Their Life

The Closet

"Let's play hide-and-seek."

It had been Theseus's suggestion, of course. Newt had tried to protest.

"We're adults," he had argued. "That's a kid's game."

Theseus had rolled his eyes. "Come on, let's have some fun. It's your birthday."

"Exactly," Newt had replied with a scowl. "My birthday and hide-and-seek is not my idea of fun."

Theseus had continued to pester his brother so Newt had pointed out that it wouldn't be fair as they were the only two of the six who actually knew the house. However, Queenie had quickly pointed out that she knew practically everything about the house, even if she hadn't seen most of it.

Newt had demanded to know how that would help. Then Jacob had suggested they hide in pairs. Newt had scowled and Leta had suggested they take a vote. They had. Four of them voted yes, only two voted no.

The rules had quickly been laid out. No magic to find people, no magic to stay hidden. They had one minute to hide, or at least to get far enough away that they could find a hiding spot before they were found. They were to stay in their hiding spot until found.

The teams had been obvious. No one was going to split up Leta and Theseus or Queenie and Jacob. This had left Newt and Tina and, judging by the looks on the others' faces, that was exactly what they had wanted.

Theseus began counting, touching his wand to his throat so that his voice could be heard in every room of the house. Giggling, Queenie pulled her husband through a doorway, looking for a place to hide.

Newt and Tina glanced at each other as they got to their feet and left through another door. He silently led her through the halls of his childhood home, trying to remember where the best hiding places were.

"You know, we could just refuse to play," Tina suggested as she followed quickly after him.

Newt glanced at her and offered her a smile. "Yes, but between your sister and my brother . . ." He trailed off but he knew Tina knew what he meant. Their siblings had decided they were playing and there was no arguing with them. "You'd think that marriage would have made at least one of them more mature, but no."

"Unfortunately," Tina agreed. "Where are we going?"

Newt shook his head. "I'm not sure yet."

Eventually, Theseus's countdown reached zero.

"Ready or not, here we come!"

At the sound of those words, Newt grabbed Tina's hand and began quickly pulling her along the hall. He was looking for a specific passage, a passage that led back in the direction they had come from but it had a number of exits that led to other parts of the house.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming towards them. They came to a stop and glanced at each other.

They must have used the passage, Newt realized.

Turning, he quickly led Tina back in the direction they had come. He pulled her into another hallway and then through a doorway into a large room. He scanned the room, his eyes settling on a large closet. He crossed the room quickly, yanking the closet door open, and pulled Tina inside.

Shutting the door behind them, he pressed his ear against it. He could hear running footsteps enter the room. They stopped near the closet and were replaced by the soft murmur of voices.

Newt's breath caught. Despite having protested against playing, his competitive streak had been awakened. He wanted to win, to beat his brother, but he had chosen one of the most obvious hiding places ever: a closet.