The Fall of Candy Corn

by Debbie Viguié

  “Welcome to the Sugar Shock team,” Martha said grimly.

  They spent another ten minutes talking before Martha had to go. True to her word, though, she keyed Candace’s thumbprint into the system. As they walked out the secret door in the castle, Candace felt a thrill. It had to be one of the best secrets in the world, or, at least, in The Zone.

  Martha took off and Candace thought about leaving. Then she thought about her conversation with Becca and decided to try and hunt down Kurt first.

  As it turned out, she found him in the Locker Room, having just come off his shift. “Hey, got a few minutes to talk?” she asked.

  “Unfortunately, no.”

  “Oh.”

  “If you’re heading toward the parking lot, though, I’ll walk with you.”

  “Okay.”

  They left the Locker Room and headed for the parking lot.

  “Is something wrong?” he asked.

  “No, not really.”

  “Which is it? No, or not really?”

  “It’s just getting frustrating. It feels like we never see each other,” Candace complained.

  “Well, the good news is that will all change next year,” Kurt said.

  She cocked her head to the side. “How?” she asked.

  “I figure you can attend community college with me. That way we can spend time on campus together. Eat at the cafeteria. Maybe we can even take some classes together,” he said.

  She stared at him for a moment without speaking. She had no intention of going to community college. He looked so enthusiastic, though, that she didn’t know how to break the news to him. If it hadn’t been for her nagging over the summer, he wouldn’t be going to college at all.

  She bit her lip. “Maybe,” she said. She was a coward. Worse than that, she was a liar. She knew she should tell him the truth, but she didn’t know how to do it without offending him. “Of course, pretty soon you can transfer to State,” she said, hoping he would get the hint.

  It turned out the hint was far too subtle. “After we get all our prerequisites out of the way, maybe,” he said. “Then again, I’m thinking maybe just an associates degree will work for me. I’m not sure I need to go to all the trouble to get a BA.”

  And once again they were sailing into the dangerous territory called the future. Every time Candace compared her life goals with Kurt’s, nothing ever seemed to match up. Sure, just a few days before she had told Josh she had no idea what she wanted to be, but she knew that a BA was the jumping off point to any kind of job she might want.

  She thought about pressing Kurt further, asking him what he was thinking of getting a degree in. Maybe then she would have something to say. She still thought he would make a great history teacher, but she knew he couldn’t do that without at least a BA and a credential.

  “So, how’s the umpiring going?” she asked.

  “Good. Only a couple of incidents so far,” he said.

  “Like what?”

  “A player hyperventilated in the maze, and it took awhile to calm her down enough to get her out of it. Another woman flailed her arms around and smacked her boyfriend in the face. She split his lip and there was some blood to clean up.”

  “Gross.”

  “Yeah. We had to shut the maze down for fifteen minutes while we dealt with that. Then, of course, there’s the ghost.”

  “The ghost?” she asked, unsure which maze monster he was referencing.

  “Yeah, the one that’s haunting the theme park,” he said.

  “You don’t seriously believe there’s a ghost,” she said.

  “I do. Lots of weird stuff has happened this year, and it’s the only thing that makes sense.”

  “A ghost makes sense?”

  “Yeah. I mean, Sunday night one of the walls in the maze toppled over all by itself.”

  “I didn’t hear about that,” Candace said. He certainly hadn’t mentioned it at dinner the night before.

  “Yeah. Fortunately it happened five minutes before park opening. The crazy thing was the screws that were holding the wall in place were just missing. I had been in the maze for fifteen minutes before it happened, and I didn’t see or hear a thing.”

  “Someone’s just pulling a prank,” Candace said.

  “I don’t think so.”

  Candace didn’t believe in ghosts. It seemed, though, like Kurt did. One thing was for sure. There definitely was something going on at The Zone, and she’d bet anyone a month worth of pizzas that it wasn’t supernatural.

  13

  Candace was really grateful to have Kurt as a boyfriend. It had nothing to do with looks, though he was gorgeous. It had nothing to do with his style, which was dashing. It had everything to do with his knowledge of esoteric history and his willingness to share it.

  “Okay, so tell me again what happened to all the signers of the Declaration of Independence,” she said, sitting across from him at the referee cantina.

  He recounted the chilling list. Most of the men were killed or ruined outright. The sacrifice they had chosen to make was staggering. She scribbled furiously on her notepad as she listened. In her mind she imagined what their fates must have been like as destruction rained down on them, their homes, and families.

  She asked him a dozen questions and took thorough notes. Fortunately her teacher was allowing interviews as a legitimate form of research for the paper.

  “Thank you,” she said at last, when he had answered every question on her list. “I think I have enough to write ten papers.”

  “No problem,” he said, finishing up his dinner. “I’m back to work. You?”

  “I’m going home to beat a paper on Colonial America out of this,” she said, waving the notepad in the air.

  “Good luck with that,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  At home she wrote the paper in just under two hours. It was a record time for her, and she felt really pleased with the results. In addition to her interview with Kurt, she had consulted half a dozen books for her information. It was the last of her papers, and she was certain that it was the best.

  When she was done, she called Tamara. “Want to go for some coffee or dessert?”

