The Haunted Candy Shoppe

Chapter 12-Cocoa Clouds

"NOOOOOOOOO!" I screamed. I stared at the empty desk. All of the disbelief in me was making my head swim. I thought I was going to pass out. "No no no no no no no no no no no it has to be here somewhere, it can't just be gone. It was here not that long ago!"

"Alex, that was almost a week ago," Julia said, putting a had on my shoulder.

"A lot can happen in a week, Alex," Layla said, trying to be comforting.

"Whatever," I said. Layla looked at me like I was being ultra rude. I sighed. "We need to get that book. If there was a spell in there to bring stuff to life, there must be something in there to kill it."

~*🍭*~

We drove around the city with our eyes peeled. As long as the candy had that book, we were doomed. It was now almost five in the afternoon. Night would come like a tidal wave and the candy would have the advantage of its cover. The least we could do was have the weapon that created them.

The car all of a sudden started growling and squeaking in the front, under the hood. Julia huffed, pulled over, and got out. She went to the front, opened the hood, and bent down.

"Oh boy, this is bad," I heard her say.

I rolled down the window and peeked out. The engine was steaming. Stuck in it was a piece of spearmint(why am I still trying?), and I'm not kidding. It was lodged in there. The end was flush with the pipes. Julia would have to dig for it to get it out and we didn't have that much time.

The sky was still kind of red from the cinnamon haze. It was still smell-able. But the sky had a more cocoa colored hue to it now. Julia got up and poked me through my open window.

"I think we're going to have to walk home," Julia said.

"Why, what happened?" Eva asked, climbing all over Layla to try and see.

"The radiator is pierced and the gas is leaking," Julia said. Layla stuck her head out of her window to see Julia.

"Why don't we just call a mechanic?" She asked Julia.

"I don't have the number of any," she said. "Do you know any?"

"No, but I do have Google." Layla pulled out her phone. Almost immediately after, Layla groaned and put it away. "I don't have any service."

"Let me try." Eva pulled out her phone, as did I. We both turned them on and my phone showed no bars. "I don't have any service," Eva announced.

"Neither do I." I put my phone away and sighed. "Now what?"

"Well, we could push this car back to my house and get my mom's car," Julia suggested.

"Or we could go back to my house and you can take my dad's car," I offered. "Its closer."

"This is true," Layla said.

"Alright! It's settled." Eva said.

"Alright, Eva, your the smallest. You're gonna steer while the rest of us push," Julia said.

"Okay, let's do this." I said. Julia, Layla, and I put our hands on the back bumper and pushed. It felt like the car wasn't even moving. Then I felt the need to put my feet under me again. That was a sign of the car moving. Either that, or my feet were sliding.

I could actually feel it moving now. That's good. Just then, something flew past my outstretched arm onto the ground. I looked at where the substance grazed my arm and was amazed to see a spot of my sleeve seared off. Strange.

Just then, I looked to Layla just in time to see a brown blob land on her shoulder. She screamed and swatted at the stuff. It landed on the ground, where it sizzled and steamed against the pavement. Layla was holding her shoulder and she sat down on the curb. Julia sat next to her and looked at her shoulder. I did the same. What I saw was nightmare fuel.