Meghan gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. Ryder seemed to snap out of his immobile state because he stumbled away from the doorway. Carly gasped, more delightedly than Meghan's horrified one, and began moving toward the door, but Gordon quickly grabbed her arm, pulling her back. "No, don't go near them."

"But don't you see?" she said. "They're Santa's reindeer!"

Meghan couldn't look away from the three fawns floating suspended in the air, small trails of gold shimmers rippling the air as they moved. This seemed like something that could be found in a movie. But there it was, happening right in front of her. She didn't look at Carly as she said, "Honey, they can't be Santa's reindeer."

"But they are!" she argued, trying to pull herself out of Gordon's grasp.

"Than what are they doing here?" Ryder challenged.

"I don't know!" Carly snapped, seeming to get angry at not being able to go near them. "Maybe they got separated somehow." She tried to pry Gordon's fingers off of her arm. "Dad, let go!"

"We should call somebody," Meghan said, finally looking at Gordan. A strand of terror threaded through her heart, attaching itself there.

"Like who?" Carly asked in annoyance. "WASART? You already called them! They haven't come yet! But, Mom, maybe they shouldn't, because the fawns are magical! They're Santa's! We should get into contact with him so he knows they're missing."

"Carly, you're ten-years-old!" Ryder snapped angrily. "Grow up!"

Carly gasped again, but that time, tears filled her eyes. She glared at her brother, the tears spilling. "You're just rude! Why can't you believe what is true? You big baby. You should grow up!"

With those words, she clawed at Gordon's hand until he released her. Then she raced into the bedroom and slammed the door behind her. Meghan quickly raced to the door, banging on it. "Carly! Open up! Those fawns could be dangerous!"

"Go away!" she yelled between sobs.

Meghan turned to Ryder who stared at the door wordlessly, guilt showing through his face. "Ryder! You had better apologize."

"No," Carly yelled, her voice muffled. "I don't want anything from him!"

Meghan scowled at her son and gestured for him to approach the door. He trudged over to it. "Carly, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"Just go away!" she exclaimed.

"Carly, open the door," Gordan said, knocking on it again.

"No!"

Meghan groaned. What if the fawns were dangerous? And Carly was inside of the room with them. She turned back to Ryder. "You know what, go to your room too."

"Carly's occupying it," he spat.

"Well, then get out right now!" she snapped. "Now we have this to deal with thanks to you. Go...go on a walk or something!"

Ryder glared at her before turning to Gordon who only nodded sternly. "Fine! Have a good time without me."

An anger she hadn't felt in a long time tried to claw to the surface as she watched him pull his shoes on and yank the apartment door open. "We will!"

He rolled his eyes, saying, "Yeah, sure," before slamming the door behind him.

Meghan turned back to the bedroom door, taking a deep breath, before knocking on it again. "Carly, open the door. We need to talk."

"About what?" she sobbed.

"About a lot of things," Gordon answered. "And it's not safe in there."

"The fawns aren't going to hurt me," she said. "So, go away. I want to be alone!"

Meghan looked at Gordon helplessly. He just nodded. "Fine. But you can't be in there forever." Meghan watched in surprise as he moved to sit on the couch. She folded her arms, watching him take a seat. When he noticed her watching skeptically, he frowned. "What?"

"That's an improvement from when you threatened to take the door down on Ryder," she stated.

He rubbed his neck before looking at the front door. "Speaking of Ryder..."

Meghan looked at the door before inaudibly sighing. She just kicked her son out. How could she do that? "I need to go find him."

Gordan nodded. "I'll stay here and talk to Carly."

Meghan nodded before pulling her boots on. As she stepped out of the apartment and made her way toward the elevator, the breath hitched in her throat. She just sent Ryder out alone when something was following them everywhere. What had she done! She picked up the pace, jamming the first floor level on the elevator.

When the doors opened back up, she raced out the front doors and into the cold weather. Not many people were roaming the streets in the soft falling snow. She looked around for her son. "Ryder? Ryder!"

People turned to give her weird looks as she raced down the sidewalk, carefully sidestepping around visible slabs of ice. She shivered against the cold, pulling her jacket closer to her body. She never kicked her children out. Not like this. Why was her temper going haywire? How could she kick her child out? She continued down the sidewalk as cars raced by in a hurry.

