The mansion doors creaked open, the noise reverberating around the spacious entryway. The four adults stepped inside almost timidly, trying to be as quiet as possible when shutting the doors again, leaving the fawns outside. As Meghan stepped deeper into the room, there was a loud click from behind her. Officer Jyles held a pistol at the ready. He nodded at her before taking the lead, moving through the wide hall to a grand room. Her injured leg wasn't helping her maneuver around. She winced as she stepped forward.

Several marble pillars lined across the back of the room next to some shallow steps leading up to two staircases that wound in spirals, meeting together at the second story. From the ceiling hung a golden chandelier, cobwebs delicately curled around it.

"Do you think he's here?" Meghan whispered to Gordon. She resisted every urge to scream the names of her children. To give away their position to envelop them in her arms again.

"I don't know." Gordon glanced around with full alertness, grabbing a poker stick off of the fancy fireplace mantel when they passed it.

Meghan stared down another hall to the left that seemed to lead into the kitchen. They headed toward the staircases slowly, breaths held and hearts fiercely pounding. This was the end; one way or another tonight would be the end of it all. Meghan couldn't stop her hands from shaking, so she occupied them with a slab of rough wood from the fireplace as well, the bark rubbing into her soft palms.

"We're going to secure the main floor first," Officer Jyles whispered to them, turning away from the stairs. "Just stay behind me."

"Should we split up?" Brek questioned.

"No!" Meghan quickly answered.

A creak from behind a door to the right drew all of their attention away from one another. Another creak and Meghan's hands began shaking even with the wood.

Officer Jyles moved toward the door, waving for them to stay back as he held the gun out in front of him. Gordon turned to watch behind them for movement, his poker stick pointed out. Before the police officer had time to open the door, there was a splash from upstairs. Every one of them jerked around to stare up the staircase. A shadow moved across the wall at the top, quick but certainly there.

"Oh, my g-gosh." Meghan inhaled deeply, her whole body beginning to tremble. She was careful to exercise most of her weight on her good leg.

"Let's go." Officer Jyles moved toward the stairs and stopped at the base to motion for them to follow.

They joined him slowly, their steps light and cautious. With each placement of her foot on a marble step higher than the last, Meghan's stomach seemed to plummet deeper into an abyss of churning fear. The slab of wood was held so tightly in her hands that she could feel a splinter slowly piercing through her skin. She didn't loosen her grip.

Another loud splash and water slapping against the ground was heard. Through the dim lighting of the upstairs hall, another staircase could be seen - straighter and steeper than the last. Down the long hall, there were doors on both walls, some closed and others partially opened. The ground creaked lightly with their steps, gradually carrying them closer to the source of splashing. As they reached a door, there was a sound of commotion coming from inside. With one last loud splash, everything went silent.

Meghan stood rigidly, studying the rusty, rotten, wooden door that was the only thing separating them from whatever the source of the splashing was. Her leg seared painfully from the agonizing hike up the stairs. Officer Jyles gripped the doorknob steadily, the barrel of the gun raised and ready. Eyes trailing to the ground, Meghan watched water leak out from underneath the door. This was it. Something was behind there, and the feeling she had guaranteed it wouldn't be anything pretty.

She couldn't even ready herself when Officer Jyles opened the door, his finger ready to press the trigger.

Meghan exhaled slowly. It was a bathroom. The biggest bathroom Meghan had ever seen. Right in the middle of the room was a long mirror and sinks wrapping all the way around in a circle to meet together at the back. Water pooled the hard ground, sweeping over their feet as they moved inside. A thick cloud of steam tainted the air, the heat gradually washing over them. Nothing but absolute silence greeted them.

Until a hideous elf padded into view from around a corner.

The moment its eyes landed on them, it hissed loudly. Officer Jyles yanked the poker stick away from Gordon, and instead of using his gun, he thrust it at the elf as it lunged toward him. The sharp end embedded itself into its chest and it fell limp. As he pulled it out of its body, several more came hissing around the corner. Their sharp teeth were bared in disdain.

Meghan braced herself as they approached, her grip tightening further on the slab of wood. They didn't attack right away. They separated to form a ring around the four adults. For several moments, they stood in silence with all of their eyes locked; the elves in anger; the adults in fear.

