Page 8 of Stop and Seek (Our Childish Games #1)

Holy shit. What the fuck just happened?

Theo’s shoes caught a jagged stone as he skidded around the corner, rubber scraping against pavement.

He nearly faceplanted. Legs wobbling. Ankles screaming.

No time.

Push forward.

No one said this stupid-ass game would be dangerous.

His mind was still reeling—adrenaline tearing through his bloodstream like battery acid.

Every nerve ending buzzed.

The sting on his chest pulsed hard, matching the frantic rhythm of his heart. Blood had soaked through the front of his hoodie, tacky and hot.

He hadn’t even noticed it before.

Now? It fucking burned .

Noah ruined his goddamn hoodie.

Theo slammed both hands against the cold chain-link fence, wheezing. The metal rattled under his weight, clinking in that shrill, cheap way fences do when they’re about to fall apart.

Maybe he was out of the limits Decker set, but—

Screw it.

Jumping the fence was a clean exit.

Wham. Bam. Done.

But the school backed up into the woods…

The stories were stupid. Seriously. The kind of shit meant to keep kids in line—like the freaky disappearances no one talked about, but everyone remembered.

Urban legend or not, the monster in the woods was still terrifying as an adult.

He didn’t want to chance it.

Not tonight.

Not when he was already a ball of nerves.

Theo dropped onto the grass with a groan, lungs burning, ribs aching like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them.

He pressed a trembling hand over his chest, heartbeat skittering under his palm.

Slow it down. In. Out. Count to four or whatever the hell his last therapist told him .

Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Don’t—

“Asshole,” he muttered, breath fogging up his glasses until all he could see was a smeared blur of green, blue, and black. Everything around him had melted into a watercolor mess.

Glasses weren’t helping shit.

Yanking them off, he wiped the lenses against his sleeve .

Twenty-five thousand dollars.

He had to keep repeating it like a goddamn mantra. Or prayer.

Because if he didn’t, he was going to run straight into the woods and scream until something ate him.

Next time? Find a better hiding spot .

The bleachers sounded like a terrific idea. No one was around when he nestled into his quiet little corner. He’d even started keeping time, counting the seconds… everything had been going so damn well until Noah showed up and—

Theo shook his head so hard that something snapped in his neck.

Nope.

Not going down that route again.

He’d wrestled the panic into a dull buzz instead of the alarm it had been. It was progress. Shitty, temporary progress. But still.

Decker’s voice sounded over the PA system.

“That’s time, kiddos!”

Theo smeared the sweat down his face and slid his glasses back on.

Hitting the power on his phone, he grabbed the fence to help him stand.

When the screen finally blinked back to life—bright and blinding as shit—the time didn’t register.

11:35p.m.

Only fifteen minutes had passed.

The longest fifteen minutes of his entire life .

Twenty-five thousand.

He had to keep playing.

Two more days and this whole shitshow would be worth it.

Every second of terror. The heat. The people—it would all pay off.

But what he really wanted was a bottle of vodka, and something stronger to shut off the part of his brain still screaming.

“Did we all have fun?” Decker asked.

God, Theo could have slapped that shit-eating grin off his face.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets, shoulders curled up to his ears.

Everyone had gathered in the parking lot, people talking over each other. Their voices melted into one long, high-pitched drone, like bees buzzing inside his skull.

Ethan and Rachel were nowhere when Theo scanned the crowd. Maybe they’d left early—probably for the best, especially for poor Ethan. The guy looked like he was ready to drop dead the last time Theo saw him.

Alyssa, though. She was still there. And she owed him. Big time.

Decker’s voice droned on. “I did say a couple of practice rounds, but your principal has an actual job to do.”

Someone next to Theo let out a heavy sigh.

“I know, I know,” Decker continued. “It sucks. Adulting isn’t the greatest.”

God, shut up.

Theo tuned him out. His attention was still on the crowd, eyes darting from one person to the next.

Where the hell is she ?

Alyssa stood out like some crazy, flashing neon sign—giant-ass pigtails, towering platforms. No one dressed like her.

Cringe mall goth, I swear to shit —

Then, he spotted her.

Huddled on the hood of someone’s car with one of the Sterling twins. Maxine? Miriam? He didn’t care enough to remember.

Alyssa leaned in and the twin laughed so hard she almost dropped her cigarette.

Theo beelined toward them. He uncurled his fists and slammed both hands on the side of the car.

“ Alyssa ,” he hissed.

“Oh my god, babe!” Alyssa swung her legs off the hood, eyes huge as she smoothed down her skirt. “Did you get caught?”

“No—not—who cares? I—”

She cut him off, twirling her hair around her finger. “So, like, I did. It was such a meet-cute though!”

