I do not own the rights to the Hollow Kingdom or song

Strange Things

It was two in the afternoon before Candace had managed to get away. She had gotten back to the lodge after four in the morning, waiting for Alice and Nick to show up. Nick had arrived a little after the sun had risen. Alice wasn't with him. After discovering that Candace had no idea where his cousin was, Nick had taken control. He informed the inn keepers, Mr. and Mrs. Richardson. They informed the police. The police interviewed them, with the only information available: a strange man had separated Nick from the girls and drugged him. Then the strange man had, presumably, taken Alice.

A search and rescue team was organized, but so far they had found nothing. By noon the news that an American teenage girl had been kidnapped from a fair while visiting England had made international news, and the press was soon at the inn along with search volunteers. Candace had finally managed to get away by saying she felt tired. Which was true. Normally she would have loved being the center of attention and being interviewed by reporters, but she was tired of being asked over and over again: what did he look like, did you see him take Alice, do you know where she is. Candace had replied over and over again the same story: She had been looking for Nick. The man had spoken to them. He followed. She went in the bathroom for a minute, only to come out and find Alice was gone and so was the man. No she did not know him. No she did not know where Alice is.

Nick entered the room and sat next to her on the bed. "I'm so glad you're here, I don't know what I would do without you," she said embracing him.

Nick pushed her back, saying, "What really happened?"

"I told you what happened. I went—"

"I don't mean the story that you told the cops. I mean what really happened," Nick said slowly, his voice starting to rise.

"I don't know what your talking about," denied Candace.

"Oh really? Then where's the jacket, Candace? The one you bought yesterday, the one you were wearing last night. Where is it?"

"Alice got cold, I let her borrow it."

Don't lie to me!" yelled Nick. "I have a killer headache and spent the night having a weird dream that I was Bambi because of the drug that bastard gave me. I come back to find you wearing Alice's jacket with yours gone along with my cousin. Tell me the truth, now."

Nick had an easy going personality, it took a lot for him to get angry. But when he did… Alice had put it best once by describing him as Dr. Jekyll becoming Mr. Hyde. In fact, Candace could count on one hand the number of times she had seen Nick angry. And none of them could compare to this. Which is why she gave in and told him the truth.: that she had made Alice switch jackets with her.

"What is wrong with you? You made my cousin pretend to be you, knowing that a crazy guy was trailing you?"

"He was after me, so I thought that he would let her go once he discovered what happened."

"You thought? Wrong, Candace. You didn't think at all. You never think of the consequences for your actions."

He got up and started to pace. "But she volunteered—"

Nick laughed. "Volunteered? You think I don't know what you do to Alice when I'm not around? You think I don't know how you use her, that you take advantage of the fact that she can't stand up for herself and say no? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"But, what was I supposed to do, Nick?" Said Candace, her eyes starting to tear up.

"Anything else. Call the cops, ask for a ride back. Stay in the bathroom all night. Confront the guy yourself. Anything besides sending my cousin out to that psycho on a silver platter."

"But Nick-"

"Don't 'but Nick' me. I have to go and pick up my aunt, uncle, and cousin from the airport in a couple hours, and try to explain to them why their daughter went missing on my watch. Don't 'but Nick' me. You know what, I'm through. I'm through with you, your lies, you manipulativeness. I'm through with putting up with all your B.S. I'm through."

He went to the door, "I'm sorry," Candace cried following him.

He turned saying, "I'm not the one you should be apologizing too. You should be apologizing to Alice. You will apologize to her family once they're here. You won't tell them the truth; I don't need them knowing what an idiot I was choosing the girl who would lead my cousin to the slaughter. Alex already gives me enough grief over you. You will say you are sorry for being a moron and leaving her alone outside and you will join the search and rescue teams." With that Nick left, slamming the door behind him, and Candace on the floor crying. What have I done? She thought. What have I done? All I wanted was this trip to be perfect. And now everything's ruined.

Nick slammed the door behind him as he left the room. He was so angry at Candace. But he was angrier at himself. He was angry that he was not there to protect them. He was angry that the guy had somehow managed to distract and drug him without ever putting up a fight. He was angry that his cousin was missing, and he had done nothing to stop the slime ball from taking her.

