Sick Like Me (Sick Like #1)

Chapter 28

TWENTY-EIGHT

I had said it a million times before, but I fucking loved Autumn and Halloween time.

And I was reminded as to exactly why when I stepped out of Stefan’s car at the Jones’ Family Farm.

I felt the crunch of the orange and brown leaves under my feet, and the air I breathed out caused a puff of smoke to appear. It was cold, but not cold enough to deter us from the night’s events.

I grabbed the zip of my body warmed and pulled it up to my neck, ensuring my scarf was tucked safely inside. I wore a beanie with a large pom pom on top, and wondered if it was worth taking it off just in case.

I debated for no more than three seconds before I decided fuck it and left it on.

I followed Peyton and and Stefan closely as we made our way from the car part towards the wooden gates where a queue of people was slowly growing, but not long enough so that you had to wait ages to get inside.

A few steps, and we were greeted by a man in a carnival looking suit, a wide smile plastered on his face which seemed to be painted a ghostly shade of white. “Tickets, please,” He asked as he held a new looking iPad in his hands.

Stefan opened his phone and showed a QR code. The man used the iPad to scan it, then he looked at the three of us before nodding, a sign to show we were then allowed inside.

I entered the large plot of land which held varying ‘maps’, as the Jones Family Farm workers liked to call them. There were little run down looking barns and warehouses made of metal, where inside sat mazes full of jump-scares and beautifully horrific visuals to add to the tense atmosphere of spookiness.

I looked around, debating where to go first. “Shall we get ourselves some spiced warm cider?” Stefan asked, to which I cocked an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes and waved a dismissive hand that made him look much like his mother. “Have off it butty, I’ll only have one. It won’t be enough to deem me unfit to drive.”

I shot Peyton a look, and she just nodded her head in agreement at his statement. She trusted him, and so I decided to let the worry go, too.

“Fine, but just one,” I stated before I made my way to walk beside the pair of them. We made out way around a rocky path, made of tiny stones that would have killed my feet had I not worn my black combat boots.

I pushed my way to the counter first before the other two, wanting to pay for the drinks at least since Stefan ended up paying for our tickets, and Peyton paid the petrol money to keep Stefan’s car tank full.

“Pey, you too?” I asked, throwing a look at her over my shoulder. She nodded her head in agreement, and so I turned to the man inside the van and smiled up at him. The warmth coming from the truck was comforting, if only fleeting. “Three warm spiced ciders, please.”

I pressed my bank card to the machine seconds later, and the ding! revealed the payment had gone through. The man then turned his back to us and began to pour us three styrofoam cups from a large metal drink container.

The man turned back not long later and placed the drinks down. We all grabbed one each, then we thanked the man before we decided to walk around the paths of the area to scope out the mazes before our assigned hay ride time slot was to begin.

We walked slowly, side by side. Peyton kept doing her little habit of not walking straight, meaning she kept nudging into me, but. Was enjoying the crisp feel of the air against my skin too much to let the irritation overcome me.

“Hey, so,” Peyton began, raising her cup to her lips. She took a sip, then she pulled it away just enough to speak. “Did you break up with Owen yet?” She asked, then she went back to sipping her drink between hefty puffs on it in attempts to cool it down.

I wavered for a moment, falling a step behind. But I quickly caught up with my friends once again before I let out a loud exhale of air. “I was going to break it to him over text, but I decided I owed it to him to do it face to face.”

Peyton nodded slowly. “Good choice, or I would have kicked your arse for being such a heartless bitch,” She smiled to show she didn’t mean the threat.

“I still think Owen is the better choice,” Stefan’s sing-song voice filled the space. But before I could argue in Kota’s defence, his phone buzzed to show it was time for us to show up to the tractor maze.

Stefan had gone on the tractor maze many times before, so he led the way. He led us almost to the front gates again, but then just before we left the field he took a sharp right and led us along a path around the back of the maze buildings.

The car park was just to the left of us, so there was plenty of light for us to see where we were going. We followed after Stefan like lost puppies, trying to find out way home.

We had gone to the mazes many times before, enjoying the old and the new. But we had never gone on the tractor ride before. Mostly because the tickets for those sold out so quick we never had the time to try.

But that year, the company added a new ‘pay more to pre-order’ scheme which some people complained about, but in the end it came out better for the company. It was there to stop those from hogging tickets just to not show up.

All the better for us.

