by Willow Rose
I didn't want to fight with Sune anymore, so I just turned my back on him and followed my son into the line. It didn't take long before I was sitting on a horse, Will on the one next to me, seemingly already forgetting everything. If only I had the mind of a child. I, for one, couldn't shake the experience and the dread was still inside of me, my hands still shaking. It couldn't have been just an illusion, could it? William saw it too. Just like the big kids had seen the blood in the chimney, but Sune hadn't seen any of it.
Because you'll start believing in him. He only comes to those who believe
Those had been the words of Sara Andrews. She had warned me. She had told me that if she told me her story, I would start believing he was real, that this terrible version of our beloved jolly Santa was real. And so, he would come for me. Was that what had happened to Dr. Hahn? To Sydney's dad?
Sune hasn't seen him. He hasn't heard the stories, so he doesn't believe it.
I realized that Sune's ignorance and ability to refuse to believe what I told him were actually what was saving him from also entering this nightmare. It was what was keeping him safe. I didn't need to convince him that it was real; I needed him to convince me it wasn't.
The carousel spun around and around, faster and faster, and I enjoyed the wind on my face, trying to let this entire experience dissipate from my memory, shaking it, letting the crazy pitchy carousel music into my mind, letting it take over while replacing all the bad thoughts with good ones, as the horse went up and down.
Up and down.
64
As I got off the carousel, William’s hand in mine, Julie and Tobias came running up to us.
"Mom, the Oh-so-Jolly Holiday Parade is about to start," she said. "We need to get a good spot."
I kissed my daughter and held her close.
"Mom, what's the matter?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. I just missed you. That's all. Did you have fun on the rides?"
"Yes," Julie said. "Tobias and I went on everything. Space Mountain is sooo much fun. You should try it, Mom."
I laughed. "I think I’m a little too old for that."
"Here they come," Tobias said.
The loud music drowned out everything else, as the parade approached us in a sea of lights. People gathered around us and soon we were standing very close. A lady next to me held up her phone to make a video while dancing and I wondered what kind of video she would end up with.
"There's Donald Duck," Will exclaimed. He started to wave and Donald waved back while dancing down the street to the most joyful Christmas music.
"And Chip and Dale," Tobias said and waved. The chipmunks waved back.
"And Elsa!" Julie said, sounding a little more excited than she wanted to as the entire cast of Frozen filed by.
"BELLE!" William gave me a blissful smile as his favorite princess showed up, riding on a float made from a giant stack of books.
A set of trumpet-and-drum-playing toy soldiers followed, along with reindeer and Goofy, Minnie, and finally a Christmas-dressed Mickey Mouse. The kids waved and danced to the music, while I took pictures with my phone. It was truly spectacular and everything I had hoped it would be.
It had gotten dark out and the parade glittered beautifully in the darkness. Fake snow was falling from the lampposts in a bluish light. People on skis, with wheels underneath, rushed by, pretending to be skiing. And then came Olaf to the tune of Let It Snow. Olaf giggled loudly, then passed us.
"Pluto!" Will said.
"Peter Pan," Tobias said.
"Winnie the Pooh," Julie said.
"Santa!" Sune said and pointed.
I stopped waving and froze as the float carrying Santa came toward us in the distance. He was sitting in a huge sleigh, reindeer and elves dancing in front of it, Christmas lights glowing around it. Bells were ringing, loud jingle bells, and Santa was waving from atop it. The music shifted to Santa Claus is Coming to Town and all the kids around us cheered.
Except William.
He backed up into my arms and hid.
"Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus," they all chanted.
Sune was probably the loudest of them all. He was so happy, singing along, getting Julie and Tobias to sing as well. Meanwhile, I could feel William's small hand shaking in mine.
65
The sight of Santa was scaring me but I felt safe with all these people around me. Yet, I kept William close as the float filed by us, Santa waving and laughing merrily from it.
