A Unholy Christmas
A month had passed since the Thanksgiving event, and today was the last day of school until next year. It had been snowing in Derry for the last few days and about 5 feet of snow was covering the entire park, streets, yards, trees, and buildings. Luckily, the street crew was shoveling the snow off the streets and sidewalks, so all the snow was really covering was the front yards of neighborhood houses, roofs, trees, grasses, and leaves. In Derry high school, the school bell ranged and Georgie was the first to leave the school. He got on his bike and rode slowly down the sidewalk to the forest. Georgie was debating the idea on whether or not he should invite Ale over to celebrate Christmas with his family and friends. The thing is he was concerned about whether demons do celebrate Christmas or not. Georgie knew demons celebrated Thanksgiving differently, but he wasn't sure if demons celebrated Christmas differently especially since Christmas was the day the lord Jesus was born. Still, he decided to at least ask Ale if she wanted to come. Georgie got to the park entrance and parked his bike by a nearby tree. He got off his bike and walked into the woods. Georgie shivered in the cold as all he was wearing was a coat, a long sleeved shirt, long jeans, and boots. He walked towards the two trees with the wire on their trunks and stepped over it. Georgie kept going until he saw smoke from the sky and could see it from the dense scattered trees. He ran to the source and found Ale's cabin...blank. There were no Christmas decorations anywhere in sight. Than again, Georgie did pass a few houses that didn't have any Christmas on the outside, but he did see some decorations on the inside. Georgie suspected that there were some Christmas decorations in the cabin, but he just couldn't see them. He walked up to the porch steps and approached the door. Georgie knocked on the door as hard as he could. After a few moments, the door opened and Ale stood in front of Georgie wearing her usual everyday clothes. He was surprised that her black jacket, shirt, and sweat pants were keeping her warm. Ale was surprised to see Georgie here especially since she figured he would be home with his family. Georgie noticed that she was holding a shovel and looked a bit dirty.
"Georgie what are you doing here?" Ale asked.
"Um can I come in please?" he asked shivery.
"Yeah sure come in." Ale agreed.
Georgie came in shivering and immediately approached the fireplace he saw. He got on his knees and placed his hands near the warm fire. Ale came out with warm hot coco with marshmallows and handed it to Georgie. He took a sip of it and soon, he was taking large gulps of it. After he was done, Georgie licked his lips in supreme and gave the cup back to Ale. She took it to the kitchen and Georgie continued to warm up by the fireplace. Surprisingly, he had never been in the inside of Ale's house. In all the days Georgie ever came to her for help, they've always met outside of her house, the park, the sidewalks, and even outside of school. Being in Ale's house for the first time gave Georgie a sense of curiosity and wonder. He looked around the house and saw no Christmas decorations, but instead saw old ancient satanic symbols and old ancient artifacts around the house.
"So Georgie what brings you here?" Ale asked.
"Oh well I wanted to know if demons celebrated Christmas differently?" he asked.
"Well...I wouldn't say we do." Ale said concerned.
"Oh well what do you celebrate than? Hanukkah?" Georgie asked.
"No we don't celebrate that either. Demons don't exactly celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah." Ale answered.
"Oh well I just wanted to know if you wanted to come to our house and celebrate Christmas, but I guess you can't can you." Georgie said disappointed.
"Well I didn't say there wasn't a holiday we celebrate every year in December." Ale pointed out.
"Really?! Like what?" Georgie asked.
Suddenly, the curtains shut and the room was completely dark. Georgie jumped in alarm and looked around the room for a light switch. He could feel a hand touch his shoulder and could hear a snarl behind him.
"We call it "The Unholy Night"." Ale whispered.
Georgie jumped and gasped in surprise. Ale slithered past him and sat right next to him giving a gleeful expression.
"Tell me Georgie have you heard of the tales of Krampus?" she asked.
" Yeah, but I thought those were just stories to scare us. Grandma used to tell us these stories all the time when we were little." Georgie said confused.
"Oh he's real and on Christmas eve, he'll be coming here tonight." Ale said spooky.
"To steal naughty children from their beds?!" Georgie gasped.
"No those stories are false, but the story i'm about to tell is true." Ale said gleefully.
She laid back on the front of her couch, had her legs crossed, and had her arms crossed on the back of her head.
