Hide & Seek 2: The Return of Mr. Harmon

Chapter 18: Inside the Carts

Here I am in the dark again. Alone. I have my hands spread out, looking for a solid object to hide behind, next to, or inside of. As I'm running, my clothes catch on something.

I turn my attention toward it and tug on my shirt but it's lashed on pretty hard. I stop pulling and feel for the source it's latched onto. When I do, I feel something hard, small, and round. As I slide my hand down more, it falls through a hole of some sort. I quickly pull my hand out and grab my flashlight from behind me. I bang it against my hand a few times and shine it at what's gripping my shirt when it comes on.

The light shines bright on a glass doll's face. The mouth all the way up to the nose is broken. The eye sockets are broken as well, leaving holes as eyes. The mask is a dingy piece of trash that needs to be thrown away. But my shirt isn't attached to the mask...

I shine the light down and see two sharp, furry claws gripping my shirt with two hands. This mask has a body. My heart stops. My imagination isn't good enough to make this up.

Frightened, I try my hardest to pry myself away from this... this creature. I've seen weird things before, but imagine a doll faced furry creature gripping your shirt, pulling you closer and closer to it.

"She's mine!" A high pitched voice says. The voice sounds childish. Something grabs me from behind and I quickly shine the flashlight at it.

Shit. Abby really must hate my guts. It's a clown. This clown has sharp teeth and underneath its mouth are... even more sharp teeth. Blood flows out of its mouth. Its red hat hangs down and its eyes are made of glass, making it look more sinister than it is.

Forget standing here. I turn off my flashlight and run as fast as I can. I run into some fences and chairs, but I don't care. I finally stop when I run into something hard. My knee aches from whatever it hit. I shine my flashlight at it and see that it's one of the rides. It's a small cart that rolls on tracks. It's a kid's ride.

I decide that I'm going to hide inside of the cart. I crouch down inside. My hands rest against the cold metal cart. It smells like old shoes and dirt inside.

I'm so tired. I start thinking about all the times I took sleep for advantage. It's strange to think about that. I wish I could just sleep right here. However, sleep isn't an option.

I start to think about what happens when Helena finds the ring. Part of me feels like we won't. It just seems impossible, yet Helena is determined to get it. Now part of me is thinking about her. Can I really trust her? Now I'm thinking about Carmen.

I move my body into a more comfortable position. I sigh. Air shoots out of my nose. Trust. I want to give up on that word because, who can I trust? I feel like the whole world is out to get me and I don't have anyone on my side.

As I'm thinking this, I hear something dragging toward the ride I'm hiding in. It's metal scraping against the ground. Next to that, I hear laughter and humming.

"Hum me e," the humming goes. "Hum me e."

It doesn't take me long to realize that they're humming my name. Emily. Let me tell you; it doesn't sound like Jasper, Helena, Caleb, Doreen, or Jerod. No, not at all. This voice sounds happy and determined to find me.

I crouch down, as low as I can while looking up into the darkness. As I'm looking up, I see an ax raise over the ride then slam down onto the handle. It raises again and when it does, I crawl out of one side of the ride.

I quickly turn my flashlight on and see something running at me, something I can't yet fathom. Everything from the waist up is bent against its body. The hair hangs as it stares at the flashlight, holding the axe with one hand. Actually, it only has one hand. That's when it hits me.

I turn my flashlight off and as soon as I do, I trip. Not cliché at all right? Anyway, the ax hits the ground, almost hitting my leg. And you know what's weird? She's not saying, "You're dead." Why? Because she's not it. She just wants me out of the game.

Suddenly, I hear faster footsteps running behind the crooked woman.

"You're dead," I hear Doreen say. Then I hear a loud thud, a crack, then the sound of someone falling to the ground.

I don't take any chances. I'm sure it's Doreen that spoke but you never know. I reach for the body.

"I found a dead body!" I say.

The lights come on and Doreen is standing in front of me holding a large stick. Her face is covered in blood and so are her hands. She's breathing hard and she looks very disturbed as she stared at me.

Before I know it, we're back in front of the ride. I do a head count. Caleb, Jerod, Jasper, and Doreen are present. No sign of Helena. I look for her, noticing that Mr. Harmon's parents are gone, two of the masked children are missing, and Rosemary isn't there, either. Rosemary. She's the one who tried to kill me.

I look around one more time and still don't see Helena.

Abby's smiling wide. "Wow!" she says, looking at Doreen. "How'd it feel to take your own?"

Doreen frowns. "Great," she says, just like that, with no emotion.

I'm... shocked at Doreen's answer. As I stare at her, I don't even see Doreen anymore. I'm afraid of what I'm looking at. Helena was our only hope and now Doreen killed her?

To make matters worse, the card appears in my hand. Get the balloons and throw me a party because I... am the murderer.