Hide and Seek

“1… 2… 3…”

All of them started running in hopes of finding the best hiding spot. Except for Daniela, who was still crying next to what remained of her mother’s body. Her wailing filled the house as she held on to a piece of bloodied torso.

“4… 5… 6…”

Terra took one last glance at her cousin before making a run for it. She didn’t dare take a look at the monster who was now counting before starting the hunt.

The rules were simple. The monster would count to 60 and then start looking. If it found you, you would end up like Tia Dolores. The last one standing would win.

With no time to waste, Terra ran to the best hiding spot in the house. The closet in the hallway, across from the bathroom. It was always full of junk and it made it easy to hide yourself in it. But as Terra was about to open the door, Perla pushed her away, making her hit the floor hard. She could have tried to fight back, but there wasn’t enough time.

“22… 23… 24…”

Goosebumps ran over her body, but she knew where to hide. As she ran the opposite direction from the closet, she saw some of her cousins hiding under the kitchen sink, inside the laundry basket, behind the single bookshelf. All predictable hiding spots.

Daniela still held on to her mother, she would probably be the first to join her. But as she took one glance towards the living room, she saw Lalo was frozen in place. Had it been any of her cousins, she wouldn’t have given a damn.

“Lalo!” Terra tried to whisper.

The boy looked at her, terrified but finally out of his trance. Without saying a word, she pointed at the small table, next to the monster. Lalo was the only one small enough to hide under it. If he were able to hold himself to the top long enough, it would make for a great hiding spot. He understood what she meant and carefully made his way to the table.

Terra now turned to go to her hiding spot. But the idea of opening this particular door somehow scared her more than the monster in the living room. This had been where the other monster used to sleep.

“39… 40… 41…”

No, the monster that used to live in this house was dead. That was the whole reason she was here today. She reluctantly opened the door and closed it quietly behind her. She took off her shoes and placed them under the bed, hopefully deceiving the monster. She took a deep breath and went into the wardrobe.

The smell was repugnant and she was sure rats were hiding in between the moldy clothes. She moved some of the clothes aside and found the actual hiding spot she was aiming for. One of the boards was broken. With shaking hands, she moved the boards and fitted herself in the tight space between the broken board and the floor. She intentionally left the wardrobe door slightly open, hoping that if the monster did look in there, it would assume she was hiding between the clothes and leave the space alone. Something crawled by her feet, but she did her best to stay still and hope the rats wouldn’t bite her.

“58…59…60… Ready or not, here I come!” the monster’s voice vibrated through the house.

Not a second had passed when Daniela’s yelp was heard followed by a crushing sound. Terra didn’t want to imagine how her cousin had died, but images of her being ripped apart kept running through her mind. She tried taking a silent, deep breath to calm herself and hopefully stop her body from shaking.

But before she could control her shaking, she heard another of her cousins screaming. Nadia begged to be let go but her voice was quickly silenced.

Terra was scared. Not for her cousins, she couldn't care less what happened to them, but for herself. She had already survived a monster, she wasn’t sure life would let her beat a second one. With Daniela and Nadia gone, there were five more people hiding, including herself. She cursed at Perla for taking the best hiding spot.

The house trembled with every step the monster took. If she wasn’t wrong, the monster was somewhere between the laundry room and the kitchen. On the opposite side of the house from her. Maybe if she got out and tried to open the bedroom window, she could save herself.

Terra started to slowly move the broken board when another loud noise made her stop. The bookshelf had been knocked down. Marcelo’s screams could be heard through the hallway as he tried to run away from the monster.

“Perla! Save me!” Marcelo begged his sister but Perla didn’t respond. “Per-“

Marcelo’s scream was cut off before he could continue to beg for his sister’s help. Terra could hear some gagging before a terrible ripping sound declared Marcelo’s death. Something, Terra assumed was a piece of Marcelo’s body, was thrown against the hall wall and made a final thud when it hit the floor.

Terra couldn’t even take a breath when Fani screamed too. Her words were drowned by her sobs. The loud creaking of the door of the washing machine made Terra flinch. When the door shut, Fani’s sobs had stopped.

Three people were left. She didn’t want to die but was fine with it if it meant Lalo lived. Lalo had been the only cousin to be kind to her, and probably too young to realize all the terrible things that had been done to Terra. But Perla had been the worst of them all. Unintentionally, she wiggled her toes, still lamenting the loss of one of her toes. Angry tears filled her eyes. She did her best to wipe them away. She wasn’t going to allow Perla to be the cause of her death too.

The door to the room opened, and the monster’s heavy steps scared the rats away. The monster’s rancid breath caused the room to become unbreathable. Terra held her breath, in hope it would go away. Every second felt like an eternity. Her body screamed at her to get out of the wardrobe to take a breath and know what was going on.

Something was lifted and quickly dropped. It was the bed, it had fallen for her trick with the shoes. She felt some relief but quickly froze in place when the monster opened the door to the wardrobe. Terra tried not to move but swore the monster would hear the erratic beating of her heart. The monster pulled the moldy clothes out of the wardrobe, and the rats ran away in fear of the creature. And when she thought she was doomed, the monster gave up and walked out of the room. Terra held back a sigh of relief, the game wasn’t over yet. As the monster made his way back into the hall, Terra heard the closet door opening, and all the junk falling to the floor.

“I can tell you where the other two are hiding if you let me win,” Perla’s voice sounded confident.

Terra was not sure if Perla was a complete idiot or the smartest person in the world. If anyone knew of Terra’s hiding spot, it would be her. Perla had been the only person she had shared this hiding spot with when they were younger and hiding from the other monster. If the monster agreed, she was doomed.

There was silence for a moment. What if the monster had agreed and now they were silently approaching her hiding spot? Should she have tried to make the same kind of deal with the monster when she had her chance?

“Oh no, my dear. That’s no fun,” the monster responded, “And you just lost.”

There was no response from Perla. All that Terra could hear were the thundering steps of the monster running towards her, so quick that it didn’t give Perla time to scream.

Before Terra could process what had happened, another loud thud came from the living room. The noise confused her for a second, but then she realized that Lalo had probably fallen as he couldn’t hold on any longer.

Without thinking she scrambled to get out of her hiding spot, hoping to somehow reach Lalo before the monster did. She ignored her better judgment as the monster’s steps begged her to keep hiding. Instead, she broke the board some more as she pushed aside the remaining clothes. As she dragged herself out, she saw the monster enter the living room.

She ran behind the monster and saw Lalo still under the small table. As she was about to scream to grab the monster’s attention, the monster jumped onto the table, completely crushing Lalo underneath it. Blood splattered through the room and drenched Terra’s clothes. Her scream remained silent as the monster turned to look at her.

“So you were hiding in that old hag’s room, weren't you?”

Terra stood silent, unable to process what she had just seen and all the blood and viscera surrounding her. No, it wasn't that she couldn’t process what she was seeing, it was that she felt happy about it. Happy that they were all gone.

“Come here,” the monster offered a bloodied hand.

Terra extended her hand to the monster thinking it would probably kill her too. She just hoped it was quick. But instead, he guided her to the house's entrance and opened the door.

“You won. You are now free.”

Terra walked out of the house. When she turned, the monster had closed the door behind her.

The monster had been right, she was free.