CORRUPTED FILE [Lumina Chronicles Past Drafts]

Level Twenty-Five

[ELLE'S PoV]

Nothing.

Nothing, nothing, nothing.

"I keep a record of my dreams every night," I mumbled, mocking Frobisher's tone as I clicked through file after useless file. Yeah, sure he did. Where was it then?

I had every single file off his computer. There were a ton of things related to Dark Reckonings, things that on a normal day would have been crazy interesting, but nothing helpful. Nothing about Lady Jacintha. Nothing that could help me get to her.

Nothing. Just... Nothing.

For a moment I considered hurling my laptop at the wall. That would be the opposite of productive, but it might be therapeutic. And lets be real, its not like anything else I'd been doing for the past two months had been even the slightest bit productive.

I was running out of time. And it was starting to feel like I'd never find a way to get to her.

I snapped my laptop closed, picked it up with shaking hands, and reeled back—

Then there was a knock on my door.

"Demon Woman? Are you in here?" Marc asked, poking his head in with a sound of jingling bells, his silhouette misshapen in the bright light spilling from the hallway. He felt along the wall. "Goodness, it's dark in here, what are you doing?"

He flicked the switch and I recoiled, about to complain about him just barging into my bedroom like that, but then I registered what he was wearing and promptly lost my shit.

"Oh my god, Marc," I gasped, falling back on my bed with tears stinging my eyes. "What are you wearing and where the absolute hell did you get it?"

"Do you like it? Trisha procured it for me. She said costumes were a family tradition." He stood confidently, his hands on his hips, and grinned. "Meaning I have been inducted into your family."

He was dressed head to toe in red and green felt accented with gold bells. And by head to toe I mean from the tip of his jingly hat to the ends of his curly toed—and also jingly—shoes. He even had the plastic elf ears. The sunglasses, I assumed, were his own addition.

I nodded and swallowed the last of my laughter, wiping away a tear. "That sure is a look, dude."

"Trisha and your father sent me to retrieve you. It's time for you to don your deer suit and join in the festivities." He was clearly enjoying this way too much.

"Marc," I whined and set my laptop aside. "Can't you just tell my parents I'm sick and let me stay in here the whole night?"

"Are you sick?" He asked.

"I'm soul-crushingly depressed, does that count?"

Marc shook his head. "Your family is waiting. The deer suit won't wear itself, and I'm very eager to see you in it."

I groaned and rolled over on my bed, smooshing my face into the pillow. This would be my first christmas in fifteen years without Mags. I didn't even remember christmas without Mags, and I had no interest in learning what it was like.

I felt the mattress dip as Marc sat down next to me. He poked at my shoulder. "C'mon Elle, this is my first christmas!"

I glanced up to meet pleading blue eyes. He pushed out his lower lip. I sighed. Over two months with this boy and I still wasn't equipped to deal with him.

"Fine," I muttered. "Bring me the suit."

Christmas has always been a big deal in the Carter household. Like, a big deal. Complete with themed costumes, baked goods, sing-alongs, and movies. Every year my parents dressed as Santa and Mrs Claus, I was Rudolph, and Mags was Frosty.