"This wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Emma hissed at Marley.

The trio was standing outside of the Candy Shop on 5th Street, looking rather suspicious even though they were supposed to be pretending to enjoy the display window. Jonathan watched as the Candy Shop owner, a large round man with an even larger handlebar mustache, stirred a steaming pot of – what appeared to be – chocolate.

"What do you mean this isn't what you had in mind?"

Marley put her hands on her hips and looked over at Emma with a pouting expression. Jonathan was much too busy watching the chocolate for chunks of meat to even notice that his sister and his best friend were arguing.

"When I said 'scope out the area' I meant from a distance. Like, a distance of more than two inches from the murderer."

"Technically," Jonathan butted in, "he's innocent until proven otherwise."

Emma gave him a look.

"But yeah, 'murderer' is as good of a word as any," Jonathan said brightly off of Emma's glare.

"Suck up," Marley muttered.

"We've gotten completely off topic," Emma groaned.

"Oh, yeah... sorry, EmEm," Jonathan apologized as he returned his attention to her and Marley.

"We have no means of 'scoping' him out from a distance," Marley said defiantly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, wouldn't we need binoculars or cameras or something like that?"

Emma sighed. Marley recognized that sigh. It was the sigh of ultimate resignation, reserved only for times when Emma was completely beaten. Marley grinned.

"Fine, let's do this."

Jonathan sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"If we die because of your little friend, I will murder you in the afterlife," He growled at Marley.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come on, you guys!"

And before anyone could stop her, Marley swaggered into the Candy Shop like it was no big deal. Emma sighed and followed after her, muttering:

"My parents are gonna kill me for this."

Jonathan couldn't agree more.

The inside of the Candy Shop was just as pink as the outside was. It was a lot like walking into an alien planet. Only the alien planet was the color of cotton candy. Marley was already busying herself in one of the aisles, pretending to look at a few candy bars while she snapped pictures of the Candy Owner with her brother's phone. Speaking of which.

"Where'd you get my phone from?" Jonathan whispered as he joined her in scrutinizing the candy bars, hopefully with the look of someone who might buy one.

"I snatched it out of your back pocket while you were staring at Emma."

Jonathan blushed bright red. Emma's face popped up over the top of the shelf. With a yelp, Jonathan stumbled backward into another shelf. Emma couldn't help laughing at the bewildered look on his face.

"What was that for?" He grumbled as he rubbed his lower back, which had connected rather hard with the shelf.

"Just seeing if you were as on edge as I am," Emma whispered back quietly enough that the Candy Shop Owner wouldn't hear her.

"Of course I am," Jonathan hissed, leaning closer to her so he could be a little quieter, "we're in a cannibal's Candy Shop!"

Emma chuckled. She held up a finger to her lips and disappeared behind the shelf again. Marley chuckled at the annoyance on her brother's face. He wouldn't stay annoyed with Emma for long, he never could. They were so busy trying not to be noticed that they didn't even realize how quiet it was in the Candy Shop. They didn't notice until a heavy hand dropped down onto Marley's shoulder, causing her to jump nearly a foot in the air.

"Can I help you, children?" A high pitched voice asked from behind her.

Marley spun around and nearly screamed. It was like all of her nightmares were coming true at once. The high pitched voice (as strange as it was) was the Candy Shop Owner's. And his beady eyes were currently staring into hers. Behind her, she heard Jonathan move closer to her. She didn't know where Emma was. Finally, Marley managed to choke out an answer.

"N-no! We're good. Just looking at the candy." She did her best to ignore how false her voice sounded.

The Candy Shop Owner grinned widely at her. His teeth were yellowed and crooked with an immense number of gaps in between them. Her father – a dentist – would have a small heart attack if he saw the state of this man's teeth. And, after he was done cleaning them, he would send him on to her mother – who worked as an orthodontist.

"That is good. You have a good time, children. I will see you at the front counter." The man spoke really slowly before he retreated back to the counter.

He resumed stirring his pot, but his eyes never left them.

Jonathan grabbed Marley's shoulder and spun her around so her back was on the man and she was facing the shelves of candy. Emma's head had popped back up over the shelf again, her tan skin looked pale.

"Maybe we should go," Jonathan suggested.

It wasn't that he didn't care. It was simply that he cared too much for the two girls in front and beside him to even consider risking them for anyone else. Emma looked to Marley. It took Marley a moment to answer. Some of her confidence had been dashed by seeing the man of the hour up close. She knew why she was here. But it was only upon seeing him that she began to realize some of the danger involved in this mission of hers (if the rumors were true, at least). Marley slowly shook her head.

"What if all those kids are still here," Marley asked them, "do you want us to just leave them here?"

Emma shook her head quickly.

"Of course not, Marls. But how are we gonna look to see if they are here?"

The question was rhetorical only because Emma was the mastermind. She was the one who made the plans. Not Jonathan, not Marley, but Emma. Emma snapped her fingers as an idea hit her. Jonathan loved watching her when she was thinking because you could practically see the lightbulb that would pop up when she thought of something.

"Two of us can distract him while the other sneaks into the back," she whispered as quietly as she could without using American sign language.

Jonathan stood there for only a moment before he replied.

"You two distract him and I'll sneak back there."

Emma stared at him and her voice was laced with concern when she spoke.

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm, height-wise, I'm the biggest of all three of us. Plus, I'm the oldest. And also, you're my sister. So you have to listen to me."

Emma chuckled as Marley frowned at Jonathan.

"Alright, Mr. Macho, let's do this," Marley grunted as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Hello, sir!" Emma said with a grin as she pulled her notepad out of her backpack – which she carried everywhere.

She was standing at the counter with Marley at her shoulder. The Candy Shop Owner stopped stirring and smiled widely at her.

"Yes, little girl?"

Emma suppressed a shiver and carried on talking. If she was going to be a journalist, this would be a good place to start.

"I was just wondering if I could speak with you for a moment about the... intricately detailed art of candy making."

Jonathan snorted from his position near a door with a sign that said 'Employees Only'. Emma was laying it on thick. But the Candy Shop Owner seemed to buy it.

While those two talked, Jonathan took a deep breath and slipped past the door, hoping that Emma was right about the Owner being the only one who actually worked here. He would have to hurry. She could only guarantee him a few minutes before the Owner might lose interest and notice his absence, after all, he had definitely gotten an eyeful of Jonathan earlier.

The room past the door was pitch black. Jonathan fished his phone out of his pocket and flipped on the flashlight. The room was about the size of a child's bedroom. But children's bedrooms didn't normally have large dog kennels stacked along every wall. And there weren't normally humans inside dog kennels.

"Holy-"

He was cut off as a small hand crept out of one of the kennels and wrapped around his ankle. He jumped, a scream building up in his throat. But he knew the voice that spoke.

"Johnny?" A girl's voice whispered.

Jonathan gaped down at the cage and bent down to see the occupant he already recognized. After all, she had been the subject of conversation for many days.

"Carolina."