Chapter 5
Cherry giggles and flips her hair as she flirts her way into getting us two free tickets to the maze.
The man in the booth can’t keep his eyes off her tits.
And I can’t blame him. With her lowered top, you can see a slight peek of her nipples.
She leans so far forward that she’s almost in the booth with him.
If it weren’t for the counter between them, she would be.
“I have money, you know? The tickets are only like seven bucks each,” I say as we stalk toward the entrance to the maze.
She flashes me a wicked grin, showing off the diamond stud in her left front tooth. “So do I, but where’s the fun in that? Besides, I like toying with Kane. It’s kind of our thing.”
I nod to placate her. Even though I can’t remember, I’m starting to understand why I never kept in touch with this girl. Something in my gut tells me I left her and this whole town behind for a good reason. Cherry is gorgeous and charismatic but also trouble with a capital T.
I flinch when a group of kids blows past, almost knocking us over. The girls shriek as the boys they’re with chase them into the maze. Fuck, I’m so jumpy. Every high-pitched noise reminds me of the sound of shrapnel scraping across pavement.
Cherry scrunches her brows, a look of pity. She drags me by the sleeve of my jacket. “Come on, Rox.” She hands me the flask again. “Have another sip. It will take the edge off.”
I oblige her but wince as the bitter liquid trickles down my throat. “Fuck, that’s disgusting.”
She laughs, her eyes sparkling when they lock with mine. “Yeah, you hated it back then too. But tell me you’re not starting to feel all warm and tingly inside.”
She’s not wrong. I force another smile and follow her farther into the creepy maze. “So what do we do now?”
Cherry runs her hands along the corn stalks. “We find a way to get through to the other side. There’s a long-standing tradition that if you can make it out of here in three minutes, they give you your money back for the tickets.”
“But we didn’t pay.”
“Exactly.” She winks and takes off running.
Fuck. I charge after her, keeping an eye trained on her mass of dark curls as she takes turn after turn.
But my head starts to pound. “Hold on. I can’t run that fast.” I healed quicker than most, but I’m still trying to get my strength and stamina up.
The doctor said it’s because I used to be a dancer. That my muscles remember.
I pant for air as I round the corner she disappeared behind and almost slam into her.
“Fuck, it’s a dead end,” she yells.
I can barely focus with all the screams from the other maze goers. There’s a flickering strobe light that pans the area, a trick to confuse us further.
“Should we turn back?” Panic is starting to set in as the last trace of daylight dissipates.
“Nah. We’ve made it through before, Rox.” She takes off running again.
Fucking hell. I take a deep breath and chase after her. I almost catch up when a shadowy figure jumps out from the corn stalks, blocking the path ahead.
I scream as the figure growls and waves their hands around. They wear all black except for the giant pumpkin mask covering their whole head. Fuck. I dodge around them and keep going. Screams and shrieks echo behind me as they jump-scare another group of unsuspecting kids.
Sweat pours down my back despite the cool breeze that makes the corn stalks look like they’re dancing.
“Cherry?” I peer down the row to my right to find it empty.
I look to my left to find a teenage couple making out.
The moonlight glints off the girl’s braces, creating a sense of nostalgia even though I have no recollection of my own adolescence.
Fuck. I lost her. Great. I slow my pace so I can catch my breath.
I couldn’t care less about beating some ridiculous finishing time.
All I want is to get the fuck out of here and go home.
Except that house isn’t my home. Nowhere is.
My stomach knots. I resist the urge to bawl my eyes out between the corn stalks.
Every turn leads to another with no end in sight. It seems the deeper I get into the maze, the fewer people I see. Did everyone else get out, and I’m the only asshole who’s lost?
Another paid character actor leaps out from between the stalks and screams at me. This one wears a glowing skeleton mask. But I’m prepared this time.
“Nice try, asshole,” I mutter as I shove past him. Although, he did get my heart racing.
I call out for Cherry a few more times but it’s no use.
She left me behind to win fourteen dollars apparently.
I shudder under the brief veil of darkness.
The strobe light still pans, but at a much faster pace, making it harder to get my bearings.
Who thought it was a good idea to subject a girl with brain damage to flashing lights?
