(this got so long at 2,518 words, I am so sorry)

Two small children ran in endless circles around a weeds-laden clearing surrounded by an overgrown forest. A thin river streamed along one side, separating them from the road to a village bustling with people. Seek, in the lead of a nonexistent race, hit an invisible wall and flopped back into the grass. "We should play a game."

Susie stopped her pointless pursuit and did the exact same, eating grass as her face collided with the ground. She scrunched up her nose and spit it out, making sure Seek didn't see. "We are playing a game though."

"A different game." He furrowed his eyebrows, concentrating much harder than a ten year old should. His face lit up and he bolted up. "We're going to play my special game!"

Susie gasped. "Special game?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! It's called Hide-n-Seekah! You hide somewhere and I'll find you."

"Oh, but," she hesitated, "where can I hide?"

"In the forest!"

Susie bit her lip and stared into the forest. The trees weren't as creepy as she thought when she was younger, neither was the once scary raging river, but she'd never seen the other side of the dense, dark forest. It was so big and wide, neverending.

"What if I get lost? Or you don't find me?"

Seek grinned and patted her on the head. "I'll always find you! No leaving without finding the hider, that's a rule!"

Susie thought it over. She wanted to play the special game and she trusted her friend. The forest could be scary another day. "Promise?"

"Pinky promise." He held out his pinky and she linked it with hers. They bounced their hands up and down, laughing. He flopped back and rolled over onto his stomach. "I'll count and you hide!"

Susie didn't point out that he didn't know how to count like the good friend she was and jumped to her feet, taking off into the forest with rejuvenated faith in the beckoning leaves. They waved to her as she ran past, almost guiding her in a certain direction.

She followed obediently, Seek told her she could always trust the trees, until she found a tree much larger than the rest. Roots were poking through the dirt in random but straight lines, similar to Colin when he was swimming as a dolphin: jumping in and out of the water for lapses of air.

Susie ducked under the low branches and crawled through the fallen leaves that crunched under her knees. The ground dipped into a small ditch and she burrowed herself down into the dirt. Behind her, she could hear Seek counting down the wrong numbers and she giggled. He'd never find her here!

"Found you!" A vine shot out between the branches above her and curled around her arm.

She yelped, tugged on the vine, and laughed. She let it pull her through and swung herself up and over the branches. Seek sat on top, grinning at her. She crossed her arms and tried to mimic the stern look her mother gave her when she was mad. "No fair! No powers allowed!"

"Not in Hide-n-Seekah! Everything's allowed."

"But I don't have powers..." Susie pouted and plopped down on the ground. Seek frowned and joined her, cupping a pile of leaves and tossing them into her lap.

"Do you want my powers?" he asked.

"What? No Seek," she protested with shriek. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Those are your makuakāne's powers!"

He went crossed-eyed and she let him go. "Yeah, but..." he scratched his head in a daze. "People keep looking at me wierd when I use them. I don't like it."

Susie bared her teeth like she'd seen Austin do when he was angry. "Who are they? I'll beat them up!"

Seek laughed but it felt downtrodden even to her. "Austin said the same thing but I heard him say one time he wanted to give up his powers too."

"Why though? Your powers are so cool! You can swing allll around the village and Austin can eat rocks and set the fire in my house and Colin can turn into a penguin and we never get to see those!"

Seek paused, mulling over this brand new information, and nodded seriously. "Yeahh our powers are pretty cool," he agreed. "I just don't want people to hate me."

"Well I don't hate you. I don't hate any of you, you guys are my friends!"

Seek grinned and threw his arms around her. "Thanks Susie! You're our friend, too!"

"Good!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

From that day on, like clockwork the two would meet in the clearing either after or before spending time with their other friends (all two of them). Seek was always the seeker, his namesake right he proudly proclaimed, and Susie always hid.

She didn't mind; she wasn't that good at finding things and she liked it whenever he found her. It was a happy surprise every time. A friendly reminder that the boys wanted to be around her. It was a fun time with her friend that she looked forward to every morning.

Until it wasn't.

