"Congratulations," the vet said, smiling as he held one of the puppies. "Taki had very healthy puppies. Might I say, they are absolutely adorable."

I grinned at the news, petting the small miniature dachshund I held in my arms. He was adorable indeed.

"Is there going to be a problem taking care of them all?" the vet asked, raising an eyebrow. "I know you have three at home, and adding these six little guys can create a handful."

I thought for a moment. He was right. But the thing is, I only had one dog now, and that was Taki. Unfortunately, the night after the . . . incident, Taco and Teddy had passed away in their sleep. I wasn't sure why until I'd taken them to the vet. There, glass was found in the throat of Taco and in the stomach of Teddy. It wasn't until later on I'd realized what had happened. When the killer who'd broken into my home that night had been throwing things around while looking for me, he's obviously thrown a lamp of my mom's, in which Taco and Teddy had mistaken for food, as I hadn't been able to feed them before that "guy" broke in.

I'm not going to deny that I'd cried the hardest I'd ever cried in my life when I found the cause of their death. The poor things hadn't really been afraid to come to me. They were in pain and I didn't know it. And who's fault was it for their death? Mine. I should have given myself to that monster the first time instead of running.

No, I thought, taking a deep breath and clenching my fist. It's not your fault. It's that bastard's. I'll make him pay. I swear on it.

"Miss Y/n?" I heard, making me leave my thinking space. I looked up at the vet, raising my eyebrow to let him know that I was listening. "Did you hear my question?"

"Uh, yeah," I replied. "I can take care of them. I'm not sure if you were here, though, when I brought in my other two dogs. They have, um, passed on . . ." I trailed off, struggling not to cry.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," the vet said, giving me a sympathetic look.

"Don't be," I said, smiling, but he couldn't see my smile because of this damn face mask. Yeah, I had to wear a face mask. Unfortunately, a pandemic broke out not too long ago, and it was so annoying. I don't understand the masks, but if it's required, I'll do it.

After some more talking at the veterinarian, I finally left, all six of the small puppies in a small wood-woven basket that the vet who'd I'd previously talked to was sweet enough to give me. Taki trotted beside me, stumbling every once in a while.

My mind kept wondering to the killer. I hadn't seen him in about a month, and it worried me. It could be an impending attack.

Where are you?

. . .

"Okay, so I'm on my own," I thought, my head in my hands. "I'm only fifteen and I'm already living on my own."

Look on the bright side, I thought. At least you have the money from them. Rest in peace, mom. Rest in pieces, Chris.

Chris was my mom's boyfriend, also know as my "stepfather". He wasn't any type of father to me, though. I would never consider him that, though.

Suddenly, I heard a crash from upstairs. Taki shot up, on alert in front of her puppies. She suddenly began barking, putting me on alert.

No, I thought panicked. Not right now. Oh, please not right now.

"Oh, Y/n," I heard someone sing out, and I backed up. It was him. He was back. I wasn't in the mood to fight right now.

I cringed as I saw his face appear around the corner, his "smile" still having never left my mind.

"There you are," he purred, fully coming around. He stomped at Taki, making her whimper and back up, no longer barking. "I've been looking for you."

"Why would you be looking for me?" I snarled. "I'm right where I've been for three months."

"No shit," he growled, stomping over to me. I backed up. Looking back, I noted where the table was, so right before I hit it, I swerved. "You know, it's hard to get to you if you keep backing up."

"That's the point," I said, still backing up.

"Oh, I'm not here to hurt you," he said, his hair dropping in front of his face, giving him a creepy look, even in the sunlight coming in through the window. "I want to make an . . . agreement."

Huh? An agreement?

"An agreement?" I asked, still being extremely cautious. "What kind of agreement?"

"An agreement, dumbass," he snarled, rolling his eyes. "Like, a mutual understanding."

"What do you want?"

"I want to play a game."

"A game?"

"Yes, a game, stupid. What, are you deaf, too?"

"W . . . What kind of game?"

"Hide and Seek."

Hide and seek? I didn't like the sound of that.

"If anything," I said, "it'd be more like Cat and Mouse. I mean, you are a killer, after all."

"Just listen to me, goddamnit!" he yelled, making me shut up. "We're playing Hide and Seek. Except, there's rules. So, you'd best read the rules and read them good. Do you want to play? I mean, I have no problem just killing you now."

"Why?" I asked. "Why do you want to play a game?"

"I want to play because this game of you running from me is getting boring. I want to spice things up a bit, and what better way to do that than with adding some fun to the mix?"

I shuddered a bit. I honestly thought about it. If I said yes, I'd literally be playing with a killer. That was a death wish in on itself. However, it'd give me a chance to live a bit longer.

"Okay," I reluctantly agreed, my heart sinking when his grin widened. He pulled a bloody sheet of paper from his pocket, tossing it to me. I yelped, backing up. Who's blood was that?

"The game starts exactly at midnight," he said, spinning on his heels and heading for the stairs, presumably to exit the way he came in. "Good luck."

"Wait!" I called, grabbing his attention. He looked at me. I'm sure he'd be raising an eyebrow if he had any. "What's your name? I can't really play if I don't know your name."

He gave me a long hard look before continuing. I thought he wasn't going to respond. However, I heard him call back, "The name's Jeff. Jeff the Killer. You're gonna wish you'd never heard that name."

Let the game begin.