Elf-napped

When I started working at Santa's workshop, I never thought that it would be like this...My friends all told me it would be great, fun. Then elves started disappearing.

We don't really know when it started. No one noticed at first, not even Santa! Then more of us were disappearing, more often too. You couldn't trust anyone anymore, until they disappeared that is.

Now it was only a week from Christmas, and at the rate the elf-napper was going, there wasn't going to be enough of us to finish making toys for Christmas. No one wanted to work for Santa anymore. Some even though he was to blame.

I didn't. I didn't even know any of the elves who are left, except Zoe. She was my best friend, the one who convinced me to work here. Truthfully, I didn't want to work here to begin with. I hate children, but I love animals. I wanted to tend to the reindeer.

"Hey Claire," Zoe said coming up behind me. "What's up?"

"Hey!"I said. "I'm fine, you?"

"As fine as any of us can be," she said. I know what she meant though, we all did.

"What station are you at today?" I asked.

"The Disney shimmer dolls? You?"

"The Furbies," I said with a frown, I hated those little fury monsters. Always talking their creepy robotic voices.

She started laughing, even she didn't care for those little beasts, although she wouldn't call them beasts, she call them mischievous pets. But she also calls reindeer flying horses, like no that's Pegasus' and they don't exist.

"Well have fun with that, I'll see you at lunch!" She waved and walked toward a girl with long red hair and bright red lips.

***

It was finally lunch and I was sitting in my usual seat waiting for Zoe, but it had been twenty minutes and she still wasn't here. recognizing the girl she walked with earlier, I went up to her and asked, "Do you know where Zoe is?"

"Ummmm, no she went to the bathroom a few hours ago and didn't come back," she said as if it was nothing.

"What?"

"Yea, I guess she probably got elf-napped." She said it so calmly, it was extremely scary.

"How are you not freaked about this," I asked practically shaking.

"Because, I'm too pretty to be elf-napped." She said, flipping her hair and walking away.

After lunch i went back to my station and somebody was sitting in my stool, the stool literally had my name etched in it cause it was the only one short enough for me. I'm a super short elf. "Who are you and why are you in my stool?"

"Cause I can," he said, in a deep voice, well as deep as an elf's voice can get.

"Ummm, no you can't, shouldn't you be working at your own station anyways?"

"I don't have a station. I don't work here, yet," he said mysteriously.

"Excuse me?" I asked, he was starting to confuse me now.

"What's your name?" he asked, not so discretely changing the subject.

"Claire," I said wearily, "You?"

"Buddy," he said with a creepy smile on his face.

In an instant I knew exactly who he was, he was the one who always played tricks on other elves, one elf even broke their leg because he made Candy Cane Lane pure ice. And for an instant I thought, when did he really get here, and why, but then he told me.