The Candy Rules was a Halloween short that first debuted on the tenebris_somnia profile for their first Halloween Anthology.  It was my first time writing anything in this genre and I definitely had to stretch to come up with a storyline for this particular project. In the end it was a bit of fun, and I was so glad to be part of the fun.

"Those simple-minded morons didn't see it coming! After all," Candy Jack sneered to his lawyer over a celebratory glass of champagne immediately after Candy Jack's not so wrongful, wrongful dismissal settlement came in. It had showered them both with more money than they both had ever imagined thanks to some creative presentation of the facts, and the manufacturing of vital information. "I shouldn't have been fired. There is no success without risks. It's an omen." This was their last meeting before his scammy lawyer happily retired to a beach leching after woman a third his age, and when Candy Jack's work really began.

Day and night he worked, struggling only to find the materials he needed without prying eyes. He settled the dilemma by a series of break-ins. The first was in Oklahoma at a bio-engineering firm, the second in Tucson at a not so secret lab specializing in the genetic mutation of insects, and the third was in New York at an alternative energy plant. This gave Candy Jack, once brilliant, although sketchy scientist now turned candy maker, the materials and the privacy that he needed. It wasn't long before he finished the work he had started with his previous employer and was ready for a trial run.

The towering trees hiding the postcard-perfect northern town were the ideal setting to test out his beastly plan. It was a place that people avoided, not just that it was so far out of the way, but mostly because it was a town divided amongst itself, with an entirely unpleasant atmosphere. Half the population had moved there to take one of the ample jobs logging the ancient trembling aspen trees, the other half arrived there to protest. If Candy Jack's plan worked, the arguing would cease, and he would be able to sell his cure for billions to warring counties – for a hefty fee of course.

He set up shop at the end of Pine street, just before the small clump of stores considered downtown petered out into a green wilderness. He painted the shop a disgusting sunny yellow color, which stood out alarmingly next to the other stores with their dingy peeling white paint and faded window displays. To complete the effect, he hand-painted a sugary-sweet sign and placed it in the front window that read, Candy Jack's Candies, in all the colors of the rainbows.

The day the store opened, Candy Jack stood at the door welcoming in each willing customer, his wild busy eyebrows blowing in the wind, and recited the candy rules to each one.

1. Savor the candy

2. Swallow it whole, I promise you won't choke

3. And always come back for more

People couldn't help but trickle in, mesmerized by the intoxicating smell of sweet vanilla, and the feint trace of bubble-gum. Rows of penny candies in glass jars on low shelves tempted eager children to reach in and pick out their favorites, putting them in small brown paper bags and paid for them with the change they found in the sofa, or small change they found on the street.

It was when Candy Jack came out with the line of sweet punch candies that his business really took off. These were special. A hard candy sublimely flavored with pop rocks hidden inside. They tickled the inside of your throat as they were released from the candy shell, and continued to pop as they slid down your throat and into your stomach. It became a thing for the children at school to eat them at recess and then lift up their shirts to see if they could see their stomach's moving from the forces of the pops. Of course, that never happened, so they begged Candy Jack for stronger pop rocks that would actually make that happened. He kindly agreed, after all, it may just have been him that started that rumor in the first place.

The candy store did many things, it made people happy, it gave a little thrill as there was always something new going on in the store, and thirdly it gave the town its first neutral ground on which the two sides could agree on. It did not however create any sort of peace, for as soon as they exited the store, the temporary truce was over. Candy Jack was satisfied however that his plan was working just as he had hoped.

"Stupid people," he muttered to himself, dressing in a predictable candy stripped red and white suit with the matching straw hat. "They never have a clue."

The more candies he produced, the more they came.

On the day of the release of his Sweet Punch Puncher! candies, the line up was down the street. The more people saw the line up for the candies, the more people came, sheep not wanting to be left out of the fun.

The second person in line was Alise. She was a determined, athletic, and easily dismissible six-year-old who was disgusted how the adults behaved, always arguing. She was looking for peace and maybe a birthday party where all her friends could come and play without the possibility of a fistfight breaking out before the cake. She was determined that a town hopped up on sugar could only lead to disaster. After all, her mother had removed all sugar from Alise's diet, insisting that her previous flamboyant changes in attitude were strictly due to the quantity of sugar she had consumed that day. The idea stuck in her little blond head, and she was there that day, armed with a backpack full of literature about the harm of a sugar based diet.

