All The Write Stuff: Candy Crone

Candy Crone is a Christmas Short Story standalone in the bestselling Hawthorne University Witch Series.

Candy Crone

The Hawthorne University Witch Series Book 8

By A.L. Hawke

Genre: Paranormal Holiday Fantasy

Candy Crone is a Christmas Short Story standalone following Shadow Cast in the Hawthorne University Witch Series.

While I’m enjoying a spicy caramel apple surprise at our local ice cream parlor, an old lady in rags rambles nonsense about candy canes to children waiting for Santa. That distracts me from prepping my young friend Cat for her college interview at Hawthorne University.

Christmas turns into creepy Halloween when all the local children, including Cat, disappear in the woods. Bryce and I search our forest but become spellbound. All this voracious casting heralds the arrival of a new witch in town. The Candy Crone.

As the Hawthorne Witch, I hold great power, but with my unborn baby kicking, the witch exploits my sins and vices through gluttony. Am I nothing more than my appetites and power as the Hawthorne Witch? Or can I accomplish something greater? If I can’t sort my stuff out, Cat, my unborn baby, Chandra, and all these innocent kids living in Hawthorne are toast.

Cadence Hawthorne returns in this Christmas novella taking place after Shadow Cast, book 6, in The Hawthorne University Witch Series. Candy Crone is a complete self-contained novella not ending in cliffhangers. Some spoilers cannot be avoided, but the story is a STANDALONE book that can be enjoyed without reading the preceding novels.

Content Warning: Candy Crone contains profanity, adult situations and, of course, witchcraft.

Excerpt

“Cadence! Cadence!”

Bryce and I spin around in the direction of the shouting. That was Cat’s voice! I’m forced to squint as the sun’s rays open again through a gap in the trees. But then Cat stops crying for help.

Light shines over our dirt path, winding through the trees, and I see more breadcrumbs strewn along the ground. I don’t follow the path. Instead, I walk off the trail and start gathering large fallen branches in the bushes. I pile the thickest ones and start forming a five-pointed star.

“What are you doing, Katie?” Bryce asks.

“I don’t know. I remember doing this in my dream. All this happened before, in the dream…or…I foresaw it happening. You and I first spotted breadcrumbs. So I built this sigil as a signal and as a refuge during the nightmare. I think the headmaster’s right, this witch is very powerful. She, or whoever’s possessing her, is attacking us with powerful magic. I feel like I have to build this circle for protection.”

And I drag another stick along the ice, forming a circle surrounding my pentagram. Then I gesture at my work.

Bryce nods, but then he freaks me out when he covers his eyes, squinting over my left shoulder. Turning in the direction of his gaze, I see a bright golden glow. The light is heralding a small cottage among the trees. The breadcrumb trail ends at a walkway surrounding the cottage, which has two windows with shutters and a chimney. It’s as if the cottage has always been there, hidden in the woods. Two large red poles with white stripes by the entrance appear to be the size of people. They look like huge peppermint candy canes. And beside the peppermint sticks, in the snow, are two gingerbread-like statues about half my height. The top of one of the peppermint sticks forms the outline of a girl’s face. But her expression is frozen, motionless, like a statue. An icy pathway of shiny red and green candy tiles leads to the front door. The door and the shutters are composed of a brown cake-like substance. Gingerbread? White patches on the walls form a thick plaster. On the plaster brush marks stick out in sections, reminding me of frosting. Soft red and green gems embedded in the white plaster, covered in crystalized sugar kernels, reflect the golden sunlight. Gumdrops or sugar plums. Chocolatey-brown drippings fall from the rooftops, draining into chocolate pools. And the roof is made of a cinnamon red candy–like surface.

We walk slowly along the candy path. Bryce runs a finger along the white plaster beside the door. It’s not solid, and it’s not plaster, it’s like a thick white goo.

“Frosting?” Bryce asks me with a nervous chuckle.

I nod and run my finger along the wall too. I bring the goo to my nose. It smells so sweet and delicious.

“This has to stop,” snaps Bryce. “This sick witch is controlling us like in a fairy tale. And . . . I feel drowsy, as if I’m dreaming, Kate. I think she’s putting a spell on us.”

How can she not be? We’re standing in front of a gingerbread house.

I nab a large crystalized green gumdrop the size of my palm, stuck to the white frosting, and bite into it. It tastes so good! It’s soft, full of granules of sugar, with a wonderful tangy sweet lime. And the best part is the consistency. The gob sticks in my mouth like chewing gum.

“Cadence, what are you doing!”

He tries to snatch it from my fingers, but I pull it away. I don’t know why I’m eating it, but I am. It’s like I’m compelled to eat it. But it tastes sooo good. I don’t know how Bryce is stopping himself. I’m so hungry.

“It tastes really good, Bryce,” I say with my mouth full. “Wow. You should try some.” Then I dip it in some of the wall plaster and offer him some. “Try it, babe. Just take a bite.”

“Growly, growler. Growly, growler.”

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Book Links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DJGHH8JK

Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Candy-Crone-Audiobook/B0DM6YWR52

Chirp: https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/candy-crone-by-a-l-hawke

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gttUyl0mbEtdC2RmSC5hn

Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/candy-crone/id6727005098

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/candy-crone-a-l-hawke/1146350695?ean=2940186140306

Google: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=DyIlEQAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/candy-crone

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1625338

Books2Read: https://books2read.com/u/boo9a9

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/candy-crone-by-a-l-hawke

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219877138-candy-crone

About the Author

A.L. Hawke is the author of the bestselling Hawthorne University Witch series. The author lives in Southern California torching the midnight candle over lovers against a backdrop of machines, nymphs, magic, spice and mayhem. A.L. Hawke writes fantasy and romance spanning four thousand years, from pre-civilization to contemporary and beyond.

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