Crimson Christmas by Rain Oxford Page A

edge on the chair to rub
the duct tape against. His assailant had done a good enough job with the
binding that Devon was losing feeling in his fingers. Once again, he tried to
use his magic and only received pain. He was calm for the moment so as to not
stress his heart.
    Until my time runs out .
    Way to stay calm.
    “It won’t be long now,” a sinister, hissing voice
said, disturbing the silence. The gag was finally removed from Devon’s mouth
and he immediately tried to spit out the foul taste. “What have you done with
my salominius?”
    “Your whatsit?”
    The unseen stranger struck Devon across the face.
“Don’t play dumb. You or one of your friends took my salominius and I want it
back.”
    “What does it look like?” He was slapped again. “Damn
it! Stop that! How would I know who took it if I don’t know what it looks like
or what it does?”
    “It looks like a very small gift box! What it does is
none of your business.”
    “Really? Because I think I’m tied to a chair right
now and that makes whatever you’re after very much my business. Let me guess;
you’re Sylvester? Going by the magic you’re using to restrain my power, I’m
also guessing you enchanted your toys to steal all the children in order to
absorb their life energy. How am I doing? Getting warm?”
    It was very easy to antagonize an enemy he couldn’t
see. He heard the distinct sound of a match being lit and then felt a sharp
burn on his right thigh for several seconds before the flame went out.
    “Yep, that would be warm,” Devon said. He really
hoped his jeans weren’t flammable. “Are the kids dead?”
    “Not yet. Soon, though. Very soon.”
    “What about the chimney monster? How does---”
    The cloth was shoved back into his mouth, but Devon
managed to bite down on several fingers, causing Sylvester to shout. He was
struck hard again and suddenly smelled gasoline. “Keep it up. I don’t need
you.”
    Devon heard a bell ring from somewhere in a room
above him and Sylvester fell silent. Instead of feeling relief, Devon’s
instincts warned him that things were about to go from bad to worse.
     
    *          *          *
     
    Mordon arrived at the store at the same time as
Dylan. “What did you find out?” Dylan asked.
    “Nothing, except I found the creature that has been
attacking people from their chimneys, attics, and closets. It took off in the
sky, so I’m a few minutes behind, but I tracked it here. What about you?”
    “I talked to Lincoln over on Fourth Street. The
original presents he put under the tree were stolen. He went to buy more, but
the general store was closed. Guess where he bought more presents.”
    “From Sylvester’s Toys.” Mordon stared at the dolls
in the window.
    “Right. How much do you want to bet we find similar
stories if we ask around? The creature you tracked must have been going around
and destroying presents in order to get people to buy from Sylvester.”
    Which is a really weird purpose for a monster ,
Rojan remarked.
    “What’s the plan then?” Mordon asked.
    “We go in and talked to Sylvester. If he’s not in a
talkative mood, we’ll have to persuade him.”
    “Yay!” Ron said excitedly. “Bloodshed and crying!
This is going to be fun!”
    “It’s dark. Can’t we come back tomorrow?” Hail asked.
    Mordon knew the kid was afraid of the dark. To be
honest, after seeing what he had on Earth, he couldn’t blame Hail. “More
children will probably go missing if we don’t stop it now,” Mordon argued.
    “Besides, we can burn the place down if it gets
ugly,” Dylan said easily. Both Dylan and Ron occasionally had very creepy,
almost psychotic moments.
    “Where is Devon?” Ron asked. “He would want to be
here.”
    “Well, he’s not. We don’t have time to wait for him,”
Dylan said, opening the door. They went inside. Although the sign said the
store was open, the lights were dimmed. “Anyone here?”
    An old man came out of the back, flipped