Haunted House || E.D

[00]

Eight year old Matthew ran through their small apartment complex, trying to find a hiding spot. His uncle, his wife and their two children were over for a family barbeque. The adults were outside on the back patio, while the children played inside. The children had decided to play hide & seek and his cousin Julie was it. Matthew wanted to make it his mission, that he was the last one to be found. Being really small, he was able to hid in the nooks and crannies of the house.

"Ready or not, here I come!" He heard Julie yell from the first floor.

He covered his mouth, trying to hide his laughter as he climbed up the attic stairs. He crawled through the small opening, leading to the closet area where they kept their family memories. He waited up there for what seemed like hours, even though it had only been about ten minutes. He hugged his knees against his chest as he heard someone coming up the stairs.

The steps became louder and louder, "I know you're up here Matty."

He bit his lip and closed his eyes, covering his face with his arms. He nearly jumped when he looked up and saw his cousin's dark brown eyes, staring at him. He sighed, snapping his fingers as he climbed out of his hiding spot.

"Crap, was I at least the last one?" He questioned, dusting the spider webs off of him.

Julie shook his head, "I still have to find Penny."

Penelope or Penny, was Mathew's little sister by three years. Matthew remembers the day when his mother went into labor and he had to stay with his cousins, at their grandparents house. He hoped down the stairs behind Justin and stopped by his room, to see if anyone was hiding in there. He walked inside and checked under the bed, but when he didn't find her anywhere so he went down stairs.

He ran outside on to the patio, "Cheater!" He yelled, as he saw heis sister hiding behind their mother.

His father held his hands up I'm defense, "Woah! What's with the outburst?"

"She's a cheater!" He said, pointing at Penny.

Mathew began to breath heavily as his face became red with anger. He aggressively ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, glaring at his little sister. He always loved to win, you may think its just a game but to him it was everything. He had always been the best at hide and seek, and he didn't want to lose on a small technicality.

His father place his hand on his shoulder, "Take a deep breath and explain?"

He paused, taking a deep breath and exhaling, "You said we have to play inside, so we decided to play hide and seek. She cheated by hiding outside."

He put his arm around his shoulder and they walked off of the porch, "Did you say that you could only hide inside?"

"No, but it was obvious." He said stomping his foot.

"Then she did not cheat. She is only five years old, just let her win."

"This isn't fair, she always gets her way." He said walking away from his father.

"Get back here, we're not done talking." His father said sternly.

He glanced back at him, shaking his head before running down the gravel driveway. He continued to run, ignoring his father yelling at him to come back to the house. He rounded the corner of worn down Post Office and ran towards the small lake that was surrounded by trees. He loved to come down here and skip rocks, while the other children swam in the water. He put his hands in the pocket of his overalls and kicked along pebbles as he walked.

As he came to the small lake, he heard people talking and he hid behind a nearby tree. He peered around the tree trunk and watched the two boys who sat on the edge of the dock. He nearly jumped out of his shoes as someone snuck up behind him and covered his eyes with their hands.