Christmas Vacancies: A Fictitious Short Story

Niomi Dylan Sass
2 days ago
17 min read

by Niomi Dylan Sass

Prologue

Did I ever tell you about the Christmas Eve that made me despise everything about the holidays? The night those things took everything that ever mattered to me. I was all alone in the world until I met someone who finally saw the real me—my sweet, sweet Nicholas. Unfortunately, my parents lived a life of solitude. When I was born, they shunned me, their only kid, away from the rest of the world. Not long after the day I turned 17, they both mysteriously vanished while taking a skiing retreat together. They usually went every other year and dragged me along with them. However, that year I was finally old enough to stay home alone, so I begged to stay back this time around. Now I’m wishing that I had been with them, and maybe they wouldn’t have disappeared.

It was confirmed that they never made it to their Airbnb that night. There was no video footage of them inside or outside of the house for the duration of the time they had the place reserved. They booked a rental car to take them from the airport to the Airbnb since it was all the way up the mountains nearby. The car was reported stolen since it never made it back to the lot. There was a search party looking for them for a whole week. Then the snow got so bad that the investigators were sure that if my parents were out there in the wilderness, they would be dead by now. After the blizzard died down, a week later, the search party went out for two more days, and this time, solely searching for their frozen dead bodies. All they found was the rental car stuck under a bank of snow at a gas station with no trace of either of their bodies inside, just their belongings.

Since I was 17 years old and so close to being 18, the court emancipated me, and I was left with everything that my parents owned. It wasn’t a lot, but it was surely enough for a 17-year-old to figure out how the hell to navigate life alone with no family. I just went to university right after high school. My grades were fair, and my parents just disappeared, so I had plenty of schools that accepted me because of my story. Where else is a teenager supposed to go? A dorm just made the most sense, and school felt like a good distraction from the emptiness that was left inside me the night my parents vanished. I got a Master’s in Criminal Justice at 25 years old, specializing in private investigating. I’m sure you can all guess why. It took me an extra year to finish school because of changing majors. However, I met someone whom I knew I’d spend the rest of my life with, Nicholas.

I met him while taking a theatre elective. We were both the only people who weren’t theatre majors in that class; he was a psychology major, so we paired up to do our scene. This way, if we did bad, we were bad together. It was definitely one of those moments in the movies where people fall in love at first sight. We locked eyes, and I knew that was the person who was meant for me. We got married right after I got my degree, and it was a minimal wedding, but the most magical night of my life. We both just got out of college, so I wasn’t expecting a wedding in Ibiza, yet this was so much more than that. A winter wonderland wedding. This night, our two broken, separate souls merged together to form one unit fixed with love, compassion, and understanding. We danced the night away like no one was watching, eyes locked, hearts wrapped around each other, in what felt like eternal bliss. We didn’t know that would be one of the last happy nights we had together. Probably my last happy night ever.

The Honeymoon Trip

Since our wedding night fell on Christmas weekend, Nicholas planned the perfect surprise honeymoon for us to go on the next day. All I knew was that we were going skiing. I mean, it was a family tradition of mine my whole life. I think he was trying to find a way to bring joy back to that part of my life. I probably went skiing once since my parents vanished; it was just too hard. All I could see were their laughing faces surrounding me like a whirlwind of snowflakes. Memories, good memories, were flooding my brain, making me start to see them, so crystal clear, like they were standing right in front of me. The lines between what was real and what was a memory blurred all too fast with the pouring of the snow. I crashed my skis into a snow bank, sat there, and cried for what felt like hours, mourning the family that wasn’t there with me. I think since Nicholas was with me this time, it would be . . . different, it would be . . . better.

When we got off the airplane, I was so exhausted. We barely slept the night before because of all the excitement. I mean, we just got married, and we were planning our whole future together, talking about all the different things we could accomplish. Nicholas said he would drive the rental car up to the cabin if I wanted to get some rest on the way there. I insisted I’d stay up to help keep the conversation going to make his drive easier. Once the car filled up with warmth from the luxury heating system, my consciousness lasted about five minutes before I drifted into sleep. The car came to a sudden stop, and I woke up to find us parked at a very familiar-looking gas station. Nicholas said that he had to pee and needed a coffee to finish the drive. I thought what a perfect time to smoke a cigarette. Still half asleep, I stumbled out of the car into the soft, still snow, crunching underneath each step I took, and I sparked my cig. After a few drags, I began to recognize where we were: the exact gas station where my parents' rental car was found.

