“Graham, what the hell!” Caroline shouted as Graham took out another Level 2 candy maker right in front of her. “I was setting up a spell. Just stay over on that side and let me work over here!” A spell book lay wedged open in her left hand, and in her right were the ingredients for the spell.

  Between the lag time of prepping the spells and having limited constitution, Caroline was starting to fall behind in combat.

  “Sorry!” Graham moved back over to the right side of the candy shop with Nate, leaving Caroline to take on the remaining Level 3 candy maker entrenched behind the display cases.

  The candy shop had been full of candy maker mobs when they’d first arrived, a collection of identical men who wouldn’t have looked out of place in a barbershop quartet, each sporting impeccably neat dark hair, and crisp white shirts under red and white striped aprons. Now there were five left.

  Laura and Brett retreated back to the front door, out of Caroline’s way, while Nate and Graham worked to corral the rest of the mobs on the right side of the shop.

  The room was thick with the smell of sugar. Laura’s mouth watered even while her heart pounded as she worked to keep a healthy distance between her and where Caroline was squaring off with the Level 3 candy maker.

  The candy maker popped up from behind the cases and threw another batch of boiling hot sugar syrup in Caroline’s direction. Graham glanced back and started to take aim at him.

  “I’ve got it, I’ve got it.” Caroline side-stepped the lava-like candy. Graham relaxed his aim and the candy maker disappeared behind the counter again.

  Graham focused back on the two Level 2 mobs in red and white aprons who were slinging hot caramel. Two more candy makers in the far corner flung razor sharp shards of peanut brittle at Nate who tripped over his own feet as he jerked backwards to avoid the hazardous candy.

  Laura stayed poised by the door, welcoming the cool air that drafted in from around the doorframe. The air inside the shop was starting to swelter as the four candy maker mobs on the right side of the shop picked up the pace of their attack.

  Brett poked around the displays near the door, either looking for more ammunition or something to eat. While he was distracted Laura scanned the room for anything she could stealthily add to her arsenal as a close range weapon. Long range weapons were obviously slim pickings—Brett and Graham were still stuck with slingshots as their best options leaving Laura with her kitchen torch—but maybe there were some melee weapons that Oliver had passed over still hanging around.

  “Finally!” Caroline said, as the ingredients in her hand glowed and then vanished with a puff of ash. The candy maker popped up from behind the counter again, but the viscous candy in his hands was now under Caroline’s control. As a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face, Caroline compelled the candy to envelop the candy maker. The smell of burning hair and seared skin filled the air, making Laura gag. The sugar rapidly cooled and hardened, freezing the mob into a hunched, candy-coated statue.

  Now that the candy maker was immobilized, Laura could finally get a clear view behind the display cases. There was a work area with smooth marble countertops at the very back. Sheets of multicolored candy spread out like glass on most of the countertops, but on one bare counter she spotted what looked like candy making tools. Bingo.

  Caroline beelined over to the right towards one of the brittle flinging candy makers, while Graham and Nate moved to keep the other three remaining mobs occupied. Laura used the lull on the left side of the shop to edge quietly over to the counter. Brett was still preoccupied with the displays.

  Caroline was getting quicker. By the time Laura had made it to the mummified candy maker, Caroline had successfully managed to commandeer the brittle, ordering it to fly back at the mob she was fighting, slicing open his throat. Blood spattered over trays of wrapped candies and bags of handmade caramel corn.

  “Hey, I was going to eat some of that after!” Brett protested, turning around to survey the carnage.

  Caroline had been close enough that some of the blood had sprayed her in the face. Her face wrinkled as she smelled it. “It’s sugar!” she said, and licked some of it off her hand with a laugh. “Of course, it is. What a fucked up place.”

  Laura ducked down by the countertop with the tools and pulled them down next to her to examine them.

  “I’m going to try for two this time!” Caroline said from the other side of the shop. She had just leveled up again.

  Most of the tools weren’t really helpful as weapons. There were spatulas and silicone mats. A hook for pulling taffy looked promising, but it had a note that it couldn’t be used as a weapon. Laura pulled them all into her inventory anyway. Then she put her hands on a small wooden mallet.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Item: Candy Mallet

  Type: Level 2 Weapon - Melee/Close Range

  Requires a minimum of 3 Strength and 3 Dexterity.

  Not worth it for Oliver to have taken, and Laura didn't even have the strength required to wield it, but she quickly stored it in her inventory. It was better than nothing.

  Caroline started screaming and Laura jumped up to see that she’d been sprayed with molten caramel. She’d thrown up her arms to protect her eyes, resulting in burns down the lengths of both arms. Her spell book was on the ground and submerged in sticky caramel. Caroline stumbled back, cursing up a storm, and materialized a healing soda from her inventory. She tore off the cap and gulped the soda down. The health restoration effects of the soda would help with most of her burns. Any remaining damage could be treated by the topical creams Agnes had stashed in her bag of tricks.

  Nate attacked the mob that had burned Caroline, but even his hands couldn’t take being near the boiling hot sugar that the candy makers were able to manipulate so easily. Graham fired multiple shots, allowing Nate to sneak around from behind and punch the candy maker in the head. The mob crumpled to the floor, hot caramel trickling in a pool around him and fusing to the fibers of the rug.

