by Daka Hermon
I dodge her and run faster, fighting the heavy wind that pushes me back. Almost there. My friends are jumping up and down, waving me forward. Their support gives me an extra boost of energy.
“You’ll regret this,” a deep voice says.
With a running leap, I hit the tree. “Safe.”
Nia and Lyric pull me into a strong embrace.
The vultures hiss, lifting off from the roof. They dive low and attack Not-Mom. Their claws scratch at her face and arms as she waves them wildly over her head to protect herself.
“They eat the dead,” Nia whispers. I turn away, unable to watch.
Nowhere is crumbling, turning on itself.
The Seeker’s form grows taller and wider until it’s a giant pulsating blob. “You think it’s over now?” the creepy voice says. “That you’ve won?”
Duke glances at me. He starts to fade away. I catch my breath. What’s going to happen to him when he gets home? I realize I don’t know his last name, or where he’s from. I don’t know if he has brothers or sisters or anything about his family. I never asked and I’m sorry. He helped save us. He risked everything knowing what this would mean for him. I may not really know Duke, but I know he is my friend and I know what I need to say.
“Thank you.”
His eyes are bright. He glances around at the fading world around us, then turns back to me. “It’s finally over. Thank you.”
I blink and he’s gone.
“What’s happening?” Shae asks.
“We’re going home,” says Nia, her voice awed.
I hear a loud gasp. Mary holds up her hands and slowly vanishes.
“You’ll never be free,” the Seeker says, his angry voice echoing in my ears.
“You’ve lost,” says Lyric.
“This is just one game. There are many more.”
“What does that mean?” asks Nia.
The monster cackles. “You think I’m the only one?”
Shae disappears.
“This feels weird.” Carla vanishes.
“I have friends, too. And my friends have their own worlds, their own games with rules,” the Seeker says. “Where I failed, they’ll succeed.”
“Whoa,” says Quincy, then he’s gone.
“You’ll regret this day.”
Nia squeezes my hand and fades away.
“If you come for us again, we’ll be ready,” Lyric says as he disappears.
Only I remain.
“I am the Seeker. You can’t hide. I will find you. You’ll never be safe,” it says.
My head spins. More than one monster? I’m wearing a giant bull’s-eye. But all that matters is today I’m free. Today we’ve won.
I glance across the backyard. The birds fall to the ground with a horrifying shriek. Not-Mom is nothing but a pile of bones. The puzzle piece flutters to the ground beside her. The unfinished puzzle sits on the table.
The world around me fades in and out, flickering as if it’s short-circuiting. It could be my imagination, but in the distance, I think I hear kids cheering. They’re free. This place can no longer hold them. The heaviness that has weighed me down from the first moment I arrived disappears. My arm stings. I glance down and see the 399 change back into the swirly pattern on my skin. I’m no longer numbered.
“I’ll see you soon, Justin.” The Seeker’s form expands, then explodes.
I’m blinded by a bright light. I’m weightless, floating, and then there’s nothing.
I jolt awake, breathing heavily. My entire body is sore and my head pounds. I blink and look around. I’m lying on the floor in … in … I jerk up. I’m in my mom’s room. My fingers dig into the faded carpet. We did it. We made it home!
Wobbling, I climb to my feet and burst out of the room. “Victoria!” The house is silent. My gaze swings around, taking in everything at once. It’s the most wonderful place in the world. As I race to the front door, my eyes fall on the picture of my mom. I stop and walk toward it on shaky legs. For a moment, I’m hit with the memories of Not-Mom, but then something shifts in my chest. Love defeats the fear. All I feel is happiness. Happiness that I had my mom for eleven years. I have to treasure every moment, good and bad, and I know it’s time to let go, too.
“Justin!”
That’s Lyric. I fling open the front door and step outside into the blinding sunlight. Lyric and Nia race down the street toward me. Behind them are Shae, Carla, and Quincy.
We’re safe!
Zee is, too. We understand what he went through in Nowhere now. We can help him get better, help him come back to us.
I reach for the puzzle piece, then I remember it’s gone. That’s okay, though, because I have my friends and sister. They’re living, breathing pieces that fit together to form something cool and special.
My family.
Butch barks loudly and scratches at the front door. Hyde opens it and steps outside onto the porch. The dog races inside, whimpering. “What—”
A melody catches Hyde’s attention. Whistling. He glances down his driveway. A girl strolls toward the house. Her head bops left and right to the beat.
