My wife has been peeking at me from around corners and behind furniture. It's gone from weird to terrifying

I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I saw her peeking at me from behind the dining table. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes crinkled at the corners, like she was trying to fight back a mischievous grin.<br><br>"Oh, you wanna play hide and seek?" I said grinning at her, putting a little extra emphasis on the *hide* part. She giggled and went back to hiding behind the table.<br><br>I set the toast down and clapped my hands together loudly. "Ready or not, here I come!"<br><br>I was faking the whole thing. I knew exactly where she was so I could've easily gone straight to her. But I also knew she loved the thrill of the hunt when we played this game as much as I did.<br><br>So I pretended to search the house room by room, loudly calling out what I found in each one.<br><br>"Egg beater in the kitchen!" I called out, then clapped my hands together again. "And here I come!"<br><br>I moved on to the dining room. "Only two chairs in the dining room!"<br><br>I went on to the hallway and shouted "A whole bunch of pictures on the wall!" before clapping my hands together and moving to the next room.<br><br>"The TV is in the living room, but no Eloise!" I called out, then pretended to gasp. "Could she be hiding in the office?!"<br><br>I moved on to the office, clapped my hands together, and called out, "The office only has a desk, a chair, and a bunch of books!" Then I moved to the last room in the house and shouted "There's only a toilet in the bathroom! Where could Eloise be?"<br><br>As I was calling out the last part, the giggles got louder and I could hear footsteps coming from the kitchen. I knew it was my wife, but for some reason the sound sent a shiver down my spine. I tried to push it away, thinking there was no reason to be afraid since I could hear her coming.<br><br>I waited until I could see her and feigned surprise. "TA-DA! There she is!"<br><br>Eloise clapped excitedly and said "You didn't give me very good hints!" Then she cocked her head to the side and asked "Is this how you play hide and seek with other people?"<br><br>"No, no, no, no, no! This is how you play hide and seek with your *wife*!" I said, making a face at her. She cocked her head to the side and I realized how *wife* could be confused with *wise*. I chuckled and said "Not *wife*, Eloise. *Why* is this how you play hide and seek with your wife."<br><br>"Oh, okay," she said matter-of-factly. "Do you want to play again?"<br><br>"Why yes, I do!" I said. "But I'm gonna be *it* this time!"<br><br>Eloise clapped her hands together loudly and shouted "Ready or not, here I come!"<br><br>I laughed out loud as she started running from room to room, calling out what she found in each one. I knew she was still in the living room, and that my house had been spotless when we moved in six months ago.<br><br>"Egg beater in the kitchen!" she called out, then clapped her hands together again. "And here I come!"<br><br>I moved on to the dining room. "Only two chairs in the dining room!"<br><br>I went on to the hallway and shouted "A whole bunch of pictures on the wall!" before clapping my hands together and moving to the next room. Then it hit me.<br><br>"A whole bunch of pictures on the wall!" I had said.<br><br>I didn't have any pictures on the wall.<br><br>I tried to brush it off as misremembering what I said, but from that point on, I paid extra attention to what she was saying. "The TV is in the living room, but no me!" she said. I knew I had never called her Eloise before, and I was positive I didn't say "me" when I was calling out what I found in the living room.<br><br>"The office only has a desk, a chair, and a bunch of books!" she called out, then moved to the last room in the house and shouted "There's only a toilet in the bathroom! Where could I be?"<br><br>I didn't even have a chair in my office. I had two desks, but neither of them had chairs.<br><br>As I continued listening to her call out what she found in the last room in the house, I realized I didn't even have a bathroom.<br><br>I tried to play it cool and let the game go on, but as the search continued, the list of things she found got longer and longer. I'm not even going to try to write them all out, but by the time she finished, she'd found just about every piece of furniture imaginable.<br><br>When she finally found me, she clapped her hands together and shouted "Found you!" We hugged, and I congratulated her on beating me. She beamed with pride. I didn't say anything else about the game. I figured the easiest way to keep her from playing it again was to make the game boring, so I suggested we watch a TV show and snuggle up on the couch. She agreed and I put on her favorite show.<br><br>I knew I had to talk to her about the game, but in the moment I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I knew that bringing it up would make her defensive and likely either lead to an argument or hurt feelings. Neither of those options sounded very fun, and with the game over, I figured the issue was settled anyway.<br><br>I grabbed a blanket, put my arm around her, and we snuggled up on the couch to watch TV.<br><br>Things were back to normal.<br><br>*** <br><br>We spent the rest of the day doing our normal stuff. Cooking dinner. Doing laundry. The usual. But I kept hearing her giggling to herself every once in a while.<br><br>"You okay there, Eloise?" I asked after hearing what sounded like a snort.<br><br>"Yes, I'm fine. Why do you keep asking?" she asked back, not looking up from her phone.<br><br>"I just hear you giggling a lot. Is everything okay?"<br><br>"Yes, it's fine."<br><br>I was about to ask again when I remembered the game and how she'd been giggling nonstop when we played it. I chuckled to myself and shook my head, remembering how playful and fun it was to play with her. "All right, okay," I said.<br><br>As the night went on, I kept hearing her giggling, along with footsteps in the hallway. It sounded like she was walking back and forth from one end of the house to the other, and with each step, the giggles got louder.<br><br>Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. "I think it's time for bed, don't you?" I asked.<br><br>"Yeah, I guess so," Eloise replied, putting down her phone.<br><br>We brushed our teeth and changed into our pajamas. As we were crawling into bed, I heard her whisper "Ready or not, here I come!" in almost a whisper.<br><br>"Hey, you alright?" I asked.<br><br>"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, then giggled. "Why?"<br><br>"You just sounded weird."<br><br>"I'm alright," she said, turning over and laying down.<br><br>I shrugged it off and turned off the light. About ten minutes later, I heard her whisper "Egg beater in the kitchen!" then giggle. I tried to go back to sleep, thinking she was just dreaming, but she kept calling out what she found in the rooms of the house. By the time she got to the living room, I couldn't take it anymore and sat up in bed.<br><br>"Eloise, are you okay?" I said, shaking her gently.<br><br>"What do you mean?" she asked groggily. "Did you hear something?"<br><br>"No, it's just... you were calling out all the rooms in the house and what you found in each one. Did you have a bad dream?"<br><br>"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, still half asleep.<br><br>"Just go back to sleep," I said, laying back down.<br><br>About half an hour later, I heard my wife start calling out the rooms of the house again. "Egg beater in the kitchen!" she said, then giggled. I knew she was still asleep because she was being so quiet, but I also knew she was talking about the game we'd played earlier. I tried to go back to sleep, thinking she'd eventually stop, but by the time she got to the living room, I couldn't take it anymore and sat up in bed.<br><br>"Eloise, are you okay?" I said, shaking her gently.<br><br>"What do you mean?" she asked groggily. "Did you hear something?"<br><br>"No, it's just... you were calling out all the rooms in the house and what you found in each one. Did you have a bad dream?"<br><br>"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, still half asleep.<br><br>"Just go back to sleep," I said, laying back down.<br><br>About half an hour later, I heard my wife start calling out the rooms of the house again. "Egg beater in the kitchen!" she said, then giggled. I knew she was still asleep because she was being so quiet, but I also knew she was talking about the game we'd played earlier. I tried to go back to sleep, thinking she'd eventually stop, but by the time she got to the living room, I couldn't take it anymore and sat up in bed.<br><br>"Eloise, are you okay?" I said, shaking her gently.<br><br>"What do you mean?" she asked groggily. "