Chapter 24

Tiff fidgeted anxiously in her living room. She was slumped in the armchair, while Victoria stood behind her, lacking her usual exuberance and flair. For good reason: there was a chance the two girls had just committed a kidnapping. Melissa, who had only gotten home from her truck route about an hour ago, was pacing back and forth, talking on the phone.

Tiff and Victoria may have panicked. What were they supposed to do? After Candice fell unconscious, it wasn’t like they could leave her stashed beneath the bleachers. She wasn’t waking up, even after a few gentle pokes and prods, but fortunately she just seemed to be asleep. She didn’t appear injured, and she hadn’t hit her head or any other sensitive area; she was just…out cold. Tiff didn’t know whether Candice’s parents were at the game or whether she’d come with anyone, and she didn’t have any emergency contacts. The girls considered bringing Candice to one of the coaches or maybe somebody from the school, but because of what Tiff had stumbled into and overheard, she didn’t feel comfortable leaving Candice defenseless and alone. She had no idea how much influence that Ryan fellow had or how vindictive he might be as soon as the shock of slapping Victoria wore off.

So, perhaps a touch brashly, Tiff had Victoria carry Candice back to the Camry where they laid her gently in the back seat and drove her home.

“…yes,” Melissa was saying soothingly into the phone, “A friend of my daughter. From school. Theophania VanDyne. Don’t worry, Candice is fine. Like I said, as far as I can tell, she experienced some shock, that’s all….”

When they first showed up at the house, Amy had already “gone to bed” (meaning she was probably playing video games or browsing her phone). Rick and Melissa had been dancing slowly in a small circle in the living room to some low music, which was broken up awkwardly as soon as Tiff and Victoria barged in. However, seeing an unfamiliar, unconscious girl being carried in Victoria’s arms put them both on high alert…at least until Tiff could explain herself.

She obviously left a lot of details out, such as nearly getting slapped into oblivion by a hotheaded jerk, which caused Victoria to be summoned from the bathroom. And, now that Tiff thought about it…what was going to happen to that stall? Assuming Victoria was in the middle of doing what had to be done, that door was gonna be locked. Now some poor custodian was going to have to crawl under the door to unlock it. Tiff shook her head, not her problem. She proceeded to give her parents the Cliff Notes on how they went to the football game to cheer her friend on. Victoria lifted the friend in question up as evidence. Melissa shook her head and had Victoria place the unconscious girl on the sofa.

That was when Candice’s phone started ringing. Tiff quickly discovered that the cheer jacket had small pockets where Candice kept a thin wallet and a smartphone.

Melissa reached for the phone, hesitated briefly, and made a decision. The caller ID said “MOM,” and she knew if she was in some other woman’s shoes and her own daughter had gone missing, she’d be losing her mind. She steadied herself and answered the phone.

The first few minutes were…not pretty, and there was yelling. But Melissa was calm and patient, waiting for the woman to calm down. After setting things straight, Candice’s mom eventually stopped trying to blame Melissa for abducting her daughter and devolved into a fretting mess.

Melissa had repeated herself at least four times. By now, Tiff understood that the panicking person on the other line wasn’t so much upset as they were freaked out. Melissa continued to reassure a very worried Mrs. Peroski that her daughter was safe and sound, and she even offered to drive her home, but Candice’s mom insisted that her daughter stay right where she was while Mr. Peroski came to get her, all while she remained in constant contact by phone.

Tiff wasn’t sure why either of those things would make a difference if somebody had actually kidnapped Candice, but then again, stress did funny things to people’s minds. Such as what it was doing to Tiff. She wasn’t really worried that they kidnapped Candice. Once her friend woke up, Tiff could explain what happened, and everything would be okay. Hopefully. But Tiff didn’t know what she was supposed to say!

Hello, I’m a Dungeon Master, and this is my Core Guardian?

Candice wasn’t stupid. Tiff knew she’d have questions, and more likely than not, she’d make some assumptions. Maybe she didn’t have enough dots to connect, but Tiff had unwittingly left a trail of crumbs behind her and it didn’t take a sleuth to spot them.

But what felt the strangest to Tiff wasn’t having her “secret identity” leaked to someone outside her family (which was absolutely terrifying, make no mistake), but the possibility of losing her new friend.