A recording of a trumpet sounded out the speakers at the front of the almost open shop, can people came flocking. With the ample crowd waiting outside, Candy Jack's voice rang clear through the speakers, "Now my cupcakes, no pushing, no shoving, and remember the candy rules. For only the good little boys and girls, parents too if you like, may have a taste of the Sweet Punch Puncher! candies. Guaranteed to make your stomach dance with delight. Today everyone gets one, mind you just one, as a celebration. Today they are free." He paused for effect and cheers, and to make a gagging motion that no one could see. "Now, my little gumdrops, we are open in three, two, one...," and the doors flew open with children shoving their way into the shop. This is exactly what little Alise had feared. She shouted, and handed out her precious pieces of literature that were trampled underneath little feet as they grabbed their candies and headed out the door eager to tear off the ribbons, rip off the cellophane, and shove those sweet treats into their mouths.

Candy Jack watched smugly as the patrons salivated as the hard candy coating melted on their tongues, sending their taste buds screaming for more. As the pop rocks were uncovered, they danced and hopped in their mouths and slide down their esophagus and into their stomachs where the rock mixed with their stomach acid, and instead of disintegrating into nothingness, the children lifted their shirts to reveal their nicely rounded tummies bouncing around. The children giggled, and the adults threw caution to the wind lifting up their shirts to see their tummies reacting to the pop rocks. The mayor, so impressed with seeing his town for the first time in years smiling together and enjoying themselves announced that he would make Candy Jack a good will ambassador for the town.

Candy Jack spied little Alise pouting in the corner. He brought her a candy, and smiled a face swallowing smile, "What is the matter? Did you not get a candy?"

"I don't eat sugar. It rots your brain"

She doesn't know how right she is, thought Candy Jack to himself.

"I'm sure one little one wouldn't hurt." And he popped one down in her hand. She crinkled the wrapper as she wiped away a tear.

"I should be a goodwill ambassador," she sniffed. "Ever since I can remember, I've been trying to make these dumb people get along, and you hand them a candy, and everything is fine? I don't understand."

"Why my little cake pop, have a candy and you'll know why. They are simply delicious, and they make everyone feel good."

"I don't want the stupid candy! I want people to listen to me!"

It was then her mother, slurping on a mouthful of peppermint goodness grabbed Alise by the arm and took her away.

"She'll come around," said Candy Jack and turned his attention to the hordes of people stuffing their pockets and purses with free sweets.

By the time October hit, the town was officially addicted to Candy Jack's creations.

The time is now, Candy Jack thought to himself. Halloween, the perfect time to release my new candy for them to feast upon.

For two weeks he shut down his store while the town – with the exception of little Alise, went through sugar withdrawal. The anticipation of a new sugary treat was high, and the speculation was wild. What was Candy jack doing? Little and big eyes peered through the windows of his shop, but not even a light was on. Some feared that perhaps he was closed for good, but that was just the panic talking.

To appease them he stuck a sign in the window that said, open for business October 30th. He then hired painters to paint the outside of his yellow shop black and hang spider webs around the outside of the building to distract them. The downtown business association left a plaque outside his door commending him on his entrepreneurial spirit, hoping that others would follow his example and take the holiday more seriously. Candy Jack hardly noticed, he simply wanted them to leave him alone. He had work to be done. Now that the town's people were his obedient sheep it was time for the wolf to come out.

In the sanitized, stainless steel lab he had created in the basement of his inconspicuous farm three kilometers from town, he set to work. This was seven years of work, interrupted by his removal from his job, all culminating into this perfect trifecta of setting, technology, and ability. He took the miniaturized genetically engineered beetles and stuck them into a cooling vat, slowing down their movements until just before the moment of death. Then he added a microchip, so small it could be confused for a pinprick and coated them in the pop rocks that he had been using. Traditional pop rocks had been around for ages, and seemed like a familiar thing to present to the little town. These, however, weren't actually pop rocks, instead, they were his own concoction that prepared the live bodies for their host. The side effects to the townsfolk to date had gone unnoticed, but if Candy Jack didn't do it soon, people would catch on. With the beetles coated and in a semi-coma state, he sealed them into the hard outer shell and dipped them in the fizzy coating.

The best part about all of this was that they would pay him, pay him well in fact, to make his plan work. They would be happy, he would be rich, and everyone would be completely under his control.

As Halloween drew nearer, he could hardly walk down the street without people pestering him for information. Candy Jack could see the slight yellowing of their eyes, and the occasional person clutching at their stomach. It was time. They were the perfect test subjects.

October 30th rolled around, and the line for the opening day consisted of 3999 people. Even little Alise's Mother was in line – the traitor!

The doors flung open, and Candy Jack stood at the front door, reminding them of the candy rules.