  Laura’s kitchen torch was better for self-defense than attacking in this situation, so she focused on staying out of the way and letting Graham finish off the last two candy makers, which he nailed in quick succession with several well-placed shots.

  Graham and Nate had now just barely crossed the threshold to Level 7, while Brett, Laura and Caroline were now all Level 6.

  Caroline sat winded, but healing. “Well that was fun. Grab me some of that taffy, will you?” she said to Brett.

  Laura stepped out onto the street, eating from a bag of the caramel corn she’d grabbed on her way out the door. She walked over to the square to the food kiosk, where Oliver was dickering with Charlie. Agnes sat to one side inventorying the supplies in her backpack, and re-rolling bandages.

  “Why should I do a bulk discount for you?” Charlie said to Oliver, leaning his skull against a bony hand, elbow on the counter. “Hey, Laura.” He turned his skull to greet her. It was hard to tell if he was actually smiling at her, since that’s how his face always looked. “It’s called a captive audience,” Charlie continued with a chuckle. “What incentive do I have to make it cheaper for you? If you want it enough, you’ll pay for it.”

  “Can’t buy more if we’re dead, Charlie,” Laura said, then ate another piece of popcorn.

  Charlie scrutinized her. She met his gaze, unflinchingly staring into his hollow eye sockets. Finally he slapped his hand on the counter with a dry thunk. “Tell you what, I’ll throw in two extra refresher sodas if you buy six and a soft pretzel.”

  “Really?” Oliver said. He sounded exasperated. “I made that same argument ten minutes ago.”

  Charlie leveled a look at him. “What can I say? I like her better.”

  “What does the soft pretzel do?” Laura asked, peering at the menu board.

  “Tastes really good with the soda. Plus you all need more salt, you guys sweat up a storm. Electrolyte imbalance is a hell of a thing, you know?”

  Caroline joined them, using bottled water to wash the residual crystallized sugar out of her hair. Her arms were still marked with faint traces of red. She sat down next to Agnes, holding out her arms for Agnes to examine. “I’m going to wish I had more of this cream, aren’t I?” Agnes said.

  Oliver paid Charlie for six sodas and a pretzel, and Charlie slid over eight cold bottles, dripping with condensation. The pretzel he wrapped in wax paper.

  Oliver handed Laura the pretzel. “Consider it your commission,” he said.

  Once Nate, Graham, and Brett emerged from the candy shop, Oliver called them over to take stock of how everyone was doing and to hand out some of the sodas he’d just bought.

  “Okay, it’s looking like a bit more even of a playing field now,” Oliver said once they compared notes on how much they’d all leveled up.

  “Let me guess,” Caroline said. “You want us to charge on to the pumpkin house.”

  “Not quite,” Oliver said. “You may have a bit of a reprieve.”

  “It’s locked?”

  They were standing in front of the pumpkin house.

  Oliver pointed up. “This is what pops up if you get close enough.”

  A countdown clock floated above the door. It displayed the message:

  This door will open in 4 hours and 23 minutes.

  “Sunset,” Graham said.

  “Perfect,” Caroline said. “Love that. Nothing like a creepy house facing who-knows-what after dark.”

  Beneath the clock was an additional sign.

  Occupancy limit: 7.

  “Huh,” Brett said. “I wonder if it knows there are 7 of us? That’s pretty convenient isn’t it?”

  “This used to be a character meet and greet,” Laura said, still studying the clock. “They used to do timed entries to limit crowds.”

  “So we have the perfect opportunity for a bit of a power nap,” Graham said.

  “And I suggest we not miss that window,” Oliver said, pointing to the clock. “We don’t know how frequently this opens.”

  The street lamps were just coming on, casting eerie shadows, when they returned to the pumpkin house.

  This door will open in 3 minutes.

  “Well, we certainly timed it pretty well,” Caroline said, bouncing nervously on her heels. The sun had already set, the visible light was rapidly waning and the temperature was dropping with it. Nate yawned and stretched, shaking off the nap he’d taken.

  As the clock ticked down, they stood staring at the webs that engulfed the house. Laura did a test light of her kitchen torch.

  “What did you say the character was again? From the meet and greet?” Caroline said.

  The large wooden door to the house creaked open. The message on the countdown clock changed.

  Now welcoming guests.

  “Here goes nothing,” Nate said. Oliver headed inside. The rest of them followed.

  Dirty marble floors spread out into a large foyer lit by a chandelier. Webs covered the chandelier, dimming the light. Directly ahead, a sweeping staircase ran up to a second floor that overlooked the foyer via a surrounding balcony. To the left was the doorway to a large opulent dining room.

  They crept into the foyer. It was eerily quiet. There were no signs of mobs, no signs of any life. A bowl of fruit sat rotting on a sideboard in the hallway.

  Oliver soundlessly crept towards the dining room. It was brighter than in the foyer, but just as decayed. Moldering carpets and drapes decorated the room. The table was set with fine china but every dish was full of moldy rotting food, like an abandoned dinner party. In each chair a mass sat wrapped in cobwebs. Caroline peered closer at one of the masses. “Is that—?”

  Poking out of the cobwebs and clutching one of the cups on the table, was a human hand.