Hide n' Seek Part 1

Eight

The only sounds that Joseph was able to hear were that of his own breath and that of his footsteps echoing in the dark. The light from the flashlight had started to get dim in front of him. The slightest of the sound, even if it was his own footsteps started to give him chills. He turned in the direction of every creak . He was scared, but of what? He didn't know. He hadn't seen anything here that he had to be scared of. There was nothing that he could see that had scared him in the house, so far.

He froze as he heard another creak from somewhere behind him. He was almost to the last room. He hadn't checked any of the other rooms. All of the doors were closed. He was following the footsteps. This could be some kind of trap. Maybe he was being led to this last door. There was a loud creak somewhere behind him. He quickly jumped around and shone what was left of the light from the flash on the doors and on the floor. 

"Is there anyone here?" He asked. His voice was quivering. No answer came in reply to his question, just like before. Whoever was out there, probably knew that he was really scared at this point. they were probably having their fun with him.

He stood there like that for a few more seconds listening quietly, scanning around for anomalies before turning back around. It was as if whatever was there was waiting for him to turn around. The sound came again. Not any sort of creaking. This time it was a loud bang. Someone had knocked loudly on the door. Which door? He didn't know. his heart was over the edge now, beating as hard and fast as possible. It was ready to burst any second.

"Ryan?" He called out. "Are you there? I'm here to help." Joseph had no idea why he was even trying. No one had answered him so far. He didn't think that it was going to change just because he tries again.

His voice was the only one that spoke in the house that night. No other sounds, whether they were replies or answers or questions came. He walked toward one of the doors on his right. The sound had seemed to have come from that direction. What was behind that door? As he raised his hand to the door knob, he wasn't sure what he would find behind the door. He never knew. The door was locked. He tried turning the knob again, it didn't give. He moved around and tried every door in the hallway, except the last one. Every single one of them were shut and locked.

A weird thought occurred to him as he faced that last door again. All these door. All of these were locked. Not from the outside. If they were locked from the outside he would have been able to open them. They were all locked from the inside. That could only be done by someone who was on the other side of the door.

Another sound brought him back from his thoughts. This wasn't a knock either. This sound was a low creak and it went on for a few seconds before he could make out what was making it or where it was coming from. The door. That was where the sound came from. The door was opening. The last door. The door to which the footsteps led. He gulped hard.

"This is your last warning." He said aloud. He slowly lowered his right hand to his hip looking for his gun. He was surprised when he looked down and didn't find his gun. He only remembered that he had forgotten to take it after he left it on the floor. He looked all around him to find something that he could use as a weapon. Nothing. There was nothing. "This is the police. Come on out with your hands raised." He shouted out. There was no reason to let whoever was in there know that he didn't have a weapon. Joseph tried to keep his voice as steady as he could. In his shaking arms, the beam of the dying flash was focused on the door. In the distance he could hear the sirens. Backup was almost here.