Those who hide in the tall grass

This time I'm given no leniency. The cultists search for any other weapons—a search that's borderline groping—before they drag me by my shoulders somewhere. I can only assume that's to the town hall, because I can't see a thing.

The fight is lost, but I convince myself that I'm only waiting for a better opportunity. Zeke watches silently, but his words turn over and over in my head. All I need is to let him through, and I will be free. But at what cost? At the very least, more murder.

I don't want to die more than I don't want to kill, but while there's hope, I hold on.

I expect to be thrown to the same basement as the last time—instead I'm brought to the trunk of a car: a dusty place that adds the smell of gasoline to the stench of dust on my sack. We ride for a short while, but when we stop and the trunk opens, no one hurries to get me out.

"What now, Reverend?" one of the cultists who captured me asks over my head. "Should we prepare for the ceremony, or…"

"Noctis has corrupted her, this much is clear. She's a danger to all of us now, as much as it pains me to see all that potential wasted. Bring her to the Ascended," the voice makes me jerk. It's Hank's… though there's no jovial warmth in it.

"Wait!" I cry out, glad that I wasn't gagged, at least. "Hank, I was wrong. I don't want to help Noctis! I tricked him and escaped. Please, let me help you stop him!"

Hank sighs. "You could've been such a great ally, Miss Alvarez. It's a pity that we can't trust you now that you have dallied with the monster. Maybe you will see things differently when you Ascend."

With that, the trunk closes, putting an end to this conversation. I keep screaming and pleading in frantic, pointless hope, until the car begins to move and I start risking cutting off my tongue.

The car stops for the second time, after a much longer ride. The scent of wildflowers and grass passes through my sack, telling me I must be somewhere away from the city.

Did they bring me here to bury me under a tree? The notion sends me into a panic, and when four hands pick me up, I fruitlessly trash and plead for my captors to free me until they unceremoniously drop me to the ground.

One of them takes off my hood, and I take a loud gasp of fresh air.

"Yeah, these things are so damn stuffy," one cultist says with sympathy. "Well, I hope they start from the head with you, girl. Let's go, Jim."

"Wait, wait! Who are you talking about?!" I shout, scrambling to my feet, but the cultists leave at a brisk pace, not once looking back. Only several seconds later the endless sea of grass as tall as my head swallows them, and eventually, even the sound of their footsteps disappears.

I'm all alone. I can't even see the road from here, though I know it must be near.

But at least they didn't kill me. Which is weird—until I remember about the monsters Zeke warned me about. My blood runs cold.

*Click-zing-chirp.*

*Click-zing-chirp.*

I swivel on my heels, pushing the grass aside to see the source of the noise. It's too loud and too close now to blame it on insects. On normal insects, at least.

"My Maya, this grows too dangerous. Open yourself for me so I could protect you," Zeke whispers in my ear, but I just silently shake my head in response.

The clicking sound approaches without hurry, and I take a step back—only to freeze when another set of similar noises comes from behind me.

*Click-zing-chirp.*

My nerves are taut like guitar strings. I have to run, but I don't even know in which direction the city is. Then I hear the third set of clicks, and I know that I'm surrounded.

*Click-zing-chirp.*

My hands are bound, but even if they weren't, I have no weapons. I'd pick up a rock, but all I see under my feet is grass and more grass. Instead, I begin to push aside and trample the surrounding grass, so I would at least see whoever is coming more than a step away.

"Maya! It might be too late if you don't do it now," Zeke urges. I'd tell him I'm not listening and that my position on rampant murder stays the same—but we are interrupted.

Unlike me, the *creatures* glide through the grass like fish through water. Their movements seem clunky, yet carry an eerie grace when they step near me.

Their sight freezes me in place. They truly *are* monsters in the worst meaning imaginable.

The *creatures* are a grotesque mix of human and insect features. Their bodies are human, at least in form, but their limbs are those of locusts, and from their backs grow half-transparent wings. Their skin is mottled, sickly green, covered in thick, bristling hairs that twitch and writhe with a life of their own. On human faces fit insect jaws that open and close as the monsters sniff the air. Their eyes, small and beady like a bird's, gleam with sinister intelligence.

The strange noises come from their exoskeleton, which crackles and snaps as the monsters move. Their hands end with long, jagged claws, and they flex them as they prepare to strike.

They could turn me into shreds in a moment, but if I thought this couldn't be worse, I was wrong. Because I turn around to see all the three monsters, and see her.

Rose.

She's hard to recognize. The lips that could once seduce a man with a single smile are replaced with disgusting mandibles. The smart and lively blue eyes are now round, black, and predatory.

But this is my Rose, there's no doubt. Her cheekbones, her nose, her luxurious blond hair, now matted and full of grass and leaves.

"Rose..," my voice trembles. "You… You are alive!.. I thought… I was told you were dead…"

"She is!" Zeke's voice pierces through my shock. "Just like you will be if you don't let me in!"

And as if they hear his voice, the monsters lunge.