The Balance

by SelenaEde

A vacation goes wrong when a family of three make a pit stop in Gatlin, Nebraska. Before they know it, Claudia and Brody Blake's mother is missing and they are stuck in a town with a bunch of unusual people. When given a choice, what will they choose?

Disclaimer: I do not own Children of the Corn and various other things such as Where the Wild Things Are, Nintendo DS, Jonestown, The Road to El Dorado and Elton John's lyrics. Oh I also do not own any of the songs listed at the bottom of the story

Note: There will be more of a note at the bottom. I just wanted to inform you here that I know that the sequel, Children of the Corn 2: The Final Sacrifice is set approximately 8-9 years after the first movie, however I never did like that because you would think that after Burt and Vicky left with Sarah and Job they would immediately inform the authorites about the situation in Gatlin, given that they were not attacked and killed by still devoted Gatliners along the way. Which I believe they weren't considering Ruth seemed to be the only true hardcore one at the end and they knocked her out pretty good. And in the beginning of the sequel they are just discovering the bodies and such in Gatlin and then transport the Gatlin children to Hemingford. So in my mind it really seemed that the sequel should have been set immediately following the original. This story follows my logic on this. Also, this is pre-movie.

The Balance

"It's so hot," Brody complained from the back seat for the tenth time in the past hour.

"I know sweetie," Mom said from beside me, in the drivers seat. The air conditioning in our car had conveniently decided to stop functioning shortly after we entered Nebraska. Brody and I took it as a sign.

Not a single one out of the three of us really wanted to go on this little family vacation down to California. Sure it would be loads of fun to visit California but not when we had to spend all of their time with our relatives. Uncle Robert and Aunt Silvia were a loving couple, that was true enough but they were both rather stuck up, And Uncle Robert was way to hard on Jory, Sam and Darren. Then there were the obsession with fishing that Uncle John and Aunt Lauren had.

The only up side would be that Brody and I got to hang out with Jory, Sam, Darren, Jasmine and Riley. However Riley and Jasmine were questionable this time because Riley's girlfriend Karen and Jasmine's boyfriend Josh were coming along. Chances were we wouldn't be seeing much of them during the vacation.

Truth be told the only reason the three of us agreed to go for the vacation was the simple fact that it would make Grandma happy. All Grandma ever really wanted was to spend time with her sons, daughter and grandchildren.

Another up side was that we didn't have to carpool with anyone. Lauren insisted that Grandma go with them in their van. Grandma really didn't want to go with them in the cramped minivan, but it would have been rude to reject the offer. Normally Grandma's all for speaking her mind but she wanted this to be a nice vacation for everyone so she said yes.

Glancing at the map on my lap at the route that was highlighted for us I frowned. I for the life of me could not figure out why Uncle John had highlighted the route he did. Instead of having us take the freeway all the way down to California he had us get off in the middle of Nebraska and take a small desolate road through the rest of the state. Near the end of Nebraska we would once again get on the freeway. I was halfway tempted to over look the apparent detour that Uncle John had decided we should take, but then decided against it thinking that there must have been a reason for having us take the long way.

"Just keep driving down this road Mom," I said, looking up from the map. "Looks like we're going to be on it for a while."

"OK Claudia," Mom said.

"What's on the radio?" Brody asked from the back.

"Why are you asking about the radio?" I asked him. "I thought you were listening to the music for your game?"

"It's gotten annoying," he stated simply.

"Oh. Well yeah, that'd do it," I said. Deciding to conserve my batteries for my discman and my MP3 player, I decided that the radio would be better if it was going to be on. I was going to start surfing the airwaves, but Mom beat me to it. Leaning forward Mom turned the radio on. The first station had no broadcast so she quickly flicked through the stations until she found something.

The first station she settled on was playing a really old Frank Sinatra song. It surprised me because Mom didn't really like Sinatra. Brody was against the song from the first note.

"Next," he said, not even glancing up from his DS.

Mom smiled a little and continued to search. The next station was playing a slow sappy song.

"Next," Brody and I said unanimously.

"Gladly," Mom agreed and surfed the stations some more.

The next working station featured some preacher preaching. Mom smirked a little. I couldn't help but burst into a fit of laughter. I could not believe it. And honest to goodness radio preacher was on our car radio.

As I giggled, the preacher rattled on about atonement and what there was no tolerance for. Mom laughed a little with me and then changed the station.

"What the heck was that?" Brody asked in a completely serious and slightly confused voice. For some reason I found that even funnier and I burst into another round of laughter.

"That was a radio preacher, Brody," Mom explained.

"Right…" Brody said. He was obviously not impressed.

After several minutes of searching and finding nothing decent, we just decided to pop a CD in. After a few seconds of discussion we all decided on a band that we all liked. I handed Mom the CD and the music filled the car. It helped to distract us all from the heat.

As the day went on we continued to drive…

---

It was around four p.m. when Brody started to complain.

"What's up Brods?" I asked turning around to face my little brother.

"I have to go to the bathroom," he muttered.

"Well, we can stop and you can go pee in the ditch by the corn," Mom suggested. I glanced at the corn that surrounded us on both sides. I didn't feel comfortable with letting him go anywhere near the corn. Something felt off about the fields. I was kind of relieved when I heard what Brody said next.

"Can't Mom," he said. "I don't have to take a leak."

Mom and I shared a look. Mom wrinkled her nose and I laughed.

"I wish you'd said something earlier honey, when we passed that gas station," Mom sighed.

"Why didn't you?" I asked him.

"I didn't have to go then," he explained. Made sense.

"Well Claudia, any towns coming up that we can stop at?" Mom asked me, turning her gaze back to the road.

I looked at the map that was resting in my lap. Tracing my finger along the highlighted road I easily spotted where we were.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "Some little town called Gatlin should be coming up soon."

As soon as the words passed my lips we passed a sign that declared that Gatlin was only five more miles.

"We're almost there," I assured my brother. Brody looked relieved.

Ten minutes later we found ourselves on the outskirts of a very small town. A very small, seemingly deserted town. As we drove towards the center of town we saw no one and heard nothing but the occasional twittering of birds.

The further we drove in to town the more uncomfortable I became. The sense of danger that I felt about the fields of corn intensified into a deeper sense of foreboding.

"Where is everyone?" Brody asked, looking a little confused.

"I have no idea," Mom answered, slowing our speed as she too looked around the apparently abandoned town.

"Something is not right here," I said, expressing the feelings I had of how wrong this was.

"I'm sure nothing's wrong. Maybe there was a town meeting or a festival or something." Mom said, however she was still looking around.

"Where? In the middle of a corn field?" Brody questioned.

"Sure," Mom agreed. "Maybe they're having some kind of corn festival."

"A corn festival?" I turned to Mom. The moment she met my gaze I knew instantly that she had the same uneasy feeling I did and that she, like me, wanted to get out of here ASAP. However she shifted her eyes towards Brody and shook her head once.

She didn't want me to say anything that might frighten Brody. I quickly checked the map and saw that there was another town only nineteen miles away called Hemingford.

"Hey buddy," I asked looking at Brody. "How bad do you have to go? Will you be OK until we reach the next town?"

"How far?" he asked.

"Nineteen miles."

"I don't think so." Brody stated honestly.

"OK, well why don't we stop here and see if one of these stores are open? Brody can go to the bathroom and then we'll get out of here." Mom suggested.

"Sounds good," I said. I still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.

Mom stopped the car and I unbuckled my belt.

"Come on Brods," I said exiting the car. "Let's go find you a bathroom. Mom, you stay here."

A quick scan of the square we were in informed me that one store was brandishing an 'Open' sign. Brody and I hurried over to the building and entered.

The store was actually a little diner that looked like it hadn't been in business in years, so the open sign made no sense. Dust and grime covered everything in sight.

"Hello? Anybody here?" I called out. I received no answer.

"I don't think anyone's here," Brody stated.

"Ollie-Ollie-outs-and-free!" Brody giggled at my silliness.

Still having no answer I sighed.

"Well in case there's any one here and your just ignoring us because you think we're weird, Brody here is just gonna use the bathroom and then we'll be out of here." I explained to the invisible people who could have been in the diner with us for all we knew.

Brody located the bathroom and entered it. I heard him make a sound of disgust and figured that the bathroom must be as grubby looking as the rest of the diner.

As Brody relieved himself I took the time to explore the diner. There was an arcade game in the corner by the bathroom. There were cups on the counter. I sat on a bar stool and attempted to spin around on it, but the stool screeched in protest like it hadn't been used in at least a few years.

