Page 22 of The Monster I Loved
After work, I’d originally planned to go in search of the unnamed beauty from the bar and spend the night in bed with her, but life had other plans. My sister Lily had texted to say she was coming home from college for the weekend. It would be the first time I’d see her outside of prison walls, and an excited grin pulled at my mouth. I loved my sister. She was all the best parts of my mother.
The second I walked into the house, a wall of Lily greeted me. She body-slammed me and wrapped her arms around my neck.
“Hey, Lil,” I said. A pulse of joy surged through me at the sight of her. She looked well.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here when you came home,” she replied. “You know how it is. I had exams and Dad...” She trailed off.
I kept my voice soft. “I know. You’re here now. Tell me everything about college.”
She didn’t need telling twice, and her eyes shone as she spewed fact after fact from the syllabi of her major (sociology) and her minor (business studies, taken at our dad’s insistence). My sister could talk a person’s ear off. And she always got her way. After she finally took a break from ranting about her assignments, she suggested we decorate for Halloween, and I couldn’t say no.
While we strategically placed décor, she talked non-stop about some guy, school, and how her hair was doing something weird. I allowed myself to bask in the normalcy of what we weredoing. When we had mostly finished the house (I knew Aston would straighten everything up after we’d done it anyway; he couldn’t resist himself), Lily somehow convinced me to join her at the corn maze. The popularity of Disney among adults is huge, but nobody was more dedicated than those of us who refused to let go of this beloved Halloween holiday.
I drove the four-wheel drive down the hill, and we headed to the Smith’s farm, where the annual corn maze was hosted.
It looked the same as it always had. It was comforting to see that the town hadn’t moved on too much in my absence. When we arrived, Lily wrapped her hands around my arm and pulled me along. It didn’t take long for me to feel uncomfortable. There were stares and whispers.
A real-life killer in the Halloween corn maze.
We paid at the kiosk. I vaguely recognized the guy as the youngest Smith kid. He’d been in middle school when I went away. He looked at me in a way that screamed ‘I need to ask you what it’s like to kill someone!’It was a look I got a lot.
We went to the entrance when I spotted Henry and a few familiar faces. Ashley, Felix, Daisy, Eden, and, of course, Summer. They were huddled together, laughing and talking at the far edge of the field that housed the maze. The women wore jeans and leather jackets, while the men had settled on thick sweatshirts, the unofficial uniform of the corn maze. Nothing had changed. They all held plastic cups, which I knew were filled with either beer or hard cider. Nobody in that group, who likely all knew the maze like the back of their hand, would do this activity sober. For years, while locked away, I’d pictured them doing exactly what they were right now: enjoying life without me.
“Oh, I didn’t realize your friends would be here.” Lily looked at me, clearly trying to gauge my response.
Henry probably hadn’t invited me to keep the peace.
From now on, gatherings would involve one of us, not both.
I sighed and shook my head. “Yeah, let’s leave them to it.”
“Surprised you and Henry didn’t come together.” She peered at me.
“I’ve seen Henry plenty of times,” I said, desperately trying to steer my sister toward the maze and away from them.
“Is there a problem?” she asked, confusion in her tone. I obviously hadn’t kept my voice as casual as I’d intended.
“Oh,” she added a moment later. Realization spread across her face. “Summer. They’re sitting on the fence, not taking sides.”
I nodded.
A sympathetic smile broke out on her face. “Have you spoken to Summer since you got back?”
I hadn’t kept my sister up to date with all my accidental meetings, but I decided it was easier to tell the truth. “Yes. We’ve bumped into each other a few times. She’s not made her hatred of me a secret.”
Red patches stained my sister’s cheeks, and her eyes darkened. “She has some nerve.” She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips; the very picture of our mother. “Her damn father killed our mother. She isn’t the only one who lost somebody.”
Hooking my arm in hers, I pulled her away. She had a vicious streak in her. She wasn’t one to back down from a fight. If she thought I was being treated unfairly, God help the guilty party.
I found a vendor selling spiked cider and my all-time favorite apple cider donuts. For that pastry alone, I’d love if Halloween stuck around more than just thirty-one days.
We had a few drinks, ate some donuts, and I felt myself relaxing. I couldn’t see myfriendsfrom where we sat, so I assumed they couldn’t see me either. After one too many cups ofalcoholic cider, Lily and I set out to do what we planned to: we entered the maze.
“Let’s make it a challenge,” Lily said once we’d stepped inside the tall stalks.
I grinned. “How?”
“Let’s split up. I’ll go this way, and we’ll see who finds their way out first.”
