The Reindeer Part Was Nice...

Xander Magnet

The Reindeer Part Was Nice

Author: Xander Magnet

She lay still for a moment. Something had woken her and she’d seen too much in the Summers’ house to dismiss it.

There it was again, a definite thud from directly above her. Without a second thought she jumped out of bed and raced for the door. Once in the hallway she spared a glance at the other doors. No, best to let her sister sleep. Having her around would only cause problems. It could just be a burglar after all.

Another thud came from above and she headed carefully for the attic access. As quietly as possible, she eased the panel open and winced as the ladder descended onto the hall carpet with a quiet thump. She froze instantly, listening for any reaction from above. There was more shuffling but nothing to indicate that she had been heard.

Carefully, she mounted the ladder and made her way up towards the gaping black maw that was the open hatch. Behind her the ornamental clock in the hallway began to chime midnight. Startled by the unexpected noise, her foot slipped and her breath caught in her throat as she struggled to keep her balance.

Her heart pounding in her chest, she clung to the wooden sides of the ladder and counted to ten. When that did nothing to calm her, she shrugged it off and continued on her careful way up the ladder.

Approaching the top, she swore softly. She should have switched the lights off before she opened the hatch; the way things stood she was going to be silhouetted as soon as she raised her head. Whoever, or whatever, was up there was probably waiting for her, possibly with a blunt instrument.

She took a deep breath and smiled as a plan began to form. Flexing the muscles in her legs, she refused to let herself recognise how stupid her actions were and, before the doubts and vertigo could work their way into her thought process, she sprang straight up. Using the rungs of the ladder as a launch point, she trusted in her abilities to get her into the attic quickly enough that any ambush would fail.

She almost didn’t make it, getting through the hatch was no problem, it was the fact that she’d forgotten the attic wasn’t floored until she was in mid-air that nearly scuppered her. Landing on a beam, she struggled to keep her balance, her arms wind-milling as, for a heart stopping minute, it looked as though she was going to topple back through the hole headfirst. After what felt like an eternity, she found her footing and dropped to all fours as she realised she was an easy target.

“Watch that last step, missy. It’s a wee bit dodgy.” The voice had an almost grandfatherly quality to it. Her eyes flicked around, trying to locate the source. There. Directly opposite her, half-hidden in the gloom, was a large figure.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Now, now missy. Language like that isn’t something you’d expect to hear from a good girl is it?” She squinted, trying to make out any detail on this figure. She still couldn’t tell if it was even human!

“Human? Maybe you could have called me that once missy, but that was 500 years ago.”

She was momentarily taken aback that he seemed able to read her thoughts almost before she’d formed them, but she rallied quickly enough. Laughing she asked,

“You do know whose house this is? Most demons are generally smart enough to avoid the Slayer when they come to town. Not that it does them much good, we find them sooner or later.” She made the threat obvious in her tone of voice. This guy was getting on her nerves now, she still couldn’t see very much but what she could make out seemed to be an elderly man wearing some kind of dark green outfit with ridiculous white fur around the cuffs of his sleeves.

“Slayer?” That seemed to surprise him. “I knew there was something mystical about you missy. I suppose that must have been it.” His head cocked to one side for an instant and she had the unpleasant feeling that her soul was being scoured. “No matter,” the demon continued, “I’ve faced Slayers before missy, in the end they were just the same as everyone else. They were all on my list – as are you.”

A shiver ran down her spine, as if Death’s cold hand was tracing a finger down her back. Somehow the thought that she was on this demon’s ‘list’ sent chills to the very heart of her. Trying to keep her voice steady she retorted, “And that’s, what? Supposed to scare me? Trust me, I’ve faced things a whole lot scarier that some old guy with a list. Now why don’t we get this over with?” She pulled herself together and went almost automatically into a fighting pose borrowed from Michelle Yeoh. “By the way – do you have a name? Not that it matters, I’m just curious.”

The demon moved forward until she could see its _expression in the light coming from the hall beneath, it grinned evilly. “I have many names missy, but you can call me Santa Claus.”

She felt her mouth drop open and for a second she just stood there, soon reality caught up with her and she started laughing. Of course, once she started she found that it was impossible to stop. The demon watched her curiously. She had to admit he had done his research, apart from the colouring, everything about him did look exactly like the pictures on all the cards downstairs.

Her sides were actually starting to hurt now, she was laughing so much, and yet the demon still stood just watching her. Gradually she managed to get herself to a state where she could attempt to say something.

“S-s-santa?!” She gulped, forcing the laughter down. “So where’s Rudolph then? I suppose he’s on the roof with the rest of the reindeer? There’s no such thing as Santa for crying out loud!”

The Santa impostor took a step towards her. “Oh I assure you missy, there is indeed such a thing. You’re looking straight at him.” He reached into a voluminous pocket and pulled out a wickedly sharp blade. She gulped again, the laughter forgotten. Backing carefully away from him a stray memory hit her, a conversation she’d dismissed as a joke at the time. Anya’s voice echoed around her mind //he doesn't traditionally bring presents so much as, you know, disembowel children, but otherwise...//

That memory brought her crashing back to reality. Yeah so there was a Santa myth, that didn’t mean he didn’t exist and if what Anya said was even half true, she was up against a pretty serious opponent here; one she wasn’t sure she could face alone. As soon as that thought crossed her mind a smile crossed the demon’s face.

“Ah so you believe now do you missy? Tell me,” it paused for dramatic effect, “Have you been a good girl?” It lunged straight for her, knife flashing out aimed at her throat.

She sidestepped, forcing the demon to turn awkwardly on the beam they were both balanced on. A well-aimed kick on her part sent the knife flying from his grasp and she winced a little as it landed on the insulation directly above her sister’s room. Any more force behind that kick and there was a good chance the blade would have gone through the plaster and left her an only child.

There was no time to think about the benefits of that particular situation however; the demon was coming at her again. She stood her ground this time, pivoting at the last possible second and using the things own momentum to send it crashing to the ground. There was no doubt in her mind that, in any other situation, there was no way a move like that would keep this thing down for long. However, this wasn’t any other situation. The sudden extra weight caused the ceiling plaster to sag beneath it and it was gone, crashing unceremoniously to the landing floor beneath them. A loud crack resounded through the entire house and, once the dust settled, she glanced down to see the demon lying motionless – its head bent at an angle that no human and very few demons could survive.

A little shakily, she climbed down the ladder to check it really was dead. She squealed as a door down the hall burst open and her sister came running out, gaping as she took in the scene before her.

“What the…? What happened?”

Stepping off the last rung of the ladder she turned to face her sister.

“I killed Santa Claus. Merry Christmas Buffy.”