Lacey knew she shouldn’t trust Johan, but what choice did she have? With a huff, she stomped behind the counter and jabbed the computer’s power button. She roughly swiped the bloody, coffee-stained mess aside before dropping into the chair with a thud.
Johan barely registered the warm trickle of drool sliding down his arm from Ben’s slack mouth as he quickly unlocked the storage room door. The stubborn handle, after enduring repeated blows, finally broke off with a sharp snap and clattered to the floor in defeat.
Lacey’s voice was a menacing growl, as sharp and dangerous as an animal baring its fangs. “What’s your real reason for being here?”
She purposefully kept her eyes averted from Ben’s mangled fingers, a sight too gruesome to stomach. Despite being bound and barely clothed, Lacey’s body was a coiled spring of barely contained fury, eyes blazing like a cornered wildcat ready to lash out at the slightest provocation.
Something cold and refreshing jolted Lacey awake, its icy touch nudging her back to consciousness. The chilly air wrapped around her body, sending shivers down her spine as she lay on the hard floor. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open, dark irises quickly adjusting to the dim surroundings.
Johan stilled like a wild animal poised before the hunt, but somehow the person trapped in the storage room seemed to possess an uncanny sense of awareness. There’s no way they could’ve heard him approach - his footsteps were practically silent. But then a desperate, raspy cough echoed from inside, followed by a heartbreaking plea:
“Yeah Mom, I’m still pretty far from Georgia. This road trip is turning out to be a real marathon,” Johan said with an amused chuckle. Somehow, he managed to cram his tall, muscular body into the tiny car. It was like watching a magician perform an impossible feat.
Before starting his trip, Seojun made sure he had all the necessary things. A toothbrush, dental floss, and toothpaste to keep his teeth clean; pajamas for both warm and cold weather; and a soft, comfortable blanket. He also packed fresh, unused underwear.
Seojun couldn’t believe it when Leah revealed the shocking truth about April’s identity. The whispered rumors of the “murderous scarecrow” that Tracey and her husband had shared didn’t quite fit the puzzle. It was all part of April’s twisted plan, a carefully crafted backstory for a terrifying new persona. But Tracy and Bailey’s memories told a different story—they remembered being killed by April himself, not some mythical scarecrow.
“Ah...oh...wow...uh...”
Seojun managed to stutter, his words failing him as he stared at the horrific sight before him. The murderous scarecrow, no longer needing to maintain its disguise, crouched forward with a twisted grin, and the mutilated bodies of Tracy and Bailey lay mangled on either side of it.
“Hmm...” Seojun mulled it over, realizing confronting the murderous scarecrow, Tracy, and Bailey like this made more sense than trying to punch them. His weak fists would likely just leave him with broken fingers rather than accomplishing anything.
Seojun’s mind reeled as the pieces fell into place. April, the seemingly innocent boy, had been the murderous scarecrow all along - that evil spirit in disguise! The realization hit him like a freight train, leaving him utterly floored.
The endless sky stretched overhead, a brilliant azure canvas without a single cloud in sight. The relentless sun beat down mercilessly, and Seojun could feel the sweltering heat scorching the soles of his feet ever since he stepped into the cornfield. Suddenly, the air shifted at the sound of the girl’s words, transforming from a suffocating furnace to an icy chill that pierced his skin.