The card said:
Oh Candy, my Candy.
I remember you!
You'll help poor li'l Andy?
Then you can play, too!
But be forewarned:
While it's no slaughter,
I don't play fair--
I'll transform your daughter!
Candy's hand shot to her mouth, she was completely stunned. Silent tears welled up, and she just stared at the card. Andrew leaned in to read over her shoulder and joined her in horror. For a while there was no sound but the slight tapping of her tears on the floor.
"Izzie," she barely whispered, "Oh, my Izzie."
"We should... go," Andrew volunteered, "We need to go see, to help..." He understood the horror, but he felt like an intruder in her life already. And it was all his fault, for asking her to play.
Candy nodded, though, and moved immediately to the door, dropping the card on the way. "Wait!" Andrew followed a step after her, "Help me get this... skirt on."
She turned back to him with a pleading, numb expression, but she helped him get the unfamiliar garment on. He followed her through the arcade and the mall, to where she had her minivan parked at the edge of the parking lot. She walked hurriedly, and he struggled to keep up, but Andy noted with relief that he didn't get any weird looks on the way out.
He piled into the back of the vehicle, his heart wrenching as he saw a baby seat. it still looked the same shape, so he hoped nothing too extreme had happened to Candy's kid. Speaking of, Candy drove like a madwoman to get home, running red lights and speeding the whole way. but apart form some tears, she appeared calm. like someone who needed to solve a problem quickly. Careening into a residential area, she finally pulled up to a large, relaxed-looking home. She was out of the car as soon as it was stopped, leaving Andrew in the running vehicle.
He had to work the door open with his foot, which wasn't easy. But he headed to the house's still-open front door. He wasn't sure whether he should go inside, so he just stood anxiously, listening. There was distant sobbing from somewhere upstairs, and what he could see of the living room held no clues. There might be family photos on the mantle of the fireplace, but he couldn't see them from the front porch.
After what seemed like ages, there was movement on the stairs. Candy was walking down, carrying something. She waved him in with a nod, and he came in, nudging the door closed with his foot. Without the brightness from outside, he could see a little clearer. Candy was carrying her child, from the looks of her only a year old. At first glance the girl was normal, but as his eyes adjusted he saw what probably had Candy sobbing. Instead of legs, the girl had a large snake tail from the waist down. Even though the baby was sleeping, the tail curled around Candy's back and hugged her mom close. Two right hands gripped her mom's blouse, while two left ones dangled. The girl had four arms and a snake tail.
"This is Isabelle," Candy whispered so as not to wake the baby. "She's a year and two months old. And while I remember her with two arms and two legs, I'm just really happy she's okay." She was teary, but smiling. The best word for it was relief. She brushed a stray hair away from her daughter's face, wiping away some tears on Izzie's soft pink onesie (Which conveniently covered all but the end of her tail too). Candy went on, "I thought for sure something horrible would happen. I thought she might be paralyzed, or braindead, or turned into a dog or something. But she's still the beautiful baby girl I know. Still asleep next to her daddy."