I pull out my phone to send her a text, and my heart sinks. No service. You’ve got to be kidding me.
I’m hoping there’s some kind of safety protocol in place that emboldens the maze workers to come find us if we can’t get out. I’m cold, dizzy, and lost as fuck. If I have to endure this for much longer, they’re going to find me passed out face down in the dirt.
The wind picks up, sending goose bumps across my bare legs, making me regret the miniskirt. I make a few more turns, zigzagging through the maze, but there’s still no sign of Cherry. Or anyone, for that matter. I sigh and take a left only to find myself at another dead end.
Fuck. I take slow deep breaths as I press my palms against the thick bundle of stalks. They’re impenetrable. Dammit. I hate this.
Footsteps stir behind me. Before I can turn around to see who it is, I’m grabbed. One arm snakes around my waist while a hand clamps down on my mouth. He towers over me, overpowering me. All I can breathe in is the scent of cotton candy dusted on his fingers.
“Did you miss me, pretty girl?”
I freeze, my blood running cold. Punk. He found me. I’m so fucked.
“I’m going to remove my hand, but I need you to be nice and quiet for me.” His voice is deep and raspy.
I try to wiggle free, but his grip is tight, threatening. The thought of screaming for help crosses my mind, but I’m not stupid enough to give him another reason to kill me. So I concede with a nod.
“Good girl.” He drops his hand to my throat, curling his fingers around the sides of it. Something hard presses against my lower back. Oh god. This is turning him on.
I gasp for air, my heart racing. “You shouldn’t be here… What do you want from me?”
He nuzzles my ear. “I want what’s mine. You shouldn’t have run away from me.”
The hard contours of his mask press against my cheek. I pinch my eyes closed and swallow down the lump in my throat. “You’re depraved. Dangerous. I almost died because of you.”
“Is that the lie they’re telling you?” he growls. His grip around my neck tightens. “It was an accident, baby. You promised me you’d never leave. I’m going to help you keep your word.”
My body trembles. He could kill me right here and leave me in the field. No one would ever know. “I don’t remember.”
He flips me around and pins me against the stalks. “Shh. You will. I’ll help you.”
I gaze up at his orange glow mask, the eyes and mouth are marked out with XX’s. A memory flashes. A quick glimpse of a night just like this. Except we’re in a club. The memory fades before I can grasp it.
I shudder. “Why were we on the road that night? What were we doing driving in a storm?”
He lowers his hand to the hem of my skirt, pinching the denim between his fingers. “That was the night we killed your stepfather. We spent the night here in Crimson Valley and were heading back to Lavender Heights. To our home.”
What the fuck? I shake my head. Stars blur my vision. “No, you’re lying. I’m not a killer.”
He chuckles as he dips his hand underneath my skirt and grips my thigh. “You’re my fucking girl, Roxy. Of course you’re a killer. I washed the blood off your pretty face myself.”
My head spins. I can’t breathe. Fuck. “No. You made me into something I’m not. That’s why I had to get away. Mama was right. You’re toxic.”
He inches his hand higher until he finds the edge of my panties. “It was your idea, Roxy. I never made you do anything that you didn’t already want to do… Just like now.”
I gasp as he slips his finger inside my panties and flicks it over my clit. A tingle shoots up my core as I arch my back against the stalks. He takes it as an invitation and presses his body into mine. “Punk… You have to stop. Let me go.”
He slides his finger inside my wet pussy and moans. “Fuck, I missed hearing you call out my name. I’m not gonna stop, Roxy. That’s not what my pretty girl wants.”
He thrusts a second finger in, and I buck.
“You love how I touch you. How I make you squirm and question everything you’ve ever known.” He curls his fingers up, reaching a spot inside me so deep it opens the floodgates.
I bite back a whimper, my legs shaking. “I’m not going to let you trick me again,” I say with zero conviction. My body wants him so badly, it’s infuriating.
He pumps harder, unraveling me by the second. “Our love isn’t a trick. It’s salvation. You’ve been led astray, but I’m here to remind you who you belong to.”
I clench around his fingers, fighting the urge to give in. But it’s so hard when he knows exactly what my body likes. He calls it love, but it feels more like obsession. Addiction. I think a part of me doesn’t want to remember because when I do, I know I’ll fall back under his spell.
