The Jacket Snatcher

Chapter 18- Cockroaches

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"So what now?" I ask after a minute or so of watching them play Xbox in silence.

Calum pauses the game and sits up excitedly. "We should play Cockroaches!"

"That's a game?"

"You've never played? Then we have to play it. It's only the best game from our childhood," Michael says.

"Well, what do you do?"

"It's basically hide-and-seek, but inside a house with all of the lights off. And since it's dark outside, it will be pitch black in here. You can pretty much hide anywhere," he explains.

"So the seeker walks around in the dark until they stumble upon someone?"

"Pretty much," Ashton says with a giggle. "But you only have to find three people. The last person left hiding gets to stay in their spot for the next round."

"Okay. Well who's it first?" I ask.

"Not it!" Calum and Luke shout at the same time, quickly followed by Michael and lastly Ashton.

"Great," I say.

Ashton pats my shoulder. "Aw, you'll be fine. Plus, this way you'll get a chance to scope out some good hiding spots while you're seeking."

Luke suddenly stands and rushes from the room. I am about to ask what happened when he comes gliding back in with an iPod and docking station in hand. Meanwhile, Calum and Michael have spread out throughout the house, turning off all the lights except for the lamp sitting next to the couch.

"Here. After a minute and a half, just pause it. That's the timer," Luke says, setting the station down on the floor in front of me. "It'll be loud so you can't hear us hiding and we won't be able to hear each other either."

I nod.

"Ready?" Ashton asks, standing beside the lamp.

"As I'll ever be."

He switches it off, plunging the room into complete darkness. My eyes find the tiny glowing screen of the iPod and I press play. Loud rock music fills the room and spreads throughout the house. I can sense more than hear the four boys leave. Rocking back and forth to the music, I watch as the seconds tick away. A minute and a half in, I pause it.

Standing to my feet, I turn to face the room. That's when I realize that staring at a lighted screen that whole time was a bad plan. I should've been letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. I stand still for a moment, trying to let my vision do just that, but after a few seconds, when I still can't see, I decide I better just get on with it.

With arms extended and hands groping out in front of me, I start my exploration of the darkened house. I soon find a wall by smacking into it and decide to follow it around the room. It's impossibly dark, to the point where I can just start to make out the darker darkness of furniture. Unfortunately, I realize a little too late that there's a cabinet in my path and end up stubbing my toe.

"Frack!" I curse under my breath, reaching down to massage my toe.

Suddenly, I hear a snicker in the darkness and know that someone must be in the room with me. The noise sounded like it came from the center of the room, so I reluctantly release the wall and wander out into the open. Still reaching out in front of me, I don't realize I've made it to the couch until my knees hit the armrest and I careen forward, smacking into a body.

"Ouch!" Luke says, causing me to scramble up and onto my feet. "You didn't have to jump me."

"I didn't know you were there! Who hides by sitting on a couch out in the open anyway?"