It's still strange to take them out like this, You think as Anna clutches your arm just a little too tightly. Meanwhile you hold Eve's hand on the other side to prevent her from bounding off to who knows here.

"Can I go into the candy store?" Eve says, looking up at you with barely restrained excitement in her eyes.

Anna barely seems to hear as she looks at the stores along the road with a mixture of fear and wonder.

You consider for a moment, "Yeah, we can go in," You finally say.

"No, by myself, I'm big enough to go in without anyone else," She says.

Her mischievous smile is nearly enough to dissuade you, but you finally relent.

I keep telling myself that I'm trying to give them a normal life. To do that, I've got to give them some control over their own lives.

"Ok," You say reluctantly, releasing her hand and reaching for your wallet. Opening it, you start to reach for a twenty, but before you can Eve reaches out and snatches a whole stack of bills from your leather billfold.

"Thank you!" Eve exclaims before darting into the store before you can protest.

Anna finally seems to notice something is going on and looks first at you, then at where Eve just was. You can see the question clear in her features.

"She'll be fine. She's just going into the candy store for a minute," You say in an effort to ward off her worry.

She fidgets, clutching your arm just a little harder, "Are you sure it's ok?" There's just a faint tremor in her voice. You can see that she's trying to look into the store, trying to see where her sister might have gone.

As the minutes tick on, Anna becomes more and more tense. Between Anna's growing agitation, and the thought of what Eve might be doing with all the money she just took from you.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

When Eve finally exits the store, she's holding two large bags in one hand, and a massive fountain drink in the other. You can see her cheeks hollowed as she sucks at the straw, and around her lips are clear smudges from candy that she has already eaten.

While Anna seems to relax at the sight of Eve, her arm full of goodies makes you wonder just how hyper the young woman is going to be shortly, "What took you so long?" You think to ask.

She grins around the straw before she releases it from between her lips, "Had to get a refill, they give free refills," She says in a rush.

Refill? That drink is huge.

"The candy in there is SO good. I love the cotton candy, and the caramel, and the milk chocolate, and the gummy bears," She continues in a rush.

"You're supposed to pay for candy before you eat it," You say firmly.

Eve's eyes widen as her grin grows, "Free samples! I tried EVERYTHING!" She says gleefully.

"And did you say 'refill?' for that?" You're amazed she drank so much already.

My God, she's going to need the bathroom before we get home.

"Anna!" She exclaims, reaching into one of the bags she produces a bag of cotton candy that she thrusts toward her sister, "Cotton candy! Try it! It's AWESOME!"

Anna reluctantly takes the bag. Meanwhile, you lead both of them back toward the car. You can tell that Eve is already well on her way to a sugar rush, but you strongly suspect that it is barely beginning.

When you have both of them in the car, you quickly get in and start toward home, watching in horror in the rear view mirror as Eve shoves one piece of candy after another into her face, punctuated by long drags from the drink she is clutching in front of herself.

You're only half way home when you hear the words you fear the most, "I've got to go potty," Eve whines, just a hint of urgency in her tone.

"You're going to have to hold it, there's nowhere to stop between here and home. I'll stop right in front of the house if you have to go that bad," You reply.

She mumbles something, but there's no further comment from Eve right away.

"I've got to go potty," Eve says again a couple of minutes later. This time you hear a little more urgency in her tone.

"Stop drinking that soda," You say to her, hoping to minimize the problem at the source.

"It's empty," She whines.

Great, you think sarcastically.

Glancing in the rear view mirror, you can see Eve squirming, "Just a little further," You try to reassure her.

Eve is making whining sounds by the time the mansion comes into sight

When you slow in front of the mansion, Eve bursts from the car even before you've come to a complete stop, running for the front door.

You watch her go, feeling a bit of humor as you see that she's still holding both bags of candy as she vanishes into the mansion.