Page 69 of The Deadly Candies

Don’t let anyone see you,said Sugar.You’d be surprised at how people know each other.

Three blocks. Two. The brownstone hunched between a bodega and a boarded-up tailor’s, its stoop littered with bottle caps. Debbie’s hand hovered over the rusted gate. Somewhere inside, Magdalia waited with her solutions. Herconsequences.

A shadow moved at the corner of her vision.

“Debbie.”

José materialized from the alleyway, his face drawn. The sight of him—his too-big peacoat, the way his brows knotted—unlocked something in her chest.

“You came,” she breathed.

He grabbed her wrist, yanking her a step back. “Christ,hermana, you were just gonna walk up?Mira.” He jerked his chin toward the window. A silhouette passed behind the curtain. “That’sher. You don’t knock till I check the street.”

Debbie’s laugh came out shaky. “What you are you afraid of?”

José didn’t smile. He cupped her face, his palms rough from the docks. “You getting hurt. That’s what I’m afraid of. We agreed. You let me handle everything. Okay?”

“Just don’t leave,” she whispered.

José pressed his forehead to hers. The preacher’s voice swelled down the block:“And the Lord shall strike down the wicked?—”

“Not even if hell freezes over,” he swore.

Magdalia’s Basement

“Estás bien?Are you okay?” José asked softly, gripping Debbie’s hand so tightly it felt like desperation had fused their fingers together.

Debbie shook her head, unable to speak. Her body trembled so violently that she struggled to breathe, let alone answer. Her gaze remained fixed downward, heavy with shame. Around her, José’s questions, filled with concern, collided in rapid Spanish with Magdalia’s impatient replies. The older woman’s voice sliced through the room—sharp, cold, irritated by José.

Debbie didn’t move, didn’t wipe away the silent tears slipping down her cheeks. Her eyes were pinned to the cracked cement floor as if ignoring the truth could make the whole ordeal vanish.

José gently squeezed her hand again, his voice dropping even lower, more hesitant.

“Debbie, the bracelet—did you bring it?”

With a sorrowful nod, she slowly reached into her purse, fingers clumsy, and withdrew her most treasured possession. A deep ache bloomed in her chest as she placed the sapphire bracelet in José’s palm. Handing it over felt like surrendering the last piece of hope—the last link to Matteo, and the death of the life she’d imagined for them.

Magdalia snatched the bracelet from José’s hand, holding it up greedily to the thin sunlight streaming through the small basement window. A toothy grin formed on the old woman’s lips.

“Sí, es suficiente,” Magdalia announced, satisfied. She launched into a rapid-fire Spanish exchange with José, the words harsh, clipped, and unrelenting.

Debbie’s eyes remained locked on her shoes, refusing to comprehend the exchange, until José gently touched her chin, raising her eyes to meet his. In his gaze, Debbie found a tortured mix of guilt and compassion. His voice was barely above a whisper.

“She says…you have to undress, Debbie.” He swallowed hard, clearly struggling. “Then lie down on that table.”

Debbie fully absorbed the horror of the surroundings for the first time since entering the basement. A chill ran down her spine. Her eyes caught sight of the medical instruments arranged ominously on a tray, the stained buckets in the corner, and the contraption lowered from the ceiling—a sinister metal bar designed to keep her legs forcibly apart. Nausea surged through her stomach. She stepped back instinctively, gripping José’s arm.

“José, I can’t,” she whispered, terror crackling in her voice. “I can’t! I’m scared. I can’t do it!”

Magdalia began cursing at Debbie, insisting she go through with it. José snapped at the old woman and threatened her in Spanish, causing the woman to blanche and step back with a look of fear. He hugged Debbie. He whispered in her ear. “Let me talk to her upstairs, Debbie.Estaré justo afuera.You stay in here. Okay. I’ll handle it.”

Magdalia shoved a thin robe roughly into Debbie’s trembling body. Almost certain that Debbie had no choice and would go through with the procedure.

Rápido!” Magdalia barked, dismissing them both with indifference. She opened the basement door and went up hurriedly.

Debbie’s tears streamed unchecked now. Every part of her screamed to flee this terrible place, run back to Matteo, and beg forgiveness for even considering it. But the shame, the fear of what awaited them all if she didn’t go through with it, held her feet frozen in place.

José gently pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, whispering in a voice thick with remorse, “Lo siento tanto.I’m so sorry, Debbie.”

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