When an elf lunged over the previously killed elf's body, everybody was released from their immobility. Meghan brought the wood down on an elf's head, only to feel another elf from behind sink its teeth into her outstretched arm. Blood was quick to squirt from the punctures. She gasped in pain, turning to confront the monster. It seemed to grin with malice as it then charged at her legs. She quickly kicked at it, her boot connecting with its chest to throw it against the closed bathroom door. She stumbled back into the sink, groaning as her bad leg rejected the brief weight.

Glass was broken when Brek thrust an elf against the mirror, its neck clutched tightly in his strong grip. Another loud splash came from around the corner and more water washed over the floor, mixing with tints of red blood staining the ground.

Meghan rounded the corner to investigate, and a cold grip of horror clenched her adrenaline-tainted heart.

Two elves had thick red hair gripped tightly in their fists, their arms outstretched to force it to submerge in water. The steam was thicker there, making Meghan's vision slightly blurred. The petite form of a child thrashed about wildly, bubbles surfacing in the water inside the full bathtub.

Meghan lunged forward with an urge to bash the elves heads in, her blood boiling in both anger and terror. Carly's movements were sluggish; weak. Without realizing it, Meghan dropped her only source of protection and landed barehanded on the elves. They shrieked loudly, their tight grip on Carly's hair and neck releasing - but not before one elf was able to sink its needlepoint nails into Meghan's daughter's skin to leave a deep gash behind.

Gordon rounded the corner as Meghan rained punches on the elves grimy faces, feeling their teeth desperately biting at her knuckles but not registering any pain through her fury. Gordon was quick to stab the dazed elves with his poker stick as a round of gunshots went off behind them. Meghan scrambled toward Carly. Gordon quickly pulled her head out of the water and she dropped back into his arms, wheezing and coughing up sprays of water.

Her face was flushed beet red from the boiled water and her hair soaked completely. She opened her eyes through gasps for air, and when she saw Meghan and Gordon, she burst into anguished tears.

Meghan threw her arms around her daughter, sobbing herself as she hugged her tight. Gordon wrapped his own arms around the both of them. Carly grasped their shirts tightly in her shaking grip, tears streaming down her face. Meghan could feel her cringe as another gunshot went off and a shriek of pain from an elf ripped through the air. She pressed Carly's face into her shoulder. She didn't want her seeing anything.

A ringing silence fell over the air. Meghan looked up to see Officer Jyles and Brek join them, breathing heavily and covered in red blood.

"Is that one of them?" Officer Jyles croaked, gesturing toward Carly.

"Yes," Gordon answered, his voice quaking with emotion. His grip around them tightened.

Officer Jyles nodded - relieved - as Brek knelt down beside them to pat Carly's back with a thick swallow. Carly's sobs slowly reduced into sniffles. She lifted her head from Meghan's chest to look between her and Gordon with watery eyes.

"Hi, Ladybug," Gordon said. "You okay? Can you walk?"

She nodded. "They just...They tried to drown me."

Meghan pulled her into another protective hug, tears pricking at her eyes again. "I know. We killed them."

As they all got to their feet, Carly gripped Meghan's arm tightly, her eyes wide in panic. "Mom, Ryder is hurt. I think...I think he's dead." Her bottom lip trembled for the second time.

"We're going to find him," Meghan assured her, her own fear trying to push her to irrational levels. She swallowed the feeling down. They'd find him.

"Carly," Officer Jyles said, crouching beside her with a gentle gaze. "Is-?" He was interrupted when she threw her arms around his neck, mumbling a sincere "Thank you" into his shoulder. He released his tensed posture to hug her back, stroking her damp hair. "Of course, sweetheart. But I need to know - is your kidnapper still here?"

Carly pulled away with a small shrug. "I...I don't know. He keeps coming and going. He made himself look like Mom and Dad a few times to trick me. He's a bully!"

The ferocity in the way she said "bully" gave Meghan - without a shadow of a doubt - a feeling that, if Carly weren't so innocent, that would have been replaced with a foul word.

Officer Jyles nodded. "He definitely is." He looked at Gordon with a concerned gaze that didn't match the empty humor in his tone. So it was Santa's brother who had disguised himself as Gordon to get away from the house that terrifying night.

