Star Catcher (11 page)

“Were we supposed to dress in costume?”

The woman stared at her for a pause before she answered in a deep voice.

“No.”

Stella noticed an earpiece wedged snuggly in the woman’s right ear. She must be communicating with whoever else was running this show, hence her delayed response.

“Do I need to pay?” Stella dug around in her purse for a five and had one in her grasp by the time the woman replied.

“No,” she said again. She had a strange, slow way of speaking, as if English was not her first language and she had learned the Queen’s version via a mail-order video. It was just weird.

“Go in.”

“Okay. Well … thanks.” Stella scowled with uncertainty. Something about this woman was off. She couldn’t put her finger on it. The pink-haired bouncer glared at her with obsidian eyes as she waved her through the mouth of the maze. Squelching her reservations, Stella stepped inside, determined to find Noth and possibly murder him.

The sounds of laughter drifted to her once again, reassuringly normal. The pleasant buzz from two glasses of wine on an empty stomach called her forward toward the promise of more. She began threading through the paths carved into the dried, dead stalks of corn, aiming for the happy sounds.

“Hello?” A voice sounded ahead of her. “Anyone over here?”

Stella stepped around a bend and saw a petite girl standing alone. She was unfamiliar and gamine-chic with brunette hair styled in a pixie cut. She wore cool retro glasses with thick zebra-striped frames that tapered to a point on the sides, sixties style.

“Hey. Do you know the way to the center?” The girl looked relieved to see Stella.

“No, I just got here. But it sounds like the party is over that way.” Stella pointed off to her left. “My friend is in here somewhere.” The notion that her cheating boyfriend might be present as well silently gnawed at her.

“I came with a dorm mate,” the girl supplied. “She convinced me to be the designated driver, and then proceeded to get blasted before we even left.” She gave a wry half smile.

“So where did she go?” Stella walked behind the much shorter girl in the direction of the noise. Two couldn’t fit side by side in the maze.

“Oh, as soon as we got here she ran off. I must have taken a wrong turn because I’ve backtracked about fifty times now. I was about to say ‘screw her’ and leave.”

“Well, I’ll keep you company. I’m Stella, by the way.”

“Kate. Nice to meet you.” She turned, continuing to walk backward, and stuck out a hand. Stella gave it a quick shake.

“I guess there are supposed to be some really hot guys showing up. My dorm mate said the guy who invited her was amazing.”

Stella didn’t want to discuss it.

Kate chatted on. “Someone in my English Lit class heard this party is sponsored by cadets from Holloman Air Force Base. They have some sort of leave and printed up flyers to get as many girls as possible to come. That’s why no guys were actually invited. Might be a huge military orgy in there.”

“Really? No guys at all? How could they keep every single guy at school from hearing about it and stop them from showing up?”

“Well, some freshmen guys were harassing that freaky chick at the entrance when I got here. She said, ‘Only females here. Males on the other side.’ Just like that.” The girl affected the weird, almost robotic accent perfectly.

“So there’s another entrance for guys? Is it a cover-charge thing?”

“I have no idea. They didn’t take any money that I saw, and the guys were led off by some other woman with a Cleopatra wig.” She turned around again to look at Stella. “Were we supposed to dress up? Halloween is still a couple weeks away.”

Stella shook her head and shrugged. If they were meant to come in costume, it was too late now.

The daylight was rapidly waning, and the sun burned on the horizon in a bloody orange smear. Stella wondered what sort of lighting system they had for the party. A shifting amber glow illuminated the center of the maze. The shrieks of laughter and rhythmic boom of a bass drum helped to lead the way. The women quickly approached the light, drawn to it like insects to a bright bulb, but how would they find their way out after dark?

Stella fondled the lump of her phone in her back pocket. Even though there was no signal, she hoped the faint radiance of the touch pad would be enough to lead the way out.

She had tried to keep track of each turn, but the winding maze was a jumble of rights and lefts. The row upon row of endless corn was completely disorienting. Stella didn’t want to drink another drop once they got to the party.

It will be hard enough to get out of here sober.