"It's important not to chew. You'll destroy the magic!" He straightened his leopard print bow tie and furiously began swapping shiny bills for bags of the candies that he had painstakingly created. It was a beautiful day. The people were happy, the sun was shining through the clouds, and a cool October breeze floated through the air, sending crisp yellow leaves scattering across the ground. Not one of the townspeople waited till they got home to try one. They twisted off the wrappers and popped one after another into their watering mouths, completely ignoring the warnings from the very smart little blond girl.

As happy people walked away, mouths stuffed with flavourful popping candies feeling their tummies rumble with the punch Puncher! Candies, now with extra PUNCH, one by one they slumped to the ground. Candy Jack watched satisfied, and crossed his arms. A smile spread clear from one ear to the other. Now he would just have to wait. He could imagine his little precious beetles clawing their way out of the shells sliding down their throats, and coming to in their warm, perfectly prepared host's stomach's. They sucked up their soupy surroundings and started to munch greedily on their unconscious hosts, thanks to the powerful sedative sneakily added to the candy's exterior.

The plan was a perfect as could be, out here in isolation, well away from prying eyes, and the only person that had given him any troubles was little Alise, screaming from the corner about how candy would kill them. Kill was an overstatement. He would improve them. By the time that he was finished this divided town would be a model of unity. If only little Alise would understand, it didn't matter. He smiled devilishly. She was probably stuffing her face with candies as the sat and pondered the situation. There was no way she could resist.

Twenty-four hours was all he needed for the beetle to perform its work, munching and crunching from the inside out, until it lodged itself in the host's brain, where the microchip could take over. Candy Jack's technology was a marvel. From the outside, they would look more or less as they did before, perhaps pale, perhaps not responding to normal stimuli like pain, but oh so importantly, he would be able to control them. Tell them to lay down their arms, their protest signs, their differences, they could work together as one. He sat in anticipation, waiting.

One by one he could see the lifeless bodies start to twitch, fingers moving first, and then heads. As their strength returned to them, tenfold what it had been, they stood up. Jack was careful to send all the now moving minions together into the community center a location where he could count them all. The official count was 3999.

"Impossible!" shouted Candy Jack. "Where is that little blond girl? Her brain belongs to me! Find her!"

His easily commandable army moved swiftly through the streets, searching through nooks and crannies, looking for the girl. When they found her, she screamed as they carried the wigging girl back to Jack, "Mr. Arbre, Mr. Coup, didn't I tell you! The sugar will rot your brain! Why didn't you listen to me?"

"There you are, my not-so-sweet child. Now why haven't you eaten your candy? You naughty thing."

Alise scowled at Candy Jack, "I was the only one who didn't fall for it! Why didn't they listen? What did I tell them? Sugar would destroy them all. Put them back. Put them all back the way they were."

"My Swedish berry, they only listen to me. Watch this. Everyone, hands above your heads." Candy Jack spoke into the controller he held in his hand.

The mindless drones did as they were told.

"See, little girl. Soon you will be doing as you're told as well. Bring her closer."

Two of Jack's new and improved humans carried Alise to him, as Jack pulled out a candy from his pocket. She squirmed, as her screams echoed off of the walls.

Jack clamped his hand over her mouth, trying to stifle the noise. "I know all of this seems rather confusing, but I promise Uncle Jack will make it better. You must trust me on that."

He unwrapped one of his precious punch puncher candy, royally wrapped in clear cellophane, and taunted her with its deliciousness.

"You try it!" she screamed back. "I know what that will do! You even tricked my mother into eating your sugar!"

"Listen my little lollypop, you need to eat the candy, and if you don't I have ways to make you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would. Now we can do this the easy way," he grabbed her and tried to shove the candy past her clamped shut teeth, "Or we could do this the hard way."

Alise fought back, twisting and squirming her body around like an alligator in a death roll, with a strength that Candy Jack was not prepared for, especially while trying to keep a firm grip his prized controller. His minions, standing still, with their lifeless eyes. She loosened herself from her captors and reached into her pocket where the candy that Jack had given her earlier rested. Pulling it out in the commotion, she shoved it into his mouth and kicked him hard in the stomach, making him suck in, swallowing the candy whole.

"What have you done?" he asked, stumbling backward.

"If you're so interested in people eating candy, you should have some yourself!" she pouted.

Candy Jack moments later fell to the ground, his hand with his controller went limp as the sedative took hold.

"What's this?" she wondered. She picked up the controller, pressed the button at the side, just as she had seen him do, and said, "Hands over your head."

The minions did as they were told, no longer a threat to her.

"Touch your knees."

The minions continued with their game of Simon says.

A wicked smile crossed her lips, "So this is how I get them to listen to me. Don't worry everyone. It's all going to be fine now."