Darkness pressed down on them from all sides, thick as tar. Alex felt his body go numb as he sank into the ground, tendrils of darkness curling around his legs and pulling him deeper, each inch feeling like an eternity. He fought with everything he had, clawing at the soil, but it was no use. It felt as if the earth itself had come alive, a bottomless void swallowing him whole.
“Help!” Alex screamed, but his voice barely reached his friends. Around him, Emma, Jack, and Sarah struggled against the same grasp, their faces twisted in terror as they clawed at the dirt, desperate to free themselves from the invisible grip of the cornfield.
But the corn remained unmoved, its stalks looming above them like silent sentinels, indifferent to their suffering. The field seemed to breathe, each rustling stalk carrying faint whispers, memories of those who had been lost here before, their voices mingling with the cries of the teens, lost to the darkness.
“Let us go!” Sarah shouted, her voice breaking. But the shadows only tightened, pulling her down further, until the ground closed over her shoulders.
And then, through the swirling fog, they saw her.
Eliza Morrow.
The ghostly woman floated above them, her tattered black dress fluttering as if in a phantom wind, her eyes glowing with an eerie light that pierced the gloom. She moved without a sound, her face expressionless, save for a cruel smile that hinted at satisfaction. It was the look of a predator who’d cornered its prey.
“You thought you could escape me?” she murmured, her voice soft yet sharp as knives. “You are in my domain. No one leaves… unless I allow it.”
The teens struggled harder, thrashing against the invisible bonds that held them, but Eliza simply watched, an amused glint in her hollow eyes. She took her time, circling them, inspecting her captives like a hunter savoring the helplessness of a caught animal.
“Why?” Emma choked out, the words barely escaping her lips. “Why are you doing this?”
Eliza tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “Why?” she repeated, a cold smile spreading across her face. “Because I was betrayed, abandoned… forgotten. And now, I take what I’m owed.”
As she spoke, the fog thickened, and images began to flicker around them—visions of the past. They saw Eliza, standing in the cornfield under the pale moonlight, her face young, hopeful. She was holding hands with a man who whispered promises to her, words of love and loyalty.
But then, the image shifted. The man was gone, and Eliza was alone, her face streaked with tears as she waited, night after night, her spirit slowly twisting with grief and anger until there was nothing left of the woman she once was. Only hatred remained, bound to the field forever.
“You see,” Eliza whispered, her voice cold as the grave. “I waited… and no one came. So I remained here, and this land… it became my prison, my home, my kingdom. And now, it feeds on souls—those foolish enough to enter.”
Sarah’s heart pounded as she watched the images fade, leaving them alone once more in the darkness. “Please… we didn’t know,” she whispered. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
Eliza’s laughter echoed through the night, a hollow sound that made their skin crawl. “Ignorance does not absolve you. You entered my domain. And now, you must pay.”
With a wave of her hand, the ground trembled, and the dark tendrils tightened, pulling them further down until they could feel the cold earth pressing against their skin, filling their lungs with the suffocating scent of decay. Panic surged through them as they realized they were being buried alive, trapped in the cornfield, with no one to hear their cries.
“Please!” Jack gasped, his fingers scraping at the soil. “There has to be a way out! There has to be!”
Eliza’s face softened, just for a moment, a glimmer of something almost human flickering in her eyes. But then she shook her head, her expression hardening. “There is no escape. This field… it claims all who enter.”
As if in response to her words, the corn stalks began to twist and shift, taking on strange, human-like shapes. The teens watched in horror as the plants morphed, their leaves and husks forming into ghastly faces, their hollow eyes staring back at them with expressions of agony and despair.
One of the figures, a withered, ghostly face half-buried in the ground, stared directly at Alex. Its mouth opened, and a faint, broken whisper slipped out.
“Help… me…”
The face dissolved back into the earth, leaving Alex trembling, his mind reeling. How many others had been lost here, trapped by Eliza’s wrath? How many souls had she claimed in her endless quest for vengeance?
