The game sounded innocent enough. Especially since we were going to be playing with Chelsea and Monica (Nicole's eight year old cousins.) Sure, it may have been childish, but Nicole and I didn't have a whole lot going on this weekend. It wasn't as though we were doing anything too terribly exciting. Besides, Chelsea had taken a strong liking to me. Whenever I happened to be staying the night at Nicole's over the weekend, if Chelsea found out, she wanted to come over to her cousin's. Chelsea simply adored my waist-length blonde hair. She would want to brush it, braid it, put flowers in it, anything to make me look like some fairy princess. Nicole found the twins to be annoying. Of course she would. As family often did. But since I had no younger sister to speak of, I found Chelsea to be adorable. If I could have snatched her up and made her my own sister, I would have. I had always wanted a little sister. Even a little brother if there were an option. My mother had always told me that having children was a "one and done" type of deal. She had insinuated that I was lucky to even be here. I was not a planned pregnancy. Despite that, my mother had become my best friend over the years. People often mistook us for sisters even though I was sixteen, and she was in her early forties. She looked good for her age. Maybe that meant I would carry that youthful appearance through my later years as well. I could only hope. The bottom line was that I wasn't getting a miniature companion any time soon. Chelsea was it. So, I happily agreed to play with them while I convinced Nicole it would be fun.

"Tall people against the short people." Nicole said with annoyance in her tone. I knew she would rather watch grass grow. Frankly, that was all we were doing when the twins approached us anyway. Their mother had told them to run along while she went to speak to Nicole's mother. That whole "running along" business led them straight to us. Led Chelsea straight to me with a tight hug. 

"I want to go with Emily!" Chelsea clung to my waist. I smiled. I couldn't get enough of how adorable she was. Even if we weren't related, I definitely claimed her as my sister even if it wasn't anything official. 

"No way." Nicole protested. "No teams. You're it. All of us are going to hide. You come find us."

"But I wanna play with Emily!" Chelsea insisted. I didn't have the heart to deny her either. 

"You are playing with her." Nicole rolled her eyes, "You're finding her. Should be natural for you since you're so obsessed with her. You can probably sniff her out like a hound."

"Why don't we do teams?" I suggested giving Chelsea a pat on the shoulder, "It could be fun. They won't hide very well without our help. Then two of us searching will make it go faster."

"Me and Monica?" Nicole seemed to pout. She really didn't like the idea of spending time with them. Now, she was forced to play with them as well. Her weekend was ruined as is. The alternative was sitting out in the shade twiddling her thumbs. "Okay..." She sighed. Monica smiled. She was hoping for the teams all along. 

"Go hide!" Chelsea told them. She jumped up and down in her excitement. 

"No cheating!" I shouted after them, "No jumping around to several spots! Stay on the property!" 

It was a big property, so there were a lot of options. Mostly, I just didn't want them running into the wooded area around the property. If they went out there, we would likely never find them. Chelsea and I hunched down by the shady tree and began counting out loudly until we reached twenty. That should have been more than enough time for them to find somewhere decent. 

We searched inside the house first. Nicole's bedroom seemed like a reasonable spot. It was the place that would have felt the most familiar and safe to Nicole. Then again, it also would have been the most obvious. Under the bed, in the closet, behind the curtain, in the pile of dirty laundry. There weren't too many places they would both fit, and it was very clear they weren't in the room. We did a brief scan over the living room, bathroom, kitchen, and dining room. They all had fairly open layouts, and again, not very many options. 

Next, we went out to the large detached garage. Her grandfather did a lot of work out there. It was full of tools and old vehicles. The big bay door was sealed. This led the inside to be very dark. It was musty and dusty within. The air was thick without any sort of air flow. Just peering inside, I got an uneasy feeling. I didn't want to go inside. Surely, the girls wouldn't have come inside here. To remain so hidden in the dark? Wasn't Monica afraid of the dark? I typically wasn't afraid. So, I didn't understand my unease with this area now. I took a step inside while Chelsea stayed by the door, holding it open to cast in some light for me. 

I left tracks in the sand that layered the floor of the garage. That was when I considered that if the girls had come inside, they would have left tracks themselves. I strained my eyes and tried to scan the floor for any small tracks that Monica would have left behind. I saw none. The garage may not have been used in a while. I looked over the vehicles that were inside. The cars there were old. It reminded me of that scene from Titanic. You know the one. With Jack and Rose in the car. All the old cars with their creepy old dusty settings. There was no way they were in here. There was no way they would want to come in here. As I turned to leave, I noticed a large spider scuttle across the dirt and under a car. Just another reason to get out. I rushed to the door with the eerie feeling that something was behind me the whole time. I felt my anxiety climbing as I approached the door. As if something would snatch me and pull me back into the darkness. 

"Anything?" Chelsea asked as I stepped back out into the light. Back onto the fresh grass and into the fresh air. It was such a relief to be out of there.

"Nope." I sighed. Here, I thought this game would be a good idea. With how hot it was outside, I was already about done with this. That was when another idea hit me. The old shed in the backyard. "Let's check the shed." I told her.

We came to the backyard and cracked the shed door open. This time, it was bright enough that Chelsea took the lead inside, "Hello?" She called out. There was no way they would answer us, but I didn't bother explaining that to her. I came to the middle of the shed and pulled on the chain for some light. It filled the room brightly. In the corner was a small cupboard area for tools. There. I went to it and pulled it open to hear Monica scream, and Nicole growl in frustration.