I frowned and got up. I walked the length of the counter, running my finger along it. When I reached the end I lifted my finger up and was kind of grossed out by how much dust and dirt now coated my finger. I wiped my finger on my jeans in an attempt to remove it of its newly acquired grime.

I started to hum to myself as I waited. I soon grew bored of humming and approached a pay phone by the door. The receiver was hanging by its cord. I picked it up and didn't hear a dial tone. Shrugging I set the receiver back in its cradle.

I wandered back over to the counter. I stood on my tiptoes and spied an old dishrag sitting on the floor behind the counter. I went behind the counter and obtained the dishrag. I then proceeded to wipe all of the dust and grime off the counter. When I was upset I liked to clean, and the feeling of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach was kind of upsetting me.

Once I had cleaned the counter the best I could with just a dishrag I noticed some stains on the counter. I started to wipe at the stain nearest me but then stopped. There was something unnerving about the stain. I peered more closely at the stain, trying to place why it bothered me so much.

I heard a toilet flush and then some water running.

"What're you looking at?" Brody asked as he headed over to me. He examined the stain too. "What's that? An old ketchup stain?"

As he said that it finally clicked.

Earlier that year Brody had been playing at the park and had managed to cut his thumb very badly. So badly he needed stitches. When he came home he was bleeding pretty heavily. Mom cleaned up the wound in the bathroom, blood spilling in the sink. We then rushed him to the hospital so he could be properly fixed up. When we got home hours later the blood in the sink had dried. It had taken on a brownish-burgandyish tone.

Just like the stain on the counter before us. I glanced around the diner and realized that the stains on the counter weren't the only ones. There were similar stains all around the diner. On the walls, on the floor, even on the arcade game.

"What's wrong?" Brody asked, suddenly nervous.

"Nothing," I lied. "Come on, let's get out of here. We're already late as it is."

Brody seemed to believe my lie and I was glad.

As I was putting the dishrag back where I had found it we heard a yell from outside. It sounded very much like our mother.

Brody and I shared a quick look.

"Mom," we shouted in unison. We dashed for the exit. Once we were back out in the square we bolted for the car.

Brody froze in fear once he spotted what I had immediately noticed. The driver's side door of our car was standing ajar, the annoying beeping of warning coming from within it. Our mom was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Mom?" Brody asked fearfully.

"I don't know," I answered honestly.

"Mom!" Brody started shouting. "Mom!"

"Mom!" I joined in. Brody began to start panicking.

"Claudia, where's Mom?" he asked again. "Where'd she go? We have to find Mom!"

I rushed over to my little brother. I crouched down before him and grabbed his shoulders.

"Brody, don't worry. We'll find her. She can't have gone far. We'll just lock up the car and start looking." I said. I had a feeling that it would not be that simple but I had to calm Brody down. It would do us no good to have him panicking.

Brody nodded numbly. I hurried over to the car and removed the keys from the ignition. As I was locking up the car we heard another shout from further in the town.

Brody and I shared another look and then bolted in the direction the shout came from.

We followed the street until we came to a stop in front of what appeared to be a church. It was just as run down and desolate looking as the rest of the town, however the sign out front declared that later on this evening there was to be some kind of service.

Brody and I looked at each other trying to catch our breath. He looked terrified. I couldn't blame him; I was pretty damn scared myself. How often is it that you stop to go to the bathroom in a small town only to find it appearing empty, what appeared to be dried bloodstains in the diner who's bathroom you decided to use, then hearing a scream and finding your mother nowhere in sight. Not very often I'd reckon. At least it didn't happen very often to us.

I noticed a flicker of movement in the window of the church. I quickly turned my head towards the church and peered in the window. I didn't see anyone there, but of course that didn't mean anything. Obviously there had to be at least one person in this stupid town if our mom had shouted and then disappeared.

Brody noticed my actions and swiftly turned his head too.

"Mom?" he called out before I could tell him not too. Something was majorly not right here and I really didn't want to call any more attention to us then we had to. Since the damage was done I decided against informing Brody of my fears. He was already terrified out of his twelve-year-old mind and I didn't want him scared any more.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go inside and see if she's there." Suddenly I really wanted to get out of the open. Going inside this church of all places was probably not going to be much better but we had to start somewhere.

Brody nodded at me wordlessly and then slipped his hand into mine. Together we entered the church.

The door creaked as we entered and the noise echoed within the depths of the building.

It was dark inside the church. Our footsteps echoed as we ventured further in. Quotes from the Bible and other such phrases were written on the walls in what could only be dried blood. There were several references to spilling blood. There were also a decent amount of mentions of He Who Walks Behind The Rows whoever the hell that was. There was a musty smell in the air. It caused Brody to gag the further into the building we got. It was kind of like a mixture between an old persons house, corn, blood and something else. After a moment I placed it. The something else was rot. Like rotting corn. Or a rotting corpse. One of the two anyway.

Brody gazed fearfully at the walls and tightened his grip on my hand.

"I don't like it in here," he whispered.

"I'm not particularly fond of this place myself Brods," I said, offering him as relaxed a smile as I could manage. I would not show my little brother how much this whole situation bothered me. What he needed now was someone in control.

"Mom?" Brody called out tentatively. The only reply was his echo.

Slowly we approached the front of the church, passing numerous rows of empty pews. Strewn on the floor of the church were cornhusks. Lots and lots of cornhusks.

At the front of the church, up on the pulpit there was a pedestal that held a book.

I gingerly opened the book and looked at the contents. There was a long list of names and dates. I examined a couple of the pages and it didn't take me long to realize that the dates were birth and death dates.

Something about the list made me very uneasy. One of the things was that none of the people on the list who had death dates written down had lived past the age of nineteen. Another thing that bothered me was that there were two names listed for each person, a full name and then one in brackets. Almost as if everyone had changed their names and this book was recording both their new and old names. I studied the list and gasped.

"They're all Bible names, every last one of them," I murmured.

"What was that Claudia?" Brody asked from over by the wall. As I had started to study the book he went off to further explore, however he didn't seem willing to stray too far away from me.

"Nothing Brody," I assured him.

Scanning the pages I realized that I was right. Every single person who had changed their name had changed it to one that was from the Bible. Talk about weird.

"Claudia, there's a room over here," Brody called out to me. I put the book back on the page that I had found it on and then hurried over to Brody.

He was right, but the room wasn't of much importance. It was a small space that the church official undoubtedly used as their office at one point in time. It seemed to hold nothing of value and it didn't contain our mom.

"I don't think Mom's here," Brody said. I turned and frowned at him.

"I think you're right," I answered. "We better go check somewhere else then."

Brody nodded and exited the room. I started to follow but then grabbed a letter opener from the desk in the office. I tucked it into the pocket of my jeans just in case. Something really twisted was going on here and Mom was missing. It was definitely better to take precautions, even if they did seem unnecessary.

We hurriedly exited the church and were shocked at what we saw. Standing before us were easily a dozen kids. Some were young and some were about my age or slightly older. None looked older than nineteen. They were all wearing clothes that were out of date and kind of… rural, for lack of a better word. Overalls, button up shirts, suspenders, jumpers and dark dresses seemed to be all the rage here in Gatlin. Every single person was staring at my little brother and I.

I did not like this one bit.

Brody gripped my hand and squeezed as hard as he could, trying to convey his lack of comfort and great fear. I squeezed his hand gently to try and reassure him.

The silence was almost deafening as I waited for one of the Gaitliners to say something. After several minutes I realized that they must have been waiting for us to say something to them. Despite my dislike for making the first move in any situation, I decided to speak up because I realized that we might end up playing a long game of 'after you, no after you' if I didn't.

"Uhm, hi," I said. I smiled slightly at them. The last thing I wanted any of these strange people to do was think that I was afraid of them. Although they unnerved me a bit, they didn't have to know that. "How are you?"

Not one of them answered me. OK, obviously they didn't respond well to pleasantries.

"We're looking for our mother." I decided to get right to the point. "Blond hair, blue eyes, slightly taller than me. Have any of you seen her?"

Once again I received no answer. These people were starting to irritate me. The least they could do was nod or shake their heads. Obviously these people were tight-knit and didn't like strangers but come the heck on! They could do something other than stare at us at least!

"OK, I guess not. Oh well, thanks anyway." I moved forward taking Brody with me. My confidence made him less afraid and he moved willingly with me, at my side instead of behind me. "Well it was nice meeting you all, but we really need to find our Mom so we can get out of your hair and stop bothering you."

