Page 41 of Hide and Seek

When I get to my desk, one of my Rubik's Cubes catches my eye. It’s a shadow cube, and what makes it different is that each of the individual blocks has a black, heat-activated coating on it, so the cube looks completely black until you warm it up and reveal the colored squares underneath.

I always leave that cube unsolved and use it as a sort of fidget spinner because the black coating covers up the mismatched colors, and it doesn’t set off my “must solve this” instinct like my other cubes do. I also always keep it in the same place on the left side of my computer between my speaker and mouse pad when I’m not using it, and I know it was in its proper place before I left for the break.

The cube is still on the left side of my computer, but now it’s next to the statue of one of my assassin characters from a game we used to play that Echo had made for my birthday last year.

Hesitantly, I pick up the cube and cup my hands over as much of the surface area as I can.

I’m being paranoid. There’s no way this is anything more than one of the cleaners not putting it back in the same place after they wiped down my desk.

After twenty seconds, I open my hands and look at the cube. Only about three-quarters of the cube is visible under the black coating, but all the squares I can see are in the correct place.

“No way,” I say to myself and blow on the cube, using my breath to activate the squares that are still black. “Holy shit,” I mutter when all the squares are revealed.

It’s been solved.

I know that solving a Rubik’s Cube isn’t some crazy rare ability, but it’s not a common one. And it’s not something that someone would do, especially with a shadow cube, unless they were trying to send a message.

My heart is racing in my chest as I put the cube down on my desk and try to make sense of any of what’s going on.

Someone was in my room who shouldn’t have been, and they deliberately left clues behind so I’d know they were here. Why did they choose those three things to change, though?

Of all the stuff in my room, they moved a chess piece, changed the hands on my clock puzzle, and solved and moved one of my Rubik’s Cubes.

It had to be him. There’s no one else who could have done this.

Is this his way of saying he wants to play more games?

Heat pools in my belly, and my dick perks up as that familiar sensation of having eyes on me intensifies.

Is he watching me right now?

Without thinking too hard about what I’m doing, I go back over to my dresser and pull my curtains open. This time, when I look outside, I search the branches in front of my room for any sign of him. There’s nothing, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t out there.

Before I can change my mind, I rush back over to my desk and grab my notebook and a black marker. When I’m back infront of my window, I quickly write out a message, then press it against the glass.

It’s dark out, and I have no idea if he’ll even be able to see my message, but it’s worth a try.

Are you out there?

There’s no flash of light, but one of the branches in front of me shakes gently and rustles the leaves.

Was that him, or the wind?

Chewing on my lip, I flip the page of my notebook and scribble out another question.

Was that you?

The branch wiggles, and the leaves flutter and shake in a way that wouldn’t happen if it was just the wind.

The rush of excitement that moves through me is so strong it takes my breath away, and I have to bite back my grin as I lower my notebook and write out my next message. Before I show it to him, I pick up the pawn that was moved, then hold it up, then put it back on the board in the same place I found it as I press my next question to the glass.

Did you do this?

The branch shakes.

That doesn’t freak me out nearly as much as it should, and I scribble out a new message. This time, before I show it to him, I push one of the black pawns forward two spaces in a counter move.

Is this what you want? To play a game?