Warning: Graphic depiction of violence and horror elements.

Based on the urban legend of The Midnight Man and the game Hide and Seek.

Yes, I do write horror stories.

..

"This game is the combination of the urban legend The Midnight Man, and the game Hide and Seek." Roger's eyes moved along the letters on the laptop's screen as he read the information on the website. Behind him, Ralph, Jack, Simon, and Maurice were also reading silently in their heads. It was Halloween, and they were having a sleepover at Jack's house (or mansion), since his parents weren't home that night. They were all sick of the annual Trick or Treat, so, instead, they went on the internet in search for a scary sleepover game to entertain themselves. Of course, Simon disapproved of this idea, saying that they didn't know what they were going to mess with, but, in the end, was peer-pressured into joining the others.

Maybe it was a bad idea, but, as of now, none of them had admitted that they were scared of what they were going to take part in, even though all of them had some doubt in the safety of the ritual they were about to perform.

"To begin the game, choose one person to be The Midnight Man's physical body and give everyone a flashlight, except for the person who will be possessed by The Midnight Man. Perform this ritual to summon The Midnight Man: write everyone's names on a piece of paper, the chosen one's name should be written in red ink. Place the piece of paper in front of a door, preferably one that leads to the outside. Everyone, except for the chosen one hold hands, white the chosen one knocks on the door twenty two times. After the final knock, everyone counts down from twenty two and scatter around the house. The game begins." Roger scrolled down the page as he kept reading. All of the lights around the house was shut off to set the mood, and the only light source was from the laptop's screen, plus Ralph's phone as he was checking his Instagram.

"From that point on, everyone has to move around the house or hide, trying to avoid The Midnight Man. Non-players should be invisible to The Midnight Man, but it is advised that they stay clear from the house while the game takes place. Winning this game means that everyone successfully avoids The Midnight Man for the entire night. It is like a game of Hide and Seek, except that if he finds a player, he will kill and disembody him/her, placing his/her head in front of the door where he was summoned." Jack continued after his friend, brushing a curly lock of red hair out of his eyes. "Legend has it that even if you win the game, The Midnight Man never truly leaves the chosen one's body. He will always be there, watching, so be careful." He ended the sentence in a scaredy cat voice, then bursted out in laughter, contagiously making Ralph and Maurice do the same.

That went on for a while, then, they stopped. They were pretty certain that this wasn't plausible. Ghosts or entities like The Midnight Man weren't real, and they knew it. There were no way the whole "possessing" ordeal could be true. However, despite the barking laughter, all of them still had doubt. They didn't share it to one another, but all of them knew their friends were, somehow, a little frightened by these unreal tales.

"Okay, I'm going to get the flashlights. We're playing this. You guys coming?" Jack said, then started walking out of the room. Ralph and Maurice followed him, leaving Roger and Simon in the room.

Roger moved the mouse to close the browser, then left the laptop there and stood up to join the others on their scavenge for flashlights that still worked in Jack's mansion of a house. Simon, however, stayed back and opened the web browser again. He searched the exact words Roger had, about fifteen minutes ago, when they were looking for a game to play. The results appeared in front of his eyes. He scrolled down to the bottom of the page, finding nothing that matched the previous site. There was definitely something wrong with this game. It disappeared right after they read about it.

For a moment, he felt chills running down his spine, and he shivered a little. It was October, and he was indoor, so it couldn't possibly be so cold that he had to shiver. Maybe he was just overreacting and he had somehow missed the website somewhere on the page. He closed the web browser and looked away from the screen.

Hands grabbed at his shoulders.

Simon jumped. His heartbeat raised and his eyes opened wide. His hands shook as he slowly turned around, trying to register the fact that maybe he was just hallucinating, and maybe that was just Roger trying to scare him again. His eyes met with a few strands of dark hair, Roger's. He let out a sigh of relief, but then stiffened again as cold fingers touched his neck. Simon always knew Roger's hands weren't exactly warm, but he never thought they would be this cold, like that of a corpse.

"R– Roger?" He asked him, his voice shakily small. The fingers were pressing at his throat now, and he could practically feel the sharp nails digging down. Simon gasped painfully.

The smell of a rotten dead body filled the room.

"Roger? What Roger?" That voice wasn't exactly the one of his friend. Sweat pooled inside Simon's palms. He tried to stay as still as possible with the blind hope that maybe, just maybe, whatever it was that used to be Roger would change its mind and not kill him. "Roger isn't here."

The hands moved to the side of Simon's neck and near the top of his head.

"Has never been."

Snap.