Hide and seek

It's been a few days. It was already April. In sometime of this week, Charlie would come.

Grace stared at the computer. She didn't realize how much time passed, or that she was even looking there. She just stared.

No, she couldn't. She just couldn't. (Or didn't want to?)

Grace stood up and went to light an incense burner, the aroma quickly filling the room. It would help calm her. She took a deep breath. At times like these, she would smoke. But she quit smoking years ago. And she refused to pick up a cigarette again in her life.

She leaned against the wall and very slowly sank to the floor, her knees to her chest. She sighed.

What was the point in suppressing it anymore? Charlie wasn't even there anymore. But she still felt watched; she couldn't let it out.

She didn't know why she felt watched.

Her gaze fell on the computer.

Forget it, she knew why.

She'd never be able to use her computer normally again, knowing that Rocio could watch her from the HTML file.

She wondered several things, like, had Rocio been watching her the WHOLE time? Does she know how she feels? Is she watching her?

Grace looked at the computer's camera.

It wasn't activated or anything. But she stood up anyway, disabled the camera completely, and covered it with black tape.

She felt better now..

Grace sat down in the chair in front of the computer, staring at the screen.

"Error 404: This page was not found."

...She had so many questions. And only one thing that would lead her to the answers. But she didn't want to find the answers if she had to...

Talk to her.

After so much time thinking she'd never see her again, that she was definitely dead. Out of nowhere, she wasn’t. Everything she'd done to ignore everything she felt came down. And now she didn't know what to do.

Well, she did. But she couldn't find the courage. Besides, she was confused.

WHY exactly did she feel bad? Shouldn't this make her feel better? She wasn't EXACTLY dead, was she?

Grace stood up and walked to the kitchen. She put water in a kettle. She was going to make some tea... or whatever would help distract her.

But she couldn't think about anything else anymore. Her mind always returned there, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

She couldn't avoid it anymore.

She wasn't the good one there.

She couldn't keep pretending. Everyone knew it, and so did she.

The least she could do now was face her cowardice and try to at least talk to her...

But she didn't want to face her right now.

Grace took a sip of her tea. She couldn't taste it; she was so distracted by the computer. Even if she wasn't in the same room as the computer itself, she was distracted, thinking about all the questions she had.

And of course, how could she avoid it?: She was thinking about Rocío too.

Rocío seemed to distance herself more when she was around Charlie, which sent the message loud and clear: she DIDN’T like her. But anyway, who was she to blame her?

But if she wanted to talk to her, how would she do it? It's already obvious that Rocío is going to try to avoid her, but how will she convince her to talk to her, even for a minute?

Well, no matter how much Rocío hides, Grace knew MUCH more about programming than Charlie, which would make it easier for her to find her. That was her game. She did it too, even though she denies it in public.

Although Grace was never as familiar with the game files and the website as Rocio, as Yani would spend entire days just coding and coding, while Grace, well, she had a social life and a job. Between all that time Rocio was coding and Grace was doing other things in her life, a lot of things were added and deleted.

But still, she understood HTML files and flash, so that would make her job easier.

But is it really a good idea to force Rocio to talk to her?

From everything that happened, it was obvious Rocio wouldn't want to talk to her. But it was worth a try, right?

Grace didn't notice, but she had left her tea on the table, getting cold. She headed for the computer.

"Error 404: This page was not found."

She reloaded the page, finding the familiar page full of games and pink stuff.

She activated her camera and grabbed the equipment she used to put on Charlie,putting it to herself.

"Rocío, Rocío, Rocío..." Grace sighed. "How am I going to find you?”

Grace wasn't going to play the games; she wanted to find her now.

She went into the main page's code, checking for anything strange or extra.

When she didn't find anything, she went to the "about us" page, but as soon as she saw anything out of place, Rocío quickly left.

Then she went to check the fan space, but the moment Rocío realized she'd gone there, she disappeared.

Then she went to the music page, but Rocío disappeared as quickly as a butterfly escaping a human's hands.

Then she checked Lacey’s Wardrobe, and yes, she went inside. But as quickly as she entered, she left. And so, she began searching through every game, but always, ALWAYS, Rocío escaped.

“So we're going to play hide-and-seek, huh, Rocío? Come on, I just want to ask a few things.” Grace had already realized. This was going to be a long journey.

And so it was. She went from page to page, from game to game, but as always, Rocio escaped faster.

Grace was getting tired of this game of hide-and-seek, but she was patient. Much more patient than Rocio had ever been in her entire life.

But also, from all the years Rocio had been inside the game, she had lost her sense of time. She was going to stay three hours doing this if she really had to. She did it with Charlie, why not with Grace? In fact, with Grace, she would persist for two more hours.

So, for a long time, they continued their game of hide-and-seek.

But suddenly, no matter which game she played, Grace no longer followed her.

"Okay, I'll just stay here until you decide to talk to me, Rocio." Grace sighed. And then she just watched. She did nothing. She no longer chased Rocio. She just stared at what she was doing for at least half an hour.

Until one of the two disconnected and left. And that was Grace.

Rocio let out a mental sigh. It was time for her to give up.

Or so she thought.

Rocio headed to Lacey's Diner, to continue her own mental torture.

Or she thought she would.

