One warm summers day in the innocence of youth ... two children play a simple game

"Seamus, come on!", Helen shouted as she ran up the stairs, waving the stick in her hand above her head as she climbed up the impossibly high wooden staircase. Helen loved playing around at Seamus' house, as not only did it have the biggest garden in the town, but also a brilliant house for hiding in. She loved the old wooden house with its secret rooms and hiding places, making her the queen at hide and seek, apart from her friend. Seamus was the best at it, mostly as it was his parents house where they were currently running wild. He would always invite Helen over to play practically everyday after school, feeling their adventures on the school playground were never enough. Seamus' younger brother, Jim, would occasionally join in, but somehow it would always end up in tears. Today would be no different.

Racing up behind her, wielding his own stick like a sword, both kids raced through the long corridors of the house, occasionally stopping to fence against each other in what was shaping up to be an epic duel. The warm summer sun streamed in through the high glass windows onto the wooden floors, making the fight seem much more intense that what it was. "Give up. You know I'll beat you", Seamus chuckled, swinging his stick in a lunge, making Helen have to leap back out of the way, nearly loosing her grip on her stick in the process. "Never! I will never surrender", she spat back playfully grinning as their duel began again. Being forced to walk backwards, Helen sparred away Seamus' blows with great difficulty. He was laughing in amusement at her struggles, as he knew that he was a lot better at this than she was. However, he was at an advantage; he was just wearing jeans and a t shirt, whereas Helen was fighting in a dress. Now that takes lots of practice. 

Before long, Helen found her back being pressed up against the wall, trying desperately to parry off every blow Seamus threw at her. Only he was getting more aggressive, his blows harder and harder each time, making it impossible for Helen to keep up. "Seamus stop! Slow down please, you're going to fast", she shouted to him as she swung her stick across her, trying to throw his blow aside, but to no avail. With a deafening crack, Helens stick snapped clean in half, the pieces flying out of her grasp. With a mischievous grin, Seamus raised his stick, its tip resting against the nape of Helens neck as she pressed herself against the wall fearfully. "Surrender?", he asked, smiling at his victory. "Never!", she spat defensively, her eyes firmly fixed on his, grinning. In one swift move, she grabbed hold of the stick in front of her, pushing it aside and snapping it. Taken by surprise, Seamus toppled backwards onto the floor with a heavy thump onto his butt, the two broken pieces of stick flying out of his hands, leaving him defenceless. 

Helen set off at a run, not giving any time to cast a glance back at Seamus as he picked himself up, a little stunned. Running back down the corridor and up another flight of stairs, Helen found herself in a part of the house she had been forbidden to enter. Seamus had warned her, saying that it was his fathers part of the house which he had never been allowed to play in on strict orders. Hearing the pounding of Seamus' footsteps quickly closing in behind her, Helen ran down the small wooden corridor, the black wallpaper seeming to deaden the sound of her racing footsteps. Spotting one of the large heavy doors being left slightly ajar, she bolted through it, quickly shutting it behind her. 

Breathing a quick sigh of relief, she instantly wished she hadn't ran up the stairs or entered this room at all upon seeing what was around her. Tall wooden bookcases lined the walls, with various books and strange jars covering its shelves. One that caught her eye was on one of the lower shelves, an array of small eyes looking at her through a green pickled liquid, making her feel sick at the sight of it. "Helen! Where are you?", she heard Seamus shouting from outside the door which made her panic. If she was found in here, she would be in serious trouble. Tearing her eyes away from the horrible sight, she looked frantically around the room to try and find a hiding place. The large leather sofa's in the centre of the room offered no hiding space at all, being sunk right down onto the floor so she couldn't crawl underneath them. "This is no time to play hide and seek", he shouted, opening more doors along the coridoor, the sound of his footsteps getting louder with every second. The large coal fireplace did look as though she could climb up inside it, but there where metal bars across it stopping here. She could hear Seamus opening doors in the corridor, and knew it wouldn't be long before he found her. Spotting the musty black drapes hanging in the bay windows, she ran straight to them. Ducking behind them, Helen pressed herself up as close to the faded red wallpaper, making sure to tuck her feet under the folds of the drapes to hide herself. 

Only just in time had she managed to conceal herself, as a second later the gentle click of the door signaled Seamus' arrival. The door creaked open and she heard his footsteps creep into the room. "Helen, we can't be here. Please come out. Where are you?", he hissed urgently, almost feeling his eyes sweeping across the room trying to find her. She held her breath, trying to resist sneezing against the dust off the drapes. It felt like eternity of waiting, hiding just a few feet away from him. His eyes scanned around the room, the mustiness of the room almost making him feel sick as the dust danced in the light from the windows. He'd only ever been in this room once when he'd tried to find his dad, but had been sharply ordered out when he'd come in to find his dad talking to several men in here. There faces had been hidden in the firelight of the room, but the smell of smoke and alcohol had never left him. "She must have slipped past me", Seamus muttered quietly as she heard his footsteps leave, the door quietly closing behind him. She waited another whole minute before daring to poke her head out, fearing he would be still waiting for her. 

