...
Reacting quickly, the seeker ran down the the corner of the cafeteria, turning on his light. Like roaches exposed to light, bunches of kids ran in panic. Many of them ran past me without noticing I was there, and scurried back through the entrance.
There was instantly some shouting coming from the hallway, confirming my theory of a second seeker waiting for some run-aways.
Even though I was surrounded by chaos, my legs stayed put. My ears deciphered all of the chaotic screaming and begging in order to hear the seekers.
"I'll be going down to the training section!" Someone called as they came through the entrance, without a doubt after catching some of those who ran in that direction.
"Yep!" The begging continued and a maniacally laughter followed.
Taking that as green-light, I decided to follow the man who was heading towards the training section. As human nature we move forward, and often neglect to check our backs. Especially if you're the one chasing another person.
Although his steps were quiet, my footsteps matched his to minimize the noise.
Leisurely he walked down the hallway, leading the way with the flashlight in his hand. His flashlight clicked off as we were nearing the brightly lit room. Staying a few feet in the complete dark, I watched as he entered the room and shouted.
"Anybody here?"
Although I was a few feet off, I could feel the room instantly tense up at his shouting.
"Ben, I can see you hiding underneath the bleachers. Along with Thomas, Nathan and Leslie."
There was no noise, but I could imagine that he was nearing them.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind me and a white light approaching.
I didn't expect them to be a tag team, I thought gravely. A mistake on my part.
Thinking quickly, I ran up to the very line that separated complete darkness with glowing light from the training room. Pressing my body against the wall, my breathing automatically slowed and I closed my eyes.
His footsteps approached me, as I had hoped he turned off his light as he approached the dim light. I could sense him walk past me, while humming happily. As soon as he walked past me, I inched farther away from the training room and back into the darkness.
I took in a quiet breath of air, expanding my lungs once more. This was good. They no doubt came with a plan on following each other till the very end. The chances of another surprise behind us was little to none.
But not zero.
Keeping that in mind, my senses stayed alert for more surprises.
There was some shuffling coming from the training room before sudden but expected sounds of running. Unfortunately some them were caught in the trap the seekers had set before hand, the lucky few ran past me as I was pressed up against the wall unnoticed once more.
"Rady, please let us go just this once!" A girl begged.
The maniacal laughter returned then a quick, "No."
Their screams were quickly followed by a groan of lament.
"Let's keep going."
Agreeing, they went down further, entering several other rooms one at a time. Deciding it was best to follow them, I kept myself out of other's sight.
In the span of thirty minutes they had managed to catch a total of fifteen hiders, all of which fell for their trap.
They were about to enter yet another room, the weapon's room to be exact when one of their prey was sober enough to notice me pressed against the wall. He stopped walking and stared at me intently.
I know he's not about to-
Reading my thoughts, the jerk decided to announce my attendance. "There's someone here! Come get her!"
The moment the idiot decided to open his big mouth, my feet were already slapping the pavement.
Behind me were the distant sounds of two other runners.
In case of a situation where I was found, my plan was to run straight for the intersection of hallways. Lit or not, with my speed, the chances of survival were higher. So I ran there without hesitation.
Once making it there, making a choice as to which hallway to enter wasn't an issue. I was far enough to lose them completely. Choosing a random exit, the only way I would be caught was if-
My pupils widened as I was meet with a bright light. Behind it was a lean woman with a red scarf attached to her arm, a seeker.
Of course, the worst would occur at this very moment.
She expected me to turn around to avoid her, so she ran at me at full speed. I, however, had a different idea.
Using the full extent of my speed and timing it at the right moment, my feet jumped, running along the wall.
Surely it was enough for the woman to freeze in shock for a few seconds before stumbling after me. Those few seconds were enough for me to run ahead and enter another hallway.
Keeping myself paced and my breathing low, I entered a room to hide.
While hiding in a corner work well, hiding in plain sight wasn't as bad either. In excitement, some people tend to overlook the obvious. I crawled on top of some stacked mats, flattening my body down.
A few moments passed before footsteps and heavy breathing came into the room. A flashlight was needed in order for the seeker to look properly. I watched as she scanned the room in a quick manner and while she checked behind the mats, she didn't bother to look up.
Suddenly a loud noise nearby rang out and she went to pursue it.
After a few moments, a small breath of air escaped my lips and my forehead kissed the mat. That was too close for comfort.
Without realizing, my heart beat as quickly as it would as if I was being chased in real life. The game never started out as a game for me, my body was reacting as though I was really going to die. As much as I wanted to, the awful feeling wouldn't go away.
I flipped my body, placing my hands over my face. They weren't trembling, running gave no time for me to be scared, but were tense.
Should I just get caught? Dan's twinkling eyes glowed in my mind as the idea of winning was mentioned. They wanted to win though.
Does it really matter what they want?
It didn't. But a small part of me wanted to win as well.
Since when was I like this?
A heavy sigh escaped my lips.
Cautiously, I sat up, deciding that it wouldn't take much to win the game. Almost forty-five minutes had passed and I was pretty sure that most of the kids had been caught by now.
Now to follow the last part of my plan.
