Chapter 27 #2
“The whole place is going to light up!” Tate shouted. “Luke, go get on the intercom and tell everyone to get out!”
“I’m going to get the fire extinguisher,” Ben yelled as both men took off running toward the entrance booth.
Tate gripped my hand, and we ran toward the smoke.
“There are kids in there, Liv! We have to go in!”
“I’m with you,” I said breathlessly, while my heart pounded like a drum in my chest.
Suddenly, the flames closest to us jumped from one dry straw bale to another bale across the path.
I gasped, my hands covering my mouth in horror.
It was consumed by the fire in seconds. Over the intercom, Luke was shouting into the microphone, requesting immediate evacuation of the entire five-acre maze.
Around us, frantic teenagers and parents raced in a panic, dialing cell phones and calling out for their loved ones.
Above the noise of the crowd and the billowing heat from the flames, cries of terror from somewhere inside the maze reached our ears.
Tate turned to look at me. “Liv, you do not leave my side, got it?”
“Got it,” I panted, staring at the blaze. The large straw bales were stacked two-high throughout the field, creating an 8-foot wall. If anyone were stuck in a dead end near the flame, they would be trapped.
Luke ran up behind us, carrying a ladder. “I’ll climb up the ladder to the top of the straw and take it with me. You two stay on the ground, and if you find anyone stuck, I’ll lower it down. You guys help get people up the ladder.”
Tate nodded and motioned toward Luke to start climbing.
Once he was at the top of the bale, Tate handed up the ladder.
Then, with my hand tight in his, we took off on an alternate route, working our way around the flames that were quickly moving down the outer side of the straw. We ran toward the shouts and the smoke.
Inside the maze was pure chaos. Thankfully, the Walkers kept ladders on the top of the straw throughout the maze, in case of situations just like this. We passed a few groups of people using ladders to escape. Once Tate saw that they were secure and able to get themselves to safety, we moved on.
“There’s a section of the maze up here that’s more closed off, full of dead ends, and the flames are headed right there,” he yelled as he raced down the pathway, flanked by extremely flammable straw.
On the way, we scrambled past a handful of Grim Reapers, a creepy clown, a scarecrow with a burlap sack for a mask, and a headless horseman, all helping to lead kids and families to safety.
Up top, Luke had gotten stopped by another group who needed a ladder, but Tate pressed forward, worried about someone else being trapped.
The sound of sirens in the distance brought a measure of relief, although Tate kept running like he never heard them.
We came to a dead end in the maze. On the other side of the straw, panicked shouts grew louder as the flames made their way toward them.
An abandoned ladder leaned against the straw on the opposite side from us.
Tate grabbed it and moved it to the side of the screams. Before he climbed the ladder, he looked down the short, empty pathway we’d just come from and back at me.
“They’re trapped on this side,” he said. “It sounds like it’s a group of kids. I’m going to climb over and help them up. Stay here and help them down to this side.”
I nodded, my gaze flicking back to the large orange fire growing closer in the pathway next to us, the flames heading directly for the children.
He checked the path once more before lifting his worried eyes to mine. “Don’t go anywhere!”
“Go!” I pushed him toward the ladder and watched as he arrived at the top, carefully picking it up and setting it on the other side. He spoke in a low, calming voice to the kids on the other side before climbing down out of my view.
There, in the momentary quiet, I attempted to settle my racing heart.
I took several deep breaths. I was itching to do something and kept waiting for Tate to send over some kids for me to help down, but there was nothing yet.
The whole scene felt...surreal. There was more shouting in the distance and another muffled intercom plea, this time by Ann, to exit the maze immediately.
It was disconcerting to be alone in the dark after holding Tate’s hand for so long.
I felt him before I saw him.
The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I knew I wasn’t alone here any longer.
Like a reluctant heroine in a horror movie, I turned slowly toward the pathway we’d just come from to see a scarecrow with a burlap mask standing in the middle of the pathway, looking back at me. My heart stuttered to a stop.
For a long, disconcerting moment, we stared at each other.
He wore a brown, patchy scarecrow hat with a bent and pointy top, bits of straw hanging down from the side of his head. Crude black stitches created a line for his mouth, and black patches around his eyes made for a terrifying picture.
He took a step toward me, and I attempted to gain my bearings.
This was it.
Fight or flight. This was my moment. He had somehow gotten me alone. I sucked in air, in through the nose and out through the mouth, focusing on keeping calm like Tate had taught me.
And then he took off his mask.
It was almost comical seeing the stark difference between what his costume looked like compared to what was underneath.
He was smaller than I remembered, and somehow that was the most disappointing part.
Over the past six months, I'd turned him into something larger than life—a towering shadow that haunted me wherever I went. It’s funny how fear works.
But the moment you face it, you realize you were always bigger than it was.
Without the mask, he looked less like a monster and more like the kind of guy who the IT department would send to reset your password.
And then he smiled.
The rage I’d been growing inside of me began to fester and burn.
All those sleepless nights. All those times knowing I was being followed.
All those times I felt somebody watching me.
All those times I never felt safe leaving my apartment.
Him invading my privacy, spying on me and making me feel so completely unsafe and unable to live my life.
And now he was here, ready to enact the final part of his plan.
How dare he.
He nodded to the side, where Tate had disappeared, before he whispered, “We have to go. He’ll be back any second.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I yelled, leaving no room for him to misinterpret my meaning.
He took a couple of steps toward me, confused. “But I’ve got everything planned. Just what you wanted.”
I shook my head, holding a hand out to ward off his advance. “I didn’t make any plans with you. This stops NOW.”
He shook his head, brow furrowed, and took another step. “No. We’re leaving. We have to go before he comes back.”
“Who are you? How do you keep finding me?”
He didn’t answer. We both were distracted by children’s heads appearing at the top of the straw where Tate had disappeared. Any minute now, he’d be back. I was about to scream for him when Leroy grabbed my arm.
“Hey!” I yelped, attempting to yank myself free from his grasp, but he was stronger than he looked. “Stop!”
“I’ve done all this work for us. You’ll be happy once we get there!” he growled, pulling my back against his chest. He wrapped his arms tight around my waist before lifting me off the ground, ready to drag me away.
But I’d done this dance before.
I scratched, kicked, screamed, and dug my heels into the ground.
I connected to certain points with my elbows and used my body to twist and flail.
Because Leroy was a scared little mouse compared to Tate Walker, he dropped me to the ground.
I swiped hard at his legs with mine, watching with great satisfaction as he tumbled to the dirt.
Tate was nowhere to be seen. But I had to stop waiting for him to save me.
I scrambled back up to my feet at the same time Leroy stood, looking at me with utter betrayal in his eyes.
“Why are you fighting me? This was our plan from the beginning. You love me,” he called out just before he moved forward.
“You need help, Leroy. Is that even your name?” I asked, backing up a few steps until I found myself trapped against the straw.
Leroy saw his moment and ran forward. With shaky limbs, a bodyguard nowhere in sight, and an anger pulsing through my veins…I raised my fists.