Starting Over at Four

My sister disappeared because of my aunt, Renee Dover. She smiled and said, "Our little Candy is so pretty. It'd be a shame not to get her into kids' modeling." Then she took three-year-old Candy away. She claimed the shoot had been too crowded and that Candy had wandered off on her own. My parents searched for over ten years. When they finally found her, Candy was chained up in a house deep in the mountains. She had given birth to seven children, and her mind had broken long ago. She died on the way home. The grief destroyed my parents too. They lost their minds and were killed when a car struck them. Aunt Renee seized their inheritance and gloated, "Your mother should've lent me the money when I asked. I sold the kid and got paid anyway, didn't I?" She built her happiness on Candy's suffering, married well, and lived happily ever after. In a haze, I was swept into traffic too. When I opened my eyes, I was four years old again. Chapter 1 The day my aunt, Renee Dover, came to visit, Dad sat Mom down and said, "The 180,000 in savings doesn't get touched. I don't care who asks for it. That money's for the kids." What they did not realize was that Aunt Renee had been standing just outside the door, listening for quite some time. I only learned the full truth in my previous life. Her boyfriend, Ray Dutton, had been hounding her for 180 grand to put toward the wedding. She did not have the money, and my parents had already turned her down when she tried to borrow it. Then she noticed my sister, Candace Bennett, sitting on the carpet, smiling that soft, sweet little smile of hers. Her eyes lit up. "Come on, Mary, I'm not making this up. A kids' clothing brand is looking for child models. One day of shooting is 20 grand." Mom paused mid-step, the grocery basket still in her hand. "Twenty grand?" "Yeah!" Aunt Renee pulled Candy onto her lap. "How much do you and your husband even make in a month? That's enough to cover your living expenses for months." She bounced Candy on her knee. "She's so adorable, and you're not going to let her do it? That's a waste." My head went white. No. I could not let her take Candy. I threw myself off the couch and cracked my knee against the coffee table. Tears shot to my eyes, but I did not care. I lunged forward and locked my arms around Candy's legs. "She's not going!" Candy flinched. "Levi?" I held tighter. "Candy's not going! No photoshoots!" The smile on Aunt Renee's face froze for just a second before she recovered. She bent down, her voice turning syrupy sweet. "What's wrong, Levi? Are you upset 'cause you wanna tag along with your sister?" I lifted my head and glared at her. "Bad Aunt Renee!" The living room went silent. Mom frowned. "Levi, that's rude. You don't speak to your aunt like that." Dad set his cup down. "Apologize to your aunt." I shook my head, crying harder. "She's gonna sell Candy! You can't let Candy go with her!" Aunt Renee's eyes turned red immediately. She looked at Mom, the picture of wounded innocence. "Mary, do you hear this? I'm trying to do something nice for Candy and he says I'm selling her?" Mom pried me off Candy's legs. "Levi, you're just upset about being away from your sister, aren't you?" I thrashed against her, reaching for Candy. "She's not going! Aunt Renee's bad!" Every adult in the room was staring at me. None of them noticed me slip the phone watch off my wrist. Dad had just bought it for me. It was blue, with a calling function and GPS tracking built in. In my previous life, I had nothing like it. This time, the second I came back, I clung to Dad and begged until he caved and bought me one. While Mom held me and tried to calm me down, I snuck the watch into Candy's sleeve. She looked down at it, confused. "Levi?" I grabbed her small hand and fumbled the clasp around her wrist. The band was too big and hung loose on her tiny wrist, so I tugged her sleeve down to hide it. "Keep it on. No matter what happens, never take it off, and don't let anyone see it." Candy nodded without question. Aunt Renee wiped her eyes and turned to Mom. "Mary, you're really going to take a four-year-old's word over mine?" Our Nana called almost right away. Mom put her on speaker, and Nana's voice rang through the room loud and clear. "Renee is Candy's own aunt. You think she'd hurt her? Levi's just a kid being overprotective of his baby sister. He probably wants to tag along and play too. You're not seriously taking his word over hers, are you?" Chapter 2 The family group chat would not stop buzzing. [Twenty grand for a single day? That's the kind of opportunity most people can only dream of. Renee's being nice, even thinking of you guys.] [Isn't Levi just upset that his sister gets to go out and he doesn't? Little boys get overly protective and throw fits. That's all this is.] [A child said something silly, and now, the adults are confused too? You're really going to turn down 20,000 dollars?] Aunt Renee sat on the edge of the couch with her head down. She did not say a word. The longer she stayed silent, the guiltier Mom felt. I knew her game too well. She had played it exactly the same way in my previous life. She would sweet-talk first, then play the