Austy Quinn's Christmas Special I

Chapter 13: Marshal, Make a Fire

The best things to see can sometimes come after the worst. Such was the case for Marshal, who had the unfortunate prize of coming to his house completely burnt to the ground. Morgan was in the hospital with minor scrapes and burns, so at least she was alright. He had gone back to the wreckage, in hopes that he could salvage something. Anything to make his Christmas better. His family got hotel rooms for a couple days to be sheltered from the snow, but he knew he had to come back and find out.

Morgan said that it was a stocking she got from a red-and-black box, and he knew there was only one person that would be associated with that. But two questions resonated with him: How did the stockings of all things start the fire? And why did Quinn give them something that would start a fire? Things just didn't add up.

He called Quinn to set things straight, but it went straight to voicemail. That didn't make matters better. He tried Kathy, and got no answer. What was going on? He put on his heavy coat as he walked outside, the snow fighting him furiously. As if it didn't want him going to the wreckage. There were only quiet embers now, the snow taking out most of the flames. So, stockings started this? This was odd to him, but he needed to find the evidence. He walked through what would have been the doorway, and turned right to the living room. Nothing much was there, and it hurt Marshal's heart. All of their stuff, just gone. In one giant flame.

He saw scraps of boxes, of his wood cabinet, now reduced to ashes. But there was something that stuck in the ashes. It was white, with a sun symbol on it. That was exactly what Morgan said the stocking looked like. The fact that it wasn't covered in ash was also disturbing. He brought oven mitts just in case, and he knew now that he would need them. He put them on and grabbed the stocking, feeling the warmth from the stockings through the gloves. It was scary because Morgan wasn't faking it. He saw there was nothing left, sadly, as the entire second floor crashed down. He took the stocking and kept it in the oven mitts to prevent it from destroying his car. He put it in the passenger seat and drove to the hotel.

That was when he got the call from Lisa.

And he knew that the stocking that sat there would now have an even bigger role than he thought.

End of Chapter 13