  “I’d love to, but it’s going to take me at least another five hours to write this paper,” Tamara said with a sigh.

  “That’s okay. I have another question though.”

  “What?”

  “I’ve been thinking about trying to switch a shift with someone so that I can attend one of the nights of Scare. I’ve heard you and my parents talk about how fun it was, and now I’m totally curious.”

  “You’re not seriously going to ask me to put myself in a position to be frightened again, are you?”

  “Actually, I am. I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather scream like a little girl with.”

  Tamara laughed. “Well, when you put it that way, how can I refuse?”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  “Fine, I’ll go. Just tell me when.”

  “Great. I’ll see who I can bribe into switching with me.”

  Candace hung up and made her way back to the park, hoping to catch some of the regular cart vendors still on duty. She made a beeline for the cart storage area, hoping to run into someone. She found Martha and explained her mission.

  “I’m sure Megan would love to switch,” Martha said. “Her cart’s currently in the Exploration Zone if you want to go ask her.”

  “Great, thanks!”

  Candace had switched shifts with Megan before, over the summer. She hadn’t realized the other girl was a regular referee instead of just seasonal.

  The Exploration Zone was dominated by the Atomic Coaster, a roller coaster that looked like a giant atom. The zone was dedicated to science and exploration. Several buildings housed attractions and hands-on exhibits dedicated to astronomy, physics, geology, biology, archaeology, and chemistry. It was home to the Muffin Mansion kitchen, an experiment in chemistry if ever there was one. Candace fou
nd Megan in front of a huge building with a lifesize T-Rex apparently breaking out of it.

  “Hey, what are you doing here?” Megan asked in surprise.

  “Actually I was looking for you. I need to have one of the Scare nights off this weekend, and I wanted to know if you’d be willing to swap a Saturday or Sunday day shift.”

  “Would I ever! I work Saturday from nine to four. I’d love to switch it for the Saturday Scare shift.”

  “Awesome. Thank you.”

  “Not a problem. I should be thanking you. I’d love to be working Scare every night.”

  “Why aren’t you?”

  “They already had enough vendors signed up by the time I asked about it.”

  Candace felt bad for her. She wondered if they added an extra position for Candace when she was removed from the maze.

  “That’s too bad.”

  Megan shrugged. “If people keep quitting Scare, then I might get moved after all.”

  “People are quitting Scare?” Candace asked.

  “Lots. They’re scared of the ghost,” Megan said.

  Candace laughed. “That’s silly. There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

  “That’s what I think. Lots of people are spooked though.”

  Since Candace didn’t believe in ghosts, the real question seemed to be: Who was scaring the Scare referees?

  “Thanks again. I’ll put in the paperwork.”

  Megan nodded cheerfully, and Candace moved away. She was so deep in thought that she jumped, startled, when someone grabbed her shoulder.

  “Hey, Candy.”

  It was Brandon.

  “Where’s your evil twin?” Candace snapped.

  “Good one. Oh, Will is somewhere about.”

  “What do you want?” Candace asked.

  “A date.”

  “No.”

  “Then a kiss,” he leered.

  “No! Get away from me. I have a boyfriend, and he’ll take care of you.”

  “Ooh, I’m scared.”

  Candace saw a flash from the corner of her eye, and then a broom hit Brandon in the back of the head.

  “Sorry,” Sue said, smiling innocently. “I can be so clumsy sometimes.”

  Brandon muttered something under his breath before taking off.

  “Thank you,” Candace said.

  “No problem.”

  “That’s the third time someone has had to rescue me from that creep and his friend,” Candace said.

  “Next time you might want to try decking one of them,” Sue suggested.

  The idea had appeal, but Candace didn’t know the first thing about fighting or punching. Plus what about turning the other cheek? She sighed. She was going to have to work it out, because she was pretty sure this wasn’t the last she would see of Brandon and Will.

  “Hey, I heard you’re running Sugar Shock,” Sue said, changing the subject.

  “Helping to run it,” Candace corrected. “Martha’s the one in charge.”

  “Good luck with that. I think it’s awesome, by the way, that you’re helping out.”

  “Would you like to help out?” Candace asked. “We could use a few more refs working that day.”

  “Sorry. That is one day I’m definitely not working. I’m bringing my brother and sister to it.”

  “Cool! How old are they?”

  “Gus is nine, and Mary is seven.”

  “Our target demographics,” Candace said with a laugh.

  “Tell me about it! Mom brought them last year, and they couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks.”

  “Then I’ll have to work doubly hard to make sure they’re more impressed this year than last,” Candace said.

  “That would be great.”

  “Hey, I’ve got a question. Maybe you could answer it.”

  “What?”

  “Why do they call it Sugar Shock?”

  Sue smirked. “You ever seen several thousand kids jacked up on way too much sugar all at the same time all in the same place?”

  “No,” Candace admitted.

  “Once you have, you’ll understand.”

  Candace heard the train coming and out of reflex glanced toward the tracks to make sure she was well clear of them. What she did see turned her blood cold. A little boy was sitting on the tracks, licking an ice cream cone, oblivious to the oncoming train. The train blasted the horn several times in urgent succession.

