That is right people! You have heard me whine, complain, and scream about this cornmaze! Now, it's time to send Oliver, Kaz, and Skylar in! Yes, I know I'm way too busy to be working on this, but oh well, 'cuz I'm doing it anyway. I hope you enjoy, and get a sense of what I had to go through!
"Kaz, why are we here?" asked Skylar, slightly annoyed, as Kaz led her and Oliver over to the picnic bench cabana at Cox Farms. "This place is for little kids!"
"Yeah." Said Oliver, "We haven't been here since we were tweens!"
"And that's where you're wrong!" yelled Kaz, "This place has a thing called the Cornightmare, where they turn the regular, old Cornundrum maze into some big, terrifying trap!"
"And you want to go to that?" asked Skylar, slightly confused. Heck, Kaz was panicked when they had to unlock all the doors in Mighty Med!
"Well, no." said Kaz, "But Stephanie said all the cool kids are going, and if I'm going to have a chance with her, I need to be cool!"
"Whatever." Groaned Skylar. "Let's just do this. Stephanie is probably over exaggerating. There's nothing scary about a little kid cornfield."
"Hey guys!" yelled Fang, running over.
"What are you doing here?!" yelled Oliver, "There's no animals allowed!"
"Not when you're a service dog!" yelled Fang, turning to show the service dog vest on his back.
"Where'd you get that?" asked Skylar.
"Duh, I ate the service dog wearing it." Said Fang, rolling his eyes. "I also snuck into the back of the car you rode here in! Boji doesn't even know I'm gone!"
"Great, just great." Said Oliver, "Now we have to handle you."
"I wouldn't suggest that." Said Fang, "Many people have lost their fingers saying that."
"Let's just get this over with." Groaned Skylar, grabbing the leash Fang had been wearing. "By the way, service dogs don't roam alone."
"But that's the best way to terrify kids into giving you candy!" whined Fang.
The foursome walked across the farm, towards the Cornightmare, taking in the sights. It was actually pretty beautiful, with bonfires everywhere, paths lines in lights, and bright, flashy signs for candy apples, popcorn, apple cider, any delicious Halloween treat you could imagine. When they finally arrived, though, they were stopped by the attendant.
"Your slot isn't open yet." Said the attendant, "You need to wait fifteen minutes."
"Okay, sure." Said Kaz, stepping back from the entrance. "So, I guess we just wait here." He said, to his friends.
Suddenly, they heard shrieking, and their heads all turned to see a group of teenage girls running, senseless with fear, out the exit, past the porta-potties, and all the way to the bonfire circle.
"That was terrifying!" screamed one.
"Oh, what are they so freaked out about?" muttered Skylar.
"Uh…Skylar?" said Kaz, suddenly nervous, "Someone's next to you, and they aren't part of the group."
Skylar turned her head-only to come face first with a ghost, shrouded in a black veil. "AHH!" screamed Skylar, shoving the ghost, "GET AWAY!"
"I'm not part of the group?" asked the ghost, "Hurtful!" Suddenly, the ghost removed his veil, and revealed…Gus. "I was in the bus with you!"
"You were?!" asked Oliver.
"Yup! Up in those little compartments passengers go in!" yelled Gus.
"You mean the baggage hold?" asked Skylar.
"Yup!" said Gus, "Why were there only bags up there? All the people were down in the seats, where they keep the pets!"
"I think we need to explain busses to you, later…" muttered Kaz.
"Next group enters!" yelled the attendant, interrupting their chat.
"I guess this is it." Said Kaz, "Let's do this!"
"Oh, stop being so dramatic." Said Skylar, annoyed. "This is nothing. Follow me."
Skylar took off into the cornmaze, not looking back, the boys following behind her.
The first thing they noticed was some simple props, like carved jack-o-lanterns and some average decorations. "This is pathetic…" muttered Skylar, as they trudged on.
"Hey! Look!" cried Gus, pointing to a school bus, "We're supposed to go in!"
"Whatever." Said Skylar, climbing in. Inside the school bus was a few rows of seats, but then a curtain of black plastic.
"Watch it!" cried Kaz, "You don't know what's behind the curtain!"
"Oh come on." Muttered Skylar, shoving through. On the other side was a ramp going through a spinning tunnel of lights. Skylar simply walked right through. "Kaz, this is a waste of time."
"Sorry man," said Oliver, "This isn't scary at all." He followed swift, until all were at the other side.
"Let's just keep going!" snapped Kaz, "It'll get spookier!"
As they walked, there was pretty much nothing else. Just some decorations, A few harmless attractions, and that was it.
"Stephanie probably just wanted you to leave her alone, so she sent you on a wild goose chase." Muttered Skylar, as they approached a man ahead of them.
"Stop." Said the man, "We need to go over some basic safety rules before you enter the cornightmare."
