Hide & Seek 2: The Return of Mr. Harmon

Chapter 14: A Little Fun Can't Hurt

Helena starts walking toward Mrs. Harmon until they're only an arm's length away from each other. Mrs. Harmon is still smiling, but I can tell that she doesn't want to at all. 

"Yooo whoo!" Mrs. Harmon shrills.  "Welcome to the fun house. We were expecting you."

"Where's Mr. Harmon?" Helena asks her.

She gives Helena a wide smile and stares at her with blank eyes. "He's handling some business right now." She opens the front door and walks inside. "Yoo whooo, follow me inside!"

Caleb grabs my arm, his face masked with concern. "Should we really go in there?" he asks. I grab his hand and give it a squeeze, forcing myself to smile just for him. Inside, I'm very, very afraid. 

"Come on guys," Helena says, walking inside. 

The book is still in her hand and I can see Mrs. Harmon's eyes following it. She quickly looks to me and her eyes widen as though she's talking to me with them. I look at her before walking inside the mansion. As I look around, memories of the game flash inside of my head over and over. I can't help but grab Caleb's hand. He squeezes mine, too.

Mrs. Harmon walks ahead of us into the dining room. All of us follow her inside. There's a huge table with enough chairs for all of us. In front of each chair is a plate full of mouth-watering food. Fried asparagus underneath cut baked potatoes and spinach topped with a little bit of parsley. Hot steaming steak with a side of peppers and cucumbers. Girandole pasta drenched in Italian white sauce. And much more. My stomach growls, and I realize I haven't had a real meal in days.

Mrs. Harmon gently takes my hand and leads me to my seat. She grabs Caleb's hand, too, and sits him to the left of me. She attempts to grab Jasper's hand, but he deliberately takes a seat next to me.

"Sit, sit," Mrs. Harmon tells the rest of them. Everyone listens, except Helena. 

"We don't want lunch," Helena fusses. "Where is Mr. Harmon!" 

All of a sudden, Helena's body slowly begins to rise in the air and glides over to a seat next to Mrs. Harmon. Her body positions itself in the seat and Helena sits down unwillingly. 

"Hey!" Helena yells out and hits the table.

Mrs. Harmon still smiles at her. Her eyes widen again and as they do, strings appear on Helena's lips. The strings slowly go in and out of her lips, pulling them closer and closer. 

"You will do as we say," Mrs. Harmon says. Only this time, I don't hear her voice. I hear a mixture of more than one voice. She places a napkin over her lap and pulls out a small bell. She rings it and smiles. "You may eat."

Everyone is looking at the food then at each other, wondering what to do. Doreen picks up her spoon and looks at me. "I'm pretty hungry." She looks back at her plate and plunges her spoon in the corn and garlic soup. Jerod follows, then Caleb, Jasper, and me. The food is delicious. It's so good and so perfectly made. I feel my stomach beg for more. Golden brown soft bread rolls, chicken coated in a light honey barbecue sauce, and mixed vegetables fill my mouth all at once. I'm glad I'm not the only one pigging out. 

The stitches finally fall off Helena. "Eat, and then we may talk," Mrs. Harmon says patting the side of her own lips. Helena obeys and picks up a fork. It's only a few seconds before she's pigging out too. 

After a few minutes pass and everyone's done, Mrs. Harmon stands up. "All finished?" she asks.

We nod. Mrs. Harmon places her hand in the air and before we know it, the table disappears. We're all still sitting in our chairs. Mrs. Harmon walks in the middle of all of us. "Newcomers," she looks at Doreen, Jerod, and Helena. "Friends," she turns to Caleb, Jasper, and I. "Welcome. Today you will be our guest. Go out and enjoy the rides. Have fun!"

"And tomorrow?" Helena asks. "We weren't invited to your husband's for some lunch and games."

She walks up to Helena. Helena stands up to face her and they're about the same height. "I suggest you have fun today, because tomororw..."

"Tomorrow what?" Helena says through gritted teeth.

"Tomorrow, it's lights out." Mrs. Harmon whispers. As soon as she says that her body sinks through the floor and she's no longer there. 

Doreen stands up. "This is stupid," she says, walking up to me. "Isn't there anything we can do?"

Helena walks next to me. "We only need to find Mr. Harmon."

"No offense, but your ideas suck." Doreen faces her. "We need a real plan."

"Fine." Helena crosses her arms. "Got any?"

Doreen looks at her and sighs. 

"Guys," Jerod says, walking up to us. "The best thing we can do is prepare for tomorrow. If we're going to be playing a game of Hide and Seek, we should really get familiar with this place."

"Especially the outside," Jasper says. "That's where Abby plays with some of the people who come here."

"We need hiding spots," Caleb says. "I don't think it'll just be us." 

"You think so?" Jerod asks.

"It's possible that it won't," I say.

"Wait, so what if we kill each other?" Doreen asks. "Didn't anyone think of that?"

"It doesn't matter," Helena says. "The goal isn't to stay alive. We just need to get that ring. We need to find it. That's the only way I can take him out."

Doreen stares at Helena hard. I can tell she's finding it hard to trust her. "Okay," Doreen says in a low voice.

"For now, let's just enjoy today with each other." Jerod gives us a weak smile. "Besides, there's really no going back now."

"Don't you think it's hard to have fun, knowing what awaits us tomorrow?" I ask. 

I feel a warm hand intertwine with mine. Jasper has my hand and he's smiling at me. "How about we find out?" he asks.

Now everyone is smiling, except the prick, of course. We walk outside and look at all of the rides. Mrs. Harmon appears out of nowhere and walks toward the park. "Let the fun begin, kids."

All of us shrug and follow her. A little fun can't hurt, right? I should've known the answer, because whenever I think something will turn out right, I'm usually wrong. Dead wrong.