​

Candice stirred from where she lay on the couch and Tiff tensed. The girl sat up, blinked blearily, and looked around. Tiff could see the confusion wash over Candice’s face as she understood this wasn’t the place she lost consciousness at. Confusion slowly turned to bewilderment as she realized she was sitting inside an unfamiliar living room, running her hand over the sofa as if testing it was real. And then her eyes landed on Tiff. Her hand froze mid-circle where it was keeping itself busy and her eyes went wide. Candice’s eyes flicked to the imposing figure looming above Tiff and something clicked. Her mouth slowly fell open, and-

“Oh, fantastic!” Melissa sighed. “Looks like she’s awake. Candice, hun, your mom’s on the line.”

Tiff’s mom swiftly stomped all over the awkward moment, inserting her huge self between the two, but not before Tiff watched Candice’s eyes travel up her mom’s form and nearly bulge out of their sockets.

“Mom?” Candice’s voice was understandably shaky, but if it were Tiff, she thought she’d be a blubbering mess. Well, perhaps not anymore, thanks to her Skill, but the Tiff of yesteryear didn’t like surprises and wouldn’t handle waking up in an unfamiliar living room on some rando’s couch. She had no idea what that couch had seen…or how much change was lost between the cushions.

“Yes, I’m- Mom, you-…Mom! I’m fine!”

After having her ear talked off by an overly concerned parent, Candice finally regained her composure and familiar confidence.

“I’m at a friend’s house. Yes, I’m fine. I…don’t know what happened, exactly,” she said, but her eyes told a different story as they flicked back to Tiff and Victoria. “No, I don’t need to see a doctor. I told you, I’m fine. Yes, yes. Sure. Thanks, Mom, love you too.”

She hung up the phone and almost got up to bring it back to Melissa when she realized it was her own phone. She stared at it with squinted eyes before shaking her head and snapping back up at Tiff and Victoria.

Now was the real question: how did Candice see them? Were they saviors? Or captors? Candice took a deep breath and was about to open her mouth again when Melissa returned from the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, she means the best, I’m sure,” Melissa said in a patient voice that spoke all too well of knowing a mother hen when she saw one. “By the way, your dad’s heading over. He should be here within the hour.”

Melissa sat down on the couch next to Candice, causing a huge divot and making the smaller girl lose her balance and slide toward the depression. Melissa simply chuckled and threw her arm around Candice, drawing her into a tight hug. Candice shot Tiff a manic look that said holy shit, save me!, but Tiff merely quirked a small smile and raised a single eyebrow.

Welcome to my world, her look replied, which made Candice narrow her eyes. Oblivious to the silent barbs being tossed around, Melissa slapped the large plate she’d been holding in her other hand down onto the coffee table in front of Candice and pushed it closer to the girl. Candice’s eyes naturally traveled down to it, but again they shot up to stare at Tiff imploringly.

“You know what you need?” Melissa beamed, as if she’d solved all the mysteries of the universe. “Pie. A good ol’ slice of apple pie and a scoop of ice cream.”

She thrust a fork into Candice’s hand and the girl took it, because she didn’t have any other choice. She was quickly finding out that Melissa was an unstoppable force. But the problem wasn’t pie…it was the size of it.

Like everything (except Tiff) in the VanDyne household, it was simply too big. Melissa, from the goodness of her heart, had chosen something that would work on her to cheer up the girl. And a slice of pie for Melissa VanDyne might as well be a whole order. And the “scoop” of vanilla ice cream was closer to a pint.

“I don’t-,” Candice started to protest weakly, but Melissa laughed her off.

“Oh, don’t worry about it! Eat what you can, don’t worry about the rest!”

Thinking it was wise not to anger the giant woman, Candice obliged. She gave a grunt of approval, shrugged, and took a few small bites. After her ordeal, she needed a pick-me-up.

“So, what brings you to our neck of the woods?” Melissa asked, taking it upon herself to strike up small talk. “How’d you end up with these two knuckleheads?”

Melissa tactfully left it unsaid that Candice was unconscious when she was brought inside, but the question was still rather apparent: What happened?

Candice took a small bite of pie and glanced over at Tiff. Tiff carefully schooled her face into a blank expression, waiting to see what Candice’s first move would be. The cheerleader recognized the game and nodded slowly.

