On Our Side of the Forest (Short Story Compilation)

The Night Before Christmas

The Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through this grand house,

All the creatures were partying!

Even the mouse!

Glasses were high,

And they all gave a cheer!

For they were waiting for Krampus this year.

~

"Torbin! How's it going?" I looked up at Dahl from my spot on the couch, Mich was on her phone next to me. The chihuahua had become addicted to Cat Game! I was working on rolling blunts for the group. Everyone was here! Nubbs and Kieko flipped through the movies on Hulu, hoping to find us another scary Christmas movie like the one we had just watched. Mokii and Axel all chipped away at food, and it smelled heavenly! Everyone was having fun and laughing, but we had a bigger purpose! We had each done the steps to summon the Krampus to come midnight Christmas day.

Okay! So here's the scoop on how all of that came to be. Mokii is into all sorts of scary shit! My sister would kiss Satan if she had a chance I'd swear. Mokii was looking on some forum that you could meet Krampus. Why? I know. I told her my ass was not trying to meet some goat demon of Christmas! Well, of course, she gets to talking about it to everyone in the circle. Dahl and Kieko are horror junkies like Mokii, so of course, they said yes. I was surprised that Nubbs was in on the cult summoning, but she was down for the holidays! Axel just loves hanging out, so he's down for whatever. Here we are, we offered a personal item and all had to spit on a green fire. It was crazy. It's eleven-fifteen now, and I still have yet to figure out how everyone thinks we are going to just trap a Christmas demon! I have no idea! Maybe they think he's coming here to hit the bong or something? He will eat us! I started lighting up when the food got brought out. Mokii and Axel filled up the rest of the couch next to me. Kieko came over, while Dahl helped Nubbs finally decide on a Christmas cartoon instead.

Everything was so lovely. Food and friends. Time flies when you're having fun as the old saying goes. The time stopped at midnight and no one noticed. The power had cut out suddenly, and all the festivities were over.

"What's the big plan guys? I think it worked," I will never tell you a lie. I was scared.

"We catch him, or kill him!" Mokii stood up all excited as large steps beat at the roof.

"HOW? Could someone enlighten me on the plan before I get killed?"

"Torbin just calm down," Mich put her phone in her pocket. She was so small, Krampus is going to use her as a chew toy, "The demon comes in, Mokii has a binding rune around us," I turned to look at Mokii.

"What?"

"Yeah, just trust me. Once he enters this room, his body will be frozen in time,"

"For how long? What are we planning to do with Krampus guys? Like, I'm beginning to regret my decisions on this matter! What if your witchcraft doesn't work?"

"Then we stepped in," Dahl held out a strange looking dagger while Kieko grabbed a little jar of a crystally looking powder, "We searched and tracked down the ancient artifacts used to slay a Krampus. The warrior who crafted them had died of disease shortly after he had crafted these. It's an epic story honestly, but all you need to know is poison powder and a special dagger," They both smirked. Why wasn't I informed on any of this cool ass stuff they had going on?

"You guys didn't tell me anything!" Everyone looked at each other like some big secret couldn't be said.

"Fear dude," Axel chimed in, "Mokii needed pure fear, and you're the most scared of all of us. You're easier to pack fear into dude, you had to be the sheep Bro!" Damn. I was the sheep.

"Damn, that's a little messed up guys," The hooves got louder, so I would make them all feel a little bad about the situation later. I had to milk it! However, we had the moment of truth on our hands. The feet stopped in front of the chimney before dust and debris fell from above. He was coming, and everyone seemed to be ready. I was still freaking out! Nubbs seemed to have taken notice and pulled me to the back of the living room.

"Darling, I'm just here to see how everything turns out! I am not in the frontlines though!" She was such an honest cat! She gave me a little reassuring rub on the shoulder that made me feel a bit better about the overall situation. It was crazy how this huge ass goat crawled down from the chimney. I shivered at the thought of how it did it.

Now, as scary as this situation sounds, everything ended safely. Mokii was not the witch she thought she was, and the entire rune thing fell through. Dahl and Kieko were complete badasses though. Let me tell you how this all played out real quick! So, the rune didn't work, Kieko did this graceful step and blew that powder from the jar into its face. It was like the American Horror Story: Apocalypse type stuff! It let out this nasty scream, and tried to make a few quick attacks at Dahl! They came in for a beautiful blow with the dagger. I sat back with Nubbs. She and I watched the scene unfold. It was getting a little messy, so she went to get the things to clean up!

Now, in one final attempt at life or something, the Krampus lunged at Mich. I told you guys she was a perfect size for him to just scamper off! Axel body-slammed him to the ground. The rest was history. Our crazy ass group just killed Krampus! His body turned to ashes when he was finally gone. I vacuumed it up while everyone cleaned up and restocked the snacks and drinks. What a better way to kick off Christmas honestly, and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone reading this! I can only hope next year brings us as many adventures as this one did!