”Author’s Note: This story is best read to children over the age of 12 for its alcohol uses, violence, sexual remarks, a scenes of peril. This is as gory as Killer Klowns From Outer Space (PG-13) and is based on the Christmas Sensation of 2015 ‘Krampus’
Rosa Weaves and Justin Bayar were getting ready to go to their first St. Nicholas Hangout on the night of Christmas Eve. Rosa wore a blue coat and dark wool gloves while her brother Justin had just a plain red hat and a blue sleeve shirt.
Rosa was in the bathroom brushing her hair as Justin passed by. “Why is it whenever we head to a party you have to wear this shirt?” She asked.
“Because I can,” he said in a snotty manner.
“It’s just you look like you’re part of a gang.”
“What if I am? Would you tell the police?”
She went silent and shook her head, “Like any gang would pick you. Probably the rejects gang or some lame group.”
Justin laughed sd he passed the bathroom towards his room.
She slammed the brush down and looked at her brother, “It’s just you just HAD to find that colored shirt by coincidence.”
“Yep,” He yelled while entering his room. “Suuurrre,” She said while applying her apple red lipstick.
The scent of Justin’s room was a ‘tropical blaze’ that he got from a candle store in the downtown area. Justin pulled out his backpack and brought some stuff, a phone, a set of clothes, and some trail mix. He walked out and saw Rosa in the front of the doorway looking at him, stern on leaving. “Seriously!” She said.
“Seriously,” he mimicked, “Why do you have to wear these gloves every time we go to a party?”
“Like you said, because I can.”
“I mean it’s not like it’s storming outside or even snowing!” He opened the door, his breath shooting out of his mouth like a flamethrower. The cold air sucked into the house as they both stared into the starry night.
Both Rosa and Justin stepped out, a slight fog surrounding them. It was dark and quiet, no clouds in the sky. It was probably thirty-five degrees outside. The trees lit up with colorful decorations as Justin pressed a button on the side of the door. The air was drier than usual and the stars twinkled like a thousand shards of glass being reflected on a dark surface. They started walking on the flashy and colorful day of St. Nicholas, their shoes making a loud patter as it echoed in the young night.
As they were walking to the college Justin was talking aloud to himself, meanwhile Rosa getting bored.
“East Parkwood Grove, make a left on Fulton, pass Jef-”
“I don’t actually know how this party is gonna turn out,” she cut her brother without making any eye contact.
“Me neither.” Yellow headlights momentarily blinded them as a car with drove by.
“It’s just. I hope this isn’t a sorority or a prank. Hell I don’t even know anymore if we were invited anymore.”
“Oh… You think I can get a girl there?”
Rosa started grinning, then her grin turned into a laugh. She crossed her arms, the air getting colder as a breeze blew, “I guarantee you will not get a girl.”
“I think I’m ready. I seriously think I am.”
Rosa kept laughing, “In your dreams brother, in your dreams.”
“What makes you so certain I won’t find that special someone?”
Rosa started laughing again. “I have literally kept a list of you on what you call ‘try harding’ trying to get girls. I think you’ve already tried… eleven, times?”
“C’mon! I have a pickup line that’ll definitely hook her in.”
“What is it? That ‘is your name wifi? Because i’m feeling a connection’ line?”
“How’d you know?!”
“You had talked about that line ALL year during sixth grade.”
“You didn’t think that was eye-catching?”
“Nope.” She said calming herself down.
After a few moments another car drove by. He started thinking about his nightmares, the ones he had the night earlier.
His Grandpa had been driving in the nightmare over a long rolling road in the middle of the sea. He had been sitting in the front with him. The air smelled salty and the sky was a detailed dark red, the sun a dark orange. As they passed the first bump Justin felt relentless to get out of the car, thinking they would crash. Then on the second his Grandpa veered too much to the right and the car’s right wheel made the car fly off and flip. As he prepared to get swallowed into the deep depths of the murky sea below, he felt real panic and adrenaline coursing through his body. Just after a couple of seconds in the air they crashed, him and his Grandpa getting whiplash as the car slowly sunk in the water. The glass wasn’t entirely broken but was ready to shatter under the weight and pressure of the ocean. The car slowly tilted to the left as he screamed for help. The dream had been so questionable he couldn’t get it out of his head.
Justin snapped out of confusion, staring straight ahead at the street sign, Parkinson’s Drive.
“Aand, we’re here.” Straight ahead of them laid the college where a set of houses aligned in rows.
They crossed the street.
