Free The Fall of Candy Corn by Debbie Viguié Page A

Will, are we ready to grow up?” Brandon asked.
    â€œI’m not sure. Let me think. Nope!”
    Will touched her shoulder, and Candace jerked away. “Get away from me!” she snapped.
    Then she felt something touching the skin just below her throat. “What on earth?” she asked, moving her hand there.
    She screamed when she touched something furry and moving. “Get it off me!” she shrieked.
    â€œWhat’s the matter, scared of a little mouse?” Brandon said.
    The girl in front of Candace turned around and grabbed the mouse that was trying to get under Candace’s hair. The girl held the mouse out to Will. “Keep your little friend to yourself or I’ll squash him,” she threatened.
    Will snatched the mouse back. “There, there, she didn’t mean it,” he cooed to the thing.
    Will and Brandon retreated, and Candace thanked the girl in front of her.
    â€œDon’t let those guys get to you,” she said.
    â€œI’ll try. At least they’re not working in my maze. I thought they were working in a history maze, but it doesn’t look like it from their costumes.”
    â€œThey’re in one of the Scare zones that guests walk through between attractions. They run through the dark, slide on their knees, and try to scare people.”
    Candace shuddered. “That shouldn’t be too hard for them.”
    A few minutes later Candace was dressed, and she headed for her maze. She still had half an hour to kill so she walked around admiring some of the other decorations and themes. Finally she headed back to her own maze and met up with the psychos mingling outside.
    â€œThis is the big night,” someone who she thought was Ray said to her.
    â€œYeah. Have you worked one of these before?”
    â€œThis is my fourth year. Gets wilder each time. I’ve never been in the featured maze before though. We’ll all have to work extra hard to live up to the reputation this maze already has.”
    â€œHow can this maze already have a reputation when no one has gone through it?” Candace asked.
    â€œYou’d be surprised.”
    A supervisor showed up. “Places everyone!”
    Candace was one of the last to walk into the maze. When she reached her alcove, Reggie was already there.
    â€œI’ve got a lot of friends showing up tonight,” Candace told Reggie.
    â€œDoes that make you nervous or excited?”
    â€œTerrified.”
    â€œJoin the club. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to work as one of the psychos in this maze. Anonymity. My friends know I’m in here, they just don’t know where.”
    â€œI’ll have to remember that for next time,” Candace said. If there is a next time.
    The fog and music suddenly kicked on, and Candace jumped. A minute later a supervisor came walking through. “Ten minutes to show,” he told everyone.
    Candace’s heart started pounding in earnest. For a moment she was terrified that she was going to pass out. That would probably be the worst thing she could do. Way more humiliating than running and screaming. Suddenly, fainting topped her list of anxieties about the evening.
    â€œYou’ll be great,” Reggie said encouragingly.
    â€œThanks. I’m sure you will be too.”
    And then there was movement at the entrance. There was no time to think. Candace jumped out and ran. The fog was a lot thicker than it had been at rehearsal, and she couldn’t see the black curtain. She panicked when she realized she had missed it and glanced over her shoulder. Reggie was nowhere to be seen.
    Candace sprinted down the hall as fast as she could, startling an umpire. She was desperate to get around the next turn before the players saw her alone in the hallway. She made it and somehow found her way to the next spot she was supposed to appear.
    She saw the group coming and jumped out a second too late, ricocheting off the lead guy and spinning