Susie huddled on a tree branch, perched high above the clearing. She didn't go far this time but that meant Seek was confused. Confused meant she could hide longer and win more! Plus, she had gotten better at climbing, almost as good as Seek.

She giggled to herself as she watched Seek swing around the forest. He poked around the trees and even searched the holes inside the trunks. He was so silly; didn't he remember that he was the only one who liked going inside the gaps.

He landed in the clearing and she clapped her hands over her mouth to muffle the laughter. But not enough apparently as he whirled around and threw a vine towards her. "Found you!" he sang.

"I lasted longer this time!" she called as she grabbed the vine and let it take her, the tree bark disappeared from under her feet. But not to Seek. The vine shriveled halfway down and gave way, letting go dropping her to the ground. She hit the hard earth and cried out at her elbow ramming right into it.

"Susie!" Seek ran to her side and helped her sit up. "Are you hurt?! I'm so sorry!"

Dazed, she shook her arm and patted his head. "I'm fine, see? No brokededed bones."

He pouted, still distressed. "I don't think I can vine that far yet..."

"Don't worry, Seek, I can help you-"

A high pitched shriek rang through the air and the two children jumped. Susie's mother, Kona, ran into the clearing and swiped at Seek. "Get away from her!"

Seek crawled back, shoving himself to his feet with staggering movements. Susie tried to follow but was harshly pulled away by a grappling force.

Kona quickly swept her up, hugging her tightly to her chest, and turned her head into her shoulder to shield her. "What did you do?!"

Seek backed up, eyes wide and lip trembling. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

Susie squirmed in her mom's hold. "Mama, stop! Seek didn't do anything bad!"

"You hush! And you," she glared at the pale faced Seek, "are not allowed anywhere near my home or Susie again, do you understand?"

"Mama, no!" Susie screamed.

Seek collapsed to the ground of his own fear-stricken accord and curled in on himself. The grass around him reacted to his pain, shriveling to a crisp and browning over. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I won't do it again."

Kona kicked a loose branch towards him and he winced. "Wretched child. I told them not to let you and those other boys stay and they all ignored me. Now look what that decision has done! You harmed my poor baby!"

"Mama-

"Hey! Lady!" Austin burst into the clearing, both halves red and steaming. "Leave my brother alone!" His hand lit aflame and Kona screeched back.

Colin ran in behind him and rushed over to a sobbing Seek. "It's okay, Sekah, it's okay," he assured, patting him on the back.

Her mother glared and pushed Susie's face further out of sight. "Diabolo child! You keep away!" She spun around and marched towards the village, murmuring threats and fears under her breath.

Susie struggled her head free and watched as Austin joined Colin and Seek, checking them both over. The son of Kane peeked up and stretched out a hand. She reached out for him as well, grasping at air and crying leaves, not letting down until the three boys were far away.

That night, Susie boarded herself up in her room while a shouting match between her dad and Kona drove itself through the walls. She covered her ears and huddled against her window. Maybe if she pressed hard enough, she could block it out. If she blocked it out, maybe it would go away. Maybe it would stop.

Click click.

A shadow of curly hair poked up just into view of her window and she grinned for the first time since she was brought home. Leaning back just enough, she pushed and pulled her window open, another pair of hands helping from the other side.

Seek vined himself in and sat next to her on the ledge. The shouting still echoed but now it was just a bit quieter. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Are you okay? My mama scared you really bad." She fidgeted her thumbs and looked away. "I'm sorry, Seek. I didn't want to get you in trouble. Or Colin and Austin." She gasped and whirled to face Seek, startling him. "Are they okay? Are they hurt?! Do they hate me?"

Seek feverishly waved his hands around in a slight panic. "No, no! They could never hate you. They didn't get hurt, they just mad at your mama."

"I think I am, too. So's daddy." She paused and they both listened to her parents continue their tirade. It was tiring to hear. Susie rubbed her eyes, to get rid of the sleepiness or the tears threatening to spill, she wasn't sure. Maybe both.

Seek's mouth twisted, his face laced with sadness. She hated that look. "Let's play Hide-n-Seekah tomorrow! This time, you can be the seeker and I'll hide!"