The kids did nothing as Brody and I walked through their mass. I held my head up high as I stalked through them and Brody did his best not to convey his fear.

That's when a guy with bright red hair stalked out of an alleyway. He was tall, significantly taller than short little me. He walked with an air of confidence and I could tell that he was a leader of some sorts. He also had a sense of danger around him.

Brody stopped moving at the sight of him. I too disliked this new development, but whatever, I'd go with it.

"Hi, we're looking for our mother. Perhaps you've seen her? She's got blond hair, blue eyes and is slightly taller than me?" I addressed the guy. He looked to be about a year or two older than me, making him about seventeen or eighteen.

He smirked me and I disliked that more than the non-responsive faces of the other kids.

"Outlander," the carrot top said locking gazes with me.

"Did you just call me Outlander?" I asked, a little miffed. The guy looked a little surprised at my response. He quickly recovered and returned to smirking at me. Brody squeezed my hand. Obviously this fool was intimidating my little brother.

"Come with me Outlander," the red head demanded. Uh, no thanks.

"We'd rather not thanks," I responded. Once again he looked surprised. His surprise quickly turned to irritation.

"I said come with me Outlander," he reiterated. He was really pissing me off.

"Claudia…" Brody said as way of warning. He thought we should comply with this fool.

"No Brody," I said to him and then turned to the red head. "I said no. Why would I want to go with you when you've been nothing but unhelpful and rude?"

"Please Claudia," Brody whispered.

"Outlander," the tall boy before me growled. I glared at him. He glared back.

"It's best that you go with him," a distinctly male voice said from behind us. I whirled around and saw that the speaker was another boy who looked to be my age. He had dark hair and dark eyes that seemed to be pleading with me to go with the redheaded bastard.

"Fine," I said, looking at the dark haired guy but speaking to Sergeant Dickwad behind me. "We'll go with you Dr. Badass. On one condition. You tell me where the hell we're going."

"To see Isaac," the redhead responded as I turned to face him once again.

"Isaac?" Brody asked looking up at me with wide eyes. I shrugged in response. I had no idea who the heck Isaac was.

The redhead started to walk away and motioned for us to follow. Reluctantly I led Brody after him.

After a few feet Brody squeezed my hand. I looked down at him and noticed that he was looking behind us. I too glanced behind us and noticed that every single kid who had 'greeted' us outside the church were now following after us. The dark haired guy who asked me to go with Dr. Badass nodded slightly at me.

Great, we were part of a parade. Sighing I turned back to look where I was going. I wondered what this Isaac person was going to be like.

---

Turns out that Isaac was a vertically challenged teenaged guy with a squeaky voice and somewhat of a God complex. The minute we entered the dark room in the house that I could only assume was his he started talking to us like he had authority over us. His favorite phrases to use were "my children" and "my child." He was more than a little strange. And I didn't trust him one bit.

"Your coming wasn't prophesized," Isaac was saying once I tuned back in to reality, forcing myself to listen to what he had to say. "However that is not important. He Who Walks Behind The Rows will surely inform me of what to do with you, my children."

"He Who Walks Behind The Rows?" I questioned. Although I'm speaking to him, I'm eyeing Dr. Badass in the corner. The redhead was the only one who entered the house with us. All of the others scattered once we arrived here.

"Our God," Isaac explained. "Our savior. The one we are devoted too!"

Huh, well wasn't that interesting? I'd be really keen on learning more about their religion, being the curious person I am if not for the fact that our mom was still MIA and I had a feeling that these shmucks had something to do with that. Maybe their God did too.

"What are we going to do with them?" the redhead asked, a slightly malicious glint in his eye. Oh I really did not like him.

"Nothing," Isaac replied. Dr. Badass looked at his supposed leader.

"Nothing?"

"He Who Walks Behind The Rows did not inform me of their coming. I wish to confer with him before anything is done to any of these Outlanders." Isaac said.

"Any of the Outlanders?"

"Any of them," Isaac said a note of finality in his voice. I had a feeling that the reason Dr. Badass was questioning Isaac's authority was because of our mom. Obviously these guys had very big issues with the adults.

"But - " carrot top began.

"Question me not Malachai," Isaac glared. Ah ha! So the redheaded shmuck is named Malachai! "I am the giver of His word. Do not forget that."

Isaac continued to stare down Malachai and Malachai seemed to grow increasingly uncomfortable. Against my better judgment I was beginning to like this short preacher, if only because it was amusing to see him win an argument with a guy so much larger and older than him.

Isaac saw that Malachai would not question him any further and smiled. He then turned his attention on Brody and I. He strode over to us.

"Now my children," he smiled almost gently at us. "What are your names?"

Brody glanced at me and I nodded slightly, encouraging him to tell Isaac. There was no point in pissing this guy off. Yet.

"Brody," my brother answered timidly.

"And you my child?" Isaac turned to me.

"Claudia." Isaac smiled at me. However there seemed to be some kind of hidden meaning behind it. Maybe he was trying to say 'not for long.' I think he was implying that soon my brother and I would have Bible names.

Isaac turned away from me and faced Malachai.

"Take Claudia and Brody to Micah and Joseph. Tell them to take care of them. Keep them fed. Provide sleeping arrangements. Answer their questions. Keep an eye on them until I have conversed with He Who Walks Behind the Rows." Isaac said, turning away to leave the room.

Malachai glared at Brody and I. I glared back.

Isaac paused at the door and then turned to face Malachai over his shoulder.

"And Malachai," he began. "Be gentle."

Malachai grunted in response and Isaac left. Turning to us the redhead frowned and then motioned for us to follow him.

"Come on."

---

Micah was the dark haired guy who told me to go with Malachai when we were outside the church. He lived in a fairly large farm style house in the middle of town with three other people. The house was white and badly needed a new paint job. When we arrived his three roommates weren't present, however we were told that their names were Joseph, Job and Sarah.

Malachai informed Micah of what Isaac expected of him and Joseph and then stalked off. Probably to go intimidate some children… or my mother. Somewhere along the way I became convinced that these people did in fact have our mother somewhere. Although I had no idea where.

"Well, uhm, I'm Micah," Micah said awkwardly.

"I'm Claudia and this is Brody," I answered. Micah nodded.

"Why don't we go inside and wait for Job and Sarah to come home?" he offered. I nodded in acceptance and led Brody inside the house after him.

After confirming that we were hungry, and getting us some food (all corn centered) we sat in the living room. It was kind of awkward. I can't imagine that Micah could think of much to say to two people who were practically prisoners in his house.

As Brody nibbled on a piece of corn I decided to try and make it a little less awkward.

"So, uh, what's going on here?" I asked him.

"Going on?" Micah repeated quizzically.

"Yeah, who's He Who Walks Behind The Rows? Why do you follow him? Why are there no people over nineteen here? Why did everyone change their birth names to Biblical ones? Why is Malachai such a buttwipe? Why does everyone follow Isaac? Why are there dried bloodstains in the diner in town? What is with the adoration of corn in this town?" I started. I had more questions, but these were the ones that came naturally. I obviously wanted to ask about our mom but I decided to work up to that question.

Micah looked startled by my onslaught of questions and I couldn't help but smile sheepishly at him. I guess I had let my curiosity get the better of me.

"He Who Walks Behind The Rows is our God. We follow him because we believe him to be right and just and the only true God in this world. Some of us believe it more than others." Micah explained. I was a little surprised by the last sentence. I had thought that everyone in this town faithfully believed in this He Who Walks Behind The Rows. I guess I was wrong. Whats more is that it was almost as if Micah were trying to inform me that he himself was a little unsure of his faith in this God.

"Everything we do we do for He Who Walks Behind The Rows. We changed our names to ones from the Bible because that is what He wished us to do. We adore corn as you put it because the corn is what He came from. The field is a Holy place and where He resides." Micah continued.

OK, made sense so far. A little weird, but it made sense. As far as religions go this one seemed to be just like the others.

"We follow Isaac because Isaac is the speaker of He Who Walks Behind The Rows. Isaac tells us His laws and what He wants because He speaks to Isaac. Isaac is a Holy man. Malachai is Isaac's right hand man." Micah explained.

"Oh OK, that makes sense. The power went to his head to make him a douche. Got it," I reasoned. Micah smiled at me. I had amused him.

Micah was going to continue to answer the rest of my questions when the front door opened and three people entered the living room.

One was a boy who looked to be about a year or two younger than me. He had slightly curly dark hair. Another was a younger boy who looked to be about Brody's age who had dark brown hair that was only a few shades darker than Brody's own hair. The final person was a girl who was a year or two younger than Brods with wavy blond hair and an innocent appearance.