"Wait, that wasn't the cornightmare?" asked Oliver, in confusion.
"Seriously?" asked the man, "You thought that was the nightmare? That was just the corn!" He laughed at his own lame joke.
Suddenly, a screen flicked on to their left, with a man on it. "Welcome to the cornighmare." He said, "Before you enter, we have some basic safety instructions. Don't leave the path, and don't touch the attractions. You will be facing intense scenes, strobe lights, graphic images, tight spaces, and jump scares. If you have any medical or heart conditions, talk to an attendant. If you are expecting, we suggest you don't enter. Finally, our staff will be scaring you as costumed monsters or other creatures. They may touch you, but you may not touch them. Keep in mind, you won't be grabbed, or harmed by staff members. Any attacks will be reported to on-site security, and you may possibly be thrown out without a refund. Now, welcome to the cornightmare. Enter if you dare."
Skylar gulped. If what the man said was true, maybe she shouldn't have made such big talk.
"Okay, raise your hand and repeat after me." Said the man in front of them. All the teens cooperated, and Oliver had to whack Fang when he tried to. "I."
"I." said the teens.
"Will not."
"Will not."
"Retaliate."
"Retaliate." They echoed.
"Wait, what?!" asked Kaz.
"You may now enter the cornightmare!" said the man.
"Um…okay…" muttered Skylar, as the group walked forward. Before them was a bridge, over a pond. There was a rock with a skeleton pirate sitting on it to the right, and a sunken pirate ship to the upper left of the area. Once again, Skylar took the lead, as the group followed her down the bridge.
Suddenly, a man dressed as a zombie pirate sprang out of the bushes "RAH!" he yelled.
"AHH!" screamed the group, causing them to charge forward. With a snarl, a crocodile leapt at them from the left of the lake, making them scream again.
The five quickly ran up onto an elevated bridge, which swung left the moment they stepped on it. They yelped, running to the right to avoid the crocodile. Incidentally, the bridge swung right, throwing them towards the railing by the sunken ship. A cannon fired, and the group decided just to run down the bridge as it swung, not looking back.
Once they finally left the pirate zone, the group took deep, steadying breaths, trying to calm themselves.
"That was awful!" yelled Gus, "Usually skeletons are nice to me!"
"Uh, okay Gus." Said Oliver, trying to catch his breath.
"Come on, guys." Said Skylar, pretending not to be scared. "This maze can't be that long."
The group walked on, on edge, when they reached an area with two long metal gates, and a cave in front of it. Behind the fence was a scarecrow, and more corn. "Watch it." Muttered Oliver, "It could be real."
"Don't be ridiculous." Said Skylar, walking towards the cave, "It's just a-" But then, the scarecrow lunged at her, gloved hands raking at the gate separating him from Skylar. Skylar shrieked, and jumped back into the other fence-right as another scarecrow stepped out of hiding, and placed his hand along Skylar's back. She screamed, and ran towards the cave, panting with terror once she arrived. "S-see?" she asked, sarcastically, once she was in front of the cave, "N-nothing to be afraid of."
The boys all followed, careful to walk down the center of the fences so the scarecrows couldn't get them.
Soon, they arrived at the cave. It was a tiny entrance in rock, about the size of a tween's body. "I'm not sure about this…" muttered Kaz, skeptical about entering such a small space.
"Look on the bright side." Said Oliver, "There's no space in there for a monster to be hiding."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Said Kaz, stepping through. Inside, it was dark, and cramped, with only a dripping sound and the feel of the walls to prove there was anything ahead. Eventually, though, into opened up into a dimly-lit rainforest with shrunken skulls around them.
"Look!" cried Gus, "The exit's up ahead!"
Kaz ran forward, towards the exit, right as a mossy figure jumped out of the underbrush. "AHH!" screamed Kaz, stumbling through the entrance in terror. Once he got out, he had to hand it to the actor, that was a clever way to hide.
"Thanks for going first, Kaz." Teased Skylar, "You drew the monster out, so we weren't scared!"
"Yeah, well don't expect me to do you any more favors." Muttered Kaz, walking towards the next attraction.
There was a row of east island heads, with glowing eyes. That was all well and good, until a ghostly lady clawed at a chainmail fence to the left of the heads, trying to get at them. In an act of fear, Fang sprung at the lady, just as Skylar grabbed a hold of him.
"No retaliation!" yelled Skylar.
"Oliver stopped me from taking that oath." Whispered Fang.
Next was a bunch of wooden boards made to look like playing cards. They boards were large, making them feel small, as they climbed through the cards. A ghostly woman in black, looking like Gus had, sprang out from behind a card, causing them all to stumble out, as Gus yelled, "Hey cous!"
The attraction after that was a large catacomb, a tunnel made of skulls. It wasn't confining, but it looked twice as threatening as the cave. Either way, there was one way out, and that was straight forward.
