Hide and Seek AloneA Story by Karkitty Everyday had been planned out for him. His life was monotonous, gray, and even lonely. Bored of it all, the boy decided to test out a rumor that has been spreading around his school like wildfire... "Shall we start this game of hide and seek?"
"I'll be 'it' first" -- Lonely Hide and Seek (IA) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The classroom was a decent size, never too big or too small,
with students chatting endlessly about what they did over the summer break. A
few students approached the boy, asking about how well his vacation plans. They
were only asking out of false curiosity, merely trying to appear nice though
frankly, they did not care about what he did over his break. At least that was
how the boy interprets them to be, being able to see through their fake smile
and forced laughter. Outta my face!! You’re blocking my view. Seeing they weren’t going to receive any sorts of reply from the boy, they decided to talk about their own summer plans to him. His weary gaze stared down on his desk, finding his mechanical pencil to be much more interesting than some bland conversation. He suspected they were just waiting for him to speak about his plans, not paying attention, so they could bring up what they did over the summer. They didn’t care about whether he went to the beach or did something so extreme as to bungee jump of a high bridge, what matter to them was the awe expression they receive from their fellow peers upon bragging about how ‘fantastic’ or ‘awesome’ their break was. Shut up!! Stop talking!! Several students decided to join in on the conversation, each bragging about how their summer went. They all began to crowd around the boy as if he would give a care in the world about their lives. His fingers curled, making his hands into fists. He felt his nails dig into his palm as he bit his lips to prevent himself from lashing out. They were all so annoying, infuriating, and selfish. Why couldn’t they understand that he didn’t want to talk with them? It felt the entire class was crowded around his desk, their boisterous voice aimed at him; bent on making him cave into their desire for attention. Just go the hell away!! He felt a wave of relief overwhelm him when the bell rang follow by the teacher’s announcement. The students were upset that they couldn’t finish their conversation but nevertheless headed back to their assign seats. I don’t get people. Why keep up this phony charade instead of being honest for once? xxx
It was during 3rd period he heard an interesting
rumor that caught his attention. An unusual rumor, not like any other he has
heard before. The rumor spread throughout the school like wildfire, even the
teachers and staffs were whispering amongst themselves whether it could be true
or not. Neither the students nor the teachers dare to try it; which was
disappointing since the boy was quite curious about it. If such a rumor grabbed
both the attention of the student body and the teacher it must’ve spread beyond
the school at this point. The rumor was about a popular Japanese myth referred to as
‘Hitori Kakurenbo’, or ‘Hide-and-Seek Alone’.
Basically, it was a game of hide-and-seek though it must be play alone.
In the game, technically you do not play alone but rather play with a spirit
that possess a toy doll and searches for you as the game implies. However,
unlike the usual hide and seek everyone was so acquainted with; in the game if
the doll finds you it will kill you. Curious, the boy decides to research the myth on his laptop once he returns home. He could never be too sure as to how the game was played or how it really went. At school rumors could be modified and changed, myths on the other hand have been passed down from generation to generations; unchanged in their originating culture.
xxx
His home wasn’t anything special, simply a small apartment
complex in the second story building. Though the neighborhood was awful, the
room was cheap enough for him to afford it. He worked as a tutor in math, which
gave him plenty of paychecks to pay off his monthly rent and bills. The place
was just that cheap. He jammed the key into the lock, twisted it, places the
key back in his pocket, turned the knob, and then entered his apartment
complex. The room was small, not that he was complaining, and simple. The
living room walls were painted a burgundy color with lighter shades running
downward in a repetitive pattern. The floor was covered in black carpet,
stretched everywhere except for the kitchen whose floor were decorated with
white tiles. A black leather couch lay on one side of the room and across from
it, a small television set stood on top of a wooden drawer. The boy kept
newspaper articles inside the drawer in case he might need them for anything
special; such as swatting away the annoying pigeons that would often seat
themselves upon his balcony. His balcony was just outside his living room,
beyond his sliding glass doors which were covered in white curtains. A small
dark wood coffee table was placed in front of the leather couch, and on top of
them were scattered papers with scribbles on them. When he needed to brainstorm
for what to do for his essays, he usually occupied the coffee table with all of
his rough drafts and idea charts. Next to the two furniture was a long silver
lap, it’s cylinder head held a spiral light bulb inside and when turned in, it
flashed a bright golden light that would surely brighten up the entire room.