They went to the house with red and white balloons and after a couple of knocks a girl holding what looked like beer opened up. She wore a red cheerleading skirt and a blue and white strap bra. They went in. It smelled of fresh sugar cookies and pine. About twenty or so people were in the house and the two siblings did not know what to do.
The lady with the beer made a hand gesture, “Follow me.” She lead them through the house. “Beer and shots are in the cupboard just in kitchen, there’s a movie playing in the living room, and there’s one bathroom in the second story.”
Justin looked over her shoulder and saw the delicious looking fruits and treats on the table.
“Ooo. If you don’t mind may I have a treat because I think my eyes are playing tricks on me.”
“If you’re talking about what I think you’re saying then no,” she said stressed yet disgusted.
“No. I meant the food and stuff behind you.”
She turned to look at where he was pointing. “Oooh. Yeah, go bananas.”
He immediately went passed her and got a plate. Calm and soothing christmas tunes were playing and the food and treats smelled like what they had smelt earlier when they first walked in. He went right in, getting Kentucky fried chicken, some salty french fries and ketchup, mashed potatoes, and watermelon, a weird choice but was unearthly to have at that time.
Rosa looked at the girl, “I don’t know what to do now.”
“I mean you can sit around and watch the movie. I think it’s Christmas Carol.”
“You mean that movie that defies pg ratings?”
“Yeah,” the girl sort of laughed awkwardly and staring at the ceiling. She put her hand out, “I’m Clara by the way.”
“Rosa.” They shook. It was firm and tight but welcoming.
Clara’s expression changed, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?” she asked. Her face suddenly lit up, “You were that chick from last year’s thanksgiving.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know why I was invited this year.”
“Apologies. Probably a malfunction in the emailing system. Well, here’s the fun of the party! Hang out, have a couple of drinks, and be welcomed to stay the night.”
“Thanks,” Rosa said, as Clara walked away and headed upstairs. Rosa went into the living room which seemed like a nonliving room. People were spread out on the couch, a group of guys obnoxiously joking (mainly an asian guy who talked about how North Korea would bomb the area within an hour because he ate all their rice), and a couple of making out in the corner, just a typical Christmas Eve.
Meanwhile Justin ate his meal in the living room by a girl who looked miserable on her phone. Her hair wasn’t done and she looked like she just woke from a one hundred year slumber.
“What you in for?” he asked the girl.
She sighed with a ‘kill me’ expression, “I was here for drinking but then I realized my lousy boyfriend flaked on me.”
“Snowflaked?” he said
“Now is not the time Carl.”
Justin knew right away she was on something, this was his time to shine. “Is your name wife? Because I think we’re feeling a connection.”
She looked up, “You are truly are retarded.”
“Jeez, sorry Mrs. Allison.”
“Who’s Allison?” she asked dozing off.
“Nevermind.”
Rosa was watching the movie when suddenly the group of guys got up, carrying a boombox. “Allah ‘akhbar!” The man holding the boombox turned up his music, a loud techno tune got blasted in her ears. Half the people (most in couples) got up screaming, dancing, and carrying drinks. When was the nightmare going to end.
A person had passed out after drinking wine on the couch. His glass had fallen on the ground and he had a red-stain on his chest. Suddenly a metallic noise, like a kitchen knife sliding out of its holder, came from the couch. His eyes lit up, watering. Then he coughed out a dark red substance. After a small struggle for a few moments he finally relaxed, his eyes wide open.
As they were partying two large knocks swung at the door. While they were still partying Clara opened the door, it was an officer.
“Hey can we have a moment of your time please?”
“Yes officer,” she closed the door behind her, “What’s up?”
“We’ve been getting reports around here, actually next door and we were wondering if anything alright. Is everything alright?” he asked with a note pad up. A pen the officer was holding clicked, which echoed through the campus.
“Yes. Why?”
“It’s just we’ve been getting major complaints about a high-pitched screaming and I just wanna check the place out.”
“Sure go ahead officer.”
The officer not knowing she’d say yes replied, “Actually may we check it out tomorrow? It’ll be a better time.”
“Who’s we?”
He pointed at his partner in the police vehicle on the side of the house.
She waved goodbye at the officer’s after he said “Stay safe out here” and then went straight back in.
***
The party was basically over and the partying had ended around 11 o’clock. The guys were up on the upstairs balcony smoking and doing stunts, Clara and Rosa in the living room with a few drunks, and a handful of people (including Justin) chatted quietly in the kitchen.
Clara was dragging a person whose eyes were half-open.
“What happened to him?” Rosa asked.
“Partied too hard… Probably,” She said struggling as she dragged him upstairs.
“Need help?” Rosa yelled from downstairs.
