CHRISTMAS NIGHT episode 1
CHRISTMAS NIGHT
A Short Story by Goodheart
The following story is purely a fictional work cut out of the writer’s love for horror stories. So any
resemblance to any real life event or characters is purely coincidental.
WARNING!
The story harbours graphic description depicting real horror scenes. Reader’s discretion is adviced.
**PROLOGUE:**
Spirits….Demons…..you think they never exist? So many have doubted the existence of this eerie beings
but forget that the Heavens once suffered violence during the war between Good and Bad, and everything
bad was cast down to the earth. Ever since, these beings have been hovering the earth in their countless
numbers looking for who to devour. They’re everywhere….everyplace…..every corner. So be careful what
you wish for. A pair of eyes could be watching in the dark….don’t say I didn’t warn you **Evil Laugh**
Episode 1 – The Mansion
December 6, 1865 in the small quiet town of Fearville.
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The big black carriage carrying Nate and Marie, rolled to a halt as the hooves of the black horses broke the innate silence on the cobbles. Nate and Marie were a southern couple with just a 5yr old daughter, Emily. They were new in Fearville and just moved into town from the city of Pensworth. They arrived by evening on that day and began unpacking their stuffs into the new mansion they had won in a lottery.
The old stone mansion had a castle-like appeal, with an eerie feeling surrounding it as it stood in the grotesque of the full moon which streamed it’s light around it’s contours. Though Marie was was happy for her new home (of course she was owing, to the fact that she and her husband had never dreamt of living in such a mansion. They were just struggling to make ends meet), yet something seemed strange as she stood before the carriage, staring around the vicinity. The town of Fearville seemed too quiet and creepy for her liking. The life within the little town of Fearville on that silvery night, can be said to be still, for the creaking of crickets and hooting of the night owls which scared the bats fluttering up in in he sky in their numbers. Silhouetted by the moon, Marie watched her daughter stare steadily at the hideous shadows of the bats swarming below on the cobble stones. Not too far from where they stood they could hear the whistling sounds of the night breeze whooshing through the dark narrow streets. No one seemed to be on the lonely streets, nor the neighborhood. The only human signs they saw were those of window curtains (in different buildings) sliding open as unfriendly faces peeped at them from their lantern illuminated rooms. The moment Marie tried to make out the unfriendly faces, the curtains were thrown close instantly. What a strange little town, she wondered. Well, atleast the change in environment would help cement the cracking relationsh¡p between she and Nate, since she couldn’t afford to be a single parent.
“Come help me get this goddãmn boxes Marie!” Nate blew hot “Are you gonna stand there forever?”
“Sorry Nate, I’m coming” she pleaded, strutting towards the boxes as her dress billowed around her ankles.
Truth be told, Marie was a good wife with her traditional southern upbringing from her days in Palo Alto, Texas. While Nate her husband was a typical redneck of Polish descent, and a drunken bum who wouldn’t miss the slightest opportunity of striking her at the flimsiest mistake. Despite Nate was in his late 50s, and Marie in her mid 30s, she had always loved and respected her husband just as it was expected of her. But what hurt her most was the fact that she wasn’t getting back the love from Nate. Back when she was a girl she would dream of having a man who would adore and respect her for the woman she was. But for some selfish reasons her parents had bundled her off to old Nate and now here she was seeking succour in a man who never cared or flinched at the sight of her immeasurable beauty. Her body needed to be explored…..to be touched, and Nate wasn’t ready to grant her that privilege. All rom-nce ended when she conceived Emily, after which her husband took to excessive drinking and gambling.
The leather boxes had now been taken up the stairs and the carriage man paid off. So Marie and Emily decided to explore the house in that short moment (carrying a lantern) and discovered that the mansion was a big one. It housed 6 rooms and a spacious Sitting Room which had a large fireplace. Bedside the fireplace was a human size antic mirror which looked quite strange as it had gargoyles for frames and on the wall was the great painting of a 15th century lady looking so alive in such still portrait. Marie was fascinated by the still drawing and she stepped closer to have a look, bringing the oily lantern forward and staring into the face of the lady in the portrait. For a second she could feel the eyes of the lady piercing into her as she thought she had noticed the eye balls move. At that instant, there was a loud shriek form below her, startling her and she dropped the lantern as a white fluffy cat pranced the wooden floor and came cuddling Emily’s legs. Marie watched her daughter step backwards in brief awe.
“Mum it’s a cat” Emily whined
“Yeah…I can see that”, Marie heaved in relief. Picking the bobbing lantern from the floor, she came to squat where the estranged cat sat.”Guess it’s a stray cat”, she said.”Or probably belonged to the former owners if this mansion”. She extended her hand to cuddle it.
“Mum…can I keep him?”, Emily asked
“Err….well…”
Marie hadn’t made her statement when the large fluffy cat growled and scratched her, as she withdrew her hand instantly wincing in pains.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea Emily” she said.”Ouch!”
“Please mum, I’ve never had a cat before” Emily chided.”Besides he’s homeless”
Marie was still squatted nursing her bleeding finger while Emily kept persisting on keeping the cat as the cat went again to cuddle at Emily’s feet. Marie was not used to refusing her daughter anything. And she noticed the cat was warming up to her daughter lovingly. Well, a cat into the house was not a bad idea. Moreover it would come in handy in eradicating the rats which would be living in the house owing to the lack of human presence in a long while.
“Fine, you can keep him if you want” Marie said standing on her feet and picking up the lantern one more time.
“I’m gonna call him Winter, mum” Emily purred
“Yerr…call him whatever you like” replied Marie. “Come Emily, let’s go find you a place to sleep for the night. The wh0le place is dusty and I’m gonna clean up tommorow”
Having said that, Emily scooped the purring cat into her arms and followed her behind her mother. But they didn’t hear the strange chilly whisper that hushed within the sitting room they had just left.
It had now begun to rain and Emily was already tucked in bed. Marie came into the make shift bedroom (the main bedroom was still dusty) to find her husband Nate, already asleep. He reeked of alcohol as she came to lay on the left side of the bed, beside him. Nate lay facing the other way, snoring loudly and chuckling in his sleep. What a waste of a man, Marie wondered. She tried to sleep, stirring and shuffling in bed but the cold was getting much, robbing her of the sleep in her eyes. She wanted to be cuddled….to be rom-nced…to be made to feel like a woman. Her body desperately yearned for a man’s touch. Too bad her husband was a drunken bum to notice her body language. Turning to face the opposite side, Marie watched the cascading rain slither down the large glass window with tears dripping from her eyes. And soon sleep came calling as she drifted into an emotion laden slumber.