Eye Candy

I shake my head as her voice carries through the woods around us.

Eerie music begins to play as fog rolls out like a blanket from behind a tree stump. It covers our feet. We move slowly, leaves and twigs crunching and cracking beneath us. It takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

Aside from the lit torches stuck in the earth every ten feet or so, there isn’t much light, and Tessa’s grip on my hand grows tighter and tighter the further we walk.

“Oh my God, look at that.” She points at what’s supposed to look like bodies wrapped in blood-stained sheets. There’s a group of them stacked together on the ground near an overturned wagon.

I think I hear something—a moan or a word I can’t make out. When we get closer, the body on the bottom of the pile begins to jerk and scream for help.

“Jesus,” I grunt.

Tessa gasps and squeezes my hand.

“Isn’t this supposed to be for kids?” I ask, brow furrowed as I watch the guy’s legs smack against the dirt. “Nolan would freak out seeing this.”

“Yeah, seriously. There were a lot of kids in that line.” Looking over at me with wide eyes, she shrugs. “Maybe this is the scariest thing we see?”

A chainsaw starts in the distance, startling Tessa. She stops on the path as several women scream, and squeezes my hand to the point of pain when a young boy runs toward us with his mother close behind.

“What the fuck?” I squint through the fog.

When the boy gets closer, I can see how frightened he looks—like Chase when he has those night terrors.

Eyes wide with panic, mouth open and ready to scream, a steady stream of tears spilling down his face.

Jesus. This could scar him for life.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay! It’s not real!” the mother yells as the two of them run past us. “They aren’t really burning people alive! I promise!”

Tessa and I share a look.

“Um, why don’t we walk a little faster,” she suggests, tugging on my hand. “Come on.”

The path bends around a tree, and we move quicker now, Tessa not even bothering to look at the haunted displays around us. She clings to me with her arms squeezing my waist and her head smashed against my ribs, keeping her eyes focused ahead.

We pass a corpse on the ground with his intestines torn out of him. His guts are spilling out onto the dirt. When zombies emerge from behind a large rock to feed on the remains, looking real as shit—like a bunch of extras straight out of The Walking Dead—Tessa gasps and clutches my shirt with both hands.

“Luke,” she whispers, her voice shaking as she watches them with unblinking eyes. The corpse starts to groan. His legs twitch and kick out. “Luke.”

“Thought you wanted scary,” I remind her.

“Yeah . . . not this scary. Do something.”

“Do what? Arrest them?”

She nods frantically.

I chuckle and guide her around another bend to keep us moving.

I know she’s scared now. And I don’t mind getting this over with so we can get out of here and get to the party at McGill’s.

That’s more my style—hanging out with our friends in a well-lit environment. Alcohol to get my mind off this fucked-up shit.

I’m going straight for the liquor tonight.

We come up on a run-down house. It’s pitch black inside the windows, but there’s screaming coming from somewhere close by.

Kids screaming. How fucked up is that?

And it sounds real too, not some recording they’re playing to freak everybody out.

Tessa’s body goes rigid in my arms and her feet start to drag on the dirt. I look up to see what’s got her reacting this way and freeze, every muscle in my body locking up.

On the porch, a man dressed like a baby rocks in a chair, drinking from a bottle filled with blood. His chin drips red.

“Jesus Christ. Are you shittin’ me?” I glare at the guy when he lowers the bottle and grins, pushing blood between his teeth. My lip curls. “You got a problem?” I ask him, stepping closer.

“Luke.” Tessa peels herself off my side and pulls on my hand. “Come on. He’s creeping me out.”

We keep moving. I feel my heart pound against my ribs as I watch the freak keep smiling at me over my shoulder.

He stands from the chair.

I stop walking then, and for a split second I think he’s coming after us.

My shoulders pull back. I give him a look—Do it, motherfucker. I am so fucking ready to drop this weirdo, but he sits back down, laughing his ass off, and drinks more from his bottle.

Fuck. Maybe Tessa was right. I should just start arresting people. I bet this freak has a shitload of helpless victims locked in his basement. His outfit alone is probable cause enough for me.

What grown-ass man would volunteer to dress up like a baby?

“What?” Tessa asks at my back. “What is it?”

I turn away from the guy then and put my arm around her, leading her away before she sees what I’m seeing. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

The path narrows. We duck beneath branches and low-hanging cobwebs, following a sharp curve around a tree, and when something jumps out at us and scares Tessa so bad she nearly takes off running, I work on instinct and throw a punch, knocking the dumb prick to the ground.

“Luke! What are you doing?” Tessa yells, moving around me to see who I’ve just hit.

I hear groaning.

Lots of groaning.

The word lawsuit flashes in my mind.

Oh, fuck. This could be bad.

Breath holding in panic, I lower my fist and follow her eyes to the poor bastard on the ground.

Wearing a clown mask, the guy I just leveled holds his face as he rocks side to side on the dirt.

He’s in pain. That’s clear.

And I caused it.

Fuck. What the fuck am I doing? I need to relax.

“Shit. Sorry. Didn’t mean to do that.” I reach out, offering to help him up—he’s not that big. He’s gotta be in college.

Please be in college. If I just hit a minor . . .

“Oh my God. Are you okay?” Tessa reaches out then too. “Jesus. Are you hurt?” she asks.

“God. What the hell, man?” the guy moans, getting to his feet without taking either of our hands.

I exhale a relieved breath when I hear how deep his voice is.

Thank fuck. That could’ve been bad.

Another reason why I don’t have any business coming to these things anymore—I’m too reactive. My ass is lucky if I get out of here tonight without anyone suing me.

The clown straightens out his mask so it’s sitting right on his face. “You’re on a haunted woods walk,” he says, looking in my direction. “People are going to jump out at you, you know. It’s part of the experience. You get what you paid for.”

“Yeah, my bad.” I run a hand over my buzzed hair, wincing. “You all right? You’re not bleeding or anything, are you?”

“I’m fine,” he bites out, sounding irritated as he brushes leaves off his pants.

Can’t say I blame him for being pissed. I went full strength with that punch.

Don’t know any other way.