"Holiday Spirit"
By Ishmael


As the first rays of the morning sun came up two kuang-shi motored through the streets of a downtown Earth city.  Since their undead bodies were oblivious to the cold air and light snow that was falling it didn't occur
to either of them to put the top up on the stripped down convertible they were driving.  The pair passed bars, shops that specialized in all manner of questionable merchandise and services, and abandoned shells of
buildings as they looked for the apartment building they were searching for.  Hsien-Ko tapped her fingers on the package she had in her lap as her sister methodically drove through the neighborhood looking for the correct
street.  Mei-Ling had insisted in running this errand at dawn; she felt it was the best time they could travel about such a heavily populated section of Earth without attracting attention.  Looking around the neighborhood
Hsien-Ko doubted they would of been noticed no matter what time they had visited.  It was just the sort of place where even a Darkstalker could slip by unnoticed.

Finding the right apartment building, Mei-Ling slid the car out of theruts that traffic had dug in the ice on the street and pulled into a sidealley.  Easing up to the curb, Mei-Ling stopped the car but didn't shut
off the engine.  Holding her foot on the brake as the car idled, she
looked over at Hsien-Ko.

Busy straightening her hair after the car ride, Hsien-Ko didn't notice hersister's icy stare at first.  Catching sight of the look on her sister's face, Hsien-Ko said, "What?"

"I still don't know why you're doing this," Mei-Ling said.  "For starters, we're not even Christian."

"So what?  A lot of people who aren't Christian celebrate the holiday.C'mon, they even celebrate it in Makai!  I think it's perfectly all right that we take part."

"That you take part," Mei-Ling corrected.  "While I can understand the gift exchange thing, what made you think it would be a good idea to give something to that lunatic?  The last time we saw him he was trying to trying to kill us."

"Now come on sis," Hsien-Ko said.  "that all turned out to be a misunderstanding, remember?  Really, I don't think he's as bad as he comes across."

Her eyes narrowing, Mei-Ling stared at her sister. "You aren't interested in this guy, are you?"

"Mei-Ling!  Are you serious?"

A slight smile crept onto Mei-Ling's face.  "No, I'm not.  All these centuries and you still can't tell when I'm kidding," she sighed.  "I'm going to stay here with the engine running.  Now hurry up and get this over with before I think about how bad an idea this is."

                                

Standing in the hallway of an apartment complex that had seen better days, Hsien-Ko doubled checked to make sure she had the correct apartment number. Confident she was in the right place, she tucked her address book
back into one of her voluminous sleeves and picked up the package.  After making sure that none of the old newspapers that littered the hallway had caught on the tongs of her sleeves, Hsien-Ko knocked on the apartment
door.

Not getting a response right away the kuang-shi began to wonder if she had the correct address after all.  She tried knocking again, but stopped when the door slid open a crack.  Hsien-Ko was surprised that the door was
unlocked.  While she wasn't as skittish as her sister, Hsien-Ko still thought it was a foolish thing to do in a neighborhood as bad as this, especially since no one seemed to be home.  For a second she debated whether she should place the package inside the apartment or turn around and forget the whole thing.  Hsien-Ko knocked loudly on the door frame one last time to make sure no one was home but stopped when she heard
something from inside the apartment.

"It's six in the freakin' morning," a voice bellowed as it approached the door.  Hsien-Ko reflexively took a step back as the door was thrown open. Standing in the doorway, his long hair askew and wearing a pair of boxers
that looked like they had just been pulled on, the owner of the apartment scowled out into the hall.  Even though he was in his almost-human form, as opposed to the ghoulish look he wore in battle, he still came across as
menacing.  Now Hsien-Ko understood why the door wasn't locked; no matter how bad the neighborhood was, there wasn't anything in it that could possibly be worse than Zabel Rapter.

"Whoever you- huh?"  Rapter stopped mid-rant when he saw Hsien-Ko.  A brief look of surprise ran across Rapter's face which was quickly replaced with suspicion.  "Whadya want Hunter?" he barked.

