Hide and Seek 3

Drew made his way out of the dilapidated house as carefully as he went through it. The coldness from earlier had left and his clothes were covered in the dirt and mud from the cellar. As he exited the house, he took off his respirator and took a deep breath in. "Feels good to breathe fresh air again. Before he made his way to the barn he decided to stop by the van and check in with Sam. She saw him approaching from his camera and opened the door to let him in.

"Do we have any water?" Drew asked as he climbed in the van. "After digging up that grave I am parched."

"Hold on I'll check." Sam said as she opened a cooler underneath the laptop. "Yeah we have some, it isn't cold though."

"That's fine." Drew took the water and chugged it in a matter of seconds. "Phew that's better." He threw the empty plastic container into the corner of the van. "So, any idea where the barn is?"

"No." Sam sighed. "We didn't research the place, so I have no idea. I would say just pick a direction and hope for the best." She pulled an item out of a box. "Here take this, it's a compass."

"Thanks." Drew said as he slid the compass into his pocket. "Wish me luck." He smiled as he hopped out of the van.

"Here." Sam threw him a fresh flashlight. "In case your batteries go out on you."

"Thanks." Drew repeated. "Don't worry I will leave my camera on the whole time. Tell me if you get a signal from Terry."

"Will do." With that Sam shut the van door leaving Drew outside. Drew sighed and started heading east. He hoped the barn would be this way, but he really had no way of knowing. He walked and walked, and the silence of the night was deafening. There was a new moon tonight so there was next to no light outside of his flashlight. It was not long before Drew thought he heard footsteps besides his own. He was unsure if it was just his mind playing tricks on him or another prank by the ghost. He decided to test it by stopping suddenly. He waited for any sounds. Hearing nothing, he continued on, only to hear that second set of footsteps once more. Irritated and frightened he stopped again.

He spun around with his flashlight trying to illuminate anything that may be around him. All he saw however was the overgrown field and nothing else. Sam saw him spinning on the camera and radioed him. "Everything okay out there Drew? You appear to be spinning around in circles. Over."

"I swear something is following me." Drew said panting, out of breath and dizzy from the spinning. "I don't see anything. Also, when did you start saying over?"

"I mean we are using walkie talkies." Sam said. "We should use them correctly and say over. Over."

"We weren't earlier, and we were just fine." Drew sighed. "Sam?" Drew sighed again. "Over…"

"That was then Drew, this is now." Sam explained. "I am terrified for my life and for the lives of my friends. In times like these it is best just to go back to the basics, it's calming to the mind. Over."

"If it means that much to you." As Drew spoke, he heard the footsteps again, this time closer to his location. He hopped, spinning towards the direction he thought he heard it, but again when he flashed the light nothing was there. "I swear I am not alone out here. Over."

"Um, we know that already Drew." Sam sighed. "Be careful. Over."

Drew pulled his compass out, having lost his sense of direction from his constant spinning. He shined his light on it to try and find his way East, but the compass was spinning uncontrollably. "Ugh Sam?" Drew radioed. "I think the compass you gave me is busted. It keeps spinning. Over."

"I checked it before I gave it to you." Same replied. "It must be the demon! Over."

Drew could hear the sound of children's laughter once more as his compass froze solid in his hand and his flashlight flickered. Suddenly the little faceless girl appeared in front of Drew with both of her hands on his compass. The arrow froze in place and the little girl vanished. As she disappeared Drew screamed in pain.

"Damn it!" He yelled, as a sharp pain overtook his arm. He shined the light to see what the cause of the pain was and became horrified by what he saw. Etched into his arm was a message. [Follow me] "Sam the demon wants me to follow it." He waited but heard no response. "Sam!"

"You didn't say over!" Sam complained.

"Fuck that Sam, I just got assaulted by a demon." Drew shouted. "What should I do, should I follow it?"

"How the hell should I know?!" She yelled back. "This is all new to me too Drew! I think you might piss it off if you don't follow it though."

"Fuck!" Drew yelled. "I guess she wants me to go in the direction the compass froze."

"Calm down Drew." Sam said. ��Deep breaths. Panicking won't help us get our friend back, we have to stay calm."

"I am calm!" Drew yelled. "Damn we are going to have to do some serious editing on this tape if we make it out of here."

"You mean when we make it out Drew." Sam corrected him. "Remember you said everything is going to be alright."

"I wish I still believed that." Drew said to himself, not broadcasting it over the radio. "Okay I am going to head in the direction the demon wants. Okay that sounded way stupid when I said it aloud, are we sure this is the best choice?"

"I don't think we have a choice Drew." Sam said. "She would kill us anytime she felt like it, we need to play her game or else she might decide to end us."

"Okay." Drew sighed as he started walking, following the arrow. After a half hour of walking he came across an old rundown shack. "Looks like an old slave shack." Drew said over the radio.

"Oh my god Drew!" Sam said over the radio. "You don't think the demon put Terry there because he is black, do you? Can demons be racists?!"

"That's what concerns you right now?!" Drew shouted. "I doubt the demon even knows this was a slave shack or our history with slavery. It might have just put him here because it's an empty building. That is if Terry is in there, we don't know."

"Right." Sam replied. "Go on inside and check it out."

Drew cautiously walked up to the door of the shack. Well the door frame of the shack, the door had fallen to decay years ago. He shined his light inside to check it out. In the center of the room stood a large chest, large enough for a person to be inside. The chest was locked by a large padlock. Drew pulled the key from his pocket and looked at it. He knew this had to be another trap, just as the tub and the grave were before this one, still for his friend he had to at least try. He slowly walked to the chest with the key in hand. As he approached it, he kneeled down and prepared to unlock it.

"I have a real bad feeling about this Sam." He said over the radio. "Every fiber of my being is telling me not to unlock this chest."

"What if Terry is inside?!" Sam shouted. "Would you really abandon your friend over fear?"

"I am telling you Sam; something is not right here!" Drew replied. "I know something really bad is going to happen if I open it. I don't know how I know, but I know. What if it's like Pandora's box Sam? What if opening it spells doom for all mankind?"

"Drew just open the damn chest!" Sam replied. "We have to make sure Terry isn't in it. He could be suffocating right now."

"But…" Drew started.

"No buts! Just man up and unlock the chest." Sam said.

"Fine." Drew sighed and reached the key out towards the lock. He slowly slid the key inside. Everything was telling him not to open the chest, not to undo the lock. He slowly turned the key and unlocked the chest.