Julie and Tobias waved back eagerly and Santa looked down at them, holding his belly and waving back.
I held my breath as he passed William and me, then finally breathed freely as it was almost past us and Santa focused on what was ahead, on the kids standing next to us.
And then he turned his head.
I gasped and backed up into someone standing behind me, pulling William with me. Santa's red glowing eyes were on us now, and he was smiling that awful smile of his behind the thick beard, showing off his pointy teeth.
"M-mommy?" Will said.
"Let's get out of here," I said and elbowed myself out of the crowd. With Will’s hand in mine, I walked fast away from the parade, away from the crowd and the loud noise, my heart pounding in my chest.
"Peter Pan!" Will said happily and pointed at a small roller coaster ride behind us called Peter Pan's Flight.
I stared at the parade and Santa disappearing. "You wanna go on that? We can do that," I said and hurried to the entrance of it before everyone else came from watching the parade and created a line. I texted Sune and let him know where we were.
Will and I were the first to get in. We found a carriage and sat down and a second later the ride began. William was still shaking as we took off into the world of Peter Pan, starting in the bedroom where Wendy and her siblings were getting ready for bed. It was a very sweet and quiet ride and soon it made me relax and breathe normally again. Next, we were pulled upward and flew above the housetops, floating like we were flying with Peter Pan. William sucked his pacifier and looked down, pointing.
"Grandpa."
"You think grandpa is living down there," I said with a chuckle. I realized I missed him terribly and wondered if he was all right, while flying in our little carriage above the Thames, Big Ben beneath us.
"Neverland," William said dreamily and pointed as the landscape below us changed to cliffs and lakes.
"Pirates," he said, concerned, when we spotted a pirate ship. Will lifted his arm, his eyebrows wrinkled. "Hook."
"I know," I said looking behind me to make sure Santa hadn't followed us in here. There was no one in the seats in front of us or behind us. There was nothing to worry about. I turned back to look at the scenery in front of us.
"Captain Hook. That's him right there, see? He's fighting with someone. Who's he fighting with, Will?"
William smiled widely. "Peter Pan!"
Hook and Pan were rocking back and forth in the old display of them in a sword battle on top of the pirate ship, balancing on the boom. It was cute and a little amusing.
"Don't like Hook," Will said, shaking his head.
"You don't like Hook? Well, no one likes him, I guess."
"I'll get you, Peter Pan," Hook yelled over the speakers and they kept fighting, when suddenly Hook stopped what he was doing and jumped out of the scenery, onto our carriage.
His red eyes glowed at us as he swung his hook at us, yelling: "What do you want for Christmas, Will, what do you want? What do you want? Huh? Huh?"
66
The hook swung above my head just as I ducked, and it slammed into the pole behind me. William screamed. I grabbed him in my arms and ducked again as the hook once again came toward me.
"Mommy!"
"We gotta get out of this ride," I said and was about to jump out, when suddenly the carriage moved faster, spinning out of control. I was thrown back in the seat as the exhibition rushed past us, the carriage going faster and faster. I was screaming at the top of my lungs an
d William was as well. We came close to the exit, but the ride didn't stop, it just hurried past the platform where all the next guests were waiting to get in, then rushed back inside the ride once again. People screamed and so did I. Still, the wagon was accelerating, going faster than any roller coaster I had ever been in.
"Stop it, Mommy! Make it stop," Will cried.
Meanwhile, Hook, who had now turned into Santa—yet still with the hook for a hand—was sitting above us on the plastic carriage's boom, laughing, yelling out into the air.
"Tell me what you want for Christmas, Will!!"
Once again, we rushed past the entire exhibition, then out to the outside where people were still screaming as we rushed past them back inside, where the ride continued all over.
"Stop it," I cried. "Just make it stop."
Santa jumped into the carriage, sitting in the seats in front of us, looking back at us, smirking, showing off his spiky teeth. He was giggling.
"I brought your little friend," he said.
