It was Christmas Eve. Mom and Dad closed our bedroom door and told us not to leave the room until they woke us in the morning. At twelve, I found it silly that they still wanted me to believe in Santa Claus. I knew he wasn’t real. I knew it was my parents shuffling around downstairs, arranging the gifts for me and my younger sister Kaley. But when Kaley ventured downstairs to peak at the bearded man, my beliefs were dumped into a blender.
The wet crunch woke me from my slumber. I climbed down the bunk bed and rushed downstairs. On the living room floor, Mom and Dad cradled Kaley’s spine, the only part of her body still in the house. My eyes bulged at the bloody scene. Tracks of blood caked along the carpet leading to the front door. I was in shock, unable to enunciate a meaningful word in response to the images burned into my eyes.
My father reached for a cigarette on the coffee table. “It was our year, I’m afraid. No escaping it.”
“Never thought it would happen to us, at least not this soon,” Mom responded, wide-eyed but oddly calm.
My parents looked over at me at the bottom of the steps.
“Sit with us, son,” Dad said. “We’ve got some explaining to do.”
“Joel, five years ago, our town lost a man by the name of Dennis.” Mom wrapped an arm around me. “He had a son once, just around your age. Poor boy fell off the Oak Creek bridge one afternoon. Just a tragic accident that sent Dennis into a dark place.”
“That’s right. His wife left him. He lost his job, lost his house, ended up living under the bridge close to where his son plummeted. And you know what they say about our little town, Cozy Corner, extend a hand to those in need, and together we can lead. But Dennis, well… Dennis turned nasty, mean.” Dad took a puff of his cigarette. “Became the town drunk, harassed the townsfolk. And the sad thing is, before the accident, he used to love dressing up as Santa for the neighborhood kids. I mean, he already looked the part. And the town adored him for a time.”
“But what… what just happened to Kaley?” finally managed to roll off my tongue.
“You may find this hard to believe, but after Dennis drank himself to death, he came back. He comes back each year to take children in this town. He wants revenge against those who shut him out, those who didn’t help him when he was at his lowest. And now we are paying for it.” Dad pressed his cigarette into the ashtray.
That explained the four missing kids I had heard about disappearing the previous four days. I figured it was some crazy kidnapper, but this scenario was much worse. I dug my fingers into Mom’s back and shuddered at the thought of what Kaley came face to face with before I ran downstairs.
We didn’t open presents that year. There was nothing to celebrate, no reason to radiate joy. When Christmas break ended, a somber mood took hold of our school. Five students had perished, including my sister. I was now aware of the secret that my parents and all the parents of Cozy Corner kept from their children. There was an evil presence that returned annually from the grave to torment a town that once stood for good. But now, this Dennis had taken control. Dennis decided our fate. And would I be next to die? Was there a way to end him and release his grip on the town? I had a year to think about it, but my confidence was not exactly sky high. I didn’t fit in around Cozy Corner, and neither did my friends. Well, before you know it, another year passed, and it was Christmas Eve.
“Got another skull pog to add to the collection. That’s fifteen now! What are you two up to?”
Our scrawny friend Kenny—overly excited—looked down at Molly and me on the sidewalk, as we carved my initials into the deck of my twenty-dollar skateboard. I raised my head. Even though Kenny was a twig, his large ears blocked the sun from hitting my face. He didn’t mind when we called him Ears, but only if it was coming from us and no one else.
“Just, you know… claiming my property in case one of those chumps in school grabs it from me,” I responded.
My other close friend, Molly, twisted the knife deeper into the board. Despite her gloomy appearance, she had my back. Always. The three of us were the outcasts of Cozy Corner. If I had a nickel for every time a kid in school said, “Hey big boy,” or, “Hey fat stuff,” I could have paid those bullies off and had them keep their mouth shut.
“So…” Molly said stone faced.
I rose my eyebrows. “So…?”
Kenny sat down and inched close to us. “If what your parents said last year is true, Dennis is going to steal a kid soon.”
