My entire body turned to ice at the thought. I sucked in a deep breath, desperately weighing my options. If I stayed put, I was an easy target, especially with the locks not working. If I got out of the driver’s side, I’d run straight into his path.
Thatleft one choice, and as much as it scared the living hell out of me, it was better than waiting to be raped and murdered by a crazed madman. Before I could give it too much thought, I clambered over to the passenger side, throwing open the door and leaping out into the rainy night. Without a backward glance, I took off toward the cornfield.
It was by some miraclethatI’d decided not to dress up for the evening at Donna’s and had opted to wear sneakers, making it easier to run, but with my jumper and cotton pants soaked within seconds, my clothes turned heavy.
Reaching a gap between two rows of corn, I paused, briefly looking over my shoulder to see if I was being followed. A scream escaped at seeing the scarecrow had started walking in my direction with long, determined strides, the knife still clutched in his hand.
Fuck! I was going to die.
With my heart in my throat and my body riddled with panic, I took off again.
My ankles twisted on the sodden ground, my feet sinking into the mud as I pushed my legs harder than ever. Muscles ached, demanding I stop, but with the image of the creepy figure holding the knife etched in my mind, I kept going until I was deep in the cornfield.
Tall corn stalks towered over me in long rows,justlike they had when I was a little girl, only now, with the rain still falling and blurring the path ahead, I felt more trapped than I did as a kid.
My lungs burned as adrenaline flooded my system, keeping my aching body from giving up until I’d reached safety. But after another minute of battling through the rain, I couldn’t go on. If I pushed myself any longer, I was at risk of collapsing. Pausing, I pushed myself between two corn stalks in hopesthatthey would shield me.
Sucking in deep breaths, my desperate pants echoed into the night as I willed my thumping heart to calm. I glanced from left to right, releasing a sigh of relief at finding I hadn’t been followed.
I squeezed my eyes closed, taking several seconds to regain my breath, but knowingthatif I stayed put for too long, I risked the scarecrow finding me. Ijustneeded a minute, andthenI would take off again.
With my heart calming fractionally, I cracked my eyes open, relieved to find the rain had finally begun to slow. NowthatI’d stopped running, though, a chill ran through my body from my sodden clothes.
As quietly as I could, I wriggled out of my jumper, figuringthatI was soaked right down to the bone anyway. If I needed to run again, I wouldn’t have to carry the weight of my jumper.
Rustling from nearby reached my ears, and I dropped my jumper, holding my breath and intently listening for any other clues of where the sound came from.
Silence.
Still, I didn’t dare move.
I didn’t dare breathe.
Frustrated tears filled my eyes as I sank my teeth into my lip to prevent a sob of despair from leaving me. What the hell was I going to do?Evenif I made it backto my car without running into the maniac, I had no signal on my phone, and my car was fucked.
I needed to keep going through the cornfield and hope there was a house nearby.Thatwas my only choice.
The second the thought entered my mind, loud rustling sounded behind me, and before I could move, a gloved hand appeared from nowhere, wrapping around my mouth at the same time as a hard body pressed against me from behind.
Momentarily forgettingthatthe person chasing me had a knife, fight or flight instinct kicked in, and I kicked my leg back, aiming for their shin as I attempted to wriggle out of their grasp.
My efforts didn’t get me anywhere but on my back in a puddle of mud with the figure sitting on top of me, pinning me with their entire weight. One hand held my hands above my head, while the other pressed the tip of the knife against my throat, and the scarecrow masked loomed in my face.
Terror clawed its way up my throat, preventing me from screaming. The scarecrow was more frightening than the one I’d seen as a young girl. Bloodied scars covered the rough material, and where the eye holes should have been, black patches had been stitched over them, making itseemthatthe scarecrow had no eyes.
There was no nose, and the black mouth had been stitched up with thick white thread, and around the throat, a rope was tied, preventing the mask from slipping off.
Fear slithered through every inch of my body, my life flashing before my eyes, before an image of Billie’s beautiful face settled in my vision. What if I never got to see her again?
“Pl…please don’t hurt me,”I begged, tears sliding down my cheeks.“Please! I have a daughter.”
The masked man chuckled darkly, a gruff laughthatwould haunt my nightmares if I survived this.“What will I get in return if I let you go?”
“Anything! I’ll do anything,justplease don’t hurt me.”
He moved the knife to run the cool blade against my heated cheek, and I squinted against the drops of rain still falling from the sky to look up at him.“Anything?”he said in a low, gravelly voice.“Will you let me fuck you with my knife, pretty girl?”
“Wh…What?”He wanted to fuck me with his knife?
