To the Grave

Chapter 4: Corn Maze Cliche

Julia had come to the corn maze, searching for an easy kill. Screaming teenagers, young families, couples looking for an exciting date- they were all laid out right in front of her, ripe for the taking.

Only after she'd climbed to the top of the water tower for a birds-eye view did she realize how incredibly cliche this whole plan was. Julia did not do cliche. In fact, she never settled for anything less than extraordinary, especially when it came to her kills.

One of her personal favourites was gutting carollers at Christmas time and hanging their intestines on nearby evergreen trees. For a finishing touch, she mounted their disembodied heads on the top like a star. Or there was the time she turned some hick-towns zombie prom into a teenaged-zombie massacre. Now that was a prom no one would ever forget. Who said she didn't have school spirit?

Below her, a group of giggling highschool girls had emerged from the depths of the maze. From above, Julia spotted three girls, perhaps only a year or two younger than herself. Physically anyways. Last time Julia had talked to someone her own age she'd been in a seniors home.

“I'm so sick of this corn maze. Can we please just get out of here?” whined a thin blond with an upturned nose.

“Yeah, my mom wanted me home before dark, and the sun set like an hour ago,” said a heavier girl. Her voice was soft, and Julia had to strain to hear it.

“It's not like I know the way out,” growled the third girl. She had deep brown hair pulled up into a bow, and a rather sparkly bow at that.

Julia groaned. Cheerleaders.

“But my mom said-”

“If your so worried about what your mom said, haul your fat ass up the water tower and find a way out,” sneered the brunette.

Julia rolled her eyes. What an amateur move, attacking the chubby girls obvious flaw. Effective, given how red porky's face had turned, but still amateur. Pocketing her knife, she threw herself off the side of the water tower.

She landed with cat like grace behind the blonde girl, who in turn let out a blood curdling screech. The other girls joined in, and before she knew it, Julia had a chorus of screaming girls on her hands.

So much for being discreet.

“Stop screaming. I said stop,” Julia felt her eyes flash black, and the girls fell silent.

Ah, how she adored the wonderful ability of mind control. Forget the Perks of Being a Wallflower, the Perks of Being Undead should be a bestseller. Perhaps after she was bored of raising hell in Dover, she could settle down and write that book...

“Are you a vampire?” asked the blonde shakily.

“Heavens no,” Julia spat.

“But you jumped from the water tower and didn't get hurt. You're obviously a vampire,” the brunette crossed her arms defiantly.

“What is it with this generation and vampires,” grumbled Julia under her breath.

“If your not a vampire, then what are you?” asked porky.

“Oh bacon bits, you really don't want to know the answer to that,” Julia purred.

“Bacon bits? Wtf. Who the hell do you think you are?” the brunette took a step towards Julia.

“Please, speak proper English. There are few things I despise more than the inarticulate chat-speak of this era. Don't move,” Julia barked as porky tried to back away.

“Are you going to eat us? I swear my blood tastes terrible,” blurted the blonde.

“For the last time, I am not a vampire. There is no such thing as blood sucking creatures of the night. If you really must know, I'm a murderous undead sociopath with a personal vendetta against Dover and all its residents,” Julia grinned.

“You're a zombie?” mumbled porky.

“Do you think I get this physique from eating brains? Look- zombies, vampires, werewolves- they're all just over commercialized Hollywood creations. I can tell your inferior brains simply can't process that I don't fit into one of your synthesized sub-categories of the supernatural, so let me dumb it down for you. I'm a ghost. Boo,” Julia jumped towards them and they all let out a shriek.

“But enough about me, let's talk about you. Hmm, let's see... You with that gaudy bow, you're the ringleader. You're below average intelligence is slightly higher than that of the others, and though you act confident and in control, neither are true. Oh, and your insults need some serious improvement. You're a disgrace to mean girls everywhere. I predict that you'll peak in your senior year, and after that your life will be a downward spiral of beer-bellied husbands in wife beaters, ten screaming kids you can't afford to feed, and perfecting the phrase 'do you want fries with that?'. So really, what I'm about to do is a huge favour,” Julia smiled as she pull her knife out of her pocket.

Julia could see the pure terror in each of the girls eyes. They couldn't run, they couldn't scream. Tears streamed freely down porky's face, and the blonde looked like she was seconds away from passing out.

She struck out with her knife, making a clean, fast cut. The girl let out a cry, but all Julia had done was chopped that horrid bow off the top of her head. The girls eyes fluttered open, and she inspected herself for damage. Finding none, her eyes drifted down to the ground.

“My hair! You bitch! What have you-”

Julia cut her off, grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking her head up. She could practically see the artery in the girls throat pulsing with adrenaline, and she could hear her heart pounding in her chest. She pressed her knife to the girls throat and laughed as her heart beat quickened.

“No, please no, please don't,” the girl whimpered.

“Apologize for calling me a bitch,” Julia said, pushing the knife harder until a small trickle of blood crept down the girls throat.

“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Just please, please don't kill me. I won't be mean anymore, I'll be a good person,” she begged.

“Oh sweetheart, that's not what this is about,” Julia cooed.

With a quick jerk of her wrist, Julia made a deep slit in the girls throat. Blood poured down her neck like a waterfall, and the girl let out a gurgling choking noise before collapsing to the ground.

Julia couldn't help but smile into the pool of blood forming at her feet. It was a very sentimental feeling, watching blood seep into Dover soil once again. She breathed in the sharp, metallic scent with a sigh.

Stepping over the dead body, she smiled at the remaining girls. Her grey eyes faded to a solid black, and she uttered a single word:

“Run.”

A/N: SORRY THIS IS TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE. I'm doing my best to update as quickly as possible, I promise! Also I want to thank all my readers/voters/commenters YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. I had no idea this story would get so much support! THANK YOU ALL!