Puff… Puff…
Bloody hell. Tonight was cold.
Jaxx Gold kept the thought to himself while he and his siblings trudged through the snowy, unshoveled pathways of the evening. Well, it was five in the afternoon when they left home, but everything was so damn dark during London's winter, not counting the stray lamplights or glimpses of a waning half-moon shining on the snow.
He kicked a pile of the fresh powder, sending a dirty look at the remains. He missed the ice-melting heatwaves of summer. He wished his dorm roommate Oli was here - he'd make life easier to bear with his wild jokes and crazy ideas. Instead Jaxx had to come and see his stupid family with his stupid parents and damn siblings.
"Why couldn't we have stayed in uni for this break?" he grumbled, "At least we'd have peace and quiet to ourselves with a chance to rest."
"Peace and quiet? Rest? At uni?" his younger brother Ed scoffed, unfazed from Jaxx's death-glare, "Listen Oxford, Cambridge doesn't do that when it comes to Christmas time. Especially when everyone shows up from the pub at nearly three in the morning, drunk off their heads. Besides, in the day, there's not really much to do apart from sleeping or pet projects or whatnot. And we finish those quickly."
"He's got a point, Jaxx," Ed's twin sister shrugged, "Plus it gets a little lonely at Cambridge."
"What about your friends, Ell?"
"Either all off to the pub, sleeping or too fucking drunk for interaction," she huffed.
"Can confirm," said Ed, "Though if we're all here together, just the three of us, I don't see why we can't make time to… Well, you know…"
"To what?"
"Do a jam session, Oxford! Something rough and not-so-clean, just play some music, improvise a song or whatnot and maybe release an EP?"
"When the fuck have we had time to do anything for Calamity?"
"Ed," Ell smiled sympathetically, "I know you've had your heart set on keeping the band afloat for a while - I have too, but Jaxx's right, when the hell have we had the time? Maybe next time."
"You two always say 'next time', but you never bloody do anything about it! It's been like that since we graduated high school! I don't care if it's for like, half an hour or fifteen minutes where we mess around and record the session, with little to no mixing or editing, keep all our mistakes and toss it on an album or EP or hell, even a single would be enough! It doesn't matter to me if it's received bad or good or whatever, I just… I need to get stuff out of me and playing solo isn't where it's bloody well at!"
Jaxx flinched at his brother's words, but… Fuck, he had a point. Even Ell looked guilty.
"Ed," she tried, "Seriously, next-"
"No."
"What? Ed, you're coming on too strong-"
"I know. But I said no. No empty promises or excuses. I'm just as sick and tired of them as you are and I know we've put up with them for a lot longer than we'd like, but coming back to Calamity? I don't have any more patience for it. Don't say 'next time' until you bloody well mean it."
Ouch.
Jaxx could practically see the steam huffing out his brother's nostrils. It genuinely unnerved him to see Ed so angry - god, he wished he were as funny as Oli. If he could joke around like how he did to get Jaxx laugh, then maybe he'd help Ed.
Maybe it wouldn't be good to let all of this settle down… Even Jaxx himself started to get angry at the thought of not being able to have a jam session.
"Alright," Jaxx sighed after a moment of silence, "uni life's boring as balls out of class days and we don't know what to do with the band, But y'know what? At least our degrees saved our asses and have guaranteed jobs we want after we're done with it. Not to mention, we can actually plan our own goddamn vacations and lives."
The twins hummed in agreement.
"You doing the advanced atoms stuff and us taking on advanced robotics and engineering on top of our extra blacksmithing... Wow, life is gonna be pretty stable once we graduate," Ed nodded, "But… I can't help thinking of Cora and Laurie - even Emily, though she's Cor's friend. You know how keen dad is about… You know."
Jaxx could've heard a pin hit the snow in the silence.
"Fuck," he breathed, shaking his head at the thought, "If they stay in that job for who knows how long, then they'll-"
"Jaxx," Ell butted in, worried, "Please, don't."
