Deleterious : Dreamlands

The Farm

'You are less likely to remember a dream if your alarm jolts you awake.'

Alex and Oliver take a deep breath and begin to walk to the barn looming over them in a dark shadow. The cornfields surround the crumbling building in a surreal way as the wind rustles the stalks.

As they approach the barn, they stare up at it with uneasment. Oliver gulps and puts his hands on the cracked barn door and begins to push it open with a low creak. The door groans with pressure from years of being untouched. A thick cloud of dust comes up to greet them, making them both sneeze and cough, then it is replaced by the sweet scent of hay and wheat.
The two of them peer inside the barn with watery eyes to see a good three stories of hay stacked up high, all the way to the rafters on the ceiling. It looks so peaceful, but then Oliver casts his eyes to the floor to see shiny, crimson red puddles. The congealed substances soak up into the hay and straw piled onto the floor. Bloody footprints lead deeper into the barn and behind the stacks of hay.
Alex stares at the floor with dread in her eyes. "That's blood..." She states softly with dismay. 
Oliver takes in a shaky breath and nods his head.
"What do you suppose we do?" He whispers.
"Well, we might as well look around and follow the footprints. See if we can find anything I guess." Alex replies quietly, shrugging her shoulders. "Whoever it is might still be here so we have to stay quiet." 

Oliver nods his head and begins to tip-toe to the piles of hay where the footprints lead. Alex follows closely behind him, slightly shaking with uneasement. They creep for what seems like hours, until they finally reach where the footprints abruptly stop behind a large stack of hay bales. Oliver slowly looks behind the bales to see a tall figure hunched over a wooden work table. The thing is tall and extremely thin, with a rather large head that is too big for it's neck. It is clothed in old rags that used to be a shirt and a pair of jeans. On the table behind the creature is a corpse of what used to be a farmer. The creature looms above the corpse, wielding a rusty saw. It begins to cut through the farmer's skin, peeling it back until the fleshy, bloody muscle underneath is exposed, veins and all. He looks around more to see that the thing is surrounded by piles skinned corpses. Oliver puts a hand to his mouth and steps back. 

"What did you see?" Alex whispers with curiosity, straining to see from behind Oliver's form.

"You don't need to know..." Oliver murmurs back. "We need to leave. Now."

He goes to step back further, but as he does his foot crunches loudly in the hay. Oliver stares up at the creature with wide eyes as it turns around, revealing it's head which is a rotting pumpkin. A grotesque smile is carved near the bottom and two cliche triangle cut eyes bore into his soul. A low gurgle escapes from the creature's crooked carved mouth. Now, Alex is able to see the creature as it steps toward them with it's lanky legs, swinging the freshly bloodied saw at them, screeching as it does so. 

"Run!" Oliver yells and the two of them scramble back to the barn's entrance, their shoes crunching loudly on the dry hay. The scarecrow follows closely on their heels, madly swinging around the saw. Oliver and Alex run out of the barn and into a nearby cornfield. They push their way through the tall stalks as they rustle eerily in the wind. They run for what seems like forever, when finally they stop to catch their breath. The maze of corn surrounds them like a thin wall, somehow safe from any danger. They look around them, but all they can see is the tall stalks of corn sticking from the ground like thousands of skeletons, shuddering in the wind's whispers. 

"Whatever that was, I think it's gone."Alex says, out of breath. 

"That was horrifying. I can't wait to get out of this damned place." Oliver replies. They stand there for a few moments, catching their breath and thinking over what has just happened. They take a seat on the dirt ground. Alex puts her head in her hands and Oliver rubs her back soothingly. 

"I'm so tired..." She whispers into the palms of her hands. "And my head hurts..."

"Then sleep. I'll wake you up if anything happens." Oliver replies. 

Alex shakes her head. "I can't. What if something happens?"

"Then I'll wake you up. Go ahead, trust me. Sleep." Oliver replies. Reluctantly, Alex obeys and leans her head on Oliver's shoulder and closes her eyes. Not too long after, she falls into a deep sleep; dreaming about nothing. Just a strong realm of comatose nothingness. Suddenly, she feels herself being shaken awake. She opens her eyes, delirious to what is going on. Her mind is still foggy from her sleep and her ears fill with the sound of a loud tractor engine and the screaming of Oliver for her to wake up. She feels herself being pulled to her feet and dragged away. Then it hits her and she snaps fully awake. Oliver is running with her in his arms, and a look of panic is plastered to his face. Then, the cornfield illuminates with huge bright headlights and a louder roar of an engine. Oliver picks up his speed, but can't go too fast due to carrying Alex's weight. Alex clutches her arms around his neck for support as the cornstalks behind them begin to snap and crumble under the weight of a roaring tractor that is quickly gaining up behind them....

to be continued...