Corn Stalked (Children Of The Corn)

Chapter #5: Broken Ties

I struggled against the hand and beefy arm that had me restrained. Attempting to scream was a lost cause, as it was only muffled by the hand clamped over my mouth. As I fought though, a voice spoke inside my ear.

"Sam, relax! It's only me!" A familiar male voice calmed.

Grandpa?!

I stopped wiggling and allowed my grandfather to release me. When he did, I turned to him to find a vexed expression on his usually calm face.

"What are you doing out here?!" He demanded to know. There was a force behind his tone.

"I-I was talking to this kid Joseph, who was telling me some....dumb shit and he ended up running in here, so I followed him and-" I started to explain, but my grandfather wanted to hear none of it.

"You shouldn't be out here after dark! It's not safe!" Grandpa Tom scolded.

Hold on a damn minute. All of a sudden, my grandfather was worried about me again? After him and Grandma Joan stared at me at dinner like I was some kind of killer? They were actually afraid of me, I could tell! And now they wanted to be worried about me? No.

"You know, you and Grandma Joan seem to think a lot of things aren't safe. Like me at dinner!" I accused.

Grandpa Tom seemed to be taken aback by my sudden hostility. He looked at the ground with a guilty expression.

"Sam, we're just afraid." He breathed.

"Afraid of what? Me? Afraid that I'm not smart enough? That I won't make the right decisions and keep myself safe?" I grouched.

"Samantha...." He tried to coax, attempting to calm my growing temper.

No, not going to happen.

"And the whole backbone to you guys not trusting me is what? Malachai? A kid I've talked to three times now? A kid that for some reason, you both shit yourselves whenever he's mentioned. You told me after my first encounter with him that he was dangerous, but from what I've gathered, he's perfectly fine! He's my friend! In fact, he's the only one that makes me feel sane in this damn place anymore! Because you and grandma have been driving me nuts with your unnecessary paranoia!" I ranted, a bite to my voice.

"Sam, stay away from that boy! He is dangerous! Much more than you think! He'll hurt you if you get too close with him!" Grandpa Tom warned.

Too close with him? He was pinning me to the damn scarecrow post earlier that day. Can't get more close than that. Even though I knew that's not what my grandfather meant, I was going to use it in that way. I was done playing stupid with my grandparents. I wanted them to feel bad for treating me how they did at dinner!

"Oh don't worry, grandpa. Malachai and I are plenty close already. The scarecrow wasn't the only thing I raised today." I remarked.

I watched as my grandfather's face fell and broke as my words hit him.

"Samantha....you didn't...." He stuttered.

"Oh yes I did. What do you think him and I were just doing out here in the dark? I'm sorry grandpa, I couldn't help it. All alone out here with no kids, and then a strapping young man like him comes along and....well, you can't expect me to say no." I rambled, a lustful tone in my voice. I tugged at a few strands of my hair and offered a dreamy look as well to further sell my lie.

He bought it.

"I can't believe this....I told your grandmother that you were a smart girl, to give you the benefit of the doubt. But I was wrong. She said we didn't know you, and it turns out we don't. You're putting yourself and us in danger....and you don't seem to care at all..." Grandpa whispered, his tone was absolutely shattered.