Page 14 of Are You Scared, Krowe?

The cornfield looks entirely different than it did this morning, all lit up in a neon glow with jaunty music issuing from speakers set up around the edges of the cornfield. It seems the whole town came out for Hollow Night.

Cars and trucks were lined up all along the cemetery drive. But the friend who's driving us follows Jackson's direction and drives through the field, straight toward the ticket booth set up at the entrance.

Maude, the librarian, grins widely when we approach.

“Happy Hollow Night, boys.” She ignores Sadie and her friend. “I’m sorry the game was canceled. I was so hoping to watch you guys smack down the opponents. And I-"

She stops short, and I follow the line of her vision to my head.

"Just a bump." I assure her. “Have you seen my father?” I crane my neck to look past her like he may be stuffed into the portable ticket booth with her.

"No..." She frowns. "Actually, I haven't seen him at all today. Normally, he's here to help with the set-up." She makes a strange little noise in the back of her throat and then fixes the smile back on her face. "How many tickets for you all?"

Sadie's boyfriend, Vick, pulls out his wallet and presents Maude with his card.

As they get our tickets, I turn to scan the fairgrounds, looking for my father.

I don't know what good it will do to find him, since I can't exactly tell him I think I'm being haunted, that I actually did have something to do with the girl who disappeared, that just less than twenty-four hours ago, we left her naked and half-dead tied to the stake.

When my eyes gravitate toward the spot in question, I'm surprised to find four scarecrows, lined up side-by-side.

Usually on Hollow Night we honor the original scarecrow, the one who saved our town from famine and depression. It's weird to see 4, but I suppose this is an homage to the decades of 'sacrifices'.

I feel like my skin is stretched too tight as I stare at them... particularly when I notice the attire on the last one.

"Jackson..." I elbow him in the ribs, drawing him out of the stupor he's been in since I woke up in the car to find him in shock. He blinks at me, like he's confused to see me.

"Huh?"

He follows my gaze to the scarecrows, and recognition takes only a second to kick in.

"The fuck?"

Will chooses that moment to descend on us, sweeping us each underneath an arm with a hearty smile on his face that's painfully forced.

"Running a little late, aren't you boys?"

"We had an accident." Jackson says, and I'm surprised he didn't try to beat around the bush.

"I don't care why you're late." Will smacks the back of his son's head, just hard enough to make Jackson's head jut forward. "Just fucking get up on the stage and let's get the vigil over with so everyone can enjoy their hollow night, hmm?"

I blink, turning my gaze to the stage where Coach is set up with a crowd of our teammates, all holding paper cups with a candle sticking out the top.

The look he gives makes it clear he's going to have us running laps ‘til our feet fall off, so I grab Jackson's arm and urge him up the steps faster.

I spot Sadie as she kisses Vick goodbye, as if they are parting for more than five minutes, before he and Arthur follow us.

"Nice of you to show, boys." Coach hisses. "If you'd been this late to the game, I'd have your fucking balls in my pocket by morning. Christ." He shakes his head, his hard jaw clenching in disapproval as he looks among us all. "Where's De La Cruz? And Rhodes?"

I hadn't even noticed Uriah wasn't here, but now I take a quick look around and realize they're not the only ones missing. Hector is gone, too, and Owen. All three of them, four if you count Rhodes, were with us last night. All of them participated in what we did.

Is it just a coincidence?

"Rhodes didn't make it." Vick says quietly. "He, uh, had an accident on the way here."

Coach stares at Vick, imploring him to say more to make that make sense. "Meaning what, exactly?"

I'm keenly aware of the audience. It's not a big town we live in, about six hundred people, and it seems as if every last one of them came out tonight.

I spot my mom with Sophie, and Sadie at their side with her friend.

I feel like I can't breathe. It's like there's an axe hanging over my head, waiting for the right moment to drop.

"He's fucking dead." Jackson says coldly. "I ran him over, so let's not wait on him okay? How about we get this shit over with, cause I need a fucking drink."

Coach grits his teeth and nods, looking up at the audience.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight. What was supposed to be a smackdown against our rivals has turned into a memorial for one of our own. Toby Connors was a brother to each one of these kids... and like a son to me."

If I wasn't so busy scanning the crowd, I'd probably choke on the bullshit Coach is trying to cram down everyone's throats.

