With that said she headed toward the door, faced it, and started to count. I looked around. There wasn't much room in the living room part of this house. I ran into the next room, which was the kitchen. It consisted of broken tables, chairs, wrappers, bones, a huge trash bin and some old bags on the floor. She was at ten, so I grabbed the bags and placed them over my head and quietly stepped inside of the huge trash bin. I adjusted myself until I was comfortable.
"Ready or not! Here I come," she yelled.
I sat in silence, completely motionless. I could hear my heart beating. I heard Violet running around and rummaging through things.
"Oh, you're good!" she yelled out.
I laughed. My smile quickly faded when I felt something on my back. It felt like five fingers sliding down my spine. I jumped out of the trash, tumbling down with it.
Violet walked into the room. "Ah ha!" she exclaimed.
I looked behind me, but nothing was there. Violet helped me to my feet. "Something was touching me!" I yelled, looking at her, my eyes bulging and my heart racing.
"Probably a bug or something. There are plenty of creatures around here," she said. Violet then smiled and tapped me on the shoulder. "It's your turn to count."
As I walked back inside of the living room and toward the door, she called after me. "Good luck.," she said.
I barely counted to five before I heard her footsteps stop. Once I got to twenty, I searched for her. She wasn't in the living room or the kitchen. I walked back into the living room and into another room. I didn't know what kind of room it was but it had a lot of chairs and curtains inside. Much like the rest of the place, it was all worn out. I walked over to the chairs and saw a blanket in the shape of a person sitting. I tsked and shook my head.
"I thought you would be way better than this, Violet," I said while laughing. I reached for the blanket and pulled it off.
I nearly let out a scream. Underneath the blanket was... nothing.
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 there be ghost here? 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 grey hair and a grey beard. His clothes were all ripped 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, looking at me cruelly.
"I...I thought you were under 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?"
"Of course, they do," she said.
I didn't think she'd say that. 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 been seeing 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 at the door. 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 says she seen 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? Mom kicked us out aga-"
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. "But were you hurt?" Violet asked.
"No..." I admitted.
She smiled. "Then let's play. Jasper is it. First floor only, just until Emily is not found."
For some reason, that last statement sent a shiver 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 be like, "I thought I looked in there already. Wow, you're great."
The footsteps grew closer and I saw him. Jasper walked into the room FACING me! That's right. He walked backwards 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 them about two minutes later. All of us then met in the living room. All of them, 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.
Chapter 12: Escaping the Harmon's
"Hey! Wait up!" Jasper called, jogging after me. We were about thirty feet away from the house when he stopped me.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, taking his hand off of my shoulder.
"You don't understand," he said.
"And what is there exactly to understand?" I asked, crossing my arms.
Jasper looked away from me for a second then back at me and frowned. "She's just trying to help you."
I looked at him before laughing. He stared at me like I was crazy, but I kept smiling. "Help me what? Master hide and seek? Is it really that serious with you guys? It's just. A. Game," I said.
"No, Emily. It's way more than just a game," he said, taking a few steps backwards. He then ran off back to the house. I watched him leave.
What was that about?
***
I placed my hand on the doorknob to the mansion and almost turned it but something stopped me. I heard Mr. and Mrs. Harmon arguing.
"I don't want to do this anymore. I can't do this anymore!" Mrs. Harmon yelled. "I thought we'd start over!"
"Honey, we've gone over this many times. I don't have to explain to you. Now if you say anything more, the box goes out of here and you can kiss this luxury life... goodbye!" Mr. Harmon yelled.
The argument was over. I waited three minutes before walking inside the house. Mr. Harmon was standing right in front of the door.
"Well well," he said.
I was speechless. My heart stopped. I was afraid.
"Oh, don't be alarmed. Tell me-" Mr. Harmon said, walking outside with me then closing the door, "where did you go today?"
"I was just walking around. Getting some air, you know?" I asked.
He wasn't buying it. He leaned toward me until we were only a fingers length away from each other. I could smell his breath, which smelled like beans of some sort. "Don't leave this house again. Or there will be consequences." He then opened up the front door to let me in.
***
I went up to my room to Skype with Abby. I had told her everything. I told her about the strange things that had been going on, about the Harmon's, about Caleb, about everything.
"Wow, Emily. That sounds... rough. I'm sorry you're going through this," Abby said over Skype. "Something about the Harmon's doesn't add up to me."
I nodded. "Me either."
"Emily!?" Mrs. Harmon yelled from downstairs. "Dinner!"
"I gotta go eat, Abby. Talk to you later."