Stefan led us around to the back of the field where the barn sat, and inside we found other people having a drink or picking on some snacks. We joined a nearby table which was empty, and then we waited for further instructions from the staff.

In no time, a staff member dressed in what could be described as old timely chimney sweep attire, with a haunting clown face painted on, walked into the room with a large horn. The man squeezed the horn to gain the attention of everyone, then he spoke in a boom voice that commanded the space. “Tractor ride in 5, please take your seats!”

We were closest to the door, but we were one of the last ones out. We let the other people around us choose their seats on the tractor trailer first. The trailer was large enough for all twenty or so of us, and around the edge of it were wooden built seats like one long running bench.

Stefan chose to sit us nearer to the end, claiming it was the best seat for the best scares. I loved being scared, it gave me some moment of thrill. Stefan shared the sentiment to an extent, meanwhile Peyton hated the idea of being scared. She loved all things horror, but jump scares pulled out a reaction of momentary silent fear which just irritated her more than anything.

Once we were all seated, the tractor began to pull off at a speed slow enough so that we could register our surroundings, but not slow enough that it felt as if the ride was dragging.

We passed varying scare sights, such as a man with a chainsaw who I assumed was meant to be a rip off of a cannibal, we saw a few nuns with haunting melodies playing from hidden speaks amongst the trees, and we saw scarecrows with hauntingly ugly masks come to life among other things.

The ride was fun. Cold, but very fun. It lasted around 20 minutes, but it felt as if it had barely just begun before it had ended.

As we climbed off at the barn where we had first embarked, Peyton let out a bark of laughter to try to hide the fact she had been jump scared one too many times and felt a surge of anger within her.

“Let’s go through the haunted clown maze,”She spoke loudly, her voice a little faster in pace than usual as her legs carried her at a million miles an hour which almost had Stefan and I jogging to keep up with her.

Peyton followed the same path we had used to get to the barn, then as we found ourselves back in the main ‘town’ of the mazes and stalls, I felt my blood turn cold and my body stilled.

Stefan walked into the back of me, making a loud noise as if he had been winded which had called for Peyton’s attention, stopping her in her tracks to turn and face us with a concerned look on her face.

“Are you okay?” She asked, looking behind me to Stefan who used his hand to rub his stomach as he came to stand beside me.

“Ash, what the hall are you stopping for?” He asked, but seemed to read the emotion on my face.

I stared ahead, behind Peyton to a stall selling hot drinks much like the cider stall from earlier. In front of the stall stood Dakota Vernon with the woman from before, and two other men.

Kota walked with his arm around her shoulders, a drink in his free hand. He was smiling wide enough to show off his teeth, and he looked carefree and happy. I felt my stomach drop at the sight.

I had never envisioned Kota as a man who liked horror and scared, so seeing him there had not only thrown me off guard, but had also revealed a piece of information about him that he seemed to be withholding.

But then I remembered what I was going to do. I was going to break up with Owen so I could sleep with Dakota whenever he deemed me worthy of his time, just so I didn’t have to feel guilty about seeing both men.

I was going to break up with a man who always wanted me around, to sleep with a man who picked and chose when he wanted me around—which wasn’t often.

In that moment, watching as he laughed and smiled with the woman and walked off down the centre of what Jones Family Farm called ‘the street’, I had made my decision that I would not be ending things with Owen—I would be doubling down with them.

Sure, my decision had been made in spire, but he didn’t fucking deserve any more of my attention after he kept blowing it off to hang out with another woman who he smiled at like that , as if he was in love with her or something.

Stefan’s eyes followed mine, and he saw the back of Kota and the mystery woman as they walked away towards the entrance of one of the mazes. He had no clue what Kota looked like from behind.

In a sudden action which caused me to scream and wrap my hands around my ears, a thin yet tall woman jumped in front of me in an orange prison suit with her face covered in blood, and a butchers knife in her hand which she waved a little too close to my face for comfort.

The scare actress wasted no time as she then skipped her way behind us towards the tractor trail, and I was left stood in a daze with Stefan’s hands gently rubbing my shoulders under the misunderstanding the scare actress had caught me in a good scare.

The scream was loud, loud enough that it managed to tare the attention of Kota from the woman beside him. His green eyes sought out the noise of disturbance, and as if a magnet pulled us together, his eyes finally found me.

He stared at me for a few seconds, showing no emotion of concern or even recognition at my presence. He finally tore his eyes away and nodded at something the woman said, then he followed after her and the other two men into the maze of clowns.