“No. it’s okay.”
Rosa went in the kitchen where her brother was talking to four other people.
“Hey big bro,” she said, “What are you doing?”
“Just talking with these people.”
“Oh, can I join?”
“Of course you can,” he said while sipping water.
There was two girls and four boys not including her or her brother.
“So what are you guys talking about?”
“Nightmares,” a girl in a pink hood said.
“Actually we were just starting so why won’t you join?” Justin asked.
“Sure,” she sat down across from her brother.
“So John, you wanna start?” Justin asked.
“Okay,” he cleared his throat, “So one of my worst nightmares was when I was thirteen years old. It had been an orange red and smoke had risen from the downtown area. I was on a motorcycle and just driving through town was dementing. The bridge where the train ran by was completely smashed, an endless stream of smoke had made my vision a blur, and the smell… the smell was too real for me. It smelled like firewood and, and… something else I can’t describe. Every time ash had fallen on my skin my skin would burn a faded black. It’s just the dream seemed like forever and… in a way it happened.”
“What do you mean by that?” a man with a western suit asked.
“It just felt like I was at some other place at another time. L-like, a dimension switch of some sort.”
“Interesting,” Said a man in black.
The conversation felt like forever. The man in black’s dream (Jack) was of running in a hospital with no windows being chased by something, the western guy’s dream (Luke) was of his family’s death, the girl in the pink hood’s(Sophia) about endless sleep, and a girl in a blue sweatshirt’s dream (Sara) about an airplane crash.
“Now your turn, Rose,” Justin said.
Rosa wasn’t ready for what she was about to say but she was about to say it anyway. “Well my dream. My dream was-”
Loud christmas music suddenly played on the boombox in the living room and the ceiling fan started spinning counterclockwise. It went silent.
A guy went downstairs, “Sheesh it’s storming out there.” A loud crackle echoed from outside almost on cue, he flinched, “What was that? Am I on drugs right now?”
“I don’t know,” Rosa said, “Justin I dare you to check what it was,” She punched him daringly, knowing he will most likely not.
Justin turned to look at her.“Sure I guess…” He got up and went in the living room. After a shuffling of Justin’s squeaky shoes for a few seconds it went silent. Rosa was thinking of a number of things it could be, a person, animal, object.There was a sudden loud thump.
“Justin?” Rosa asked. There was no response. She started getting up. The guy by the stairs went in the livingroom to check what it was. Then Clara in the backyard screamed. Clair slammed the door and almost fell to the floor if she hadn’t caught the table.
“What is it?” Rosa asked looking at her, the guy still walking into the living room.
“Mike is DEAD.”
The guy as drunk as a poisoned ant entered the room slowly creeping towards a strange red sack. About six or so people laid in random places, one even on the ceiling fan hung by a cord. He automatically yelled at the group drunkily, “C’mon guys. It’s just a prank.” He started heading back. Right as he was about to leave the room he tripped from the glass cup on the floor and fell down, thumping his head. His eyes teared up as he looked down, a metal hook had engorged his stomach and he watched as he was slowly being dragged up the chimney…
Rosa on instinct after hearing a second thump ran to the living room. What she saw was horrifying. The guy was getting dragged on metal chains with a hook impaled through his skin leaving blood marks on the wooden floor. He was slowly being dragged up the chimney.
As his body was finished being hoisted up Rosa screamed.
Another guy upstairs went down to see what had happened.”What the hell was that?” A guy asked holding whiskey. He paused and looked. Everyone backed into the kitchen. Everyone’s expressions were horrified, like glass shattering through each of their eyes most of the people’s bottom lip twitched, others took faster paces of breathe.
“EVERYONE UPSTAIRS,” Clara cried.
The whole ‘gang’ of men went down to see what happened.
“What, what’s wrong?” A guy said.
“Say some losers being fooled by a dumb prank.” Another guy said as they both headed to the room. Almost instantly a strange beast with white horns crashed through the chimney, then charged at everyone, two guys being impaled away into the living room. There was a loud bang, almost like thunder, that shook the room.
Clara pointed at the cupboard, “There!” Two ivory horns were budged in through the wall trying to rip free, blood almost staining them.
“Move… MOVE!” A guy said running upstairs.
Rosa still looking towards the living room backed up, then turned and scurried up the stairs, everyone else following. The guys ran into the bedroom while Rosa paused. “Let’s go!” A guy urged Rosa. Rosa turned to look at the others and then turned back. “Forget her and the others! Close the door!” Another guy said. The 5 guys slammed the door and Rosa heard a small click. Clara ran to the bedroom and tried opening it, the creature dragging its claws as it slowly emerged from the living room. “Why won’t it open?!” Clara wailed.
