*Chapter 43*

All four best friends slept soundly in each other's comforting presence. Soft, snow-lit sun filled the master bedroom as frost caked the windows from the cold night prior. Ralph opened his eyes sleepily and peered across the room before he took in a deep, refreshing breath of the cool morning air. He yawned wide and looked down. He noticed Vanellope wasn't next to him. He looked around the room in a disgruntled way and noticed that Taffyta was the only one in the room with him, their bedroom door was wide open. She was sprawled and snoozing comfortably in her bed, the blankets practically kicked to the floor. Ralph rolled his eyes with a sleepy smile before he could hear Vanellope and Candlehead chatting down the hall, in the kitchen.

"Wow, Ralph, you slept a long time through all of Taffyta's snoring," Candlehead laughed as Ralph sleepily moseyed into the kitchen.

"I probably was snoring over her snoring," Ralph croaked as he rubbed his eye. He sat next to Candlehead at the kitchen's island bar. Him and Candlehead exchanged sleepy, 'good morning' facial expressions.

"I don't think she'll be too thrilled to wake up alone, though, after what happened last night," Vanellope croaked as she set a cup of steaming coffee before Candlehead.

"I'll go wake her up in a few minutes," Candlehead breathed as she rubbed her eye.

"Coffee?" Vanellope asked gently as she smiled at Ralph; he nodded gratefully.

"Thank you," Ralph smiled.

Just as Vanellope turned to hand Ralph his drink, a scream suddenly pierced the crisp morning air. Everyone jolted out of their code, wide eyed and frozen. Vanellope yelped and dropped the cup of coffee she was holding; the cup shattered to the ground. Vanellope stared hard into Ralph's eyes as everyone in the kitchen suddenly became alive with terror. Before any words could be exchanged, everyone immediately began to scramble towards the master bedroom, Ralph was first down the hall. He burst through the door and froze dead in his tracks; Vanellope and Candlehead quickly pushed around him and froze as well.

Taffyta was backed into the far corner of the room, her arms and legs trembling. In front of her was a holographic mess of shredded binary. Ralph choked a surprised exhale and gazed at his friend in horror. Taffyta gazed straight into the eyes of the hologram, which loomed over her like a predator, waiting to strike.

"Rancis," Vanellope exhaled in surprise as Candlehead covered her mouth.

"Ralph," Taffyta begged as tears streamed her cheeks.

Ralph immediately felt his blood begin to boil and his fists clench. He grit his teeth and immediately made his way over to the looming, dreadful hologram before Taffyta. He yelled an enraged holler before slamming both his fists straight through the top of Rancis, causing his code to bulge and glitch in a messy, electric glob of confusion; he vanished into thin air. The tile underneath Ralph cracked under the weight of his fists; Taffyta covered her face and quickly skid down the wall into a curled, upright fetal position. Her shoulders trembled as Ralph whirled around and searched the room for Rancis's hologram. He caught eyes with Vanellope and Candlehead, who both looked absolutely horrified. Ralph softened his facial expression before quickly returning his attention to Taffyta.

"Taffyta," Ralph breathed with concern as he quickly put his firm hand on her shaking shoulder. She flinched and let out a concerned yelp before catching eyes with Ralph. Her pupils were dilated as far as they could go; she looked as if she had been possessed. Ralph furrowed his brow and removed his hand from her shoulder in a cautious way.

"Taffyta, are you okay?" Candlehead asked as her and Vanellope quickly loomed over her, next to Ralph.

"Taffyta," Ralph barked with a frown as he grabbed her shoulder again. Taffyta jumped and looked at Ralph as if he was a stranger, her eyes wide with terror and wet with never-ending tears, "It's just me, Taff!"

"G-get away from me," Taffyta trembled as she pushed on Ralph's hand; she took turns darting her eyes between her three friends, as if she were a cornered, wild animal.

"Taffyta!" Ralph barked sternly as he shook her shoulder. He inhaled a quick breath and felt a jolt of adrenaline shoot through his code. He suddenly forced the code on the palm of his hand to glitch, causing Taffyta's whole shoulder and arm to glitch a hot pink and red mess of her own binary. She exhaled a choking, faltering breath before slumping her shoulders and panting heavily. She gazed up at Ralph through normal eyes once more, her face was practically white. She widened her eyes and looked around, as if she finally remembered where she was.

