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The girl shrieks and the guy yells, “Run!”

“Working on it!” I’m laughing again as I shoot into another row. For a few seconds, I hear nothing behind me.

I slow. My lungs burn. “Ha.” I turn, walking backward.

Nothing but silence as the fog drifts lazily across the empty path. “I fucking won.”

A hand shoots through the corn and I scream as fingers catch my waist, but I pull away before whoever it is can get a grip.

“Nope!” I take off again.

The path opens ahead into a wider section of the maze where several rows intersect. People scatter in every direction, chased by Reapers through flashing red light and thickening fog.

This is fucking amazing.

I cut left.

Someone whistles behind me.

I look back and Skull Face stands at the intersection pointing at me. Then he slowly drags his thumb across his throat.

“Oh, very scary.”

He takes one step forward.

I grin then run. This time I know he’s behind me without looking. I can hear him, feel him. Every pounding step gets closer, until adrenaline sparks beneath my skin and my entire body screams at me to go faster. I turn one corner then another. The music grows louder, the bass vibrating through the dirt beneath my boots. I’m almost positive I’ve doubled back toward the center of the maze when a dark figure steps into the path ahead.

I stop so fast dirt sprays beneath my boots.

The first masked man—the one with the stitched mouth stands in the middle of the row, exactly where I left him. Except he isn’t looking at me, he’s staring past me. I turn and see Skull face round the corner. He stops and for one strange second, neither of them moves then Skull Face lowers his head. Not playfully—respectfully. He backs away… once—twice, then disappears into the fog.

I look at Stitches. “Well.” I suck in a breath, pressing a hand against my chest. “Apparently you’re popular.”

I get nothing and…. his attention is already back on the corn… the wrong part of the corn. The section where I saw the shadow earlier. Another shape passes between the stalks… slowly this time and too tall to be one of the actors.

My smile fades. “Okayy.”

He reaches for my arm, then stops himself before touching me and points toward the maze entrance again.

I finally nod. “Yeah. I’m going.”

A scream rises somewhere in the distance. At first, I smile because that’s what everyone has been doing all night.

Screaming, laughing and running… then the sound keeps going—and going until there’s nothing playful left in it.

The masked man turns toward it, so do I and the scream cuts off.

Silence settles over our section of the maze then the corn beside us rustles.

I stare at it.

He steps between me and the stalks.

Something moves through the row on the other side. Not running—walking slowly… keeping pace with us.

A chill prickles across the back of my neck. “What the fuck is that?”

He doesn’t answer but this time, I don’t make a joke about it.