"This has nothing to do with work, honest," Hsien-Ko said, hoping to reassure Rapter.  While his undead body relaxed slightly, Rapter still eyed Hsien-Ko cautiously.  "I'm here because, well..." Hsien-Ko held up
the package.  It was covered with bright red wrapping paper and sealed with a green bow.  "I brought you a Christmas present."

Rapter glanced down at the package then looked back up to Hsien-Ko."What?"

"I always liked the customs that were added onto Christmas, so I decided to give gifts this year."  Hsien-Ko shook the package slightly.  "I'm serious, it's just a present."

Rapter stared at Hsien-Ko, a look of both curiosity and annoyance on his face.  "A present?"

Hsien-Ko nodded.

"For me?"

"Right!  I know we haven't seen things the same in the past..."

"That's one way to put it," Rapter snorted.

"...but I thought it would be nice to show there are no hard feelings."

Hsien-Ko held out the present and did her best to not only keep a pleasant expression on her face, but to keep her attention focused on Rapter's face.  She was not only feeling embarrassed about waking Rapter up -it had
slipped her mind that he might still have nearly the same sleep pattern he had when he was mortal- it finally dawned on her just how little he was wearing.

If Rapter was feeling any lack of modesty while standing in the doorway,he was doing a very good job of hiding it.  Absently scratching the small of his back, the ghoul looked down at the present.  "Ah, why not," he muttered as he snatched it from Hsien-Ko's hands, "you only live once."

Shredding the wrapping paper onto the floor, Rapter popped open the box.Inside was a collection of cheese, crackers, and cold meats wrapped in plastic.

"What the-" The snarl on Rapter's face was replaced by a puzzled look as he stared at the contents of his present.  Rapter popped a link of salami out of it's bedding and rolled it between his blue, cold fingers.

"I sent my sister in to do the shopping since she can pass for living better than I can," Hsien-Ko confessed. "I told her to find a salesperson to help her pick out something but I think she grabbed the first thing she saw.  Um, you still eat, don't you?"

Rapter grunted affirmation as he studied a container of jam.

Hsien-Ko smiled as she backed away from the door.  "That's good.  Anyway, I should get going, my sister is nervous about being in this neighborhood."

"Smart girl," Rapter mumbled as he curiously sniffed a piece of the plastic straw the condiments had come nestled in.

Reaching the stairwell, Hsien-Ko called out, "Merry Christmas!"

Pulling himself away from the box of food, Rapter said, "Huh?  Oh yeah, you too."  Holding the box aloft he added, "And hey, thanks!"

                          

Hopping down the trash and graffiti strewn stairwell two steps at a time,Hsien-Ko decided that her instincts were right.  Underneath it all, Rapter was basically a decent person.  She wasn't interested in Rapter in the way
her sister had jokingly suggested, but rather she understood the kind of existence Rapter must lead.  For all his bluster and swaggering, he was still alone in the world.  Hsien-Ko knew all too well the sense of
loneliness that came with the endless years of living death.  Even with her mission to rescue her mother's soul and the constant companionship of her sister, there were still times when the sense of isolation was nearly
overwhelming.  If it was that bad for her, how much worse would it be for a loner like Rapter?  The only thing he had to look forward to was century after century of aimlessly drifting between Makai and the Earthrealm.
Even a little thing like a holiday present could be a link to the world that existed outside of the solitude that comes with living constantly in the shadows.

If there was one thing Hsien-Ko understood about Christmas, it was that people should be with those they care about.  She hoped her present brought Rapter a bit of the sense of joy and togetherness the holiday was supposed to convey.
  

A young and attractive demoness sat on a large bed in the middle of Rapter's apartment.  Her tail -which stuck out from under the bed sheets that barely covered her- flicked with delight when she saw Rapter come back into the room.

"Who was that at this hour?" she asked.

"Just some kid who's way too pumped up on holiday spirit," Rapter said between mouth fulls of food.  "But try one of these bread sticks -once you get these suckers out of the plastic wrap they're pretty good."