The three siblings looked away to the footprints they were making.
"We got it real good to get out of dad's business before the end of school," Ell sighed, "Wasn't easy at all, but it was a fight worth the freedom - down to the last moment. Especially you, Ed. Not meaning to put a damper on how you got that scholarship at the last minute."
"Wasn't thinking about it." Ed shook his head.
"Well?"
"...I was thinking about the Christmastime Killer again."
"Oh fuck," Jaxx groaned, "That bastard literally sounds like someone from the damn animatronics game series Charlie and Will introduced me to."
"Wait, didn't you have nightmares from checking the series out?"
"Fucking leave it Ed." Jaxx hissed, "You were saying?"
"Right. I was thinking about it since I remembered the eyewitness reports and they wouldn't leave no matter how much I tried to think about something else."
Jaxx shook his head at his brother's words. It was stupid, and he was well aware of it, but...
"I don't blame you for thinking about it." He admitted, "Almost the entire country - London especially - has been jumpy over this asshole since the sixth. Weird shit happened during those monster-mash parades and y'know, I wouldn't be surprised if those cultist reports were true. But fuck, we don't even know if the killer even is a killer."
"Tell that to the witnesses who had repeat visits and got confirmation of their deaths."
…Fuck.
"It's weird that all the kids of those victims are the main sources of witnesses. Weirder they lived to tell the tale," said Ell, "Weirder still how they survived being captured. I mean, yeah, hiding is an obvious choice but on top of a fridge? Where would you even get such ideas?"
"I think the scarier stories were the rare ones where the kids mention their parent or guardian moaning in a really freaky way during the Killer's visit." said Jaxx, "And not in the way you're thinking, apparently they sounded more like they were… Ghosts, or something. And then, that parent or guardian is just gone for good after."
"Well, I'm glad those stories are the more rare ones," Ed shuddered, "Jaxx, you hear about the one kid who let loose a bunch of those pyramid dice all over the floor? They're called d4s, right?"
"Oh yeah," he scoffed to hide a laugh, "kid's got respect from me. Surprised it worked when you apparently have the reports of hooves clicking instead of footprints. Bet the pain was a full set of d6's worth of damage."
"But the kid said he used d4s!"
"I know Ed, but d6s are usually what's used to roll damage in a campaign. At least, it's the case from most of my players."
"Oh, right. Well, I mentioned the report because I just thought you'd like hearing it."
Not that he'd admit it.
"If I were the kid who used a set of d4s on this guy's arse," Jaxx found himself smirking, "Ell would be the one armed with a pistol of holy water."
"Oh for god sakes Jaxx, I am not! I'm the one who rigged a tripwire or something before smacking his head with a tool hammer!"
"No, I would've rigged the tripwire, you'd be going in with two hammers."
"Oh fuck yeah Ed!"
Good for them, Jaxx grumbled as they shared a high-five.
"Cora would probably be the one who locked up every entry point in advance," Ed went on.
Wait.
"Ed," Jaxx tried, "don't you think it's-"
"Laurie could make a hologram maze,"
"Ed-"
"And Emily could be the one with the holy water pistol!"
"Ed for fucksakes!"
"Oxford, what the hell is it now?"
Jaxx clenched his teeth behind closed lips. Goddamn, why was Ed so oblivious?! They were lucky Ell was in between both of them. She elbowed her twin.
"Too far." She shook her head.
"Shit. I'm sorry."
"It's… Fine." Jaxx swallowed his anger, "I know you tried, but… Yeah, too far."
"…I get worried about Cor, Laur and even Em, but Jaxx, I thought you didn't like dad."
"…What?"
"I said I thought you didn't like dad."
"None of us do, Ed."
"So why are you concerned about him?"
"I'm not, actually," he hissed, "After what he locked us in for most of our teenage years, I'm sure none of us would mind seeing him disappear. Especially since he's got Cor and Laur stuck in it too."