All three of the new arrivals stopped when they saw us. The younger two looked confused and a little curious but the older boy actually gaped at me as if it was me in particular that he was shocked to see.

"Brody, Claudia these are Job, Sarah and Joseph," Micah explained.

The girl, Sarah waved shyly at Brody and me. The younger boy, Job, waved at us too but with much more confidence. I smiled at both of them and Brody waved half heartedly back. The older boy, Joseph, continued to be silent for a moment and then seemed to gather his wits about him.

"Job, Sarah, why don't you go entertain Brody?" Joseph suggested. Job nodded at him and Sarah skipped forward and grabbed Brody's hand. Brody looked unsure until I nodded at him. He followed Job and Sarah up the stairs to the second floor.

Joseph sat down on a comfy chair that was opposite the couch Micah and I were sitting on.

"The reason there are no adults here," Micah started sounding a little nervous. "Is that we killed them all. He Who Walks Behind The Rows said that we had too."

"Wait, what?" I cut in. Had I heard right? The kids had murdered all the adults?

"We, uhm, we killed the adults," Micah said softly, looking unsure of himself and a little guilty.

"Because He Who Walks Behind The Rows asked you too? But why would he ask you to do that?" I was completely baffled. I was sitting in a room with two murderers… For some odd reason I wasn't afraid.

"Because adults are sinners and hypocrites," Joseph stated simply.

"But aren't kids sinners and hypocrites too?" I asked.

"Not as much as adults are," Joseph countered. I decided against arguing the point further, otherwise they might not answer my questions any more.

"So what, the moment you turn nineteen you become a sinner and a hypocrite, even if you weren't before?" I asked.

"Pretty much," Micah nodded.

"But what do you do then? Sacrifice yourselves the day you turn nineteen?" I was growing increasingly weirded out by this strange religion.

"Yeah," Micah's response was almost inaudible. I had the distinct feeling that these two were not proud of their religion and what they had done and were expected to do. Gatlin had a whole Jonestown vibe to it. Once you were in you could never get out. They even had the mass suicide thing going on, albeit not all at once.

I also had the distinct feeling that Gaitliners disliked outsiders and disliked people who deserted them and the faith even more. Knowing that I decided against asking the two guys before me what their feelings were regarding their religion. It could get one or both of them in trouble.

"When you killed the adults was it all at once?" I asked. I guess the two guys were surprised by the question and the way I asked it.

"For the most part yeah," Joseph said.

"Which is why there were bloodstains in the diner," I concluded. "You took them by surprise, right?"

"Yeah," Micah nodded.

There was a long moment of silence between us. I was trying to think of what I should ask next and Joseph and Micah were probably trying to figure out why I wasn't freaking out. Had I not been so curious and wanting to gain more knowledge then I probably also would have been trying to figure out why I wasn't really as bothered as I should have been by the information I had gained.

"Outlanders," I started. "What happens to Outlanders?"

I figured this would be the best question to ask considering Malachai had called Brody and I Outlanders, which obviously meant that our mother was too.

Micah winced at the question. Joseph looked a little uncomfortable as well.

"They're killed," Joseph said staring me right in the eye. My stomach sank.

"Oh," was all I could utter. This was bad. Very, very bad. Brody, Mom and I were in danger here. Serious danger.

"But, this is a different case," Micah cut in reassuringly.

"How so?" I asked suspiciously.

"We've never had Outlanders enter town who were of recruiting age. Normally they're all adults. You and Brody are the first children Outlanders to ever enter Gatlin." Micah explained.

"Huh," I said. I would have thought that they had at least a few kid Outlanders before us.

"And He Who Walks Behind The Rows did not inform Isaac of your arrival," Micah added.

"He didn't?" I was confused. Why the heck would the Corn God neglect to mention us if he was as great and all seeing as everyone thought?

"And Isaac doesn't want to do anything until he discusses things with Him," Micah finished. "Isaac wants to figure out what He wants us to do. He could very well want us to recruit you and Brody."

"Recruit us? Make us devoted to Him?" I was in shock. I definitely did not think that I could ever devote myself to a God as strange and seemingly bloodthirsty as He Who Walks Behind The Rows.

"Yes," Micah confirmed.

Knowing that my little brother and my fates were unsure I had to know about my mom.

"What about my mother?" I asked, making eye contact with Micah. I did not want him to lie to me, and I also liked him better than Joseph. Joseph kept staring at me strangely and I didn't like it.

"She will most likely be killed," Micah whispered.

"Has she been killed yet?" I asked.

"No," Micah responded, making me feel like a weight had been lifted from my chest. "Isaac doesn't want to do anything to any of you until he's talked to Him."

"When will Isaac talk to Him?" I asked.

"Tonight," Micah answered.

I had run out of questions. All I wanted to do was go find my mother and get my family the hell out of this stupid town. The only problem was that I had no clue where she was.

---

A couple of hours later found all of us hanging out in the living room. During our time there I had decided that I liked Micah, Job and Sarah just fine. But Joseph was a little weird. I still caught him giving me funny looks every now and again.

I decided against telling Brody we were in a town with a bunch of murderers who had killed all the adults including their own parents and that our lives and mom's life was in danger. I knew that Brody already suspected it but I also knew that he would react badly if he knew just what kind of danger we were actually in. Once I found out what Isaac and He Who Walks Behind The Rows intended for us all, then I would tell Brody.

It was getting late and Brody looked exhausted, as did Job and Sarah. I myself was feeling a little tired, but not nearly as worn out as the younger three.

"Claudia," Brody yawned, moving over to sit beside me on the floor.

"What is it Brods?" I asked.

"Can you tell me a story?" he asked. This was something that Brody did when he was scared or uncomfortable. Whenever we were in a tense situation or a stressful one and we had to sleep he would always ask for a bedtime story. That's the way it had always been. I nodded, knowing exactly what story would make Brody feel better.

Ever since we were both young, we had both loved the story of Where The Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak. I had read it so often that I had it memorized and Brody had it read to him so much that I knew he did too, but that didn't stop it from being our favorite bedtime story.

"Sure Brods," I said. Job and Sarah looked at me expectantly and a little hesitantly. I knew what they wanted. "Come on over guys, you can listen too."

Job and Sarah grinned at each other and then plopped themselves down beside us. I began to recite the book from memory, using different voices for Max's mother, Max and the wild things. I also embellished on the rumpusing considering the fact that the only description of the rumpus in the story was provided by the illustrations.

"And it was still hot. The end." I finished. Brody yawned which caused Job to yawn, which resulted in Sarah yawning.

"I'll show you to your beds," Micah offered standing up and smiling at me. I knew he had enjoyed the story too. He probably knew it just as well as I did.

"Awww," Sarah whined.

"We don't want them to go to bed!" Job declared.

"I'm tired though," Brody countered, causing Sarah to frown.

"You guys should probably go to bed too," I said to them. Sarah and Job protested that they weren't tired, but I had the sinking suspicion that they liked the fact that someone was telling them to go to bed.

After a few minutes I managed to convince them to go to bed too. Micah showed Brody to the guest room and I said good night, tucking him in and everything. Brody's fear had reverted him back to a young child who was dependant on me. After I closed the door to Brody's room I turned to Micah.

"Can I trust you?" I asked him.

"What?" he was taken by surprised.

"Answer me honestly," I said. "Can I trust you?"

"Yes," Micah responded. The look in his eyes told me that he was being completely honest.

"What about Joseph?"

"He's been acting funny tonight but I'm pretty sure you can trust him."

"So if I leave Brody alone in that room, he will be under no threat from anyone in this house? I won't have to worry about waking up and finding him murdered in that bed?" I asked, completely serious.

"Brody will be fine," Micah assured me. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt him and neither would Joseph, Job or Sarah. You have nothing to fear."

The level of honesty in his eyes was comforting.

"Good," I sighed. "I really wasn't looking forward to the idea of having to sleep on the floor outside this door."

"I wouldn't let you do that. If you want then I'll sleep outside his door." Micah replied.

"Oh no, no," I hurriedly said. "If you say that there's nothing to worry about, then I'm just going to take your word for it."

Micah smiled at me and led me to another room. As I stepped inside I immediately knew that this room belonged to someone in the house.

"Is this your room?" I asked him.

"Yes," Micah said.

"I can't take your room from you." I stated simply.

"You're my guest. I insist. I don't mind." Micah assured me.

