HIDE AND SEEK

ADELINE'S POV

"We all loved hide and seek as children." Veronica starts talking as she paces the room. Her heels leaving an annoying sound on the wooden floor. It reminds me of the house my parents and I used to live in. When I was five years old, my mother and father bought the most beautiful house ever. Every corner of it was made of wood. It was in a secluded area and I didn't have any friends, except Liam who would come over from time to time.

Those were one of the times that living with my parents felt like home. My mother would always scold Liam and I for drawing on the wooden floors with chalk. Liam and I would run away from my mother around the house, chalk in hand and laughing hysterically.

Five-year-old me would have never believed she would end up in a place like this. Five-year-old me had no worries. All I had to go was study, play, eat, sleep and repeat. As children we are oblivious to the world around us. We don't see anything far from the tip of our noses. As children, we are happy. Until we grow up and realize just how tainted the world us. Just how rotten to the core it is.

Sometimes, like right now, I want to be five years old again. I want to play hide and seek with Liam and hide in my mother's wardrobe. I miss Liam. I miss my best friend.

"Men love the thrill of the chase." Veronica continues. "A man will always be obsessed over a woman he cannot easily have. He wants to stalk her, woo her, buy her gifts. He wants her to stay in her little hiding spot while he chases her but he doesn't want her to hide too well or for too long, or else he loses interest and gets angry. There is a certain adrenaline build when a man chases the woman he craves so badly. That want builds up and builds up until it explodes when the man finally has what he wants."

She claps her hand hard, making some of the girls flinch in fear.

"Today, you will hide and these men…" She points to the hungry eyed men in front of us. They look like they want to stick out their tongues and drool as they stare at us. "…will chase. This activity is to prepare you all for what you will inevitably meet when it is time to serve as erotica girls."

"None of you are exempted from this exercise." Veronica says and looks to me with a smirk on her face. My heart falls to my stomach. The other girls look at me with satisfied look on their faces, finally happy that I get to meet the same fate as them. I don't betray any emotions as they stare at me. I stand my ground and keep my head held high.

I stare right back at Veronica and she raises her brow at me in mockery as she continues speaking. "I will explain the rules." She says.

"The guards will stay in here. You girls have the right to use all the rooms in this building as hiding spots." I look over to Della and she nods her head knowingly. When it's time to hide, we have to stick together. I cannot let anything happen to her.

"There are guards surrounding this building and there is no way to go so if any of you so much as thins of going outside and say, attempt to escape, I will kill you." Her eyes widen in an inhumane way as she lectures us.

"This exercise will take place over the span of two hours. When a guard manages to catch one of you, he has the right to do whatever he wishes to you on the spot." I shiver. I have never heard of anything more disgusting and degrading. I have never heard of any place as disgusting as erotica. God, if you exist, please burn this place to the ground. Please take away the suffering of all the unhappy people in the world and give it to all the people responsible for running this place.

I take a look at the other girls here. The look in their eyes s that of defeat. I didn't now how easy it was for people to break, lose all sense of hope, lose every sense of fight, spirit and survival instinct until I came here. Even the new girls I was brought here with have already given up. They have accepted their fates.

I wonder if I'm the only one left here with fighting spirit. Io wonder if I'm the only person left here with faith that I will be out one day. I can't be the only one.

"You have thirty minutes to hide." Veronica says. "Starting now." She smirks.

The old girls know what to do. They all start running immediately. They fly through the doors and each head over to their own hiding spots that I doubt they would want to share with anyone. The other girls follow suit after a few seconds until only Della and I are left in the room.

"Awww…" Veronica snickers. "Will you two help each other again?" She laughs.

"All she will do is slow you down and you know it." She addresses me. If she thinks even for a second, that I will leave Della all to herself, then she has no idea who she's dealing with. I don't abandon the people I care about and I wont start now. I grab Della's hands and lead her out of the room. Once we're our Veronica shuts the door and stays in the room with the men. Probably to discuss strategic positions of where the girls must be hiding.

"Where do we go?" Della asks me as soon as we leave the room.

"I don't know." I say honestly as I brainstorm. She clears her throat and comes to a stop in front of me. I frown.

"What are you doing? We only have thirty minutes." I scold.

"I know, I know. I just wanted to say thank you. For what you did for me the other day. Veronica kept to her promise. No one has touched me this week." She says with tears in her eyes.

"I couldn't believe it. I had my body to myself for a whole week. It shouldn't come as a surprise to me but, this place. it made me forget what it felt like to be free. I miss that and you made me feel that way again, even if it's just for a short period of time. I know you didn't mean all those things you said to me. They hurt but I know you didn't mean them. Thank you, Adeline." She starts crying. A thought comes across my head and I suddenly wonder, if Della and I were to switch positions, would she do the same for me. I suddenly start to remember what Colton said about the girls here only caring about themselves. I wonder if that's the kind of person Della is.

I push the thoughts away and lock them away with my feelings.

"You're welcome." I say strongly. I cannot afford to be emotional with her right now. I need to think of a good place we can hide.

"Let's go." I say. "We can't waste any more time." I pull her hand and start looking for places we can hide. Our rooms will definitely not be a good option so that is already crossed out. I lead us towards the kitchen and I find some really good spots but a few girls have already occupied them. They aggressively drive us away and curse at us, asking us to find our own hiding spots and leave them alone.

I drag Della away from the kitchens and lead her to the second floor. I hear a loud bang and then Veronica's voice coming out through some speakers. 

"You have fifteen minutes left." She says.

"Shit! We've wasted too much time." I say to her. I've neve been to the second floor of this place before. I always thought it was restricted but Veronica said we could use any room in this building to hide in. I reach a huge hallway and I see a couple of doors. I quickly try them but all of them are locked. I almost scream in frustration. She locked all the doors on the second floor only giving us access to the rooms on the first floor. The rooms that all the guards know about.

This game is shit and even before we lay, Veronica is already setting us up for failure. There's no way any girl comes out unscathed. But something tells me that the best place to hid e is in one of these rooms.

"Let's just go back downstairs." Della says.

"No!" I say strongly and take out a rubber hair pin from my hair and start picking one of the locks on the far end of the hallway.

"Is that even allowed?!" Della whispers.

"She said we could hide in any room in this building." I continue picking the lock. I hear the loud sound of a bell again.

"Five minutes left." Veronica's menacing voice says. I start sweating and I start feeling uneasy. If I don't manage to get this door open intime, Della and I will both get caught. I can't let that happen. I struggle and struggle for God knows how long until the door finally gives way and makes a click sound.

Della and I give each other a triumphant look and run inside the room desperately just as the bell rings again and Veronica announces that we have only one minute left. As Della and I run inside the room, I hear the sound of heels climbing up the second floor. I hesitate for a few seconds until I see a face. Silver mist.

She freezes when she notices me, probably contemplating whether or not to come with me or to turn back around and find a different place.

"Thirty seconds…" Veronica's voice comes out through the speaker again.

"Don't just stand there! Get your ass over here." Silver mist obeys and I rush into the room with her and Della and lock the door shut from inside.

"Game on!" Veronica announces that the search has begun just as I lock the door. I look over to Della and Silver with a triumphant look on my face. Della smiles but Silver just looks at me with an irritated look on her face. I guess nothing is new.