Chapter 22

It was close to midnight, and nobody had come to check on me. 

I opened the door a little and sighed with relief. The lights had finally been switched off. 

Placing a hand on my chest, I calmed my racing heart and inhaled and exhaled deeply. 

This was it. 

I stepped out of the room, the exhilaration already hitting me. As carefully as possible, I closed the door behind me and waited for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. 

The house was dead silent, and I feared that the sound of my racing heartbeat could be heard all around me. 

I took one step forward and then another.

When I reached the main hall, I scanned my surroundings to make sure that no one was around. 

My eyes stopped on the front door. 

Was this really possible?

I moved forward towards the door. 

I'm here. I'm really here. This is happening. 

I was standing right in front of the door. 

I'm going to be free.

I'm going to be free. 

I was barefoot but I did not care. I knew that there was only a long stretch of trees on either side of the road for miles outside. But again, I did not care. I did not even know where I was going to go, which direction I was going to turn to. But it was all right. As long as I was far away from here, I did not care. 

I unlocked the latch and with shaking hands, I pulled open the door.

A strong gust of cold wind hit my face and then…I stopped dead in my tracks.

All color drained my face and the last bit of life seemed to have left my body. My blood ran cold, and my heart stood frozen. 

"Going somewhere, darling?" he asked, cocking his head. 

He stood with his arms folded across his chest, a small smile playing on his lips. 

Screams hit the back of my throat but even they were too frightened to escape my lips. 

"You're so predictable, Dalia," he said, taking slow steps towards me. "You had me for a second there when you took this long to try and escape. I thought you were going to prove me wrong and not take the risk at all. But here you are, having foolishly taken the bait." 

He was closing the distance between us. Despite the numbness in my legs, I found myself stumbling back. 

"Did you really think that the door was left open by mistake? Did you not suspect anything?" he asked, clicking his tongue. "I thought you were smarter than that."

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I helplessly kept moving backwards.

"At least, you could have tried some other route of escape. The front door, really? How dumb can you really be?" He seemed amused. 

"Stop moving back," he said, annoyance filling his voice. 

I stopped immediately. 

"You're going to get punished for this bad behavior, Dalia. Good girls don't try to escape," said a voice from behind me. 

I did not even have to turn around to know that it was Christina. 

All this had been a well calculated trap and I had stupidly walked right into it. Now I knew for sure that I was digging my own grave repeatedly. 

"A punishment is definitely due, my dear, but later," said Ace, going to stand next to Christina's wheelchair. "Right now, let's get to the game that we've been waiting to play with Dalia." 

"Of course," said Christina, the gleam in her eyes distinctively clear even in the dark. 

Game. What game?

My knees had started to shake. Cries were bubbling inside my chest but all I could do was stand numb in front of them, too shaken to even function properly. 

"So," said Christina, rubbing her hands together, her voice laced with excitement, "I'm sure you know this game very well, Dalia. To refresh your childhood memories, it's called Hide and Seek." 

My knees gave way and I slipped to the floor. 

She continued anyway. "Since you tried to escape, this game is fitting for us to play. The rules are simple. We’ll give you a one-minute lead to go and hide anywhere in this house. Then we come and seek you. We will have ten minutes to find you. If we find you before the ten minutes are up, then we win. If not, you win." 

"And if we win, you get another punishment. If you win, then you won't be punished. Of course, we aren't talking about your punishment for trying to escape. That will be there no matter if you win or lose. It's not related to the game," Ace added. 

I swallowed the lump in my throat, the tears refusing to stop. 

Please Lord, save me. Please save me from this hell. 

"Do you understand the rules?" asked Christina. "There's no need to mention that you can't go near the front and back doors, is there? They're out of bounds. Even if you are thinking of rebelling and trying to escape again under the pretext of this game, then I'll save you the trouble and inform you that we have guards employed all around the house. It's useless to try." 

"So shall we start now?" asked Ace. 

They were waiting for my answer. 

"Please don't do this to me," I said, "please don't." 