"I do though. I am not comfortable taking your room from you. I'll just go sleep on the couch."

"Claudia…"

"No. You let us into your home because Isaac told you too. I'm not going to let you give up your bed because it is the will of some boy preacher. It's not right. The couch was comfy and will be just fine. Don't argue with me, you'll just lose." I smiled.

Sensing that I was telling the truth and that he would lose if he engaged in an argument with me, he sighed and nodded.

"All right, since you apparently want to then you can sleep on the couch," he agreed.

"Good," I grinned.

We stood in his room in silence for a moment.

"Micah, honestly, what do you think Brody and my chances are of not being killed tomorrow?" I asked, looking at him.

"I don't know," Micah answered honestly. I nodded, accepting his answer. "But I hope you don't get sacrificed."

"Thanks Micah," I said softly. "That's… oddly comforting."

Micah nodded in response. I got the feeling that he wanted to say more but he didn't.

"Well, good night," I said.

"Good night," he whispered.

I closed the door behind me when I left. When I returned downstairs, the living room was empty. I assumed Joseph went up to bed also. I was glad. I just wanted to crash.

I settled into the couch and lay on my side, pulling the blanket up over my shoulders. I closed my eyes and waited to be claimed by the sleep that I knew would elude me.

---

I was awoken in the middle of the night by a hand being clamped over my mouth. I prepared myself for a fight and snapped my eyes open. I relaxed a little when I saw that it was just Joseph.

"Shhh," he shushed me. I looked at him warily and nodded my head to indicate that I would be quiet if he let go. If push came to shove I could take this guy down in a fight.

Joseph let go of my mouth and indicated that I should go with him. I reluctantly got up and followed him to a small room by the kitchen.

"What do want Joseph?" I asked him.

"What are you doing here?" Joseph demanded.

"Well, my mom, Brody and I were on our way to California for a family vacation and uh, Brody had to go to the bathroom. The closest town was this one so we decided to stop and let him use a restroom. The next thing we knew our mom was missing. So we went looking for her and then ran into your friends and Malachai who took us to Isaac and then brought us here. You know the rest." I explained, a little confused about why he woke me up in the middle of the night to ask me that.

"No," Joseph said. "I mean what are you doing here? Why are you really here?"

"What I just told you pretty much summed it up," I insisted.

"Sarah knew you were coming," Joseph revealed. "She drew your arrival. You must be here for some important reason for her to have done that."

"Wait, Sarah's a seer?" I was completely confused. "What?"

"Sarah can see the future sometimes. She can draw it. If she drew you then you must have some kind of importance." Joseph explained.

"What do you mean she drew me?" I questioned.

Joseph produced a handful of papers from the pocket of his pants. He handed them to me.

I unfolded them and shuffled through them. The first one was a drawing of a small silver car approaching Gatlin. The next picture featured a girl with long light brown hair and a boy with brown hair surrounded by a bunch of other children including one with red hair that looked oddly like Malachai. The next one was of the same girl and boy standing outside a white house with a little blond girl a little brunette boy and two teens with dark hair.

The final picture was a little more complicated. In the middle of a clearing in the corn there was a decent sized fire burning. There was a blond woman strapped to a cross that was made of corn and the brown haired boy was kneeling before it, a large knife lying on the ground at his side. To the far right of the picture there was another corn crucifix that had a skeleton wearing all blue strapped to it. A short boy with black hair and clothes that resembled Isaac was standing to one side of the cross, the red headed boy standing on the other side. Various other children were situated in the picture. The main focus was the light brown haired girl who was standing before the fire wearing a white dress and holding her arms out. There was red on her wrists.

The drawings were crude but effective.

I pointed at the light brown haired girl in the pictures.

"Wait," I said. "So that's me?"

Joseph nodded. I pointed to the brown haired boy.

"And that's Brody?" I questioned. Joseph confirmed my suspicions with another nod.

"Then that must be my mother." I said, tracing my finger over the blond woman on the cross.

After a moment of silence I looked up at Joseph.

"Where is this?" I pointed at the final picture.

"A clearing in the corn," Joseph answered. "It's a sacred place."

"Huh…" I murmured.

"What's happening in that picture?" Joseph asked me as if he honestly expected me to know.

"I have no idea," I answered.

"No idea?" he asked.

"None at all."

"There was no greater purpose to why you came here?"

"Nope. It was just an unplanned potty break gone wrong."

There was a long moment of silence, during which I scanned the last picture. I probably would have dismissed Joseph as crazy for thinking Sarah was a seer, but everything the first three pictures contained were true.

"You can't tell anyone," Joseph said.

"Can't tell anyone what?" I asked.

"About the drawings and Sarah's gift. Isaac and Malachai would take it as a sign. And drawings against the rules." Joseph explained.

"Seriously?" I asked. How in the world could something like drawing be against the rules? I loved drawing.

"Yeah," Joseph said.

"You seem to be a little bit off put by Isaac and Malachai and their rules," I said. "You don't seem to be a true believer."

Joseph snorted.

"Yeah well, I have my doubts. Who's to say that Isaac really talks to He Who Walks Behind The Rows? Or that he gives us accurate information if he does?" Joseph questioned.

"You're supposed to have faith in Isaac and your God," I responded.

"Yeah well, I guess you can say that I don't have much." Joseph retorted. "I don't think Micah does either."

"I don't," said a familiar voice from behind me. I whirled around to see Micah standing there with a sad smile on his face.

Joseph looked startled to see the other boy standing behind me. He quickly snatched the drawings away from me and shoved them back in his pocket.

"It's OK," Micah assured him. "Sarah told me about her gift. She said that you'd be mad if you knew she told me so I didn't say anything."

Joseph looked suspicious for a moment, but the honesty in Micah's gaze reassured him.

"I was wondering if you were going to be the one to show her the drawings or if I would have to do it." Micah turned to me. "Any idea what the last one means?"

"Not a clue." I responded.

"Why would you slit your wrists?" he demanded. I could hear worry laced in his voice.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I honestly had no clue. I never would unless it was absolutely necessary. I wasn't suicidal in the least.

A long moment of silence passed before Micah stepped forward and put a hand on my arm. He locked gazes with me.

"I just want you to know, that if things go bad tomorrow, then I will help you, your brother and your mother get out of here." Micah said.

I glanced away at Joseph who nodded his agreement to Micah's statement.

"Thank you," I whispered at them.

I was grateful to these two guys. They were willing to risk their lives to help me and my family. I just hoped that it wouldn't come to that.

---

Around noon the next day Brody and I were awaiting word from Isaac regarding His decision about us. Job, Sarah and Brody were playing together. Brody seemed a little more relaxed than he was yesterday and that made me happy.

I was sitting o the floor drawing and writing. Sarah and Job seemed to love the story of Where The Wild Things Are so much that I wrote it out for them so they could keep it. The two looked so happy when I gave it to them.

I had just finished putting the finishing touches on my pencil sketch of Micah, having already completed one of Joseph when Isaac and Malachai walked in to the living room.

Sarah and Job stopped laughing and playing instantly and looked up at the two with something akin to fear. Brody looked up at the duo with a look very similar to Job and Sarah's on his face. I greatly disliked that they intimidated my little brother and the other two kids so much.

Joseph and Micah entered the room, Micah from the kitchen and Joseph from upstairs when they heard the screen door close.

Malachai glared down at me when he noticed that I was drawing. I remembered that drawing was against the rules and smirked up at him. Malachai leered down at me.

"Claudia, Brody, how are you my children?" Isaac asked. "Did you sleep well?"

"As well as we could under the circumstances," I answered for both of us.

"Well that is to be expected," Isaac replied.

"How did your discussion with He Who Walks Behind The Rows go?" I asked. "Are we going to be sacrificed or not?"

I managed to keep my fear out of my voice. Malachai looked surprised at the lack of fear in my voice.

"He informed me that not telling me before hand that you were coming was a test of my loyalty," Isaac explained.

"To see if you would wait to consult Him before doing anything to anybody in order to see what would best please Him." I agreed. "I suppose you passed?"

"I did," Isaac smiled. He seemed pleased with my ability to figure things out.

"Congratulations," I added.

"He has decided that Brody and yourself would be great additions to our family. The choice is ultimately yours but He would be greatly pleased if you agreed to become one of us. I would be as well. It would be interesting to have someone like you around." Isaac explained.

"When do we have to decide by?" I asked.

"Tonight would be preferable. If you decide to join us then we will have a welcoming ceremony in the sacred clearing this evening."

"And I assume that the rejection of your kind offer would result in the immediate death of us?" I inquired.

