Hide and seek

I suddenly awoke, wiping my the sweat away from my face, as my eyes gazed around the room..fixing upon the darkness.

I was awoken from the sound of my daughter's voice upstairs, as I soon realized that I was asleep on the sofa, as the dim light of the TV in front of me shined on my face, as I soon sprang off from the sofa, towards my daughter's room.

I checked the time on my phone, it was midnight.

This confused me, since I could'e sworn that I already tucked my daughter into bed, I don't understand the reason for her being awake, at this point of night.....that's not like her.

I slowly creeped up the stairs, trying to remain silent as I soon reached the top. I stepped closer towards my daughter's room, and opened the door, to find my daughter couting in a cornor across the room.

She looked towards me, puzzled....looking at me, as if I where crazy.....

"Do you mind? Im TRYING to play hide and seek with my friend"! she snapped, as she turned her head towards the cornor again, away from me.

"excuse me, young lady.....you where supposed to be in bed 2 hours ago" I replied.....

"Awwww, can we atleast play 1 more game with my friend"? she said.....

"friend? what friend"? I asked, as I gazed around the room, confused....since Nobody else was in the room...

"My friend Mary" she laughed, "wanna play the game with us"?

I froze at this point, but...I just figured it was her imagination, I didn't bother to think past that...since I never did beileve in ghosts at the time.

"If I play atleast 1 game with you, will you go to bed"? I asked.....

"Sure" she giggled, "your IT though"....

"fine, fine" I said, as I stood out within the hallway, and began couting....

I soon heard the footsteps of my daughter up and down the stairs, crashing from room to room, attempting to fine a place to hide, as I soon reached the end of counting.

"Ready or not, HERE I COME" I shouted, As I finally started to look around the hallway, choosing which room to enter first. I gazed down stairs, and slowly started to step down them, as they slowly started to creek under my feet. A slight chill ran down my spine, As I reached the end of the staircase, and took a deep breath...before I started to check downstairs.

A sudden cold feeling tied a knot within my stomach, something didn't exactly feel right.........

I got a werid feeling of depression, and paranoia....which gave my entire body goosebumps.

"come out, come out...where ever you are" I said, trying to remian calm....as I suddenly heard soft yet quiet footsteps coming down the stairs.

I quickly turned towards the stairs, as a sudden large red ball from the staircase, beside my feet....followed by a small giggle, and the sound of running up the stairs.

"IM GONNA GET YA" I said in a playful manor, as I ran up towards the stairs and dashed into my room.

As I suddenly saw the shape of my daughter in the cornor of my dresser.......but as I looked down towards the bed.........the shape of a young girl, was under it.

As the light within my room shut off, with a flash, as I soon reached my hands towards the blanket of the bed....and slowly lifted it off the body.....

As my daughter suddenly jumped up from under the sheets and giggled, "did mary tell you where I was"? she frowned, as I suddenly looked puzzled, as I gazed over at the cornor......the figure of.......the young girl, was NO longer within the cornor.....however.....the small red ball that came towards me down stairs....WAS there.....with a small written message written across it...and.....It said...............

"I'LL BE WAITING"