“This is private property,” Hyde yells as he steps forward, now standing at the top of the stairs. The girl continues forward, her long brown hair brushing against her shoulders.
“I said …” He falls silent as the girl stops close to the porch.
“Not happy to see me?” she asks.
“Do I know you?”
“You don’t recognize me?” She pouts. “I guess it has been a long time. Nine years.”
“Nine …” He sucks in a loud breath. “Mary?”
“Hi, Brother,” she says with a wicked smile. “I’ve been waiting for this day a long time. We have a lot of catching up to do.”
Hyde stumbles back. “I … What are—”
“You like games, right?” She marches up the porch steps. “Let’s play.”
Thank you to my family and friends for the prayers, support, and encouragement. Please know I appreciate you all.
Thank you to my awesome agent, Emily Keyes from Fuse Literary, who believed in this story and decided to take the journey with me.
To my amazing and brilliant editors, Matt Ringler and Shelly Romero, and the super Scholastic staff: copy editors, designers, sales, marketing, publicity, and every other person who helped get Hide and Seeker out into the world. It is because of all of you that this book is better than I ever could have imagined.
Shout-out to my sisters (Shae, Kiesha, and Sonya), my cousins (Gabriel, Antawan, Tiffani, and Kevin), and all the kids in the neighborhood. You were willing and sometimes unwilling players in hundreds of games of Hide and Seek. Thank you for the scares, the memories, and being the inspiration for this story.
Thank you to my nephews, Sean and Cameron. You are Justin. You are heroes.
Dad, you are my biggest cheerleader and never let me forget it. I’m so happy I get to share this moment with you.
Mom and Grandma, look what we did! I miss you both every minute of every day. All that I write, all that I am, is because of you. I feel your love. I hear your laughter. I see your smiles.
To Amy, Mary Alexa, Merisa, Deirdre, Camela, Michelle, Amaani, and Consuelo, who saw the struggle over the years, sent treats, made me laugh, kept it real, and never let me give up.
Thank you to Emily L., who read the first draft of Hide and Seeker and gave me feedback on sticky notes. Friend, I will always be grateful for your never-ending support.
To my writer friends and critique partners (Toni, Amanda, Mikko, Renee, and Aimee), thank you for the late-night talks, texts, and emails. You read the manuscript again and again, guided me through each and every revision, cheered me on when I was discouraged, and celebrated with me when my dream came true. I will never be able to thank you enough.
Above all, I want to thank God for His blessings and favor. Without God, none of this would have been possible.
DAKA HERMON was born in Tennessee and spent her childhood hudd
led under a blanket with a flashlight, reading and writing fairy-tale and fantasy stories. She works in the entertainment industry and is an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. She loves peach sweet tea, chocolate, cupcakes, and collecting superhero toys. Daka lives in California and can be found online at dakahermon.com and on Twitter at @dakadh.
Copyright © 2020 by Daka Hermon
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hermon, Daka, author.
Title: Hide and seeker / Daka Hermon.
Description: First edition. | New York: Scholastic Press, 2020. | Audience: Grades 4–6. | Summary: Something is wrong with twelve-year-old Zee, who has returned after a year’s absence; nobody knows where he was or what happened to him, but now he is distracted and violent, freaking out when he sees his friends, Justin, Nia, and Lyric, playing an odd game of hide-and-seek, and talking wildly about some danger that is approaching—and soon his friends are pulled into a shadowy world ruled by a monstrous, shape-shifting Seeker, forced to play a terrifying game of hide-and-seek where they will have to confront their worst nightmares in order to find their way home.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020000071 (print) | LCCN 2020000072 (ebook) | ISBN 9781338583625 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781338583649 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Missing children—Juvenile fiction. | Hide-and-seek—Juvenile fiction. | Monsters—Juvenile fiction. | Fear—Juvenile fiction. | Friendship—Juvenile fiction. | Horror tales. | CYAC: Horror stories. | Missing children—Fiction. | Hide-and-seek—Fiction. | Monsters—Fiction. | Fear—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | LCGFT: Horror fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.H492 Hi 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.H492 (ebook) | DDC 813.6 [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000071
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020000072
First edition, September 2020
Jacket art © 2020 by Marcela Bolívar
Jacket design by Stephanie Yang
Author photograph © 2020 by Deirdre Cecil
e-ISBN 978-1-338-58364-9
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