If all else failed, she would just head in the direction of the parking lot and trample a beeline of corn. Even if she was wrong about which way led to her car, straight as an arrow would eventually get her out.

Screw this maze.

It was a dumb idea anyway. All these girls probably only came because of the hot guy with the flyers—the same hot guy who had invited her on a date and stood her up to recruit a harem.

It was purely malicious speculation, but Stella couldn’t help it. The more she walked, the more pissed off she became. Anger must be the step right after denial. Followed next by self-pity.

“Not sure where psycho-murderer fits in,” Stella spoke out loud.

Oops.
Kate tossed her an uneasy sideways glance.

“Forget it. I can’t wait to find my friend and get the hell out of here.” She smiled reassuringly, and the other girl flashed her a grin.

“I’m with you. If my dorm mate wants to stay, I’m telling her to find another ride home. I want to be out of here before the light goes.”

“I was thinking the same thing. I guess everyone else arrived earlier, and it didn’t occur to them. This is going to suck after dark. Especially with a buzz on.”

“I’ll walk out with you—wait for me, okay?” The short girl looked back at Stella imploringly.

“Sure. It’s a plan. We found our way in. We can find our way out.”

They turned a corner as Stella spoke, and the light grew brighter.

“Looks like we made it. Up ahead on the right.” Stella pointed.

A wide clearing had been opened in the middle of the field. A roaring bonfire in the center looked like the worst idea yet. One loose spark and the whole freaking field could go up.

A bunch of girls sat cross-legged and stared at the flames, transfixed. Some, obviously passed-out, were lying on the ground. A few rare groups stood sedately with plastic cups gripped in their hands. For all the noise, it was oddly quiet; hardly anyone was actually talking.

The music sounded like a live recording. Stella couldn’t figure out where it came from. Periodic shouts and excited whistles burst through the unfamiliar chords. It was club music, sort of … techno with a hypnotic trance-beat that the small gang of rave-lovers at her old high school would go crazy over. The occasional bursts of laughter were also contrived. No one here was laughing.

A foreboding chill erupted through her.

“Rayna!” Stella shouted, hoping her friend was within earshot. It was tough to see past the blinding flames, but equally hard to match the volume of the music.

“How much did they drink?” Stella turned to Kate, but the girl was already walking slowly around the center flame, peering at apathetic faces in search of a familiar one.

Someone moved off to the right. The motion caught Stella’s eye. It was in stark contrast to the sluggish partiers. A tall woman with long red hair and short fringy bangs walked toward her. She had two plastic cups in her hands. Her outfit was wild. Black sateen-type fabric formed billowy pants with multiple pockets on both legs. They were cuffed tight at the bottom and met with a pair of ankle boots with a vicious-looking tread. Her tight-fitting shirt hugged her flat chest and looked like it was made of Lycra, like one of those sun-blocking surfer shirts in neon green.

She had absolutely zero boobs, and as she reached Stella and mutely offered up a full cup, Stella tried to puzzle through whether or not this person was actually a man in drag. Her obviously fake lashes and drawn-on, surprised brows didn’t contradict the possibility.

“Drink,” the strange woman said when Stella made no move to take the beverage. She had an earpiece like the woman at the entrance. An odd tool belt of sorts, with two walkie-talkie-looking devices strapped to it, hung around her narrow waist.

“No, thanks. Have you seen a really pretty Indian girl here? About this tall?” Stella indicated a spot level with her cheek.

A long pause ensued. The woman continued to hold out the cup, and a confused expression registered on her face.

“Drink.” She smiled this time, robotic and phony as she pushed the cup against Stella’s hand.

“Okay. Thanks anyway.” Stella forced a tight smile and took the damned thing. She wasn’t about to accept candy from strangers, but she wasn’t in the mood for a pissing match with She-Man either.

Plus, she wanted a clear head if she met up with Noth. Then a thought occurred to her.

“Do you know Noth? Is he here?”

The woman still looked perplexed, but her eyes widened slightly. Was that recognition passing over her face? She didn’t say a word, but turned in the direction Kate had headed, weaving around the lethargic bodies.

That’s it. One loop around and I’m out of here. Forget him! Forget Rayna. This just sucks, and I am so not in the mood.

