Hide and Seek

Chapter 11: Some Professional

I took a closer look at the chair. With all the creepiness going on, I couldn't help but believe in the supernatural. Something I've never believed in before. Could a ghost have been sitting here?

I started to shiver. I shook my head at the thought. Maybe Violet set it up to look that way. Yeah, I'll go with that.

As soon as I decided to start looking for Violet again, about six feet away from me, I saw a man standing against the wall.

My eyes widened. It was an old man with gray hair and a gray beard. His clothes were all stitched up. His fingernails had been peeled off and were bleeding. His head faced the floor and blood leaked from a part of his face that I couldn't see.

"Gotcha!" Violet said, grabbing me from behind. "You couldn't have found me faster?"

I pushed Violet away from me, thinking it was something or someone else. I quickly looked away from her and back at the man. He was now gone. I turned to Violet, who was now on the floor, staring at me cruelly.

"I-I thought you were underneath the blanket," I stuttered.

She glared at me.

"I saw a man! He was bleeding!" I said louder, wishing she'd talk and not get mad.

She stood up and looked at me, wiping her pants.

I looked at her for the longest time. "Do you think they exist? You know, like ghost?"

"Of course they do," she said.

I didn't think she'd agree with me. I thought she would say something like, "Of course NOT!" But that didn't happen.

"Don't you believe, Emily?" Violet asked, walking towards me.

I almost stumbled back. "I don't know. I've seen so many weird things lately."

She stared at me. Her mouth was opening and closing like she wanted to tell me something.

"Violet?" I asked.

Before she could answer, there was a knock at the door.

"Viiiioleeeeet! It's meeeee. Opaaan the door!" Caroline yelled.

Violet went to answer the door and, sure enough, Caroline, and Jasper was standing there. No, Tate.

"Emily! Hay!" Caroline greeted, running toward me. "Yer paler than a new born baby. Are yer okay?"

I looked at her and smiled.

Violet stepped in front of me. "She saw a ghost."

"Oh," Caroline said, just like that. She nodded and looked at Jasper. It was odd. A girl her age should either be, one, extremely scared, or two, really freaked out. But she wasn't at all.

"Well, that's unfortunate!" Caroline exclaimed, shrugging her shoulders. "Can we play hide and seek? We almost got caught steal-"

Jasper placed his hand over Caroline's mouth. "Shut up," Jasper said, looking at Violet. "We were just really bored."

Violet nodded. "Sure. Shall we continue our game?"

"What about the ghost?" I asked, not sure if I still wanted to play in this house. I know what I had seen today. I know what I saw in the garden. Things just weren't adding up.

"Emily," Violet said walking towards me. "They say ghosts won't hurt you if you're not a threat to them. You have to, you know, ignore them. If they really are real."

"Yeah, that sounds super easy," I said sarcastically. "You don't understand. Since I got here, I've seen things. Strange things, beyond comprehension."

Jasper was staring at me, hard. So was Caroline.

"Were you hurt?" Violet asked.

"No," I admitted.

She smiled. "Then let's play. Jasper is it. The first floor only, just until Emily is not found."

For some reason, that last statement sent shivers down my back. I ignored it quickly. Jasper started to count. As he counted, I ran back inside the room where the ghost appeared, and you know what I did? I placed the blanket back on the chair and shaped it to look like a person. I hid right behind the entrance door.

"19, 20."

Jasper was done counting and now looking for the others. No one hid in the same room as me, and I was completely fine with that. I heard footsteps coming my way. I slid farther back towards the wall, hoping he wouldn't be able to see me. I was hoping he'd walk over to the blanket and while he had his back turned, I'd run into the living room and hide since he already probably checked there, then run BACK into the room with the blanket. It was great.

He'd probably say, "I thought I looked in there already. Wow, you're a genius." I longed for a compliment from him. Not that I liked him, but he was very cute.

The footsteps grew closer, and I saw him. Jasper walked into the room FACING me! That's right. He walked backward into the room and had the widest smile on his face. I nearly screamed. Jasper laughed.

"Found you," he said, looking at me. He then looked at the blanket that was on the chair. He snapped his fingers, and the blanket fell flat onto the chair. "Don't be so simple," he said then walked away to find the others.

I watched him as he looked for the others. He found all of them less than three minutes. All of us then met in the living room. They were all laughing, except for me.

"Cheer up, Emily. You'll get better at this," Violet said, gently punching me on the shoulder.

I gave her a fake smile. "How do you guys do that? Hide so well? I thought I was good at hide and seek..." I looked at the floor. "I guess not."

Caroline placed her hand on my shoulder. "Hey now, don't be so sad."

"Yeah," Jasper said. "You'll be better in no time. I promise."

"Okay, Emily, you're it," Violet said.

I wasn't really in the mood to play, but I did anyway. I turned my head toward the front door and counted. As soon as I got to four, all the footsteps stopped. How did they do that?!

***

I had been looking for them for almost 10 minutes now. I looked everywhere. Inside cabinets, in the trash cans, under couches, and inside the cracks in the walls. I even looked outside and on the porch.

I walked back into the living room, cupped my hands around my mouth, and then yelled, "I give up!"

The laughter behind me scared the life out of me. My eyes were wide as all three of them, Caroline, Violet, and Jasper, stood there laughing.

"But, how?" I asked.

They continued to laugh.

"Some professional," Violet laughed.

"Hey, she's not that bad," Jasper said winking at me.

I was steaming. That, "some professional" remark was enough to send me walking out the front door.

Violet called after me, but I ignored her. I kept walking, heading back toward the Harmon's.