Page 40 of Fiends and Familiars
“Nope.” There was a full moon peeking from scattered clouds, and outside the corn maze the farm was lit up in shades of gray. It was dark enough to make everything more than five feet away a shapeless blur, but light enough that you wouldn’t accidently run into the side of the barn. I expected it would be a bit darker in the corn maze, which would add to the spookiness of the game.
And once the moon went behind the clouds, we’d all be stumbling around in the dark.
“Go!”
On Derrick’s command I took off running. The path split three ways fifty feet in. Going on instinct, I went left. That’s when I discovered that I’d been horribly wrong about the amount of light in this corn maze.
It was dark. It was insanely dark.
The corn had been planted eighteen inches apart, but the dried leaves hindered the moonlight from reaching down through the rows. I turned right, then left, then right again, trying to ensure that my general direction would be straight through the maze. But was the exit on the opposite side from the entrance? Maybe it wasn’t after all.
It wasn’t only the location of the exit that was a mystery, it was my actual location as well. Surrounded by tall corn and unable to see more than a foot in front of me, I had no idea which direction I was headed. Paths curved, forked, made what seemed to be broad circles. I hadn’t seen a soul from the moment I’d entered the maze, and their shouts and screams seemed oddly distant.
How big was this fucking cornfield? And where the hell was I? I shivered at the thought that I might be wandering around here all night. Hopefully Lonnie would sober up enough to realize I was missing and send a search party after me with flashlights.
Trying to sober up myself, I slowed down and took note of how many turns I was making. I looked up, but the moon was nowhere to be seen, and all this damned corn looked the same.
Shit. I was completely lost. Worse, people who’d come before me had trampled some of the corn and I could no longer tell which was the narrow path and which was just the space between rows. To my left the dried corn rustled and goosebumps broke out on my skin.
Like a rabbit, I froze. If I held still, maybe the zombie wouldn’t know I was here and would move on to some other screaming partygoer. Then I’d run. And hopefully I’d make it out of this maze by sunup, with my flag still attached to my waistband.
What was I talking about? At this point I’d welcome a zombie. He could take the damned flag tied to my underwear as long as he showed me how to get out of this maze.
The corn parted and I saw him—a dark shadowy figure that seemed to have horns, his eyes glowing like hot coals in the dark. Fear—and lust—shivered down my back, and just like in my dream, I turned and ran a few steps, then stopped.
“Fuck you,” I spun around to face the demon. “He’s not here with me, and I’ve warded my house so tight that Satan himself couldn’t get in.”
Hopefully. I wasn’t as good at wards as Bronwyn was, but a little bluffing never hurt anyone.
“I’m not here for Faust, I’m here for you,” the demon growled as he took a step toward me.
I planted my hands on my hips. “Well, you definitely can’t have me—not after the shit you pulled last night and at Cassie’s office. Get lost, Ty. We’re over. Get out of here and leave me alone.”
I’ll admit my voice shook a bit as I told the demon I was half—no, more than half—in love with to get lost. But it didn’t matter how involved my hormones were in all this, I wasn’t going to get all soppy and continue to have sex with someone who’d used me like he had.
“I’m not Ty.” The demon took another step toward me.
Wait. Hopefully this actuallywasa demon, otherwise I’d just embarrassed the heck out of myself in front of one of the costumed guests at this party. No, I’d rather be embarrassed than have an actual demon after me. Ty I felt I could somewhat handle, but this guy…
Shit. The voice. The feel of him. The way his horns curved and his snout turned up. This wasn’t Ty. And it wasn’t some dude in a costume either.
I turned and ran. And this time I kept running. Just like I had in my dream, but this wasn’t a dream and I wasn’t completely powerless.
Reaching out with my awareness I found dozens of mice. I found snakes. I found a very pissed off fox, annoyed at us for disturbing his hunting ground like this.
Fox, which way is out? Show me the way out.
I heard his silent “yes,” felt his presence as he left the den and moved through the rows of corn. I couldn’t see shit, but I trusted that a fox wouldn’t lead me astray. I left the path and ran, finally hearing the happy screams and shouts of the partygoers as well as the mock moans of the “zombies.” What I didn’t hear was the growl of the demon or the sound of him close behind me. Had it been my imagination? The beer, the dream, the darkness and the adrenaline of the game…had they all combined to make me see things that weren’t here?
Either way, I was following this fox and getting the heck out of this maze.
I ran for what felt like hours, the corn stalks catching on my hair and clothes. A light glimmered off to my right and I hesitated, not sure whether to follow the fox’s presence or head to the light. In a split second decision, I turned toward the light.
As I fought my way through the corn I heard someone coming toward me. Spinning around, I saw the demon once more. The light, I ran toward it, hoping that the demon wouldn’t try to grab me once I was out among a group of humans. Common sense told me there was safety in numbers, but was there? Would a demon really give two shits about snatching me in front of witnesses? Would he care whether he hurt the humans or not? Could Babylon and I manage to fight him off before he did hurt someone?
Screw it. I’d rather face this guy out in the open than here in a corn maze. I took off, plowing through stalks in as straight of a line as I could toward the light. A shadow appeared in front of me, and before I could swerve or put on the breaks I slammed into him.
We went down. Flesh and blood. Arms went around me, and I looked up into his face in the dim moonlight.
