A Christmas Horror Story by Sebastian Gregory Page B

to see if they were being followed, which they were, of course, but she could not see their hunter. She turned to Emily and Jake who were both still in their thin nightclothes and barefooted. They were turning shades of red and purple as they shivered in the snow.
    ‘Oh my God. You’re both freezing.’ Katie panicked and removed her winter jacket.
    ‘Really? I hadn’t noticed,’ commented Emily, still as sharp as the cold.
    Quickly, Katie wrapped her coat around Jake. It buried him but would keep him warm. She then sat down and removed her boots, placing them on Jake’s poor feet.
    ‘Thank you’.’ He shivered. Katie smiled back in reassurance.
    ‘What about me?’ chattered Emily, white breath almost turning to solid ice as she spoke.
    But Katie was also removing her socks. She had three pairs of thick dark woollen winter warmers and she helped put two pairs on Emily. She then removed one of the two jumpers she wore and placed it over her sister. The cold was still enough to brittle the bones. Katie noticed the silence and not even a breeze dared to make a sound.
    ‘Come on,’ she whispered while cautiously standing up and helping her brother.
    ‘What’s the point? We may as well let it have us. We’re probably going to freeze to death anyway’,’ Emily replied. Katie could see that her sister meant it. Emily was totally at a loss, and Katie clearly saw her resolve leaking into the snow.
    Jake sobbed quietly.
    ‘Emily, listen to me. I have seen what that thing does. I’ve heard it, I smelled it and believe me you do not want that. We are going to run and hide and wait until help comes or Christmas ends. Whichever comes first.’
    Emily thought for a moment and stood to join the other two. They trudged and huddled through the trees, until the dead woods watched them leave. The world that lay to greet them was pure white, and Katie knew they were lost. Yet somewhere in the back of her mind there was a familiarity about the bleak place. There were too many distractions for her to think on it further. She was so cold she could feel her skin chapping and beginning to crack. Her sister and brother were also becoming dark-eyed, and red sores split along their lips and pale skin. Katie turned to her brother. He stood shaking and pointing a sleeve at the woods. His eyes were wide and a puddle of urine had formed over his crotch and legs. Emily saw the thing too, and stood gasping.
    ‘Look, look.’ She could barely speak the words.
    Katie followed their stares. She saw the creature dancing between the trees, jerking as if broken but moving with fluidity and floating all at the same time. It was nightmarish to see, so much so that Katie’s eyes watered before they could adjust to the strangeness of the movement. It was black as gangrenous rot, clothed in rags, its beard was dark needles and its coal Santa hat nearly hid its white orb eyes. Except now the left eye had burst from where Katie’s axe had severed it previously. Tied around its back with rope was a sack to keep the children in, while around its waist were the skinning knives that chimed as the Child Eater skipped on long gangly legs that seemed to be made of too many knees. And despite is tall frame, not one flake of snow was disturbed on the ground. Such was the lightness of its touch. Yet this horror was nothing compared to the grin that spread across its face. Thin lips opened, revealing teeth as sharp as razors and as white as pearls. A tongue, like a juicy red slug, slid over those teeth, savouring the feast that would follow.
    ‘Come on,’ Katie shouted and once again urged her siblings. But as they left the woods, the land went uphill and the snow was up to their knees and to Jake’s thighs. He fell and Katie quickly dragged him along. He was heavy and she too began to feel the strain pullingher to the cold, drowning snow. They could only pant for air as they fought to climb the hill. The Child Eater meanwhile slowly followed, grinning and