Page 149 of Hide And Seek

“Please!” my own voice cried from somewhere outside. “Somebody help me!”

The camera kept moving. Every so often the feed would shake slightly as Rhys ducked beneath branches or changed direction, but otherwise his movements were unnervingly controlled.

Soon, he was standing behind a thick tree only a few yards from the assembly hall, giving him a perfect view of the main doors.

“Help!” my voice screamed. “Anyone!”

The camera tilted slightly as Rhys peered around the tree again, and I caught sight of at least a dozen figures pouring down the wooden steps of the hall in confusion, flashlight beams jerking wildly across the campgrounds.

“What the fuck was that?”

“It was Alissa!”

“I heard Grace too!”

“I knew it! He didn’t get all of them last night!”

Another scream echoed from somewhere closer to the lake. It was Sutton’s voice this time. “Someone help! Please! I can’t move!”

Chaos instantly broke out among the main group. Everyone started shouting over one another.

“Did that come from the lake?”

“No, don’t run off! We can’t split up!”

“They sound hurt! Or trapped! We have to help!”

Rhys stayed perfectly still in the shadows while panic spread through the group. Through the microphone, I could hear his slow, steady breathing.

Then my voice rang out again. “I’m here!”

Half the group whipped toward the sound instinctively.

“It came from over there!”

“No it didn’t! It was near the woods!”

A second later, Grace’s voice erupted from somewhere near the cabins. “Help me! I can’t walk!”

The crowd fractured immediately, and small groups of three or four began peeling away from the assembly hall despite others yelling not to separate. Fear and adrenaline were overriding common sense.

It was horrifyingly effective.

Rhys moved again, slipping silently between trees and buildings while people rushed past only yards away from him. At one point Jasmine hurried directly across the camera’s field of view with Jesse, Wren, and Tamsin behind her, flashlight clutched tightly in trembling hands.

“Alissa!” she shouted into the darkness. “Where are you?”

Rhys was standing less than ten feet away from her behind the side wall of a cabin, but she never saw him. None of them did.

Another recording suddenly played from somewhere near the trails.

“He’s coming this way!” my voice screamed. “Don’t let him take me! Please!”

Jasmine’s group immediately changed direction and ran toward it.

A quiet laugh escaped Rhys. He was guiding everyone. Herding them all around Blackpine exactly where he wanted them while staying completely invisible in the confusion.

The frantic screams kept shifting.