It would’ve sucked quite a lot if your vacation got ruined, right? Bad weather? Strong waves? Or perhaps a cursed game would do the trick. I was at the beach, enjoying my vacation. The sun was shining down unnecessarily too bright, burning my skin. The waves, once inviting, now churned with a malevolent fury, their calm surface a deceitful trap. I floated in the water, its temperature spiking, leaving me drained and disoriented. Panic set in as the waves turned into a raging beast, their salty spray searing my throat. The waves washed me over to the other side of the shore, where I stumbled upon an abandoned hotel.
As I entered the hotel, I was greeted by an eerie atmosphere and the stench of decay. I heard voices coming from beneath the ground floor. I went downstairs and found two adorable children smiling at me. They asked me to play with them, but their words sent chills down my spine. There was something wrong with them, and I knew I had to get out of there. But then, I found myself back at the beach, floating on the water again. This time, people were swimming and smiling around me. It was just a bad dream! I thought, but then the waves started growling again, sending everyone to the other side of the shore, towards the same building. Everyone was taking shelter in the old hotel. A sound came from down below. It was exactly like in my dream. I realized it was actually a warning. I tried to warn one of the girls not to go down, but she didn’t listen. One by one, everyone followed her, and I was left with no choice but to follow them too. That’s when I saw the two girls again, demanding that we play a game of hide and seek. Except, this was no ordinary hide and seek, and those were no ordinary children. The game was cursed, and the children were spirits. Every player’s role was to hide and seek simultaneously. Seeking meant killing, and the winner would get out, alive. If anyone broke the rules, they would automatically get eliminated. Killed. The building was made up of ten floors. Both fear and adrenaline pulsed through my veins as I hid, observing the other players first. They were acting deranged, possessed, killing one another without a second thought. Five players were already dead. On the top floor, I found two more hiding, one in the shower and one under a bed. I knocked them out, knowing they’d turn on each other once they woke up anyway. I refused to kill anyone here.
As I navigated the hallways, two sisters with animalistic rage attacked me. One kicked me in the ribs, and the other body-slammed me to the floor. Reasoning with them didn’t work, and they were going to kill each other next, so I suggested they team up and escape together, confusing them about the rules. That was enough time for me to escape. They raged, chasing me again, but I dodged them, hiding in the ground-floor bathroom. Just when I broke the window, two players burst in, yelling at me to stop, that I was breaking the rules. I jumped out, smiling, knowing this was a test. I ran back to the hotel entrance, back to the start. I waited, but death didn’t befriend me, at least for now. A loop! With five players left alive, I searched for an alternative exit in a different room. A panicked and confused guy burst in, but instead of attacking me, he looked at me with desperation. I found a watch in the final drawer, and he told me to hide it before disappearing. As soon as I hid the watch, a woman entered, ready to attack me, demanding I hand it over. Then, I woke up…
© Sule Ersozoglu 2024-09-01