They crept through the bone cave, and were almost out when a skeleton jumped out from a pillar made of skulls. The teens all screamed, running for the exit.
"Okay." Said Skylar, "How much longer is this cornmaze?!"
"I don't know how much more I can take." Said Oliver, "This is getting ridiculous!"
"Guys, it's only been ten minutes." Said Kaz, "This cornmaze takes forty-five minutes at a minimum."
"What?!" shrieked Skylar.
"We have to keep going." Said Kaz.
The group soon realized the cornightmare got scarier as they went on, going through houses of bugs, coffin factories, and a cemetery, where a zombie attacked them.
"Hey buddy!" snarled Fang, "The rules state you aren't supposed to grab us!"
After hearing, that, the zombie ran from the angry wolf, and Skylar cast him an annoyed look. "What?" asked Fang, "At least Gus wasn't paying attention."
The rest of the cornmaze were less put-together attractions, mostly just places where it was easy for people to hide and scare you. They were all panting, and running for their lives through all the attractions. They could barely even see what they were going through anymore, because they were mostly running blind.
At one point, Oliver was running with his eyes closed out of an attraction, but the exit took a sharp uprise, causing Oliver to fall on top of Skylar, making them both scream. Too bad for them, Kaz was recording what happened.
"I'm putting this one on YouTube!" he said, laughing.
They jogged on, panting with terror as ghosts lunged from the trees, vampires sprang out of coffins, and Frankenstein harassed from a gate.
Soon, they arrived at a pyramid, and had to enter. Right when they were in, the entrance slammed shut, and the walls started to shake. In an act of panic, the kids ran as the walls tossed them about-right into a mummy's arms.
"AHH!" they all screamed, shoving past the mummy, into the cornfield.
"I'm just going to say it." Said Oliver, "I want to get out of here."
"Me too." Whispered Skylar.
"Come on, guys!" yelled Kaz, "Please do this for me! I have to impress Stephanie!"
"Is it worth it?" snapped Skylar.
"Yes!" cried Kaz, pulling them towards the next attraction. "It's almost over! We've been here for nearly a half an hour!"
"Half an hour, great!" said Skylar, sarcastically, "I'm glad I haven't had a HEART ATTACK!"
"Yeesh, touchy." Muttered Kaz, as he walked towards the next attraction. It was a large house, once painted pink but now with peeling paint. Outside stood a young girl, holding a teddy bear, with a long, pink, nightdress. She had ghostly skin, and dark circles around her eyes.
"Have you seen my mommy?" she asked, in a spooky voice, fingers reaching towards Kaz.
"N-no." said Kaz, nervously, as he entered the house, with his friends. Inside was a cradle, directly in front of them. As they approached, a mutant baby sprung out, making a roar-like sound. They all screamed, turned, and ran down the next hall. A panel in the wall dropped down, and another mutant baby jumped out. Skylar resisted the urge to retaliate.
They turned down another hall, and a creepy doll was drinking tea at a broken tea set, surrounded by many porcelain dolls. All around, an eerie version of 'Ring Around The Rosie' played. The doll reached towards them, as they turned and ran past the pink, peeling wallpaper.
Without even leaving the building, they were in another area, filled with…clowns. Of course clowns. As Kaz, Oliver, Skylar, Gus, and Fang walked in, a panel dropped down, and a clown girl yelled, "What's the matter? I'm just clowning around!" As the kids screamed.
As they walked in, more clowns started popping out. There was a large pile of boxes, with chairs situated along it, with clowns sitting, watching them. Everything wall was light blue, and glowing, neon-colored clowns were everywhere. Whether it was an image associated with a clown, or a clown itself, the walls were full of them. And they were all over the kids, touching them, groping their arms, tugging on their clothes or Skylar's hair. One pulled Fang's tail and, (ahem) he took a moment to break the 'no retaliation' rule.
Right as they were about to leave the building, almost in the clear, a giant teddy bear jumped out, holding a chainsaw! They all screamed as he swung, and ran over each other trying to get through the exit.
"That was the worst of all!" yelled Oliver, trying to catch his breath.
"Hey!" cried Kaz, "According to my phone map, we're almost out."
"Good." Said Gus, "I'm running out of kettle-corn!"
"Let's just get this over with." Sighed Skylar, as she led the group out. After dolls, babies, and clowns, she was pretty sure nothing could scare her.
The final attraction was a jungle gym, with plastic zoo animals around them. "Okay, there's nothing here." Said Skylar, leading them up the stairs to the top of the climbing equipment.
"Whoa." Whispered Oliver, at the top. There was a reason this was the last stop. From their vantage point, they could see the whole cornmaze. It actually didn't seem that scary, when you couldn't see the monsters and ghosts just waiting to grab you. The cornmaze stretched on into forest, a wide expanse with bright lights and large slides and everything else that'd be a child's dream during the daytime.
