Hideaway (Devil's Night 2)

He tossed the horn to a nearby kid, probably a lower classman whom they pegged to do their shit work, while Will jumped off the cooler and pulled his mask over his face. I guessed he was playing, too.

I started walking backwards, taking step after step. I wasn’t going to just hang here and let Damon see me, but I had no intention of being found, either. I knew the perfect hiding spot.

“Ready?” Will called out. “Set?”

I looked to my right, seeing room 1332. A little farther.

“Annnnnnd…go!” Will shouted.

I didn’t wait to see what anyone else was doing. Spinning around, I ran down the dark hallway, hearing laughter and squeals behind me as I raced to 1312, pushed open the door, and quickly whipped my head left to right to see if anyone was in here.

But it was empty. Yes.

Feeling the vibrations of the other girls running down the hall, I ran to the bed and gently climbed on top, stepping behind the three rows of soft, cool pillows propped up against the headboard. Holding the pillows up and keeping them in place with one hand, I slid behind them, lying down across the top of the bed with my back to the headboard. I sank behind the pillows, quickly reaching out and feeling them to make sure they still stood propped up, not giving me away.

My heart raced, and my lungs seemed like they were getting smaller. I could barely breathe out of fear. I wasn’t so sure I was scared, though. It was just the chase.

But I knew I had a good hiding spot. It was in plain sight.

One morning when I was younger I woke up to Damon in a fit. Somehow, during the night, I’d gotten burrowed back in the pillows, and I was still pretty little at thirteen. Skinny. He’d woken up that morning and didn’t see me in the bed, big as it was. He thought I’d gotten up already. However, when he went downstairs and couldn’t find me, he’d searched the house and the grounds, calling for me.

By the time I woke up to all the commotion, and crawled out of where I’d been sleeping the whole time right under his nose, he wasn’t happy.

I think he was a little scared that day. I also realized he might actually care about me.

I heard the door swing open all of a sudden and bang into the wall, followed by giggles. I tensed, stopping my breathing.

“Behind the drapes!” a girl whisper-yelled. “I’ll see if I can fit in the cabinet.”

Another squeal followed, and I heard shuffles, the squeak of a hinge, and a thud. The music still drifted through the walls like a subterranean echo, and I clenched the pillow at my side, trying to stop my shaking.

And then I heard it. Howls from somewhere distant.

And then there was thunder. Like the heavy footfalls of a dozen guys charging down the hallway.

I closed my eyes. Five rooms. Unless they ripped this place apart, they wouldn’t find me.

Doors slammed against walls, sounding like they were being kicked open, and deep voices called out, but I couldn’t make out their taunts. More doors opened, each one sounding closer than the last until finally…

The door to my room was thrown open, the doorknob hitting the wall again, and I jerked in fright. My blood raced, and I froze.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” a smooth voice teased.

And I heard a giggle from somewhere in the room.

That’s it. Lead him to you. I just had to stay here until they found the others and got busy doing whatever they wanted to do.

Various sounds drifted in from the hallway, as well as a yelp from some girl in another room. Someone had been found.

“Check in the closet,” someone else said.

There were two in here.

I kept as still as possible, but then I heard a shuffle, and I trained my ears, listening.

“No!” One of the girls laughed. The rings on the curtain slid down the rod, and I knew one of the guys had found the girl in the drapes.

“Piss off,” she snapped. “I don’t mess around with juniors.”