Abby sighed. "Alright. Later. Be careful." She smiled.
I ended the call, closed my laptop and headed downstairs for dinner. Mrs. Harmon was holding some note book and smiling at me.
"Hey. I thought dinner's at seven? It's 6:28," I said.
She smiled at me, her eyes were super wide as she held the note book.
"Oh. Well, I thought I'd cook dinner early," she said opening the first page of the notebook. There were huge letters on it.
Run
Now
And never
Come back!
She then closed the notebook when Mr. Harmon walked down the stairs.
"Hope you're okay with that," she said before going off into the kitchen.
Mr. Harmon walked down while fixing his tie. "Hey there, Emily. What were you and my lovely wife talking about?"
"Oh. Uh. Yeah, she was just asking me if I liked my...tacos...spicy," I stuttered.
He studied me a while.
"Hey, have you seen, Caleb?" I asked.
He tilted his head upwards. "Upstairs..." he said in a monotone voice.
"Thanks," I said slowly heading for the stairs.
When I got upstairs and into Caleb's room, I saw him on the floor playing with a toy car. He was wearing a blue jacket with some sweat pants. That was quite odd, it was so hot inside.
"Hey, Caleb," I said, running toward him. I then squatted down next to him. "I know you don't want to talk to me, but we have to go."
He shook his head.
I grabbed him. "Caleb, come on!"
"No!" he yelled.
I picked him up but he struggled against me. "Why?"
"I can't leave!" he whined.
He fell out of my hands and I then noticed a stain on the back of his jacket. It grew wider like water had just spilled on him. I quickly ripped off his Jacket which exposed deep cuts and slashes on his back. I put my hands over my mouth and held in my scream.
"Caleb," I whispered. I turned him around, which was also horrifying. His chest had multiple stab wounds in them. I wondered how he was still alive.
Without arguing, I picked him up and carried him downstairs. He kept telling me that he couldn't leave. I told him I would keep him safe.
Mr. Harmon wasn't in sight, so I headed straight for the door. Luckily, I got out without anyone noticing. I ran to the only person I could think of. Violet.
I still held Caleb in my arms but sadly, before I could even make it twenty feet away from the garden, Caleb looked at me and said, 'Can't leave.' Then he disappeared. Just like that, he vanished, right in front of me.
I looked around. My heart started beating faster and I felt the tears fall on my cheeks. I screamed Caleb's name.
I looked back at the mansion. Caleb and Mrs. Harmon were standing in the door way. I ran back to them.
When I got there, Mrs. Harmon hugged me. "Emily." She started to cry. "I thought he would change. I thought we could have children again...I'm just...so sorry. You have to go! He'll kill you!" she said, looking back over her shoulder.
"I'm not leaving without Caleb!" I yelled at her, reaching for him.
She pushed me back until I fell on the ground.
"I'm so sorry. Caleb's... Dead..." she said before slamming the door.
I ran back toward the door and started banging and kicking on it, yelling Caleb's name. Around me, I kept hearing whispers. Over and over again saying, "Can't leave. Can't leave. Can't leave. Can't leave."
I then heard glass shatter behind me. I turned around. My heart felt like it stopped as the two of them stared back at me.
Chapter 13: The Paintings
As I opened my eyes and got use d to my current dark surroundings, I realized where I was. I sat up. I was sitting in my bed. I was in my old bedroom. My door was wide open and I saw a shadow hover across the wall, then I started hearing noises.
"Hello?" I yelled out.
My mother and father then, suddenly, appeared in front of my door at the same time . They smiled at me. My mom went over to the TV that was on and turned it off. She then walked over to my dad who was still smiling at me.
"Do you think we should call the cops?" she asked my dad.
"I promise. Everything will be okay , " he kissed my mother , then the both of them left my room, leaving me in the dark.
It's like they didn't acknowledge that I was awake. I quickly pushed the covers off of me and ran over to the door. When I opened it I heard muffled sounds. I jerked myself back into the room. The sound of my dad's voice made me peek out of the door again. I viewed the living room, a dark silhouette, and my dad. He was leaning in the middle of my view. It was dark. My dad's back was to me and the silhouette held the gun out towards my dad.
"Please. Things don't have to be like this, " I heard my dad whisper .
Another silhouette stepped in front of my dad. "Try telling that to Mr. Harmon."
The stranger pointed the gun to my dad's head and shot him. Suddenly, my mother ran out into the hallway but when she saw the intruders, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and ran back into her room. The strangers followed her then shot her as she hid behind the bed.
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