Only a game

**“Alright, rules are simple,” said Troy, the jock, tossing the flashlight from one hand to the other. “Manhunt rules. One seeker, five hiders. No leaving the park. You get found, you help find the others. Everyone clear?”**

**“Do we ****_have_**** to play this?” Emily asked quietly, pushing her glasses up nervously. She tugged at her sweatshirt sleeve, glancing at the dark trees that loomed over the edge of the small playground.**

**“Oh my God, Emily,” groaned Matt, rolling his eyes. He leaned on the old swing set, his leather jacket creaking as he shifted. “It’s a game, not a death sentence. Don’t be such a—”**

**“Matt,” Casey interrupted sharply. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder, giving him a withering look. “Be nice for once.”**

**“Guys, shut up,” Becca said, stepping into the center of the group. She cracked her knuckles with a grin. “I’m counting first. You’ve got thirty seconds. Better hide fast.”**

**“Go, go, go!” Troy yelled, shoving Matt toward the trees. The group scattered, their laughter and footsteps fading into the shadows.**

**Watching **

**The man leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing, his expression blank as he watched them disperse.**

**He didn’t belong here, and he knew it. But no one had stopped him when he’d drifted into the park hours earlier, his plain clothes and nondescript appearance making him invisible.**

**Six of them. Teenagers, too wrapped up in their own world to notice him lurking just beyond the streetlights.**

**He smiled faintly. They wouldn’t notice until it was too late.**

**His gaze landed on the quiet one—the girl with glasses who hesitated as she ran, glancing over her shoulder.**

**She’d be easy.**

**3. Let the games begin **

**Emily ducked behind a thick patch of bushes, her breath shallow. “Why did I even agree to this?” she muttered under her breath. She crouched low, checking her phone: no signal.**

**Nearby, branches snapped. Emily froze.**

**“Found you!” Becca’s voice rang out, and Emily exhaled in relief as Matt cursed loudly in response.**

**“Goddammit,” Matt barked. “This game sucks.”**

**“Don’t be a sore loser,” Becca teased, shoving his shoulder. “Let’s find the others.”**

**Further into the woods, Troy whispered into the darkness, “Sam? Casey? I know you’re out here.”**

**But Emily wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. She felt it—the prickling sensation of being watched. She turned her head slowly, scanning the shadows.**

**Nothing.**

Alone

**The man stayed silent, his breath steady as he shifted through the undergrowth. He’d been careful, keeping to the edge of the game, watching the others get found one by one.**

**But the girl—Emily—had wandered farther than the rest.**

**She was alone now.**

**He adjusted the strap of the worn canvas bag slung over his shoulder and stepped lightly over a fallen branch. She hadn’t seen him yet, but she would soon.**

**It didn’t matter.**

Lost

**Casey groaned as she plopped onto a log in the clearing. “Emily takes forever. It’s like she doesn’t even want to play.”**

**“She’s probably just hiding too well,” Troy said, spinning the flashlight beam in lazy circles on the ground.**

**“Or she got lost,” Sam offered nervously, his hands shoved deep into his hoodie pockets.**

**“Maybe she realized how dumb this was and went home,” Matt sneered.**

**“Why do you always have to be such an ass?” Troy snapped, stepping closer.**

**“You son of a bitch…I stomp yoh right here” Matt shot back, shoving Troy in the chest.**

**“Guys, stop it!” Casey yelled. “This isn’t helping.”**

_Emily_

**Emily crouched behind a fallen tree, hugging her knees to her chest. The forest was quieter now, the voices of her friends distant echoes.**

**She strained to listen, but all she could hear was the faint rustle of leaves in the wind.**

**“Emily.”**

**Her head snapped up at the sound of her name, spoken softly.**

**“Who’s there?” she whispered, her voice trembling.**

**“Emily.” The voice was closer now.**

**She scrambled to her feet, heart pounding, but she didn’t see him until it was too late.**

**The man stepped out of the shadows, his face devoid of expression. He grabbed her arm with an iron grip, and when she screamed, it was muffled by his hand.**

**The Clearing**

**“Where is she?” Becca asked, pacing back and forth.**

**“She’s probably messing with us,” Matt said, but his voice lacked confidence.**

**“She would’ve texted,” Casey murmured, holding up her phone. “She hasn’t answered any of my messages.”**

**“Guys!” Sam called out, his voice breaking. “Over here!”**

**The group rushed to him. He stood in a small clearing, holding up a phone.**

**Emily’s phone.**

**It lay abandoned in the grass, its screen cracked, a faint smear of dirt across the case.**

**Troy’s stomach sank. “Something’s wrong,” he muttered.**

**“What do we do?” Casey whispered, her voice shaking as tears welled in her eyes.**

**For once, Matt didn’t have a sarcastic reply. He just stared at the phone in Sam’s hand, his expression unreadable.**

Walked

**The night dragged on, and the group sat in a tight circle near the park’s entrance, waiting for the police.**

**“We should’ve stopped the game,” Sam said quietly, his voice thick with guilt.**

**“Don’t,” Casey whispered, wiping her eyes.**

**“No,” he insisted. “We should’ve—”**

**A sharp crack in the woods made them all jump, but it was only a branch falling in the wind.**

**The sun began to rise, painting the trees in soft gold and orange, but the warmth didn’t reach them.**

**Somewhere, deep in the forest, the man walked unnoticed, blending into the quiet dawn. Emily’s fate was left to the shadows, where no one would ever find her.**

**And her friends would never stop wondering what had gone wrong.**