Curse of Christmas: A Collection of Paranormal Holiday Stories

by Thea Atkinson

  Lily started walking away from me. I followed, waiting for the right moment.

  When she stepped into a private room, I went in after her. A quick glance at the bed showed an unconscious patient. No one to call for help. Lily must have sensed me. She turned, but before she could say a word, I grabbed her by the throat and slammed her into the wall behind her.

  Her eyes widened as she recognized me. “Ruby!” she choked.

  “Didn’t think you’d see me again, did you?”

  I squeezed tighter. I didn’t have a weapon, but I would happily kill her with my bare hands.

  Lily slapped at my arms, trying to break free. When she realized it wasn’t going to work, she threw her hand out and I felt my feet leave the ground. I hit the ground, wincing in pain.

  “Enough,” Lily snapped.

  Angry, I got to my feet. “It’ll be enough when you’re dead.”

  “Not here,” Lily hissed. “Someone will call the police.”

  I got to my feet, waiting for her to make a move. “Where then?”

  “Somewhere we won’t be disturbed. There’s an old warehouse across town. After my shift, just before dawn.”

  I snorted. “Right. So is it a trap or do you plan on running?”

  Lily sighed. “Neither. This is never going to go away. It’s time to finish what we started.”

  “Fine. I’ll meet you there.”

  I left quickly and returned to the car.

  Chapter 5

  Ben was waiting me after my shift ended. “I know Ruby was here. What happened?”

  “We agreed to meet somewhere private.”

  “Good. Don’t hesitate, strike first and...”

  “I’m not striking at all.”

  “What?”

  “I’m going to talk to her. Try and reason with her.”

  “You can’t.”

  “Probably not. But if I can’t then I’ll let her do what she has to.”

  “You going to let her kill you!”

  Lily shrugged. “Only fair. I tried to kill her.”

  Grabbing my bag, I headed for my car.

  “This is insane, Lily. If she kills you, then evil wins,” he said, grabbing my arm.

  I pulled away. “I don’t think she is evil. You and your brotherhood are. Manipulating us.”

  “Look around, Lily. Look at the crap that is happening to the world. This is because of you two.”

  “Then it will end, one way or another.”

  As I climbed into my car, he said, “I’m coming with you.”

  I quickly locked the doors. “I don’t think so,” I muttered.

  I drove away, leaving him standing there.

  The warehouse lay in darkness as I approached it. I could see a car parked in the distance. Ruby? I imagine she would have gotten here early, to check the place out. Maybe she had a trap ready to spring on me. I wouldn’t blame her.

  I headed into the building, finding a broken door at the side. I didn’t know whether Ruby broke it or it was already like that.

  The building was silent. The sun hadn’t risen yet, although it would soon. I didn’t have a flashlight, all I had was my penlight from the hospital. Switching it on, I moved through the debris in the building.

  “Hello, old friend,” Ruby said from somewhere up ahead.

  “Ruby? Are we going to do this in the dark?” I asked.

  There was a crack and she was lit up by a glow stick. She lit several more and tossed them around the room.

  “Kind of reminds me of that night in the alley,” Ruby said.

  “Ruby, I…”

  “Don’t talk. I don’t want to hear anything from you.”

  “Well you are going to. What I did…it was wrong. I should have told Ben to go to hell. You were my best friend and I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

  Ruby looked angry in the semi darkness. “Sorry isn’t going to cut it.”

  “I know. But I think I know something that will.” I held my arms out. “Do what you want.”

  Ruby’s eyes widened. “You’re not going to fight?”

  “No. I’m done fighting. I won’t hurt you, but if you feel the need to hurt me, then I won’t stop you.”

  Ruby raised her right arm and I caught the glint of a knife. She hesitated and I could see the struggle on her face. There was a chance I could still reach her.

  “We don’t have to do any of this,” I said.

  “Like hell we don’t.” She ran at me.

