Cornfield

Justice

I shined the flashlight around the attic. Dust was floating in the air and cobwebs accumulated together on the ceiling. I found the Christmas decorations a few steps away. I walked around the boxes of lights and ornaments. Next to them, I found a slick black case.

"Hey, Kaitlyn,' I yelled.

"Yeah!" Kaitlyn yelled back.

"Is it in a black case?!"

"Yeah! Bring the whole thing down with you!"

"All right!"

I placed the flashlight on a nearby box and grabbed the case.

"I l-l-love you..." a voice rang out. It reminded me of the voices that come from those talking teddy bears, but this one was slow and scratchy. It was like the voice was there and gone within the same speech pattern.

I turned to the source of the sound. All I saw was darkness and boxes. My eyes followed the shadows around the corners of the attic.

"I...l-l-l-love...y-y-you..."

My breathing slowed.

"Focus, Macey," I whispered to myself. "Just get the case and leave." I walked to the opening of the attic. "Here's the case." I slid it down the stairs.

"I...l-l-love..."

I froze. The sound was coming from somewhere else. Someplace closer. Someplace behind me. I took a breath and slowly turned around. All I saw were boxes. I blinked and looked around the room. Shadows were moving in the corners of the room becoming unknown figures. They were laughing and snarling. I could see fangs growing, as they slithered closer to me. Close enough to reach and touch me. I blinked.

"This isn't real," I whispered.

"I-I-I-I...love-l-l-love..."

I blinked again as I shook my head. "No, no, no." I backed up from the shadows.

"Hey, Macey!" Kaitlyn cried. "Are you okay up there?!"

I placed my hand over my heart, as I kept walking back. I bumped into boxes. I felt a tickling sensation on my shoulder. I looked down and saw a tarantula crawling on me. I screamed, as I slapped it off of me. It hit the ground with a thud and scurried away. I took a moment to regain my breath. With one last inhale, I turned around.

"Oh shit," I mumbled. I met the chilling blue eyes of Cornfield. I only knew it was him, because he looked exactly the way Scarlett described. Tall and lanky. Huge hat with a scythe in his hand.

Before I could blink, Cornfield swung his scythe around my waist and pulled me to him. The scythe cut against the skin on my hip and back. My fear and adrenaline was so high in the moment, I barely even noticed.

His eyes melted into me, as he searched my face: my eyes, my nose, my mouth. I held my breath, as tears gathered in my eyes.

Cornfield's head lowered as he met my eyes once again. His breath was hot and heavy, heating my mouth and chin.

I whimpered.

Cornfield looked back and forth in my eyes, searching. He looked away shaking his head ever so slightly.

Next thing I knew, I was thrown on the ground. The side of my body and head hit the wooden floor. I groaned, as my head started throbbing.

He swung his scythe down at me, missing me by mere centimeters. I quickly regained my barings and crawled away from him. He limped towards me. There was heat in his eyes that wasn't previously there. The muscles in his arms seemed to retract and flex over and over. The burlap would morphe to accompany his flexing muscles and the stitching in his arms separated from another creating huge gaps in his forearms and hands.

Cockroaches began crawling down his stomach and feet. They circled his body as they twisted and crawled over his protruding ribs. Centipedes took their time inching across his arms. Some were digging into the open wounds of his arm that was falling off. They dug holes and came out of his skin bloodied. Others were getting lost within the burlap of his clothing. Spiders were crawling their way down his legs and onto the floor. They started making their way towards me.

"No, no, no," I whispered.

Spiders and cockroaches were all crawling toward me. The sound of their legs tapping against the wood was the only thing filling my head.

"No!" I cried. I stomped on the bugs that were coming too close, as I backed myself into a corner. I looked up and met Cornfield's eyes. They were playful and filled with glee. He was coming straight for me. I only had a couple of seconds to escape him due to his limp leg.

I ran to the right.

He limped towards me and held out his scythe. He swung towards me.

I ducked and dived towards the opening of the attic. I was a few feet away, when I felt something tickling the hairs of my right arm. I looked down and noticed a red and black centipede making its way up my forearm. I screamed and flicked it off. I quickly patted myself to kill any other remaining bugs on me, if any were there.

Cornfield was coming closer. He swung his scythe down. I rolled out the way and quickly went down the stairs. I slipped on the last step and fell against the ground. My shoulder slammed against the floor.

"Close it! Close it!" I cried.

Kaitlyn pushed up the stairs before pushing up the door to the attic.

Everyone looked at me. My heart was hammering in my chest. I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes.

***

"So what happened after that?" Officer Lycan asked.

"Macey rushed down the stairs and fell to the ground. She didn't look at anyone.

'What happened?' I asked.

'He was up there,' Macey mumbled. 'Cornfield.'

None of us said anything, as we looked at one another.

I watched as Natalie rubbed her hands up and down her arms.

Kaitlyn held my hand and laced her fingers through mine.

I looked over at her.

'We should go and load up the shotgun,' Kaitlyn mumbled.

'Where?' Roxanne asked.

'I feel safer in your room,' Natalie muttered.

'Then I guess we'll go there,' Kaitlyn said.

Natalie, Caiden, and Roxanne walked to Kaitlyn's room. Danny, Kaitlyn and I looked over at Macey.

She was still on the floor with her eyes closed.

'Macey,' I called.

'Give me a second,' Macey mumbled. 'I'll be right there.'

We hesitated. After a few seconds, Danny nodded towards the door. Kaitlyn grabbed the case before the three of us walked into Kaitlyn's room.