Coneflower
M Scarecrow x GN Reader
Warnings: Creepy situations, mentions of blood and minor hand injury.
Crisp, November air stings your cheeks and sneaks between the gaps of your clothing. You hunch deeper into your jacket as a shudder ripples along your spine. It’s still Autumn, but winter makes its approach known, its reaching, icy fingers combing through the air and dusting the rooftops with frost.
The soles of your shoes tap, tap a quicker rhythm along the sidewalk. Your destination lies just ahead, a respite from the chill. A new cafe has opened at the end of the block. Several friends have praised their coffee. You’ve succumbed to peer pressure, it seems.
The freshly-cleaned brick facade is welcoming, and a frilly sunshade protects a quaint seating area to the left. Through the big front window you see fairy lights and greenery lining the sill—adorable—but what sits on a bench near the front door makes you slow your hurried advance.
It’s…a scarecrow. It is perched precariously on the seat, straw hat about to tumble off its gray head with how it’s tilted. More hay peeks out of blue overalls and scuffed boots. Its legs are crossed, its gloved hands folded in its lap. Even its fingers are interlaced.
Frowning, you timidly approach, your hands leaving your pockets to reach for him.
It.
Gently, you grasp its shoulders. The straw under the plaid shirt gives a bit when you squeeze and shift the prop upright, but quickly you recoil, your fingers curling protectively against your chest. It’s warm, as though you had touched the shoulders of a person. You’d felt the heat even through your gloves.
Goosebumps prickle across your skin as you take a tentative step closer. Its face is strange and made from some mottled gray material. The texture looks…fleshy. Dark, frayed eye holes—bottomless pits—stare back at you as a crudely slashed mouth grins too wide across its face.
The hair on the back of your neck standing on end, you hastily turn away from the scarecrow and hurry inside. Warmth envelops you in a reliving embrace and you sigh. Absently, you peel off your gloves and scan the room—it’s completely empty? You’re the only customer—before your eyes raise to the menu written in chalk above the counter.
“Good morning!” You smile and nod in response to the barista’s greeting. “What can I get you?”
You pick your favorite from the menu, curious to see how it compares to other cafes. As you pay, the urge to ask about the prop sitting on the bench outside overpowers the social anxiety of conversing with a stranger. Such a bizarre occurrence demands explanation.
“Hey, what’s with the, uh, scarecrow?” You receive a blank stare in response. Swallowing, you attempt to clarify, “Out front? Old Halloween decoration or something?” You jab your thumb toward the door for emphasis.
The barista shakes their head, shrugs, and asks, “What scarecrow?”
Your frown deepens. “The one outside—
You turn as you speak, the words dying on your tongue when you find the bench vacant. It’s gone, vanished into thin air.
What in the hell…?
Heart slamming against your ribs, you turn back to the cashier. “Uh, sorry, nevermind,” you murmur, accepting your change and your coffee and hurrying from the cafe.
You’re too unsettled to notice the cold biting at your bare fingers. Head bowed against the icy wind, you hurry down the street, mind frantically trying to rationalize the situation.
Someone was playing a prank, surely. That’s all this was. You’ll see a video of it on social media a few weeks from now, teenage boys snickering in the background as they film you in secret.
But how did they make those black eyes so…lifelike…?
Out of the corner of your eye, across the street, you spot a straw hat.
You skid to a stop, head whipping in the direction in which you spotted the tall, gangly creature with a straw hat perched atop its graying head.
Nothing. Only a few people hurry down the opposite side walk, coats hiked up around their necks to stave off the chill. They’re oblivious to the way your chest heaves, your wide eyes search the sidewalk in barely contained panic.
You’d seen it though, you’re sure. The scarecrow had been standing just across the street, staring directly at you.
No, this is ridiculous. Your mind is playing tricks. It’s impossible.
Hands trembling, you grip your untouched coffee a little tighter, your steps holding more urgency. You keep your eyes on your shoes, not willing to see more conjurings from your anxious mind.
A pair of black dress shoes pass by, striding in the opposite direction. You spot a pair heels as they click down the sidewalk, someone headed to work. Sneakers next, a jogger. Then a pair of worn boots, hay poking out between the laces….
You yelp and whirl around, stilling in shock and terror when you come face to face with the scarecrow. He—it—towers over you, dark eyeholes peering down at you, leering maw curled up alarmingly at the corners.
It’s a costume, it has to be. But you’d felt it, felt the straw stuffing give under your hands. There isn’t anyone inside. How is it standing on its own, how is it smiling like that?!
Hay innards rustle as the arm slowly lifts and awkwardly twists to a 90 degree angle. The gloved hand shakes back and forth, movements strange and jerky.
A wave.
Terror grips your limbs, adrenaline spilling into your bloodstream and electrifying chilled muscles. A shriek erupts from your throat, paper cup tumbling from your hands, coffee splashing free to steam on the sidewalk. You spin on your heel and sprint down the street, heedless of the stares from concerned passerby. Drive to escape overrides all else.
Your feet slam on pavement as you fly around the corner. You take the side street, a shortcut. Your apartment is just one more street up. You’ll lock yourself inside and never leave ever—
Another cry lodges in your throat. Your shoes squeal on asphalt when you skid to a stop, the change so sudden you stumble backwards and fall right on your ass with a thud and a grunt. Your palms ache, scraped against the cold ground in your blunder.
The reason for your abrupt halt peers around the corner just ahead, fleshy grin startlingly wide. Worn gloves grip brick as the scarecrow pulls itself around the building. Legs stiff and uncoordinated, it hobbles down the alley toward you, the frightening pits of its eyes so dark and deep you feel you’ll be pulled in.
You’re frozen to the ground, your legs seized with fear and refusing to cooperate. It’s almost to you now, its boots scraping against the street with each strange, jerky step. A glove comes up, fingers digging in the breast pocket of its overalls. Dread strangles you, crushes your chest until your breaths only come in little gasps.
Its hand withdraws and pulls something undoubtedly horrible from its pocket. This is it, it’s right there, mere feet away, there’s no chance, you’re done for—
You blink, air leaving your lungs in a tremulous exhale. When you focus on its outstretched hand, you find a dried plant pinched between gloved thumb and forefinger. It was a coneflower, from the looks of it, it’s fuchsia petals long dead and gone.
Perplexed, you glance from the flower to the scarecrow. It’s bent at the waist in a half bow, arm outstretched, head tilted expectantly to the side. It’s…he’s presenting the flower. To you.
Tentatively, you raise a quivering hand, palm leaking scarlet from your fall. You pluck the plant carefully from his fingers. The scarecrow nods excitedly, the bobbing of its head erratic and unnerving.
You stare, bewildered, your brain failing to comprehend the impossibility of the situation. His intent in all this wasn’t to hurt you, but to…give you a flower?
The scarecrow reaches into another pocket to produce a white handkerchief. Gently, he cradles your hand in his and awkwardly cleans the scrape with the cloth. You wince, his weird movements more like “smacking” than “dabbing.”
Still, you can’t help the befuddled smile that tugs at your lips. “T-Thanks,” you finally murmur, shaking your head in disbelief. The scarecrow nods again, a hand reaching out to “pat” the top of your head.
The little dried flower wobbles in the breeze.
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