The Haunted Candy Shoppe

Chapter 1 -To be Dared

It started back when my life was still ordinary. I had invited my friends Layla, Eva, and Julia over for a sleepover. We had so much fun together. Soon, we all decided to play truth or dare.

"Hey, Eva, truth or dare?" Julia asked.

"Truth," Eva replied. I knew it. Out of all of my friends, I was the only one that ever picked dare.

"Okay, um..." Julia thought about it for a little bit. "If you could look like any of us, who would you look like?"

Eva appeared to be thinking hard. She then said, "Well, you're all really pretty, but if I had to choose, I would definitely want to look like Alex."

"Really?" I asked, somewhat astonished.

She nodded her head. "Yep."

Interesting. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging or anything, but I can't blame her for wanting to look like me. I mean, with my sandy blonde hair, sea blue eyes, and bronze skin, I look like a stereotypical California girl(even though I live in Minnesota). Plus, I'm pretty tall. I'm fifteen but I'm built like a giant.

"Layla, truth or dare?" Eva asked.

"Truth," she said. I quietly sighed from lack of excitement.

"What Hogwarts House do you think you belong to?"

"Um, what?" Layla asked, utterly confused.

"Hogwarts. It's a wizardry school in England from my books." Eva said matter-of-factly.

"Who would want to send their kids to a school named Hogwarts?"

"Just roll with it." I told Layla. Eva was a hardcore fangirl that belonged to multiple "fandoms". I was constantly making an effort to learn her ways so that I could understand at least half of what she talks about. Layla, however, did not. Eva appeared to be fairly hurt for the comment Layla made, so she proceeded to give her a sassy lecture.

Once they were done, Eva gave her a smug grin. "Definitely a Slytherin."

Layla rolled her eyes. "Alex, truth or dare?"

"Dare." I said without hesitation. Nobody seemed surprised. I always pick dare.

She thought about it, then she said grimly, "I dare you to go inside the haunted candy shop."

Everyone gasped. No one ever goes into the old candy store. Everyone in my town says that it's haunted. It's why its called the Haunted Candy Shop. I was never the superstitious one in the group, however. I didn't believe in anything supernatural, much less of the paranormal sort. Therefore, I didn't believe any of it.

Everyone else believed in ye ole legend, though. Naturally, there is a reason why. Brace yourself.

So once upon a time, back in the day, (probably when TV was still black and white) there was a rich man with a sweet tooth. He made his love of candy into a business. His shop was the most popular part of town. Everyone loved it there.

You're probably saying to yourself oh, that's not that bad. Why do people say it's haunted? I'm getting to that.

So this guy loved his candy. He loved it so much that he kept trying to make it better. As in he wanted it to taste better than everything else out there. They say that he began going crazy over it. As in he turned to black magic when everything else didn't get him more customers. Everyone says that the magic backfired and that the candy drove away customers. Then the candy killed the man. But without their master, the candy couldn't live either, so it lies dormant at the back of the store. And legend has it that anyone that goes in will be hunted down by the candy.

But I still don't believe any of it. My friends do, though. So does everyone else in this town. I think it's pretty stupid. Like I said before, I don't believe in ghosts.

I wasn't scared to do Layla's dare. My friends were, though. Well, that would give me a chance to prove that the place wasn't haunted. I would prove that the stories are stupid and that whoever created them were morons.

"Alright, I'll do it."

My friends all got concerned looks as if they knew I was going to die.

"Are you sure?" Julia asked. "You are allowed to back out."

"Nope," I said, "I'm going to prove that the Candy shop isn't haunted."

"You're fate is sealed, young one," Eva said with a grave look on her face, " may the odds be ever in your favor."