Isaac smiled thinly, implying that he would dislike it if that were to be the choice of either one of us. Malachai smiled maliciously implying that he would greatly enjoy ending our lives.

"I anxiously await your decisions," Isaac said.

Then he and Malachai turned and exited the house. I glanced at Brody and saw him shaking slightly; he looked terrified by the prospect of dying. I however was already forming a plan.

---

"Do you think it will work?" I asked Joseph and Micah.

"It just might," Joseph concluded.

The plan wasn't terribly complicated. Agree to become devoted, go to the sacred clearing, free our mom and get the hell out of dodge.

Quickly the three of us briefed Brody, Job and Sarah. Job and Sarah looked a little anxious but also happy at the prospect of saving Brody and my mother. Joseph looked apprehensive and a little nervous before he went off to go inform Isaac that Brody and I had reached a decision. Micah just downright disliked the plan, but wisely decided against voicing his opinion until Joseph left.

"I don't like it," Micah said. "So many things could go wrong! You could be overwhelmed when trying to leave. You could be cut down before you even free your mother. It could be too late."

"Not to mention He Who Walks Behind The Rows could have informed Isaac of the plan," I agreed. Micah didn't even miss a beat or get thrown off at all by the fact that I was agreeing with him.

"Exactly. We don't even know if your car is still functioning! Normally when Outlanders arrive the first thing we are ordered to do is trash their car while they're exploring the town." Micah argued.

"I don't think anyone's touched the car," I answered calmly. "Isaac said he didn't want to do anything with out His consent. I think he hasn't done a single thing to anything that has to do with Brody, Mom and I. Besides, it seems to me like He Who Walks Behind The Rows would probably want Brody and I to trash our own car to prove our devotion… if not something more drastic."

By that I meant that He'd probably want us to sacrifice our own mother. No way in the world was that happening.

Micah didn't answer me, which I took as a confirmation of the idea.

"Besides," I said quickly. "If it is trashed, we can just walk. Hemingford is only nineteen miles away from here. That's not too far."

"It can be when you're being hunted by Malachai," Micah grumbled. I winced visibly and was thankful that Micah refused to look at me. The last thing I wanted anyone here to see was my fear. Was I scared? Well yeah, wouldn't you be?

"Malachai doesn't scare me." I answered. "He's just a bully. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. I could take him on if I had too."

Micah looked at my smallish frame and raised an eyebrow. I'll admit that it probably seemed like an unlikely thing considering how much bigger than me Malachai was, but I'd had many a self defense class and had confidence in my abilities.

Micah sighed and was about to try a different approach to the argument when Joseph returned.

"Isaac's ready to see you and Brody," Joseph explained.

"Thanks Joseph," I nodded at him.

"He's at the church," Joseph explained.

"OK," I responded. I met Micah's gaze and he seemed to be pleading at me silently to try and find a better plan. However, when Joseph and I locked gazes, he seemed to be ready to do this and a little proud of both the plan and me.

"Come on Brods," I said calling to my little brother. "Time to go talk to the preacher."

With that we left the house.

---

The inside of the church was dark, just like the last time we were there. Except this time there were several candles lit inside it.

Standing at the far end, by the weirdo phonebook of names and deaths was the short leader of those devoted to He Who Walks Behind The Rows. Malachai was standing off to the side of Isaac, looking very much the right hand man that he was. Beside Malachai stood a girl who I had never seen before. She had curly brown hair and wore a dark blue jumper over a brown long sleeved shirt.

Isaac finished lighting another candle and then turned to Brody and I.

"Welcome my children," he greeted.

"Hello Isaac," I said calmly.

"Hello," Brody said softly.

"I have been informed by Joseph that you have reached a decision," Isaac began. "Is that true?"

"It is," I confirmed.

"Then do tell us what you have chosen," Isaac smiled.

"We have decided to devote ourselves to He Who Walks Behind The Rows," I announced. Isaac broke into a genuine smile, Malachai looked a little disappointed and the girl looked uncertain.

"This is wonderful news my child," Isaac smiled. "He is very pleased by your decision."

Isaac turned to Malachai and the girl.

"Malachai, Ruth," he started. "There is much that needs to be done to prepare for the ceremony tonight. We must get started."

Malachai grunted. Ruth nodded vigorously and scampered off and out of the church.

"Do not worry about a thing my children," Isaac said to Brody and I. "You needn't worry about a single thing. We shall send for you this evening when it is time."

Good. Very good. Judging by Isaac's reaction, he didn't know about the plan, which meant He must not have told Isaac. Or He didn't know. Or He didn't care. In any case this was very good for us. Very good indeed.

---

I wrinkled my nose at the white dress I was wearing. A few minutes ago Ruth showed up and handed Brody and I each a set of clothes and told us that we needed to get dressed and go to the clearing. Joseph and Micah informed her that they would take us there and she scampered off to finish something or other for the ceremony.

I was surprised by how late it was before we were sent for. The sun had almost set completely by the time Ruth showed up.

I checked myself in the mirror and then frowned down at my flip-flops. These were definitely not good shoes to be doing running in. I decided against wearing them.

Before I exited the bathroom I rummaged through the pocket of my jeans and removed the letter opener and my drawings of Micah and Joseph. I tucked the letter opener into the side of my bra. You never knew when you would need some kind of weapon when you were surrounded by a bunch of murderous children and going to be fleeing for your life.

Straightening out the dress I exited the bathroom and headed downstairs.

Brody was wearing all white as well and was sitting on the floor talking to Sarah and Job in hushed tones. Joseph and Micah were nowhere to be seen.

"Hi Claudia," Brody greeted when I was in the living room with them. He looked nervous, and I could sympathize.

"You sure do look pretty," Sarah said, smiling.

"Thanks Sarah," I grinned down at her. Job gaped at me a little and then shook his head.

"Where are Micah and Joseph?" I asked.

"They're waiting for you and Brody outside," Job answered.

"I don't think Micah wants you to do this," Sarah said bluntly.

"I know. But we have too," I explained.

"Be careful Claudia," Sarah whispered.

"We will Sarah," I assured her, giving her a hug.

"Can't we come and help you?" Job asked.

"No Job," Brody said surprisingly firmly.

"If we get stopped, the last thing we want Isaac and Malachai to think is that you two were involved. We don't want anything to happen to you," I said.

Job frowned but when I ruffled his hair he gave me a hug.

Brody said his good byes to Job and Sarah and then we exited the house. Micah and Joseph were waiting for us on the porch. They turned and looked at us as the screen door closed. Joseph looked ready to go. Micah looked like he wanted me to reconsider.

I approached the two.

"Thank you," I said to them. "For your hospitality."

Now that we were outside we had to be careful not to let anyone suspect anything. I knew that they realized I wasn't just thanking them for their hospitality.

I handed Joseph the drawing I did of him. He took it and put it in his pocket without looking at it.

Micah took the drawing of him wordlessly and also put it in his pocket without looking at it.

"Come on, let's go," Joseph said anxiously.

"Ready Brods?" I asked my brother. He nodded at me even if he wasn't really ready.

Together the four of us strode out into the corn.

---

The sun had vanished completely below the horizon by the time we reached the sacred clearing. Before we arrived I took Brody's hand in mine and I was glad I did.

Inside the sacred clearing many of the children had gathered. Some of the younger ones were absent but every single one over the age of thirteen was present. There was a fire burning in the center of the clearing, and Isaac was standing on the other side of it. Malachai stood off to the left of Isaac, a machete in hand. On the other side of Isaac was a large crucifix fashioned out of corn and cornhusks. Strapped to this crucifix and looking a little worse for the wear was our mother. Over to the far right of the clearing was a skeleton dressed in blue clothing that was strapped to a crucifix that was very similar to the one our mother occupied. Brody gasped quietly and squeezed my hand. I squeezed back reassuringly.

When Mom spotted us she started to struggle against her ties and tried to call out to us trough her gag. I locked gazes with her and tried to convey the message of not to worry. Apparently it worked since she stopped struggling as much and stopped trying to talk through her gag.

"Welcome my children," Isaac greeted.

A hush fell over the crowd of kids. They all turned to look at Brody and me. Isaac motioned for us to come forward. Hand in hand Brody and I approached Isaac.

"Tonight you will reach salvation in the arms of He Who Walks Behind The Rows. He will ensure your safety and provide you with care and love, so long as you give both back." Isaac announced.

Mom was once again squirming, not liking where this was going.