“I’m not really sure,” she deflected, watching Tiff for any sign of weakness. Fortunately, Tiff was a stone wall. Candice glanced up at Victoria. “I remember something about a ‘bodyguard,’ but the details are a little vague.”

“Oh, that’s my darling Tori,” Melissa gushed. Tiff heard her sister sigh behind her, but she was locked in a battle of wits with an opponent most unsuspecting. Who knew cheerleaders could be so formidable?

“Well,” Victoria stalled out, “I only stepped in because of Tiff….”

Tiff let out a huff, a move that wasn’t lost on Candice.

“A boy was making advances,” Tiff said as if that sort of thing didn’t happen behind the bleachers all the time. “I didn’t like his tone, so I intervened.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Awww, my baby girl is all grown up,” Melissa cooed, making Tiff roll her eyes. Candice nodded with a cringe; doting parents were a plague everywhere. Behind her, Victoria snorted.

“You mean I intervened,” she chuckled. “That guy would have destroyed you.”

Tiff made a waggling motion as if to say, This or that. All a matter of perspective.

Candice nodded. She shot a glance up at Victoria before snapping her sharp gaze back to Tiff.

“Interesting. Are bodyguards usually so well…armored?”

“Oh, the good ones are,” Melissa preened happily, still completely oblivious. “And my girl’s the best.”

“She said it, not me,” Victoria grinned. Candice flicked her eyes to Tiff’s family as if to imply, What do you have to say about that?

Tiff shrugged and tapped her finger on the armrest of the chair twice. “I suppose it comes with the Class.”

Again Candice nodded slowly in understanding…though to be honest, at this point, Tiff was starting to lose track of what she was supposed to be deflecting. Fortunately, she was saved again by her mom, who was, indeed, a mom.

“You poor girl,” Melissa cooed, patting Candice on the back. The cheerleader didn’t know she needed to brace herself and nearly faceplanted into her pie…and since she was so close to it now, she took a sneaky little bite. “Well, at least it’s all over. Your dad should be here any moment now. Frankly, I thought he’d be here sooner.”

Candice finally broke eye contact with Tiff and let out a deep sigh.

“He had to leave the club,” she said, as if that explained everything.

The three VanDyne women all shared a slightly confused look, but it was Victoria who dared to open her mouth.

“Your dad goes clubbing?”

For somebody who demanded that her daughter take advanced classes to attend a specific university, Tiff thought clubbing sounded like a bizarre activity.

“No,” Candice tilted her head curiously. “It’s a Gentleman’s Club.”

This time all three let out audible gasps. Melissa was the one to cry out in shock.

“…your dad goes to a strip club?”

“No!” Candice covered her mouth in horror. “It’s a Gentleman’s Club! A club for gentlemen! You know, for the elite? It’s like this super-posh book club where a bunch of old guys sit around and smoke cigars, all while talking about the good old days and probably complimenting each other for being superior to everyone else.”

Tiff shared a look with her mom and they both shook their heads. Victoria probably said it best.

“What the hell sort of circles does your family run in?”

“Very different ones, apparently,” Candice said shrewdly, glancing between Tiff and the two large women.

Perhaps fortunately, that was exactly when her phone rang. Candice scooped it up, noticed who was calling, and ran to the front window. Out in the street, idling in front of the house, was a large, white Escalade…looking like it was entirely on the wrong side of the tracks.

“He’s here!” Candice said, not even answering the phone. “Thank you so much for the pie, Mrs. VanDyne,” Candice quickly added. She looked around, realized she didn’t have any of her things, and glanced up at Tiff questioningly.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t grab your stuff.”

“Eh, I can get it tomorrow or Monday,” Candice shrugged. “The team probably tossed it into the locker room.”

Candice hopped a few steps toward the door, paused, and took a deep breath. She glanced over her shoulder at Tiff and Victoria.

“I guess I’ll see you at school,” she said nervously. “Thanks, Tiff…and Tiff’s sister?”

“Call me Tori,” Victoria chuckled. Melissa got up and walked her to the door.

“Feel free to stop by any time!” She called as Candice sprinted down the driveway. Tiff followed her mother and watched Candice hop into the car and quickly drive away.

“Sweet girl,” Melissa said thoughtfully. She glanced back at the coffee table and the mostly untouched dessert. “Didn’t finish her pie, though.”