Hide and Go Seek

12. Max

1 month and 1 week since the picture of Caleb was sent out. With a winky face. I still have a hard time looking away from the cursed photo. Images of what went down on the ship chase each other around my head, the next one 10 times worse than the last.

📎Photo Attachment-Grim

;)-Grim

Alan gently pulls my phone from my fingers, tense and white from gripping my phone too tightly. He turns it off without looking at it, pulling me into an embrace. There are only three hiders left. And both me and Alan know we're next. We didn't disappear off the face of the earth like Jacob did. We just have a badly covered up trail that leads to exactly where we are. At this point all we can do is count down the days until It finds us.

"Why did we have to play that stupid game? Why did I ever suggest it in the first place? It's all my fault we're in this predicament." I whip my head around.

"HOW DARE YOU ALAN GEORGE SMITH!" I yell immediately. "You DO NOT get to throw a pity party for yourself when we are all to blame! No one took that game seriously, no one thought about the consequences, and NO ONE played by the rules. You DO NOT get to play the 'pity me' card when we all are in the wrong." Alan at least has enough decency to look chagrin.

"Your right," Alan sighs, "I guess I just feel bad for bringing up the idea in the first place. And poor Jacob; he had to see his brother's body in the last picture. At least we're together, eh?" I nod, hugging him tighter. Then our phones go off. Both of us pale.

"Jacob? I whisper. Alan grabs his phone, a new one recently purchased, from his pocket the same moment I lurch for mine on the side table where Alan deposited it earlier.

I feel Alan stiffen beside me as he pulls up our messages app a second before I do.

I pale and look at Alan. One message. But not from Grim– from Jacob.

Location Shared-Jacob

"What is he doing?!"