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The curtain of night settled upon the valley and all of its residents. The moon peeked over the mountain range casting long shadows across the valley floor. There was a certain serenity of the late night hours, however that bliss was not as widespread as it seemed. A small group of men traversed in the late hour being careful to hug the vast shadows all the while holding onto their flashlights and tools with care.
“Hurry up Johnathan.” The largest one of the trio hissed at their smallest member.
“I’m tryin’ to Bob, but why don’t you carry th’ tools?” The young man whined, his arms weighed down from a heavy pair of bolt cutters and a tool box.
Bob whirled around grabbing Johnathan by the cuff of his collar yanking on it hard, the sudden motion jostling the man enough to drop his tools and flashlight. “Because I said so, now quit yer whinin!’” the man loudly barked.
“Both of you shut up or we’ll get caught.” A third voice chimed in, the middle aged man scoffing at the display of his two younger members. “Lest you forget why we’re here.”
Bob huffed at the older man’s comment letting the smallest member go with a squeak “Yeah, yeah I know, we’re here to swipe some of the old man’s tools since he kicked the bucket.”
The eldest nodded at the man’s answer before looking at Johnathan “And we are to do so quickly and quietly, do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes Andy.” The youngest hung his head earning a small hum in response.
Andy picked up the bolt cutters taking some of the burden off the young man who scrambled to pick up the tool box. The trio straightened themselves back up and continued their journey to the center of the farm.
“God I hate that thing” Johnathan paused, his eyes looking upon the longest shadow that was cast over the area, the shadow belonging to the farm's Scarecrow.
“Well it won’t last much longer with the old man gone. With any luck whatever schmuck takes this place removes that thing.” Bob huffed at the Scarecrow.
“It’s just a scarecrow, relax.” Andy pushed past the two men. “The chances of it being around is slim to none, so no sense in getting your underwear in a knot over a lump of hay in clothes atop a pedestal.”
Johnathan's worried eyes looked upon the Scarecrow. It stood tall above the odd pedestal it was mounted to and seemingly looked down upon them as if it were watching. The button eyes staring right at them and with a smile seemingly too wide, a grin that was menacing and was angry, like there was a silent fury hiding behind that face. A shudder worked its way up the man’s spine before quickly picking up his pace to catch up to his companions who had begun to leave him behind.
The trio swiftly turned towards the corn field, opting to cut through the field to reduce the chances of being seen as well as to cut down on the time it would take to go around. Feet charged down the rows of corn who towered over the men and seemingly swallowed their trail. The moon choosing to hide behind the veil of the stalks and taking her light with her.
Curses drifted through the still air as the moon was now gone and plunged the men into total darkness, say for the glow of their flashlights. Frustrated hands beat on the bottoms of the flashlights in the hopes of somehow making them brighter than they already were, yet somehow their light too was trying to hide from them.
“M-man I don’t like this” Johnathan’s voice quivered in the air, the man’s nerves growing by the minute.
“Shut up and keep going.” Bob snarled out, ignoring the younger's concerns.
Andy grew irritated at Johnathan's woes, but at the same time began to worry himself. “We should have been there by now.”
The man knew that the corn field that surrounded the Scarecrow was large yes, but there was no way it should be taking them this long to simply cut straight through it. Why the hell is it taking so long? The man didn’t have long to ponder over the current situation before something slammed into his side nearly bowling him over. “What the fuck?!”
The older man looked to his source of the sudden lack of balance only to see Johnathan whimpering and shaking like a leaf. “The hell has gotten into you?” the man tried to shake him off.
Not a comprehensible word was spoken, only the shallow gesture with the fading beam of his flashlight, the dull light landing upon a small child size scarecrow amongst the corn stalks. The smiling face peeked out as if it were observing them.
“Seriously man?” Andy groaned at his cling on. “Get off of me and act like a man. Bob, go get rid of our ‘guest’.”
“Don’t mind if I do.” the larger man joyously marched over to the straw doll picking it up. The man held the doll in his arms ready to rip it apart before a sound brought him pause.
The stalks of corn before him rustled and swayed before giving way to an unseen force that collided with the brute sending the man tumbling into the abyss of the corn field. The two men froze at the sudden movement before fumbling to shine their lights onto whatever assaulted their friend. Wide eyes gazed at a little child sized scarecrow where the man once was, the doll standing there with its button eyes staring right at them. This scarecrow was different then the one they saw earlier. This one was a little girl, the one from earlier was a boy.
