Come Find Me

There is just one game that I have never played. Just the name of it is haunted--coated in cobwebs of silence and respect, creaking with stories of the past, and buried under thick secrets just waiting to be uncovered. 

As far as I know, there has only been one attempt to play The Game before our turn. His name was Ralph.

Ralph attended my grade school. He had a mop of shocking blonde hair, so pure it was almost white, and a grin that could chase off the worst troublemakers. But his most distinct attribute was his curiosity--rivaling that of a cat. In the end, it was too much for small Ralph to handle.

A handful of my classmates played with him. 

The game was ended before even one round had been completed, but Ralph’s choice was like a pebble in a still pond--the ripples only got larger. 

The Incident caused an uproar around my community that I’d never seen before. My parents took me out of school for a week and when I came back, everything was back to normal. No one mentioned The Incident. Ralph's seat was empty. 

No one has seen him since. 

You see, The Game is untouchable, unspeakable… at least for 1 more day. Then it’s my turn to play. 

* * *

“Liv,” A voice hissed through the thick gray haze of sleep that coated my eyelids. I groaned, throwing a half-hearted shove at whoever was talking and curling back in on myself. “Liv!”

I mumbled a quick, “Go away,” and was greeted with the desired silence. I sighed happily--proud of accomplishing my mission--and wriggled deeper under my thick comforter. Warmth encompassed me, enveloping me in its lucid embrace and dragging me deeper into my thoughtless stupor of sleep.

With a single swipe, my peace was shattered and I was left shivering in the frigid air. I wrapped my arms around myself tightly.

“I’m up!” I yelled. “I’m up,” I repeated, grumbling. I looked over to see Emma standing next to me with a smirk dancing across her lips, a hand on her slim hips, and my comforter clutched tightly in one of her fists. “That was unkind.” I pouted.

“Get up, Sleepyhead. The Induction Ceremony is today.” Her sentence was like a douse of cold water, sending tingles throughout my body. I lept out of bed, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shrieked. She grinned back. 

We were still jumping up and down with excitement when Maman came into the room, holding two dresses up to the light and smiling softly. 

The rest of the morning passed in a blur of excitement and energy, twirling gowns and clouds of makeup. Excitement bubbled up inside me as I looked down at the black pumps sitting on the floor next to my bed--the last piece in the intricate puzzle of my appearance. They were more than shoes. These were the vessels that would carry me into my future. 

I slid them onto my feet and stood, staring at my reflection in the mirror. Pride coursed through my body and I smiled. I didn’t see Maman behind me until she spoke softly, “You look beautiful.” I spun around, wrapping her in a tight hug. She pulled away and I finally saw the tears locked behind her eyes and Papa standing, frozen, in the doorway.

“I love you both,” I smiled, blowing them kisses. Papa strode over and clutched my hands with a levity that brought me crashing back down to earth, sucking all of the excitement out of me like a punch to the stomach. 

“Be careful, Olivia.” He ordered. “And watch out for Emma. I’m worried…” His voice trailed off and he didn’t continue, shaking his head as if attempting to rid it from a stubborn, unwanted thought. “Your cousin’s not…” He cleared his throat and started again. “I think her mother has affected her more than…” He finally stopped trying.

I didn’t need him to continue. I knew the story like a bad scab, one I kept picking at despite my better judgment. Emma’s parents had committed suicide when she was young. We had adopted her and I was overjoyed to have my cousin become my sister--but their deaths haunted her, following her around like a bad dream she couldn’t shake. She never was quite the same. 

“I know,” I responded softly, kissing him on the cheek. “We’ll be safe.”

Papa looked away. I pulled him and Maman in for a tight hug and finally felt Maman’s tears slide down my neck in a hypnotizing pattern. 

A soft knock on the door made us all lookup. Emma peeked through a crack, her purple dress slipping lithely off of her thin figure. Papa smiled sweetly and held out a hand. 

She ran and joined the hug, wrapping her arms around mine as we sunk to the ground together--her blonde hair tangling with my brown, and our hands full of the people we loved. 

* * *

The line was silent, the sounds of clicking heels on the pale stone floor swallowed up by the suffocating heat of the day. Emma’s hand was ice cold, cooling to the touch. I bit my lips when a bout of anxiety rose and she squeezed my hand softly. The building loomed over us, full of harsh angles and clean-cut shapes in a dark stained glass. 

“Oh my gosh,” Emma whispered, her voice laced with laughter. “Look who’s in front of us.” 

I swiveled, looking over shoulders to spot a dark-haired man walking into the building. I turned sharply on Emma, squishing her face with urgency. “Don’t look, don’t look, don’t look!” I didn’t have to look. I knew that if he turned around I would see pale blue eyes, a small scar on a bottom lip, and a jaw with harsh angles. I knew the feeling of his thick arms, now covered in a black suit. “He might see me!” I shrunk in on myself.