Once she turned a corner, Meghan saw Ryder sitting on a bench staring blankly ahead. She slowly approached, taking a deep breath. When he noticed her walking toward him, he turned away.

Meghan sat beside him. "I'm sorry, Ryder. I didn't mean to lash out."

He didn't respond. She stared ahead across the street at a display of Christmas decorations in a shop window. They sat in silence for several minutes. The falling snow began caking her pants before she tried again. "Let's go home, okay? We can talk together."

"Home." He shook his head. "That's not home. Home is destroyed. Just like this family."

Meghan put an arm around him, tears brimming her eyes. "Don't say that. We're a family, and right now, Gordon's apartment is our home." Ryder rubbed his face, his black hair shielding his eyes from view. But his hunched shoulders told her enough. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he mumbled. "I just...why is life derailing?"

Meghan swallowed, pulling him closer. "I don't know."

"And do you think we're going to be followed by...whoever that was...forever?"

Meghan immediately stiffened, looking around nervously. "Speaking of...we should get back. It's not safe out here."

Ryder didn't argue. As they stood, they began heading back the way Meghan came. But, as a large gust of wind billowed through, the shape of a figure standing at the end of the sidewalk was noticeable. Meghan and Ryder both froze mid-step.

"Mom," he whispered, his tone panicked. The figure took a step forward, moaning loudly. Meghan fought against the terror freezing her in place. She slowly took a step forward, as well, but Ryder grabbed her arm. "Mom, don't."

Before she could reply, the figure lunged forward with surprising speed, the moaning growing into a terrifying shriek.

"Mom!" Ryder shoved Meghan over as the figure lunged past, stopping to turn back to them.

Meghan didn't even think anymore. She grabbed Ryder's arm and took off running across the sidewalk in the direction of the apartment building as the moaning from the figure followed them. People on the streets and cars going by didn't seem to be paying any attention as Meghan's feet pounded against the concrete, carrying her away with as much speed as possible. It's here.

The apartment building came into sight, but Meghan skid to a stop, nearly slipping on ice, as the tall, cloaked figure stood motionless beside the doors to the building. It knew where they were staying. Ryder stood by her side, frozen in fear. Nobody moved. That street is empty. A breeze blowing through rustled loose newspapers; the only movement visible.

The familiar moaning sound again consumed the cold air, overpowering any other small noises. The figure lifted an arm, blood-caked nails pointing at Meghan. The middle finger was missing. Meghan quickly began pushing Ryder back as she, too, retreated with small steps, her eyes trained on the mysterious figure.

"Mom," Ryder whispered, his voice tensed with panic. "Mom, stop!"

When he planted his feet against the ground to keep from backing up further, Meghan turned to see what had him unmoving. Small figures, about the length of her shoulder to her wrist, snuck up behind them. When they realized she had noticed, they released small, feral snarls. Meghan almost released a scream, but kept it in inside her throat to not show weakness.

The little creatures had pointed ears and crooked noses, their dirty teeth bared threateningly. In their skinless hands were knives pointed straight at she and Ryder. Meghan turned back to look at the cloaked figure, and the scream in her throat pushed farther to release as the figure stood directly in front of her, a knife of its own clenched in its hand. Its raspy, dank breath washed over her, making her instinctively shudder. Ryder gripped her hand tightly, his face pale.

Up close, the cloaked figure was taller than she thought. The knife in its hand raised and she was able to see the hilt clearly. The hilt was a metal gingerbread man, with terrifying details such as blood leaking out of its eyes and a look of horror etched on its face. Tears brimmed Meghan's eyes, threatening to spill as the figure pressed the twisted knife against her stomach.

"Mom," Ryder begged.

"It's okay," she told him, her voice cracking. She looked up at the figure's covered face. "What do you want from us?"

It trailed the knife across her stomach. She trembled, clenching her fists. But then it slipped a slender hand inside of the cloak and pulled out a slip of paper. It moaned softly as it placed the paper into her hand. The tiny elves behind them hissed, growing closer, poking Ryder's back with their knives.

With shaking hands, Meghan unfolded the paper, blinking the tears away to clearly read what it said.