Peyton rushed to me with a laugh. “God, she got you good, Ash! You never get jump scared like that!” She giggled, but grabbed my hand to show she was there for me, her way of trying to pull me out of the trance.

The sight of Kota mixed with the sudden scare turned me into a compliant zombie. I said nothing as Peyton pulled me to the nearest attraction.

The fucking clown maze.

It had been almost a minute since he had gone inside, and I hoped that meant he would be almost out the other end so we wouldn’t risk running into one another. I remained silent about my concerns as Peyton kept a tight grip on my hand, and led me inside.

Darkness greeted us, and the sound of slowed down carnival music that was out of tune began to fade into existence. I felt on edge. I fucking hated clowns, and everyone who knew me knew that simple fact.

I expected it to be just the three of us inside as we made out way through the start of the winding maze. We walked past curtain that covered a doorway, only for a clown to open it and scream at us. The makeup the clown wore made it look infected with some kind of virus—likely a take on a zombie clown.

We walked to the end of the small hallway where a small woman stood in clown clothing, her smile abnormally large which matched her wide eyes. She waved, almost robotic looking. The only thing that made me notice she was indeed human and not an animatronic was the way she spoke.

“You’re going to die in there,” She almost sang as Peyton turned to the right and pulled me into a narrow hallway made of bars on either side of us, clowns looking as if they had been brutally attacked clinging onto the bars as they shook and screamed.

I felt a hand wrap around my shoulder and pull me back. One of the clowns grabbed me. Peyton gave no attention as my hand slipped from hers. She soldiered on after Stefan, who was laughing manically as if he was actually enjoying the whole fucking thing.

I closed my eyes as my nose stung. If I looked down, I would be able to keep walking past them. I prayed they didn’t grab for me again as I opened my eyes but trained them on my feet.

Finally I got to the end of the small hallway which opened up into a larger hallway, made of crazy mirrors which showed all kinds of optical illusions in their reflections.

One mirror had been replaced with a frame, a clown standing inside of it. The clown honked at me, pressing it’s nose for effect. I let out a mixture of a laugh and a scream, then I followed my way onwards with tears threatening to spill.

I felt like I was in my own fucking personal hell.

I paid no attention as a group of people came out of one of the optional rooms you could go inside, a room that looked to hold a normal looking young woman inside a tiger’s cage while a clown sat on a chair lazily, throwing popcorn her way as if trying to get her to perform for onlookers.

I bumped into one of the people leaving the room, and looked up to apologise. I feared they would find me pathetic for crying in the middle of a maze, but I didn’t care. Clowns were an irrational fear I had, a fear Peyton either chose to ignore or wanted to torture me with .

I was surprised she hadn’t realised I was missing from her grasp. The thought stung.

I nodded my head slightly to the person, yelling over the carnival music, “I’m so sorry!”

But then I realised who she was, and the man standing directly behind her.

Whatever the fuck I had done in my last life to deserve that, I hoped I had just paid up all my bad karma.

The people before me were Kota’s group, and the person I had walked into was none other than the woman he had been cuddling with minutes earlier. The woman looked around, noticing I was along.

“Oh my God, you look terrified. Would you like to finish the maze with us? Did you come with anyone? Did you get separated?” I almost felt like a child with all the questions she threw my way, but the soothing way her voice sounded made me want to sob into her arms.

“I got grabbed… My friends, they carried on,” I gave a minimal rundown of the situation as to why I was alone, and the woman nodded her head gently before she held her hand out to me.

“Here, take my hand,” She gave me the warmest smile, a smile so warm it could melt chocolate faster than a bain-marie.

I wanted to push her hand away, and I wanted to confront Kota right there and then. I wanted to curse him out for constantly telling me he didn’t have feelings or a romantic connection to the woman, when it was clear she was something to him that I suspected I would never be.

But a clown behind us made a loud cackle, and the sound of a whip shot through the air which made me fear a clown would jump out at as at any second. So I decided to keep the confrontation for later and went to wrap my fingers around her hand.

Kota had been silent during the interaction to that point, but I watched as he slapped the woman’s hand away from me. I gasped and looked up at him, confusion and slight betrayal thick on my face.

Was he really that much of a dickhead to just leave me alone in a horror maze with one of my worst fears while crying?

But in a turn of events, he pushed the woman past him as if urging her to continue, then held his own hand out to me. As the woman stood by his side, he turned his head to whisper something to her, and a look of recognition passed across her features.

Did he talk about me to her?

