The one night sleepover had unexpectedly become two. Grant was woken up the next morning by a knock at his door. He opened it a crack and saw it was his daughter, Janice. "Dad, why is your door locked?" she asked. She was always good at knowing when he was lying, so he just pretended he was angry for being woken up, and grumbled, "Whaddya need?"
"So, hope you don't mind, but the girls are going to stay another night." Grant's panic was evident on his face. "But don't worry, we'll be going to sleep early tonight, and we're taking off for the day to go do the beach and the outlets, so you won't even notice we're here." Grant nodded and closed the door.
That suited him - he knew that if he was caught in the presence of Penelope, Janice would know something was going on and prod for details.
Grant waited til her heard the girls leave the house before leaving his room, and made it a point to be gone early evening when he expected them to be back. He took in a late afternoon movie, long dinner, and then stopped off for a six pack he could enjoy in his room.
Arriving back at the house, aside from the front porch light, the lights inside were off. He carefully opened the front door, heard no sound inside - Janice had held true to her promise, he though, and made his way inside. He closed the door behind him softly, heading straight for the stairs.
"Oh shit!" he yelled as a flashlight blinded him. Holding the flashlight was Janice, who screamed "Dad!?" in surprise.
She lowered the flashlight, allowing it light them both up enough. "What's going on?" he asked.
"We're playing sardines," she said, defeated, then yelled aloud, "Give me another couple minutes - my dad just got home!"
"Okay, keep playing," he said, not interested in what sardines was, eager to run upstairs. But the patter of the girls feet made him pause as they all rushed around him, including Penelope. The other two were Leeanna, a petite brunette, and Annie, a 5' 8" athlete with long blonde hair and perfect legs.
"Play with us! Play with us!" they all giggled and pled, Penelope among them. He avoided eye contact with her at all costs.
"Daddy, just play one round. It's easy!"
"And what is 'sardines'?"
"It's easy. It's like hide and seek, but only one person hides and everyone else tries to find me. Once they do, they hide with them. The last person who finds them is the loser. And it's all in the dark."
Grant knew this could be a recipe for trouble, but agreed. "Just one round, then I'm hitting the sack." The girls cheered.
"Now, make a circle like before," Janice ordered. Leeanna and Annie grabbed one of Grant's hands, and one of Penelope's making a ring. It was unavoidable to look at Penelope, now that they were facing each other. She smirked at him devilishly.
"Start the countdown!" Janice chirped, bounding away along with the flashlight, leaving them in darkness.
The girls started slowly counting down from 20. "19, 18," the girls chanted.
Leeanna tugged on Grants hand, forcing him to join in. "17," he boomed, not intending to be so loud, matching the girl's level as the continued, "16, 15, 14..."
They all got quieter and quieter, ("13, 12, 11...") listening carefully between numbers ("10, 9, 8, 7...") for wherever Janice could be, ("6, 5, 4, 3..") until ("2, 1...") they whispered "zero."
They dropped Grant's hands, as they disappeared, little foot patters going away from him in every direction.
Grant was careful to keep his hands up in front of him to avoid running into a wall or furniture as he made his way around. He'd lived here for a decade - literally placed ever piece of furniture - but still he couldn't remember where everything was in the darkness.
He sensed something ahead of him and braced himself, capturing someone's waist between his palms. Their hands wrapped on each side of his neck, and pulled his head down til he felt their breath. He presumed it was Penelope, but couldn't be sure.
"Meet me in Janice's room precisely at 1am," she whispered. "Walk in with your eyes closed and only do what you're told. A surprise awaits."
The girl slid from his hold, and was gone. Grant stood still until, he heard a light cough from another room, and carefully made his way, eager to get the game over with.
In the den, the air was muffled - it was impossible to sense other people were in there. A flashlight again blinded Grant, as his daughter and the girls jumped around him, celebrating their victory of not being the loser of the game. "You lose, dad!" she said as the rest laughed.
"Okay, off to bed for me," he said, pretending to be defeated. "And I thought it was early bedtime for you girls..."