“Still hiding from your Ex, Livvie?” Emma asked through squished lips. I shook my head sharply and Emma choked on her laughter. I glared at her, forcing myself to stand up straight.

“I am not hiding from Ronan.”

“Mhm.” Emma nodding stoically, “Of course not. The great Olivia would not pine for a lost loved one.”

I groaned. “You are the worst.”

She curtsied. “I try my best.”

We reached the front of the line and were greeted by a woman, her dark hair tied up in a bun so tight it looked painful. She gave a pointed look at our locked hands but turned back to her glass clipboard. “Olivia Chercheur. Seat D27 please.” She tilted her head toward Emma. “Emma Le Caché. Seat R2.”

Emma gave me a small wave when she went to sit in her seat. I waved back, trying to shake the sinking feeling in my gut. Papa’s words reverberate in my head, knocking loose strands of apprehension. Watch out for Emma. I’m worried…

I’m worried…

I sat in the cold seat and crossed my hands across my lap, waiting for the last of the kids to trickle in. Every eighteen year old in our province, seated around me, waiting to be told which side we would take in The Game. The Game.

I’d always wondered at the name. It didn’t seem like a game--unless it was our future they were ‘playing’ with. The Game had always loomed over me like a dark cloud. My teachers always stated that it was vital, a part of growing out of childhood and stepping into our future. They left the rest of the explanation to our parents, but no matter how many times I brought it up, my parents wouldn’t talk about it. The most I ever got from them was a single word. Seeker. It was whispered, hardly spoken and it still hung heavy around the house like my mom had confessed a deadly sin. 

“Children,” A loud voice boomed throughout the hall, silencing the few whispers. A woman on a stage grinned, spreading her arms out. “Welcome to your future.”

I caught Emma’s eye and she winked. 

“To understand why you are here, you must first understand your history--you must understand where you came from to understand where you are going. Decades ago, our planet was on the verge of collapse. Children crowded streets, families packed into homes. There were not enough resources and there were too many people to nourish. The Human race was on the brink of extinction.” I saw nods scattered across the crowd. We all knew this. We knew how the Judges saved us, how they brought the world back into balance. “Through much debate, a select few of the leaders of the time had the strength to see the slow destruction. So they planned a way to return the world peace--to ensure that the children of the future would go to bed with full bellies and happy hearts instead of tears and empty hands. They created The Game.” I would finally know. Curiosity sunk her deadly claws into my heart and I sucked in a sharp breath. A small voice in the back of my head whispered caution, reminding me of Curiosity’s treachery--how she left Ralph behind without a single thought. “The Game is based on one that children used to play. They called it hide & seek. One of the children, the Seeker, would count to ten while the rest of the children would hide. Then, he would search for them--winning only once he had found them all.” She looked at us, waiting for her words to sink in. Or perhaps… warning us that our world was about to be turned on its head. “You will be placed in two groups--half of you will be Seekers, while the others will be The Obscured. Once you have been determined, the Obscured will be released into the Playing Field--a city from the time of the first Judges, abandoned and used only once a year for this purpose. The Obscured will get one day to… hide. And then the Seekers will be released--each with an assignment. An Obscured to exterminate.”

Exterminate… Exterminate. Kill?! They wanted me to kill?! My jaw dropped and my heart rate tripled--pounding, pounding. Chasing. Hunting?

“The ones who survive after a week will be released--given money according to their rank in The Game and free to live out their lives in peace.”

The hall was silent. It had always been silent. Could it have gotten quieter? I could hear my heart. Pounding. Pounding. Pounding. I couldn’t kill. I wouldn’t… 

The Lady pulled out a scroll, reading off names. “The Seekers of the year 3049 are…” I couldn’t listen--my brain racked with a new revelation. My parents survived. They had been Seekers. They had killed… to have the chance to have me. 

I glanced up, my eyes filled with horror. 

“Ronan Traitre. Olivia Chercheur. Bella DuPont.” I froze. I was a Seeker. She stopped talking, moving onto the second scroll. “Your 3049 Obscured are Duke Lavigne…”

Wait…

I whipped my head toward Emma and she met my eyes. She looked fragile, like glass about to crack. It confirmed my suspicion. “No… no, no…” I knew I was rambling but I couldn’t stop. “No, no, no.” I was getting louder but so was the room. People moving, being herded into groups based on their assortment. 

Watch out for Emma. I’m worried… 

Papa knew. Papa knew that she wasn’t going to make the cut. That she was an Obscured. 