  Before she could reach me, someone appeared out of the darkness and tackled Ruby.

  “Lily, kill her,” Ben screamed, trying to pin Ruby’s arms.

  “You son of a bitch!” I spat. He followed me again.

  “I knew it was a trick,” Ruby yelled, struggling against Ben.

  “Let her go, Ben.”

  I grabbed the back of his coat and pulled him back, giving Ruby the chance to free her hand and blast him. He rolled across the floor.

  Ruby leapt to her feet and went for me. She slashed at me with the knife. “Just like before. Your little boyfriend sneaks in and does your dirty work. He murdered Oz, his own brother.”

  Ben staggered back toward us, grabbing Ruby’s arms again. “Finish it,” he said.

  I snatched the knife from her hand. “I will.”

  I stabbed Ben in the chest. He released Ruby, staggering back, his hand going to the knife. He looked at me in shock.

  “Why?” he whispered.

  “Because you deserve it for what you did to us.”

  He slumped to the ground and keeled over.

  “You killed him,” Ruby said.

  “Yes, I told you, we don’t have to do this. The brotherhood wants this, they want us to kill each other. Why the hell are we giving them what they want?”

  Ruby stared at me, trying to decide if I was telling her the truth. I just killed Ben, I didn’t know what else I could do to persuade her.

  The sound of cars arriving outside drew our attention.

  “Cops?” Ruby asked.

  I shrugged. How would they know about this?

  We hurried to the door and looked out. The cars that arrived were not police cars. At least a dozen men emerged from them and headed for the building.

  “Who are they?” Ruby asked.

  “The brotherhood. They’re here for us.”

  Chapter 6

  Lily and I backed away from the door, heading deeper into the building. The sun was rising outside, making it easier to see, but it also made it easier for them to see us.

  “Ben must have called them before he got here,” Lily said.

  “Well you would know more about them than I would,” I spat.

  “I only know what Ben told me about them. Oz should have done the same, but from the sound of it, they didn’t want you to get any help, so I could kill you.”

  “I thought it was supposed to be a fair fight?”

  “Apparently not.”

  Typical. Everyone was against me. I turned to Oz. “You didn’t think the same way?”

  “I was told not to help you, but I went anyway. It isn’t right that you were unprepared. Then when I met you, I knew I had to do everything I could to keep you safe.”

  “Who are you talking to?” Lily asked.

  “Oz. He’s still here.”

  Lily looked around. “Where? Whatever he is saying, don’t listen to him. He’s part of the brotherhood.”

  “He tried to save me.”

  Before she could say anything else, the men entered the building. They came armed, but surely, they weren’t allowed to kill us. Or were they sick of waiting for us to do it and thought they’d finish the job themselves?

  I blasted one of them as he got close to me, but all it did was knock him on his ass. Lily threw her hand out and they went down like dominos.

  “Figures,” I muttered.

  She glared at me. “You had time to learn this too.”

  Yeah, but I’m not Little Miss Perfect. Some of us have to work harder. />
  We ducked out of sight, while more men poured in. Where were they all coming from?

  “Any ideas?” I asked Oz.

  “Try to survive. They aren’t going to stop,” he said.

  Well that’s useless.

  One of the men rounded the corner and spotted me. He swung a sword at my head. Without thinking, I threw my hands out and he lifted off the ground. He looked stunned, hanging in midair. It didn’t last long as I swung my arm toward the other men and he crashed into them, taking them down like bowling pins.

  I gave Lily a satisfied? look. She looked mildly impressed. The problem was the men kept coming and they weren’t going to stop.

  “We should run,” I yelled, as I blasted them left and right.

  “I have a better idea,” Lily said. She flipped one guy through the air, then hurried to my side. “We both have power, what if we use it at the same time?”

  She held her hand out to me. I hesitated. She was probably right, we probably could do some damage, but that would mean working with her, trusting her.

  “Its this or we both die,” she said.

