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I walk between them.

Neither stops me.

At the end of the row, I look back. They’re still standing there watching me.

I lift my wrist showing my red ribbon fluttering. “See you boys at Communion.”

Rhett raises two fingers in a lazy salute and the Tall Guy does absolutely nothing.

I turn away.

The torches lead me toward the exit where other people pour out of the maze laughing and comparing stories.

I find Mariah near the fence and Ali waiting with drinks.

“There she is!” Ali shouts.

Mariah grabs me. “You abandoned me!”

“You would’ve done the same.”

“Absolutely.”

Ali hands me a drink. “How was it?”

I take a long swallow. “Fucking fantastic.”

Mariah points at my ribbon. “You kept it!”

“Obviously.”

“You know what happens next?”

“Harvest Communion.”

She wiggles her eyebrows. “Apparently that’s the good part.”

“Then let’s go.”

We follow the crowd back toward the bonfires, where the music has already started again and warm lights glow between the trees. Laughter rises around us as someone moves through the crowd handing out little bags of kettle corn, and just like that, Ward Farm becomes a Halloween party again. Warm. Loud. Safe… normal.

I glance over my shoulder one last time.

The cornfield sits dark and silent behind us. No masks drifting between the rows. No drums pounding beneath my feet. Nothing waiting for me in the dark.

I turn away.

I never see the third guy standing beside the scarecrow at the edge of the field. Never see him reach beneath the filthy sleeve and take its pale hand in his… or the dirt packed beneath what I thought were plastic fingers.

I miss when his fingers close around its hand, a moment later, something closes around his… the scarecrow’s fingers move.

3

The Sower

Ezra

She shouldn’t exist.