A/N: Here you go, I hope this is enough of a chapter to hold you guys over until the finale. Which will be posted on Christmas Eve! Again feedback is welcome, and enjoy!


A Very Whitechapel Christmas

Chapter 8: Christmas Eve Part 1

22nd December 2012 (2 Days Left)

Ethan spent the day at home trying his best to nurse his wounds from the previous night. Benny had done all he could to heal the cut on his arm, but the pain was still there. As for the bruises around his neck there wasn't much anyone could really do.

Ethan touched his neck gently and winced, he was lucky. The fact that he could still talk was a blessing, sure his voice cracked a little more than average but what could you do? His parents had yet to notice and Ethan intended to keep it that way. He wore turtle neck sweaters and shirts indoors and a scarf when he went outdoors. He thought about calling Sarah and then decided against it. She too was spending the day at home recovering, or at least a portion of it before heading out to visit family. Thanks to her vampire powers and Evelyn's magic her dislocated shoulder would heal within the day.

But for now they would be out of commission and that suited Ethan just fine. He took off his shirt and looked at his back in the mirror; it was covered in bruises from the impact against the tree. Coal had done some serious damage. What made it worse was the fact it was their first actual battle with the boy. What other secrets did he have? His speed, sharp wings, he's ability to skate across the ground, and then there was that scythe. His dreams last night had been plagued by it, that sharp blade striking him down. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen or encountered before.

Ethan thought about Sarah, something he'd been doing a lot of recently. She had wanted to talk to him last night, that much he knew, but as fate decided whatever it was wasn't supposed to happen. What about his feelings for her? Ever since this chaos had started he's tried to tell her how he felt, but every single time something had happened. What were they? Where they just dating? Or perhaps they were something more?

He thought of all the small kisses between them, the hand holding, and the 'dates'. Unfortunately all the unsaid words also lingered in his mind. Ethan looked at his clock and realized he hated days off. He picked up his cell phone and texted Sarah.

"What are we?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean are we dating? Or are we just really close friends?"

"Ethan is this really a conversation to have via text?"

"..."

"I can sense you making that puppy face again."

"Am not." He was.

"Can't we talk about this in person? What about tomorrow?"

"I can't I'm picking up the last of my gifts. How about Christmas Eve?"

"Isn't that when we're supposed to stop Coal?"

"Sarah, I love you." Ethan held his finger over the send button, should he? Could he? His mind was going back and forth when his phone buzzed.

"Ethan, don't send that." It was from Benny. He turned around, Benny was standing in his doorway.

"How did you-?"

"I have this sixth sense kind of thing that lets me know when you're going to do something incredibly stupid." Benny sat at his desk. "Are you really going to say something that important over a text? Dude, even I know that's a bad idea."

"What am I going to do?" asked Ethan. "Every time I try and tell her how I feel something bad happens. Like last night or when that reindeer from heck attacked us, I just want to know. I mean we've shared a few kisses, but nothing special."

"Those aren't special?" asked Benny as he raised his eyes brows. "If I recall correctly you fainted after that first one."

"Shut up," said Ethan as he threw a pillow. His friend caught it. "It's I don't even know if I'm her boyfriend, and I want to share a real kiss with her."

"A real kiss? Is there a difference?" He was leaning in the chair.

"I want to share a kiss like the one you and Erica had when you used the love potion," Benny fell backwards onto the ground. "Except without the part where they tried to kill us."

"Never mention that again," said Benny as he looked around. "She'll kill me; I think she forgot about that part. Besides those weren't 'real' kisses. There wasn't anything behind them. Imagine a cool movie, now take away the good actors, script, specials effects and what do you have?"

"A really bad movie?"

"Exactly! There's actual chemistry between you two!" He grabbed Ethan's shirt and began to shake him. "If I can see that and I'm failing chem class then you should not only be able to see it but do something about it!"

"Ok!" said Ethan as he broke free of his friend's grip. "Then what should I do?"

"Next time you see her talk with her, it's the only way. You guys are an unofficial couple; all you have to do is take the next step!"

"You're right," said Ethan as he stood up. "I need to meet with her in person and tell her how I feel!"

"To bad she's at her Aunt's house and you have no way of getting to her," Ethan fell back onto his bed. Benny patted his shoulder. "Let her know on Christmas how you feel, chicks love that romantic stuff."