ɢɨʋɛ tɦɛʍ tօ ʍɛ, օʀ sʊʄʄɛʀ tɦʀօʊɢɦ ʍʏ ɦɨts. ʏօʊʀ ċɦɨʟɖʀɛռ աɨʟʟ ɮɛ ʍɨռɛ, aռɖ ɨ'ʟʟ ʀɨք tɦɛʍ ʊք tօ ɮɨts.

"No!" Meghan exclaimed, looking back up at the figure as Ryder took the paper from her hand. "No, please, what do you want?" The figure didn't move. The tip of the knife pressed harder against her stomach, a sharp pain searing across her skin through her jacket. She winced, tears spilling down her cheeks. "What is it that you want?"

"The fawns," Ryder whispered to her, his voice shaking. "I think that's what it wants."

Meghan swallowed. "You want the f-fawns?" The figure shifted slightly, seeming to turn its gaze to the elvish creatures behind them. Obediently, the creatures backed down, lowering their knives and stepping away. Meghan nodded. "The fawns. I...I can get them to you."

Ryder pressed closer to her as the figure touched her cheek, the other hand lowering the knife away from her stomach. Then it turned and walked away, the tiny creatures following after it.

"But when do I give them to you?" Meghan asked.

The figure disappeared around a corner, leaving them completely alone. Meghan sobbed loudly, wrapping her arms around Ryder and hugging him tightly. He hugged her back, his hands trembling. Without a word, they began walking toward the apartment building.

Stepping inside, the warmth that greeted her slowly thawed her frozen body. Meghan kept her arm around Ryder as they approached the elevator.

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Carly sniffed softly, her eyes still puffy from crying as she absorbed the information Meghan released. Gordon kept his arm around her comfortingly as they sat in silence. The fawns were back on the ground, cuddling against Carly who sat in the midst of them.

"We're not going to give them to it, are we?" Carly asked. "It's not even human, is it?"

"I don't think so," Meghan mumbled. Ryder was seated across the room, his face still pale as he stared absently at the slip of paper in his hand.

Carly pulled at one of her red curls agitatedly. "We need to protect them! They're Santa's reindeer. They should be back with him."

"Carly, we have to give them to it," Gordan told her. "This isn't a game."

She frowned. "I know. I don't want to die. But without his reindeer, Santa won't be able to do Christmas anymore."

"These are baby deer," Meghan said. "They couldn't even pull a sled."

"Maybe not right now," Carly mumbled, stroking Prancer's ear.

"We were threatened," Meghan reminded her. "This is serious. We need to give the fawns to it before we're killed."

"Can't we just go see Santa at the mall and ask him what to do?" Carly pleaded. "You said that it didn't answer you when you asked when you should give them to it. Maybe it just wants them within a week or so."

"We can't take that risk," Gordon said. He looked at Ryder before standing up and approaching him. Ryder didn't stop him as he took the slip of paper from him, crinkling it up and sticking it into his pocket.

Ryder leaned back against the chair. "I...I think we should do what Carly said."

"What?" Meghan studied him. He was never one to agree with what anybody else said. He always did his own thing. And, now, he suddenly wanted to do what his little sister said. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she might be right about the fawns being reindeer, and Santa..." He cringed at the word. "Santa Claus might be able to help. I agree that we should go to the mall."

Gordon studied him with his arms crossed before looking at Meghan. "It's too risky."

"No, it's not," Carly argued, pleased with Ryder's agreement to her suggestion.

"Yes, it is," Gordon said.

Meghan sat silently for several more moments. When she was little, she always believed there was magic in Christmas. But, as she got older, she found it harder to believe. Reindeer, Santa Claus, magic, toys - the thought was no longer exciting. But with floating fawns and something following them that could be out of a horror novel, that could, indeed, be linked with Christmas.

Meghan leaned back against the couch, her stomach churning nervously. "I think we should do it. Let's go to the mall."

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Guys! Independence Day is tomorrow!! I'm so excited, I CANNOT stop listening to Independence Day songs like The Star Spangled Banner by Madison Rising. 😭😍

Question: What do you think is going to happen now? :O

Bonus Question: All families fight at some points. Do you think this is going to affect their relationships?

Bonus Question: Do you think it's wise for them to decide going to see Santa Claus at the mall rather than just hand the fawns over so they don't be harmed/killed?