Cryptic

Chapter One. Shadow Girl.

PART ONE

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When I was little, there were lots of things I wasn't very good at. I didn't have the poise for balet, nor the patience for embroidery, nor the eye for shooting a bow or a gun. But as my tutors always said to me, everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, and I found out soon enough that it was my ability to not be found that I excelled in.

It started with innocent games of hide and seek. My brothers used to play with me, back when they were still around, and I'd beeline straight for the nearest bed and bury myself under it. The moment I heard footsteps I would giggle and squirm like the silly little toddler I was, giving myself away instantly. If the seeker was Pog, the eldest, he would entertain me by playing ignorance first. Hmm? Where could Flan be? he asked the room barely a hairsbreadth from where I lay, much to my delight. Then he bursted into my hiding place and I squealed as loud as a pig and he let me clamber onto his back. Those times were the most fun. 

Maddie, on the other hand, was not as entertaining. He was second oldest and he plucked me from under the bed without ceremony and bundled me under his arm while he searched for the others. Then there was Jin, who didn't bother with formalities - he barely poked his head into the room, said "Oi, Francesca, let's go." and I would crawl out and plod after him, head hung, my chubby hand engulfed by his waiting one.

Years passed and I grew up. So did my brothers. While I could never quite match their pace, their competitive nature coaxed forth my own. I didn't giggle and squirm anymore and I certainly didn't go for the most obvious places. The rules changed as well; some days the boundaries were confined to one wing of the villa, others they extended all the way to the coast line, and the ever-changing landscape was a welcome challenge. First, a few minutes would pass me by, then tens of minutes, then a whole hour, and I scarcely breathed as I watched my brothers wander in circles nearby. It was Jin who would eventually tack on, if at all, because he was the smartest out of us.

After twelve wins on my part (I counted), my brothers stopped wanting to play. Pog left first - no one would tell me where he went - and so our ragtag group lost its gamemaster. Maddie was a temperamental person, but in those days he was a ticking time bomb; hackles raised even in his sleep, lashing out with all claws over the most trivial things. I treaded carefully around him. Jin changed too; he became more withdrawn, only talking to a red-faced Maddie in hushed tones when he thought I wasn't watching, but when Maddie left, he closed himself off from the world and threw away the key.

I didn't see him much after that. He only resurfaced from his room to stock up on food. There were odd evenings, though, where he would unexpectedly come out and tell me to play hide and seek. The only rule was I couldn't hide in the villa. I was all too happy to oblige, but when I ran off as usual, he disappeared as well. I stayed in my hiding place for a long time, even as the sun dipped lower in the sky and the night-time crawlies emerged, until Jin finally reappeared and found me.

Jin was the best seeker. That's why I stayed, quiet as a mouse as per instruction, believing it was my skill that threw him off so. In the end, he always knew to find me. Until one day he didn't. I woke in my hiding place at the break of dawn and it was Jin who was nowhere to be found. 

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I didn't feel their absence as keenly as I probably should have. That was because Dad came by to spend time with me more often, and he replaced all the big boring men who hung around the villa with a diversity of people who were experts of their trade. They filled the void that my brothers left. My new tutors told me stories of faraway lands, like New York and Singapore, and my chefs traded ketchup-drizzled pasta for fresh assortments of sushi and gourmet seafood dishes.