As if Ethan didn't have enough reasons to save Christmas.


23rd December 2012 (1 Days Left)

Whitechapel had changed. There was a growing sense of depression surging through the streets. It building up, gaining momentum and soon it would reach a breaking point. Coal stood atop the abandon Whitechapel Church, it like him had been forgotten in the ever moving world.

The small wound on his neck had healed, he was sure the vampire had saved Ethan. It didn't matter, soon everything would fall into place. On Christmas Eve the entire city would feel his pain, his loneliness. And then he would no longer be alone, after all there would be another just like him.

As Ethan walked through Whitechapel the effects of Coal's attacks were becoming more and more evident. People seemed solemn, and casted their eyes down instead of up. They seemed ashamed to meet one another's eyes, or perhaps they felt that one of these people was the one who had ruined the landmarks. Normally families could be seen at town hall taking pictures in front of the tree or reindeer. Now it was unnaturally empty, only a few citizens were seen and even they rushed past refusing to acknowledge to missing stature. To Ethan it felt like he had failed, that they had failed to protect the Christmas spirit. He was starting to feel depressed when he arrived at the mall. It only increased by the time he met with Erica and Rory, who both looked annoyed.

"What is wrong with everybody?" asked Rory as he looked around. "So a few things were destroyed? Is that any reason to give up on Christmas?"

"Look the mall is practically empty," said Erica as she sighed. "What happened to all the decorations?"

"They took them down," said Ethan as they walked around with no real purpose. "After the 'prank' they thought it would be better not to provoke another one."

The center was still covered in caution tape from where the tree had done damage. Several of the stores in the area had closed down; it felt unnaturally dark. The large tree had been removed, and the Santa station taken down. The only remnants were the fake pine needles and tinsel on the ground. Ethan sighed, they had tried so hard and it was becoming more obvious by the second there was no hope.

"This is sad," said Rory as they continued to walk through the empty mall. "Even if the real Santa showed up, it wouldn't be enough to bring back the holiday cheer."

"Can you blame them?" asked Ethan. "Everything the city does to celebrate has been destroyed in one way or another. The only thing left is the Christmas tree in town square, but no one goes near it because of the destroyed reindeer. Coal's won…"

"That's not the geek I know," said Erica. "You wouldn't give up; we still have a day left to stop him."

"Do you really think we can stop him?" Ethan removed the scarf from around his neck, the bruises from the attack were still dark purple. Erica took a sharp breath and Rory's mouth fell open. "We thought we could stand up to him, but he's stronger than we thought."

"He did this?" whispered Rory.

"Yeah, he also dislocated Sarah's shoulder," said Ethan as he covered his neck with the scarf. "She'll be fine thanks to her unnatural healing abilities."

"You guys tried to fight him yourself?" asked Erica. "I thought we were supposed to be working together as a team."

"Yeah! We're team V!" said Rory. "Next time you need help just ask us!"

"Thanks guys," said Ethan. "We didn't really have much of a choice, he attacked us. But we have one last chance to stop him, and it's on Christmas Eve. We don't even know what he's planning."

"By the way you're wrong Ethan," said Erica. "There isn't just one thing left, there are two. There's the town square tree, and the ringing of the bell."

"Bell?"

"Did you forget?" asked Rory. "They ring the bell in town hall at midnight to let everyone know its Christmas."

"By the tolling of the twelfth bell your Christmas will be over."

Ethan stopped, how could he have been so stupid? Was it possible? Did Coal plan on destroying the top the city hall as part of his plan? Or was that the point at which his plan would start? That couldn't be, his vision had shown him everything was to happen on Christmas Eve. And the warning… No it was going to happen on Christmas Eve, and it was going to happen before the bell began to toll. Then that was they're deadline-midnight of Christmas Day. He told them about his theory and was rewarded with shrugs. They needed to know more about the what, rather than the when if they intended to stop Coal's plan. The trio left the mall there was no use hanging around an almost empty place. As they walked through the city the feeling of sadness and depression was almost physical.

