Page 20 of Enter if you Dare: Part One

Nixie stares at me for a moment, then laughs. “Oh, sweetheart.” She takes my arm and steers me away, then lowers her voice. “This is an adult-only chase night. People come here to be hunted, and when you are caught, you belong to whoever captured you. Within the limits of your contract, of course.”

“So the people here tonight . . .”

She chuckles. “They signed up for it, yes. You are wearing Cave’s color.”

Oh.

“I didn’t think he did chases.”

“He doesn’t. Not once in the time he’s been here has he done one. Cave is unstable at best when people go into his cornfield, so I cannot guarantee your safety. Again, I ask, are you sure?”

The logical answer is that I don’t know him well enough. But I’ve also slept in his cornfield with him on one of the worst nights of my life and felt the safest I have since my parents died. “I’m sure.”

Nixie nods slowly. “Okay, I’d still stay out of the cornfield if I were you. You’ll want him to come to you, and when he does, run.”

“What if I get caught?”

She smiles. “You’ll work it out.” She pats my arm and turns away, but stops to look over her shoulder. “You slept in the cornfield with him, right?”

“Yes.”

“And it didn’t scare you?”

“No.”

“Just know that him taking you in there, and you going in there by yourself, is vastly different. Be prepared for that.”

She walks away, and I turn, realizing I’m the only one left standing in this area. Screaming echoes from my left, and I spin around to see Vero hurtling around the corner at a full sprint. He’s clad in an orange jumpsuit, which is half open, as he looks over his shoulder, screaming, “I WILL TURN IT INTO POPCORN!”

Cave comes around the corner. He is fast for his size, his sword swinging in his hand as Vero keeps screaming his threats.

Cave glances at me and stops. Vero keeps running in circles until he realizes Cave is now stationary. “Oh,” Vero huffs out, breathing hard. “Thank god I’m not going to die tonight.”

Cave walks silently toward me, and as I open my mouth to say hello, he bends and pushes his shoulder into my midsection, then stands with me slung over him like a sack of potatoes.

“Hey,” I say, but he ignores me and starts walking.

“This is very rude,” I tell the back of his coat. “Cave!”

Nothing, zero response, he just keeps moving.

“You can’t just pick me up.” I watch the ground moving beneath us and consider my options. I push on his back, but he doesn’t notice or care. “This isn’t a chase. I thought that was the point?”

He finally stops walking and sets me down. As I glance up at him, Cave opens his mouth. “I carry what I won’t lose.” He pauses. “I don’t chase what can’t run. What am I?”

I blink up at him frantically in confusion. Just when I think I’m getting better at these riddles, he stumps me with this one.

“No idea,” I say, and he smirks.

I take one step back, pivot on my heel, and run. Twisting left around the haunted maze, because it’s the direction I remember from the tour, I find the path between Sideshow Alley and the maze. I push hard, knowing he will be right behind me, or at least I hope he is, because all I hear is my pulse thumping in my ears.

Cutting toward the cemetery, where the lanterns thin out, I slow just enough to see the path and hear footsteps beside me. I nearly stumble over my own feet as Noa falls into stride beside me. He has his zombie makeup on and his shovel slung over his shoulder.

“Are you also supposed to be chasing me?”

“Nixie didn’t want to trigger Cave. This is a trial run, basically to see if you survive the night.”

“Survive?! He isn’t that bad,” I retort, and Noa laughs. “He is behind us somewhere.”