Page 4 of Hide and Keep

Taking in the fifteen-foot-tall twin scarecrows with scary jack-o’-lantern heads and bodies wrapped in flickering orange lights, giving the illusion of being ablaze, I allow myself the first full inhale since I snuck out earlier.

Thick woodsmoke clings to the air, hinting at the bonfires I’m looking forward to seeing in person. Leaves flutter off shiveringtree branches, relocating their coverage to the ground where piles are already gathering.

Slowly, I walk through one, smiling at the way the leaves crunch beneath my soles. A gust of wind suddenly picks up, swirling them around me like I’m inside an autumn snow globe.

My smile grows as my eyelids fall closed, committing it all to memory.

Somebody lets out a scream, making my eyes fly open. When no one appears next to me or calls my name, I find my way into another long line, this one for admission.

What feels like an hour later, I’m getting my hand stamped, then with the twin scarecrows towering above me, their features welcoming in the most sinister of ways, I enter the maze. Immediately, a weight slips off my shoulders, my hands lifting on their own, high into the night sky dotted with twinkling stars.

I made it. I’m here.

Bringing them down to shoulder height, the orange and black silk attached to my wrists spread my wings out wide. Before I know it, I’m breaking into a frolic. I drift through the maze, weaving around people who have no idea who I am. For once, nobody’s scrutinizing my every move. I’m just…free. Free as a butterfly.

I don’t know how long I float, but it’s not long enough before the foghorn is blowing and everybody scatters from the well-groomed path into the cornstalks, hiding, laughing, squealing in excitement.

The hunt begins…

Careful to keep my steps light over the vegetation, I make my way through the tall stalks, my skin tingling, my heart thundering.

Rustling to my left has me freezing in place. Whoever finds me can’t know it’s me. My hair and eye color may be different, half of my face concealed, but there are other identifiers aboutme, like my voice. I didn’t think about that. I didn’t think about the kept part at all, only the hiding.

Really, that’s the only part that appealed to me. If I could be this—a butterfly—forever, I would.

I can tell it’s a person making the noise beside me, not a critter, because they’re…panting? Sounds like it’s two people.

Someone else’s moan creeps up my own neck and into my ear, flooding my cheeks with warmth.

Definitely two people. And they’re already going at it.

Peering through the foliage, I catch sight of them. A man dressed in Ghostface is hammering into a pirate, her fishnet-covered thigh pulled up to his ribs as he pumps into her mercilessly. The scene causes a fire to ignite in my core, my pussy clenching. Both of them are in full costume, Ghostface’s mask still in place. They probably didn’t even speak to each other before getting right down to fulfilling that basic need everyone’s here to satisfy.

I watch them for another minute, my mind wandering, imagining, before I move on, quietly leaving the couple in search of a new hiding spot.

It’s not long before somebody charges right past me. While I’m still in the stalks, he’s out in the open. Cloaked head to toe in black clothing, he’s in some sort of tactical gear, like a soldier or military police. Instead of diving into the cornstalks, he positions himself where the path leads into a corner and waits, his head on a swivel as it rotates back and forth, glancing both directions. A hood is pulled over his head and he has a fabric mask covering the bottom two-thirds of his face. I can’t make out any of his features, yet I can’t stop looking at him. His approach is…interesting. Confident. He’s not actively hunting anybody. Like a spider sitting atop its web, he’s set a trap and now he’s waiting for someone to come to him.

My eyes fall down his body to his heavy-duty boots, then back up, coming to a stop on his hands. In fingerless gloves, they’re twitching at his sides like they’re trigger-happy even though he clearly has no weapons, at least none that are visible.

His head begins another rotation, so I quickly crouch down.

What if he finds me this early?

Do I even want him to be the one to find me?

I…don’t know. Maybe? It’d help if I could make out anything about him.

But that’s the point of tonight. The allure of the unknown. And the freedom to explore it without judgement.

A newly formed couple—a meticulously detailed Medusa and a creepy clown in haphazard makeup—passes by him and he gives them a nod, his stance still alert as he continues his watch.

As soon as he’s focused elsewhere, I sink backward to put some distance between us, hopefully muffling my movements as I approach him from the side. Something about him has me intrigued enough to stay a little longer. He isn’t behaving like the men I know, the ones I’ve grown up around.

I think it’s the way he holds himself. He’s confident but not arrogant. He’s choosy, not desperate like the guys currently stomping through cornstalks, grabbing at anyone they can reach.

Who, exactly, is hidden beneath all those layers?

Not that I can actually find out, but I can wonder. I can study from afar.

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