Set Me Free

10. Unwanted Presence

"Hold the fuck up," Woody paused in his movement. "So you're saying, that all four of us are going to be involved in your death on Christmas?"

"Pretty much," I nodded.

"And you want to spend time with us doing fun shit for the next ten days starting from today?" Will crossed his arms and gave off a confused expression.

"Spot on," Apollos said. "Today's the fifteenth, so starting today, Dan has ten days left to-"

"Alright!" Kyle shrieked for Apollos to stop. "We get it! No need to emphasize that my best friend's going to die!"

"Sorry," he sheepishly laughed.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE!" Woody suddenly roared at us. "WE'RE GOING TO MAKE DAN HAVE FUN!"

"Erm...more importantly..." I decided to cut in, "Apollos needs to be cheered up, 'cause of all the depressing shit that's been happening to him for nine centuries?"

"O-oh y-yeah," Woody toned down his volume, making a sheepish face.

"What do you want to do, Apollos?" I smiled at him. He was awfully shy, considering he was a nine hundred year old spirit. Was he actually a reindeer for nine whole centuries?

"This is probably going to, in modernized words, trigger you three," he smirked at Kyle, Will, and I, "but I wanna play some football."

"YES!" Woody cried out of pure joy. "I have finally found a fellow fanboy of my favourite sport!"

Maybe it's because you're so obsessed with the damn sport.

"And where are we supposed to play football? It's fucking cold outside, and you expect us to play soccer in that weather?" Will pursed his lips.

"It's only chilly air, William," Woody scoffed coldly at his remark. "I'm sure four lads and one reindeer can stand the coldness."

"Shut up," Bastille's bassist muttered as he watched all of us grab our stuff.

<<<<<>>>>>

"Holy shitballs, it's fucking cold!" I gasped as I stepped out of my car. It was worse because of the fact that I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. At least you're wearing pants in this weather.

I heard Kyle's teeth chatter. He was wearing shorts and a hoodie, maybe not the best thing to wear in December, especially in London. Meanwhile, Will was jogging and jumping around the spot to keep the heat in his body circulating. Apollos had been riding in the back truck of Will's truck, and being a reindeer from the north, he seemed to enjoy the cold temperature.

And then...then there was Wood. I suppose being dedicated to a sport like this clouded out all possible barriers when it comes to doing it. He didn't seemed bothered either, like our young reindeer friend, and was hopping around, doing some type of warm up for his muscles. Apollos played with an Argyle team football as the rest of us struggled, minus Woody, to get ourselves warmed up.

"APOLLOS!"

Huh?!

All five of us turned to Apollos, who had some sort of entity in front of him, a much larger one. It was frightenly taller than Kyle, and that was the scariest part. We were all dead meat if this thing wanted to harm us. I could see the fear in Apollos' eyes. He knew this spirit. I could tell just by his facial expression that this thing standing here with us wasn't here for a good reason.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Kyle screeched. "Get away from Apollos, you cunt!"

Cunt is a bit strong, is it not?

"This cunt is my father," Apollos grumbled and turned his head away from the spirit that he calls his father.

They do share some sort of resemblance...

His father was a deer too, but it definitely wasn't a pleasant looking one. In fact, Apollos' father seemed like a creature from Hell, or at least...a world where the demons dwelled that was existent in the minds of atheists like myself. Dark matter swirled around the father in particles, sickly fur was matted all over his body, but worst of all- was the crooked antler that bent at ninety degrees.

That's not a natural thing.

"You're coming with me, Apollos." His father jabbed his crooked antler through the loop of a hidden necklace that Apollos had been wearing.

"Father! Let go of me!" He cried at the pain.

"Oi!" I ran up to help the young reindeer. "Stop! Ky!"

"On it!" My mate nodded and quickly grabbed the other antler of the father and began to yank at it. "Let the fuck go of Apollos!"

Geez, he's so fucking enthusiastic.

"I have the power to kill all of you. In one blow."

Kyle and I gasped and let go of his father, taking multiple steps away from both reindeer. All four of us tensed up and nervously exchanged confused, and terrified expressions. I wanted to say something, but the fear that consumed me wouldn't let me mutter a word at Apollos' father. It shocked me, to say the least, when his father decided to speak with us, and loosened his antler from his son.

"I'll let you live."

"Huh?" I stammered and looked fearfully at him.

What the fuck does he mean?