The realization hit him like a blow. They weren’t the first… and they wouldn’t be the last.
“We have to fight,” he muttered, his voice trembling. “We can’t just… let her take us.”
The others looked at him, their faces pale but determined. They might be trapped, but they weren’t ready to give up—not yet.
Eliza watched them, a faint smirk on her face as if she could read their thoughts. She raised her hand, and the fog thickened around them, wrapping them in a suffocating shroud that blurred their vision and dulled their senses. They felt as though they were sinking deeper into a nightmare, each breath heavier than the last.
“You may fight,” she said, her voice mocking. “But it will do you no good. This field obeys my will. Every step you take, every breath you breathe… it belongs to me.”
But they didn’t listen. With one last burst of adrenaline, Alex managed to free one of his arms, clawing at the ground with a determination he didn’t know he had. He grabbed a rock, sharp and jagged, and swung it at the dark tendrils holding him. They recoiled, hissing as if in pain, loosening just enough for him to pull himself free.
“Come on!” he shouted, throwing the rock to Jack, who followed suit, hacking at the tendrils until he, too, was free.
The others scrambled to do the same, tearing at the earth with their hands, using whatever they could find to fight back against the darkness. One by one, they broke free, stumbling to their feet, gasping for breath.
But their victory was short-lived.
Eliza’s eyes flashed with anger, and she raised both hands, her voice a furious wail that echoed through the field. “You dare defy me?”
The ground trembled, and the corn stalks twisted and writhed, rising like walls around them, closing off any chance of escape. They were trapped once more, surrounded on all sides by the towering plants, their rustling voices whispering promises of death.
Sarah clutched Alex’s arm, her voice trembling. “What do we do now?”
Alex looked around, his mind racing. There had to be a way out—a weakness, a flaw in Eliza’s control over the field. He remembered the gravestone they’d seen earlier, the name carved into the stone: Eliza Morrow.
“It’s her grave,” he whispered, his voice barely audible. “That’s the key. If we can get to her grave, maybe… maybe we can break the curse.”
But Eliza was watching them, her gaze cold and unyielding. She seemed to sense their plan, her lips curling into a sneer as she glided forward, her fingers stretched out, reaching for them.
“Run!” Alex shouted, grabbing Sarah’s hand and pulling her forward, the others close behind. They bolted through the narrow paths between the corn, the plants clawing at them, trying to pull them back. The ground shook, threatening to swallow them whole, but they kept running, their footsteps pounding against the earth.
They reached the clearing with the gravestone, their breaths coming in short, panicked gasps. Eliza appeared before them, her form shifting, her face twisting into a mask of rage.
“This ends now,” Alex said, his voice steady despite the fear clawing at his insides. He stepped forward, standing between his friends and the ghostly figure before them. “You can’t keep us here. We’re leaving, and you can’t stop us.”
Eliza’s laughter echoed through the clearing, a sound so filled with malice it made their blood run cold. “Foolish child,” she sneered. “This field is mine. You are mine.”
But Alex refused to back down. He reached out, his hand trembling, and placed it on the gravestone. The stone was cold, almost painfully so, and he felt a surge of energy pass through him, filling him with a strength he hadn’t known he possessed.
“Eliza Morrow,” he said, his voice firm. “I release you from this place. You don’t have to stay here anymore.”
For a moment, there was silence. Eliza’s face softened, and a flicker of sadness passed over her features. But then, just as quickly, her expression hardened, and she shook her head.
“No,” she whispered, her voice filled with bitterness. “This is my curse… and you shall share it.”
The ground shook, and the fog thickened, swallowing them in darkness. But Alex didn’t let go of the gravestone, his grip
tightening as he fought against the overwhelming weight of Eliza’s hatred.
And then, just as quickly as it began, the fog lifted, and Eliza was gone.
The teens stood in silence, their breaths coming in shallow gasps as they stared at the empty clearing. The cornfield was silent, the night still and calm, as if the horrors they had faced were nothing more than a nightmare.
But they knew the truth. They had faced the darkness… and survived.