Hide & Seek

The cabin in the woods had been abandoned for years, but one night, a candle burned in the window. “That’s bizarre”, Chelsea thought to herself while walking her schnauzer before turning in for the night. The teenage girl knew that the cabin had been abandoned for at least ten years.

“Has it really been that long?”, the girl thought remembering “That” night. The sight of the bright candlelight bathed the eerie cabin in a glow that seemed to beckon to her four-legged pal. “No Leonard, we can’t go that way”, the girl informed her furry pal. “Bad things happened there and trust me, I have no desire to have anything with that place”, the girl said shakily, remembering the night that changed her summer trips.

Since the age of seven, Chelsea and her family made their summer trip to her grandparents’ cabin in the woods. Their closest neighbors, the Campbell’s also vacationed in the used to be quaint cabin with their daughter Amber. It was the young girls’ first summer in the woods, made even better with the help of a new summer friend made while swimming at the lake that the properties shared. The two little girls became fast friends and bonded immediately as they discussed their interests and was shocked that their birthdays were mere days apart from one another. The two were inseparable as they explored the woods and played hide and seek during the day and roasted marshmallows with their families and told spooky stories at night- the entire summer was perfect, up until the last night.

The parents were gathered around the fire at sunset, enjoying a bottle of wine, while the girls chased one another. “You wanna play hide and seek?” Amber asked breathlessly.

“Sure, why not it’s our last night until next year,” Chelsea replied in agreement.

“Not It!” Amber exclaimed as she ran away to hide. Chelsea went to the nearest tree, covered her eyes, and began counting. Once she made it ten, she announced loudly “Ready or not here I come” and ran off to seek her friend. Chelsea did not like when she was It, because it took forever to find her comrade who was champion at hiding- one time it took her an hour to find her pal in the heavily dense forest, and she felt that with the setting sun, it was going to be even harder. Chelsea glanced back one more time at the adults before heading off to find the elusive hider. The young girl scoured the area for an hour to no avail until her mother called to her and told her it was time to go in to pack up to leave in the morning.

“Amber, I have to go in, so wherever you are, you can come out- game over”, Chelsea yelled and ran to her parents.

“Robert and Claire, we had a wonderful time and look forward to next year.” Chelsea’s mom said to Amber’s parents. “The pleasure was all ours.” Mrs. Campbell replied as she hugged the girls’ mom fondly.

“Where is that daughter of ours?” Mr. Campbell asked Chelsea when she appeared.

“She’s hiding and I couldn’t find her.” The young girl said pouting, hoping that she would have found her friend to give a proper goodbye.

“Oh man, here we go again.” Mrs. Campbell chuckled as the two parents walked to their cabin, while calling out to their daughter.

Later that evening, as Chelsea dozed off, she was jolted awake at the sound of a loud knock on the front door. The girl rushed out the room and was surprised at the sight of a police officer talking to her father.

“No sir, she isn’t here. The last time we saw her was a few hours ago when she was playing hide and seek with our daughter. Let me put on some shoes and get a flashlight so I can help you look for her.” Chelsea’s dad said slightly panicked.

“What’s going on dad?” The young girl asked.

“Amber’s parents have been looking for her for two hours and still haven’t found her. Your mother and I are going to help them look, stay here in case she decides to come here.” The father said as he put on his sneakers and headed out the door.

Time seemed to drag on while Chelsea looked out the window, hoping her friend was okay. It was dark and the girl was worried that Amber had tripped in the dark and was laying somewhere hurt. The little girl paced the floor until exhaustion overcame her and laid on the faded sofa to wait for good news about her friend. As she dozed off, Chelsea was startled by her parent’s entrance. The girl jumped up anxious for an update- but the look on their face said it all, and she rushed out the house towards the Campbell’s cabin fearing the worst. The girl was frozen in her tracks at the sight of a gurney with a small, motionless frame draped under a white sheet being loaded into the back of an ambulance. Chelsea felt the color leave her face as she saw her friend’s mother wailing in despair after finding her only child dead in the storm cellar. Not wanting to ask, but needing to know, the little girl asked Amber’s father what happened.