"Did you hear us?" Nicole pouted, "I told her to stay quiet!"

"No." I laughed, "I didn't hear you. It was just a lucky guess. You guys did really well!" I tried to encourage her. It was a decent enough spot. 

"It's our turn!" Chelsea sang and did a little dance. "You have to come find us now!"

"Oh, we'll find you!" Monica sneered at her sister. 

"Let's go!" I tugged Chelsea's arm. I already knew the perfect spot. The old garage. It would be dark, and there were bugs to contend with. But it may have been just the cover we needed to keep them from looking for and finding us. I could hear Monica counting loudly as we ran across the yard. Part of me wondered if we would even make it inside before they came out. If they counted all the way to twenty like we did, it would be no problem. 

The second my foot touched the sandy inside, Chelsea paused at the door. Again, she didn't want to come inside. "Come on." I tugged at her arm lightly, "Let's hide."

"But it's dark." She needed to move before they stepped outside. 

"Come on, it's okay. We'll be fine. Hurry." I waved her inside and had to give her a little yank to clear the door. She wasn't kidding, though. With the door closed, it was pitch black inside. Not to mention just how stuffy it was. The air was so thick and humid. We waited a short moment just so my eyes could adjust to the darkness. I was able to see outlines of the surrounding cars. "Let's go." I whispered to her. We inched our way between the cars with her fingernails digging into my arm. I knew she wasn't happy, but I was a very competitive person. I wanted to win. 

We came to a stop next to one of the old cars. I felt around in the dark for the door handle. I found it and gave it a sturdy yank. It actually popped open. What luck. Although, there was hardly a need at all for him to keep his cars locked around here. "Let's get inside." I ushered her into the backseat and climbed in after. I very carefully pulled the door closed until I heard it click. We ducked down in the backseat, and she let out an excited giggle.

"They'll never find us!" She squirmed in her amusement. I couldn't help but feel that same giddy level of excitement. This really was the perfect hiding spot. A little cramped. A little dark. A little creepy. But all of it made for the perfect cover. I doubted they would even step foot inside the garage, let alone find us within the car we were hiding out in. 

The silence now was a bit deafening. It was as though I could hear both of our hearts beating. I strained my ears, trying to hear if they were outside the garage. No voices. No footsteps. There was nothing. Just blackness and silence. Even Chelsea had gone quiet. Her giggles were long since quieted. I let out a soft sigh, hoping to ease the tension. It was impossible to tell how long we had been in the car. Seconds? Minutes? The heaviness of the air alone was weighing me down. The feeling was like I was being watched. Which seemed impossible with how dark it was in there. 

"Can we go?" Chelsea asked quietly.

"Not yet." I whispered back. I wondered if she felt the same eerie feeling that I felt. All the while, I had to keep my brave face. I was supposed to be the older and braver one. If she knew I was afraid, it would surely cause her to feel frightened. 

How long had it been? If only I knew. If only I had a way of knowing if they had given up on trying to find us.

That feeling came to me even more now. That feeling of eyes on me. That, and a faint scent of cigarette smoke. The hair on my neck and arms was standing on end. My heart was beginning to pick up its pace in my chest. The truth was that I actually wanted to get out of there right then, but I was too scared to move. In the darkness, it was like our frozen stance was the only thing keeping us hidden from... whatever else was now looking for us. Even though it felt more like something was looking at us. We were sealed up in a car, and yet I felt so exposed like we were out in the open. My skin was crawling, and I felt a chill run down my spine. I never wanted so badly to be caught. I wished Nicole and Monica would come strolling in and open up the car door. But there was no sound. No light. No rescue. We were frozen. 

"We should go." Chelsea barely breathed the words.

"Yeah?" I found some courage to speak since she was speaking to me first. 

"Yeah. He doesn't like us being in here." She said.

"Your grandpa?" I was confused.

"No." She whispered back, "the man looking at us from the front seat."

No explanation was needed. No confirmation. No hesitation. Nothing. I was out of that car. Little sister or not, I bolted. My self-preservation hit me harder than my protective nature. I ran from the car, and Chelsea came screaming at the top of her lungs behind me. I have no idea how we didn't bang into every car on the way out. I could feel the very tips of fingers brushing against the back of my neck, ready to snatch my collar and yank me back. Even stronger this time than the first. We burst through the door back into the sunlight so hard that the door banged loudly into the side of the metal garage. The whole block would have heard us. 

Sure enough, Monica and Nicole came from inside the house. Chelsea maintained her scream all the way across the yard as we made it back to them by the house. 

"Where were you guys?" Nicole looked up and over our shoulder, "The garage?"

"There was a man!" Chelsea latched her arms around Nicole.

"A man?" Nicole looked at me, just waiting for me to laugh and go on about how I must have scared Chelsea myself. From the look on my face, as pale as it was, she must have seen there was no prank here. 

"Why would you guys even hide out in there?" Nicole seemed more concerned now, "There's a bunch of old creepy cars in there. Some are from fatal accidents. My grandpa fixes them up for his collection."

"Fatal accidents?" I felt all the warmth leave my body. As hot as it was outside, I was chilled and covered in goosebumps. I looked back at the garage. The door was still open from where we had come running out. It was far too dark to see inside to anything, but my imagination could almost picture a man staring at us from the darkness. I would never be playing hide and seek again. Not scared of being discovered by the person who was it, but for whatever else may find us in the dark