"I got to go," said Rory as he help up his cell phone. "I forgot I'm supposed to help my mom with the cooking tonight. My cousins are visiting and we always have a killer Christmas Eve dinner, it's so awesome it takes two nights to make. I don't really eat reagular now that I'm vampire, but a tradition is a tradition!"

He waved goodbye and took to the air. Erica and Ethan continued on to the park a strange silence between the two. Even in the daytime the park seemed sad and empty, any happiness it once had had been lost in the vandalism.

"Why are we here?" asked Erica as she walked next to him. "I thought you said you needed my help with getting a gift for Sarah?"

"I do," said Ethan. "And since she's a vampire and girl I figure you would be the only one who could really help me."

"Just because we both happen to be undead creatures doesn't mean we share the same things. I mean yeah we're friends but that doesn't mean we both love the exact same thing."

Ethan sighed. "Just promise you won't tell her what I got for her?"

"I will make no such promise," said Erica. "If it's something I disapprove of, I'll probably tell her."

"Should've asked Rory," mumbled Ethan.

Erica looked offended and said nothing. A few minutes later Ethan's friend waved them over, he handed Ethan a golden heart-shaped locket. Ethan handed it to Erica.

"It's so beautiful," said Erica as she looked at the it enviously.

"Open it up."

She did and her mouth fell open. Inside were two small sketches of Sarah, Erica looked at Ethan with a whole new feeling of respect. "This is amazing."

"Erica, this is my friend Garret, he's got a photographic memory," said Ethan. "I had Sarah come with me to meet him the other day."

One of the sketches had Ethan with his arm over Sarah's shoulder, both of them smiling and happy. The other was a picture of Sarah with a smile on her face, it was unlike anything Erica had ever seen.

"She'll love it!" said Erica as she held the locket in her hands. "Why can't anyone do something this special for me?

Ethan felt oddly relieved; he took the locket from Erica. "You think so? I was worried she might not like it."

"Why?" Then is dawned on Erica and she began to laugh. "You haven't realized it have you?"

"Realized what?"

"Things have changed; you used to worry about her. She worries more about you, you don't see it but she's chasing after you now, you've done a complete role reversal."

Ethan thought about it, yes there was something between them, but had he misjudged it that completely?

"You really think so?"

"I've known her as long as you've known Benny. I think I know what I'm talking about."

Ethan held the locket in his hand and thought about all the moments they had shared over the past month. Benny had said the same thing yesterday, had he really been that blinded by all the nonsense that had happened to see it?

"Think about it, you can't say there's nothing between you. You've been following her since the moment you locked eyes. When did she start following you? You know what it's like to have feelings, do something about it before you lose your chance. Anyway I have to go, I need to convince someone to get me a gift like that." Her fangs appeared. "Maybe Benny would."

And she was gone. That night as Ethan lay in bed he held the locket, this was supposed to be his best Christmas ever after all it was his first with Sarah. When had things gone so wrong? He thought about his plan to catch her under the mistletoe, it seemed almost a lifetime ago. Then he thought about all the fun times he had with his friends and family. Sure things has reached an all time low, but he wasn't alone. On his desk the feather began to glow, wasn't that the point of Christmas- to be with friends and family? The locket shined in the feather's light, it was a way out of the depression that was eating at him. Maybe they had a chance after all, even if it was a faint flicker of hope. Ethan soon drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face and the golden heart pressed against his chest.


24th December 2012 CHRISTMAS EVE

Ethan had spent the previous night finding his resolve, and not that he had it was time to act. When he woke up it was to a strange feeling in the air, a feeling of urgency. It seemed as though things were suddenly thrown into motion. There was a strange knot in his stomach, he was nervous. This was it. He went through the notes he had taken down.

By the tolling of the twelfth bell your Christmas will be over. It was the first real warning they had received, it fit in with the theory Erica had proposed. By the time the bell had finished ringing at midnight Coal's plan would be in motion it would be too late.

What would Coal use to set his plan into motion? The feathers seemed like the most likely method. The living Christmas tree. The statue. The mutated Santa. Santa brought gifts on Christmas Eve, was Coal planning his attack around that? He thought about the series of events that played out, everything pointed to Santa. He was the most known aspect of the season. I'm going to accomplish something that even old Kris Kringle would be proud of.

Then he had the answer.