When Alice had guilted him into asking Candace to the dance, he thought it would be a one time thing. He knew who she was, and also knew that she was vain, selfish, and just using Alice to get to him. It wasn't until he picked her up that night did his mind begin to change.

After walking through the door, Nick understood why Candace was the way she was. Why she strived to be perfect, to be the queen bee at the school and put down anybody she didn't like. Why she strived to be the center of attention and tried to get what she wanted. When he arrived her mother said, "Oh Candace you shouldn't let this one get away. He's going places, and it's not like you'll be getting into Harvard like your sister Ashley did," followed by a shrill laugh. From there she went on and on about how Ashley had just graduated valedictorian, been invited to a prestigious law firm right out of school, and was currently dating a senator's son.

Next was Brittany. Brittany who had managed to get a full ride for her athletic skills. Brittany who was a champion swimmer, whose coach said she would make it to the Olympics. Of course, this was a year before she got pregnant. But still. It continued throughout as pictures were taken, and Candace's dad would join in occasionally with lines like, "Well at least you got your mother's beauty." Candace would just stand there, taking it in saying nothing. It was probably the first time that Nick had ever seen so quiet, so small.

That night, Nick had felt sorry for Candace. It was why he started to date her. For their first date he had taken her to a park an hour away, a castle maze place that she had talked fondly of from when she was younger. She had dressed nicely, expecting to go to a fancy restaurant, only to find herself at the park. At first she had whined and complained, but by the end of the night she was barefoot, dressed hiked up, and having a blast. It was the first time that Nick had seen Candace truly smile and happy, not just faking it. After that he did whatever he could to see that side of Candace, the real side. He enjoyed the challenge of bringing out the real Candace from beneath the fake, buried by her parents constantly comparing her to her sisters.

Nick was aware of how she acted toward Alice. But he figured it was better for just Candace to use her than everybody else to. At least Candace looked after her when he couldn't. He knew Candace would never go to far with the favors, or at least he hoped. But last night had proven him wrong. He didn't know what Candace was thinking. Correction, he knew she was thinking, how to get what she wanted—in this case being left alone—and consequences be damned. That was the way she always thought. How to get what she wanted, not caring how she got it. Normally she was able to get away with it, people shrugging it off, because she was Candace. Except this time she had gone too far.

All he could think of was those criminal procedural shows on TV. Of his cousin lying in a ditch somewhere due to some psychopath. Of her being raped, tortured, and god knows what else. And because this was real life, he had no guarantee of a happy ending. He had no guarantee that there would be a sudden light-bulb moment when everything would become clear, the cops would bust in at the last moment, taking out the bad guy while rescuing his cousin. As he walked down to join the search and rescue teams Nick thought, if only my life were a TV show. Because then I would know everything will work out. Even a book would be nice if only to get that happily ever after.

**Author's Note**

First, a big shout-out to reviewers fruba14, JayLah, noonface and speederina. They made my day! It was interesting to see the range of views on Marak and Inanna, and Alice and Nir. Next chapter will be returning to Marak and Inanna though, with Alice and Nir to follow next Friday. Be on the look out for references to the original books. It's called: Beauty and the Beast.

This chapter has been a long time coming. For starters, it shows that there is a reason why Candace is the reason she is. It by no means excuses her behavior, but it does explain things, hopefully. It also showed Nick isn't a complete moron and knew how Candace treated Alice, and knew that there was more to the story. Also, one thing I've noticed about modern fics, is not very many deal with the kidnapping after-math on the human side. I mean, in this day and age, if a teenage girl went missing, without a trace, it would make news. Especially if she was a tourist, and was last seen with a 'stranger'. So expect to see more of what happens in the 'human world', especially since Candace still has some issues to deal with before the story is over.

Out of curiosity, what do you think of the Disney-themed titles? They started out because 'Chapter 1' was too boring for me, and I settled on the song titles for some excitement. There's enough of them out there to cover any chapter I'll ever write, I'm a big Disney fan, it fits nicely into the ever after theme, and I thought they would be nice teasers. Was just wondering what everybody what everybody else thought.