Cornhusks shake violently as we crash through the field.
Fuck the maze.
We run blindly through the stalks, taking the brunt of the whipping husks.
I don’t know how we got separated so quickly. After Liam said Crosby’s name, everything happened so fast. We all darted instinctively into the corn. Lanston, thankfully, had a death grip on my wrist, but we lost Yelina and Liam.
When your blood is pumping erratically through your veins, you can’t hear anything except the beating drum that tells you to not look back.
We’re going to die. We’re going to die.
I’m unsure if Liam is behind us or Crosby is, but someone is trailing us. Their footsteps are clumsier and louder than ours.
“Keep running,” Lanston orders. He lets go of my wrist and before I can say no, he stops abruptly. His hazel eyes flash at me, telling me to listen to him.
And I do.
I fucking hate myself for it.
But I keep running.
After a few minutes, I break free of the cornfield, unsure what to do next. My first instinct is to call the police.
My hands tremble, I can hardly force my fingers to press the buttons. My breaths are labored and a dizzy spell falls over me. Pressure weighs down on my chest and pain twists in my heart. I know if I don’t calm the fuck down, I’ll pass out. My blood pressure is surely out of control and my medication is at the institute. I take a long, shaky breath and hold it for three seconds, breathing out slowly as I dial 911.
I have to lean over as the dizzy spell turns into horrible spins. I hold the phone to my ear as it rings and watch the thick wall of the corn maze with unblinking eyes.
Yelina bursts from the other entrance, her eyes painfully wide and her breaths raspy and labored. Her face is riddled in cuts and scratches from the stalks. She keeps running until she disappears behind the first building on the main street, where I hope Jericho will find her.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“A m-masked man is trying to h-hurt my friends,” I say in a hushed, wheezing voice. “H-he has a machete and is trying to kill us.”
“Ma’am, are you at the cornfield?”
“Y-yes.”
“We’ve had multiple calls tonight. You are aware it’s a part of the festivities, right?”
“No! This isn’t a staff member. Please send someone out here immediately!” I scream into the phone so loud that my voice cracks. My body shakes violently with rage and fear.
The dispatcher pauses and then tells me they’ll send someone out, but I can tell they don’t believe me.
I tighten my jaw uneasily as I wait for Liam and Lanston to emerge from the corn.
My phone vibrates in my hand. Liam. I take a deep breath of relief and answer it immediately.
“Liam? Where are you?” My voice is raspy from screaming.
The line is eerily quiet.
My stomach twists and everything in my chest feels like it stops working. My lungs. My heart.
“Crosby,” I whisper.
“Where’d you go, little bunny? Come plaaaay.” His voice is distorted and gurgly.
Despair unlike any I’ve ever felt takes hold of me. All I can do is stand here like a fool and tremble.
“He’s mine to punish.” His voice is disturbingly lower all of a sudden—and angry. “Mine to hurt.”
He hangs up and the phone drops out of my hand.
Corn rustles a few feet to my left and Liam limps out with Lanston’s arm over his shoulder. They fall to their knees, and as they do, all the lights turn back on.
Horror crawls through my conscience like poison.
Lanston’s hair is wet and matted down with blood. Liam’s thigh has a long cut down the front of it—his shoe is red and blood spills to the dirt beneath him.
I can’t muster any words.
I only manage to fall next to them and pull them both in tightly before the sirens start. Lanston’s eyes remain closed. I’m unsure if he’s conscious, but I gently cup his bloody cheek and try to comfort him. Liam’s labored breaths are shaky, each one curling in the frigid air. He looks at me with terror and my heart breaks. It breaks for all of us.
Because I don’t think we’ll ever be the same.
Red and blue flashing lights illuminate the shroud of cornstalks, and I see Jason standing with that awful tilt of his head. He points his machete at me and then puts his gloved hand up to his lips, blowing me a kiss. Then he turns and disappears into the maze.
The police officer checks with us before unholstering his gun and running into the maze where I point. A few more police officers show up and a medical team soon after.
I sit quietly as they tend to Liam and Lanston and load them both in the ambulance. Someone helps me up and guides me in as well.
Liam looks at me with dark, hollow eyes. He knows.
He’s going to have to tell me everything.
