I sat on my bed and scrolled through Dad’s channel, seeing if I could learn anything else about One-Man Hide and Seek. I returned home a few minutes ago and found him still passed out on the couch. Therefore, I took his iPad.

The doll sat beside me on my nightstand. It hadn’t moved since the ritual. Did I do something wrong? I thought I had followed every step of One-Man Hide and Seek. I didn’t believe in the paranormal, but at the same time, I did. There was definitely something strange about Brenda’s house.

I yawned an hour into my research and shut my eyes, opening them again. It was getting late. I turned off Dad’s iPad and began setting it on the nightstand, but my eyes widened. Where was the dog? The dog was no longer there. “What the—?” I asked.

I searched my room but didn’t see anything. Please tell me I was seeing things. Brenda couldn’t have been alive.

My heart pounded, and I reached for it, remembering the game. “I need to find that doll.” Where would I start, though? How on Earth did a doll come to life?

A loud snore came from the living room. I took my covers with me, rolling off the bed, and tossed them over my head, only to go eye-to-eye with the doll under my bed. “Yikes!” I shouted, throwing my covers into it. No, that thing did not move! I must’ve knocked it over.

I tucked Dad’s iPad under my arm and hustled out of my room, shutting the door. It was nearly 3:00. I entered the living room and approached Dad, tapping his shoulder.

He snorted and rolled over, pulling his blanket over his head.

Hello, Dad, you were the one who started this One-Man Hide and Seek thing. I tapped him again, but he still didn’t move. When I turned around, my room’s door was cracked open, and the dog sat in the crack.

This just got better and better. “Oh gosh!” I yelled, earning myself another snort from Dad. I couldn’t believe the ritual worked.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Did I want to pick up the doll or leave it be? I mean—it was blocking the entrance to my room.

I think I’m good out here.

I grabbed an extra blanket from the living room and entered the dining room beside the kitchen. I crawled onto the long, wooden table and spread my blanket out. No creepy dog could get me up there, I hoped.

I lay down and shut my eyes, attempting to fall asleep. I don’t know how, but before I knew it, I heard Dad:

“Riley, don’t tell me you slept there all night.”

“Ah!” I yelled, sitting. I ended up head-butting Dad, who tumbled backward and gripped his forehead.

“Ouch! Wow, I think your head’s harder than mine.”

“It was the doll!” I said, swinging my legs off the table’s edge. “It took over my room. I had no choice.”

Dad giggled. “What doll? Aren’t you a little old to worry about things like that?”

“Maybe, but—” I shook my head. Dad didn’t have to know what I did overnight.

He chuckled again. “I’ll never understand you, son. Anyway, I have some work I have to do, so try not to disturb me.”

“Are you sure you’re not too hungover?” I whispered.

Dad’s smile vanished, and he glared at me.

“Hee, hee,” I added.

“Just leave me be,” Dad continued. “We will return to Brenda’s house tonight, so prepare yourself.”

Shit. What would happen if he learned Brenda wasn’t there?

I needed something to distract myself, so I journeyed to the attic after breakfast and turned on the Christmas lights for decoration.

While Dad had issues he was working through, he remained the most organized person I knew. He had neatly stacked the boxes and labeled them so I could have a hang-out room in the attic. I had a bookshelf, a table, and a small TV with a VHS and DVD player.

I found a box of Mom’s things and dragged it onto the rug before the TV. Opening it, I went through her things and smiled to myself. I never knew my mother, but that didn’t mean I didn’t miss her. Dad took up drinking after she vanished. I tried telling him that wasn’t the best way to grieve, but he didn’t listen. It was strange what grief did to people. Some recovered from it, but others didn’t. Dad told me that he and Mom struggled to have me, but they didn’t give up because they loved each other too much.

I pulled a treasure chest out of the box and studied it. I had been trying to pick its lock for weeks, to no avail. My instincts told me something was in it, but what? I set it on the coffee table before the TV and sat in the cloth chair behind it. From there, I shook the chest a few times and heard the same sound of something sliding in it. I would figure out what it was if it killed me, but hopefully not. The last thing my mysterious town needed was another unusual death.