Toby was the most obnoxious little fucker on the team.

He was a friend, sure, but not a fucking brother.

And no one disliked him as much as Coach, who would have cut him from the team if it weren't for needing him to fill the position.

My eyes drift to the scarecrows set up behind us. Their faces are all obscured by burlap hoods, but something about them is eating at me. Maybe it's lingering uneasiness from finding Toby up there like that this morning. Maybe it's something more.

"Krowe." Jackson grips my arm, his nails digging into my flesh.

I scowl down at the place where he's got a death grip on me and then turn my attention to his face.

I've never seen him look so terrible. Ashen, gray, dark circles under his eyes.

He's aged twenty years since he picked me up earlier today, and thirty since last night.

We fucked up. Took things too far. And now we are all suffering the consequences in a rapidly-spiraling shitstorm.

"You trying to take my arm off?" I ask, ripping out from beneath his touch.

"Look."

A gust of wind makes me wrap my jacket tighter around myself, and I look up to see what's got him so rattled.

It’s her.

Gianna smirks at us from the back of the crowd, right there in between everyone who seems not to care about her presence... or else they don't see her.

"You see her?" I ask, making sure that it's not just me imagining things this time.

"Yeah. Why's she looking at us like that?"

"I don't know." I swallow, trying to provide some relief to my dry throat. "She's crazy. Just ignore her."

But there's no ignoring her, because she turns and walks away, and I'm too curious about where she's going to pretend I don't see her.

When she gets to the edge of the clearing, I see her join with someone else... a man.

His face is painted to look like a skull, dark hair covering his forehead, and black shadows around his eyes concealing them from this distance. But I can see his lips as they curve into a smirk, the tiny pinprick of fire as it blooms to life, and Gianna as she waves goodbye dramatically.

"No."

It's all I can manage to say, but I say it loudly enough that Coach stops talking to glare at me in surprise.

The fields are dry, and it hasn't rained in months. If they drop the match, that fire will spread fast and it won't discriminate.

I don't think any more. I just react, running down the steps toward my family as the crowd of mourners part for me, creating a path.

"Get out!" I yell, swinging my hands around so that everyone knows it's a general warning. Everyone needs to leave. "Go home!"

"Easton?" Mom clutches Sophie against her chest. "What is wrong with you? You're scaring your sister."

She should be scared.

"Go home, now!"

"Going home won't be enough," Gianna says from somewhere over my shoulder. I freeze with my hand on Sophie's arm, from where I tried to pull her away from our mother.

"Krowe?" Sadie asks, her bright eyes full of worry as they flit from Gianna to me. "Who is that?"

"I'm the girl he raped and murdered." Gianna says gently. "And I'm going to burn this town to the fucking ground."

Mom looks like she's frozen in shock, and Sophie has tears in her eyes as she tries to bury her face in mom's shirt. But she can't look away, her gaze fixed on the woman behind my shoulder.

"Go!" I beg them, my voice cracking beneath the desperation.

I flick my gaze to the back of the cornfield, just in time to watch the match tumble through the air until it catches on a dried-out cornstalk. It catches flame immediately, easily, and then the man takes a few steps, lights another match, drops it.

Screams ring out through the night, mixing with the sounds of delight from the people still on the rides, the rushing, trembling sound of the rollercoaster as it passes behind us.

"Fire!"

"Go!" I tell them again, one last time. I'll catch up with them after, but they need to leave now, before everything goes up in flames and they get trapped.

Sadie grips mom by the arm and begins to pull them toward the side of the field that hasn't yet been set on fire, but Gianna steps before them, halting them in their tracks. Around us is chaos as people run in every direction, calling out for loved ones, pleading for mercy.

Gianna squares off with my sister, who trembles as she stares at what I'm certain has to be a ghost... or a fucking zombie.

Whatever she is, she's not human. She looks like herself, the way she did before we fucked her up too badly. But the way she moves, the speed... it's like she's something more than a human.

"Take the little one and go."

Relief rushes through me and I expect she'll turn her attention to me. I'm going to square off with a fucking ghost... but she turns her gaze on my mother instead.

"Not every monster shoulders the sole responsibility for their crimes. Some of them just look the other way while bad things happen... right, Christine?"

"I... I don't..."