"What exactly are you trying to do here?" He asked.


    "What do you mean Caleb?"


    "All this talk about how none of us matter, and about how we aren''t worth remembering, and blah blah blah, but all of a sudden you want to play with us again. What gives?"


    Max sat on one of the beds, and leaned back, resting on his arms. "I don''t see what the big deal is. Who cares what I think? Why is any of that relevant to this game?"


    Caleb puffed his chest, and approached Max, his face reddening with anger. "I care! You playing with everyone always makes everybody smile! If you plan on just throwing us away again after today how do you think they''ll all feel?"


    Max felt himself smiling slightly. He looked at the boy with admiration, and respect. "You''re a good person Caleb. But the world is going to punish you for that."


    "You''re good too!" Caleb said, his tone hoarse, and rough . It was as if he was begging Max for an explanation of some kind.


    An air of uncertainty ate away at Max''s subconscious. He knew the reason he''d changed, but he did not see himself ever looking back. In a lot of ways the old Max that Caleb knew was long dead, incapable of being revived, at least that''s how he felt.


    "How about this Caleb, I''ll make you a deal. You said Luke was great at this game right? Well, if I can''t find him I''ll dedicate at least one day a week here with all of you. Even if I don''t want to be here, I''ll put on a brave, and positive face so all of you can cling to whatever light you still see in me. And if I can find him, then I''m going to do whatever I want, whenever I want with zero complaints from you. Got it?"


    Caleb seemed to fidget in place. "You went out to find me when you didn''t have to. Why?"


    "That wasn''t for you, don''t kid yourself." Max said instinctively.


    "Oh, I see. Well, anyway." Caleb said after taking a deep breath. "I agree to your deal. I think Luke really will win! I-I have faith in him."


    "You won''t be hiding with the others?"


    "No, I don''t want to play. Stuff like this feels childish to me now."


    "Alright then, guess I better get counting."


    The rules were simple. Find everyone under an hour, and win. If Max failed to find even one of the children it would be game over, and everyone on the hiding team would be winners. Once found, the children were to sit in the back of the dormitory against the wall until the game ended.


    Max leaned back on the bed with his eyes closed, his hands behind his head, and began to count. A minute later he sat up, and quickly scanned the room, Caleb was still with him, but he wasn''t the only one.


    Max quickly discovered two children hiding under the covers of their respective beds. "It''s like you didn''t even try." He said to them as they scowled and sat in the back


    "Now where to start." Max thought.


    There were several rooms in the orphanage, but only a handful were available to them at any given time. So ruling out the rooms that were restricted left the following; the dormitory, the cafeteria, the laundry room, and the play room. Since Max was now ruling out the dormitory he made his way to the closest room to him which was the cafeteria.


    On his way there he spotted a few of them hiding behind the curtains in the receptionist room, and after instructing Caleb to escort them to the dormitory he began hunting the children down systematically. Whether it was in the freezer room in the cafeteria, behind the couch in the play room or in the baskets in the laundry room before he knew it he''d found every single one except for Luke. One child thought he was smart, and hid in one of the washing machines, but after a threat to turn it on he climbed right on out.


    After scouring the rooms from head to toe Max concluded that Luke was not in any of them. With a half hour left on the clock Max resorted to a new tactic, one as old as time. He made his way back to the dormitory, and confronted the children who were all gathered in the back.


    "You all realize I''ve been here the longest right, there wasn''t a chance any of you were going to hide in a place I didn''t know about."


    All the children seemed to scowl at Max, but none of them argued with his words, all except for Caleb.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Well Luke still isn''t here! So you shouldn''t say squat!"


    "Ice cream." Max said.


    "Huh? Are you thinking with your stomach or something? Why bring that up all of a sudden?"


    "I will give ice cream to the person who tells me which room Luke is in. But only to one of you."


    Ice cream was a delicacy at St. Hope, a treat reserved for those who either received high marks on their quarterly tests, or for when Madam Vine happened to catch the ice cream man driving down the street while she fetched the mail - an exceptionally rare occurrence.


    Max watched as the children began to tremble with doubt, their mouths practically salivating over the mere thought of ice cream. It was quite unhealthy, a child''s inescapable desire for sugar Max thought.


    Luke stepped forward, and walked up and down the dormitory staring each child in the face as if he was some sort of general delivering a speech before battle. "Don''t break rank! It''s not worth it, we need to protect Luke!"


    "Any flavor you want." Max said interjecting.


    The kids started to fidget, their eyes looming over one another. If someone was going to tell Max it might as well be them. That was the thought Max believed was coursing through their minds.


