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The man on staff takes Lanston and Yelina’s tickets before nodding for them to head into the maze.
Excitement and fear twist in the air and my skin itches with anticipation. Who doesn’t love a good scare in a haunted maze?
Lanston screams almost immediately, followed by Yelina shouting at him that he’s an idiot. Liam snorts and I elbow him with a wide grin.
“He can’t help it.” I try to keep the laughter from my voice but fail horribly.
“All right, you two ready?” The staff member holds out his hand for our tickets and we pass them over. He nods us through. Liam takes the lead, even though I offered since I don’t mind being scared shitless first.
The maze is dark, only lit by cellphone flashlights and lanterns scattered sporadically throughout. It’s impressive that this town puts on such a big festival. The atmosphere is perfect and the screams and laughter only add to it.
“You can cling to my arm if you’re scared.” Liam grins sarcastically.
“Says the man who almost peed himself going into an abandoned basement.”
He narrows his eyes at me and wraps his arms around my chest. “Such cruel words from lovely lips.”
We make our way through the maze, screaming and running from masked staff chasing us, wielding fake knives and axes. Liam’s initial courage has turned into belligerent laughing and shouts at every jump scare.
“Fucking run, Wynn!” He cackles as he charges ahead of me, leaving me to die at the hands of the slasher-movie villain Jason and his machete.
“You asshole!” I laugh-scream as I run from Jason. I quickly look back to see if he’s gaining on me, but the masked man stands still, ominously so, with his head tilted just enough to send eerie tendrils of fear through my bones. Liam pops out from around a corner of the maze and I squeal as he grabs me. He kisses my neck before he pulls me with him.
“Like I’d actually just leave you behind.”
A gust of wind sweeps his black hair to the side and the warm glow of a lantern halos his figure. I find myself memorizing this moment. The way his gray sweater lifts to showcase his stomach, his oak scent consuming every last piece of me.
Then I hear Lanston scream.
“Wrong way, wrong way! Turn around!” He snatches me from Liam and I laugh as I run along beside him. Liam’s right behind us, followed by Yelina, who looks pissed that she’s been left behind.I know the feeling.
The four of us head toward the dark center of the maze. Our phones are the only light sources here. We hide behind a crate covered with pumpkins and hay bales and shut our flashlights off. Minutes tick by silently before we hear rustling.
One of the staff ghouls runs past the crate and then it’s eerily quiet. It’s too dark and I can’t tell whose lap I’m sitting in. The four of us are packed in tight and it’s not until Yelina stands that we start to untangle ourselves.
“That was terrible. This isn’t fun anymore and I think we’re lost,” she whispers.
My cheeks warm as Lanston speaks up behind me, his arms holding me. “Shit, well, let’s just keep walking back the way we came. We’ll find our way out eventually,” he murmurs.
“Okay, but which way did we come through?” Yelina tuts. She’s right, with only our flashlights and nothing else to guide us, we’re fucking lost.
Liam taps his screen and tries to pull up our location. “I’m not getting good bars out here, so I can’t really tell where we are on the map app.” His eyes linger on me and Lanston. I stand up next to Yelina and cross my arms against the night’s chill.
“Let’s just call Jericho and head back that way,” I suggest, turning on my flashlight and helping Lanston up. He still looks scared shitless.
“Where are the town lights? The festival can’t be over already—what time is it?” Yelina sounds panicked.
All of our heads lift to the sky.
No town lights.
“What?” Liam mutters, his breath curling in the cold air.
“Did the power go out?” Lanston shifts uncomfortably.
I shrug. Okay, this is getting weird. “Let’s just walk back. I’m sure it’s fine.”