The kitchen was behind the counter, consisting of the basic things seen in a
kitchen: an oven, a sink, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, a stove, and a cabinet.
Just beyond the small hallway were his bedroom and the restroom. The boy closed the door behind him, tossed his backpack on the couch, and headed into his bedroom. The first thing he did, upon entering his bedroom, was to turn on his laptop. He flipped the top open and pressed the power button. Almost immediately, the screen shone with light; the product’s company logo appearing before the screen. The boy sat down on his leather rolling chair, which was the same color as his couch. His room was as simple as it could be: a bookshelf in the far
right corner containing several books on mythologies, science fiction, a few
SAT books to help him prepare, and several mystery novels. Besides the
bookshelf was a small silver cylinder trash bin filled with crumpled up papers
and a banana peel; from the banana he had just ate this morning for breakfast. Other
than those two objects, his bedroom walls and carpet were the same as his
living room. His closet was large, with two slides and a large mirror over it;
inside were several of his uniforms hung up by hangers onto the silver
horizontal pole. Besides his mirror closet, at a good distance, was his bed
with black blankets draped over it. He only owned one pillow that was currently
resting against the head of the bed. Besides his bed, not by the closet, was a
small drawer with a lamp on top of it. Inside the drawer, the boy kept an extra
set of school supplies in case he needed to ‘refill’ his backpack. At the
moment, he was sitting on his chair facing his laptop which lay on top of a
dark wooden table; his table lamp sat innocently beside his laptop. After entering his password and going onto the internet, the boy looked up the number one rumor that was spreading around his school: “Hide-and-Seek Alone”. He was met with many results, each showing summaries of the myth, people’s personal experiences, and, finally, how to play it. First, the boy chose to read about the myth to get a better feel of what it was about. It was exactly as the students in his school described it; playing Hide and Seek with a demon, to be precise. A smile graced itself upon the boy’s lip. How exciting! A devilish game that would eradicate all the boring features of his life; even if, it was for merely a day, he will finally be able to grasp onto the joy of truly living. After all, one cannot truly appreciate life without having a close experience to death. He was sick and tired of the same routine planned out for him. His world had grown colorless as he grew up into a fine young man, straight As, no complaints, and not a care of the world around him. Such a boring life he lived! And to be frank, he was growing tired of it. Coincidentally, here comes a rumor trotting around his school that, for the first time in years, truly caught his attention. Something different besides the daily gossips between the annoyingly fake people and the rumors of ‘he said, she said’ or ‘he did, she did’. Those especially drive him insane. Now for him to materials needed for the preparation…
xxx
The game starts at exactly 3 AM. It was currently midnight. The boy had already grabbed all the materials needed to begin the game and was in the processes of preparing the doll for its ‘host’. He had all the essentials needed to start the preparation: A
stuffed rabbit plush he had received on his 8th birthday, a scissor, plenty of
rice needed to stuff the doll, a red thread, a cup of saltwater, and a tub of
water. The boy already knew a perfect place to hide, which also happens to have
a holy figure bearing a religious symbol on it which was given to him by his
great grandfather before his passing. Smiling, the boy began to begin the
preparations to play the game. He had already read the instructions of his
laptop's screen from a reliable source. First, he needed to cut open the doll
and take everything out from inside it. The boy picked up his stuffed rabbit
and, using his mechanical pencil, tore a hole into the back of its head where
he proceeded to use his own hands to pull it wider. Once he had removed every
piece of stuffing from the plush, he stuffed the doll with the rice. Next, he
had to cut off a bit of his fingernail and insert it into the doll before
sealing it with the red thread. After sealing the doll, he walked to the
restroom to fill the tub with water and give the doll the name
"Mearry". Seeing that he had plenty of time before 3AM, the boy decided to read a few of his mystery novels. It was an interesting book he was reading; about a perfect murder case where the verdict declared the man not guilty due to the lack of evidence. Ironically, the main character died in the end rather than the happy ending everyone is so acquainted with. The boy wasn't disappointed; it had a more realistic tone than those sappy fantasy books.
xxx
The clock finally struck 3 AM. The boy smiled excitedly. It was time to start. He grabbed the rabbit plush and placed it inside the tub.
