Hide and Seek

The night had started out like any other weeknight. Lying in bed with the light off and the night light on, waiting for the peace of sleep. Which is why I was so curious when I heard the giggle of another child. It was strange, there wasnt supposed to be any other kids nearby and to my knowledge the neighbors didnt have any. So when the window gave off a clear-as-day giggle, I didnt bother to roll over to look.

The giggles got louder, as did words being whispered between giggles. "Play with me." The voices would whisper. "Hide and seek!" I didnt want to play though. Why wouldn't they go away, how do I tell them I dont want to play?

Finally, I gain the courage. Right when it sounds like the giggles are in front of my bed, I sit up, and tear the blanket down into my lap as I yell, "I dont want to play with you!" I keep my eyes closed tight, not daring to look at what might be in front of me.

"But I want to play Hide and Seek." As the words were said, a shiver was rushed down my spine. I open my eyes, a small girl about my age standing there. She looked sweet. I glanced from her to the open window.

"Hide, and I seek. " I looked back at the girl, taking in her appearance. She had no shoes and a white nightgown that was torn and muddy on the bottom. As if she were running through the woods. I looked up at her matted hair. The most unsettling part of her, what should have been the most outstanding feature, was her eyes. Or more so the lack-of. There were black empty pits where the girls eyes should have been, and dark lines running from them down her cheeks, like tears.

Her voice was raspy when she repeated herself. "Hide, and I seek." She had a wide smile on her small face, making the bottoms of the holes crinkle upward. Flight or fight hit me like a truck as I sprang out of my bed, throwing the blanket off the bed and onto the hardwood floor.

Something in my head rang out the words 'run, hide' like a bell. Over and over 'run, hide, run'. My mind was running full speed now as I ran outside of my bedroom. I could hear the young girl -sounding more like some sort of creature and less than a young girl- counting behind me. She was at number 3. How much longer would she count? What do I do? Should I just hide or run away?

I ran down the hallway and past my parents' empty bedroom. Running down the stairs the counting got louder. She was at 8 now. I used the knob on the end of the railing to launch myself around the corner and into the kitchen. I run through to the door to the basement. I practically tear the large door off its hinges as I run down the wooden stairs and to the back of the cement room.

Pushing random jars and tools off one of the many shelves, I climb behind the shelf. I crawl to the wall and pull a wooden board away from it, revealing a hole big enough for a grown man to hide in. My father showed me this place once, telling me it was only for extra storage.

As I crawled into the large hole, I turned and pulled the wood board back over the entrance and flooding the space into darkness. I hear the last number muttered throughout my head. 15. I hold my breath and close my eyes, trying to stay as quiet as I could.

"Ready or not, here I come." It was not the same voice that had told him to hide, it was something wicked. Something bone-chilling that could freeze anyone in their tracks. Pure evil.

I listened as the wood of the house creaked. It didn't sound like one person walking through the house. It sounded like a group of people opening and closing every possible thing they could manage at once. The creaking and slamming of doors and drawers kept shaking the house for what felt like hours until it stopped as suddenly as it had begun.

There was a quiet creaking as the basement door slowly swung open. The stairs squeaked with every strainful step as the creature made its way down to the cement room. I could hear things falling and breaking as it searched the room. Not long after, I heard the wood of the stairs. I sighed quietly in relief.

I waited a bit longer for everything to settle, for everything to be quiet. When I was sure I was alone again, I pushed the board away from the hole and shielded my eyes from the light.

I stilled, my breath catching in my throat as I hear a whisper in my ear from the hole. "I found you."