Disclaimer: I own nothing but my idea!
Since it is Halloween, I decided that it would be a good idea to write a story in a true Halloween fashion. Horror. And what better fandom for this story than Ghost Hunt? This is my first Ghost Hunt fanfic and apologize in advance if they are too OOC. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this and please let me know if you like it!
In all honesty, when her two friends had brought up the idea of going to a hedge/corn maze, it had seemed like a good one. Sadly when it came to her luck, nothing was ever a 'good idea'. And to come here on Halloween on top of it was the icing on the cake.
Somehow, she had gotten separated from Keiko and Michiru about half way through the hedge part of the maze. She had tried to call out for them but they had never responded. She could only hope now that the two of them had gotten out and were somewhere far from here.
Everything had been fine in the beginning when they had entered the first part of the maze. The hedges were at least eight feet tall, to ensure that no one could see over them and cheat their way out, and the maze itself was half a mile in each direction. When someone reached the end of the hedges, it lead directly into the corn maze portion. The exit for the maze was a quarter mile from the woods. All in all it had seemed like the perfect thing to do on Halloween since they were too old to go Trick or Treating.
Everything was fine even after she had been split up from her friends. But once she had stepped into the corn maze, her instincts were screaming for her to get out of there. There was no way she was going to ignore them either, she had learned her lesson the last time she did that, and so she quickly started to make her way through rest of the maze hoping that she did not take a wrong turn. If it took her longer than ten minutes to get out, she was going to pick a direction and run. The path be damned at that point.
Nothing ever works out the way it should though and before she knew it, something was there. Her fight or flight instincts took over and she turned around fast enough to make shoulder blade length brunette hair smack her in the face. She didn't want to know what was in the maze with her and so she took off running as fast as she could. She was alone and her boss was not around to save her this time, no matter how much she wished he was.
Everything was a blur as she ran. Her heartbeat was echoing in her head as the corn stalks brushed against her. Light brown eyes were wide with terror as tears streamed down her face. She had to get out of there or she would die.
The sun was almost down and with it, something had awakened. Something not of this world, or any other for that matter. Something evil. If it caught her, she would never see any of her friends again.
For eight minutes she ran as fast as she could. For some reason it had taken her that long to remember that she had her cell phone in her sweater pocket. She blamed it on the sheer panic and terror she was feeling as she quickly pulled it out of said pocket. Once it was out and open she hit the talk button twice, calling the last number she had dialed before coming here. She couldn't even remember which number that was at the moment. At least not until the person picked up.
"What do you want Mai? I already gave you the day off so you could go to that maze," was the calm and slightly cold response she had gotten.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she could her herself thinking about how it just had to be her boss that she called last, "Na-ru," Mai gasped out from trying to breathe after running for so long, "Th-there is some-thing here."
The raven haired teen quickly rose from his seat, grabbing his coat in the process, and made his way out of his office. Once out, he headed in the direction of his assistant/bodyguard's office. Without warning, he opened the door only to have the man look up from his laptop. Naru pressed the button on his phone for speaker mode and spoke to the frantic girl that called him less than a minute ago, "Mai, what is there?"
"I don't know!" Her voice cried out hysterically, "I never stuck around long enough to find out and I'm sure if I did I would be dead by now!"
Upon hearing her voice, the older male immediately grabbed his own coat and the two men made their way out of the office and towards their car, "Mai, you need to get out of that maze as soon as possible."
"Thank you for your insight Captain Obvious. As much as I would love to do just that, I've been running in the same direction for almost fifteen minutes! As much as you give me crap about being an idiot, I'm smart enough to know that I should have been out of here by now! All I can see is the damn corn! It isn't going to let me out!" Mai practically screamed at her boss.
In the background she could faintly here the sound of the engine running which could only mean that the two men were on their way. She could only pray that they would get there in time. And she really hoped that the Chinese man was not following the speed limit for once.
The brunette haired woman paused her marathon run long enough to catch her breath. She would have kept going but she couldn't anymore. It only lasted about a minute before the yellowing corn stalks in front of her rustled lightly. It wasn't the wind since there was none and once more she took off in a different direction like the Hounds of Hell were at her heels.
"Naru," She gasped for breath before continuing, "I can't ke-ep go- going."
Naru's midnight blue eyes widened slightly at her words, "You've never given up before Mai, so you had better not do it now. We'll be there in about ten minutes."
Though they were spoken emotionlessly, his words gave her hope. She would try for him and because deep down she knew that he needed her, they all did, "Al-right," she confirmed.
Sadly, her luck had once again abandoned her. Mai's eyes widened in shock and a small cry escaped her lips as she landed on the ground. The cell phone that she had been holding in a death grip skidded across the ground and just out of her reach. She could hear Naru yelling her name threw the phone but she was too tired to answer back.
After a minute or so, she slowly pulled herself up onto her hands and knees and crawled over to her phone. Just as she was about to pick it up, she heard the rustling of the dry and withered corn stalks. Panic and terror shot through her as her caramel colored eyes widened with fear. It was there and this time she wouldn't be able to get away.
Summoning up every ounce of courage she had, Mai turned her head to look at the malevolent being whose territory she had unknowingly entered. The first thing her eyes were met with was a pair of worn out boots and as her gaze traveled higher, she saw ragged and patchwork pants that had small specks of blood on them, blood covered gloves, a flannel blood splattered button up shirt, and a patchwork light brown witch like hat. The face that had been obscured by shadows was finally revealed when the creature lifted its head. Glowing yellow eyes stared at her from the burlap sack that had been sent in place of its head.
"Mai! Answer me!" She faintly heard yelled from her phone.