victim, and by the end, everyone would be convinced that our family was the ungrateful one. I ran over and grabbed Mom's phone. "She's not going! She's not going!" Mom held the phone out of my reach. "Levi, stop making a scene." I stomped my feet in a panic. "She's gonna sell Candy! There's a car! A bad man!" Dad frowned. "What car?" Aunt Renee jumped in right away. "Wasn't there a car in that cartoon he was watching? Kids see something and just start repeating it." I yelled, "That's not it!" Aunt Renee's eyes grew even redder. "You know what, Mary, just forget it. I thought Candy was pretty and wanted to help you guys earn a little extra money. If Levi doesn't want her to go, then fine. It's not like 20 grand is make-or-break." She let out a soft sigh. "Better that than him holding it against me down the road." Mom panicked, just as I knew she would. "No, no, he doesn't know any better. Don't take it personally." Dad, however, was not so easily swayed. "What's the brand? Where's the shoot? Is there a contract?" The smile on Aunt Renee's face dimmed. "You don't trust me either?" "She's three years old," Dad said. "It's normal to ask questions." "She's my own niece. You think I'd sell her?" Aunt Renee's voice cracked. "Honestly, this really hurts." The word 'sell' hit me like a jolt. I pointed straight at her. "You said it! You said sell!" Aunt Renee blinked, then let out a helpless laugh. "Levi, I said I wouldn't sell her." She crouched in front of me and reached for my head. I bit down. She yanked her hand back fast, but not fast enough. My teeth caught the edge of her finger. "Ow!" Mom scooped me up. "Levi Bennett!" I was crying so hard that I had the hiccups. "Don't touch me! Don't touch Candy!" Candy started crying too the moment she saw me. "Don't cry, Levi." Aunt Renee's gaze flickered toward Candy for just a second. Then she pulled out a little dress. It was pink and white, covered in sparkles. "Look, Candy. I got this just for you. You'd wear it for the photoshoot. Isn't it pretty?" Candy still had tears on her cheeks, but her eyes were already glued to the dress. "A dress..." I smacked it to the floor. "She's not wearing that!" Aunt Renee's expression finally went cold. "Levi, if you keep acting like this, you're really going to hurt my feelings." Dad stood up. "She's not going today." I whipped around to look at him. He continued, "Once they send over the contract, the address, and the brand details, Mary and I will go with her ourselves." I let out a breath of relief. Aunt Renee simply smiled. "Sure. Nothing wrong with being careful." I thought I had bought us time. What I had forgotten was that in my previous life, Aunt Renee had not taken Candy by convincing everyone. She had done it by finding an opening. Mom went to the kitchen to turn off the stove, and Dad's phone rang. It was work. He stepped onto the balcony to answer. Mom had set me down on the couch before she left. "Be good, Levi. I'll talk to you in a minute." Aunt Renee picked Candy up. "Come on, sweetie. Let's go look at the dress by the front door." Chapter 3 I jumped off the couch immediately. "She's not going!" Aunt Renee laughed. "We're just stepping outside the door. You can come too, Levi." Candy was in her arms, still clutching that little stuffed bunny of hers. She looked at me. "You're coming too, Levi?" I was about to follow them when Aunt Renee gently blocked me with her arm. "Levi, your shoes are on the wrong feet. Go fix them." I looked down. My shoes were not on the wrong feet. By the time I looked up again, the door was open. Aunt Renee was already out, with Candy in her arms. I screamed. "Dad!" I sprinted to the doorway. The elevator doors had just closed. I pounded on them with both hands. "Candy! Candy!" Dad came in from the balcony. "What happened?" "Aunt Renee took Candy!" Mom came running from the kitchen. "What?" She pulled out her phone and called Aunt Renee, but there was no answer. She called again, and still no answer. In the family group chat, Aunt Renee had sent a voice message. "Mary, the photographer's in a rush, so I'm taking Candy over now. Don't worry. I'll bring her right back after the shoot, and I'll send you the 20 grand then too." The color drained from Mom's face. Dad grabbed his car keys. "Which way did she go?" I threw myself at him and slapped his phone. "The watch! Dad, check my watch!" He did not understand. "What watch?" I held up my bare wrist and showed him. "I gave it to Candy!" Dad froze for one second. The next, he opened the phone watch tracking app. A small red dot appeared on the screen. It was not downstairs. It was not at any photography studio in the city center either. It was behind the old shopping mall across from our neighborhood. Mom saw the location, and her voice changed. "Why would she be there?" That mall had been closed for years. The front entrance was plastered with leasing ads, and the glass doors were coated in dust. There was no children's clothing studio anywhere near it. I grabbed Dad's shirt, sobbing. "Candy's there!" Dad's expression turned terrifyingly dark. "Mary, call the police." Mom dialed with shaking hands. Nana called again at that exact moment, but Mom did not pick