  Sighing, I took her hand. The moment they connected, I could feel the power surge between us, almost like my power was reaching out to hers.

  “Together,” Lily said.

  We both threw our hands out at the same time and a huge wave of energy erupted from us. It struck everyone in the room, electrocuting them. Their bodies convulsed as the wave hit them, before dropping to the floor, dead.

  We stood in stunned silence for a moment.

  “What the hell was that?” I said.

  “I don’t know, but it was powerful,” Lily said, looking at the carnage before us.

  “I don’t get it, why did that work? Aren’t we supposed to be enemies?”

  “What if we’re not?” Lily said.

  I looked for Oz, to see if he could provide any answers but I couldn’t see him anywhere.

  Someone giggled behind us and we turned to find the dwarf.

  “That’s the creep who started all this,” I growled.

  His beady eyes narrowed at us. “Now, now. I didn’t create you, I just made it possible for you to be born.”

  “Why?” Lily demanded. “Why did this all have to happen? Do we really have to kill each other?”

  His lip twitched, but he kept his mouth closed.

  “We don’t, do we?” I said.

  “Answer her,” Lily snapped when he stayed silent.

  “No, you don’t. You have to exist in this world, but we can’t have you two working together, you are too powerful.”

  “So you turned us against each other? If one of us kills the other, then the threat is over.”

  “It’s worked before. And be honest, can you two really trust each other? She did stab you, Ruby. Don’t you want your revenge?”

  Even now, he was still trying to manipulate us. All of this had been for nothing. I glanced at Lily and she gave me a slight nod. We blasted him, but the asshole vanished before we could hit him.

  “Urgh, where did he go?” Lily raged.

  “He does that.” I leaned against a broken shelving unit. “We ruined our lives over this. Well, I did.”

  Lily glared at me. “You don’t think I suffered too?”

  “Not as much as I did!”

  She held up her hand. “Stop, we can’t keep doing this. Damn it, Ruby, they screwed with us. But now the brotherhood is gone, we don’t have to live like this. We’re free.”

  I snorted. “That means something different to you than it does me. You have a life.”

  “And now you can too. Please, Ruby. Can this be over?”

  I considered her words. There was no reason to kill each other, we could just walk away.

  “Maybe we could even use our powers for something good?” Lily suggested.

  “I’m willing to call a truce, but there’s no way in hell I would ever work with you.”

  I headed outside, into the falling snow. There was still no sign of Oz. Maybe he was gone for good.

  Lily stepped out beside me. “Happy birthday, Ruby.”

  I glanced at her. “Yeah, happy birthday.”

  Walking back to my car, I climbed inside. I could go anywhere, start again.

  “Oz?” I called. He didn’t appear. He was here to help me with Lily and now we had agreed not to fight, he must have moved on.

  It really is over.

  Lily got into her car and drove away. Who knew what we were capable of together? Maybe one day, we could find out.

  The End

  Enjoyed this story? Be sure to leave a review! You can check out the companion story – Rose Red: As Red As Blood.

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling Author S. K. Gregory writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance and horror novels. She currently resides in Northern Ireland where she works as an editor.

  You can find out more about her books at www.skgregory.com

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  Fireworks And Magic

  Daemon’s Designs #0 (Urban Fantasy with a kiss of paranormal romance)

  M.T. Finnberg

  About Fireworks and Magic

  With Christmas right around the corner, what can you get for your full-blood demon bestie in the supernatural halfling and human buzz of Junction City?

  Tessa has the perfect idea, but there’s one minor detail…She needs to break into the demon den to get it.

  But she’s got her magic-annulling Stifler gun from work as a monster hunter, and she’s been to the Underworld Den before. No biggie.

  Dressed in the Santa outfit she got for her fiancee — hey, the beard covers her face nicely, so they won’t even know what hit ‘em, and the hat adds a nice touch — she sets out to sneak into the demon den vault and to be back in time to make preparations for the Christmas party.