"N-Naru…. Sca-scarecr-ow," was her only response before she felt the gloved hands wrap around her ankle as the creature began to drag her off. The only noise that could be heard was the high pitched scream accompanied by the faint sound of dragging and hands clawing desperately at the ground in an attempt to escape.
Midnight blue eyes narrowed slightly as the scream rang throughout the van. Whatever had been chasing Mai had finally caught her. The thing that puzzled him most though was what she had meant. What did she mean by 'scarecrow'? Unless…
His eyes widened minutely as the pieces finally clicked. The creature in the maze was a scarecrow. Something they had never dealt with before and for once he wasn't sure how to deal with it. Solutions always took time and they didn't have that luxury.
The black van stopped abruptly next to withered corn field. Both raven haired men quickly jumped out of vehicle, "Lin," Naru began, "are you able to use your Shiki to find Mai?"
"They are searching. It seems she may not be in the maze anymore or else they would have found her by now," the Chinese man responded as his Shiki returned to him and he shook his head at the teen to signify that they had found nothing.
The eerie calm was broken by the faint scream that came from the nearby woods. Midnight blue and grey eyes locked on to the path that lead into them.
"Mai," Naru breathed out as both ran swiftly in the direction of the scream.
Something wasn't right. She knew that right away as she tried to recollect what had happened and where she was. Slowly she recalled the maze and its inhabitant. She had never thought that something like this could be real. It was something that was only heard of in stories or movies.
Mai struggled to move any part of her body only to realize the she could not move. Wearily she opened her eyes only to wish that she hadn't. The sight that she was met with was gruesome and she soon realized that she was not the first person to be caught by the scarecrow.
Bound to crosses, much like a scarecrow would be, were several other people. None of them were alive. All of them had their arms and legs cut open and the bones removed only to be replaced with hay. The thing that disturbed her the most though, was that all of their torsos' had jagged cut that started at their neck and ended at lower abdomen. The internal organs had been removed and in their stead was hay. The only thing that had not been removed was the ribcage.
Feeling the need to throw up whatever she had eaten that day, Mai quickly look down at forest floor. The scream that she had been holding in ripped passed her lips as she found the ground littered with bloody bones and organs. Her horror filled eyes snapped back up to face the human scarecrows only to meet glowing yellow eyes and another scream forced its way out of her mouth.
The sickle in the scarecrow's hand was covered in blood, both old and new. Fleetingly she wondered just which of the others was the most recent victim as her struggling became more frantic.
As the scarecrow began to walk slowly towards her, she heard a sharp whistle pierce the still air. White orbs slashed through the scarecrow and it fell haphazardly onto the forest floor. Her violent struggles ceased and her tense body sagged with relief as she saw Naru and Lin rush over to her.
The tall Chinese man supported her weight as her boss cut the ropes that bound her like the others. Once free, she hugged both men before the eldest of the group spoke, "We need to leave. At best my Shiki only stunned it."
The teens nodded in agreement and took off in the direction of the exit. Mai slowed to a halt just before the exit, "Naru…"
Her trailed off whisper made him turn to look at her, "We need to keep going Mai."
The brunette fell to her knees as a thin line of blood leaked down the corner of her mouth, "I… I don't think… I'll be going…"
Naru watched in horror as she collapsed fully to the ground. The sickle sticking out of her back indicated that the girl was not going to make it.
Through her blurry vision, she saw Naru running back to try and save her. She knew it was too late though as the black spots that had been invading her vision took over. And then everything was gone.
The brunette female shot up into a sitting position, gasping for breath. Her eyes scanned the area to see that she was not longer in the forest. She was in her room and it had all been a nightmare. She closed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair.
After taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, Mai once more opened her eyes. A scream forced its way out of her throat as she came face to face with the creature from her nightmare. The blood soaked blade can at her as she blacked out from the shock.
He was worried. No matter what he tried, he just couldn't wake his sleeping girlfriend. Not to mention that she had been screaming for the past couple of minutes.
He was sure that she was going to kill him for this later, but it was the only other thing that he could think of. And so, the raven haired teen quickly tilted his hand and the contents of the cup in said hand doused the sleeping female's face. He watched as his girlfriend shot up into a sitting position and sputtered.
"Naru! What the hell was that for!?" She yelled.
He only shrugged his shoulders and replied, "You wouldn't wake up."
Mai let out a huff of anger, "So you decided the best course of action was to pour water on my face?"
He shrugged his shoulders once again, "Nothing else worked. It was either that or put you in the bathtub and turn on the shower."
"And why did you find the need to wake me with such drastic measures?" She asked with narrowed eyes.
"You were having a nightmare. I'm pretty sure your screams work up the entire complex," he supplied with his face set in a mask of stoic indifference.
Mai sat for a minute processing his words before the events of her nightmare hit her full force. Tear welled in her eyes and made small rivers down her cheeks. It had all felt so real.
Contrary to popular belief, Naru was not heartless. He just wasn't very good with showing that he cared. He stood awkwardly for a minute before he sat down next to Mai and wrapped his arms around her. It wasn't much but it was better than nothing. He listened as Mai told him about the nightmare before he told her that it was just that; a nightmare. Nothing more and nothing less.
"Go back to sleep Mai. I'll be here," he told her as he lay down next to her.
Within seconds, she was asleep once more and sat watching her. His thoughts traveled back to her nightmare. He knew what it had been about once she started telling him. He had been there as well and that could only mean that Mai had pulled him into it in her bout of fear. It also meant that her powers were growing and if they didn't do something about it soon, things could become chaotic.
Notes: I could write a sequel to this if I wanted but I honestly have no idea how I would even begin on that one. So unless I get hit with sudden inspiration to do more for this one, it will be left as a one shot. Until next time, see ya!
~Trust~