The Rising Of The Anomaly - Chapter 176

“Wait, seriously? Isn’t that kind of a childish game?” Responded Suri with a raised eyebrow.

“Heh, ordinarily, yes…but we’re all drunk and high, so it’s gonna be a fucking blast! Plus, I’ve got a couple of original rules that’ll make it extra fun!” Mitchell grinned in reply.

His face was flushed and his eyes were red, he’s definitely a fair bit drunk and high right now. And, well, I guess I am too…and so is everyone else.

“What rules? It better not be anything creepy,” Frowned Zoya with a suspicious look on her face, as she slurred slightly.

“Hey, what do you take me for?” He responded indignantly, before adding as he pulled out some water guns from under the couch, “The first rule is that we’ll have three seekers, and the remaining six will pair up and hide! Oh, and when a seeker finds a hider, they tag them with these water guns!”

“Uh, how many things are you hiding under that couch?” I inquired in bemusement.

“Hm? Oh, just one more thing…or rather, three of the same thing,” He answered, as he then pulled out…plastic handcuffs, before continuing, “The pairs will be handcuffed together, and here’s the catch…each seeker is only allowed to tag one person in a pair. In other words, if they find a pair and blast one of them with their water gun, they can’t tag the other partner. Which means that each seeker can only tag a maximum of three people, and the first three people to be tagged will be the seekers for the next round. As for how we determine the pairs, that’s where these lots come in…so let’s get to drawing.”

Seems like he’s put a lot of thought into this…

“Huh…this actually sounds like it could be fun,” Remarked Bytra with a look of interest.

“Yeah, I agree, the rules make things interesting. Is there anything else we need to know?” Asked Seila, her interest piqued.

“Oh, uh, let me think…,” He responded, looking a bit taken aback at the fact that this suggestion was being so well-received, before adding, “Well, don’t break the handcuffs…they’re only plastic, so they’re easy to break, but you know, don’t break them. Yeah, that’s about it. And here’s a clarification, you don’t have to cooperate with the person you’re paired with. For example, if you get tagged by a seeker, feel free to slow down your partner or yell and give away their location or whatever. Anyone tagged with a watergun is out of the game, but they can still affect it by slowing down the other players if they want. In other words, so long as you don’t break the rules, anything goes!”

I was trying not to give it away, but having heard how this game was going to work, I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. I mean, I never had friends as a kid, so I never got to play games like tag or hide and seek. I felt an almost childlike giddiness and excitement welling up inside me, making me feel a little self-conscious.

I’m twenty-one already, I shouldn’t be getting so excited over what’s basically a glorified children’s game. And yet, I couldn’t help but get excited anyway. Well, whatever, I’ll blame it on the alcohol and weed for now and just focus on enjoying this. Why deny my desires just because they’re childish, right?

Also, anything goes so long as we don’t break the rules, huh? Hm, then maybe I should ask if-…no, on second thought, I won’t ask, because if I do, Mitchell will probably add it as a rule. Yeah, I’ll keep this thought to myself, and try it out during the game if I get the chance.

We then began drawing lots in order to determine who the seekers would be and to pair up the rest. The seekers turned out to be Taayin, Seila and Mitchell. And as for the pairs, the first one to be formed was the pair of Bytra and Suri, neither of them looking too happy about their partner.

The next pair to be formed was Lin and Zoya, which meant that the third pair was Katie and I. I’m pretty happy with that, she and I have hung out quite a bit ever since the X-Warrior Championship, though most of that has been us helping Director Silva conduct experiments using our powered up forms.

Still, the bottom line is that I’ve probably spent more time with her than almost anyone else in my class, and as a result, I tend to feel pretty comfortable around her. Especially since I’ve gotten used to her demeanor, instead of feeling awkward during silences with her, I feel at ease.

“Okay, we’ve determined who the pairs and the seekers are going to be, do we start now?” Asked Lin, stumbling a bit as she stood up.

“Yeah, let’s get started. Seekers, set a timer for five minutes and wait here till that time’s up before coming to find us,” Instructed Mitchell, before passing the handcuffs around, “Alright, pairs, link up with these, and once the timer begins, go hide. Anywhere in the house is fair game, though no locking yourselves in anywhere.”

“Wait, isn’t five minutes kinda long?” Inquired Taayin skeptically.

“Normally, yeah, but since you’re moving in pairs, it’ll take longer to find hiding spots, not to mention that we’re very much not sober, and besides me, no one else knows the layout of my house,” Pointed out Mitchell with a grin, “Alright, start the timer, let’s begin!”