"Look at that." Said Kaz, pointing up. A starry sky stretched above them. "You don't see stars like that too often."
"I haven't seen those since Caldera." Muttered Skylar.
Gus approached behind them. "Sorry to wreck the moment, but can we get out of here?!"
"Oh, right, sorry." They all muttered, running down the climbing equipment.
"Well, this is it." Said Skylar, at the bottom of the stairs. The only thing to be seen was a man in an ape costume, in a cage. "Let's go."
"Uh, Skylar, are you sure?" asked Oliver, eyeing the ape.
"He's in a cage, Oliver." Groaned Skylar, as the ape man tried to reach through the bars. "See, he can't escape." Then, Skylar personally walked past the ape's cage, towards the path leading out.
At that moment, the ape pulled back the bars, and ran at her. "SKYLAR!" screamed Oliver.
Skylar whirled around. "What?!" Then she saw the ape chasing her, screamed, and nearly fell down in her effort to run. Then, the ape just chased her out of the cornmaze.
"Thanks for taking one for the team, Skylar!" yelled Kaz, amused that he could get her back for the jump scare comment at the beginning of the maze.
"Let's get out of here, before he comes back." Whispered Fang, as they all left the cornfield.
As they left, thy noticed something strange. Skylar ran past the bonfire circle, the ape on her heels. "Will you go back to your station?!" screamed Skylar, "You've done your job!"
"Can I retaliate?" asked Fang.
"Go ahead." Said Oliver, "We're leaving, anyway, and never coming back."
"You kids do realize there was an emergency exit, right?" asked the attendant.
"WHAT?!" they all screamed.
Epilogue:
"Kids?" called Boji, walking into the REC room. She did not look happy.
"Hey Boji." Said Oliver, "What's wrong?"
"Look at this." Said Boji, grabbing an IPad off a table, and dropping it in front of them. She quickly typed something up with her nose, impressively, and showed them a video. It was a Cox Farms commercial, advertising the cornmaze. And in it…four screaming kids, and a wolf.
"Uh oh…" muttered Kaz, watching.
The commercial showed a man, saying, "Come on down to the Cox Farm cornightmare! This famous attraction features ghosts, (an image of Gus showed up) vampires, and werewolves! (An image of Fang showed up.)
"Did they realize I didn't work there?" asked Fang.
"Shush." Snapped Boji, turning her attention back to the screen. The man continued, "With jump scares, (it showed the kids getting scared) tight spaces, and strobe lights, (it showed an image of Skylar punching out a strobe light, and burning her hand in the process) it's the fun, spooky place your teen will love! But with all great places comes rules. No leaving the path, no feeding the animals, (it showed Gus trying to feed some kettle-corn to the crocodile, by sticking his hand in its mouth) and most importantly, no retaliation. (It showed an image of Fang trying to fight the ghost girl, and Skylar restraining him.) Be prepared for the fright of your life!"
The kids blushed in embarrassment, as the rest of the commercial was mostly them getting scared over and over again. Kaz picked up his phone, as he got a call from Gus. "Dude, we're famous!"
"How'd this happen?" asked Skylar, as Kaz put the phone away.
"Ahem." Said Boji, pulling up the Cox Farms Fields of Fear safety and security section on the homepage. Clearly stated at the bottom was, 'You may be photographed or recorded. Your image or likeliness may then be used in our security monitoring or promotional materials without your separate permission and without compensation.'
"Dang it!" yelled Kaz.
"Yeah, dang it is right." Snapped Boji.
"No, not that." Said Kaz, "Stephanie just texted me and said that she saw the commercial, and I was 'too lame' to hang out with her! This was all for nothing!"
"This…was all…for nothing?" hissed Oliver, rising to anger.
"We almost died!" screamed Skylar, as the two slowly approached Kaz.
"Guys?...Guys?" asked Kaz, nervously. He suddenly turned and ran out, "AHH!"
Skylar laughed, softly. "Now that was fun."
Sorry for the lame ending, I couldn't think of a good way to end the story. So anyway, I didn't change anything about the attractions, I really did that. Now do you think I'm the bravest person in the world? (Probably not, I think I had my eyes closed the whole time. I just wrote down everything I actually SAW happen, and what some people told me happened. Like the teddy bear with the chainsaw.) Some ghosts were nice, though. The scarecrow told my sister's friend she could make it through, when she was scared stiff, and the clown lady agreed to not try to scare the same girl, when she first jumped out at us. But that zombie by the cemetery and the gorilla were HORRIBLE! My friend says she's going to sue the gorilla for chasing her. So, the final note, do YOU want to go to the Cornightmare? And what would you do if you encountered Isabella (my OC from Ghost of Hero's Past) in the cornightmare. I'd die. Just, honestly die. Well, goodbye! I'll see you in your nightmares! XD!