"True." Ell shrugged. Ed said nothing. He was oblivious a lot of the time, sure, but this… He knew. They all knew what godforsaken job their dad got their sisters (and maybe their best friend) stuck in.
Delivering specialised drinks to the whole country wasn't exactly fun and games when they learned the drink they sent out was banned seventy-three years ago. Nobody else could do the work unless they were a Gold (save for one and only one employee) - which was why most of their cousins with that surname had fled the UK or lived overseas. And why (most of) their bastard cop relatives wouldn't leave them alone.
What was worse, their sisters had no idea of the truth behind the job. Worse still, neither Jaxx nor the twins could come up with any idea or plan to tell them the truth, let alone break them out. Not to say they hadn't tried, but…
"I'm not concerned about dad," Jaxx tried again, "But I am kinda concerned for the rest of our family."
"The extended or direct?" Ed wondered.
"Both. Cora and Laurie are for obvious reasons, and I know we don't like the extended part much, being mostly made up of bastard cops for uncles-"
"First cousins once removed?"
"We know Ed. Same difference." Jaxx shook his head, "But the Richwells are about to have their baby in less than a few weeks. They're in no state to fight off a serial killer. I know Will and Charlie are pretty gutsy for seven-year-olds and could handle that guy, but I'm not sure about Annabel, and she's the eldest."
"Isn't Anna nine years old?"
"That's the fucking point Ed!"
"Derek and Andrea have the advantage of being adopted and could be okay with Matthew and Sophia Hartgrace as their parents," Ell kept going, "But Mattie and Macie wouldn't be unless they teamed up with their adopted siblings."
"Do we have to keep mentioning it, Ell?"
"Some in-jokes never die, Ed. Some in-jokes never die."
"Still. About the Lawsons, maybe they have a better chance," Ed tapped his chin, "But knowing the killer at least tried to kidnap kids before… why the hell are we talking about the Richwells, Hartgraces and Lawsons? Haven't they been safe this entire time?"
"Well, yeah," Jaxx nodded, "but-"
"Why would we be worried for them?"
"Because," Jaxx stopped walking for a moment, "First of all, their kids are younger than us. They're gonna have a lot more problems if they lose their parents. Second, shit always fucks up at Christmas time, and nobody is fucking ready for it. The Richwells aren't immune to it, the Hartgraces aren't immune to it, the Lawsons aren't immune to it - fuck, even us Golds aren't immune, and it's worse because we're equally Golds and all the other three families in one set of siblings.
"Nobody is fucking immune to Christmastime bullshit. We've got plenty of family stories of shit happening to our ancestors because they weren't immune to it. And when shit hits the fan, I don't know we'd have it in us to… Fuck, I dunno, save it or whatever. We're not them. Doesn't matter if it's a killer after parents or Cora and Laurie getting more hours for-"
"Jaxx please!" Ed snapped, holding his head before pocketing his hand again, "I get it. You don't need to go on."
Ell shook her head before grabbing both their shoulders and gently pushing them to keep walking.
Jaxx tried with little avail to suppress his guilt - even glancing at his younger brother, he could tell he'd just gotten him riled up inside.
Fuck, maybe he really should watch his words…
"I wish…"
"What're you wishing for, Ed?" Ell asked.
"I just wish Cor and Laur would have a means of getting their way out of the business. If they don't, Cora's full-time hours would be solid and Laurie would be next… And then Emily too if she doesn't stop letting herself into our family matters…"
"You really are the most optimistic of us old chickens, Ed," Jaxx laughed bitterly, "It would take a bloody miracle for Cora to get Laurie and even Emily out of that hell - even if they don't realise it. But this isn't a world where Christmas miracles can come out of fucking goddamn nowhere."
"Tell that to the guy on Thirty-Fourth street."
"It's just a movie, Ed. He's also probably bloody well dead by now. The remakes don't count."