"No time for nonsense, darling," said Ace, smiling, "Say yes or no." 

I sniffed once and cleared my throat. "Do I have an option?" 

Christina grinned. "Your one minute starts now. We are closing our eyes." 

"Start the timer," she said. 

From somewhere behind her, the maid appeared. 

The one minute had started. 

I scrambled up to my feet and looked around. The ground floor was not ideal for hiding. I would be too close to them, and they could easily find me before the ten minutes were up. 

Bracing myself, I rushed upstairs. 

I had never been to the first floor before, and everything was new to me. 

All the lights were off. I did not need to ask to know that playing this sick game in the dark was another power trick that the deranged couple was using. 

I could make out three doors. 

Twenty seconds remained. I was counting each one. 

I headed into the middle room. It had some basic furnishing and an attached bathroom. 

Wiping away my tears, I scanned the room more thoroughly. I had to find a good spot. The bathroom was too easy a target. 

My eyes fell on the wardrobe. It was big enough for me to fit in. 

I hastily opened it and found that it had a few linens and was empty apart from that. 

With the last few seconds, I crouched down and fit myself into the bottom compartment. Then I softly pulled the doors closed. 

My one minute was up and their ten minutes had now started. 

I counted each second and wiped away my tears. 

"Dalia, where are you?" Ace asked in a singsong voice. 

He was downstairs but his words gave me chills even in this closed wardrobe upstairs. 

"This is so much fun!" Christina laughed. 

She was still downstairs as well. 

"While you are hiding, why don't you try guessing what the punishment for losing is going to be, Dalia? I'm sure it'll be easier to pass the time with a preoccupied mind," said Ace. 

My heart was hammering. I feared that it would give away my location. 

One minute had passed. Nine more to go. 

Please keep wasting time. Please don't find me. Please don't find me. 

"Are you in the washroom? Or are you under the bed?" asked Ace again in the same singsong voice. 

"Maybe under the bed or maybe in the kitchen?" Christina joined him in the same terrible tune. 

Another minute passed. 

I heard doors opening and closing. A few of them sounded like the wardrobe doors. They were checking those too. 

My stomach dropped even more if that was even possible. 

I hugged my knees and prayed. 

"She's not in the kitchen," said Ace. "What about the bedrooms?" 

"Not there," said Christina. "Why don't you check upstairs?" 

I was shaking uncontrollably now. 

Five more minutes to go. 

The sound of the footsteps coming upstairs made me lose all hope. They were too fast. 

"If I was hiding, then I would choose the last room since it's the farthest away. So, let's begin with that one," said Ace. 

"Good luck," Christina called out to him from downstairs.

I heard Ace moving around in the next room. He was whistling.

Doors opened and shut. A few disappointments were expressed. 

"Dalia, darling, we don't think the same way I guess," said Ace, coming out of the room. 

I could hear him clearly. He was right outside the room I was hiding in. 

"You didn't choose the last one, so maybe you chose the first? Cause you were in a hurry?" he wondered out loud. 

I heard him go into the next room. 

Three minutes to go. 

The same sounds repeated again. 

Two minutes to go. 

"She's not in here as well," Ace shouted. "Dang it!" 

"Check the middle room," said Christina. 

My heart stopped beating when I heard footsteps coming into the room. 

"Darling, are you in here?" he asked, whistling. 

"Peek-a-boo, I see you!" he said, "not under the bed, huh? Where else could you be?"

I heard him check the bathroom and then dejectedly banging the door shut. 

The last minute. 

"Dalia," he said, "I'm going to find you soon." 

The sound of footsteps grew closer. He was coming towards the wardrobe. 

Thirty seconds to go. 

Please don't find me. Please don't find me. 

"Are you in here, darling?" 

He was so close. He was going to open the doors any second now.

Twenty seconds to go. 

Please Lord, please Lord.

My heart was in my mouth, and I forgot how to breathe for a few seconds. 

The doors swung open. 

"Peek-a-boo, I found you." He smiled down at me. 

Five seconds left. But they were of no use now. My doom was here.