“The paramedics said that she died from an asthma attack. She was hiding in the storm cellar and locked herself in and couldn’t get out. She must have been terrified and panicked. Why didn’t she have her inhaler with her? Why didn’t we find her before it was too late?” The father’s voice cracked, before he started to sob. Chelsea was speechless as she mechanically walked back to her parents who was rushing toward her. The mother grabbed her daughter and held her child silently as she shed tears of sympathy for the other parents.

“No parent should ever have to feel that kind of pain.” The mother said tearfully.

Chelsea teared up at the thought of that night and was so engrossed in her own thoughts, that she did not realize that Leonard had escaped her grasp. When she called out to her companion, she heard his barking in the distance of the cabin and cursed silently as she ran to retrieve him. Chelsea froze when she saw her dog barking at the open storm cellar door, before darting inside.

“Damnit Leonard, come back here”, the girl said angrily before going after him.

Chelsea felt uneasy as she descended the stairs. Each step creaked louder than the last in the deafening silence of the woods.

“Leonard, I’m not playing with you.” Chelsea scolded as she made her way into the dark and dank cellar. Feeling a sense of unease, Chelsea decided to abort the mission to go get her father. As she started to retreat, the storm cellar doors slammed shut and with a growing fear in her belly, the girl tried to get out but was unable to. She banged on the door, hoping someone would hear her, until she realized that she was in the middle of the woods and there was no one else out there. The despondent girl reached in her pocket and took out her cellphone to turn on her flashlight but dropped it when she was startled by a shadowy figure in the corner. As she stumbled in the darkness to retrieve the phone, she heard Leonard whimpering as he ran to his owner.

“You would want to come to me now.” Chelsea said agitated as she stumbled blindly looking for her phone. Leonard began to bark and growl as an artic chill filled the cellar and made the hair on the back of the girls’ neck stand up. Panicked, she continued to search for her phone when an eerie voice called out to her.

“Chelsea… do you want to play hide and seek?” A little girl’s voice called out to her. The terrified girl thought her fear was playing tricks on her.

“This isn’t real, this isn’t real”, Chelsea thought to herself.

“Not it”, the voice called out. Chelsea heard the patter of little feet running to an opposite corner of the cellar and got on her hands and knees and felt the ground until her hands found the missing phone. The teenage girl expertly turned the flashlight on and bathed the subterranean dwelling with it’s glow. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that no one was there and got to her feet.

“I knew my mind was playing tricks on me.” Chelsea said out loud as she continued to examine the area. Leonard turned around and began growling again. Terror overtook the girl as she stood frozen- too terrified to turn around. A cold hand grabbed her leg and the voice called to her once more

“Come find me Chelsea”, she laughed and scampered away again.

The frightened girl scanned the cellar, looking for the source of the voice.

“Whoever you are, this isn’t funny.” Chelsea said shakily.

Leonard began to bark frantically at another corner and the girl shined the light in his direction and was frightened by the sight of a little girl standing in the corner smiling menacingly at her.

“It looks like you found me after all.” Amber said and laughed.

Without a second thought, Chelsea ran to the stairs to exit the nightmare, but to no avail she was unable to make the door open. The terror-stricken girl screamed for help, but no one heard her as she pled to be saved. A cold hand tugged on her leg and pulled her down the stairs.

“Now we can play forever.” Amber laughed, before Chelsea was overcome with fear and passed out.

The next morning, the woods was filled with police activity as the coroner ascended the basement with a gurney with a white sheet covering a lifeless body. The wails of a mother and father filled the quiet woods as they watched their daughter being loaded into the back of the ambulance.

“What happened to my baby?” Chelsea’s mother asked frantically.

“It looks like she was locked in the cellar and died of a heart attack. I’m sorry for your loss ma’am, no parent should have to feel this kind of loss.”