Hide and Seek

After hearing the voice call out, Mia immediately panicked, whispering in an anxious voice.

"Turn off the lamp!"

Jessica was a bit stunned by Mia's reaction, but seemed to understand why rather quickly.

"Jack! What are you doing?"

In response, Jack only looked between the two of them with confusion.

"What are you guys talking about? There are other people up ahead, we should go greet them!"

And with that, Jack began running towards the torch in the distance without a care in the world. Well, at least now Jessica and Mia didn't have to worry about being seen, because the person with the lantern left.

Jessica called out with anxiety.

"Come back here Jack!"

Unfortunately, he did not listen. Once he got close and got a better look, he saw a group of three people.

One of them had black dreadlocks and was quite muscular while still lean. He clearly wasn't afraid to show it, as his shirt was off. Another one was a gruff middle-aged man that was quite tall and large. He had orange hair and a thick beard. The last one was a tad bit out of place, instead a blonde woman wearing makeup and a slim figure. Though there was a strong disdain coming from her gaze, making Mia look like a child.

Unintimidated by them, Jack waved his hand in excitement.

"Hello! I'm Jack!"

The two men looked back at the woman, who clicked her tongue.

"Catch him."

Immediately afterwards, the two lunged at him, but Jack promptly backed off just barely getting away, their fingers brushing past his shirt. Even at this point, there was still a bright smile on his face.

"Ah! You want to play tag? How sneaky, you tried to get me before I even knew! Hehe, but too bad for you, I've learned from my Dad to always be ready!"

Both men didn't respond, instead lunging forth once more. As for Jack, He dropped the lamp, letting it clank onto the floor before running away.

"I've never played tag in such a big area before! This is so exciting!"

He himself wasn't very fast, while the same didn't apply to those that were chasing him. However, Jack was slippery enough to get away initially, and it became much harder to chase him in the dark.

The man with dreadlocks carried the torch and rushed after him, but the torch really wasn't able to light up much. Instead, he relied on sound to go after Jack. However, he always seemed to be one step behind.

Jack already knew that he was probably using sound to track him, so he would purposely pretend to be going one way before turning around to go another. The only concern was hitting some stalagmites as he ran around, but it wasn't a big issue to him.

Jack was someone that lived in a dim cave for most of his life. The lamp itself wasn't actually on for most of his waking moments either. It would be too far to call him nocturnal, but seeing in fairly dark areas was pretty easy for him.

Although it was now dark, Mia had gotten hold of Jessica, so they knew where they both were. With exasperation, Mia whispered while Jack was being chased around.

"What the fuck is wrong with that kid? The hell is he doing?"

Jessica's lip twitched.

"He... is traumatized by the things he saw, and rationalizes everything as a fun game."

Mia sucked in a cold breath.

"Damn. This isn't good. We have to go back."

Jessica replied right after.

"What about Jack?"

Mia cursed under her breath.

"Can't you tell? It's already too damn late! We got to go!"

The middle-aged man had picked up the lamp Jack set down with the intent of searching for him as well. But before that,

"You catch the others."

The woman spoke up, pointing in the direction that Jessica and Mia were. With that, he shifted goals and began barreling in that direction. Mia began trying to drag Jessica away, and she didn't fight back given the immediate threat.

However, as the two of them ran they very quickly realized a problem.

They had been walking without a break for too long. Although they still had enough in them to walk for a while more, they definitely wouldn't be able to run for long. As for the middle-aged man, stamina definitely wasn't a problem for him.

To this, Mia clicked her tongue and turned around, giving up on running altogether.

"Looks like it's come to this.

As for Jessica, she also stopped a little after but was at a bit of a loss. When Mia got into the light of the lantern, she promptly pulled out a utility knife from somewhere in her belt. She brandished it proudly and had a smile on her face.

"This little thing here was basically sponsored by you, Jessica. Let me show you that I'll put it to good use."

The man was not intimidated, opting to rush straight for her. Mia's eyes widened and also lunged forth, aiming her knife toward the man's neck. Yet, before it had even gotten close, the man covered his neck with his other arm, intending on tanking the hit just to get a bit closer.

But this did not make her panic.

A glint flashed by Mia's eyes as she traced an arc with the knife.

"Gaaah!"

The man cried out in pain as his fingers were slashed. The cut was not enough to lop the fingers themselves off, but he ended up letting go of the lantern. Mia didn't waste a second as she grabbed the lamp before it touched the ground and stabbed a part of it with her knife.

It was a rather confusing action for the man, but he still didn't forget to reach out and grab with his uninjured hand. Though before he could grab on, Mia fell backward as she threw the lamp forth.

Oil spilled out from within, and as it did so, it caught onto the flame. In a matter of seconds, the oil lamp had transformed into a fireball. Once it hit the man, the oil splashed onto his body as he caught fire.

It rapidly spread through all of his clothes, prompting him to cry out in agony.

The middle-aged man immediately dropped to the ground, rolling from side to side to quench the flames. However, Mia didn't let this opportunity slip past her as she viciously stabbed him.

She didn't aim for anything as he was moving too fast, but regardless the injuries were forming on his body, and blood was flying in the air.

At the same time, Jack was still leading the man with dreadlocks all around the place. He was quite good at it, prompting the man to run much faster. However, that just led to him slamming into stalagmites that he couldn't stop himself in time for.

Sometimes he would even trip and fall flat on his face.

Bruises began forming on his body from the violent impacts, though it wasn't anything bad enough to actually hinder him. Still, it made him quite angry.

"Get back here you little shit!"

Jack let out a laugh as he ran away.

"You'll have to catch me first!"

The woman who was now standing in the middle of darkness was frustrated and made that known.

"What the hell's wrong with you guys? You're having trouble catching some girls and a literal child?"

Both men grit their teeth hard after hearing that, determined to push themselves even harder. Despite the fires not being fully quenched, the man stood up with a frown. The countless lacerations across his body were rather frightening, but not life-threatening.

Realizing this, an ugly expression formed on Mia's face.

On the other hand, the man brought out a knife of his own and shot forth.

"You brought this on yourself, missy!"

For a moment, fear flashed in Mia's eyes. Although she put on a tough exterior, that didn't mean she was really ready to be thrust into the laws of the jungle like this. Still, she dodged, letting the knife swish past her aggressively.

Though right after, the man grabbed onto her with his still bloody hand.

"You aren't going anywhere anymore!"

Mia panicked, while the man thrust the knife without mercy. Yet, before it struck he suddenly let out another cry of pain. His grip on Mia had loosened, while the thrust had lost his original fervor, just slow enough for someone to pull her back out of the way.

It was Jessica, with a razor blade between her fingers.

She used the fire that was still on the man as a light to just barely make out his wrist, got next to him, and slashed it, spilling quite a bit of blood. There was a determined expression on her face.

"Don't count me out just yet! I'm not completely helpless."

As for Jack, he let out a quiet giggle and muttered to himself.

"So many people want to play! But they won't catch me..."