Meghan gripped Carly's hand tightly. She didn't think she'd ever let go of it again. They should never have sent their children away. Brek finally stepped forward, his gaze troubled. "Carly, have you seen Gwen?"

Carly nodded reluctantly. "The elves took her away when we first arrived. I don't know where."

"We need to get going," Officer Jyles said. "We need to find these last two kids."

Meghan nodded in agreement - hoping with all of her heart that Ryder was still alive.

Pain coursed through her bitten arm and knuckles, the blood staining where she gripped the back of Carly's shirt tightly. They ever so carefully slipped out of the bathroom and back down the stairs, with Meghan leaning against Brek for support. With all of the walking and fighting, she wasn't doing much to keep her injured leg at ease and rested. Officer Jyles had his gun loaded and ready for anything; Gordon had his weapon poised.

"What are we doing?" Carly asked as they approached the front doors.

"I don't want you in here for whatever happens next," Meghan said. "You're going to wait outside."

"What?" she gasped. "No! I don't want to wait by myself!"

"You'll be okay," Gordon told her.

"But I'm still wet! It will be cold."

"We can find you a blanket or something."

"No, I want to help find Ryder."

"Carly," Meghan sighed. "This isn't a game. We don't have extra lives. I...I don't know what is going to happen, and I want you to stay safe."

"Not outside," she pleaded, glancing around. "Can I wait in a bedroom? I can guard the door and I'll be safe."

Meghan paused. Inside a bedroom would be a better option. Someone could stay with her and barricade the door to keep anything out. She looked at Gordon. "What do you think?"

They reached the front door. He locked his eyes with Carly's begging ones. "But who'll stay in there with her?"

Nobody volunteered. Officer Jyles motioned for them to hurry up. Each creak of the mansion intensified Meghan's nervous state. As the silence continued, she finally hissed, "She can't stay by herself!"

"Than you stay with her," Brek said. "I need to find Gwen!"

"And I need to find Ryder," Meghan argued. "I'm the only one with nursing experiences here, and at the least, he's severely....severely injured." The words were intended to come out fierce, but her voice cracked at the end of her sentence. The haunting thought of her son's dead body floated around her mind.

"Gordon?" Brek asked, looking at him.

"I..." He seemed to collect his thoughts. "I want to find Ryder too."

"I can stay by myself," Carly told them. "We're going to get caught standing here! And I don't want to die."

"You're not staying by yourself." Meghan shook her head. "Never again."

"Mom."

In her all of her years of being Carly's mother, Meghan had never heard the kind of intensity her daughter now held in her voice. And the determined look on Carly's face forced Meghan to realize that she was not a little baby anymore. But leaving her alone in a room. Meghan cringed but forced the following words out. "Fine. Fine. You...you sure you'll be okay by yourself?"

"Um." Her determined look faltered, but she squared her shoulders and nodded. "Yes."

"We need to hurry up!" Officer Jyles hissed. "I'm sorry, but this isn't the right moment or place to be standing around. This is more urgent than you seem to be letting on."

Meghan glared at him. "We know how urgent this is!" She turned back to Carly, motioning toward an open bedroom door. "Lock yourself inside, baby. Put anything and everything you can in front of the door. And close the curtains to the window." She pulled her into a tight hug, grimacing at the pain in her injured arm. "We'll find your brother, and we'll end all of this."

Carly nodded bravely, hugging Gordon and Brek before sprinting for the bedroom. Once the door was shut, Meghan turned tearfully to Gordon. He nodded stiffly. "She'll be okay."

"I...I know."

With only a small pause of silence, they followed Officer Jyles across the entryway to where the kitchen was. When they stepped into the room, the first thing Meghan noticed was just how abnormally larger it was than an average kitchen. The second thing she noticed were the smears of blood on the floor, streaking across the white tile. She covered her mouth, gasping softly. All night, she'd been trying to prepare herself for what they might find of Ryder. But seeing his blood staining the ground when it should be inside of his body keeping him alive cracked her wall of courage.

She turned to Gordon, wide-eyed. "Where is he?" When Gordon only stared with his face pinched in pain, she sobbed again. "Where is he?"