I latched one half of the handcuffs around my wrist, as Katie did the same with the other half, before the seekers began the countdown and the two of us, along with the other two pairs, began rushing to find a hiding spot.

Well, Bytra and Suri were arguing over whether they should look for a place to hide upstairs or stay downstairs and search instead. Meanwhile, Lin and Zoya moved more decisively, with the former leading the way…looks like they must have agreed on going upstairs.

“Shall we look for a spot upstairs?” I suggested to Katie.

“Yeah, okay,” She replied with a nod, before we headed up the stairs.

This is a big house, and there were several rooms upstairs…I don’t see any sign of Lin or Zoya, they must have already sneaked into one of these rooms.

“Uh…where should we hide?” I inquired uncertainly, looking around.

I could see six or seven doors in sight as we got to the top of the stairs, which one should we pick?

“How about that one?” Katie responded, as she pointed at one of the doors.

“Sure, but why that one?”

“Huh? No reason, I just picked at random. I mean, it doesn’t really matter, right?” She replied with a shrug.

Fair point, we’ve never been in this house before, so it’s not like we can guess what’s behind each door. Instead of overthinking it, picking a random one is probably the best way to go about doing this…

“Yeah, guess not. Alright, then, let’s go,” I said, before leading the way to the room and opening the door.

Oh, looks like a study, with a large desk at the back that had a laptop and several files on it, as well as a wide bookshelf that spanned the entire left side wall. On the right side, was an old couch, along with a crumpled up blanket and old pillow.

This room is probably used by one of Mitchell’s parents to work in, I’m guessing. Hm, where can we hide in here, though? The only viable option seems to be behind the desk.

“Should we switch off the light and go behind the desk?” Suggested Katie, as we entered the room and silently closed the door.

“No, keep the lights on…I noticed light creeping out from all the doors on this floor, if any of the seekers notice that too, then this room will stand out if we switch the lights off. Gotta say, it’s super wasteful to leave all these lights on though,” I frowned in disapproval.

“You sound like an old person. And you really noticed the lights? My senses feel sloppy and unclear,” She sighed in response.

“Yeah, you’re a bit more expressive than usual,” I grinned in response, before adding, “Well, anyway, we should get to hiding.”

“Okay.”

We slipped behind the desk and then squeezed into the space under it…it was a pretty big desk, so it wasn’t all that cramped, but we were both still really close to each other, with her facing me. I was sitting on the floor with my back to the inner left side of the inside of the desk, while she was on her palms and knees, her face really close to mine.

“Hm, maybe it’ll be easier if we sit back to back in here?” I suggested, as I felt her breath brushing my face…up close, I can see just how drunk and high she is.

She wasn’t so drunk that she wasn’t in control of herself, but she was pretty high, her eyes red as hell.

“Hey…was it really true, you know, the first question you answered in the truth or dare game?” She suddenly asked me.

Huh? Where’d that come from? That definitely caught me off-guard…

“Well, uh…why do you ask?” I responded, kinda awkwardly.

“Hm…,” She narrowed her eyes at me, before adding, “Just because, I guess.”

That’s…vague, to say the least.

“Because…what?” I pressed her, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“I don’t know, I just…after you answered the question and when you pointed them out to answer the follow-up, I felt kind of…annoyed. Honestly, I’m a bit confused over how I’m feeling…hm, maybe this will help clear things up,” She remarked, before leaning in closer and pressing her lips onto mine.

…huh?

“Wh-wha-…what w-was that for?” I stuttered as she pulled away, my face heating up and my heart rate spiking as her lips slowly curved up into a slight smile.

“You always make a big deal out of it whenever you say I’m being expressive, I always thought you were just being dramatic…but I get it now. You’re usually so cool and collected, but right now, seeing you all flustered like this…I wonder if this is how you feel when you see me being more expressive than I usually am,” She whispered into my ear, before raising her head and meeting my gaze.

“W-well, uh…,” I began, before trailing off as my mind blanked out…holy crap, talk about a lethal attack, she’s killing me right now.

This is because of the weed and alcohol, that’s why she’s acting this way…right?

“Wow, your cheeks are so red…oh, and the tips of your ears too, it’s so cute,” She replied with a faint smile, as she traced the outline of my left ear with her fingertip, before leaning down and moving in to kiss me again.

Yeah, there’s absolutely no humanly way that I can possibly resist this. I began parting my lips slightly as she gently ran her fingers down the side of my neck, her lips starting to brush against mine-…suddenly, we both jolted up with a start, as the door to this room suddenly swung open…

_____________________________________________

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.