“You screamed,” the Sterling twin said, voice deeper than Theo thought it would be. Husky and disinterested. “Less cute, more horror movie.”

Alyssa giggled and knocked her shoulder against the other girls. “Alright, fine . You screamed too, though.”

Holy shit , Theo was going to strangle both of them.

He grabbed Alyssa’s leg and yanked her closer, bracketing his hands on either side of her so she couldn’t move.

“ You promised ,” he growled, teeth clenched so tight he thought they’d crack. “This has been the worst night , and you got shit for me.”

“Ooh, forceful. Kinda hot,” the Sterling girl said.

Theo’s eye twitched, his gaze locked on Alyssa’s drippy makeup. Mascara clumped at the corners. A smear of purple lipstick near her chin.

If he looked at whichever blonde twin it was, he’d lose it—completely. That terrible, urgent keening in his ears was starting again, his chest too tight.

“Chill,” Alyssa whispered. She tilted her head toward the car.

Theo flexed his fingers until he could feel them again.

“I don’t need to chill . I need to get the hell out of here.”

“Fine, fine, jeez. Let me up.” Alyssa rolled her eyes. Smiled at the blonde. “He’s like, my totes OP gay boyfriend. He’s a riot, right?”

“Alyssa, what the fuck ?”

“ Yeah ,” the twin muttered, dry and sarcastic. “Total gag.”

Alyssa tapped Theo’s shoulder, and he stepped back.

Weaving through the parking lot, she was still talking.

“You’re being super weird. You suck with people. So what? We all do.”

Theo ran his hands over his face, fingers dragging hard. He kept pushing against his eyeballs until his vision blistered white and black—then red—then the pain came. Dull. Blunt. Enough to keep it all inside for a while longer.

“I really hate it here.” His voice came out flat, dead. He’d said it so many times, it didn’t mean anything anymore.

“Okay, and?” Alyssa stopped at her beat-to-hell red car, tugging at the rusted handle until it gave in with a groan. “Leave.”

“I can’t . Think about it. What would that kind of money do to your life? ”

“So fix the attitude, Theo,” she said, her voice muffled as she leaned halfway into the car, practically swallowed by a mound of crushed fast food bags and half-drunk sodas.

The interior smelled like ketchup packets and fruity perfume.

“Max is nice, like big-time nice. Plus she is mega hot and loaded. If you blow my chance with her—” She popped back up, cheeks flushed, and shoved a baggie against his chest. “—I will end you.”

“Max—Maxine?”

How many times would someone remind him of her name before he remembered it?

“Yeah, Max. I think she’ll bitch slap you if you call her Maxine, though.”

Alyssa tucked her leg against the steering wheel. “It kinda goes with the whole, tomboy-aristocrat thing she’s got going for her. Man, she is dreamy .”

Honestly? Theo hadn’t noticed anything except for her voice and the ridiculous amount of gold jewelry she wore. He’d been too preoccupied with more important shit.

Like breathing .

“Dreamy , huh?” he muttered, glancing over his shoulder to where Max was gesturing at Decker.

There was no way in hell.

Decker was a coked-up lab rat in a crop-top.

Noah was fucking nuts —plain and simple.

The chances of Max being a decent human being? Slim to none.

“I’m telling you, she’s the whole package.

Oh!” Alyssa slapped his knee and he looked back at the too-bright grin on her face.

“She’s got like, a yacht? Or something. Like, girl, what ?

She was going on and on about these nude beaches she goes to in frickin’ Greece .

Greece, Theo. She like, hops on a plane and goes to Europe on a Tuesday. What ?”

Theo shoved the baggie deep in the hoodie pocket, pressing it flat against his ribs like he could absorb the drugs through osmosis. He held up two fingers. “I swear, I won’t have a meltdown in front of Ms. Perfect.”

“You better be serious, Sir Asshole.”

Alyssa adjusted her fishnets as she got out of the car. Then her pigtails. Primping in the cracked side mirror.

“Go get, like, totally fucked up. But do not drive on that. Go home, then take them.”

“You want cash?” he asked.

She fixed her lipstick and gave Theo one more look.

“Nope.” She popped her lips. “Not tonight. You get a freebie because I’m—obviously—the nicest person on the planet.”

Theo settled into his car, sinking into the worn seat. The cracked vinyl stuck to the backs of his thighs through his jeans. He cranked the seat back until it clicked, head tilted enough to stare up at the sagging fabric overhead.

The stuff was peeling away from the ceiling in clumps, glue dried out and brittle. What the hell did Ethan call it?

A head… board?

No .

A headliner?

Yeah, that was it.

Ethan was probably curled up in bed with Carrie, talking about mundane, daily life shit.

Rachel would be cozied up with a mug of tea, her giant dog Brownie, and a marathon of soap operas.