"We're going to find him," Brek assured her through a carefully masked voice void of emotions. But his face told her enough.

"We need to find him!" She hobbled across the kitchen to a new doorway where the trail of blood seemed to lead.

"Meghan, wait!" Gordon said.

The thought of the possibility that Santa's brother could be around any corner slipped completely out of mind. Meghan looked around the new hallway frantically as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. A small click sounded from behind her. She whirled around as lights flicked on above them on the high ceilings. Gordon grabbed her arm to keep her still. "Meghan, we need to stick together."

"We might not find him," she said. "This is a mansion. We might not find him!"

Brek pulled her into a quick hug. "We-"

A noise from down the hallway diverted their attention. Without thinking, Meghan broke into a run. She continuously stumbled over and gasped in pain, but forced herself to continue forward, despite her leg's screams for relief. She could hear the other three following behind, keeping at her unsteady pace instead of racing off ahead like she would be doing if she weren't being held back.

She reached an opened door and stumbled backward when Officer Jyles pushed past with his finger on the gun trigger. It was a master bedroom. Nearly motionless on the ground, his chest heaving with hoarse wheezes, was Ryder.

"Ryder!" Meghan nudged Officer Jyles to the side to limp across the room and kneel beside her son. Her leg instantly rejected and so she shifted around to sit and stretch it out, relieving some of the burning pain.

Gordon reached them and dropped to his own knees. Dark blood soaked Ryder's shirt. Blood squeezed out between the fingers clamped tightly over the wound. His eyes were halfway shut; his face deathly pale.

"Ryder," Gordon breathed, slipping his hands beneath Ryder's back to ease him up into his arms. Ryder's head rolled back against Gordon's chest.

"B-Brek, the first-aid kit." Meghan motioned for her brother to hand it over. Although she suppressed building sobs to stay strong, silent tears managed to get through the barrier.

Brek gave her the large kit he'd been lugging around, his eyes not leaving his nephew. Officer Jyles closed the door and guarded it as he watched the scene before him.

Meghan gently peeled Ryder's fingers away from the grotesque wound near his abdomen. His fingers twitched slightly in response but he made no sign that he was aware of their presence. She rummaged through the first-aid-kit with shaking hands to produce some clean cloths. She gently wiped away at the blood to get a better look at the injury, earning a small whimper of pain.

"Ryder?" she asked softly, blinking to clear her tears. The moment the blood was cleaned away, more oozed out to take its place. She looked up at Gordon. "He needs stitches."

Gordon winced in response. "Can it wait for the hospital?"

"I don't know. He's already lost a lot of blood."

He stared at her, seeming to question her, before nodding shakily, his grip around Ryder tightening. "Okay."

With no more words for him, Meghan pulled the package of thin cords and a curved needle out of the kit. She then turned to Brek, nodding toward the bathroom door. "Get me a bowl of hot water and soap so I can irrigate and cleanse the wound."

He nodded and immediately proceeded to the bathroom. She could hear him rummaging around and running the water as she looked back down at the objects in her lap. I can't sterilize the needle, she realized. She swallowed. Hopefully, it would be fine without.

"M-Mom?"

The small, pained croak left her son's lips as his unfocused blue eyes came to lock with hers. She gently caressed his cheek, the final part of her barricade nearly crumbling. "Yes, baby."

Gordon held Ryder close. "We've got you, bud."

Brek came back out of the room with a bowl and bar of soap. The mansion was old and dusty, which meant the water and soap might not even be pure. But it was the best they could do.

"Ryder," Meghan said, swallowing. "I...I need to stitch this wound and there's no time to let the pain medicine take effect. You can take it after I'm done." She wasn't even sure if he fully registered her words, but when he nodded slightly, she inhaled deeply. Her eyes locked with Gordon's. "Hold him down."

Stitchings were never fully predictable. Some patients never noticed it through the pain they were already in, but for others, it was agonizing. As swiftly as possible, she tied the thin cord to the needle, watching Gordon gently but firmly hold Ryder more tightly in his arms, his hands pinning their son's arms to his chest. Meghan pinned Ryder's legs tightly between her own.

First, Meghan poured the hot water onto the wound and washed it with soap. Ryder gasped in pain, tensing. When she was