"Phew", Helen breathed, emerging from behind the drapes seeing the coast was clear. "You know he will come back". Helen nearly screamed in alarm at the sudden voice in the silence of the room. She thought it was a ghost, but the familiar chuckle at the end told Helen exactly who it was. The large leather desk chair in the corner spun around, reveling the cheeky smile of Jim, Seamus' younger brother. Sat cross legged in the chair playing with a black skull in his hands, he grinned at Helen as she tried to recover herself from the sudden shock. He seemed to almost blend in with the room, his dark t shirt and jeans matching his dark hair and eyes. If there was one thing she didn't like about Jim, it was his unnatural eyes, as they seemed to never blink whenever he looked at her, and just made her feel uncomfortable. "Playing hide and seek without me?", he said sadly, looking at the skull in his hands. 

Helen always hated it when he guilt-tripped her like this. As much as she liked playing with Jim, she would always play with Seamus, and sometimes even forget that Jim exsisted altogether. This is the probelm when you have two brothers; how on earth do you choose which one you like more? As much as she liked Seamus for his charm and wit, something about Jim always fasinated him. He was never loud or funny, but quiet and cunning. He was always able to outwit his brother, although she believed that he let him win the games they played together most of the time just to keep him happy. Even though Jim was only a few years older than her, with Seamus being a lot older, that didn't matter to her. Jim was in the same school as her, with Seamus being in the last year before he would move up to the bigger high school. She didn't want them to move away from her, as she had grown so used to their company and friendship that she hadn't even talked to anyone else. They were her only friends.

Sometimes she wondered what went through his head, but right now, she believed she could see it in his eyes. "Sorry Jim. We didn't know where you were. Besides, we know you don't like us sword fighting", Helen said simply, shifting a little uncomfortably on her feet as she watched him with curiosity. His eyes shot back up to look at hers as he let the skull roll out of his hands onto the floor. "Shall we play a game?", Jim asked. Helen was a little taken aback by his abrupt request, but nodded her head. "Let's play Simon says", he said, licking his lips as he jumped down from the seat. "Okay, sure". 

Jim grinned like the face of the devil, almost like a black widow that had caught a fly in his web. Not that Helen knew what his grin meant; she thought he was just happy to have someone play with him, and not leave him all alone. "Simon says ... touch the floor", Jim said simply watching her, almost falling under the spell her bewitching brown eyes cast on him. Giving a little smile, Helen bent down and touched the wooden floor, just like Jim had told her to do. "Easy", she said, rising back up, her yellow dress and smile being the only warmth in the bleakness of the dark study. Jim licked his lips thinking, planning, pondering what to do next. "Simon says ... pick up my skull and give it to me". Helen giggled and rolled her eyes at his 'request', knowing full well what he was wanting her to do. "Now that is just called being lazy", Helen huffed, walking over to where he'd dropped his skull. "Simon says no talking from you, Helen", Jim snapped at her, making her flinch at the fierceness of his voice. "Wh-". "NO! SIMON SAYS YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO TALK!", Jim practically screamed at her when she tried to protest. He was taking this game seriously. 

Holding back the urge to speak, she walked back over to him and gave him the skull, just like Jim had told her to do. "Good. Now you can speak", Jim said to her as he took the skull from her small hands. "Jim, I-". Helen yelped when Jim's hand clamped over her mouth, the skull being thrown across the room and colliding one of the jars on the bookshelf, smashing it. "Simon didn't say you could speak, did he?", Jim sneered. She frantically shook her head, her eyes wide in fear. "Good. Well Simon says you can't speak. Ever, for the rest of your life". With that he pulled his hand away and quickly moved over to the long wooden desk and opened one of the drawers, pulling out something which made Helen's stomach scream in alarm. "Point the gun at my head", Jim said quietly, his eyes firmly fixed on Helens as he approached her, holding a revolver in his hand. Her eyes looked at the gun he was offering her in his outstretched hand, fear gripped in her dry throat. This was not the game she wanted to play. She tried to step away from him, but Jim grabbed hold of her arm, bruising her skin with his viper grip as he stopped her. "Now, Simon says point the gun at your own head", Jim said calmly, whispering it into her ear. 

Shaking in fear with Jim ordering her on, she picked up the gun from his hand, and almost crying, placed it to her head. His grip on her tightened as she wavered, her body trembling as she began to cry. "Shh, Simon didn't say you could cry", he spat at her, tightening his grip on her arm further as his other hand gripped hold of the gun too, steadying her aim. Helen was terrified. She wanted to scream, to run, she wanted help to come. But she knew no one would. And if there was one thing that Jim loved more than anything, it was watching people loose at his games. In the flick of his finger she heard the metal contraption click, as the hammer of the firing pin had been drawn back. Her eyes were streaming with tears, but all she could see was the dark black eyes of Jim staring at her, an evil smile on his lips. "Simon says pull the trigge-"