“W-we need to get out of here” Johnathan begged, pulling on Andy’s shirt trying to drag the man out of the field. Much to his dismay his companion was a solid brick and refused to move.
“Someone is playing a trick on us and I will not stand for it.” Andy pulled out a knife tossing the bolt cutters aside and readied himself for whatever may come his way.
The corn stalks rustled once more before the ground suddenly opened up beneath the older man. Black vines sprouted from the edges of the sudden hole and quickly grabbed onto the man pulling him down. Screams tore through the air as Andy desperately tried to free himself of the sudden binds as well as to get out of the sinkhole. Johnathan hastily dropped the toolbox and flashlight and grabbed onto the man trying to pull him out, only to be overpowered by the strength of the vines, and watched helplessly as his friend was pulled under the earth taking his screams with it. The ground closed in as if the older man was never there.
Fear gripped Johnathan with his heart pounding in his ears. His two friends were suddenly gone and he was helpless to do anything about it. The young man whimpered as he stood in place slowly lowering himself to the ground. He grasped at his legs trying to get them to move but they stubbornly refused to budge, as if bolted to the floor.
A small rustle in the corn immediately brought the man’s small whimpers to a halt with attentive ears drawn to the new noise. His head snapped in the direction of the sound with his hand slowly reclaiming his disposed flashlight. Dread dripped off him in waves refusing to even dare lift the last of his flashlight to view the source. The continued rustling of the corn slowly spurred the man to raise his dying light only for a scream to rip through him. The flashlight tumbled to the floor while his feet suddenly found the will to function. The wings of Hermes took to the man and he feverishly tore through the fields leaving his flashlight far behind. The light gazing upon a small gathering of child sized scarecrows all of which starred in the direction of where the man once was.
Leaves raked across Johnathan’s face with little care given to the motions. He had to get out. Something was horribly wrong with this farm and he needed to find the exit and fast. The moon aided him little within the columns of corn as the light barely penetrated the corn's canopy. Hands held forward plowed through the corn doing nothing more than to alert him of an incoming stalk or leaves to slap him in the face. Little care was given until he found himself hitting something very solid and bounced off it. The man sputtered and wheezed from the sudden impact before pausing to look up at the obstacle. The moon took the opportunity to finally shine through the widening cracks of its corn barrier. The corn stalks shuffled and parted as if to step aside allowing a full view of what lay before him.
The silver moonlight illuminated the tattered worn clothing of a large humanoid figure. The large human shaped figure stood tall with the arms stretched out as if crucified. The head sported a large worn hat with what looked like burlap horns poking up through the sides. Scraggly straw-like hair spilled out from beneath the hat like someone placed a mop on the head and called it good. Button eyes peered down at the man for which they seemed to have a sickly glow. Large triangular teeth shone in the light and were pulled into a manic grin.
Johnathan suddenly found the scarecrows faces mere inches from his own, the beast's silent fury shown within its demonic button eyes. Teeth sneered with menacing glee before parting, uttering a small word.
“Boo.”
The scarecrow watched as the man’s eyes rolled towards the back of his head as he dropped to the floor like a puppet with no strings. The figure straightened itself back up and let out a small huff schooling in his features. He had to admit, he was used to small pests getting onto the farm, but never big ones. No matter, it was still an easy clean up as you gotta keep the trash off the porch.
A small sigh drifted through the air as the Scarecrow demon picked up the unconscious man and dragged him towards the edge of the farm's property. He snagged some rope on his journey to its edge and hog tied the man making sure he couldn’t move. He tossed his body atop his two unconscious companions for which they resembled a pile of trash bags having been set outside for collection. He knew that someone would be around to gather them up and for which they wouldn’t remember a thing as to why they were there in the first place. All that mattered to him was keeping his territory clean and ready for which he hoped would have a new owner soon.
‘I think the man’s name is Thomas’ the demon pondered to himself as he waded through the corn field heading back to his pedestal. ‘I hope he is just as nice as his uncle,’ the demon re-positioned himself on his pole stretching his arms wide dangling them over the beam. He leaned against it letting out a small yawn before slumping in place. Sleep slowly took over with the last of his thoughts drifting through his mind. ‘I just want another family, I hope they’ll be here soon.’