"Aha! There you are! There's no point in trying to hide from me, Rocio. Uh-uh, don't go now!"

<what_do_you_want_GRACE>

"Well... I just want to ask you a few things, honestly..."

<all_this_for_a_few_!questions¿>

"It would be easier if you just stop hiding, you know?" Grace sighed.

<would_rather_wait_10_more_hours>

Grace took a deep breath.

"Well, I've got you now. So... I'd love for you to answer, Rocío."

<spit_it_out_NOW_make_it_fast>

Grace thought for a moment. She reorganized her every thought, sorting out all her questions...

"Where have you been all this time?" she began.

<here>

"Here... What do you mean, here?"

<I_was_here>

"You're Still the same sarcastic girl you used to be, huh? So…let me think." Grace remained silent for a few minutes, wondering what to ask now.

"Are you... the whole page? Are you still alive?"

<no_im_actually_behind_you>

"Oh, you're so funny, Rocío. I bet you can see me laughing. Give me a good answer, will you?" 

<okay_I'm_the_whole_page>

"Ahh, see? It's not that hard to answer correctly, is it?." Grace could almost feel Rocio sticking her tongue out at her from the other side of the screen... or well, that is, if there was even another side of the screen, considering Rocio is the whole page.

"So... next question... How long have you been here?"

<what_do_you_mean¿>

"You know what I mean, how long have you been...being the whole page?"

<I_thought_you_would_know_the_answer_GRACE>

"Well, I don't know. Would you mind enlightening me, Rocio?"

<you_should_know_the_answer_you_know¿>

"But like I told you, I don't know." Grace was losing patience.

<you_said_it_yourself>

Grace looked confused.

<You're_not_going_to_get_out_of_there_alive_you_said>

"Oh," Grace was silent, staring at the page for a moment, thousands of thoughts running through her head at once. "Would you mind telling me what the hell you're talking about?"

<It_would_be_a_pleasure> Rocio typed, then proceeded to quickly show flashing photos. From those photos, Grace noticed Rocío’s arms the most. Wires were embedded inside, leaving bruises. Also, after watching some of Charlie's videos, she noticed that the image came from Lacey's Diner.

Grace knew exactly what Rocio was talking about. She just didn't want to admit it.

<oh_are_you_speechless¿_GRACE>

"Oh, shut up, Rocio." She started to get angry. "I just need some time to process the horrors you just showed me."

<youd_be_better_off_being_left_to_REMEMBER_wouldnt_you¿>

"I still have questions."

<well_I_don't_want_to_answer_them>

"Too bad, you'll answer them anyway."

<you_cant_force_me>

"Yes I can. I just put this...and this...and you'll never get out of this game. But you'd rather have freedom, right? Why don't you just answer me so I don't have to do all that? I win, and you win."

<I_HATE_YOU_GRACE>

"Why do you want to avoid me so much?" Grace turned her head to the side, her hand on her chin.

<you_know_WHY>

"I...I know why? Forgive me, Rocío, but if I ask, it's because I don't know why."

<just_remember_GRACE_you_always_had_a_better_memory_than_me>

"Ugh, are you allergic to telling me things directly?"

<I_find_it_more_entertaining_^^>

"Ughh... you're irritating, Rocío... you're IRRITATING..." Grace sighed.

<you_know_exactly_what_I'm_talking_about,_you_just_have_to_stop_hiding_it>

"Oh my god, Rocío, how many times do I have to tell you, I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

<well_then_I_better_let_you_think_about_it_you_have_to_learn_to_stop_lying_to_yourself>

"...Is this because I said I have nothing to do with Yaniaso?"

<including_that_would_be_a_good_start>

"Oh Rocío, I'm just trying not to let your stupidity ruin my life! It's not my fault you decided to traumatize thousands and thousands of little girls. I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU TAKE ME DOWN WITH YOU!"

<aww_you_make_me_sad_GRACE_you_are_trying_to_pretend_we_were_nothing>

<but_the_answer_is_right_in_front_of_you_just_have_to_remember>

"Pshht, pshht. You really hate being direct, don't you?"

<it_wouldnt_be_fun>

"Uh-huh, huh... you just love being annoying."

<you_need_time_to_remember>

<so_why_dont_I_just_give_you_the_time¿>

"Wait, wait, wait, what?!" But as soon as she asked, the HTML file closed itself.

She could have just reopened it, but, really, that was enough for today. And for a long time, really.

Grace started thinking about everything Rocio told her.

"You should remember that, you should remember that..." Grace muttered. "Just excuses to not talk..."

The time was 7:30 PM.

She should make dinner now; this was a waste of time. Plus, she has to go to work... and see Charlie again, God knows when.

She remembered she had her email, so before turning off her computer, she sent her a message.

From: graceasop7@gmail.com

To: charchar887@gmail.com

Date: April 7, 2015, 7:35 PM

Subject: My schedule.

"Look, Charlie, I work from 7 AM to 1 PM, so don't you even think about coming before then, okay? I won't open the door for you. In fact, I'll leave you outside all day."

She hit send, then shut down her computer. Now she had more important things to worry about.

Right?

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT OF THERE ALIVE, ROCIO! ARE YOU CRAZY?!" She yelled, stressed.

“I thought you already knew that…” She smiled. “Of course I am.”