Hello @rakushasu,
As I read this I thought of It. Then I thought of Stephen King. Then I thought of a terrible tragedy that happened in my area some years ago where a child was killed by other children in a graveyard. The point of telling you this is, your story sent my mind in different directions. At no point did my mind wander away from the theme. I just wondered, What will happen?

You took your time. Your built the drama. You created the characters and you delivered a great story. Wonderful!