In front of me sat Sydney. My heart literally stopped, but as I looked at her, I realized it wasn't really her. Her eyes were different.
"I love Christmas," she said. "It's my favorite time of year. Where I am now it's Christmas all year around. Doesn’t that sound like FUN?"
I looked behind her and saw Tobin, Dr. Hahn, the girl from the carol singing choir, along with hundreds of other dead faces sitting inside the carriages, riding the ride. I could hear them singing Christmas carols.
I was breathing in short shallow gasps as I watched Sydney's face disappear and Santa return. He was laughing as we rushed toward the exit once again, passed the crowd outside, and back inside the ride. I wondered if it would ever stop. I felt so nauseous, it almost hurt.
Santa held the hook out in front of us, then swung it once again, missing my head by an inch. I gasped and ducked down to the bottom of the carriage, pulling Will with me. Santa was laughing above us. I heard his boots land next to us inside the carriage, closed my eyes, and prepared for it all to be over. The hook hit me first on the arm, penetrated the skin and went in deep, blood spurting out. I screamed when suddenly the carriage stopped abruptly. Santa was swung over the edge and flew onto the tracks. The wagon then started to back up, going back outside where a crowd had gathered. Two security guards helped us get out and some official representing Disney came up to us. He looked like he was fifteen.
"I am so sorry, ma’am. I can't tell you how awful we all feel. This has never happened before."
He looked at my arm. It was bleeding heavily. "Oh, my," he said. "Do you want us to take you to see a medical professional? We have paramedics waiting right down here."
I nodded, unable to speak. Will was clinging to my leg.
I spotted Sune in front of us, rolling closer, his face concerned. "What happened?"
I scoffed, then shook my head and let the paramedic attend to my wound.
"The ride got stuck somehow," the official person explained. "We will, of course, have to close it down till we figure out what happened. And you'll get compensation. And free annual passes, naturally."
I didn't care much about what the man said. My heart was still pounding in my chest, but I didn't want to tell Sune anything. I just wanted to get out of there, fast.
67
I had to have stitches in my arm to close up the wound, so they took me to the nearest emergency room and patched me up. It was painful, but to be honest, the worst part was all the waiting.
Before they could release me, I had to sign a ton of papers stating I wasn't going to sue Disney World. When I was finally done, I found the kids and Sune waiting for me in the lobby of the hospital.
The kids all hugged me and Julie asked if my arm was okay. I told her it would be. Will was more concerned about me being able to unwrap presents for Christmas.
We drove back toward Cocoa Beach. No one spoke for the longest part of the ride, except for a few sentences about how good it was going to be to get back home and how we really needed a quiet night’s sleep.
My arm hurt but I could still drive and I just wanted to get back to the beach house and as far away from Disney World and Orlando as possible. The kingdom didn't seem so magical to me anymore. Neither did Florida or Cocoa Beach, for that matter. I just really missed home.
I had called my dad from the hospital to tell him what had happened. I didn't go into detail but explained that I had been in an accident and that I was getting stitches. He wasn't feeling well, he said. The nurse said he had a bladder infection again, but it was really hurting this time, he said. I was worried about him. And I felt terrible for abandoning him at Christmas. Who knew if it would be his last?
We entered the beach house and I dropped my backpack on the floor, then threw myself on the couch. William had slept in the car, so he was awake now and wanted to watch a movie. Against my better judgment, but in order to have a little peace and quiet, I put on Beauty and the Beast. The big kids went on their computers upstairs before bedtime and, to my surprise, Sune didn't retract to the media room, but rolled up next to the couch and sat with us, while being on his iPad.
It didn't take ten seconds before I dozed off. I dreamt about my dad and that I was with him again. I don't know exactly where we were, but I was holding his hand while he was lying in his bed, breathing with difficulty. I was worried about him, worried he was going to die, asking him what I was supposed to do without him. Then, for some reason, my mom was suddenly there, even though she had been dead for many years. I spoke to her about my dad and she told me he was going to Disney World soon.
