This incident happened while I was still in middle school when I was around 12 or 13 years old. We always had the best summers. My grandma had a 56 acre property, most of which was wooded and in the middle of nowhere. My family lived in the big house with her. My mother had four kids, but my older sister lived on her own somewhere else. One of my aunts lived on the right side of my grandmas house, she had three kids. My other aunt lived on the left side of the main house and she had seven kids. My whole family would always play kickball, badminton and hide and seek during summer break. On this particular night, my family decided to play, hide and seek. I would always partner up with either my big brother, or my cousin that was the same age as me. That was one of the rules, you had to hide with someone or you had to hide near someone. Another rule was never hide too close to the woods or in them. My mom always said it was because of coyotes. No one ever questioned this because we could hear them almost every night and we had found traces of small dead animals in the woods during our daytime adventures through the paths. There was a large overgrown field separating the woods from us, we always mowed paths down heading toward the woods. Anyway, my cousin said she would hide with me, and my brother said he would hide near us. We decided to hide on the left side of the property. My cousins house had a tree with a big shadow that was cast from the mercury light on my grandmothers garage. It was the perfect spot because it was in the open but you wouldn’t be able to see me unless you were in the shadow with me. I told my brother and cousin about my idea and they agreed. The three of us sprinted off my grandmothers giant back porch towards the left side of the property at the start of the game. We ran around my cousins house and I was the first to arrive at the shadow below the tree. I watched my uncle, who was the person to find everyone, walk off the back porch heading towards the right side of the property. I saw something move out of the corner of my eye under the tree shadow with me. I glanced over, and it was my cousin. She had finally joined me. Then I felt like someone was watching me from my cousins roof, it was my brother. He had the knack for getting on the houses and accidentally breaking windows and he was told not to do it anymore. I laughed to myself because I knew he was going to get in trouble again. Some time went by and we watched a few of my other cousins run to safety up on the porch. Then I saw my brother run up to safety yelling “Suck that losers.” I could’ve swore that he was just on the roof. I looked up and locked eyes with him. My blood ran cold. I told my cousin, while still looking at what I thought to be my brother, “It’s time to run.” When I looked over at her, she was smiling at me in a very unnerving way. Then I saw movement by my grandmas house, nearing the porch. It was my cousin. The one that was hiding with me. I gasped and I got up as fast as I could and I ran faster than I ever thought I could. Once I made it to the porch, where some of the others had gathered, I looked over to where I had been. It was about half an acre away from where I was standing. I watched the thing that looked like my brother jump down from the roof into the shadow of the tree. Then I watch the two things run into the high weeds heading towards the woods. I started to hyperventilate. What the hell was that? What the hell were those things? I ignored everyone’s questioning words and worried stares. Where was my mom? I needed my mom. She’s been living on this property for her whole life and I know she’s seen some unexplainable things during her time here maybe she could tell me what the hell just happened. My mother was in the kitchen when I found her. I was sobbing mass, but I told her what I needed to say. Her face turned white as a ghost. She looked at everyone that had followed me and said, “The games over. Everyone go home.” My uncle and my mom walked everyone home even though it was a short walk, she refused to let anyone walk alone. She also ignored everyone’s questions. By the time my mom came back I had stopped crying, but I was still shaken from what happened. There was a million questions running through my head but before I could ask them, my mom said “You are not to go outside by yourself at night anymore. If your cousins want to see you later in the day, they can come here. There are things on this property that have been here ever since I could remember. I can’t tell you what they are because I don’t know what they are. From now on we will not be playing hide and seek until I know they have lost interest.” Playing outside was never the same after that my mom and aunts had spread the word about what happened. We always were in our homes before the sunset every night after that. Looking back on that day still gives me chills. Now that I know what really could’ve happened that night scares me to no end. I never broke my fear of the dark now that I know what could be lurking in the shadows.