Clara and Evan were driving through a small farming village on their way to visit family a few towns over, when they pulled up to a rundown gas station.

Evan got out of the car to pump gas, while Clara went inside to grab snacks. While in the store, the old man at the counter, presumably the owner, stared at her. She walked up to the counter to pay for her things, the man only grunts at her.

"You shouldn't be her, y'all ought to turn around

while you still can." The man said gruffly.

"What do you mean?" Clara asked, confused.

"Folks 'round here don't take kindly to strangers." He said.

"Oh. Well, lucky for us, we are just passing through." Clara said politely.

"Don't matter," He said, "once they see you, it'll already be too late."

Clara didn't say anything while the man rung her up and bagged her things. She paid for the items, thanked the man, and walked back to the car.

She was unnerved by the conversation, and didn't like how it made her feel. When Evan got back in the car he looked at her, asking her what was wrong. Clara told her husband what the man had said, and that it made her worry about driving through.



"Don't be worried, babe. We're just passing through, we don't have to stop anywhere else." Evan said,

trying to comfort his wife.

"You're probably right. Let's just get out of here." She said.

After a couple minutes, they heard a loud popping sound. Evan stopped the car, getting out to check out the noise.

"Great. We have a flat tire." He announced.

Clara started panicking. She knew they had a spare tire and would be able to fix it in a couple minutes, but they were still in the village. She hadn't realized that theold man had put so much fear in her.

Getting out of the car to help her husband, she sees another cat pulling up behind them. She looked at Evan, worry etched across her face. He assured her that everything would be fine.

"You watch too many horror movies." Evan joked.

Clara did not laugh. She tried to shake the feeling of unease, something about this place doesn't feel right. Looking back up, she saw a the man from the car walking up to them.she looked at the man, feigning a smile.

"Howdy folks. Did yer car break down?" The stranger greeted.

"Just a flat tire, sir.thankfully, we have a spare, should be good to go in no time." Evan said politely.

"You stayin' long? The man asked.

"No, just passing through." Evan explained, "as soon as this tire if fixed, we'll be on our way."

The stranger didn't respond, he just waved, getting back in his car and driving away. The couple stared at each other, puzzled by the man's reaction.

Clara felt like she was being watched, she looked around the deserted road, then at the corn fields surrounding them. Not seeing anyone, she got back in the car. She decided she would read a book to calm her nerves while Evan changed the tire.

After some time, Clara realized that her husband hadn't made a sound since she started reading. She looked in the mirrors but didn't see him, so she got out of the car. Walking around the vehicle, Evan was nowhere in sight.

Panic overtook her, she started screaming his name. When no answer came, she frantically looked around even more. She didn't hear or see anything. Clara ran back to the cat to grab her phone. When she tried to dial the police, she realized she had no service. Of coursethere's no service, she thought, we're in the middle of nowhere.

Thinking that she could drive to the nearest police station, she got in the drivers seat, then remember that Evan had the keys. Then she heard a loud, painful scream.

Knowing her husband must be in danger, she grabbed the tire iron off the ground. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she walked into the field where the screams came from.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

Hearing the crunching of ground, Clara turned around, seeing the man from earlier creeping up on her. She screamed and threw the tire iron at him, running deeper into the corn. The man was following close behind, gaining ground fast. Then he grabbed her, putting a cloth over her face.

When Clara came too, she was tied to a pole in an opening the middle of the field, her husband was on the ground at her feet. She tried calling his name but he didn't respond. His chest wasn't moving, and she knew he was dead. She started crying, then heard someone getting closer. A group of people were standing in the opening, staring at her with hate.

"Why have you come here?" A big man asked, voice booming.

"We were only passing through. We had no intentions of stopping!" Clara cried, tears streaming down her face.

"But you did stop!" A woman yelled.

"We got a flat tire! We were leaving!" Clara tried to reason.

"You still stopped. That makes you hers." The big man stated.

Two big men walked up to Evans body, picking him up, and tying his mutilated body to the pole beside her. Clara screamed when she saw how much they had hurt him. He was cut and broken, bleeding from everywhere. She even caught a glimpse of his spine from where the skin on hisback was missing.

"What did you do to him!?" Carla demanded, crying even harder at the sight of him.

No one answered her question, they just watched the big men do their job. When Evan was tied up, the whole group put on white masks with nothing but eye holes to see out of. Then they started walking toward the couple, surrounding them in a large circle, chanting quietly.

Clara watched in horror as one of the women lit a fire at her feet. She yelled out, begging them not to do this.

"You asked for this when you stopped here. We have to do this." Someone said.

"You don't have too, you can let me go, I won't tell anyone what happened here." Clara pleaded.

"You don't understand. We don't have a choice." A woman said. "Many years ago a woman was declared a witch. She was tied to this pole to burn. Before they lit the fire, she cursed this village, and it's residents. We are never allowed to leave. Any visitors we get, must be sacrificed to the witch, so we may live. Every year, the with comes back to collect all those who have stopped here."

Clara didn't believe this, it wasn't possible. Before she could say anything, her legs started burning. She screamed in agony, pleading for her life.

That's when she heard the shrill screech, and an evil, maniacal laughter.