"Really? Yes, yes! I can't wait."

The shouting suddenly came to an abrupt halt and the two kids gaped at each other. "Go, go!" Susie waved Seek out the window and shut it as fast as she could. Jumping back onto her bed, she ducked under the covers just as her bedroom door creaked open.

Light poured out over her floor and over the slightly open window. A sigh. "I'm sorry, miki." Susie bit her lip and waited with bated breath until the light finally disappeared.

"Love you, makuakāne."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Susie jumped over the river, hopping stone to stone until her feet hit the damp bank. Excitement ran through her tiny veins as she skipped into the clearing and took a seat on the nearest tree. She swung her legs back and forth as she waited, gaze trained on Seek's normal entrance spot.

And waited.

And waited...

Waited...

Waited.......

The sun hit the horizon. Susie knocked her feet against each other rhythmically to the passing time. Where was he? Seek told her he'd be there and he'd never lie. Well, he'd never lie to her.

She huffed out a breath and kicked over a rock. Nothing. Maybe more? She picked up a pebble and chucked it as hard as she could. It flew a good three feet before falling back down to the ground.

Still nothing. Maybe a tree would call him better? But she couldn't think of what to do. Talk to it? Maybe hit it? No, she could never hurt the poor trees; Seek got sad when they did that.

Suddenly, her mother stormed into the clearing and she lunged back, fresh memories of the exact scenario chilling her. Kona gently took her by the arm and started tugging her back towards the village. "Come along, kaikamahine. It's getting late and you shouldn't be out here after dark."

"But mama!" She tried to dig her heels in but her mother's grip tightened. "Seek's not back yet! I have to find him first, those are the rules!"

"Susie, please, just come on home and I'll explain there."

"But Seek-"

"Now, Susie!"

She sniffed and with one glance back at the clearing, let her mother drag her kicking and screaming back home. Kona picked her up under her arms and set her on the table. She placed her hands on her daughter's cheeks and looked her in the eye. Her face was somber but she kept her voice firm. "Sekah's not coming back, Susie."

"What?! Where did he go? We have to go find him, mama!"

She smiled sadly, caressing Susie's hair. "He had to be sent away with the other boys. Those...abnormal boys."

Tears pricked at the edges of Susie's eyes and she sniffed. Her friends were all gone? Was she alone now? "Colin and Austin are gone too?"

"It's what's best. This way everyone's safe. You want us all to be safe, right?"

She did, but she was safe with her friends. She was safe with Seek. It was the only time she actually did feel safe. But answering wrong and making mama mad wasn't so. Face red and cheeks puffed out, she nodded.

"Then this is how it has to be. Sekah will be happy where he is, I promise."

"Did his daddy take him?"

Her mother's hands, still settled loosely in her hair, went rigid. Her face ran pale and she drew in a shaky breath. "Yes, yes he did. That's what Sekah wanted right? You said he wanted to see his daddy?"

"Austin and Colin too? They saw their mama and daddy?"

"No more talk of them!" Her mother yelled. Susie jolted back and reached for the nearest object; a chair to hold. Something solid.

Kona closed her eyes and held onto the table's edge. "I'm sorry, love. It would make me and daddy happy if you didn't talk about their parents, alright?"

No it wouldn't. It would make her mama happy but not daddy. But Susie nodded, rubbing the tears from her eyes and face.

"Good. Now, go on to your room, it's bedtime." She helped Susie back down and guided her to the little green bedroom. Before she shut the door, Kona kissed her head and tucked the loose hair strands behind her ear. "It'll be okay, love. Tomorrow you can go on into the village and make some new friends to play with."

The door closed and darkness plagued the room. Susie climbed onto her bed and jumped onto the window sill. She scooted along the sanded wood until her back was pressed against the frame. Knees drawn up to her chest, she stared out towards the woods, dark and empty of life and laughter.

She pressed her lips together and knocked two small fists against her legs. "Don't worry, hoapili. I'm gonna be the best Hide-n-Seekah player ever and find you!"

(like I said, this was really long but if you read the whole thing, I hella appreciate you!)