“Hurry up!” The guy Jack screamed as he stared at the beast.
Rosa was too much in shock to move or budge. “My brother’s gone…”
Luke shook her and snapped her from her curse, “He’s not dead!”
“But I sa-”
“He’s not! I checked the bodies and none of them were him!” Luke’s veins on his neck bulged.
”I can’t believe this is happening!” Sophia crouched in a corner closing her eyes and putting her hood over her head.
The creature was stumbling across the stairs, step after step its terror stenching the whole place. Clara remembering there was an attic stopped trying to open the door and started reaching for a rope. She pulled it down and a ladder slid down. “Get in!”
Jack pulled Rosa up as the others followed. Rosa realized it was all or nothing so she helped to. Clara was last, and her legs were dangling as she was pulling herself up, the creature on the same floor just a few yards away now. Rosa struggled as she tried pulling Clara up. Suddenly, Clara’s expression changed and it went dead silent. Then Clara was being dragged down the ladder, claws ripping through her legs as she cried in pain. “I don’t wanna die!” She screamed crying warm tears that made it slippery to grab her. Luke went to help but slipped and fell down the trapdoor screaming in agony. Then after a fit of struggle they pulled her out and they fell in triumph. The shadow was climbing the ladder slowly.
“Close the door!” Clara whimpered as she fell into Rosa’s arms sobbing. Jack went to close it. After there were footsteps, not one but a dozen other footsteps walking around the place, then after a minute it stopped.
***
It had been what seemed like hours in the attic and Rosa, Clara, Sophia, Jack, and Sara’s adrenaline kept flowing. “What do we do now,” Jack whispered, “Wait it out? They know we are here…” He looked out the window. A storm as bad as an 8.5 earthquake blew, snow blanketed ten feet over the grass and the glass from the window was slowly breaking.
“Jack’s right,” Sophia said, “We don’t have much time until the glass breaks and we’ll be forced to move.”
“Why can’t we just leave out the window?” Rosa asked as if it was some abusive parent hitting a child.
“It’s at least negative ten degrees out there Ross-” “Rosa,” she corrected Jack.
“And we don’t have anything to cover our body.”
“So should we go to the guys?” Rosa asked. Clara kept staring at the trapdoor.
“No. Too dangerous.”
“So what?” Rosa asked.
“What, WHAT?! Am I your guide because I don’t wanna guide you through this. This is every man for themselves. Don’t you get it?” Jack yelled.
“Screw this i’m leaving,” Sara said opening the trapdoor and closing it behind her. After a loud bang and a thump they heard a scream.
“Well jolly good time then, she’s dead!” Sophie said.
“What do you want me to do about it?” Jack fired back.
“You could’ve persuaded her to stay!
“YOU could’ve also persuaded her. Also it’s a free country.
“Won’t you guys shut up?!” Clara yelled. It went silent. “My house is probably being raided and you guys are out here doing nothing but looking for a fight?”
“Well what do you want then?” Jack asked.
“We fight back…” She grabbed a sledge hammer.
Two of the guys in the bedroom held the door down while the three barricaded the window.
“What can we do when this is all over?” One said putting nails through the window.
“What do you mean?” One asked barricading the door. There was no response, “What do you mean?!” he said again.
“It’s just I wanna go have a full life without dying like you guys will.”
The guy holding the door turned to look at him, “You gotta death wish or something? One of our homies just got killed and you have to act up now?” He grabbed the guys jacket. Almost instantly his flesh melted into wax and instead a big stuffed bear appeared. The bear sunk its fangs into the man’s hand. He cried in pain. Another guy holding onto the door came to his aid but the door almost instantly flung open revealing the demon with horns. The two nailing the windows started to slowly unnail the wood holding them from freedom. The Santa character started growling like a deranged lion.
“Hurry man, hurry!”
“I’m trying, I’m trying!”
“Screw this,” one of the guys jumped from the ceiling fan and kicked the wood breaking it instantly.
“What was the point in barricading it?”
“I don’t know,” the man said heading outside. The man still inside tried leaping his way out but was caught by hooks that clung onto his heels. He cried in agony as he got fragged away from freedom. The thing opened a sack and a series of stuffed bears bit into him like a series of syringed. Then the thing tied the sack with the man still in it and smoothly ran out the room.
The guy now outside jumped into the snow and ran straight through it hitting his head fracturing his skull. His vision went dark, forever. His body slowly froze and for some weird reason the sow somewhat had covered over his body as if to hide evidence.