"Ralph," Vanellope exclaimed, "Did you just, glitch?"

"I-I don't know, I think so," Ralph said in a surprised way as he glanced at Vanellope, he kept his hand firmly on Taffyta's shoulder, "Taff, are you okay?"

"Rancis," Taffyta choked as she clutched the middle of her upper chest, her other hand idly gripped Ralph's lower arm, "H-He was talking to me."

"He wasn't saying anything, Taff," Candlehead said in a concerned voice, all three girls trembled in fear.

"He spoke to me," Taffyta trembled, tears continued to stream her face, "H-He was really angry…"

"Taffyta," Vanellope said gently. She inhaled to continue speaking but quickly caught eyes with Ralph and Candlehead.

"What was he saying?" Ralph asked, his hand kept firmly on her trembling shoulder.

"I-I can't, remember," Taffyta gasped a few inhales, "I-I felt so cold, like I'd never know happiness ever again."

"Come on," Ralph said gently as he grabbed Taffyta's arm and carefully pulled her up so she was standing.

"I-I don't want to be here anymore," Taffyta shuddered, her eyes wide and almost crazed, "Please don't leave me."

"I-I'm so sorry," Ralph said, feeling his heart sink, "I didn't think he'd be around during daylight. I would've woken you up before I left you alone in the room."

"Holograms lurk wherever they sense fear, day or night," Vanellope explained gently, putting a hand on Taffyta's other shoulder.

"Let's just think about this rationally," Ralph suddenly said in a firm voice, trying to keep everyone's emotions in check. He kept a firm hand on Taffyta's shoulder, keeping her grounded, "Rancis can't hurt us."

"Ralph, he clearly had gotten into Taffyta's mind somehow, this isn't normal!" Candlehead said loudly as she threw her arm out, everyone stared at Candlehead in shock; her outburst unnatural.

"She's right," Vanellope exhaled as everyone stared at Taffyta; she trembled wildly, her eyes looked crazed as she gazed off into space.

"Should, we leave?" Ralph questioned, gazing down at Vanellope with concerned eyes, "We can't let this dinky hologram ruin our vacation."

"He's not dinky," Vanellope exclaimed, "Look what he's managed to do to the strongest willed person in our group, Ralph!"

"I-I'm fine," Taffyta shuddered as she swallowed hard and looked between her three friends warily.

"We need to leave," Candlehead ordered.

"Right behind you," Vanellope said firmly as both girls quickly scurried away to gather their things.

"Yeah," Taffyta shuddered as she quickly pushed past Ralph to head to her room; Ralph eagerly followed Vanellope as she too marched to her room.

"Vin, we can't let Taffyta drive home," Ralph stated firmly; she clumsily packed her things.

"What do you suppose we do?" Vanellope asked as she quickly pushed everything into her suit case and zipped it up.

"I'll drive," Ralph stated confidently.

"You, want to drive? Whose cart are you going to drive? Mine?" Vanellope asked, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"I'll drive yours, you can drive Taffyta's car, and keep her with you. It's time to put our code swap to the test," Ralph said with a half-hearted chuckle.

"You sure?" Vanellope croaked softly as she rubbed one eye, Ralph nodded.

"Yes," Ralph sighed before quickly grabbing her things, "Now, c'mon. Let's get out of here."

"You guys coming?" Candlehead said in a hurried way as her and Taffyta quickly rushed past Vanellope's room and down the hall. The clunking noises of their bags could be heard skidding towards the front door.

"Right behind you," Ralph said loudly as the two quickly marched down the hall and joined Taffyta and Candlehead at the front door.

The four stood still for a moment, glancing back and forth at each other. The air was growing thin between them, as if they were being watched, stalked. They were the hologram's next mind trick waiting to happen. Before anyone could get any sort of words of protest out, everyone quickly piled out the door and hurried towards their race carts. Vanellope quickly hurled her stuff into her cart before helping Taffyta out with her situation. Ralph approached Vanellope's race cart; they both shared a few nervous glances before Ralph exhaled sharply and looked down at her cart.

"I can do this," Ralph said with a nervous chuckle. He clumsily eased his way into her cart and scoffed a noise of protest as he got comfortable.