"Everything you see before you will be yours, so long as you help provide with the upkeep of the harvest. Help with the care of the corn, food of our God." Isaac explained.

"Praise God!" Malachai shouted with passion, briefly startling me. Soon a chant was up in the air, everyone was including their voice.

"Faithful Zachariah," Isaac shouted above the chant. "Beautiful Esther. Are you ready to become One with us and He Who Walks Behind The Rows?"

I slowly looked behind me at the others who were passionately chanting "Praise God! Praise the Lord! Praise God! Praise the Corn!" at a steady pace. Each face looked determined and almost loving as they repeated the words. Joseph and Micah were chanting at the back, although they did not look nearly as into it as everyone else.

When I turned back around, I squeezed Brody's hand, letting him know that he needed to agree now.

"I'm ready," Brody said softly. Mom was really panicking behind Isaac now. I spared her a very brief glance as Isaac reveled in Brody's answer.

"And you Esther?" Isaac asked me. Obviously our Biblical names were already picked out, either by Isaac or He Who Walks Behind The Rows.

"I'm ready," I answered confidently so as not to give away our true intentions.

Isaac seemed to bask in my agreement before continuing. He motioned to Malachai who stepped forward, still chanting, and handed him the machete.

"Then it is time to make the sacrifice," Isaac explained. "Tonight's sacrifice will assist in the growth of the corn. The blood will let it be good and plentiful. The blood will keep it healthy. Zachariah. It is time to prove your devotion. Take the blade and let the corn be fed!"

Isaac held the machete out to Brody and the other children stopped chanting. Brody looked up at me fearfully. This was bad. I had not expected Brody to be called upon to sacrifice Mom. I was almost positive that it would be me and then I would free her and we'd all flee. This threw everything out of whack. Before I could do or say anything though, Brody stepped forward and took the machete from Isaac.

Isaac smiled as Brody took a few steps towards our Mom. He stopped before her and gazed up at her. Mom was nodding at him, tears streaking down her cheeks. I couldn't believe it! Mom actually wanted Brody to do it, to kill her just so that we would be safe. That's our Mom. Sandra Blake, super mom.

Brody had tears running down his cheeks as he raised the machete. I had no idea what he intended to do. Brody stood there with the raised machete and then made a move to bring it down towards mom's abdomen – he couldn't reach her chest from where he was standing – but then he stopped. He burst into sobs and started shaking, sinking to his knees before Mom. He let the machete slip from his grasp as he bawled.

"Isaac," Malachai began.

"Silence Malachai," Isaac barked. "Perhaps it is not his sacrifice to make. He Who Walks Behind The Rows did not specify as to who it had to be."

Malachai snapped his mouth shut and then glued his eyes to me.

"Esther?" Isaac prompted me, holding out a hand towards the machete implying that it was my responsibility to finish the job.

I didn't make a move for the machete though. There was something about this scene that was eerily familiar. The answer came to me in a second. I had seen this before in Sarah's final drawing. The moment that realization dawned on me I knew what I had to do.

"The blood will let it be good and plentiful… the blood will keep it healthy…" I breathed. Isaac looked at me with an expression of curiosity on his face.

Malachai, Isaac and the others were expecting me to grab the machete. Joseph and Isaac were expecting me to use it to free my mom. Malachai and Isaac were expecting me to sacrifice my mother. No one had any idea of what I was really going to do.

Swiftly I removed the letter opener I had grabbed from the church office from it's hiding spot in my bra. Malachai gaped at me as I removed it. My mother looked confused and a little alarmed.

In one fluid motion I slit my right wrist and then switched the letter opener from my left hand to my right and swiftly slit my left wrist. I winced slightly as the fairly dull blade sliced horizontally through the flesh of my wrists.

I locked gazes with Isaac and dropped the letter opener. I spread my arms wide and whirled around to face the mass of children. They all looked startled and confused.

If the corn needed blood and they wanted it fed, then so be it. I would feed their precious field… my way.

As the children stared at me, completely baffled I raced off into the field, waving my arms. I didn't stray too far from the clearing, but I ran and ran and ran. I kept my arms in constant motion, sometimes at my side, sometimes one in front and one behind, sometimes over my head. I was performing some kind of macabre dance in between the corn stalks.

As I raced around the clearing I felt the corn leaves cutting into the flesh of my bare feet, but I ignored the stinging. It was good that my feet were being cut, that way there was more blood to feed the corn.

After a few minutes I reentered the clearing, dancing my way to the middle. Once I reached where I had stood originally I began to spin in mad circles, my arms spread out to the sides, droplets of my blood falling to the ground and splattering people in the faces. I spun and spun and spun until I grew dizzy. Then I spun some more. To anyone watching I must have looked insane but I wasn't, not really. Not really.

I spun faster and faster and faster until I could stand it no longer and I collapsed to the ground in a crouching position, one arm supporting me in front, the other in back. I remained in that position, breathing heavily for a minute. Then I slowly rose to my feet once more and kept my gaze locked on Isaac.

The whole field was silent for another minute, everyone watching Isaac and me as we stared at each other.

"There," I said. "I have fed your corn."

Isaac continued to stare at me, but I could tell that he wasn't just staring at me. He was also listening to the words of his God. The words of He Who Walks Behind The Rows.

"Does he speak to you Isaac?" Malachai asked having finally found his voice after it vanished during my mad dance.

"He speaks to Isaac always," I answer for the preacher, not once taking my eyes of He Who Walks Behind The Rows' speaker.

"What does he say?" Malachai asked. Isaac continued to stare at me silently for a moment before smiling softly.

"He is pleased." Isaac declared.

"He is pleased?" Malachai looked very surprised.

"Yes Malachai, He is pleased." Isaac confirmed, still not taking his eyes off of me.

Another beat of silence followed this exchange.

"Release the woman," Isaac finally demanded. "They are free to leave."

I smiled softly at him and finally closed my eyes. I had done it. I had saved us.

"W-what?" Malachai stuttered.

"You heard me," Isaac said, finally tearing his eyes away from mine and glaring at his right hand man.

"But - " Malachai started.

"He Who Walks Behind The Rows is pleased and He wishes to reward them. Claudia, Brody and their mother are free to leave." Isaac explained. "Unmarked."

Another moment of silence passed and Isaac walked up to me. He grabbed my cold hand in both of his warm ones.

"You would have been a remarkable addition to our ranks. He would have been proud to call you one of His disciples. As it stands you and your family are free to go. You have His blessing." Isaac stated.

"Thank you," I whispered. Isaac simply smiled at me and then turned and left the clearing. Malachai looked at me with an expression that was a mix between awe, respect and loathing. He then scampered off after his leader.

I walked slowly towards where Brody was sitting before our Mom. I was finally beginning to feel the pain in both my wrists and my feet. I stood shakily before them. Brody looked up at me with pure unadulterated respect. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I reached down to grab the discarded machete. Holding the machete in my hands I looked up at my mom.

Mom was looking at me with respect and concern. I think my crazy corn dance had scared her. I half-heartedly raised the machete to cut the ropes that were holding her to the crucifix, when a gentle hand grabbed on to my arm.

I turned and saw Joseph smiling softly at me. He took the machete from my wavering hand and neatly sliced through the ropes holding my mother up.

Once Mom was free she ripped the gag from her mouth and wrapped her arms around Brody and kissed the top of his head repeatedly. She then reached for me and pulled me in to her embrace too.

"Oh my babies. My brave, brave, brave little babies," she whispered as she clung to us. "I was so afraid."

"Me too," Brody answered.

"Me three," I said softly.

Reluctantly Mom let me go and I stood back. Soon I was surrounded by several of the devoted children. They all reached out and touched one of my arms before leaving the clearing.

"What-?" I asked, turning to Joseph.

"They want to touch the one who has He Who Walks Behind The Rows' blessing." A voice from behind me explained. I turned around and saw Micah, who was smiling at me. I smiled at him and then wobbled a little on my feet.

Micah reached out and steadied me. He then grabbed my right arm.

"We have to stop the bleeding," he explained. I nodded wordlessly at him and watched as he ripped a length of material from the bottom of his shirt clean off. He used the machete to hack it into two pieces and tied them tightly around the cuts on my wrists.

"What about your feet?" he asked, looking down at them.

"They're fine," I assured him. "Just shallow cuts."

He nodded at me and then slung my arm over his shoulder so he could help me walk. I was feeling weak due to the blood loss. But it was so worth it.

Joseph and Brody helped support Mom and the five of us began to leave the clearing.

