Hide and Seek

"Ready or not, here I come!" Ervin declared.

Everyone found good hiding places by now but I got the best one ever. A few days ago, I stumbled upon a secret door hidden behind a bookshelf. Ervin lived in a huge old house with lots of unexplored places.

We do hang out at his place often but only in certain rooms or outside. I kept this one a secret and saved it for the next time we play hide-and-seek.

"Found you, Kyle!" I heard Ervin say.

"Darn it!" Kyle complained. "I hope Julienne gets caught next."

Ha! Not happening, Kyle. The room was dark but light passed through some of the cracks above me. The floor creaked as I moved around.

"I know you're there!"

Eek. Ervin was heading this way. I stood still and clasped my mouth. The footsteps grew louder.

"Jeremy, you always hide there! Now, where is Julienne?"

I sighed with relief. He didn't find me. Now that I think about it, does he even know about this room? Maybe I should move to another hiding spot.

I pushed the bookshelf gently. It won't budge. I might make a ruckus, I'll just wait for everyone to get caught. With the little light available, I snooped through the stuff I found here. There were some old books including Ervin's family album. I couldn't help but laugh at seeing his younger self. He looked much more innocent than he is now. He's quite a creep to be honest. His weird interests range from scary ghost stories to gruesome murder mysteries. Heck, we even played a mystery game with him once.

As I moved about, I accidentally knocked an item off a table. Its shadowy form startled me at first. Then I realized that it was one of Ervin's puppets. I looked at it closely. This one looked way scarier than the ones Ervin would bring to school. And trust me, they're already frightening. The one I'm holding looked human but grossly deformed. It was realistic, and grotesque. The eyes looked alive with motion as I raised the figure. I threw it away as soon as I recognize its other grisly features.

I could imagine Ervin presenting a puppet show with that thing. Those bladed claws it had were probably meant for a genre of horror. I'm done snooping. I should get out now.

The shelf won't budge. It took me a while to realize why. A part of the floor cracked in such a way that made the bookshelf stuck.

"Help!" I screamed.

Shorty, I heard footsteps. And then their voices.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked.

"I can't get out!" I replied.

"Hold on" I heard Jeremy.

The shelf barely moved. I don't wanna be stuck here. Not with that creepy puppet in here.

"What is going on in here!?" It was Ervin. "Julienne, what are you doing in there?'

"I'm so sorry!" I whimpered.

"You're not supposed to go there! Don't you dare touch my stuff!"

He's mad. I didn't expect the game to escalate like this. Before I could reiterate my apology, the floor cracked underneath my foot. The next thing I knew, the floor gave way and I fell.

"Julienne" I heard Kyle say. "Are you alright?"

"Ow" I replied.  "I'm fine."

I found myself in another hidden room. Is this the basement? And what is that smell?

"Just wait there" Jeremy said.

"We'll be there soon" Ervin finished.

My legs hurt. I looked around and could see a collection of larger puppets around me. Then the lights were switched on. I gasped. Those weren't puppets.

Ervin entered the room with a grim smile. He pointed at something behind my back. I turned around. I saw Kyle and Jeremy's hanged corpses.

"You" Ervin spoke.

"Shouldn't" he continued in Kyle's voice.
.
"Snoop" with Jeremy's.

And finally, in my voice, "Around."