"I don't care how it happens," Vanellope groaned as she rubbed her face, "I just want to go home."

"Ralph!" Taffyta exclaimed with wide eyes as Vanellope quickly shoved herself into Taffyta's cart, "What are you doing?"

"I'm driving!" Ralph barked back at her as he turned the rumbling cart on, "I'm surprised I even fit in this darned thing."

"Ralph," Taffyta protested as she approached the him; she quickly averted her attention to Vanellope, "You're not really going to let him drive your cart, are you?"

"Do you REALLY want to be driving, Taff?" Vanellope hollered as she gave her a crazed look, "We have no choice, now c'mon!" Taffyta flinched and glanced at Ralph before rolling her eyes.

"Have you guys swapped roles now, or something?" Taffyta barked sarcastically as she made her way towards her cart.

"It's called a code swap, ever heard of it Taff?" Vanellope barked as Taffyta smushed into her cart with her sister. Ralph felt his face get hot as Taffyta shot him a death glare. Candlehead suddenly revved her engine, causing the large flames on her cart to burst with excitement; everyone jumped.

"Are you guys done mingling now?" Candlehead hollered, "Let's go!" Before Ralph could fully digest what was before him, the three girls ahead of him, in two carts, slowly began to drive away. Ralph swallowed hard and gazed down at the gears and knobs before him. He inhaled sharply and fiddled with a few things before shoving his foot onto the gas, causing the cart to lunge forward. He gasped and grabbed the dashboard on her cart before the ride finally smoothed out. Ralph flinched a few times, his large hands dwarfed her steering wheel. He chuckled softly before gazing ahead, Taffyta, Vanellope and Candlehead were still within his sights. Ralph exhaled a breath that he forgot he was holding. He gazed out at the road before him as he trailed quickly behind Candlehead and Taffyta's cart.

He let a small smile spread across his face; the rush of the wind made his heart beat faster and faster. Before he could even comprehend exactly what was happening, he realized that he was catching up to Candlehead and Vanellope rather quickly. Ralph bit his lip in contemplation. He pushed harder on the gas and shifted into a higher gear, causing the car to jolt forward, the engine growled and roared as he approached the back of Taffyta's cart. Vanellope let out a small noise of protest as Ralph whizzed around the three girls, making himself in the lead. Dirt kicked up everywhere as the cart quickly straightened out with a jolt. Vanellope widened her eyes and shot Taffyta a surprised look. She gazed back at Vanellope with the same shock before she rolled her eyes and slumped into her sister's side, who cautiously drove her cart.

Vanellope breathed the rushing wind and gazed around the beautiful morning scenery. The dark green twizzler trees loomed over the four, their branches stretching in the morning sun. Dew dotted each branch of candy, each glistening in the sun's glory. She felt as if every single fear she had was left at the cabin, far out of reach. Vanellope gazed ahead, past Candlehead's cart. Ralph was quickly vanishing out of sight. She smiled an impressed smile in Ralph's direction as she squeezed Taffyta's steering wheel. She finally exhaled a long breath, feeling as if everything in her life was suddenly in front of her to decipher. She gazed ahead of the road they were shooting down; not a single fear went through her mind, she was stunned that Ralph had gotten the hang of driving her cart so quickly. She beamed and felt her heart swell; she got lost in thought, she wondered if it was at all possible to get closer to Ralph than she already was.

"Oh will you just shut up already," Taffyta barked as she crossed her arms. Vanellope flinched and felt her face get hot as she glanced at her sister. She suddenly felt as if she had been thinking aloud.

"Wh-what?" Vanellope stammered as she tried to catch glances of her sister.

"I can practically hear your thoughts," Taffyta snickered, almost smiling.

"What do you mean?" Vanellope whined as they talked over the rushing wind and the loud noises of their carts.

"Ralph just whizzed past us in YOUR cart with YOUR code in HIS system. Anyone with a brain stem can tell that he's practically going to drive that stupid thing up to your bedroom and wait for you there with that goofy grin of his," Taffyta said, all in a dull manner. Vanellope beamed and threw her head back as she howled with laughter.

"I can see you're starting to feel better," Vanellope laughed as she nudged her sister, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Taffyta snapped with a half-smile. She sunk into her sister's side and closed her eyes as her mind and regrets practically ate her from the inside out.