up. The family group chat was still blowing up. [What's going on with you two now? Renee already said she's taking Candy to the shoot. You still don't believe her?] [You know how easily Renee gets hurt, and she's only trying to help. This really isn't right.] [That boy of yours has a real temper. You need to get him in line.] Dad did not look at the chat. He scooped me up with one arm, grabbed his phone and keys, and ran for the door. Mom was right behind him, tears streaming down her face. The wind hit hard when we reached the ground floor. Dad ran with me in his arms, fast. I pressed my chin into his shoulder and kept my eyes locked on the red dot on his phone screen. It was not moving. It stayed right there, behind the old mall. I knew that place. In my previous life, I had gone back to it many times after I grew up. The police had eventually traced it all back there. That was where Aunt Renee had handed Candy off to Ray. After that, Candy was loaded into a car and driven out of state. The only problem was that by the time we found those leads, it had been far too late. I gripped Dad's shirt tighter. "Faster, Dad, faster!" We had to be fast enough. This time, we had to make it. Dad was breathing hard. "Don't be scared. Daddy's here." I wanted to tell him that I was scared, and I was terrified. I was terrified of being one step too late again. I was terrified of losing Candy all over again. Mom ran alongside us, calling Aunt Renee over and over. This time, the call went through. She put it on speaker, her voice shaking. "Renee, where are you?" Chapter 4 Wind and car horns blared through the other end of the line. Aunt Renee let out a small laugh. "Mary, I'm on my way to the studio. The photographer's rushing me." Mom held back tears. "Turn your video on. I want to see Candy." Aunt Renee hesitated. "Candy fell asleep." "Turn it on!" There were two seconds of silence on the other end. "Hello? Hello? The signal's cutting out!" Then the line went dead. Mom was standing on the side of the road. Her whole body swayed. "She's lying to me. My own sister!" Dad held the phone up for her to see. The red dot was still behind the old mall. His voice was low. "She's been lying to you." I pointed down the narrow side path. "The back entrance! Go that way!" The road behind the old mall was barely wide enough for a single car. Stacks of flattened cardboard boxes and broken signboards lined the edges. Hardly anyone ever went back there. The second Dad turned the corner, I heard a car door slam shut. The sound punched through me like something from a nightmare in my previous life. My entire body went cold. "Dad! A car!" Dad picked up speed, and Mom shouted from behind us, "Renee!" No one answered. The only sound was the wind snapping against a tattered old banner. We reached the back entrance of the mall, and I saw a gray van parked along the curb. Its rear was facing us, and the back doors were open. A man in a baseball cap was hunched over, shoving a bulging pink backpack into the back seat. It was not Candy's backpack. Candy had not brought one when she left the apartment. However, I spotted something on the ground. It was a pink hair clip, the same one Aunt Renee had just put in Candy's hair. A few fine, soft strands were caught in its teeth. My mind went blank. "Candy!" The man in the cap whipped around. Next to the van, Aunt Renee turned too. The moment she saw us, the color drained from her face. "Mary? What are you doing here?" Mom rushed forward. "Where's Candy?" Aunt Renee planted herself in front of the van door. "She's in a shop up ahead, trying on dresses." I screamed, "You're lying!" I thrashed free from Dad's arms and ran toward the van. Aunt Renee reached out and tried to grab me. "Levi, stop it!" I sank my teeth into her hand. This time, I bit down hard, and the taste of blood filled my mouth. She shrieked, "Ow!" I used the opening to throw myself against the van and pound on the door. "Candy! Candy!" There was no sound from inside. The red dot on the phone watch, however, was right here. Dad saw it too. He grabbed Aunt Renee by the arm and pulled her aside. "Move!" She cried and fought to stay in the way. "What are you doing? That's my friend's car! It's full of equipment for the shoot!" Mom bent down and picked up the hair clip from the ground. She stared at the strands of hair caught in the teeth, her hand trembling so badly she could barely hold it. "Renee, where's Candy?" Aunt Renee's eyes darted for just a second before the tears came back. "Mary, why are you listening to a child's nonsense? I'm her own aunt. Would I really hurt her?" The driver had already climbed into the front seat. His hands were on the steering wheel. The headlights flicked on. The man in the cap turned and moved to get in as well. Dad's expression shifted instantly. "Stop the car!" The man swore, "Fuck! What's your problem?" Through the gap in the window, I caught a sliver of pink sleeve. Candy had been wearing pink sleeves today. I threw myself at the door and tried to pull it open, but my hands were too small. No matter how hard I pulled, it would not budge. My voice cracked, and the tears came pouring out. "Candy's in the car! Dad, stop him!"