I felt the blood drain from my face. Everything blurred and my senses dimmed like I was watching from underwater. Ronan slung an arm across my shoulders. “I knew we’d get in, Babe! I heard they put the useless cases with The Obscured to get rid of them.” Emma. “I’m the seventh Seeker in my family.” He bragged.

Ronan knew. Did everyone know? Was everyone but me aware that we were just being raised to slaughter each other off?

I felt the panic rise in me, choking me from the inside. I felt my blood turn to ice. Breathe. The panic started closing in and I felt my stomach clench with each sharp inhale through my clenched teeth. Darkness swarmed my vision, and I felt like I had been dunked in water. Lights swarmed, flashing too brightly. I winced. Sounds were too loud, scents too strong. The ground swayed, and the world spun. Growing increasingly panicked, I repeated the word breathe again and again.

Ronan looked at me curiously before shrugging and walking away. Emma. I stood on my toes, searching, searching for a flash of blonde hair. She was gone. 

They can’t take Emma. They can’t take Emma. She can’t stand being alone. Don’t they know that she can’t be alone?

Soon it was just the Seekers, standing around an emptied room. A woman walked around, directing us toward doors. I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I finally felt a tablet being shoved into my arms and I knew that my assignment would be glowing there in fine print.

Unpersonify the name, I chanted. You have to do this for Papa. For Maman. This person is not real.

I forced myself to look down. There were only three words but they severed my last connection to reality. I felt my face flush and my eyes flash with dark spots, slowly expanding until they covered my whole vision. I felt my eyelids flutter closed.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was the name, Emma Le Caché, glowing alone on a cold screen.

* * *

It had been three days since my world shattered. 

Three days since Emma was sent onto the Playing Field. Alone. 

Two days of me searching for her. 

I had to find her. She couldn’t be alone.

Her name glowed across my wrist next the sign of a seeker--an open circle with a horizontal line slashed across. Every time I saw it my stomach heaved. 

Rain was pounding against the dirt, pouring down like the sky was angry at us. How many people were already dead? My black jeans and T-shirt stuck to me, hugging every limb. My boots were filled with water and my hair was plastered across my gaunt face. I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten.

Was Emma even still alive? I could hardly survive, and I wasn’t living with the fear of being hunted. 

I sucked in a deep breath, closing my eyes and leaning across the heavily graffitied, crumbling wall. 

I heard a sharp yelp and my eyes flew open, my fingers immediately reaching for the gun strapped onto my hip. I lept lightly on my feet, walking slowly toward the sound. I could feel someone breathing deeply on the other side of the wall, seemingly in pain. I took a deep breath. 

“Don’t move!” I shouted, spinning around the wall and pointing my gun at the girl crouched there. She froze, scrambling back, her mouth opened in a soft o of terror. 

I don’t know what told me it was her--she was so dirty that you couldn’t tell the color of her hair. But I knew.

“Em?’ I whispered, haunted. 

She jumped up, wincing after putting weight on the ankle she must have broken. “Liv?” She asked, brokenly. 

“Yes.” I sniffed, holding back tears. “It’s me. It’s me, Em, it’s me. I’m here.”

I took a step forward but she shuddered backward, holding her wrist out in between us. My name was there, glowing against her pale skin along with a triangle. “You’re supposed to kill me.’ She said, her voice rasping on the way out. And with that, the tears started to fall. I wiped at them, trying to see. The rain soaked my clothes and my tears soaked my cheeks, and I couldn’t see, I couldn’t see, but Emma was right there, right there, and we would be okay. We would be okay.

I bent down slowly, like she was a startled deer, and threw my gun away from me, breathing a sigh of relief once it’s cold, slick handle was out of my grasp. I heard it’s thick slurp when it hit the mud five feet away. She watched me with alert eyes.

I scooped up some mud and rubbed it across my forearm. Covering the symbol. Covering her name. 

It was just me. Olivia. Not Olivia the Seeker. Not Emma’s Hunter. Me. Myself. Liv.

“See?” I whispered, tears dripping down my nose and snot threatening to fall. I wiped my face--smearing mud. I knew that I looked wild, just as wild as she did. But we were together. 

She slowly bent to the ground, mirroring my pose. She looked at me, and finally… she smiled, wiping mud across her wrist. 

We didn’t care about the dumb rules of The Game. We were going to win. Together. 

The world dripped away in a smear of blues and greys, but I could see Emma's blonde hair now--peeking out through the mud.

We would be okay.

I let myself smile for the first time in three days. 

Bright lights blinded me and I fell backwards on the floor, reaching an arm out across my eyes and wincing in pain. I blinked repeatedly to clear my vision. 

“Oliv-” Emma’s voice choked off. 

My eyes adjusted and there, standing in front of us, was Ronan. A flashlight in one hand and a gun in the other--trained on us.

“Found you.” 

* * *

There’s one game I wish I never played.