I watched as she whispered something back, then she walked ahead a few paces slowly before waiting for us to follow her.

I remained in a trance, staring down at the hand before me. I looked back up at Kota, mildly confused. I watched as he rolled his eyes, then he bounced his hand in the air. “Take it, stupid.”

“Why are you…” I began, but decided not to bite the hand that had decided to feed me. I grabbed his hand with no further query, and within no time he turned and led me down the hallway.

I walked with my eyes screwed tight, my hand feeling as if it was clammy and going to slip from his grip at any second, leaving me alone once again. But he kept his grip tight, not once risking losing me. At the times he felt like I was most scared, he even dared to pull me impossibly close to his back—as if giving me a place to hide.

The maze felt never ending, but with the help of Kota, we finally reached the end I realised when the bitter air stung my exposed face and hands. I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding, then pulled my hand back quickly as I looked up at Kota in surprise.

I never took him for a man who would help me out when I was in need. I half suspected he would have dragged his friends along to leave me alone in that maze. But I didn’t mean as little to him as I first thought, I considered the idea.

I felt my lips twitch up in a faint smile, and his followed the motion as his taller frame stared back down at me. I went to open my mouth to thank him, but before I could, I heard the loud voices of Stefan and Peyton.

“Ashton!” I heard Peyton before I saw her. I had no idea where she came from, but within seconds of her voice, I felt her strong arms almost tackle me to the floor as she held me in a tight embrace. “I was so fucking worried, I’m so sorry I lost you.”

Stefan let out a small laugh and gently patted the top of Peyton’s head. “She’s fine, let go of the poor girl and let her breathe.”

Peyton pulled back and held me at arms length away. She noticed I wasn’t looking back at her, but at someone behind her. She turned her head to shoot a look behind her, and I watched as her lips parted in surprise.

She pulled back from me, then came to stand beside me. She smiled at the man, then leant closer to me and spoke while barely moving her lips, “Why are you with him?”

My smile grew wider, and I watched as the woman from earlier came over from the duo of other men to speak to Kota. “He found me inside with his friends, and so he held my hand and led me through.

“That’s awfully sweet of him,” She began, narrowing her eyes. “Think he’s just trying to get a Halloween hook up out of you?”

“Shut up,” I snapped as I turned my head away so he couldn’t read my lips and gauge what the conversation was about. I then looked back at him and took a step towards him. “Thank you, for that,” I said quieter than I intended.

“Don’t worry about it,” He smiled down at me, and I felt the urge to drop everything I was doing and to follow him for the night, to spend my time with him until morning. But that would break my tradition with Peyton.

The woman at his side held her hand out, a wide smile on her face. “Nice to finally meet you, I’m Olivia. Kota here has told me all about you,” Her voice sang playfully, to which my lips parted slightly in surprise.

“He’s talked about me?” I asked, to which Olivia went to expose him I half suspected, but she was shut up by a soft elbow to the side from Kota.

“Just a little,” She giggled as I placed my hand in hers, and then we shook.

At that sudden revelation, I realised the woman in front of me wasn’t a rival. A part of me suspected her to be a secret supporter.

“Do you have any other plans for tonight?” I asked the pair, but the question was more so pointed to Kota than anyone else.

“We’re just taking the night as it comes, we have no solid plans,” Kota’s voice was deep and soothing, the sound addicting as always. “How about you?” He asked.

Peyton answered for me. “We tend to walk around here all night in the mazes, and then we go home for around 11. We sometimes stop in McDonalds on the way home, and then when it hits midnight, our Ashton loves to play Christmas music.”

I turned to my best friend to question her case of verbal diarrhoea, only to find she seemed unashamed by her response. I almost suspected she used our little ritual against him to show I was unavailable for the night, but there was a spark behind his eyes.

“So nothing important then,” He said, his eyebrow cocked at me.

I pushed my chin up to better look at him, shrugging one shoulder. “It’s something we do every year, it’s our tradition. So it is kind of important to us.”

Kota nodded slowly, looking around as he got rather quickly uninterested in the conversation. “Shame. I was going to ask if you wanted to… Get out of here together.”

I shot Peyton a look who seemed to be debating the offer for me. Stefan stood beside her nodded his head, holding a thumb up briefly to shoot me a sign.

Peyton noticed his actions from her peripheral and rolled her eyes, but then she nodded her head begrudgingly.

“Sure, I can do that,” I replied, which earned me his full attention and his lips turning up into a knowing smile.

“Let’s get going then, shall we?”