I bite my lip so hard I draw blood. “Fuck. Why are you doing this?”
“Because I miss seeing you fall apart for me.” He slides his other hand around to my ass and probes at my entrance. “Worship me as I worship you.”
I can’t help but rock between his hands as he plays me like a marionette, pulling my strings so tight I’m on the verge of exploding all over him. “This is unholy.”
He presses his masked face to my forehead. “Yeah, it is… you’re mine, Roxy. I’ll never let you go. Submit. Let your memories back in. Let me back in.”
A spasm sparks in my core. I throw my head back as my orgasm builds like a crescendo. I whip my head to the side, frustrated and angry at how fucking good this feels. “You’re a psycho,” I murmur.
He applies more pressure, flicking my clit furiously as my cum spills out. “I’m your fucking psycho. You make me this way. The Jack to your Jill, remember? Mmm, yeah, that’s it. Cum so fucking hard for me.”
I let out a moan as I turn to putty in his hands. My injured brain might be misfiring, but my body knows exactly what sets my soul ablaze. And it’s him. Punk fucking Wilder. But I don’t trust anything he says.
I give his chest a hard shove. He barely moves two inches. “All right, pretty girl. You wanna get angry. Let’s go. Punch me, kick me, I don’t fucking care. I’ll take any punishment you give me.”
A rage billows inside me at his words of permission. Even his fighting style is manipulative, making me think it’s my idea when he’s baited me into it. But I shove him again, anyway. “They had to cut my clothes off me, Punk. I lost everything. And I hate you for it.”
A low growl erupts from his chest as he charges toward me and pins me back against the stalks. He runs his hand up my thigh, fingering my scar. “I’m sorry, Roxy. But you’re not the only one hurting. I thought I lost you forever. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if you had died.”
I wonder what he looks like under the mask, but at the same time, I don’t want to see his face.
If it triggers my memory, then he’ll suck me back in.
And yet I can see the pain in his eyes even behind the XX’s.
“But I didn’t. I’m alive. And I’m telling you that we are done. This toxic bullshit is over.”
He palms my pussy and squeezes. “This is mine.” His other hand wraps around my throat. “And this is mine. I own your scars, your heart, and your life. And you own me. Not even death can rip us apart.”
He’s relentless, fixated on the life we had. The one I can’t remember. I sigh and let the tears stream down my cheeks. But I have to get away from him right now before his obsession becomes my whole personality.
Again, I have to resist the need to rub my pussy against his hand. “I-I need time. Please.”
He boxes me in. It’s protective and possessive at the same time. “Come home with me, Roxy. I’ll give you your space and time there. I just want you where I can see you.”
Fuck. What the fuck am I supposed to do? Some unexplained part of me wants to give in. Like it feels so natural to submit to this man. But if I do, how will I know if it’s what I truly want?
“Roxy?” Cherry’s cry breaks the spell between us.
Punk releases me and shrinks back. He presses his finger to my lips. “Until next time, pretty girl. I’m coming for you real soon.”
I watch him back up, his eyes trained on me until he disappears deep inside the maze. My chest heaves as I hyperventilate. Fuck.
“Roxy? Are you there?” Cherry calls out again.
“I’m here,” I rasp. “Over here.”
I don’t realize I’m crouched on the ground until I see Cherry skipping toward me. “Oh fuck. Are you okay?”
I nod, shaking. “Yeah. I just um… had a panic attack. I got lost. I-I couldn’t find you.”
She pulls me up and drapes an arm around my shoulders. “Shit, Rox. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you out here. It’s too soon. Come on, let’s get you home.”
I force a smile. “It’s okay. Thanks, Cherry.”
As she guides me out of the maze, I spot a flash of those glowing orange XX’s, watching me. I shiver as Cherry tucks me into her side. My head is scrambled. And my body… my thighs are sticky, soaked with cum and the remnants of cotton candy.
I take a deep breath to steady myself, even as my resolve is crumbling. The need, the ache, in my belly grows. It’s like missing something you never had. But the thing that scares me most is that even with the memory loss, I know in my bones that I’m just as twisted and fucked up as him.