Page 4 of Enter if you Dare: Part One

I grunt.

“Right then, follow me.”

He leads me, first to the man I left and then to the spot he’s chosen. I follow, hefting the man in my arms as Noa talks the whole way about the grounds and the night, a bird that has it out for him near the south fence, and whether the rain last week did any damage to a path that no one ever uses. I don’t normally like words, but Noa doesn’t need a response; he just speaks and the sound soothes me.

He finds a suitable spot and pushes his shovel into the ground, but all I can think about is the small woman. How tiny she looked lying beneath my post and the vibrancy of her eyes, blue like the sky.

“There,” Noa says, stepping back to admire the work he’s done so far. “For what it’s worth, I’m not going to ask. I’ve found some things are better dealt with practically than left where they are.” He pauses. “I brought a second shovel, just in case.”

I place the body down and take it as Noa nods at me. We both dig until the grave is deep enough, then I kick the man in. If he wakes and digs himself out, he won’t like how painful his death will be.

Once we’re done, Noa takes the shovels, saying that he has somewhere else to be.

I don’t mind, as I’m in a hurry to get back to my corn. I don’t know why I expected it to feel the same as it always does, but now that she is there at the base of my post the whole field feels different as I move through the stalks.

Kayla is kneeling beside her, but looks up at me as I approach. “She’s okay—nothing seems to be broken. The cuts on her face look worse than they are.”

Glancing down at the girl, I see her face is turned slightly to the side and her hair has fallen across her cheek. I want to move it so I can see her better, which is not something I have ever wanted to do before.

Kayla stands and brushes the dirt from her knees. “Be careful with her,” she warns.

I nod and remain silent.

She moves past me toward the edge of the corn and stops, looking back at me over her shoulder. “You won’t hurt her,” she says. It’s not a question, but it’s not a statement either, swirling in the gray area between the two.

I shake my head.

Kayla holds my gaze for a second, then she is gone, and now it’s just the two of us in the darkness. I sit down, my back resting against the base of my post. I don’t know how much time passes; the island has its own sense of time, and I stopped trying to measure it long ago.

The woman moves. First just her fingers curling against the ground, then her whole body flinches awake. She scrambles backward so fast that she hits the base of the post—the place I had shifted from mere moments before—and makes a sound I don’t like. It’s like a frightened little mouse backed into a corner. Her eyes are wide as they find me in the dark, and she pulls her knees up to her chest.

She shakes, and her eyes don’t leave me.

I know she is scared, but there is nothing I can do, so I just sit still and silent.

The corn rustles, and I glance over to see Kayla is back, holding a blanket and a pillow. She runs over and drops down beside the girl.

“Hey,” Kayla says softly. “Hey, look at me and not him.”

The girl’s eyes drift to Kayla’s face and fix there, and though she is still shaking, she doesn’t look away.

“You’re safe. I know it may not feel like it, but I promise you are. My name is Kayla and no one on the island is going to hurt you.”

The girl’s breathing is ragged, and she glances between me and Kayla.

“He doesn’t talk—that’s just Cave. He might say riddles, but he is no threat to you.”

The girl remains silent, but her eyes move back to me again, like she cannot stop them. Almost as if I’m something she needs to keep watching to believe.

“Are you sure?” she finally whispers.

Kayla nods. “This is Fear Island, a year-round Halloween park of sorts. Everyone who works here is a little different, and some you need time to get used to being around—no offense, Cave.”

I shrug. Few people here see me as a person. To them, I’m just the Scarecrow, something everyone is afraid of, and for good reason. After dark, something in my brain clicks into protective mode, and I will remove intruders using any means necessary, but this girl belongs here . . . with me.

“I did not take you. I did not ask for you. You were left in the dark, and now here we are. What are you?” I intone.

Kayla laughs and stands, patting me on the shoulder. “Good luck. I think you might need it.” I think her words are meant for both of us.