Grasping the scissor in his hand the boy chanted "I got Mearry!"
three times before stabbing the plush directly at its face. Quickly, in order
to keep the instructions in place, he gave a gleeful shout of "Next it is
Mearry's turn!" The boy pulled out the scissor from the plush's face and
placed it nearby its body. He took a sip of the salt water, making sure not to
swallow it or spit it out as he would need it in order to cloak himself from
the doll. Holding onto the cup with the remaining saltwater inside, he quickly
hid inside the closet and kept quiet. All the lights were already off by the
time he started playing save for the television which had to remain on. At first, everything was silent, save for the television. He was tempted to peek his head out from the closet and check on the doll whether it was still there or not. If it was all a muse, he would be infuriated. Just as he was about to stand up, he heard a loud thump in the living room. His body grew rigid and he had to keep himself from swallowing the saltwater in surprise. Several small thumps were heard, almost like little footsteps walking around the apartment building. The voices in the television were clearer than before. He
could tell the channels were changing simply by the electrical sound made by
the television. The television seemed to communicate through the use of
selected playbacks of the television signals. The television broadcasts proving
its existence. Ready or not, here I come.
His heart pounded rapidly in his chest and for a moment the boy was fearful that the demon would hear his heartbeats. It was real? Was it truly real? It was happening right now, but was he hallucinating? The demise of playing alone... The anguish and fear that crept up his spine was unbearable. What if it found him? What then? The rumor and instruction said that if the doll was to find him it would stab him with the same object he had used to stab it. It probably wasn't the wisest idea to stab the plush with a pair of scissors let alone directly at its face.
I found you.
He held his breath. A wave of overwhelming fear washed over
him. Never in his life had he ever feared for his own soul. The demon is approaching. The crazy possessed demon is coming! Suddenly he heard the cabinets in the kitchen open and a
disappointing sound leaked out from the television. Not here. The boy forced himself to hold back a sigh of relief. Should
he jump out now? Expose himself in order to banish the demon? He couldn't bear hiding
in the closet waiting for the demon to find him. But he felt even more
frightful at revealing where he was to the plush that so happens to be holding
a lethal, deadly weapon. It was impossible to calm himself down, not in a
situation like this. He had to work up the courage and eradicate the doll
before it was too late. Then he could return to his boring life. For once in
his life, he was surprised he actually craved his normal life back; his dull,
boring, colorless life. He was surprise by how weak he truly was, letting fear
take over his emotion; making him wish for something he so desperately wanted
to escape to return. With a determined expression, the boy stood up with
quivering legs and opened his closet door silently. There was no plush there. It seemed as though the doll was still in the living room. He hoped, silently prayed, it was safe for him to walk out. As quickly as he could, he raced across his bedroom and dashed into the living room. The television screen was all static, to which he wondered where the voices came from. He observed his surrounding carefully, cautious in case the doll was nearby. All he could see was darkness save for the lighting from the television’s static screen. All of a sudden, a cold, terrible feeling wash down his spine causing him to spin around out of instinct to see what was behind him. Nothing was there. Maybe he really was hallucinating, or read too much mystery novels and fell asleep on his bed. He exhaled a sigh from his nose, still paranoid as whether or not he should spit out the saltwater or not. I found you. The boy’s eyes widen in horror as his eyes scanned the room for the demon. There, standing before him, was the rabbit plush. Its eyes appeared red unlike when he was originally given it. In its hand it held the exact scissor the boy had used to stab its face; which left an awful dent on its features. A piece of rice slipped out from the crack across the plush face, its knitted frown curled upward into a demonic smile. He was speechless to the point of despair as quickly as he could he tried to spit the water at the plush. It seemed to hit the doll for it cried out in pain, however, before he could pour the rest of the saltwater inside his cup onto the plush, the demon dodged quickly to the side. THAT HURTS!! He covered his ears from the loud screech that resounded