Day 2,238

It was a baby when we left it in the hedge maze and drove away. Guilt and fear made us beg the owner until he sold us the maze and far more than it was physically worth but the peace of knowing that it was locked away and occupied was priceless to us.

First thing we did was rent a drone to make sure it hadn't left - sure enough it was only a few feet from where we placed it, happily gnawing on the severed leg of whoever was unfortunate enough to find it. In the short weeks since we saw it last, it had grown a couple more arms and they appeared to be covered in tiny mouths.

Not good.

After finding it, our next step was to block all exits so we called a few pet shops and adopted as many rats as we could without arousing any suspicion. Released them into the maze to keep it busy and fed while we hired landscapers to place a full grown hedge that blocked the entrance. Builders came next to put a brick wall around the hedges just in case it ever strayed too close to the outskirts.

We felt safe for about eight years, by which time the former owner happily exchanged his nearby homestead for our place in the city so we could stay closer to our "pet project" as we called it when he was in earshot. Now we have one less person to worry about and a three mile drive to our maze.

Seems it learnt to talk while we were away finalising all the estate details. Soon as it heard our car approaching it began to howl and when it heard us step out of the car it called us mommy and daddy. I've never seen my wife so angry before but lord how she yelled and screamed at it.

I might have felt sorry for it but I remember our own child, the one whose skin it crawled into all those years ago, and I simply hold my wife's hand while she cries and rages at a monster who has the audacity to call us its parents while our child is still "missing".

It'll run out of rats sooner or later and then we'll be able to open us the maze again.

All the bloodstains and tiny bones will make for a great Halloween attraction.

I'm almost looking forward to it.