(Warning: violence/action)

He sprinted through the corridors. Dang it. He was no student athlete, in fact, quite the contrary. His stamina was running out in the first two minutes.

But despite the loud pounding of blood in his ears, and the agonising pain in his legs, he kept running.

He had to.

There was a monster in the radius.

A humanised, metaphorical beast.

-

After several minutes of desperate sprinting, he had to stop for a breath, almost collapsing against the wall.

He looked down the corridor, trying to detect any movement, but the thundering heartbeat in his ears and his blurred vision without his glasses made things significantly more difficult.

He tried to conceal his ragged breathing as best as he could, as to not produce much noise, but it was a struggle. How could you breathe discreetly after running for so long, in a silent corridor in the night?

To his absolute horror, he heard a sound.

Not from him.

But from the hallway.

He edged away, as if trying to dissolve into a wall, wishing he would be absorbed into hiding.

But that didn’t happen.

He was about to start running again, and considered taking off his squeaky trainers and socks and running barefoot to try to reduce noise.

As he was considering all this, he heard a noise again. Closer.

No. No.

She couldn’t have caught up to him so quickly.

She was so far away.

In a state of frenzy, he bolted.

He ran the opposite direction, not caring about the loud and evident echoes his shoes left trailing down the corridor.

He just had to run.

Footsteps followed him.

He barely had time to register any surprise. He just had to go.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

They neared him.

He was going to lose.

“No, no, no,” he thought to himself. “Please, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to—“

A hand grabbed his arm. Cold, brutal, and painfully.

He suppressed a scream.

“Idiot,” the voice hissed into his ear, pulling him back so forcefully he almost fell over.

Wait. He knew that voice.

“You’re being so loud, do you want to get caught?!” The voice continued, their anger evident despite their whispering.

He spun around to face the boy, immediately sighing in relief upon seeing his face.

“Oh my word. You’re alive.” He said, relieved.

“Of course I am,” the newcomer replied. “You underestimate me.”

He hugged the newcomer tightly, still shaking from fear and exhaustion.

“Man, I’m so glad,” he exhaled.

“Me… too. Me too,” the newcomer sighed quietly. “You’re the closest thing to a friend for me. Would’ve hated to lose you.”

“Thanks…?” Replied the other, almost laughing from the hysterical situation.

“We have to get out of here,” the newcomer suddenly said, pulling away. “This game of hide and seek will kill us both.”

“Glad we’ve both established that,” said the other, bitterly. “She has a gun, didn’t you see? Loaded.”

“All the more reason to get out of here. See that window? Yeah, no, I know, we’re on the third floor, don’t look at me like that, but this is our only hope.”

The other glared sceptically.

“We should climb down, not jump,” the newcomer added. “Just to clarify.”

“And what if we slip?” The boy said, though approaching the window.

“Then, we slip. Got any better ideas?”

“… No.”

“Okay then, I’m going first,” said the newcomer, barely hesitating to throw himself round the open window and gripping to the outer walls.

The boy looked on in horror at his friend, who had started scaling down the wall from the pipes and ridges.

“Are you just going to stay there and spectate?” The newcomer called out, nearing the second floor.

“N- no…”

The boy quickly climbed out the window too, being hit by the fresh night air. Carefully and quietly, he closed the window to attempt to conceal their tracks.

The newcomer swiftly jumped to the ground outside, waiting for the boy. He landed with a thud next to him, on the soil.

“See? Wasn’t so bad.” Grinned the newcomer.

“Now, let’s get out of here—“

BANG.

A gunshot.

A nearby one, too.

The boys froze.

“Hide.” Called out a chilling voice. “And seek.”

“I seek, you hide.”

The voice continued, “I had told you the rules. They were simple. Stay inside the building.”

…

“And where are you now?

Outside.

You’re outside. You broke the rules.”

BANG.

“And now, I’ve found you.”

BANG.

Running. Again.

The boys were running.

Where? Neither of them knew.

They just had to go somewhere.

Anywhere away from that maniac.

…

THUD.

The boy collapsed.

The newcomer grabbed him by the arm to drag him up, but…

-

-

-

Gasp.

He woke up suddenly, alarmed and confused.

He looked around, finding himself back in his usual bedroom, in his comfortable bed.

“What?”

Was that all a dream?

No, it felt too real.

A premonition?

But the sound were so—

BANG.

“Gotcha.”