I woke up with a gasp, my heart beating fast, worrying it was some sort of premonition, that soon my mom and dad would be in the same place, a sort of heavenly Disney World—which to me right now sounded more like hell—when my phone buzzed on the table in front of me. I grabbed it and looked at the display, blinking my eyes to better focus.
It was a text from Alyssa.
I CAN HEAR HIM. HE'S OUTSIDE MY ROOM. HIS NAILS ARE SCRAPING ON MY DOOR. I AM ALONE. MOM AND DAD ARE OUT. PLEASE, HELP ME!
68
I ran as fast as I could down the beach till I found Alyssa's house. Panting, my legs hurting from running, I stopped on the porch outside and looked up at the chimney where I remembered they had pulled out Tobin on the first day I was here. I swallowed hard, then rushed to the sliding doors and pulled them open.
As I walked into the living room and across the carpet, I could hear the chimney. It was like it was calling to me, a pulse pounding inside of it. I stopped and stared at it, my heart in my throat. Blood was running down the walls of the brick fireplace in long thin stripes.
I heard a sound. It was coming from upstairs.
I ran up and found Alyssa's room. The door wasn't knocked in, it was ripped to pieces. I stepped over the broken wood. Inside the room, I found Alyssa. She was not on her bed but hung up against the wall above her bed, a belt around her throat, a thick black leather belt with a solid brass buckle. Her face was purple, her screams caught in her throat.
"Alyssa," I said as I ran to her, unfastened the belt, and let her fall to the bed.
"Are you all right?" I asked.
She fought to speak but had no breath. The belt had left deep bruises on her throat. She was coughing and panting, getting her breath back, crawling on all fours, throwing up on the bed.
"He ripped the door," she said between moans. "Clawed his way through."
"Are you hurt anywhere else?" I asked.
She shook her head, struggling to swallow, putting a hand to her throat. She coughed again, snot coming from her nose, saliva running from her mouth onto the bedspread.
Why hadn't he killed her? Why hadn't he given her the red marks? Was he in a hurry? Did I scare him away?
"Maybe he had something else planned," I mumbled.
"What?" Alyssa asked, finally able to speak almost normally.
My heart dropped as the realization sunk in. My eyes grew wide and I looked at Al
yssa.
"Will."
"What are you talking about?"
"He wanted me out of the house," I said, gasping for air as my throat was narrowing, panic erupting like waves in my body. "He's been after Will all this time."
69
His dad had fallen asleep, but William wasn't tired. Not at all. He had slept in the car and he didn't need any more sleep. But his movie was done and his mom gone and now Will had no idea what to do next.
He heard a rustle coming from the Christmas tree in the corner and decided to go check it out. He wondered if it might be a squirrel or a bird or something fun like in the trees outside. He wasn't going to miss out on that.
Will approached the Christmas tree and laughed when he saw his own reflection in the globes, his face all deformed and funny. Will reached up and grabbed a globe between his chubby little fingers, then pulled it off the tree and looked into it. He liked the way binky looked in it when he sucked on it and laughed again. Then he tilted his head as he saw something else in it, something that looked like it was coming up behind him. Remembering the bad Santa he had seen at Disney World earlier in the day, Will threw the globe onto the tiles. The globe didn't shatter, but bounced right back up, making a funny noise, and soon Will had forgotten all about what he had seen inside of it and was chasing the globe through the living room, bouncing it off the tiles like a ball, giggling his little heart out.
When he got to the chimney, he stopped and forgot all about the globe. He was chewing his pacifier while staring at the white brick fireplace in front of him. He wasn't staring at it because it was in any way funny or interesting. No, he was staring because he could hear something. It was coming from inside of it. A sound.
The sound of nails scraping against a wall.
Will didn't understand how such a sound could come from inside the chimney and for a while he stared at it, quite fascinated and a little frightened.