  This should be fun…

  Fireworks and Magic

  I muttered an incantation that turned on my dark sight. Strands of light flowed across my field of vision, and the desolate-looking, barren mountain slope around me sprouted new features — this was what a demon would see. It had taken me a while to get the hang of this spell, but it was one of the most useful in my tool box, especially handy on my work assignments, whether I was zapping Nethersheen monsters with my magic-annulling gun…or dealing with vampire, demon, and werewolf troublemakers and thugs downtown.

  I chose one of the entrances to the demon den, the widest crack in the rock face with the fiercest lava-red glow. I’d been to the demon Underworld before and did not look forward to going back in, but a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do…All I needed to do was to get to the vault and back without being noticed and, well, accidentally fried by trigger-happy demon guards.

  The crimson glow looked assuring, the free flow of light telling me it was likely the easiest passage. All the entrances were guarded by wards cooked up with demonic magic. Oh, I’d get through, no question, but I didn’t exactly enjoy the feel of going through demonic spell walls. Being an angelus halfling, I’d heard it stung me worse than some other people, and that would have been easy to believe, because it sure burned like a bastard.

  The entrances were scattered across the tilting ground, creating an ominous display like the ghosts in a haunted house had decided to try out their Christmas lights…They were nothing but slits in the bedrock, or narrow caves, filled with this supernatural, crimson glow. The glow had an eerie feel to it, but knowing it was simply from the smouldering hearths of demons, nothing worse, I didn’t pause at it.

  If I was quick, and if I only found my way to the vault I was looking for in the tunnel complex, I trusted I’d be out by midnight, and could get back to shopping for the Christmas get-together we were planning with my fiancee, Reed.

  Just get it over with, girl…

  The feathers of my Venetian mask tickled my cheek, and I adjusted the straps better around my ponytail, which happened to matc
h the dark purple mask rather perfectly, if I said so myself. No need to be fashion-clueless even when you raid demon dens, am I right or am I right?

  Then I had to hide a smile, thinking about how I actually would have looked to any demon guards bumping into me, because not only was I wearing this awesome glittering Venetian mask, on the other hand I also sported a pointy, red Santa Claus hat and a magnificent fake beard. Yes. I, Tessa Davies, Junction City’s badass monster hunter, normally seen in nice heels and a leather jacket, was dressed as Santa…or more precisely, Santa, who was apparently about to attend a Venetian dance ball. Hey, he’s allowed a little fun, too, isn’t he?

  I’d gotten the Santa outfit for Reed to wear for the Christmas Eve get-together, which was going to be super fun, but since I’d had the outfit at hand, and it had seemed so convenient…What can I say? The beard hid my face, and I could nicely hide under the oversized hat. If I ran into guards, yet got away fast enough, nobody would have a clue who had struck. Perfect, no?

  Besides, it wasn’t like there would later be any embarrassing, leaked security camera footage of a sneaking Santa — me — because they had no security cameras in the demon den. Demons didn’t do security cameras. I happened to know that the Overlord of the Underworld, Asmodeus, hated tech of all sorts and preferred the demons’ old-fashioned magical ways over ‘complicated modern garbage’ as he so nicely put it.

  As the city’s bounty hunter, I was frequently on the news, and had to give some thought into stuff like this, and pics showing me sneaking around as Mysterious Dance Ball Santa was not on my to-do list, but no worries.

  Crouching down, I made my way into the tunnel that got warmer and warmer, the further I went. Hearths.

  Just as I stepped over a bigger rock, the distinctive feel of geomancy took hold— demonic magic spells laid out as a carpet for intruders to trip over—and the ground began to melt under my feet. The earth underneath my soles became fluid and opaque, and within seconds, all I knew was, I was wading knee-deep in oozing lava. It was nothing but a mind trick. The demons loved their illusion magic. After a disorienting moment, the walls around me turned blueish, and the space opened up to form a roomy, cavernous hall.