from the television. A prickling pain sliced across his wrist, causing him to yelp in shock and drop the cup holding the saltwater. The plush was fast, faster than he had ever imagined. It leapt around like a rabbit, quick on its plush feet and fast to strike. The boy rolled to the side to dodge another slash from the rabbit, who seemed to be enjoying the game more than he could ever. HAHAHAHAHA!! Its laughter echoed throughout the entire apartment room, creeping and menacing as it occasionally went from a maniac laughter to devilish giggles. Either way, the boy was frighten to the core by the demon’s taste in amusement. He should have never played the game and now, he was on the verge of death if he so happened to make another wrong move. His eyes trailed off to the cup in front of him, its saltwater drained already past the halfway point. However, there was still a sliver of saltwater left inside. It was just enough for him to finish the demon off, at least he hoped it was enough. The plush lunged for him again but he managed to skitter to the left, dodging it just in time. Unfortunately, it threw its feet forward and used it as a spring to bounce itself off from the wall and towards the boy. He felt another slice of pain slash across his back, tearing into his shirt and skin. Already, he could feel the warm drips of blood leaking out from his wound. It stung badly even though he had no knowledge of how deep the wound ran. As quickly as he could, he ran towards the cup; extending an arm out towards it but the plush was faster. It tackled his leg, piercing it with the point of the scissors. The boy let out an anguish wail as his vision nearly turned white from the pain. He felt the plush smiling as it dug the scissor deeper into his calve. The pain was unbearable and caused him to collapse forward. He used his other leg to kick the plush off of him, successfully managing that. The scissor was pulled out of his wound as the plush rolled onto the ground. It slowly raised its body, ready to lunge once again at the boy. It was impossible to ignore the pain in his calve. It felt worse than cramp muscles or receiving a bruise after a skateboarding incident. His entire leg felt on fire as he felt the pain work its way past his calve and towards his body. Biting his lips to prevent himself from further screaming out in agony, the boy quickly crawled his way over to the cup. He reached out for the object and had managed to grab it in the nick of time. A relieve smile adorned itself upon his face. He was safe! With the saltwater he could splash it on the demon and finally say that he won, he would be able to burn the body then return to his normal, dull, lifestyle. Everything will be return to normal and he would never play the game ever again. Lifting the cup up, he was ready to throw the saltwater at the plush when he realized… The saltwater had completely left the cup. He froze. The boy could feel the demon’s presence close by. Really close by. He searched the room once more, while trying to rise back onto his feet; it only made the wound evermore painful. The boy crawled his way towards the counter and pulled himself up with one hand on the counter and the other grasping his thigh in pain, not daring to touch his wounds physically. Just as he pulled himself up, he was met face to face with the demon whose grin seemed to widen in victory. The boy’s eyes widen in terror as the plush held the scissor over its head, its smile more devilish than ever. It’s my win. The scissor plunged forward aimed straight at the boy’s face.
xxx
(Epilogue) The teacher droned on about today’s class assignment. As she walked down row by row to collect everyone’s assignment she noted that one of the students did not turn in his work. He was an exceptionally young man with straight As and no complaints, which was surprising to her seeing that he always completed his assignment to the greatest extent. She was about to asked him what reason he had for not turning in his assignment when the bell to lunch rang. Shrugging, she decided it must be a personal matter and decided not to pursue the case. Just before he could leave however, the teacher bid him a good day; hoping he would get the message about his assignment, after all, the boy was quite an intelligent young man. She received a quirked nod before the boy walked out of the classroom.
The boy smiled to himself as a crowd of student passed by him speaking about the rumors of “Hide and Seek Alone”. If they truly wanted to know whether or not it was true, they should play it themselves. After all, the demon would be rather lonely in the world of the living. His smile turned demonic as he walked down the halls, red eyes taking interest in his new and permanent surrounding… © 2013 KarkittyAuthor's Note
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