We watch as one by one they drop their phones into the bins while smoke shoots from the chimney, followed by a large cloud of fire shooting into the night sky and opening like a flower.
“So, what’s the plan?” Kai asks as he inhales the herby smoke deeply and then passes me the lit joint. The bass drops, the sound of screams filling the air as the music picks back up again. “We go in.” I motion my fingers between Kai and his friend. “You two stay the fuck out of my way.”
Chino sucks his teeth but doesn’t say anything while Kai clenches his jaw. I can feel the tension rolling off him in waves.Don’t be brave, Kai.
“That wasn’t the deal,” he mutters.
“It wasn’t, but neither was my girl being kidnapped by yours and then fucked by her and her ex.”
Kai’s hands smash into the dashboard. “Fuck you, man. I’ve done nothing but stand by your side.”
I chuckle at that, the smoke leaving my mouth and curling around us as I hand the joint to Chino. “Standing by me, or waiting for me to drop my guard to pounce?”
Kai stiffens, his pierced nostril flares. “Don’t be brave, Kai. Don’t die before you can say goodbye to your girl.”
The roars of chainsaws and the screams of the partygoers catch my attention. I watch from inside the car as people scatter, running into the fields like loose cannons. A holographic witch flies above the cornfield, cackling with the beat of the music. I’ve never seen anything quite like this, but then something catches my attention. Two dolls wearing neon purple LED masks, both holding spiked bats and twirling them while walking slowly through the maze hand in hand.
Without a word, my hand moves to the door as I turn off the car and slip on a matching neon orange mask. I’m dressed in all black, and there’s only one person here who will be able to tellwho I am, even behind this mask, and it’s the same person I’m moving towards.
“Fuck, where’s he going?” Chino blurts as they scurry out of the car after me. The song shifts to some fast-moving techno blend of metal and bass.
“Roman, where are you going?” Kai shouts behind me.
I contemplate for a second on knocking them both out, but the dolls keep moving further into the cornfield, and I can’t lose sight of them. I’d recognize that body anywhere. Even if I were blind, I would still be able to recognize my girl.
“XENA !” I shout for a second. I swear she pauses before the other woman dressed in the matching costume pulls her towards an arriving guest, jump scaring them and causing a girl dressed as a ninja to fall on her ass.
“STOP.” One of the goons in the front stops me. “Invitation.” I roll the tension off my neck and crack my knuckles, getting ready to fight when Kai’s voice rings from behind me.
“Does it look like we need one?” He motions towards our masks that match theirs.
“Fuck man, I’m sorry,” one of the guys says, stepping out of the way, when a taller one holding a chainsaw comes out of nowhere.
“Who are you under?”
I’m growing extremely impatient for this shit. Xena is no longer in my sight, and between the corn stalks and the smoke, it will be next to impossible to find her now.
“Alec,” I growl out before pushing past them, daring them to cross my path. But thankfully, the name is enough to clear a path and allow Kai and I to enter the maze.
“Chino stayed behind. He will be the getaway driver.”
“Don’t need it.”
Kai grabs my arm, pushing me into the corn stalks. “What the fuck? You are really testing my patience.”
“Listen, man, I know you got beef with Tokyo, but that’s my sister.”
I push him out of the way, pointing a finger at him. “You’re either in my way or out of it. Can’t be both.”
“Roman, I mean it.”
Suddenly, the sound of a chainsaw and then a flash of metal comes between us, causing us both to simultaneously jump out of the way. The tall scarecrow smiles as he revs the chainsaws that are dripping some kind of red liquid from the tips. Pieces of cloth are still running through the blade.
This isn’t to scare us…
He knows we are here.
“Kai, move,” I snarl as the chainsaw swings his way. He manages to duck away from the blade. My leg swings and the bottom of my boot connects with the inner part of scarecrow’s knees, and London Bridge falls the fuck down.