"We call it "The Unholy Night", because Krampus will come to a known demon's house and try to kill you. The goal is to fight him off. If you lose, you are killed, but if you manage to fight Krampus off, he'll fly away, go to the next house, and you'll never see him again for the rest of the night." Ale explained.
She turned off her flashlight and used her powers to open the curtains. Georgie stared in shock and horror. He had just heard a story about how demons were going to fight an ancient Christmas demon (that probably had the strength of 12 ox's) and would possibly get killed during the altercation. Georgie had to figure out a way to avoid this before another person he cares about dies. He couldn't save his grandma from Pennywise, but he could at least try to save Ale from Krampus. Georgie looked at her determined, but scared.
"Isn't there a way to avoid this?" he asked scared.
"Well there is one way. You have to set up Christmas decorations either outside or inside your house. Usually that tricks the Krampus into thinking that you're human, but demons don't do it, because it makes them look weak, they can't afford it, or that they hate Christmas so much that they rather fight the Krampus than actually do the alternative. Since i'm an orphan, I don't have a choice." Ale answered.
Georgie nodded. He had an idea that might work, but it considered the fact that he would need the Christmas decorations from his house. Ale noticed and knew what Georgie was thinking and as much as she appreciated the help, this was something she needed to handle alone.
"I know what you're up to." she said.
Georgie looked at Ale surprised, but than remembered that she could read minds and feelings.
"I don't need your help Georgie. I can take care of myself. This is something I need to handle alone and...I can't have you involved." Ale said serious.
"But..." he spoke protesting.
"I mean it Georgie. I need to handle this alone. I can't have innocent civilians involved in this which means that you have to stay out of this got it?" Ale snarled.
Georgie nodded and felt defeat and upset. He got up and walked to the front door.
"Bye Ale." Georgie said upset.
"Bye Georgie Merry Christmas." she said.
He didn't hear Ale though. Georgie opened the door and left the house. Ale looked away feeling guilty that she had to snarl at him like that, but she this was something she had to handle alone and she didn't want him to get hurt. Georgie got on his bike and rode all the way. He didn't care what Ale said or that she didn't need his help. Georgie was going to do whatever it took to save Ale from Krampus even if it meant that he would get yelled at by her. He got back to his house and parked his bike next to Bill's. Georgie saw his dad on a ladder hanging up Christmas lights on the rooftop of their house and was singing the song "Jingle Bells". Georgie walked up to the front door, but stopped and turned to his father.
"Hey Georgie you're just in time to help your brother and mother decorate the tree." his father greeted.
"Okay dad. Do you need help?" he asked.
"No I'm good Georgie." he said.
Georgie nodded and went inside the house. Bill and his mother were in the living room decorating the Christmas tree and picking out new ornaments for the tree. Georgie went into the kitchen, got a glass, and poured some milk into his cup. Sharon and Bill were picking out ornaments that would make their Christmas tree more colorful and beautiful. There were a lot of ornaments in the box and there were so many for them to choose. Sharon looked around the room and was surprised by all the decoration she and Zach got out.
"My goodness Bill that's a lot of Christmas decorations we got here. I don't think we'll have anymore places to decorate with them." she said surprised.
"Y-Y-Yeah, some of the d-d-decorations will have to be u-u-used till next year." he chuckled agreeable.
"Well until your father and I figure out what to do with them." Sharon said uncertain.
When Georgie overheard the conversation, an idea popped into his head. He put his cup down and ran into the living room.
"Hey mom where did you get those Christmas decorations?" Georgie asked.
"Well, after your grandma died, her house was put up for sale. Your father and I had to get all her stuff out of there. Her furniture and the other things that we couldn't use were sold to pawn shops or given to charity groups. The stuff we did take are in attic." Sharon explained.
"Do we have a extra Christmas tree?" Georgie asked.
"Of course. It should be in the attic with your grandmother's other belongings." Sharon said certainly.
"Great! Thanks mom." Georgie jumped for joy.
He ran to his bedroom and shut the door behind him. Sharon and Bill looked at each other confused on why Georgie asked such questions. Sharon shrugged it off and went back to picking out the ornaments, but Bill had a bad and uneasy feeling about this.
"What is he up to?" he wondered.