If he was going to try and reenact the most basic of Christmas folklore then that meant going across the city leaving gifts at each house. Coal was going to use feathers; he was going to use the millions of feathers at his command to destroy Whitechapel, but how? When? Ethan picked up his cell phone and sent a text to each of his friends. One by one they responded. They were just as lost as he was.

Ethan continued to write. The snowmen, the park, the lake. They didn't fit into the original pattern, but they did mesh together in another way. They were all attempts on Ethan's life. Coal used Alec's memories to lure Ethan out to the lake, and then attempted to drown him in the freezing water. The snowmen were under the command of the feather in the book, which had locked him within his own mind. And again at the park when he was dropped from the sky. What did it mean? He had only ever targeted Ethan's life directly, nobody else. Even when he had a chance to kill Sarah in the park he had knocked her aside and went for him. Was there perhaps another plan at play?

Coal stood in the exact same spot where he got his first glimpse of Whitechapel nearly a month ago. In the distance he could see city, and watched as the sun slowly vanished. It was time, he had waited long enough. He took to the skies and felt the familiar rush of cold air as he neared the his destination. Once he passed over the limits his wings arched out feathers began to fall. They slowly covered everything, a black snowfall for the final day of Whitechapel.

Ethan felt the unnatural rush of depression surge over him, he looked out his window and watched as the shadows of the feathers filled his room. It wasn't possible, he darted out of the house and stared straight up. It was unnatural, he watched Coal disappear in the distance. As the feathers touched down they vanished one by one. They were passing through buildings, he turned and found several lazily floating through his living room.

"Ethan?" asked Samantha as a feather suddenly melded into her. She fell to the ground in an unconscious slump. Ethan ran over to her, she was in a deep sleep. He ran through the house and found both his sister and father asleep as well.

Outside there must have been thousands of them falling, maybe even millions. Ethan pulled out his phone and called his friends. "This is it! We've got to stop him! He's heading for the old Whitechapel Church on the outskirts of town!"

He ran as fast as he could, he thought about Sarah and the previous encounter they had with the angelic boy, would the five of them be enough to stop him? Then he shook the thoughts out of his mind- it was time to end this. Another block down he caught Benny who looked as afraid as he did. He was wearing his backpack.

"Did you see all those feathers?" yelled Benny as he looked around. "This is insane! If he activates them then there's a good chance the city will literally destroy itself!"

"We won't let that happen," said Ethan as he ran. "Right now there's no way I'll be able to communicate with all of them in time. We either have to convince Coal to stop or think of a way to stop them! Why do you have that with you?"

"It's filled with potions I created; I spent the past few days making them. I don't plan on letting that freak ruin my holiday!"

Sarah and Rory appeared at their side a few minutes later.

"We have to destroy him!" said Sarah.

"We have until midnight!" said Ethan. "He told me that much, we have until midnight to stop him."

"Because of the bell?" asked Rory. "Dang, why didn't we see it before. We could stop it from ringing!"

"You really think stopping the bell is going to stop him?" asked Benny. "No, we're going to have to stop the source if we want to make sure there's a Christmas and Whitechapel tomorrow."

Erica landed a few feet away for them, she looked pissed.

"This is it guys," said Ethan as he looked at his friends. "This is our last chance to stop him." They nodded and Ethan continued. "Be careful, you remember the information I texted you? His scarf can transform into a scythe, his wings are sharp, he's fast, and he's strong. But if we use this to our advantage we can win."

"We know," said Sarah. "What's the plan?"

"Separate him from the scarf, if we can do that then we should be able to get the upper hand. Something else I noticed from our previous battle, he won't use the scythe if he's in flight, and if he does it's with more care. Christmas is stake, but more importantly our home is. It's time we showed him what happens when you see with Whitechapel!"

They all nodded and several minutes later they reached their destination. Together the group approached the old abandon Whitechapel Church. Coal was standing atop the building, his wings were spread out. The final bits of sunlight disappeared. He looked down at them, and jumped. As he did his wings vanished, the ground exploded under the force of Coal's landing. Slowly the boy rose, he looked at them, there were no emotions in his eyes.

"Are you ready?" He removed the scarf, Ethan felt his heart sink as it transformed into a large black scythe. "To experience Whitechapel's final hours?"

"Not in this lifetime," whispered Ethan as he unsheathed his knife. "We will stop you."

