Silent Night, Sinister Night

Merry Christmassacre!

The night of the 24th came and preparations were almost finished. Mr. Chester was putting together an enormous mountain of food on the table. He looked at his watch and let out a deep sigh. The smells made his stomach rumble and mouth water. The blistering crusty skin of the turkey, the golden potatoes, perfectly cooked duck. 

So much food. It was more and more every year… It all started with goddamn cookies… 

The kids came running from the living room, their eyes glittering with excitement, but before they reached the food Mrs. Chester hushed them away. 

“The food isn’t for us!“ she waved them away, shooting a glance at the clock and then at her husband. 

He nodded at her. “There is still time,” he said, his voice hardly making its way through his tightened neck. 

The kids kept switching their eyes from one parent to the other. “Why can’t we eat?” one of them asked, caressing his tummy. 
“We are hungry!” said the other. 

“So are we honey,” said Mrs. Chester and ran a hand through his messy hair, “but the tradition says, that we should have empty stomachs tonight,” she said and glanced at the clock again. Half past nine. “It’s close to your bedtime. Go get ready!” 

“But!” the older one began.

“No, buts! Get to your beds!” Their puffy cheeks twisted in a sad expression and Mrs. Chester softened a bit. „We will be right behind you,“ she said which made them smile, stomping their feet they ran upstairs. 

Mr. and Mrs. Chester, followed them with their eyes, the tears slowly escaping over the eyelids. They hugged each other. “We will make it… won’t we?” she asked.

Mr. Chester didn’t answer, how could he, anything could happen as the night came… They held themselves tight but had to let go swiftly. 

“We need to finish up,” Mr. Chester said, checking his watch. 

She nodded, her hand sliding off his shoulder and together they set up the last touches to the feast. Their empty stomachs rumbling in agony.

The clock struck eleven and they rushed to the bedroom. The kids fortunately didn’t question why their beds were moved into their parent’s bedroom. They were too young, to remember it from last year. 

Mr. Chester locked the door and together they sat on the bed; waiting. 
A blanket of silence spread over the town, most of the houses shutting their lights at the same time. Everyone held their breath, for HE was coming to town. 

A single thought, went through the mind of every citizen — Will we make it this year?

---

Lazy snowflakes slowly covered the empty streets with a fresh, crunchy dust of snow. The night was silent, disrupted only by the wind making its way through creaky houses and narrow streets. 

It seemed as if the town itself held its breath… Waiting. 

It didn’t have to wait for long before a loud jingle spread through the night. A jolly sound perhaps, yet sinister for the citizens of Hull. The air was filled with jinggling, huffing of beasts, and a loud cracking of a whip; as a sleigh pulled by nine monstrous deer-like creatures rocketed through the sky towards the town. 

Eighteen sets of hooves drummed on the ground, creating a small earthquake, the battered sleight landed behind them with a loud smash. The deer monsters let out a growl from their sharp teethed mouths, the flesh on their faces rotting. 

A heavy boot stepped out of the sleigh, crushing the fresh snow under it. With a groan a human-like figure slowly made its way through the snow around the deers, its hand caressing their curved horns, full of dark red stains. 

The creature put on a red cap, with a pom-pom at the end, it used to be white, but it was a different shade of faded pink now. The cap went well, with the dirty red jacket and pants. A satisfied groan made its way out of the creature’s lips as it began to go from house… to house; leaving red footprints in the white dust.

---

The Chesters listened to the crunchy steps under their window. Their children were already in the bed with them, sobbing, asking what’s going on, the parents clutched them close to their chests, hand over their mouths keeping them as silent as possible.

Every step sent shivers down their spine. It was in front of their door. It was smelling the food they prepared for it; not moving for a tortuous minute. Mr. Chester could hear his own heartbeat hammering in his ears. Counting seconds until the monster enters. 

It moved, walking away towards the house across the street. 

A wave of relief washed over Mr. Chester. He let himself breathe out, his wife next to him going through the same reaction, they held hands, and looked into each other’s eyes. It usually goes around and doesn’t come back. They thought to themselves. They have gone through this many times before. 

We are going to be okay. 

A loud bang and sounds of shattering wood filled the street; followed by the silence again for a couple of agonizing seconds, then the screams began. 
Painful, tortured shrieks tore the night, children crying, and above all of that a raspy “Ho…Ho…Ho…” followed by wet tears, squishes, and sounds of breaking bones.  

Mrs. Chester gagged as the sounds reached them. The kids let out muffled cries through Mr. Chester’s fingers. He himself was forzen. He knew the people across the street. They were good neighbors, good friends to him even; but that was not enough in the end, before the Monster’s judgment.

The eerie silence came back after the massacre stopped, interrupted by crunchy steps again… the hearts of the Chester family stopped beating.

They were coming closer, closer, right in front of their doors again.

A loud creaking step on the wooden stairs in front of the house. 

Another step and a bang on the front door, making it explode. 

The overwhelming smell of food from the kitchen was suddenly overwritten by the stench of fear. The Chesters themselves could taste it on their tongues. 

They sat frozen, unable to move, paralyzed by the terror overtaking their body. Prayers slid off their lips. But no god was listening. 

The steps were in front of their bedroom now. 

BANG!

BANG! 

BANG!

The door gave in, revealing a towering figure. A smell of iron and rot filled the room. The blood stains were barely visible on the red clothes but they were shinning from dirty white beard. The monster stepped closer its glowing ember-like eyes sliding from one member of the Chaster family to the other. 

It smiled with a crooked, sharp-toothed smile. Tapped its barrel-like and spoke in an unworldly voice.

“I’ve heard someone has been naughty this year. HO! HO! HO!”

Merry Christmassacres… 

Thank you for reading!

The holiday season is upon us and I wish you pleasent survivel of the festivites. There will be one last Christmas themed story next week, this one will go into a comedic genre to make the Christmas Day a little bit less stressful. So stay tuned!

As always, if you have a friend who might like it, share it! Dru- I meant stories are best when shared with friends!

Source: I made it up.