Hide and Seek

It was a peaceful Saturday at 2 A.M. and everyone was fast asleep. Except the six family members living in a wonderfully big green colored house in L.A. It was a private house and no other houses were near them. 

“It’s MY turn!” Gemma shouted at her older brother, Jacob. 

“No, it’s MY turn! Mom just went, which means it’s my turn now,” Jacob shouted back. 

“Gemma! Jacob! Stop that nonsense of screaming! It’s 2 A.M. anyways so it’s time for bed,” their mom said to them. Tiredness covered her whole face. She was a skinny woman and her signature mark was the red, very red, lipstick she always wore, day and night. Her brown hair was always curled tightly or in a low bun. No kids ever liked her because they said she looks like the evil witch from Snow White but she didn’t care about that. She was a teacher teaching a whole class of 35 fourth graders. 

It was Saturday which meant  it was the day both parents made time to play with their kids until it passed midnight. They had played Monopoly and were playing Clues now and hadn't realized that it was 2 in the morning already. 

“Yes, time for sleep,” their dad agreed. He had heavy dark circles under his eyes and was a very muscular man. I mean, after all he was the fitness trainer. No kids ever liked him. They all said he looked scary. 

“Ugh. Gemma and Jacob always ruin it for everyone,” Georgia, a 14 year old and the oldest of the four siblings shook her head at her younger siblings. 

What she said was very true. Their fun Saturday night always ended in two of her siblings fighting and most of the time it was Gemma, aged 7 and Jacob, aged 10. Gemma could be described in one word: sassy. Jacob could also be described in one word: stubborn. When the Sassy Queen and Stubborn King met, there were no other words to describe it than chaotic. Then there was Josh, the only blonde between the brunettes. He was just 2 years younger than Georgia. Sometimes, he was too quiet. And of course he could be described in one word: quiet. Georgia was a mix of all of them. Oh! With an addition of anger issues. Well anyways, that is the 6 members of the Simmer family. 

Having to take care of these four, wonderfully chaotic children, Mrs. and Mr. Simmer couldn’t not be tired. Basically they were stressed from work and tired from housework. 

“Mom, can we please play hide and seek before going to bed? Pleeeeaseee?” Gemma skipped to her mom and asked with sparkling green eyes, just like her dad’s. 

“Gemma, it’s 2 A.M. Let’s save that for next week,” her mom petted her black hair and made an effort to smile. 

Then, click, click, click, click, click. 

One by one, the lights went off around the house. First upstairs and it slowly made its way downstairs. 

“Who’s doing that? Turn the light back on!” Georgia shouted, not impressed at all. She hated darkness. Just hated it. 

“Not me! I promise!” Gemma and Jacob said at the same time. 

“I was right next to you!” Josh said. 

Georgia knew her mom wouldn’t do that because just like her, her mom was scared of the darkness too. Maybe more than she was. 

“Dave, go grab the flashlights. Now!” Their mom’s voice was shaking, full of terror. 

“Georgia and Josh, stay with your mom. Jacob and Gemma, come with me,” their dad ordered. 

Josh took Georgia and her mother to the couch and soon after, they found comfort.

Just about 5 minute later… 

“Linda, honey! I found the flash-” Their dad’s voice was cut off. And then-- thump. 

“AHHHHHHHHH! DADDDDD!” Gemma’s loud shrill filled the room. It wasn’t just any scream. It was a scream no one has ever heard from her before. 

“MOM!!” Jacob and Gemma ran towards Georgia, their mom, and Josh. 

“Gemma! Jacob! What is happening? What is wrong?” Their mom asked. She tried to stay as calm as she could. 

“We were coming back into the room from the garage and dad just fell onto the ground. I think blood was coming out from his head. I think someone hit him from behind. I felt-” Jacob was on his mom’s knee, talking so fast and shaking at the experience he has never had before. 

“Jacob, what?” Their mom was scared now but had to stay strong for her kids. 

Jacob couldn’t answer the question anymore. He burst into tears. 

“Josh, please go grab my phone from the TV stand,” their mom said. 

“I’m scared,” Josh said. But unfortunately, he was too quiet and it only made his mom tell him again.

Josh started walking towards the TV stand. It was just 10 feet away, 9 feet, 8, feet, 7 feet, 6,5,4….

Right as he reached his hand out to grab it, “MOMMMM!” His voice filled the room and everyone jumped up. This was the second time of him being loud, first being when he was crying as a baby. They all rushed towards him and the lights turned on, one by one again. 

That’s when they saw it. Josh’s thin arm was in the hands of a person dressed completely in black. The black outfit covered his whole body, including his face and feet. He looked like a shadow. Josh was crying and his mom didn’t know what to do. 

Georgia turned around and couldn’t hold her scream in. Her dad, her muscular and strong and brave dad was on the ground with blood coming from his head, just like Jacob had said. That wasn’t the only thing. Two of the shadow men were next to him. Georgia couldn’t move. Or talk. Or faint. 

Her mom turned around again and saw what Georgia had seen. Then, she fainted. She collapsed onto the ground and the children were panicked. They didn’t know what to do. None of them were crying either. They all knew by their common sense that if they cried, nothing would do any good to them. 

Georgia got ahold of her mind and knelt next to her mom. She elevated her mom’s fragile head and pinched her arm, causing her to flinch. Georgia prayed and prayed for her mom to wake up. She pinched her mom once again, grabbing a small amount of skin and gave it a hard squeeze. 

Then, her mom was up. She gasped at the pain but Georgia was just glad she was back up. She embraced her mom and helped her up. 

“No more of this drama. We’ve waited long enough. Let’s play a game of hide and seek, shall we? You all have 5 minutes to hide. If we catch you within 5 minutes, we all know the ending won’t be a happily ever after,” the shadow man let go of Josh’s arm, now bruised purple. His mom hugged him tightly and kept all her children in her arms. 

“But if you all manage to stay hidden for the 5 minutes, we let you go. If you try to report us at any point of this game, you’ll be gone before the police are here. Do you understand?” When the man talked about the police, his voice became dark. Dark with fear and anger. 

“The rules are simple. 1. You have to be within 100 feet of the house. 2. No running away. If you try, you will get caught by our fellow friends. 3. Don’t spread the word about today. 4. Don’t report to the police. 5. Don’t get caught.” They told the family and the Simmers had to play by those rules. 

The Simmers all nodded. 

“Gemma, you have to thank us. We are playing hide and seek with you. You wanted to play this right?” The shadow man whispered to them. 

“Get your dirty mouth away from my daughter,” her mom pulled Gemma away from the shadow man, terrified. 

“If you say so,” everyone felt the smirk he gave to them, even under the clothing he was wearing. 

“What about dad?” Georgia gathered her courage and asked. 

“Oh. Him? You can stay with a dead man but I will tell you now that it won’t be worth it,” he laughed. He laughed like a creepy villain and it filled the house. 

“Hehuheheueheueheheuehe,” all three of them started laughing hysterically, frightening the family. Their mom covered Gemma’s ears and all of them covered their own. 

“THE COUNTDOWN BEGINS NOW!” One of them shouted. 

“I’ll give you five seconds to start running and we’ll have our eyes closed as if they were glued tight,” one of them said. 

“FIVE... FOUR... THREE… TWO… ONE….”  The countdown started and the Simmers started running…. 

PART 2 COMING SOON!!!! STAY TUNED :))