Not So Sweet Candyland

IV: Escape From The Castle

Late that night, Chase was in his room, when he heard a violent knock.

"Chase, it's me, Berry."

She then kicked the door open and was holding a suitcase.

"You're not packing anything?" She tilted her head. She was now wearing a hood over her hair and dark blue and black clothing.

"I don't really have anything."

"At least you changed out of that dollhouse getup."

"This is all that I really have. I had my clothes hidden in my bedsheets."

"We'll find something for you." Berry went to the left and started opening up a window.

"What are you doing?"

"The same thing that I've been doing over and over ever since I was 12." Berry threw her suitcase out of the window and then followed suit. Chase followed her.

"About time." She said after he climbed out. "Now hurry up, we don't have all night."

Berry led the way as they snuck past sleeping guards, hidden gardens, and talking plants. She then slid under a quarter opened gate and Chase followed and slid under somehow.

They ran until they were past the castle and past the "estates" as Berry said, and then they slowed down.

"I think we're safe here." Berry said. The two of them were walking now. Berry looking up to the sky.

"I think you heard a little bit about my mother." Berry whispered loudly. "When I said all of those things about her. My father treated her like shit, horse shit."

"What do you mean?" Chase asked.

"Let me tell you. Everything. It was the year 2000 in your time, and my mother was a college freshmen in a prestigious academy in Vermont. Hoping to become a chemist, she had big goals. Valedictorian of her high school class, perfect looks, and a bit of a nerd, she always loved to learn, and knew whatever there was about the world. One day, while walking around the campus, she found the Candy Pearl and brought it to one of her college teachers. The teacher did not know what it was. That was probably the dumbest thing that she could've done. She felt the same symptoms that you did, headaches, colors, weird sensations, fatigue. That night, she fell into Candyland, and was never seen again by anybody for 14 years.

Instead of waking up in a field, she woke up in a bedroom in the castle. My father found her and woke her up. He acted sweet and gentle at first, but that only lasted for a day. She was thrown into the harem and instantly became my father's favorite. He would try to do sexual deeds with her, but she always refused. Because of her stubborn but smart nature, she would get beat up and whipped by my father. One day, my father impregnated her. Once he found out that she was pregnant, she was promoted to queen. When somebody is pregnant, there is a soup called "Lativia Portabello" which can be drank to make more babies. My mother had it once and then realized she was carrying Twins. She never had it again. She wasn't kept in hiding, my father announced it everywhere that the queen was expecting. The more she was with my father, the more angry she got at him. The man was so controlling, she wanted to name my sister and I 'Vanessa and Victoria' but my father hated those names and said that they "were too normal". When Taffy and I were born, my father tried to make my mother marry him, but she always refused.

My mother was a mystery to Candyland, but nobody really paid attention to her. What's strange is that my mother did not have to change her name to Watermelon or Savory or something like that. Her name was Marissa. Marissa O'Leary. My father always tells me that I act like my mother. I take that as a compliment, because she's actually smart. Even when I was born, I was always with my mother while Taffy was with my father. While they were attending extravaganzas, mother and I would always spend time in the library, reading and learning about your world. How did we get textbooks? My mother packed everything with her after she touched the candy Pearl. I know every country, ever state and their capital, Physics, literature, algebra. Everything. Yeah, so what? I might sound cocky.

What really changed me was when I was 12. By then, my mother was fed up with my father. She was sneaking out at night and soon found the exit to the real world. The night of, she went to my room, all hidden and said this to me.

'I finally found where I belong. I'm going to be going back to my homeland. Where I was born. It's going to be tough on you, but I know you'll survive. You're 12 and you have a brain of your own. One day, we'll meet again. I hope that you don't turn into your father or sister. I'm thankful that you would understand my way of life and one day, we'll see each other again. I have to go now. I love you, Vanessa.'

And she disappeared without a trace. I never saw her again."

Berry started to sniffle and wiped her tears with her hoodie sleeve.

"After that, I started escaping as well. What started as going out for a few hours turned into a day, a few days, a week, a few weeks, and months. I dyed my hair navy blue and lived in Licorice City, with people that understood me. When my mother disappeared, she fizzled out of everybody's existence, everybody except me. That's why i rebel against my father, because I know all of the dirty deeds that he did, not just on my mother, but on everybody in Candyland. I gave my title of the throne away to Taffy. One day, I will avenge my mother. I will! All my life was either my mother or living alone."

They soon walked back into Licorice City where the streets were somewhat full of the night crowd.

"What if they find us again?" Chase became worried.

"Believe me. My father won't do anything unless he wants to mess directly with me." Berry cracked her knuckles.