    "Don''t do it guys!" Caleb yelled. "Just trust me on this! Stay strong!"


    "I''m going to count down from 5. If I reach-"


    "HE''S IN MS. FINCH''S ROOM!" a little girl yelled. "HE ALWAYS HIDES IN THERE AND NONE OF US ARE BRAVE ENOUGH TO GO GET HIM!"


    "Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" Caleb fell to his knees in defeat, and anguish, his attempt to hold the line, and keep everyone together vanquished by Max''s vile persuasive measures.


    "I-I never get high marks on my tests, and Madam Vine hasn''t brought us ice cream in forever!" The little girl wailed. Tears began to fall down her cheeks, and she desperately tried to wipe them away "I really want a push pop!" She cried. "C-Cherry!"


    "Your efforts to protect your friend were commendable, but unfortunately not enough." Max declared. He turned to leave the dormitory, making his way straight for Ms. Finch''s room.


    Max believed this was a clever strategy on Luke''s part, but a bold one. He had incorrectly assumed that every child would only hide in rooms they were allowed to be in, he didn''t think they''d even consider the restricted ones.


    In all honesty the risks here were greater than than the reward. If he was caught sneaking into Ms. Finch''s room he''d be kicked out of the orphanage without question. However, Max was confident in his ability, and if he was honest with himself he''d admit to enjoying the game.


    First he needed to figure out how Luke managed to get into Ms. Finch''s room. She usually locks her door, and carries the key on a chain around her waist. This would either mean that Luke had somehow stolen the key or there was a secret entrance into Ms. Finch''s room that he didn''t know about.


    Was Luke really smart enough to steal the key? Max thought back to before the game when the boy did a front flip off the bed only to immediately hurt himself.


    ''No.''


    And on top of that Luke wasn''t usually someone who thought ahead. After several more minutes of thinking Max decided to do one more thorough look through the orphanage to confirm something. He checked every room including the restricted ones he knew his way into. After finally finishing he only had about three minutes left on the clock before the hour was up.


    "Finally give up?" Caleb said appearing behind Max. "It''s okay, no one will blame you." He smirked.


    "Not quite." Max said walking straight up to Ms. Finch''s door, and knocking.


    Max could hear some scuffling behind the door before finally Ms. Finch answered, her face harsh, and unwelcoming. She towered over Max, and glared down at him with a look of annoyance, and frustration.


    "There better be a good reason for this." She said.


    Max simply tilted his head, as if to get a better look inside the room. Sitting on the bed with a book bigger than himself was Luke.


    "Ms. Fish! come back! I can''t read all by myself!" Luke said clapping his hands repeatedly.


    "I''m sorry Ms. Finch, everyone was worried about Luke, and they didn''t know where he was so I thought I''d look for him myself." Max explained


    "Fish sticks." Luke said unprompted.


    Ms. Finch seemed to have a sweet spot for Luke that she did not share with anyone else. Max wondered why that was the case. The middle aged woman looked back at the boy for a brief moment, as if to check on him before refocusing her attention on Max.


    "Well now that you know where he is you can go." Ms. Finch said. "And head straight up to bed before you get anyone else sick." She spat.


    Before Max could reply their conversation was interrupted by a loud, banging knock coming from the front of the orphanage. Suddenly Max was pulled back into the dream he had the day before the robbery, where a mysterious shadowy figure did the same, but he did not have the luxury do dwell on that thought right now.


    "Get out of the way!" Ms. Finch said shoving Max to the ground.


    And that''s where he stayed. He peered through the door to Ms. Finch''s room, watching Luke struggle to get off her bed. He looked like a kitten still learning how to jump, but unlike a kitten which would''ve landed on its feet, Luke tumbled off the bed like a log, and landed on his head before his body, like a cartoon fell along with him; it was quite the sight to Max.


    After finally getting to his feet Luke wobbled out of the room and ran straight up to Max.


    "Good job Luke, you almost beat me."


    "Whoa, I did?" Luke said. "Had you with what?"


    It was Caleb that spoke up this time. "You know, hide and seek remember? You always hide in Ms. Finch''s room."


    "Oh that! I get bored waiting in my normal places so I quit and go play story time with Fish."


    "I-In your normal places?"


    ''So he had forgotten we were playing at all. Interesting''


    "You know even if I didn''t manage to find Luke he technically forfeited so I still would''ve won." Max said,


    "As if!" Caleb yelled, and as he did many of the children ran up to the three of them. A lot of them asking for another round, or to play a new game. For some reason they still wanted to play with Max despite their loss.


    ''Another game huh?'' Max thought. ''Is this what I should be doing right now?''