"It could still happen! Besides, it's Christmas! A lot of good's supposed to happen around this time anyway!"
"Yeah, supposed to." Jaxx scoffed, stink-eyeing Ed again. "Name three good things which happen around this fucking time. Especially with a fucking killer on the loose."
"Well, kids get gifts they've wanted, charity organisations get popular enough to do more good than usual and there's a lot of food to eat! It's all in one month, Oxford, what's the matter with it?"
"Because there's fucking nothing for us, a bunch of university assholes who've just barely escaped a horrible life and are supposed to put up with a safe, boring-arse one!"
"Jaxx…" Ell warned.
"I hate it! I just fucking hate it all! I hate Christmas!" Jaxx fumed, not listening to his sister.
"You can't be bloody serious! You can't be really hating on Christmas like this!"
"Ed, don't press on-"
"I hate what it's become! Nothing but a reminder of how dumb it is to adults like us: we have no actual friends, a family life we'd rather stay the fuck away from and no immunity to the fuckery which comes every damn year with this- this holly-jolly bullshit! There's no magic, no joy, nothing we once had as kids! There's no substance to it any more, Ed! Abso-fucking-lutely nothing!"
"You haven't searched for it, asshat!"
"Guys."
"I've fucking searched Ed, and there is nothing in-"
"Guys-"
"Ever thought of looking closer, you daft son of a-"
"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP!"
Jaxx didn't expect her voice to echo.
"We came out here," Ell folded her arms, "To have a walk and some fresh air, not to lose our fucking lungs."
He couldn't look his sister in the eye - and it wasn't that his glasses fogged up again. Sure, he was the older one over the twins by a year, and taller by a half-inch without his boots and long spiked hair… But she commanded authority, respect and leadership better than he did. To Jaxx, Ell was honestly a better parent to him and their other siblings than their own dad. She kept their shit together.
No wonder her high school yearbook had her as 'Most Headstrong'.
"Look," she sighed, a cloud of steam going up, "I'm with both of you on this one. Christmas has gone to shit for us, sure, but I think there's always the chance for it to redeem itself. It's not too late, we're still alive to see if it could get better. So let's just keep going and leave this conversation behind."
Jaxx wished the twins were right as they pushed their way onward through the snow.
Well, the soft moonlight shining down on the forest did make everything look picturesque - like something from those eighteenth-century Christmas cards he saw in the museum. Too bad the old abandoned building in the distance ruined the view.
Wait.
"What the fuck is that over there?"
The near-black building was only a few storeys tall, though Jaxx wondered if it would stay that way for any longer by the state of it.
Boarded up and broken windows (with glass shards still probably buried), parts of the outside crumbling away, and what was once a probably gleaming lit sign on the top now had most of its letters missing, the remaining ones now permanently dimmed or having fallen and decayed under the snow.
"E… S… Wo… L?"
"What?"
"Trying to read the sign, Ell," he folded his arms, "Can't make it out for the life of me. Say, anybody up for heading inside this thing?"
The twins stared at him as if he was off his rocker.
"What? Looking inside here would be something much more interesting to do than just a simple walk, talking about a serial killer or arguing about how shitty Christmas is!"
Ell rested her hands on her hips, glaring at him.
"Look, we all had an early family dinner, right?" Jaxx tried to make his case, "Very filling and all that. It's still early in the evening. We only just need to be back home by curfew."
"Which is… Midnight tonight," Ed rested a finger on his chin.
"Ed-sactly!"
"I'm going to murder you, Oxford."
"We got plenty of time to snoop in here and be back home well before it's lights out for everybody."
"Well," Ell shrugged, "As long as we don't hurt ourselves, die, or worse: get spotted by somebody - I'm in."
"I'm with Ell on this one."
"You always are, Ed."
"Shut up Oxford."
"Ladies first?"
As the three of them clambered through a broken window, Jaxx wondered.
Could this be a mistake?