If she never saw the cheating jerk again it would probably be for the best, no matter how badly it hurt. The thought made her eyes sting and her lower lip tremble.

A loud whooshing started abruptly overhead. The wind whipped Stella’s hair into a swirling frenzy that blocked her view. She looked up, swiping hair from her face, but saw nothing but the three-quarter moon laughing down at them.

The music stopped. The fire extinguished in a blink and left the white ghost of a moon the only glow left. It was as if someone had flipped a switch and effectively vacuumed out light and sound.

In the shocked silence, Stella clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream that would single her out from the rest. The shadowy features of a group of girls nearby barely registered surprise at the turn of events.

The voices of the dazed women began to penetrate the night in a wave of soft mumbles. Those who were still awake realized something was wrong, but they were too drugged for a normal reaction. Somehow, the subdued demeanor of the surrounding people was far scarier than the abrupt darkness. A brunette turned her head from side to side in confusion.
Rayna?
No, the darkness played tricks on Stella’s eyes.

Her misgivings since entering the maze spiked to panic mode. Her heart hammering in her chest sounded louder than the drumbeat snuffed out moments ago. If Kate was still coherent, Stella did not see or hear a trace of her now. She slowly bent her knees and placed her full cup on the ground, and stooped low, she crept to her left.

It was the nearest route to corn cover. Stella didn’t dare remove her phone for light as she matched her movements to the slow pitch of the intoxicated bodies surrounding her. They stumbled about, knocking into one another and going nowhere.

A loud beeping sound began. It was drawn out and painfully high in tone. Some girls held their hands against their ears as they gazed about in slack-jawed confusion. Stella winced through it, increasing her pace with a mounting sense of dread.

It was an alarm bell. Something was coming.

Farther back in the corn and from many sides, voices floated toward her. They were different from the incoherent murmurs of the stupefied women. The language was sharp, guttural, but Stella couldn’t make out any words. Speech volleyed back and forth in the night; tinny voices answered live ones in the telltale send and receive of radio transmitters.

She recalled the device the bewigged woman had clipped to her belt.
We were all led here for some specific reason.
The idea spurred her faster. No voices sounded from the section of corn corpses before her, and she continued her straight path toward the screen.

The first petrified shriek shattered the quiet just as Stella broke through the husks.

The cry sent a lance of icy fear through Stella’s heart.

She turned back to peer through her cover at the clearing beyond. Unwilling to run without identifying her enemy, she stared transfixed at a huge doglike creature. The moon provided enough light for Stella to just make out its features. With long hooked tusks that curled up from its lower jaw, the monster prodded a screaming girl. It swung its heavy snout against her backside as if urging her forward. She sprawled face-first in the dirt, before picking herself up with impressive speed. The thing nipped at her heels, and she broke into a run. It pursued like a herding dog rounding up a head of cattle, and Stella tried to swallow a lump of cold hard fear as she watched girl and beast disappear into the corn on the opposite side of her hiding spot.

The doped-up women had revived somewhat with the arrival of the animal. The terrified screech, the atmosphere of panic, must have triggered an instinctual response. Still abnormally slow, they scattered from the scene like fat pigeons flying from the grasping hands of a child. But pigeons could escape and tease their pursuer into a futile chase. Birds could fly to avoid capture. These women did not stand a chance.

A second wolf-beast burst through the corn to the right of Stella’s hiding place. Its obscene face was half the size of a hulking body that easily reached to her navel. She could make out a thick black ruff around the neck. Feral yellow eyes reflected the moonlight as it turned its oddly flattened snout back and forth, testing the air for victims. The bile rose in her throat. It had three eyes, one on either side of its head—rather like a wild boar—and one just above the nose. The thing was like no animal she had ever seen.

How can this be real?

If Stella had imbibed any of the alcohol at this freak show, she might believe she was suffering from some sort of drug-induced hallucination.

As if to prove its existence, the monster pounced on a girl who attempted to crawl away. The beast seemed about to tear her head off. The wide muzzle bore down on her neck, and Stella gasped involuntarily.