  Candace sprang forward into the path of the train and grabbed the boy. She saw Pete’s face inside the engine, his eyes wide in terror, and she could tell that he was shouting something she couldn’t hear.

  She jumped off the tracks, falling as she did. She managed to twist so that the little boy landed on top of her. The ice cream cone went flying in the air and was obliterated by the train as it rushed by.

  Candace scrambled to her feet, thrust the little boy at Sue, and took off after the train. Something was terribly wrong. When she caught up with the train, it was at rest fifty yards from the station. Security and at least two supervisors were on hand.

  Pete was sitting on the ground beside his beloved train, his face ashen.

  “I knew it! I told them to fire you, that one day you’d go too far and someone would really get hurt!” one of the supervisors was shouting.

  “It wasn’t his fault!” Candace interrupted.

  All eyes turned on her. “I saw the whole thing. Pete wasn’t trying to hurt the kid; he was just as frightened as the rest of us. I’d be willing to swear that this was no prank on his part,” Candace said.

  “What happened, Pete?” the other supervisor asked quietly.

  Candace could see that Pete’s hands were shaking. “The brakes failed,” he said. “I don’t know how, but they did. I couldn’t stop. I just had to stay with her and let her run herself out,” Pete said. “Is the boy all right?” he asked Candace.

  “He is. I left him with Sue,” Candace assured him.

  “It’s easy enough to check out,” one of the security guards said, heading for the train.

  Five minutes later he had confirmed that the brakes had malfunctioned. Satisfied, Candace turned to go, not wanting to stick around for the paperwork. Pete would be fine.

  “Thank you,” Pete called after her.

  “Any time,” she said. “Have them call me if they have any other questions.”

  As soon as she was out of earshot, she pulled out her cell. “Josh, it’s Candace, can you meet me for coffee?”

  Twenty minutes later she was in her favorite coffee shop with Josh. She was drinking her customary hot chocolate with a shot of raspberry. Josh was contenting himself with a hot cider with whipped cream. She finished telling him about the last hour.

  “Wow,” he said. “It’s kind of weird how close you’ve been to so many accidents.”

  “I was thinking of something else,” she said.

  “I’m all ears.”

  “I don’t believe that Scare is haunted.”

  “Neither do I. Unfortunately, fifteen people have quit in the last three days.”

  “I also think these accidents aren’t accidents.”

  He leaned forward quickly, eyes narrowed. “I’ve been thinking the same thing myself.”

  Several things that had seemed like coincidences started falling together. What was it Tamara had said about there being no coincidences?

  “In the Candy Craze maze right before that board came loose and hit me in the head, I thought I saw someone. It looked like a costumed character, but not one of the ones that belong in that maze. I had forgotten about it until now.

  “Then I saw someone dressed like a fisherman with a hook on his hand go into the Haunted Village maze several minutes before the rest of the referees showed up. When security showed up after the girl was hurt, the fisherman was nowhere to be found.”

  “I heard something about that. It turned out the girl’s ex had an alibi for that night. The police are still trying to figure out who did it.”

  She shuddere
d. “Thanks for warning me in a timely manner,” she said sarcastically.

  “Sorry,” he said with a grimace. “Anyway, what about today before the train ran amok? Was there anyone out of place?”

  “Actually, yes. Brandon. He only works Scare. There was no reason for him to be there, so close to the accident. Also, his friend Will wasn’t there, and I’ve never seen one without the other.”

  “Suspicious, but not conclusive,” Josh said.

  “Who would benefit from convincing people that the park was haunted?” Candace asked.

  “Competitors. There are three other theme parks within an hour’s drive of here that put on Halloween events. The Zone’s is the biggest, best, and by far the most popular. If it got out that The Zone was haunted, referees might quit.”

  “Just like they’re quitting now,” she pointed out. “And then?”

  “If there weren’t enough referees, some of the mazes would have to shut down.”

  “And suddenly word gets out that The Zone isn’t the biggest and the best.”

  “And the players go elsewhere,” Josh confirmed. “Worse, if the damage was extensive enough, the accidents numerous enough, it might extend beyond this Halloween. It might put The Zone out of the Halloween business all together.”

  “That sounds an awful lot like a motive to me,” she said.

  “The only question is, how do we prove it?”

  “I have no idea. But I’d be willing to bet you a pizza that there are going to be more accidents this weekend.”

  “I’m betting you’re right.”

  “I wonder if the targets are random, or if there is some kind of sense to it?”

  “Well, going after you first makes perfect sense,” Josh said.

  “How?” she asked, startled.

  “You were the star of the new maze, the flagship of this Scare. Better than that, you were the person the maze was designed around. Whoever loosened that board was probably hoping to either get the maze shut down or gain a great deal of publicity.”

  “They miscalculated,” Candace said grimly.

  “Which might explain why the attacks moved from the subtle to the more obvious. A maniac slashing a girl is a lot more newsworthy than a loose board causing a concussion.”

  “And the train today. Someone could have been seriously hurt or even killed.” The thought sickened her. Would someone really go to such lengths to sabotage the Halloween events at The Zone?