Candyman: Uno Momento

It is a clear warm night in East Los Angeles. 16 year old Bernard Ray is getting ready to go sleep when a conversation he had with his friends earlier in the day comes to mind. His two best friends Laurie and Jason told him the urban legend about the Candyman. They told him that if you say the Candyman’s name five times in a mirror then he will pop up behind you with bees surrounding his essence and a hook jammed into the stump of his sawed off right hand and then he will murder you for calling him by his forbidden named.

Though no one in the trio had ever attempted to call the Candyman and did not know anyone else who had tried it before, their crew wanted to be the first to break the mold. Though they did not know anyone who tried the deed they had all heard stories or what you would consider urban legends about people who had achieved it and supposedly died after summoning the Candyman. Bernard being the most daring person in the crew decided that he was going to be the bragging rights example. With a jittery smile on his face, Bernard had the camera on his phone set up to record him as he summoned the Candyman.

His plan was to show the video off at school to everyone so they could show their peers how daring and fearless they were. Most of their schoolmates were afraid to try the chant because of all of the urban legends they heard about people who met a bloody end for calling the Candyman. As Bernard readied himself to say the chant he remembered one more piece of info that was given: he had to say the Candyman’s name five times in under a minute in order for it to be effective and in that same span of a minute Candyman would appear and would be the last thing that he ever saw.

Staring into his bathroom mirror with a thrill of excitement coursing through his body, Bernard began the chant. Candyman…Candyman. The first two chants made Bernard’s already crooked smile into a bigger full one. Candyman. The third chant gave him the chills. He shivered as goosebumps started to form on his arms and legs. Candyman. During this fourth chant Bernard’s glee started to dwindle. It was as if he suddenly felt a hint of hesitation. Though he felt this was all fun and games, the back of his mind lightly begged the question of what if the legend is true? What if the danger is real? He looked over at the timer on his phone as it recorded him and now saw that he was 30 seconds into the chant.

It was in that moment after he looked at the timer on his phone that he snapped himself out of his hesitation and said the name one last time. Candyman. He waited in silence for a brief five seconds after saying the name one final time, but found he was in a room of dead silence. After letting out a sigh of relief Bernard chuckled to himself. Seeing that all was well he stood up and looked at the timer on his camera and saw that it was at 40 seconds. As he stood to pause his camera Bernard suddenly heard a buzzing behind him. Why do I hear bees? He asked himself.

Bernard looked into the reflection of his bathroom mirror and saw a swarm of bees coming out of the drain of his bathtub. His heart began to race as he started to tremble in fear. No…no…no, this can’t be happening, this isn’t real. As Bernard turned around to face the swarm of bees that was filling up his bathtub he came face to face with a tall man with brown skin wearing a long trench coat and a hook jammed into the bloody stump of what used to be his right hand. Bernard was hypnotized with shock and found himself unable to move. Candyman! Bernard exclaimed with a shiver. The man raised his hook as Bernard looked him in the eyes with fear in his own.

The timer on Bernard’s camera counted down the last five seconds. 5…4…3…2…1…as Bernard’s screams could be heard in the night.