The Haunted Candy Shoppe

Chapter 6-Caramel Creek

I was scared out of my mind. I wasn't able to go to back to sleep. And that, mind you, was the last time that I slept without a knife under my pillow. The days after that were not calm though. I didn't any get sleep. As if that was my priority, though. Oh, pfft, I forgot that we were still going in chronological order. My bad.

So the next day was Saturday. Yeah, that day was fun. I was kept on my toes so much that my feet hurt. Let me start again.

I was at home in my room. I didn't want to leave my house for any reason. I called my friends to see if they would come over. They all had plans, except for Eva. She did come over. As soon as I opened the door, her face was white.

"SWEET BABY JESUS! Alex, are you okay?" She questioned at the top of her lungs.

I scratched my head, completely lost. "Um, what?"

"You have some impressive dark circles," Eva said, "you look like a Tim Burton character."

I plastered a sarcastic smile on my face. "Yeah, thanks."

I let her come in. Almost instantly, her face scrunched up. "What the heck? It smells like the inside of Willy Wonka's factory. Your house never smells like this."

"We need to talk." I led her to my room and I closed the door. Almost instantly, she noticed the gigantic cracks on my walls.

"What-"

"Eva, something really bad is happening," I said. All she did was cock her head like a puppy. "If I tell you, you can only tell Layla and Julia. Don't tell your parents, cops, or anyone else."

"Okay, I can do that." So basically I told her about my encounter with the gummy bear, the sour patch kids, and the red vines. I went pretty into detail with the red vines.  By the time I was done, Eva was so white, I would have guessed that she was the snow queen.

"So, what have you learned?" I sarcastically asked Eva. She was speechless.

When she was able to say something, she said, "So, the candy is alive. And it's after you."

"Yup, pretty much."

Eva looked like she was about to faint. I then figured that she needed something to perk her up. I knew just the thing. "Do you want a Starbucks or something?"

"Yes I do."

The Starbucks wasn't very far. It's was like five minutes walking distance. Therefore, we walked. Eva's mood was already a lot better, but I couldn't shake the feeling of I should have stayed home. I didn't know why I felt like that. I do now, though.

We turned the block and walked down the street. A cool breeze blew behind my neck, but it didn't feel right. It smelled too sweet. Eva's reddish brown hair flew to one side, following the breeze. I could now see the shopping outlets. Past them was the Historical Downtown. Where the candy shoppe was. I then stepped in something sticky. I expected to find a piece of gum or something like that. But no. Naturally.

I had stepped in a dull, golden brown puddle of something. I put my finger in it and brought it to my nose.

"Eww, Alex, what is that?" Eva asked. I probably shouldn't have, but I licked my finger where the stuff was.

"And then she eats it," she said, face palming.

"Caramel..." I said to myself. I took a step back to try a process the caramel puddle and tripped on my own foot. Next thing I knew, I was waist deep in the stuff. I tried to swim, but I began to sink. The caramel began to rise. I was now chest deep. It was like trying to swim in tar. Useless, pointless, and hopeless. Soon it was at my neck and it was slowly starting to creep up my face. I had my hair up in a bun, but the sticky stuff pulled it out. Now my hair felt almost ten pounds heavier.

I tried to scream for help, but I got a mouthful of the sickeningly sweet caramel. Just as the caramel covered my head, I then felt something hit it. I reached for it and realized that it was a stick. I held on for dear life as I was slowly pulled out. Once I was out, I doubled over and coughed/threw up enough caramel to start my own business.

"Alex? ALEX? Don't go to the light!" I faintly heard Eva yelling. I sat up and cleaned out my ears. She was squealing so loud that I thought that she was going to pop my eardrums.

"Calm down already, woman! I'm fine!" I got up(with Eva's help) and walked to the edge of the caramel pond. It used to be a creek, but it had dried out completely when I was five. Since then, the only thing in there was grass and weeds. Now it was full of caramel flavored death.

"Are you okay?" Eva asked.

"Yeah." I said. I looked down at my clothes. "Can I go wash up at your house?"

"Totally. Let's go." We walked in the direction of her house. But little did I know that it wasn't over yet.