Coal charged forward and swung the scythe down in an arc. There was the flash of metal, Ethan moved to the side and felt the ground he was standing on explode from the impact.

"Benny look out!" screamed Erica. It was too late Coal took to the sky with Benny in tow leaving the weapon behind. Both Sarah and Erica charged after them, Rory grabbed the scythe.

"Ethan get back!" said Rory as pulled it free from the ground.

"What are-?"

Rory held it up high and threw it as hard as he could. It spun through the air towards Coal. Rory looked down at his hands; they were burned from handling the weapon.

Benny struggled against the boy's grip and muttered several incantations. Coal could sense the blade heading for them, he let the spellmaster fall and caught the blade in his hand. It turned back into a scarf, he looked around for Benny, where had he gone? He turned in enough time to see Erica crash into him. She grabbed onto the scarf and the two of them began to spin through the air.

"Erica be careful!" screamed Sarah as she landed next to her friends with Benny. They watched the scarf transform. A moment later Erica crashed somewhere in the woods.

"Here he comes!" screamed Rory as Coal charged straight at them. The wings disappeared as the boy slid across the ground. Coal swung the weapon with both hands. Ethan dove, around him graves and statues exploded into pieces. Coal changed direction and raised the blade. Benny snapped his fingers, the boy was blasted backwards. The scythe clattered to the ground.

"What was that?" asked Sarah as she stood up.

"I placed a fireball spell on him when he grabbed me," said Benny. "It only works once, and I figured now would be a good time to use it."

"Rory, Sarah try and get him into the church," said Ethan as he helped Benny up. "It'll prevent him from using his wings!"

The two vampires charged forward, Coal was just getting up when the duo kicked him. The force sent him backwards into the building, Benny charged after them. Ethan took one last look over his shoulder at the black scythe on the ground, he ran over to it and tried to pick it up. When he did he felt pain surge through his body, how had Rory managed to handle it?

Before he could think of an answer several explosion echoed from within the old church. Upon entering he watched Benny cast several fireballs, Coal dodged each one by jumping from rafter to rafter.

"Stop!" yelled Ethan. "You'll burn down everything!"

Fire spread across the top of the church. Coal opened his wings and sent a flurry of feathers down on them; all around objects came to life. Ethan plunged the knife into the nearest of the creatures; one by one they were freed from the feathers before turning to dust. Ethan looked up in enough time to see Coal thrown into the alter. Erica landed next to him.

"You have no idea how much I wanted to do that."

Several beams came crashing down, the fire was getting out of hand. Coal slowly rose from his place on the alter. Around him the fire burned bright, his face remained expressionless.

"Why?" asked Coal as looked down at them. "What are you that you care so much about another?"

"Does it matter?" asked Ethan.

Coal let out an inhuman laugh, and jumped forward. As he did his wings spread out, he passed over them and out of the church.

"I've got the fire!" cried Benny. "Go, stop him!"

They ran out in time to see Coal grab his scythe then fly away. The three vampires took off into the air after him. In the sky Coal dodged them with ease, try as they might he had been flying long before they had. It was Sarah who eventually caught him off guard and slammed him into the nearest chimney. Debris flew everywhere; Coal twisted around and smashed her into the roof.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," said Coal as he raised his scythe. Rory came from the air and tackled him into a nearby tree. It collapsed; they both took to the air again. Coal landed on a roof and swung the blade, it tore through the ceiling missing the blonde boy. Rory dodged every strike; they jumped from building to building.

Sarah watched as Rory dodged another strike, a corner of the building suddenly crashed onto the ground. There were several more explosions from the rooftops.

"You're going to have to be faster than that," said Rory as Coal tried to slice though him again. "I'm the one and only vampire ninja."

"You're a fool," said Coal. "Who deludes himself into thinking he doesn't need to grow up!"

Rory tripped backwards, he fell from the building onto the ground of City Hall.

"Over here!" yelled Erica as she threw a brick at the angel boy. Coal dodged it then threw the scythe at her. Erica easily dodged it.

"NO!" yelled Sarah as the scythe tore through the Whitechapel Christmas tree. It fell to the ground in two pieces; she surveyed the damage the ornaments were mostly broken. A chill run through her as Coal landed on the ground next to her.

