Of Brothers and Tormentors

Excerpt from Of Brothers and Tormentors:

If he dare move a muscle, Edward knew they would have him. He’d never successfully outrun them. And so there he sat, frozen to the spot. In that creepy singsong fashion, the three called out his name once again. Rocking back and forth, he contemplated ducking behind the school’s Halloween display, consisting of ghosts and bats suspended with fishing line from the lowest limbs of the Maple tree. A gaunt scarecrow, dressed in tattered overalls, was attached to a post behind stacked bales of hay that had been arranged in steps of three. Straw Man was kept company by a dozen jack-o’-lanterns, two placed close together on each step. They glared at him from behind soulless, demonic eyes, wearing sadistic expressions of doom.
With time running out, Edward was forced to act. He jammed the binder into his backpack, sprang from the bench, and darted behind the bales of dusty hay. It took a deliberate and concentrated effort to remain calm. Cautiously, he lifted his head to peek between the carved pumpkins. His enemies were closing. It seemed they also had an aversion to working on the carnival project; after all, stalking him was apparently their full-time occupation. But something else caught his eye that was even more terrifying. His pulse quickened, breath visible in the crisp autumn air. In the rush to hide from them, he’d left something behind on the bench. The library book he’d been reading on the subject of rocket science. A dead giveaway. All they need do was read his name on the manila card tucked away in the little pocket affixed to the inside of the book’s cover, and they’d know for sure he was nearby. There were times, this exact moment being one of them, when Edward wished he was the enormous Maple tree. Strong. Tall. Indomitable.