"JIM! NO!". Helen almost screamed as the gun was wrenched from her hand and the distinctive sound of bone contacting flesh rung out in the study. Falling to her knees, her trembling legs finally giving way underneath her, Helen saw the towering figure of Seamus standing enraged beside her, the cocked gun in his hand, aimed at his brother who now lay on the floor, clutching at his cheek. "I was just playing a little game", Jim hissed at Seamus, holding his cheek as his anger filled eyes looked hungrily at Helen who shrunk back towards Seamus. "Dad told you not to play 'that' game, remember!", Seamus spat at him, uncocking the gun and putting it up on top of the mantle piece, above the fire, out of Jim's reach. "I WANT TO!", Jim screamed at him, leaping to his feet, lunging towards his brother. Seamus was ready for him, and with a kick to the ribs, he knocked his brother to the floor, where he jumped on top of his chest, wrapping his hands around his throat. "I'LL TELL MOTHER!", Jim screamed in protest as he tried to wrestle his brother off the top of him, both of them strangling each other, Helen watching in horror. 

"Mum's dead because of you Jim!", Seamus choked as he began to loose his grip on Jim, being rolled over onto his back as his brother straddled on top of him, hands wrapped tightly around his neck. "NO SHE'S NOT! STOP LYING!", Jim shouted at him, tightening his hold as he too struggled to breathe from Seamus's strangling him too. Helen didn't know what to do. She was frozen where she was sat on the floor, watching the fight as the brothers tried to kill each other. Desperation had set in with both of them now, trying to hold on as tightly as possible to make the other let go, but they themselves were struggling to keep going. "Jim, please, stop", Seamus croaked as he finally let go of Jim's neck, unable to hold on any longer. "NO! Don't stop! DON'T STOP!", Jim cried, shaking him by the neck as Seamus let go, not wanting to stop. "Jim ...", Seamus crocked, not fighting against his brother any longer, just letting him squeeze the life out of him. 

For a moment, Helen sat there fully believing that Jim was going to kill Seamus, and he was just going to let him. He was refusing to fight back, and just let him kill him, right there and now on the floor in the study. "I-I... she didn't ... I-", Jim struggled to form words as tears ran down his cheeks in both rage and fear. In a scream of rage Jim let go of his brother, kicking him aside as he climbed to his feet. Spluttering back into life, Seamus rolled onto his side, clutching at his stomach in pain as Jim hissed in disgust at him. "She always loved me!", he spat at him, before turning to look at Helen, his eyes glowing in rage. "She loves me", Jim whispered in a sinister tone, his eyes looking up and down Helen as she backed away from him fearfully. Without another word, Jim left the study, silent, almost like a ghost. 

"Are you alright?", Seamus coughed, sitting himself up, hand clutched at his stomach. Helen didn't know what to say as the tears rolled down her cheeks, her hands trembling as she tried to stand up, but fell back down again. "I'm sorry. I can only apologize for my brother. Even I don't understand what goes through his head". His words offered Helen little comfort, despite their soothing tone. "I want to go home", she whispered, still shaking. Wincing, Seamus eased himself to his feet, and carefully taking Helen by the hand, helped her up. Neither of them said a word as they both walked silently through the house. She could almost feel eyes following her, knowing that Jim was probably watching from a hiding place; he was very good at hiding. 

It wasn't until both of them hand reached the end of the driveway of the house that Seamus spoke, almost in a whisper. "I don't think it is a good idea for us to see each other again", he said sadly, looking up into eyes, brushing a stray strand of her brown hair behind her ear. "You mean we can't play anymore?", Helen asked, her heart sinking. He nodded, casting a look up at the house, his eyes catching those of his brother, enviously looking down at him from the attic window. "But we will still see each other in school right? We can play then can't we?", she asked, almost feeling as if strings were pulling the floor from underneath her. She couldn't bare to loose Seamus, he was her friend, her only friend. "Perhaps", he said sadly. He embraced her into a gentle hug, and ever so softly, planted a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Goodbye Helen". His sea coloured eyes met hers, and they remained trapped in each others gaze for what felt like forever, the afternoon sun making his cheeks appear even more prominent than ever.

Eventually, Seamus broke away with a smile, turning his back on her, making his way back up to the house. Helen watched him walk away, feeling more hurt in that moment than she had ever felt before. She wanted to stand there, frozen in that spot. No one had made her feel so conflicted in her emotions as she did right now. But the sight of Jim still watching her from above, blowing her a kiss made her stomach turn. She ran all the way home, not giving a second glace. She didn't tell her parents what had happened that day, and she never would. But then she never saw the two brothers every again. They had left the town overnight, their house now empty and deserted, the rooms stripped of all of their possessions, apart from a shattered skull in a empty room, serving as the only reminder that it all hadn't been a dream. 

[ A / N : And let the opening credits roll on this latest fanfiction that I have been scratching my head at for the past few weeks. What do you all think? Don't forget to comment your thoughts below, I always reply. Please note : Updates will be long and slow as I have so many other books on the go that I have to make sure that they all have a turn. Not like I can crank out this stuff overnight, not unless I do all-nighters like I have done in the past, but they kill. Anyway, enjoy, and please tell all your friends. Spread the word, spread the love. Simon tell you to ;)

Much Love xxx ]