The Equalizer: You Better Watch Out

Part 3 - a cold knight in white hell

Twenty feet away the nearest lump of snow raised up in a pile about four feet tall. The snow shifted into a red hooded figure. It stood there with its head down, arms folded across its chest. The fugly lifted its head and showed a mouthful of needle sharp black teeth. I already knew what the damn things really looked like so I didn't react.

It had chubby pink cheeks, curly blonde hair. She was nine years old when she died about a hundred years ago. More faces poked up from underneath the snow. All red-eyed. Mostly young kids but there were some adults. They were male and female, from every race on earth past and present.

All the more reason for me to gank this sorry sonofabitch.

"This does not concern you, Knight." I imagined this thing hunkered down in the snow calling out "Please...I'm lost...help me" in a frightened little girl's voice. The better to sucker some unsuspecting person in range of those razor sharp teeth and claws.

I uncapped the eggnog and took a short swallow. "It does now. The kid called me. I came. You'll die. That's how this works."

"These people do not believe in the season. They are wicked. False."

I capped the bottle, turned and tossed it onto the porch swing. It landed on the cushions and didn't break. "Bullshit. The Dad lost his job. Money is tight. Not having the Christmas spirit doesn't warrant a death sentence."

It cocked its head to one side. "So you defend these nonbelievers?"

"Damn right I do."

"Very well." It sank down back into the snow.

The temp was twenty degrees and dropping fast. I breathed white fog in and out with every breath. Even though I was in shirt sleeves that felt like a cool summer breeze. It's way colder down in Hell. I've been there. Think there's no ice or snow down there? Don't believe the hype.

The stairs were icy and snow-packed. I made a gesture with my right hand and swept the stairs and the sidewalk clean.

I walked down the stairs.

Two things happened at once. The fugs in the back yard didn't move. The ones in the front yard did. They burrowed underneath the snow to the furthest corner of the front yard. They formed a snowbank about chest high. I saw shadows and red eyes moving back and forth inside.

Twenty feet away from the house I stopped. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Something was coming.

The wind picked up. A large funnel cloud of snow formed in the center of the yard. It didn't come from the sky; it came from the ground. The shadow shape inside the funnel stood nine feet tall. It was hunchbacked. The horns formed last. They were four feet long and curved backwards.

The snow melted away and I got my first good look. Imagine a big ass red-eyed goat with long yellow fangs that walked on two legs. That's what this sonofabitch looked like. His feet were cloven, as wide around as a manhole cover.

The thing wore a long hooded red robe trimmed in white fur. I smelled iron and rust. Krampus was the kind of fug who used "all parts of the buffalo" if you get my meaning. He used a lot of the kids he judged unworthy to help him round up others. The bastard wore the skins of the teenagers and adults who didn't make the cut and he dyed the skins with their blood. Large rusty chains wound around his neck, chest and waist. His fur was grey and black, long and matted.

We stared each other down for a long moment. The minions crowded around behind him.

"Dean Winchester. Brother of Samuel. Eldest son of John and Mary," Krampus rumbled. "The so-called Righteous Man turned Knight of Hell."