Lying in bed together, the marshmallow puppy sleeping between their feet, it dawns on Franklin that he is going to have a child with the creature who killed his siblings. He wonders what the child will look like when it is born. Will it be human, candy person, or a mixture? Will its hair be blonde or pink cotton candy? Will its skin be made of human flesh or white taffy? Will its teeth be razor sharp or will Jujy have to file them to points? Franklin decides he doesn’t want to think about it.
“Now that we have successfully mated,” Franklin asks Jujy. “Can I be unchained from the bed?”
She moans as if he has just pulled her out of sleep.
“Now that I’m pregnant I’m allowed to let you go if I want to,” she says. “But I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”
“I want you to stay here,” she says.
“I won’t leave. I just don’t want to be chained up anymore.”
“You can only be unchained when I’m ready for you to leave, but I don’t want you to leave. Ever.”
“I promise I won’t leave.”
“I take you out on walks,” she says. “Isn’t that enough for you? No dominants ever give their submissives as many freedoms as I give you. By the time this baby is born you will have to learn your place. You will stay chained so that you can care for our child while I am away. Then we will start another mating period and have another child. Then we will do it again. It is my duty as a dominant to make sure you stay in the home and take care of the offspring.”
Franklin doesn’t respond. He rolls over and tries to sleep. He is beginning to realize that he needs to escape as soon as he can. If he doesn’t get out soon enough he will be trapped in this life Jujy has created for him until the day he dies.
Jujy is gone on a hunt and Franklin is on the floor, writhing in pain. The marshmallow puppy licks the salt from his ear as he sweats from withdrawal. The infection under the candy coating is worse than it has ever been. He reopens the crack in his torso and sticks a thin sharpened candy cane inside to scratch the itchiness. A foul odor creeps out of the hole. It is getting gangrenous. When he pulls out the candy cane, there are three dead ants stuck to it and one that is still alive.
Franklin knows that he has to get to a hospital as soon as possible or else he will die from the infection. He can’t wait around for Jujy to take him on walks, mapping the rest of the cavern slowly over the course of several days. He has to find his way to the exit now. He has to free himself from his bonds and get out before Jujy gets back.
He pushes the puppy away from his face and crawls into the bedroom. He uses his cane to stand himself up. Examining the chain that is attached to the bedpost, he isn’t sure how he’ll be able to free himself without breaking the chain. Jujy has been able to hook him and unhook him with ease, but the chain looks as if it is molded into the bedpost. He doesn’t want to break the chain because if he can’t find his way out of the cave he’ll need to be able to chain himself back to the bed so that Jujy won’t know he was ever gone. For some reason his super brain isn’t able to figure it out. He wonders if it hasn’t been working properly with all the candy sprinkled on it.
After fiddling with the chain for a few minutes, unable to work it out, he decides that he doesn’t have a choice but to break it and just hope he gets out of here on his first attempt. He pulls the sword out of his cane and stabs it in one of the candy links. The candy chain is much stronger than he had expected. Although not as strong as metal, it is as strong as bulletproof glass. He has to kick both of his feet against the chain as the sword cuts in the opposite direction. When the link finally snaps, the sword slams into his kneecap. If it wasn’t his candy leg, it would have created a large gash.
Franklin hobbles out of the house on his cane. He isn’t sure which direction to go in, but heads away from the territories he is familiar with. He knows exactly where the most populated areas of community are and doesn’t want to go anywhere near them. He hopes that the exit is close to Jujy’s house.
When he first entered the cavern, he was in a candy cane forest, so he goes in the direction of candy canes. Purple clouds swirl overhead as he climbs sugar frosted hills. A snake-sized gummy worm slithers across his path and hides in a bush of pixie sticks. His cane sinks into the chocolate mud when he puts his weight on it, causing his candy shell to scrape against the infected parts of his flesh.
He wanders through caramel swamplands and deserts filled with fluffy pink cacti, following twisty trails through the many hills and valleys. Because of his upgraded brain, it is not possible for him to become lost, as long as it isn’t broken. But he is realizing just how big this underground world really is. According to the area he has already mapped out in his head, this cavern is at least 15 square miles. He isn’t sure he will be able to find the exit before Jujy returns.
After another mile of exploring, Franklin decides that he will give it just another hour. If he can’t find the exit by then he’ll have to return to Jujy’s house before she realizes he is gone.
Franklin hears a scream coming from a nearby field. It is the scream of a child. Franklin decides it would be best if he ignored the scream and headed back to Jujy’s house, but he finds himself moving towards the scream anyhow. He sneaks into a clearing that is filled with large piles of jelly donuts, stacked like pyramids eight feet high.
Hiding behind one of the donut stacks, Franklin sees the screaming child. He recognizes him. It is Troy, the brat from his neighborhood. He is being dragged by his hair through puddles of custard by a large candy person. Franklin snickers to himself. He thinks if any child deserves to be eaten by the candy people it is Troy.
But the smile quickly falls from his face as he sees the agonizing expression on Troy’s face and sees the blood trickling down his forehead. The candy person is not just gripping the boy’s hair, but his fingernails are digging through the skin on his scalp. Franklin doesn’t see the little asshole who used to call him a faggot and try to kill his cat. He just sees a helpless child being dragged to his death.
Franklin steps out from behind the donut pile and approaches the boy. As he creeps up behind the candy person, he holds up his cane, ready to draw the blade and stab the man from behind. But just as he twists the crook of his cane, the candy person turns around. It is Black Licorice.
Licorice has a curious smile on his face when he sees Franklin.
“Sour Apple?” the words spill out of his lips like he is exhaling chimney smoke. “What are you doing out here?”
Franklin doesn’t know how to respond. He just stands there with his cane in his hand, staring at Troy.
“Jujube no longer has you chained to her bedpost,” he says. “I assume that means you are no longer her mate.”
He smiles.
“Your breeding was a failure, wasn’t it?” He steps closer to Franklin, dragging the boy behind him. “Very good. Now I can take her as my mate.”
“No.” Franklin lowers his cane so that he can lean on it. “The mating was a success.”
“A success?” Licorice’s smile turns into an angry frown. “Then what are you doing out of her house?”
“I—” Franklin doesn’t know what to say. “She let me go.”
“Let you go?”
“She no longer needs me,” he says.
“She didn’t want to keep you.” Licorice smiles again. “That means I can take her as my mate as soon as the child is born.”