She shook her head. “It started with a dare. It ends with one.”

She looked around. Then dared herself. The room darkened. Magic sparked around her fingertips. She spoke fast, incantations layered in an ancient tongue. The spell pulsed out of her like a wave, and all at once—

Your glow vanished. Stefan exhaled in silence. Caroline reappeared on the couch with a relieved squeak. Jeremy finally stopped trying to get the bottle to spin on its own. And Damon? Damon stared at his reflection.

“Still pink,” he muttered.

Bonnie winced. “Yeah, that one’s... probably gonna fade naturally. In a week. Or so.”

Damon turned slowly, eyes murderous. “A week?”

“You dared the spell,” she reminded him.

“No. She did.” He pointed directly at you.

You raised your hands, no longer glowing, and smiled. “Worth it.”

Later

Everyone had gone home—or, more accurately, scattered like trauma survivors. You stayed behind to help clean up. Damon, sullen and sparkling under the low light, poured himself another drink, tiara still in place because Caroline had dared him to keep it for the rest of the night and Bonnie had reinforced it with a binding charm. He caught you smirking.

“Laugh it up, glow worm.”

You saluted with your soda. “Truth or dare, Damon?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Dare.”

You leaned back with a grin. “Be normal for a whole day.”

Damon groaned.

“Pure evil,” he muttered, downing his drink.

You didn’t disagree.

🕯️ Truth or Dare is now banned from the Salvatore boarding house under magical law. Violators will be glitter-bombed and hexed accordingly.