“Steal is a rather nice way of putting it,” Molly responded. “He’s a butcher, a fucking killer.”
My stomach gurgled, not because I was hungry, but because I knew any one of us might be next on the list of victims. Kaley’s death always lingered in the back of my mind. How quickly it happened. How disturbingly calm and casual my parents reacted to her passing, going about their daily routine just days after she was gone.
“We need to stick together as long as we can. Don’t want to see anything happen to you two, you know,” Kenny said nervously.
We nodded. Kenny and Molly hung out at my house the rest of the day while we waited. As we paced around the bedroom—anxious and nervous—the doorbell rang. We froze. The front door opened.
“Oh, how lovely,” my Mom said. “We have carolers honey.”
The three of us exited the room and joined my parents in the living room. Two sets of parents and their teenage daughters sang Christmas tunes, bringing an immense joy to my parents’ ears. And as we watched the smiling faces bringing warmth to our household, fifteen-year-old Riley Harbor’s body went stiff. A fireplace poker painted like a candy cane penetrated the back of her neck and shot out through her mouth. Behind her, Dennis flung her body forward, as her face smashed against the front steps.
My eyes focused in on Dennis. There he was with a big black beard made of rusted nails. His red tongue danced against his lips. Cracked, rotted teeth grinded against each other. Sizzling drool dripped from his mouth and coated his beard. His black eyes fixated on Riley. None of us moved.
Dennis opened his red and white fur coat and pulled out a giant sack. With spindly arms that resembled old tree branches, he wrapped his bony fingers around Riley and picked her up. Pulled her forward and threw her into the bag. Turned around and dragged the bag along the concrete, as he trudged slowly across the yard.
Riley’s parents locked eyes with my parents. There was an unspoken agreement between them that left me confused and terrified. How were they not affected by Riley’s death? Shaking uncontrollably, Kenny hid behind me and leaned against my shoulder. Molly examined the scene, both fascinated and horrified. The other teenager, Jess, ran into her father’s arms, but he showed no emotion.
“What is going on?” I yelled. “Did you not see what just happened? Are you just going to let him get away?”
“Have a good night,” Riley’s father said to my parents. “Nice seeing you all. Happy Holidays!”
Dad grabbed my arm. “Time for your friends to head home.”
Silence filled the air. Molly, Kenny, and I glanced at each other, contemplating our next move.
“I’m not going back in that house with you,” I said. “You guys didn’t even cry when Kaley died.”
Molly stood tall behind me. “We are ending this shit now, right now!”
Molly took her little knife out and darted in Dennis’ direction. Kenny waited for me to see if I would join her, and I did. Not sure where I got the courage to head in the direction of a killing machine, but I had to help my friend.
“Hey fuck stick,” Molly said behind Dennis. “You’re not taking any more kids from this town ever again.”
Dennis slowly turned around and grunted loudly like a surprised animal that had been ambushed.
Molly lunged forward and plunged the knife into Dennis’ chest, where it stuck. Dennis wrapped his elongated fingers around Molly, hugging her, squeezing her like she was just a toy. Molly’s eyeballs popped out of their sockets and her body went limp.
Kenny and I tried to free her from his grip, even though we knew she was gone. Dennis lowered his jaw and opened his mouth wide enough to latch onto Kenny’s left ear. Kenny roared in anguish, flailing like a starving baby. Dennis discarded Kenny and he flopped to the ground.
“Stop it,” I screamed. “I get it! The town didn’t help you. They weren’t there for you when your son died. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. I wish he was still here. I wish you could still hold him.”
Where those words came from, I do not know. Maybe it was because I could relate to Dennis. Being shut out by others, like the students at school who treated me like I was invisible. I extended my arm out. Dennis took my hand and held it.
For the briefest of moments, I saw the man beneath the monster. His sad, grieving eyes. I looked down at my hand and noticed Dennis’ hand slowly dissolving, followed by the rest of his body. Just a pile of dust that floated in the windy air.
Cozy Corner’s curse was over. Dennis was gone for good.