Here's the next chapter.

Yes, after a long hiatus, Krampus is coming back. I only have a couple more chapters for this story, and then it is done!

Disclaimer: Michael Dougherty owns Krampus.

Let's dive in!

Bad News

Three months later…

Gavin let out a sigh as he walked down an aisle at the local grocery store, pushing a half-full shopping cart in front of him as he went. 'Let's see, what's next on my list?' He thought as he looked at the small piece of paper in his hand. 'Oh, hot chocolate! That should be the next aisle over.' He then made his way to the end of the aisle he was currently in, and entered the next aisle, making his way down the aisle as he searched for the hot chocolate.

"Ah, there it is!' He thought upon spotting the boxes of hot chocolate. 'Now, which kind do I want?' He continued as he looked at the different brands and flavors that were available. 'Chocolate? Peppermint? Raspberry? Orange?'

He continued to stare at the different flavors for several more seconds, before reaching out and grabbing a box. 'Peppermint it is,' He thought as he put the box in his cart and moved on down the aisle. 'Let's see, do I need to get anything else?' He thought, stopping in place as he looked at the list in his hand again. 'Nope! That was the last thing!'

Gavin then began making his way to the checkout section of the store, passing several aisles and other customers as he went. Eventually, he arrived at the checkout section and went to an open cash register that was being manned by an older woman. He then started putting his items on the conveyor belt, which the lady turned on.

Once she finished scanning all his items, she said, "Your total is $51.49."

"Alright," He said as he pulled out his wallet and got out his debit card. He then swiped the card, and when prompted, typed in his PIN number, before pulling out the card once it said he was done.

"Thank you, and have a nice day," The lady said with a smile, making him smile in turn.

"Thank you," He replied before pushing his cart out the front doors. He then made his way over to his car, and popped open the trunk, before he started putting his groceries in it.

Once the last of his groceries were in his trunk, he shut it and pushed the cart over to a nearby cart return spot. He then got in his car and drove off.

As he pulled up to his driveway, he stopped by his mailbox and opened it to see if there was any mail in it. There was a large manilla envelope sitting inside it, surprising him a bit. 'Huh, wonder who it's from?' He thought as he pulled out the envelope and set it on the seat next to him before he pulled up to the garage and parked the car. He then grabbed some of his groceries and started bringing them inside the house.

Once he was done with the groceries, he turned his attention to the manilla envelope, curiosity in his mind as he opened it. "I wonder what's in this?" He said as he pulled out the contents of the envelope, which was a single piece of paper.

He then turned the piece of paper over and started reading it. As he did so, his curious look slowly disappeared, and was replaced with one of shock and horror.

"No," he said with horror as He reread the message. "No no no! It can't be!" He continued as he set the message down before he tapped an app on his phone. Once the app opened, his eyes widened even more.

"Shit! NO!" He cried with horror as he stared at the screen. "No!"

After staring at it for several seconds, tears started to form, before he put his hands to his face and started sobbing, with his phone sitting on his lap.

Krampus sighed as she poured herself another cup of coffee in the kitchen. It had been another slow day for her, and she could use the caffeine from the coffee to help energize her.

Suddenly, the kitchen window flew open, and a letter flew in, surprising her a bit. A letter delivered directly to her? That was a first. She quickly ran over and shut the window, before turning her attention to the letter, which was now resting on the kitchen island. When she saw the name on it, she smiled.

"Ah, Gavin," She said happily as she walked over and picked up the letter. "I wonder what interesting news you have to…" She trailed off as a scent hit her nostrils, one that she was quite familiar with in her line of work.

It was the smell of tears.

'Why was he crying while writing this?' She thought as she tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter, before flipping it open.

It read:

"Dear Krampus and Santa. Hey. It's been a couple weeks since my last letter, and I figured you would want another one. So, um, work's good here. Quite good. I finally got that leak fixed in the kitchen, and my car brakes replaced. They really needed to be.

Sorry for rambling. I'm just still in shock. I got some bad news. You know how I told you about how I won the lottery and got all that money? Well, that money's gone. Stolen by some gang. And there's no way to get it back, according to the cops. So, I'll be ending up homeless in January, as that's when I'd need to pay for my bills again.

So, um, I hope everything goes well with your planning, and have a good rest of the year.

Bye."

Krampus' eyes widened as she reread the brief letter, before she looked away from it, worry on her face. "Nicole!" She yelled out. "We got a problem!"

"What sort of problem?" Nicole said as she hurried into the room, huffing and puffing a bit.

"Read this," Krampus replied as she handed her the letter. "It's from Gavin."

"Oh?" Nicole said as she started to look at the letter, before a worried look appeared on her face. "Oh dear! Poor Gavin!"

"We have to help him!" Krampus said firmly to her.

"But how?" Nicole asked her. "We can't just give him money! It'd attract too much attention."

"I know," Krampus replied, before smirking. "That's why I have something else in mind."

"And what would that be?" Nicole asked her cautiously, feeling slightly curious.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe…," Krampus then whispered her plan to Nicole, whose eyes then widened with surprise.

"You what?!" Nicole said with surprise. "You want to what?!"

"You heard what I said," Krampus replied.

"But we've never done that before!" Nicole answered her. "And what about his friends and family? And his job?"

"Um, he has no living family, remember?" Krampus said to her. "We looked for it two months ago when we dug into his past. All of his family is in the universe he came from. And as for friends, he doesn't really have that many. He lives near a bunch of assholes. As for his job, don't worry, I got it covered."

"Right, right," Nicole replied, remembering how they'd looked into her magic snow globe and seen his history. That had been a very somber day. "But still, do you think he'd want to?"

"I think he would," Krampus answered her with a smile. "Based on what he's put in his letters, he's rather lonely. So, what do you say?"

Nicole hummed in thought for several seconds, before she sighed. "Fine, we can do it," She said, making Krampus grin.

"Wonderful!" Krampus said as she grabbed her coffee, before she started walking off. "I'll get started immediately!"

As she walked off, Nicole sighed. 'Oh, I hope this doesn't go wrong,' She thought before she followed Krampus down the hallway, letter still in hand. 'Don't worry Gavin. We're going to help.'

Well, this was an interesting chapter!

Yes, it is rather short, but I felt that it worked better as a short one than a really long one that dragged on forever.

Can't wait till I write the next chapter!

PuzzleMaster1998 signing off!