"What was that?" Her whisper of a voice stutters, almost scared of receiving the answer to her curiosity.
A second explosion rattles the house. This one seeming closer than the first, the thunderous vibrations leaving you with a churning stomach. You look to her, her ever-cheery youthful face now hot with fear and her brown eyes clouded.
"I don't know, Essie. I really don't know." You admit.
"Master Kade, Miss Vanessa, as your babysitter tonight I must take all precautions to make sure that you stay safe." Candy tells us, her voice remaining monotone but her features cradling a worrisome expression.
"Safe from what?" You question.
Yet a third echoing explosion cries out through the late-evening air, this one giving the thick odor of smoke almost an instant liberty to creep its way into the only home you've ever known. The earth violently quakes under the heavy impact, causing the family portrait on the wall to be thrown to the floor, glass shattering into a million and a half tiny fragments.
Essie jumps in reaction to it all, and you lace your fingers through her own, hoping to provide any kind of comfort you can muster.
"Fire?" She asks, but Candy shakes her head.
"I have not detected any fire within the estate. You'll be fine."
You hear a repetitive clicking sound throughout the house, and the blinds to the front suddenly close, "Why are you locking the doors?"
Candy stares straight ahead, almost as if she could see something that you couldn't. "You'll be fine," she repeats, "I must take all precautions to your safety, but you'll be fine."
"I'm scared." Essie finally claims, quiet tears now strategically mapping paths down her rosy cheeks, "Why aren't our Mommies and Daddies back yet?"
"They're okay." You promise, "They're probably having a big chocolatey dessert to go with whatever fancy dinner they had at the restaurant."
Essie looks up to Candy, searching for reassurance.
"You'll be fine." She replies once again.
"I'm going to go see if their car is back in the driveway," Essie explains as she rises to her feet, pitter-pattering off down the hallway.
Candy doesn't move.
"Candy?" You call out to your caretaker, "What's the matter? You can tell me, Mom says I'm a big boy now and—"
You're interrupted by an altering of her stance, she hunches over, almost as if a sudden, crippling pain had taken over her being.
But that couldn't be possible.
Could it?
She turns towards you, a twisted glint now flickering in her eyes and catching you off guard. The usual bright blue glow she casts onto her surroundings now licks at red flames. Her expression seems to have put a shadowed mask over itself, one that sends chills down your spine—almost demonic.
A silent scream escapes your lips and you stumble backwards, falling and wincing in pain as a stray shard of glass from the floor embeds itself into your flesh.
This uncanny occurrence, however, only lasts for a split second. For just as quick as this second persona of Candy's came, it's gone again.
In fact, she's gone. Candy disappears completely.
