He went toward the window at the right side of the house and tried looking in. A curtain blocked his sight but he could make out a living room through the darkness. He looked at the shed— Barn! That's the word. In the mud he saw footprints to the front of the gate. The owners locking the gate or fresher? He turned back to investigate further when he spotted something on the road he came from. It was just for a fraction of a second, but he clearly saw someone running into the fields to his left. What the hell? Seemed like a girl, dressed in white. Was she the one screaming before? She should have seen me from there. Derrek stood watching for a few seconds thinking. I'd better go and— another scream came, from the fields he was watching. Derrek didn't dilly dally any longer, ran from the porch and toward the field to his left. He took an angle to intersect with the trail the girl took. He drew his rubber gun, You never know. as he slowed down and entered the fields.

NEW CHAPTER - CORN FIELD

Damn, I can't see for shit here. He slowed down a lot after his first steps, trying to keep heading in the direction but it got really disorientating. The corn rose a few heads above him. The last light was still in the air but the corn ate a lot of it. With his rubber gun in his right hand, he took out his flashlight in his left. A bit early and it'll probably ruin my night vision, but I need to be able to find the tracks.
The flashlight had some settings and he dropped it to the lowest before activating it.
The corn was set in rows and he was going diagonally through them. He counted them in his head so he'd know how many he had to pass to get to the path again. Eighteen, that's already pretty deep. Better follow straight until I find some tracks. She seemed to be almost near the bend of the road, if I don't find anything, I should arrive back at the road I came in on. Did she follow me up the road? Or… was she waiting in the fields?
A snap ahead of him made him full stop. It wasn't in the row he was in, he would've seen something there. He turned off his flashlight and bended through his knees, the corn was not as thick on the bottom, but he still couldn't see a lot. He scanned almost a full tour around him, no motion and no further sounds. He got up and started taking slow steps forward again, making sure not to hit any corn stalks. Sounded like one of the stalks snapping, should find something up ahead. Feels like someone is watching me, better keep quiet and have my flashlight off.
He took some ten steps down his row and looked for a quiet passage into the next row. He still made a lot of sound but passed into the next row. Nineteen,

Nineteen, nothing here; Twenty, nope; Twenty-one, no— right there. To Derrek's left he saw the snapped stalk, it hung straight over the row. He couldn't have missed it. Beyond he couldn't see anything else. He approached the stalk and inspected it. Really gonna need my flashlight. The light shone bright onto the stalk, he holstered his rubber gun and grabbed the stalk, moving it up and down. Snapped by hand it seems, that actually requires some force. You don't do that by accident. He shone his light on the soil beneath. It was dryer than the roads but still moist enough. Shoe prints, sneakers it seems, not a large size. They seem to be heading back toward the farm —or the barn. This feels off. He deactivated his flashlight and bent down again. Darkness was really eating away, in the few minutes since entering the field he was constantly losing more light and his eyes needed to adjust from the flashlight.
Give it some time, Derrek. You know this feels wrong, who'd run away, snap a corn stalk and then run back toward the field? Someone's messing with you. He was still waiting when he spotted a tiny light go on, not down his row but the previous one. Eighteen. Is that, a phone? I can try creeping closer but I'll lose my sight. He tried taking steps in the crouched position but could feel his squat muscles straining. Should have stretched more, I'm way out of shape for this. I could try calling out… No, I need to see what's going on first. Really feels like they're messing with me. Derrek got up, took a few silent steps, crouched again; got up, steps, crouch; up, steps, crouch; u — the light turned off. He got back down and waited. His night vision was getting better, but it was way too dark still. Putting on my flashlight would be the same like shouting: "Hey, here I am!" I could try passing through the row, I could see more then. He heard some leaves rustle behind him. The hair on his neck stood upright, his heart went into sixth gear. Oldest one in the book, Derrek, and you still fell for it. His right hand went to his rubber gun, his left put the flashlight to maximum brightness but didn't activate it yet. All in.
He turned, ignited the flashlight in full force and drew his rubber gun. His mouth was looking for words: "Freeze", "Stop right there", "Hey you", "Oi" were all valid

"Freeze", "Stop right there", "Hey you", "Oi" were all valid, but Derrek went with a deep "Aaaah" instead. Legs moved through the row behind him, passing him toward the farm. Sneakers, the girl. Then who— His heart and thoughts were racing as he got up and passed into row nineteen again and shone his light down to the left. The white dress shone bright as it passed into row again in a rush.
"Hey! Stop!" Derrek yelled before running after it. Damn cardio. Could have been anyone here but it had to be you with your mouth. As he passed back into row eighteen, he saw the girl passing down into seventeen. Wait, that's about where I saw the light, they could be in ambush there. Can't run straight into them. He was running down eighteen and shone at the spot the girl used to pass through. He saw nothing be the next few stalks of corn. This is pointless, I won't see anything rushing through like this. They clearly want me to follow. I know where they are, so I can play this game too. He deactivated his flashlight, turned and jumped into row nineteen, twenty, twenty-one and kept on running for some twenty seconds. With the sound he made, he couldn't pick out anything else. He spotted the barn some distance ahead of him. Let's see from here. He stopped and bent down again. All was quiet around him except for his heart beating in his ears and throat, sweat starting to form beneath his clothes. Breathe, you need to focus. He released a few sighs and tried to regain his composure. It took him some ten breaths. All right, what do you know, Derrek? Someone is messing with you, two someones, possibly more. The scream could have been a distraction or it could still be someone in danger. They're luring you somewhere. The girl was bait, drawing you into the field. Scary bait at that; white dress in the fields, long dark hair as far as I could see. A shiver ran over him. That's gonna be nightmare fuel. In the movies, they always run straight into the trap. So do the opposite. Don't follow, they'll be looking for you too. The farm's up ahead, you have a vantage there. No other sounds came and no lights below either. With each blink, his natural night vision grew better. That'll do.
Derrek got up and slowly walked further down the row, making sure not to rustle any leaves. It took him a minute before he arrived at back of the barn.