Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 19

Stumbling through the corn, I could feel the stock's sharp edges cut my skin. The demons screamed from the edge of the woods. They were close. Rapidly moving farther into the corn, I glanced back, and everyone was still behind me.

I need to find somewhere to hide. The sooner we stop moving, the sooner the demons can't see us. Hopefully, the corn will impair their vision, and they won't be able to see us as well while we look for a place to hide.

The adults are back there, too. If the demons do catch up, they'll catch them first, which will buy us more time. Unless they went in a different direction, and the demons split up.

Surging deeper into the field, I kept my eye out for a particularly dense spot. Unfortunately, the corn was evenly spaced. Whoever planted this is a good farmer, but it's not very convenient when you're trying to hide.

Running on, we stumbled across an area with tall weeds growing. Slowing to a stop, I put my finger to my lips and crouched down. My friends slowly crept into the weeds, making room for everyone. Glancing around, I checked to make sure everyone was safe. Anna, check. Ella, check. Leo, check. Jack, ... where's Jack?

"Jack," I hissed, "Where are you?"

No reply. My eyes widened. He was gone. The last time I saw him was when we were running through the cornfield. He can't be too far, right?

"I'm going to find him," I whispered.

"What if you get caught?" Ella asked, "Should I come with you?"

I shook my head. "No, the fewer the better. We don't have time to argue."

Ella sighed and said nothing more.

Creeping out of the weeds, I started jogging back the way we came. I hadn't gotten far when someone barreled into me. Careening to the ground, I looked up and saw Jack.

"There you are!" I whispered, relieved.

Jack scrambled to his feet. "Luke!"

I got to my feet and started jogging back to the weeds. "What happened?"

"I tripped," he replied, "When I got up, you guys were gone."

"Next time, just holler for us," I said.

"Alright," he replied, "But if the demons find us, it's your fault."

Crouching down, I crept into the weeds with Jack behind me. Taking several deep breaths, I tried to slow my breathing. I can't believe I lost Jack. Something could have happened to him. I was so focused on looking for a place to hide that I didn't check that they were there. He could have died. I need to keep better track of them.

The wind rustled the cornstalks.

It's oddly quiet.

Did the demons catch the adults? Are they snacking on them right now? Or did they get far enough away from us that we are out of danger? If we're lucky, they shot past us and we don't need to worry about them for a while. Though I highly doubt it.

We crouched there in silence. No one moved. The only sound was the swaying cornstalks. We weren't out of danger yet. Until the animals move again, the demons could be close.

Something shook in the cornstalks.

Feet pounded, and two figures emerged and darted past us. A third appeared a few moments later, stumbling over us. "RUN!"

Someone grabbed my wrist and yanked me up. Instinctively reaching out to steady myself, my hand wrapped around someone's arm. A scream rang from behind us. That was all the incentive I needed to start running.