Mommy

Chapter 9: The Key

I quickly and quietly ran into the room I was in earlier—the room I shared with Alex and Carson—immediately heading to hide under the bed. The only place I knew I could get to in time.

I knew it wasn't the safest spot to hide, but it—as of now—was my only option.

I slid under the bed with my hands full, only to quickly realize someone else was down there. I froze in horror, about to slide out and hide again before I remembered him as one of the people that ran upstairs with me.

I recognized the young boy as one of the Finders. He seemed to be younger than me, with a head full of platinum- white hair and blue, teary eyes. He had terribly pale skin. He looked almost unrealistic, as though he was fragile and make of porcelain.

He was shaking in fear as he saw me, sobs escaping his mouth. There was a deep cut on his right arm that was beginning to scab over.

He smelled surprisingly fresh, and clean.

As the sound of the nearing creaking noise, he hiccupped, scooting away from me. I raised a brow.

By his fear, I supposed he thought I was one of the bad people, the people that try to stop the Finders. The Seekers. The people like Alex and Carson. I shook my head and placed my finger over my mouth, indicating that I wouldn't hurt him. Indicating that I was on his side.

He sniffled, nodding. A flash of relief crossed his face. He looked down at my makeshift weapon and the bolt-cutter, his eyes widening with surprise. It was hardly effected by the sound of footsteps growing closer.

"We have never won before," he whispered softly, his blond hair grazing his forehead. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand, looked up at me. I could see a small leap of hope in his eyes.

"We have never won, so the weak kids...the scared kids like me never try to win the game. We just hide and wait until it's over. Y-you should too. You should find somewhere to hide...Until...the time runs out."

I looked at his pale face, watching as his eyes looked over hopefully at the bolt cutter.

I didn't respond as I scooted deeper under the bed, the creaking growing closer. I didn't want to believe that the Finders have never won before. I didn't want to believe that we didn't stand a chance— I wanted to believe we could win the game—

I wanted to believe Anna had a chance.

The creaking grew louder until it stopped right outside the door—reminding me of the first time I hid under this bed with Carson. I refused to look out from under the bed as everything was swallowed up in silence. But I could see the boy was watching.

The boy began to shake, tears pooling out of his crystal eyes. "I'm s-so scared," he mouthed, his nostrils flaring. "She's going to get us."

He wrapped his arms around himself and tucked his head into my chest, shaking in horror. He looked to me for protection, and I felt a sense of responsibility. This is how Carson must've felt with me earlier. He must've felt responsible for whether I was safe or not.

I would tell him it would be alright if I could.

The boy was was barely seven, if not less. I felt awful for him, and I knew that he had been here long enough to know what was coming.

I turned to peer at the source of the noise from the corner of my eye, horror suffocating my lungs. I didn't recognize the pair of feet I saw, which meant it couldn't have been one of the Finders. Which meant whoever it was was after me and the boy.

A trail of speckled blood followed the feet as they slowly inched into the room, towards the bed. I bit my lip, realizing we were done if the Seeker reached the bed. They knew someone was under here.