Run and Hide

Chapter Ten

Dane left quietly the next morning, leaving me to get some extra rest. I tried to ignore the children's voices, but they just kept going. "Run and hide, Nicole. Let's play the game." They chanted, I finally had enough. "Fine, we'll play." I looked over to see intense stares and sinister grins.

Pulling myself to the edge of the bed, the little girl tugged on my gown. "Where can we play? The hospital has too many people in it." The younger boy pointed out the room, "the basement." I didn't like the sound of that, nothing good ever comes out of basements. I started thinking about a better solution, and there was only one. "How about we play at the cottage by my house? Its' huge and the land lays on a burial ground." Their eyes widened, knowing the rules could be bent.

If a spirit lands on a burial ground, the rules aren't as strict. Every spirit who floats on the Earth has rules to follow. If they don't follow the rules, they can't roam freely.

"Let's go there then," the little girl says, I pull my gown from her. "I have to heal first, see..." I showed her my healing stab wound, she nodded. "I can fix that easily." Putting a cold hand on my chest, she looked into my eyes. "Deep breath." I inhaled deeply; she pushed down onto my chest. All the pain suddenly went away, it was relieving.

"We must go, see you when you heal." They said before vanishing.

Once the children left, the nurse came in to check on me. "Let's take a look," she smiled, gently lifting my gown. "I will be right back, sit tight." As she came back, there were three doctors trailing behind her.

She lifted my gown again; the staff was shocked. "How is this possible?" They talked amongst themselves, "it must be a miracle." My wound was completely healed, there wasn't even a scar. "Looks like your stay has been shortened, we'll have your discharge papers by this afternoon." Getting the room packed up, I sat and waited for mom to come take me home.

"How?" Dane said, feeling his scar. Mom investigates my side; she was also shocked. "Why don't we get you home?" Walking me out to the car, the nurse waved us off; leaving the three dead children to ride home with us.

"I'm going to get some rest; it's been a long day." I say, heading to my room. "When do we start the game?" I looked over at the children, they were intensely staring. "Patience, children. We'll play before you know it."

As the night sky appeared, I knew it was time. Sneaking out the balcony window, we ran toward the cottage. "I will start, the basement is where I'll bring you if I find you. If I catch you, there will be consequences." The little boy knew what he was doing, I knew what he was doing. Even though I didn't want to play the way he wanted to, I had to.

Closing the front door behind me, I started thinking about where to hide. "I'd suggest you hide good, he's not just here for the game. Eli has been waiting to step foot on burial property, he wants to hurt you and anybody else that gets in his way."

"Ten, Nine, Eight," I ran into Leo's room. My heart pounded as I stuffed myself in between the headboard and a bunch of king-sized pillows. I couldn't help but cry, knowing Leo was found dead on the bed I was hiding on. I could feel his presence, Leo was watching over me.

Covering my mouth as I heard footsteps coming near, my body froze. I hoped I was hidden well enough, but I wasn't one hundred percent sure. Listening closely, the steps veered away from the room, the silence interrupted by a loud shriek.

"Eli, please!" The little girl pleaded as he dragged her by the hair. I could feel her pain, her emotions, everything. I held back the urge to help, I didn't want to die.

Sensing someone watching me, I looked up to see Leo floating above me. He smiled with ruby red blood pouring out of his mouth, I closed my eyes, terrified. He was breathing heavily, drops of blood landed on my forehead. Dashing from my hiding spot, I jumped behind the entertainment center. My eyes were stuck on the DVD collection, reading each of the movie titles with the moonlight shining in.

I tried to keep the memories I loved of Leo in my head, but his sinister face wouldn't leave my brain. "Don't be scared, Nicole." I heard Leo say, he sounded genuine. I looked up at his floating body, terrified of what I was seeing. Pitch black eyes looked into my soul, his mutilated face and razor-sharp teeth made me shiver in fear.

Leo put his sharp claws over my mouth, he held my neck back with the other. "You will hide, and you will stay quiet." He said, keeping me completely still. Leo was now a demon, but he had to be the good one.

He was watching over me. "Nicole, are you going to come out to play?" Eli was standing by the window, the moonlight outlined his pale figure, the ceiling fan tussling his little curls. He turned toward me, eyes blood shot, his ghostly white fading black.

I was scared, I had to run. Escaping from Leo's grip, I bolted toward the garage. There was a medium sized cardboard box in the corner of the garage, it had packing peanuts and tools inside. Sliding between the box and the wall, I took a deep breath.

While I was hiding for my life, Dane was bored at the house. He paced up and down the hallway, debating on whether he should bother me or let me be. A sudden stomach drop urged Dane to look, and when he did, Dane knew immediately. Grabbing a few things from around the house, Dane took off toward the cottage; unaware of what he was going to step into.

Dane entered the cottage as quiet as a mouse. Hearing his light footsteps from the narrow hallway, I caught him at the basement door. Dane pulled me into the hallway closet, we hid behind the hanging coats in the back. "Dane, We're in trouble. If the little boy catches us, we will die."

As we both caught our breath, one final scream was heard from the basement. Suddenly, someone pushes themselves in the closet with us. As Dane flipped the light on, we covered our mouths and tried not to yell. It was another little girl, she was covered in cuts and bruises, beaten to a pulp. "I can help you." She says as blood gushed from her mouth.

We followed her to the sliding glass door; it seemed like she genuinely wanted to save us from Eli. "Thank you," I mouthed before Dane, and I rushed back to the house, he took us to the library. "I had been reading about how to get rid of evil spirits and demons, I already made a few things just in case something like this happened again." Pulling out a bag of salt and small glass bottles, Dane set them on the table next to a medium wooden bowl.

As he poured the solids and liquids in the bowl, I intensely mixed the ingredients together. It had a waxy texture, like a candle.

Sure enough, that's what we were making. Dane sculpted the wax into a thick tube, sticking a wick in the middle of the candle. "Once we light this, it should keep our home secure from them." I nodded, striking a match. "One, two, three," we light the candle.