"Can you feel my pain yet?" He grabbed her shoulder and threw her into a building. "I want you to know, to know what it means to have nothing."

He picked up his scythe and turned to leave when Rory ran at him again. He swung it and missed tearing a car in half. Coal charged after him swinging the blade around like a madman. Erica helped Sarah out of the building.

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, we need to help-"

There was an explosion as the blade tore through another car, the street was littered with pieces of buildings and toppled trees.

Ethan stabbed the final creature and let out a pent up breathe. The church was clear, he stepped outside and saw several pillars of smoke rising into the air. He watched as several new ones suddenly appeared. In the distance he could make out two figures, one was suddenly vanished as more smoke rose. He called Sarah.

"Get out of the city! You guys are going more harm than good!"

"We-" Another explosion and the line went dead. Ethan just watched, at this point it was the only thing he could do.

"What was that about?" asked Erica as she flew upwards.

"We need to get out of the city!" yelled Sarah. "Were did they go?"

"Towards the park!"

Sure enough several trees toppled as Rory drove Coal into the ground. Sarah motioned for Erica to take over the fight, she nodded and charged at the monster. Sarah landed next to Rory.

"We have to get out of the city. You're the fastest of us think you can lure him away? Head for the old church."

"Easy," said Rory as he flew after Erica and Coal. Sarah watched as Erica dodged an attack, Rory appeared behind Coal and slammed him sideways. The boy flew after him swinging the blade.

"Come on!" yelled Rory avoiding the strikes. "You need to be faster-"

Coal threw the blade and Rory dodged it, only to have the boy reappear behind him. There was a flash of metal and the blonde vampire was falling towards the ground a huge slash across his entire body.

"RORY!" screamed Erica as she dove after him. Coal appeared before her and slammed the back end of the blade against her head. She crashed into the ground, and remained motionless. He landed next to her and made sure she was unconscious. Sarah felt numb; she took to the air towards the church. She needed help. Coal watched as she tried to escape, then with all his strength he threw the scythe. She dodged it, and felt something grab her head. A moment later she was slammed into the ground. The world was blurry as Coal leaned over her.

"Please," he whispered. "Stay down."

Everything went dark.


"Benny look out!" screamed Ethan as the scythe crashed into the base of the church. He could see his friend lying on the ground knocked backwards by the impact. Coal appeared in front of Ethan and punched him in the gut as hard as he could. He walked past and headed for his scythe. Ethan fell to the ground in pain gasping for air.

"I want you to see to true despair," said Coal as he picked it up. "I want you to feel the same pain that I do, you must."

Coal jumped up and landed on the top of the church, he turned to Whitechapel. His wings spread out far behind him. "There is still twenty five minutes before the bell tolls, but I no longer want to wait."

They began to glow. "I will show you what it means to feel complete and total loss."

All around the city the feathers began to active. Christmas trees, presents, decorations-they all came to life. Citizens awoke to find themselves under attack by a legion of unholy creatures and beasts. Ethan watched as several of the statues in the graveyard suddenly came to life, and began to slowly surrounded him. In the distance he could hear the cries of fear, panic and pain. One by one the lights went out, until Whitechapel was nothing but darkness.

"No!" screamed Ethan. "YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!"

Coal jumped down and held out his other hand: in it was the locket. The gift he had gotten for Sarah, the one that had helped him find his reason for fighting. It looked so tiny, so fragile.

"No," whispered Ethan as he struggled to get up, he was beginning to cry. "Please-please don't."

Coal dropped it on the ground then slammed his foot down. There was a crunch. Ethan watched as the boy turned his foot to ensure it wouldn't be salvageable. Ethan felt the world spin, he couldn't move his body.

Benny exited the church in a daze, he saw Ethan kneeling on the ground crying. Before he could respond he felt the scythe pressed against his neck, if he so much as moved it would be game over.

"You're city is lost," whispered Coal into Benny's ear. "Your friends have all been defeated. You have nothing left to fight for, now watch as the loss and pain consume your friend. Watch as he transforms into something like me."

The statues swarmed around Ethan, a strange darkness swirled around them. Benny felt his legs go weak, if it wasn't for the blade he would've fallen to the ground.

It was over, they had lost.