Tales of Terror

Hide and Seek

The cool breeze shook the leaves on the trees in the cemetery. Jimmy stood on a tree stump, his friends surrounding him. They were all covered in jackets and warm clothes, as it was almost midnight. The cod bit at their noses, many of them turning red because of the freezing temperature.

"It's summer," Gerry said, "why the hell is it so cold."

Hana giggled and punched her brother on the shoulder, "be careful, Gerry," she said, "it could be because of the ghosts."

Gerry grumbled as he kicked a headstone that was next to them, "if ghosts were real," he looked at the name on the headstone, "don't you think Betsy Harolds would've kicked me back by now? Possibly made me 'kick the bucket.'" The boys all let out a laugh as Hana rolled her eyes, "don't disrespect a soul like that, Gerry." Gerry's friends were all two years younger than her, but to make sure they didn't get into any trouble, Hana had snuck out with Gerry to go to the local cemetery. Just like she had, the boys were going through a ghost phase, and since the cemetery was only a few streets from their neighborhood, they were able to easily get to it without their parents' knowledge.

Fletcher, Jimmy's best friend, started jumping up and down. "Guys!" He said, his voice filled with excitement, "we should play hide and seek!" All the boys, including the new kid, Daniel, nodded their heads in agreement.

The four boys looked at each other smiling before Hana cleared her throat. "Have you all not heard of the stories? This is how kids disappear."

Gerry shook his hands at the sides of his face mockingly, "Betsy Harolds, remember?"

"Fine, but I'm the seeker. I'm not hiding in some smelly bush filled with critters."

The boys shrugged. "Suit yourself," Jimmy said, before they all ran off in separate directions. "Count to 36!" A voice yelled at her.

Hana sat down on the tree stump, closing her eyes. She counted to 36 before getting up and running in the direction Gerry ran off in.

"I found you!" She whispered, in an attempt to lure him out.

After failing to find Gerry, Hana started wandering around the east side of the cemetery in hopes of finding the others. After approximately an hour of searching, she didn't manage to find anyone. Panic started to set in until Hana remembered something Gerry had done when they were little. He had gone back to the original starting point, the one place Hana would never think to look. Hana laughed at how she fell for the trick again and ran towards the tree stump. She spotted Gerry's hat peaking above a bush. Hana slowly creeped towards it, only to find that the hat was sitting there by itself. She picked it up, maybe this was a ruse to confuse her?

"Alright guys, I'm done playing," she yelled, "we should go home now!"

No response. Hana pulled out her phone and called Gerry. As Gerry's voicemail came through the phone's speaker, Hana spotted something on a headstone. Betsy Harolds had died when she was 36-years-old.