Jumping down from the pile of soft mats, I ran along in the dark paths that took me back to the lounge. My eyes followed several kids as they joined the growing crowd that gathered in a corner.
A seeker nearby would check each of the marks on their wrists signifying their defeat in hiding.
All I need to do is get to the crowd without anyone noticing me. Should be easy.
With that in mind, my eyes were peeled open for the group within the crowd that was most distracted. Luckily, they were close by me. I watched for an opening, in which the seeker was distracted with a caught hider.
Grabbing my focus and bearings, my mind made the decision to go.
Smoothly and casually, I walked by the distracted group, stopping for a bit. I glanced around to see if anyone had noticed yet no one had.
Now it'll seem like I've been here for a while.
Choosing a nearby empty seat, I waltzed over to sit down. The only thing to do now was to wait until everyone was caught.
Surely, I went unnoticed as some were still glowing with excitement and others looked too tired to think. Deciding to blend in, my head leaned back against the wall and I closed my eyes. My hands sat quietly in my pockets.
Not long after my ears caught multiple footsteps that neared.
"Here."
My eyelids slowly opened to see Sani holding my shoes in her hand. Sitting up, I took them from her and proceeded to put them on. "Thank you."
She hummed, plopping down in the seat next to me.
"Hey!" Liz appeared out of nowhere. "So you were caught! What a shame!"
Sani sent her a quiet stare which was ignored with a smile.
"How'd you like it?"
I looked for the proper words. "It's good training."
Sani broke into a smirk.
"Training?" Liz frowned. "It's a game though?"
"Damn! You're all here?"
We all turned to see a flushed Dan and Brye walking toward us.
"I thought you would at least last a little longer!" Dan complained while pointed at me.
Sani sent her a quick glare and Dan quickly pressed her lips together.
Brye quickly covered for her. "Don't worry, the probability for winning this game your first try is very low. If anything it'd be our fault for losing."
They all nodded.
"It looks like the game is close to being over." Sani pointed over to the group of seekers that had gathered and chatted amongst themselves.
After nodded in agreement, they dispersed once more.
"It shouldn't take long now. Maybe twenty minutes to find the remaining hiders." Brye informed us. "They make sure to count us before the game starts so they know the exact number they're looking for.
So we waited.
Slowly, seekers would return with hiders next to them. One by one they were checked for a mark on their hand. I watched as one of the seekers counted us from on top of a chair. His eyes narrowed as he poured all of his concentration on doing so.
"One more left." His lips read.
It's almost time.
As the remaining seekers were about to disperse once more but two individuals walked into the lounge. It was Parker and Sharp-eyes. They looked over to the rest of the seekers and Sharp-eyes said something.
"Count them again."
By now, the crowd had grown quiet, awaiting the known results with jealousy.
The same man jumped on the chair once more and counted. His lips carefully mouthing the numbers as he went along.
I took the moment to glance at Sani.
She turned to look at me. Slowly, I lifted my sleeves to expose my unmarked arms.
Her eyes narrowed as she looked back at me, "Are you serious?"
By now, the man had finished counting and gave Sharp-eyes a nod.
Decisively he shouted, "Parker and his group the Grizzlies have-"
"Wait!" Sani yelled, her voice echoing and over-powering his.
The crowd, as though the same head, turned to look at our group at the same time.
"Sani?" Dan hissed.
Those are a lot of eyes.
A sudden tension stiffened my body and I swallowed the saliva in my mouth.
"You missed one!" Sani grinned as she pushed to the crowd after urging the rest of the group to follow.
Striding next to her, we walked towards the group of seekers which looked at us incredulously.
"I caught you." A woman frowned while looking at Sani.
"Not me, her." She pointed at my exposed arms, whose sleeves remained rolled up. I held them up lamely.
They looked at me then amongst each other. After several shakes and confused looks they turned to Sharp-eyes whose eyes were clouded in thought.
"Mark, you didn't check her?" He asked while looking at a man with brown hair.
The guy shut his eyes tight and after a few moments he shook his head, "I didn't."
They turned to look at me.
"Did you wash it off?" Sharp-eyes asked me with a serious look in his eye.
"No." I stated.
They stared at me while the crowd behind us whispered in excitement. Someone called out, "It doesn't count! She was hiding among the caught!"
The seekers were about to take his words into account until Brye spoke up. "There is no rule that states that isn't allowed. If anything, her idea is a brilliant way of avoiding being caught."
"No one noticed she had walked in." Sani words were clear and strong. "That has to count for something."
Sharp-eyes pursed his lips in thought before nodding. Looking at the crowd he announced, "The winners of this game of hide-and-seek are Snow and the Knights of the Round-Table!"
A loud cheer rang through the crowd, catching me by surprise.
What's this-
It was a feeling I had never felt before. It felt like my heart of soaring out of my chest.
"We won!" Liz shouted while Dan fist bumped the air.
Suddenly they all piled on me, completing the task of knocking the air out of me.
While I didn't like the feeling of hugs. This one felt different. It felt like I... belonged.
I glanced to see Parker smile at me.
Little did I know, I unconsciously smiled back.