Jack, Sophia, Clara, and Rosa got weapons, a rake, axe, pepper spray mixed with a match, and a bat. Rosa was leading with a bat, Clara with the spray, Jack with an axe, and Sophia with the rake. Rap God downstairs started playing, the part where he raps as fast as he could.
“It’s showtime,” Rosa said as she opened the trap door and leaped out as the glass from the window shattered in the attic. She rolled over the stairs to the first floor and hit a bear through the head releasing stuffing everywhere, she then ran to the kitchen and saw a human-sized puppet of her brother. In slowmotion the puppet threw a kitchen knife barely cutting her hair as she slid on the floor, then smoothly getting up and stuffing the bat through the puppet’s mouth. She turned and looked at the living room. A porcelain clown stared at her and opened it’s mouth. Three rows of razor-sharp teeth spun in circles as it threw little darts and ran at her, while the thing was climbing up the chimney. She sprinted towards the thing and dodged every dart, some stabbing through the bat. She slid her bat against the clown’s face making its jaw shatter in a malicious way as it fell down. She turned around to see everyone else. “GUYS?!” She looked up at the stairs. One by one they stumbled from the trap door down the steps hitting their heads. “Ouch…” Clara said rubbing her head. She looked at Rosa with fear on her face, pointing, “Behind you!” Rosa turned and smashed the clowns head clean off in a pulp.
“Wait a second…” Jack said, “this isn’t an actions tory!”
The front door got kicked down by Clara as she sprayed blindly in front of her, burning a bunch of walking snowmen holding icicle knives as they tried attacking Clara. She missed a few snowmen that attacked in a single line and Sophia stabbed it’s stomach with her rake while Jack threw the axe at the first’s head. All three of the snowmen’s head broke apart in clumps. “Oh baby a triple,” Jack said panting.
They followed the light ahead of them coming from an unknown source as they shivered in the below zero weather. There he was. Rosa’s brother was tied on a cross with corn around it. A man from the party with big scratches and bites was tending a strong fire. The man’s legs and hands were being controlled by something above the clouds.
“Let him go!” Rosa screamed. The man turned around, his lifeless body smiling.
“Woah woah why are there children holding corn around us?” Jack yelled through the crackles and howling of the fire and wind. “I don’t know but that’s my brother!” Rosa said, “Let him go!”
The man’s body fell down by it’s strings and the thing jumped from above the clouds. It was silent for a while and a cricket on Sophia’s shoulder chirped awkwardly.
The thing’s eyes were black and it’s teeth were straight up white. Then it pulled out a scythe and a kid by Justin slowly moved the ropes making Justin slowly melt in the fire.
“You can’t do this!” Rosa stated and then attacked. The thing swung with a hook and the four dodged it. Clara’s flamethrower burned it close while Jack with a pocket knife started working on it’s legs. Sophia started hitting it’s stomach. Rosa made large blows on the things head. It’s scythe was decorated with the word Krampus on it.
It struck Sophia making her fly up in the sky and hit the roof, knocking her unconscious. Rosa shocked screamed and started hitting faster than typing on a typewriter in a comical way. Jack stopped and looked at Rosa laughing, then the creature kicked him flying him against a pine tree. It was now Clara and Rosa, Justin almost touching the first flames. As the flames rose up Justin’s shirt caught on fire. Rosa turned to look at her brother, off guard, and that was when she saw the scythe. Everything went black.
Rosa opened her eyes and was in what felt like a whole knew reality. Justin had locked the door and the christmas lights turned on after a switch of a button. As they started walking Rosa turned to look at her brother. “Howabout we not go to the party.”
“Why, you were so settled on going there?”
“Just please don’t.”
“Okay fine. But your making me miss out on a possible date.”
“Trust me no girl is gonna pick you.”
“What makes you so certain?”
“Trust me, every girl there is dead. And that’s the hook.”
“Okaaay. You’re acting weird.” They both turned back.
Right on their porch was a long gift box. “I wonder who that’s for…” Justin wondered.
Rosa looked at the tag. To: Rosa From:
“Hmm, no name.”
“That’s weird, secret admirer?” Justin asked.
“Shut up!”
After going inside the house she automatically sat by the fire to open it. There it was, the bat she had used, the names Rosa, Clara, Sophia, and Jack. There was a letter that went along with it and she opened it.
‘With love from all whose lives are spent truthfully. Believe.-Krampus’ Her expression grew serious as she stared at the threat, then she looked at the fire. Strange figures with masks danced along the fire curtsying.
A Heroes With Hoods story…
Terror! From Below