Bethany ran through the woods, the dry cracks of leaves and sticks crunching behind her getting closer by the second. Her breathing was shallow and panicked and she frantically batted away the branches in her path.

“Ahh, chaff for the harvest!” a low growl came from in front of her. Suddenly he was there, a seven-foot man wielding a scythe as big as he was, his glowing red eyes the only feature she could make out due to the darkness of the wood. She shrieked and tripped over herself, crawling between his legs as the scythe came down hard on the ground.

She had arrived earlier that day with a group of her friends, the five of them wanting to get away from the city for a weekend. They'd stopped at this old, abandoned farm that had seemed like the perfect place to spend the night until the monstrous farmer had started hunting them down, murdering them one by one in increasingly grotesque manners, until only Bethany was left. She could hear him turn and chase her again, though she wondered why he made the effort if he could teleport.

“You can't get away, little sow!” he yelled after her, his voice instilling true terror in her bones. The only sound in her ears was the pounding of her heart and the pounding of his feet, both of which were directly linked to her longevity.

Suddenly she screamed and tumbled forward, her foot snagging on something. She put her arms around her head just in time to brace herself as she fell down a flight of stairs, landing in a dusty cellar a ways away from the main house. She clamped her hand over her mouth and stared wide-eyed up through the cellar door. There was silence for a long time, until finally she saw the Farmer's silhouette move across the opening, still searching for her in the wood.

Bethany breathed a small sigh of relief, careful not to make a peep, and took stock of her surroundings. It almost seemed like a dungeon, with bare stone walls, floor and ceiling. The only features in the otherwise-empty room were a set of rotten wood stairs and a small carved stone tablet. She took the tablet and studied it, the dim moonlight her only source of illumination.

The carving was intricate and complex, and when she tilted it back and forth it glowed blue in the light. At first she thought it was just shiny, but she soon realized the blue glow was increasing in strength, even when facing away from the light. Before she knew what was happening, the light burst forth and flowed into her through her eyes, causing the most horrific burning sensation she'd ever experienced.

Howling in agony, Bethany's confusion and fear only grew when she realized she couldn't release the stone. Her fingers were closed tightly around it and refused to respond to her commands. She tried to silence herself, knowing the Farmer had surely heard her by now, but the pain was too great.

“Is someone in here?” The Farmer's dark, taunting voice came from the top of the stairway, his evil utterance audible to Bethany even through her wails. He slowly started to descend the wooden stairs, which inexplicably held his enormity. He blocked the only way out, and his scythe gleamed menacingly as he approached.

Finally, the stone fell from Bethany's grasp, just as the Farmer's head entered the cellar. She held her head and whimpered, trying to make sense of what had just been imparted to her. She felt stronger somehow, more capable but in a way she didn't yet understand. She knew the approaching footsteps were heralding her doom, and she desperately wracked her brain for what gift could have been given to her.

“Are you ready for the harvest?” Bethany crawled into the corner, staring up at him in fear. She was becoming fast convinced that she had gained nothing from the stone. It was a hallucination at worst and a deliverer of false courage at best. The Farmer now stood on the floor, his presence easily taking up most of the tiny room.

“Please...” she begged, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Don't cry, little one. The harvest comes for us all.” He raised his scythe, the room seeming to warp to give him space to do so.

Bethany closed her eyes to accept her fate – but the second she did so, the imagery of her own blood sprayed against the walls flashed through her mind. Her heart stopped and she held one arm out, looking the Farmer directly in his sinister glowing eyes. All of a sudden, a blue light shot forth from her hand, dousing the room in light. She saw, for a split-second, the Farmer's mottled grey flesh, torn and rotted in places, his mouth curled into a wicked sneer. Then, just as quickly as he'd been illuminated, he was gone. His scythe clattered loudly but harmlessly to the floor.

“What...” She got onto her hands and knees and crawled forward, looking down at the ground. There on the bare stone floor was a tiny figure, its grey, mottled form lit up by the moonlight. Bethany opened her eyes wide and held her hand to her mouth. “No way!” she whispered through her fingers.

“What have you done to me?” The Farmer's voice, once fear-inspiring, was now small and thin. The signature base note that had once resonated against the stone walls was gone, and Bethany could help but giggle over his new voice, infuriating the evil creature further. “You dare mock me? I will see your insides pulled out!”

“Oh yeah? And how are you gonna do that, chump?” Bethany was feeling more confident by the second, and her taunting of this little murderer did wonders to boost that. “Why don't I see what your insides look like, hmm?” She got to her feet, standing above him like a skyscraper. “You little fuck.”

“You cannot defeat me! I am the Farmer! I am immortal! I-” Scrunch! His tiny form exploded beneath Bethany's foot, spraying a sticky green slime in the area. She wrinkled her nose, looking down at his remains with disdain.

“Ugh, gross.” Even as she put on a disgusted facade, an underdeveloped warmth grew within her. She had just crushed an entire being under her foot, as easily as squashing a bug. She ground her foot back and forth, drawing a few final snaps from his little body before it was all reduced to a thick paste.

“Bethany!” She let out a small scream of fright, startled by the sudden call. She turned around and jogged up the wooden stairs, out of the cellar. Leaning against a nearby tree and clutching his side was Matt, one of the friends she had been with earlier in the day.

“Matt? I thought you were dead!”

He laughed ruefully. “Yeah, so did I. Come on, I got the car working again. We can get out of this hellhole!”

Bethany smiled and walked towards him. “I don't think I need the car, Matt.”

“What do you mean? That guy's still out here, and I think he can fly or something! He's way too fast!”

“He's nothing anymore. He's ooze. And now these are my woods.” She stared directly into his eyes as she spoke, grinning madly.

“Beth... Beth you're really starting to freak me out...”

“Good, Matt. Run. I want to see you run from me.”

“Beth what are you saying?” His voice was ragged and panicked. Bethany leaned in close to his ear and whispered.

“I'm going to spread your insides out, Matt, whether you run or not.”

He needed no further incentive. Matt bolted as well as he could, limping through the woods, fearfully beating aside the branches.

“That's it, little boy. Run from me.” Bethany's taunting voice fell into the darkness, but somehow he knew that she was still nearby. He had left the car close to the edge of the woods, not that far from where they were now. Her cackles echoed through the woods, concealing her location.

“Beth, please! Stop it! Leave me alone!” he called into the darkness. He saw a small pinpoint of light, and realized it must be the jeep he'd left idling by the road. He was close! A surge of adrenaline shot through his body and he rushed forward, pushing himself as hard as he could to close the last few yards.

“Not so fast,” Beth's voice was suddenly calm. He felt something hard hit his throat and in a second he was layed out on the ground, clutching his neck and rolling back and forth in agony. Looking up, he saw Bethany looking down at him gleefully.

“You know, I get why he ran now. The chase is fun, Matt. But the kill is still infinitely sweeter.”

“P-please, Beth...” Matt begged, holding a hand up to save himself. Bethany reached out with her own, and the soft blue light emanated from her palm, wrapping Matt in its embrace and reducing him to a tiny shadow of his former self. He looked around, confused. All that dominated his new skyline was a patterned surface with a thin green slime coating the surface. He never realized what it was, even as it descended on top of him and squished him into the cold, unforgiving dirt.

Bethany dragged her foot across the ground a few times, scraping off as much as she could of her former friend. She looked towards the idling car just as another one approached, slowing to a stop. The occupants emerged and checked the abandoned vehicle, then started calling into the woods, searching for signs of life from anyone who might need help.

She smiled.