Hide and Go Seek

1. Jacob

I don't even know where I am. I’ve stopped paying attention. I never stay in one place long enough to care. I don't even feel bad for leaving. I had to. Caleb was rarely home and has been distant ever since that day. My parents thought we were miscreants and never treated us the same. My friends and I had agreed to never speak of what had gone down that awful day. No one would believe us anyway. I couldn't just stay either. So I ran. That place is filled with haunting memories anyway. I wouldn't miss it.

I shudder as I remember what I saw that day. All of us had been frozen in place, and I was the only one with a view that cut in a bit into the room, not completely though so I still couldn't see the tub and the possession. But I saw what happened to Grim. I sat there as I saw it wrench open her mouth, her cheeks stretching and tearing until the thing that was too gruesome to be real, shoved its arm down her throat. I can still hear her awful screams being cut off, her gagging. Then, the thing seemed to shrink. It disappeared, almost like Grim had sucked it up. Then she turned toward us. She was ruined. Her eyes were partially liquefied, gooey and dripping down her face like tears, her cheeks torn up to almost her ears, like Joker’s smile, acid burns, streaking down her cheeks and onto her neck.

Then she talked. No. It talked.
I stop the memory there. After that, I begged my parents to move, and Caleb did too. My parents refused. Caleb almost joined the army, but he wasn't a fighter, so he got a different job that required long times away from home. I ran. I couldn't take it any more. I left with nowhere to go. I wandered towns and cities, never staying put for more than a week.

I still had my phone, though, made untrackable and uncallable except to my friends. We still had our group chat. The one with Grim on it. We never talked, though. It reminded us of that night. We still had it, though. Our year was almost up. We wanted to know when or if she woke from her coma. Tomorrow would be the anniversary. Tomorrow, if the thing wasn't lying, Grim’s body would wake up. Tomorrow, things will change no matter the outcome.

I pulled out my phone, Solar powered, so I didn't need to find a charger, and opened the group chat. Everyone was on, I could tell by the little icons, but no one was talking. We were all just waiting. Waiting for what, I don't think any of us knew. I decided to take the initiative.

Is everyone prepared? I texted, "I didn't know what else to say." Everyone started typing at once.

I dont think it's possible to be prepared
for what happens next - Max

Am i the only one who's not and is
instead cowering in a corner?-Alan

How do we prepare?-Caleb

No, I’m with you on that Alan.-Katie
I think we're all scared-Katie

I sigh. Nothing else is said. If Grim does wake up, she can access this chat, so we don't want to put any information that could hurt us on it. Tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we will all be different. We don't know what the thing will do when it finds one of us. Do they become subjected to being the seeker? Or are they out of the game…