"Claudia," a female voice said from behind me. I slowly turned my head and saw that Ruth was standing there, holding out the letter opener that I had used to cut myself. I silently took the letter opener from her and offered her a tired smile.

She quickly returned the smile and then hurried off.

Micah started to guide me after the others but I stopped and faced the corn. I shook free of Micah's grip for a moment and closed my eyes.

"Thank you," I breathed. I was thanking He Who Walks Behind The Rows. It may sound crazy, but He was letting us leave. That alone was something to be thankful for.

Micah held onto my arm and we followed after Mom, Brody and Joseph. I couldn't wait to get the hell out of Gatlin.

---

It didn't take us long to reach the car. Just as I had suspected, the vehicle hadn't been touched. I almost giggled as I remembered something that I was always saying to Mom; 'Who would want to steal a tiny mom car?'

But the situation I was now in was not funny at all. I now had to say good-bye to Joseph and Micah, the two of the four people who had tried their damndest to help us and were willing to put their own lives at stake for us.

What I wanted more than anything was to gather up Job and Sarah and then usher them and Joseph and Micah into our car and take them with us. But I couldn't offer that option to them outright, because we were in the open and the other children might hear and learn of Joseph and Micah's dwindling faith. That could put them in a lot of danger, just because my family was allowed to leave unscathed didn't mean that there was promise of safety for the four we'd be taking with us.

Mom had already gathered that these two guys had helped us out and were trustworthy. At least too more of an extent than others. That meant that she would most likely not protest to taking them with us. Especially if she found out about the increasing danger of them being here with their failing belief.

The only problem was how did I offer it to them?

Micah and Joseph seemed to know already.

Joseph pulled me into a hug.

"We can't." he whispered in my ear. "We'd be putting you in danger. And we can't do that."

He released me and looked at me earnestly.

Well sure they could! It's not like we've been strangers to danger in the past day and a bit.

Micah hugged me this time.

"Please," he whispered. "We can't put you in more danger. No arguing. We'll get out on our own."

He pulled away and I stared at them. They had no idea what they were asking me to do. They were asking me to go away and leave them here with uncertain and possibly dangerous fates. If I left now without them and anything happened to them, then I would be responsible. It would be my fault.

Not having anything else I could say to them out in public, and how I wished we were some place private so I could argue my point, I simply sighed. I couldn't help the tears that stung my eyes.

"Here," I said softly, holding my hand out. Micah held out his hand and I dropped the bloodstained letter opener into it. "Get rid of it or something. Bury it in the corn. Do whatever you want with it. I don't want it."

Micah and Joseph simply stared at me.

"You had better go," Joseph said finally. Micah nodded.

"Yeah," I agreed softly.

I was about to say good-bye when I remembered a phrase from a song from a movie I used to love as a child: Friends never say good-bye. I locked gazes with the two guys who I regarded as heroes. They nodded sadly at me as I backed up and got into the car.

Mom put the car in gear and backed out of the spot we were in. I kept my eyes locked on their gazes until Mom turned the car and sped away.

Just like that we were gone.

Despite my joy at being out of there, I couldn't shake the feeling that it was a bad idea to leave my four friends in that stupid town.

---

We only made it as far as Hemingford that night. We stayed at a small bed and breakfast owned by a lady named Angela Casual. She seemed nice enough although I didn't talk to her at all during our brief stay. She didn't say a word about us looking worse for the wear. I didn't let her see me outside of the car, mostly because my white dress was splattered with droplets of my own blood, which would have been enough to freak out most people.

Mom wanted to inform the Hemingford police, however judging by the glint of fear in her eyes she didn't truly think it was a good idea. It wasn't. Not really. If we threatened them like that while so near by, then His promise might be broken either by accident or on purpose. We'd be putting ourselves in danger.

Needless to say, it didn't take much to convince Mom to wait.

Mom and Brody did their best to freshen up and then Brods went to go get us some food, considering he was the one in the best condition. When he returned Mom dug in ravenously. Apparently they only fed her two ears of corn while she was their prisoner.

I didn't freshen up. I didn't really do anything that night. The most I did was soak my feet in water to clean them and prevent infection and wash out the cuts on my wrists. Despite Mom's insistence that I wrap gauze around them and let a doctor check them out I brushed her off and wrapped them in the material from Micah's shirt once again. I didn't even change my clothes.

Shortly after eating, Mom and Brody went to bed. They fell asleep almost as soon as their heads hit the pillow. I barely slept at all.

Somehow I doubted that I would ever have a good nights sleep again.

---

The next morning we were gone. Out of Hemingford and on our way once again to California.

Mom and Brody were doing their best to pretend the events of the last few days hadn't happened. They were always chatting or singing along to music. Brody occasionally played one of his games, but not as often as he usually would. I figured that they were afraid of silence. Then they'd have to face the fact that what happened yesterday and the day before actually happened.

I however enjoyed the silence. I needed a little bit to wallow. Normally I can snap back right away or at least pretend I have for the sake of others, but this was different. I couldn't shake the feeling of guilt I had over leaving my friends there with almost no fight. I knew that even if I could fight I probably still wouldn't have won. But that didn't matter. If anything happened to them now it would be my fault. And I was looking for a way to deal with that.

"Next time," Brody said suddenly. "We're staying on the highway."

"Next time we're taking a plane," Mom corrected. They started laughing and I managed to muster a half-hearted smile for them.

It was there in our car going down the highway, the window rolled down, feet on the dashboard and still wearing the blood splattered white dress that I realized something. I realized that although I had left Gatlin, Nebraska, a part of me was still there. A part of me that would forever be consumed with guilt until I returned and made sure that Sarah, Job, Joseph and Micah were safe.

It was then that I realized that eventually I would have to go back. One day I would return to Gatlin. The only question left was when.

I knew that it would be soon. That it had to be soon.

With that knowledge kept firmly in my mind I looked at my mom with a small smile on my face.

"So, how much farther?" I asked.

The look of surprise on her face at me having spoken was quickly replaced by a relieved smile. I had to keep up appearances after all.

Mom answered me and then chattered on about something. But I wasn't really listening.

I'll be back soon, I thought, glaring at the corn. I'll be back. You can count on it.

The corn seemed to sigh in anticipation in response. But it could have just been my imagination.

Fin

More Note: I originally intended for this to be very short, but somehow it turned into this beast. OK so now I will explain myself a little further. I always thought that there had to be something before the movie that happened to make Malachai so wary of and frustrated with Isaac that it planted a seed of doubt and desire to over run him. This story kind of provides a look at a reason why this may have come about. I also believe that He Who Walks Behind The Rows is sneaky and would definitely find ways to test his followers, such as he did with Isaac in this story by not informing him that these Outlanders were coming just so He could see what Isaac would do. To follow up on the note at the beginning, Micah made an appearance here, a fairly large appearance because with my timeline, he would be around in Gatlin at the age he is in the sequel. I also made Micah as unbelieving and faithless as Joseph and Job and Sarah because I think that He Who Walks Behind The Rows would be a God that would punish his betrayers in unique and terrible ways. It's kind of fitting that Micah, one of the less faithful or rather one of the least faithful in this story, would be the one whom he would posses and choose as his speaker in the sequel. Which leads me to why He was so upset that Malachai killed Joseph. In following to this story I believe that He had better plans for Joseph's punishment than mere slaughter. But that's just my opinion.

I normally don't ask this of people who take the time to read my stories, but I would like if you reviewed. Thanks.

Now on a happier note I provide you with this! A soundtrack listing for this story. I've also included where the songs would be played in the story. Kind of weird, I know but I felt like it so here it is.

(Opening Song) Holiday In The Sun - Weezer
(Putting the CD in) Highway to Hell - AC/DC
(In the diner) Lullaby - The Cure
(Running through the streets) The Same Deep Water As You - The Cure
(In the church and meeting the children) Children of the Corn Theme
(Isaac's explanation) Room of Angel - Akira Yamaoka
(Micah, Job, Sarah & Joseph's House) Homesick - The Cure
(Joseph & Micah's doubt) Losing My Religion - REM
(Isaac & Malachai at the house and the decision) Disappointed - Ivy
(Goodbye to Job & Sarah) No Envy No Fear - Joshua Radin
(Heading into the corn) Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode
(Feeding the corn) Animal - Karen O & The Kids (Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack)
(Goodbye to Jospeh & Micah) We Are The Lucky Ones - Bif Naked
(At the Bed & Breakfast) Courage - Sarah Polley
(Ending Song; Claudia's realization) Lost Fur - Karen O & The Kids (Where The Wild Things Are Soundtrack)