1933

Candy Mayfield P.O.V.

Mable stared at me closely.

“Stop staring at my girlfriend,” Graham sighed.

“Did you lose your virginity?” she asked suddenly. “The way your hips are moving... You...”

I tightened my grip around Graham’s waist, moving closer to behind him.

“Devil child!” Mable exclaimed.

I jumped with a gasp.

“You were right, Dollface,” Graham said, putting his hands on mine. “She is scary.”

“You’re both devil children!” Mable exclaimed. “I knew when my sister married your father that you were going to be a devil child, Candy. You! How old are you?”

“Me?” Graham asked. “I’m twenty-four.”

“And Candy is eighteen?”

“Hey, she’s a legal adult now; she can do whatever wants to do.”

She walked right up to him, a furious expression on her face. “What did you say?”

“She’s eighteen. She’s legally allowed to do whatever the hell she feels like. Except drink.”

My mouth went dry. “Graham, don’t talk to her like that... She’s going to...”

Mable grabbed Graham by the ear and grabbed my hand. She dragged both of us over to the industrial freezer.

“Admit that she’s too young for you,” she demanded.

Graham looked at me.

I shook my head slowly.

Mable got impatient and let me go to open the freezer. Then she turned to me. “Candy Ashleigh Mayfield, admit he’s too old for you.”

I shook my head again, this time faster. I could feel the cold air of the freezer on my skin. Goose bumps were starting to form on me.

“Fine.” Mable sighed, disappointed. “You both can die from lack of heat.”

She pushed me in and then Graham. Then she slammed the door shut, locking it.

“Good luck!” she said, walking away.

I turned to Graham. “See?”

He wrapped his arms around my waist. For a quick second he placed his chin on my shoulder so he could comfort me, but he flinched away. “Hell, you’re cold already!”

“Bad day to wear a dress, huh?” I asked.

“I shoulda brought the wrench...” He walked over to the locked door and punched it. “Damn it!”

I jumped, squinting.

“No, no, no, it’s too cold in here,” Graham mumbled on. “I need to find the air vent. Where’s the air vent?”

“Graham?” I asked.

He felt around the walls and looked up at the ceiling. He wasn’t paying attention.

“Graham?” I repeated. When he still didn’t reply, I exclaimed, “Graham!”

“What’s up, dollface?” he asked, turning to me but keeping a hand on the wall.

“We could possibly die in here and you’re worried about an air vent?”

He put his hands in front of him and looked at them. Then he spread them out so they were parralell from each other, palms facing each other. He walked over to me. “Okay, air vents are about this big...” He moved his hands to beside my hips. “You can fit. But I’m concered about some things.”

I looked up at him, confused. He was looking down more than he should have been. “Graham, my face is up here.”

He looked at me, returning his hands to his sides. “Sorry, dollface.”

I started seeing my breath long before I started seeing his. Not only that, I started to get very tired. When I went to look out the window to see if Billy or Missy were back at all, I tripped over my own pumps.

“Don’t do that!” Graham complained, groaning and looking up at the ceiling. “Hold on. I found it. Found it!”

I stood back up while he started pushing the cabinet little by little. “Do you want some help with that?”

“You’re joking. You’re not wearing gloves, babe. Your skin will freeze to the metal.”

My lips trembled. “How are you going to get the vent open?”

He waited until the cabinet was out of the way to get up onto a table and punched the vent grate open. He jumped down with a sigh. “There’s your answer. C’mere.”

Graham helped me up onto the table. “Just be careful.”

I swallowed hard, lifting myself up into the vent. When I was halfway in, I looked down and came face to face with a large spider. My breathing got faster and faster as it moved towards me slowly. Finally, I just screamed and exclaimed, “Graham! Spider! Oh, my gosh, spider!” I slipped down and back onto the table, panting. “I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. Why is there a Terantula in there?! There shouldn’t be Terantula’s in New York, right?”

Graham looked at me and then up at the vent. He got up behind me on the table and poked his head through the opening. “More like a family...”

I jumped off the table, wrapping my arms around myself. “Oh, gosh... Graham...?”

He jumped off, scratching the back of his head with a sigh and walked over to the window to look at the clock. “It shouldn’t be too long before...” His voice trailed off.

I shuddered, pulling at his sleeve. He was warm. A tear rolled down my face.

“What’s up?” he asked. “Why are you crying?”

“Think about it,” I mumbled. “This freezer is going to kill me. I don’t want to die yet. I wanted to get married and have kids someday.”

“Don’t talk like that! What’s going on with you, babe? You’re usually so...hopeful.”

“No, I know.” I squinted again. “The coldness is getting to my head.” I kicked off my pumps.

“Relax; we’ve only been in here for forty-five minutes.”

“That’s not long to you! It’s long to me! You’re ninety percent covered and I’m only thirty percent covered!”

Graham sighed. “Think about the tone in your voice.”

I turned around to look at the wall, sulking. “I’m sorry. It really is getting to my head.”

He hugged me tightly, holding me close to his body.

There was a sudden banging outside the freezer.

“What was that?” I wondered aloud.

Graham looked out the window. “It’s the kid! It’s the kid!”

I opened my mouth to speak, but a wave of nausea hit me. I tapped him on the shoulder while he was knocking on the window. “The kid” was Jacuzzi Splot.

Jacuzzi came and unlocked it, exclaiming, “Hey, are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, it’s gotta be at least twenty below or whatever in there,” Nice added.

I pushed passed them to the trashcan to throw up.

“Do whatever you guys want here,” Graham said, picking up my shoes. “I have to take Candy home.”