Page 69 of The Secret Mate Society

The passages seemed to stretch endlessly, each turn revealing more green walls and dead ends.My breath came in ragged gasps, panic making it impossible to think clearly.Every shadow looked like a threat, every rustle of corn stalks made me flinch.

I don’t know how long I ran before I heard voices ahead.Human voices.Relief flooded through me as I burst around a corner and nearly collided with two men walking hand in hand through the maze.

"Whoa there," one of them said with a laugh."Someone's in a hurry."

I stumbled to a halt, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath.The man who'd spoken was tall and lean with sandy brown hair, wearing a perfectly coordinated fall outfit that screamed city sophistication.Beside him stood a much smaller man, probably barely out of college, with bleached blonde hair and delicate features.They looked like they'd stepped out of a lifestyle magazine spread about gay autumn romance.

"Sorry," I gasped, glancing nervously over my shoulder."I got separated from my boyfriend and I think I'm lost."

The taller man's expression shifted to concern."Oh no, that's awful.Are you okay?You look terrified."

"Jake?"The smaller man touched his companion's arm."Maybe we should help him find his way out?"

My blood went cold.Jake.As in Jake from work?I looked more closely at the tall man and my stomach dropped.It was definitely him, but seeing him here, in this context, with someone who was clearly his date, felt surreal.

"Ethan?"Jake's eyes widened in recognition."God I didn’t recognize you.What are you doing here?Are you okay?"

"I...my boyfriend brought me," I managed, still trying to catch my breath.The awkwardness of the situation was almost enough to distract me from my terror.Almost.

Jake's jaw tightened slightly at the mention of Calder."Where is he now?"

"We got separated when we were running."

“Why were you running?”

There was a long, pregnant pause.I couldn’t tell Jake the truth.Not only would he think I was crazy, but I didn’t want him to get involved more than he already was.The last reporter that knew too much went missing.Even if I didn’t want to date Jake, I didn’t want him to go missing too.He was still a friend.

"I thought I heard something following us," I said carefully, which was technically true."Probably just other people in the maze, but it spooked me.I’m getting a little bit too into the Halloween spirit I guess,” I added with a nervous laugh.

Jake's expression remained skeptical, but his companion tugged on his sleeve."We should help him find the exit," the smaller man said softly."He looks really shaken up."

"Right, of course."Jake's reporter instincts were clearly pinging, but he gestured toward the path they'd come from."We just came from that direction.There's a dead end about fifty yards back, but if you take the left fork before that, it should lead toward the center."

"Thanks," I said, already backing away from them.Being around Jake felt rude somehow.I’d rejected him and now I was crashing his date with another man.I needed to go."I should keep looking for Calder."

"Ethan, wait."Jake stepped forward, his brown eyes intense."Are you sure you're okay?You seem really rattled for someone who just got turned around in a corn maze."

His date looked between us with growing confusion, clearly picking up on the tension."Jake, maybe we should just?—"

"I'm fine," I interrupted, forcing a smile."Just not great with directions.Thanks for the help."I gave them both a small smile and a wave.“Have a good date!”

I turned and headed down the path Jake had indicated, my skin crawling with the feeling of being watched.Behind me, I could hear Jake and his date having a hushed conversation, but I couldn't make out the words over the rustle of corn stalks.

The maze felt different now.It was more oppressive, more threatening now that I was on high alert.Every shadow could be hiding the creature that had been hunting me for years.Every sound made me jump.I found myself checking over my shoulder constantly, expecting to see those yellow eyes gleaming in the green passages.

I took the left fork Jake had mentioned, then another left, then a right when the path dead-ended.The voices of other maze-goers seemed impossibly distant, as if I was trapped in a pocket of isolated terror.My phone had no signal this deep in the corn, leaving me completely cut off from help.That's when I heard it again… the deliberate, inhuman footsteps.But this time they weren't behind me.They were ahead, somewhere in the maze, moving parallel to my path.The creature wasn't chasing me anymore.It was herding me.

My breath came in short, panicked gasps as the realization hit me.This wasn't random.The thing had separated me from Calder on purpose, driven me deeper into the maze where no one could hear me scream.Just like it had isolated my father all those years ago.I broke into a run again, crashing through the narrow passages with abandon.Corn stalks whipped at my face and caught at my clothes, but I didn't slow down.The footsteps were getting closer now, no longer bothering with stealth.Whatever was hunting me had decided it was time to finish what it started fourteen years ago.

A dead end loomed ahead, tall stalks forming an impenetrable wall.I skidded to a halt, turning around to face the monster that inevitably was coming to kill me.The corn around me rustled in the wind and I clenched my eyes shut, waiting for the attack.To my left I heard the corn stalks part, something forcing its way through.

Instead of claws and fangs and pain, all I felt were a warm pair of arms wrap around my waist and pull me close.

“Thank the gods…” It was Calder’s voice, his lips against my neck.“I thought I lost you for a moment.”

October 1985

Anonymous photo sent in from a witness.They claim it was taken in the Five Ponds Wilderness in northern New York.They refused to provide any further information.