I knew that we were going to visit the mountain where my family would always go, but being at the place where they found my parents' belongings, but not my parents, really messed me up. I started inhaling that cigarette like it was an oxygen tank itself. Once it was smoked to the butt, I began to hyperventilate when Nicholas finally came running out. He wrapped his jacket and arms around me, then began to ask what was wrong, and I told him. He apologized and said he had no idea that this was the same place; it was just a random coincidence. But is anything ever a coincidence? After he calmed me down, I was even more tired than before, and they didn’t have any coffee made inside, so Nicholas couldn’t keep driving for much longer. The ski lodge we got a reservation at was still another three-hour drive through the mountains. It was already pretty dark outside, but Nicholas said that he could make it there if he kept the radio on. I trusted him, so we got in the car and began to drive.

Again, like five minutes into the drive, I passed out from emotional exhaustion at this point. I keep nodding in and out of slumber, and I can hear that the radio is playing Christmas music. I can hear a soft-melodic version of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town when I lift my heavily drowsy eyelids slightly open. I look to my left and see Nicholas driving. Then he notices me awake and glances at me to smile, he glances back at the road, and I see his face go pale in fear. I look at the road, and I see three small creatures in green and red clothes standing there. Nicholas slammed on the brakes of the car and swerved out of the way so he wouldn't hit them. The roads were completely frozen with snow. Our car started to drift out of the lane and slammed right into a tree, crashing the back end of the car right into its sturdy stump. I think I passed out again because the next thing I know, Nicholas is outside my door trying to unbuckle me and get me out of the car. I asked him what the hell that was in the middle of the road, and he said some sort of animal, probably. But, I swear I saw clothes on them.

We both weren’t hurt, but the car was most assuredly totaled. Neither of our phones had service; however, to our luck, we could see a building with light, probably about half a mile up the road. We both grabbed our luggage and started walking towards the building. As we get closer, our luck keeps getting better because we see it’s a motel, not a nice one, but a place to get warm and sleep nonetheless. The place looks like it was made out of old red wood, or it has just gotten so corroded over time, making it seem dingier than it is. White Christmas lights outline the entire front part of the building. It seems to have a total of eight rooms, four upstairs and four downstairs, with a white metal staircase swirling up each side of the building for access to both floors. We see a red and green neon sign above the front door saying “The Workshop.”

Inside the lobby, we were met with a musk of pine and peppermint coming from a very large man with a lot of weight in his stomach area. His hair was short, his beard was long and curly, both whiter than snow. We told him what had just happened and asked if we could use his phone to call the car rental company. While Nicholas was on the phone, I was looking around the lobby. It had an old cabin feel to it with heads of hunted animals placed around the wall as decor. Taxidermized animals filled the mantel of the fireplace that was surprisingly unlit. When Nicholas got off the phone, he told me that a tow truck wouldn’t be able to get the car and drop us off a replacement rental until the morning. It looks like we were going to have to spend Christmas Eve at this motel. We asked if he had any rooms available, to which he responded matter-of-factly, “Why, yes. There are always vacancies during Christmas.” He then gave us our room key with a leather tag attached to the key chain with the numbers 2:06 on it, and two rather large candy canes. We go outside and see that room 6 is on the second floor, directly in the middle of the building.

As we get inside the room, something instantly doesn’t feel right, or it could have been the fact that this is how our honeymoon was going. The room itself was a decent size, almost resembling a studio apartment. There was enough space for a floor lamp, a burnt brown colored couch, rustic-looking coffee table, and an old TV with the giant backside coming out of it still. All of that sat in one corner. Bringing the whole section of the room together was a rug that was made from the skin of a polar bear, and had its head taxidermized to the tip of it. Behind the couch was the bed, which was extremely round with white sheets tucked underneath it. A red comforter folded crisply at the top, and a large, singular pillow in a silver pillowcase directly in the middle. The bed had a mirror on the ceiling right above it. Looking up into the reflection, the bed resembled a red ornament with white snow at the top and a silver clasp like it were helping it hold onto a tree. Hmm, festive. Nicholas was trying to stay on the bright side and thought that we should exchange the gifts we brought for each other in our luggage.

I never let Nicholas know how much money my parents actually left me because I didn’t want someone to love me for monetary reasons. I kind of spent the rest of my money buying a small house in his hometown so we could be closer to his family. I have the keys, a candy cane-shaped pen, and the title ready to add his signature on it to make it officially ours, all wrapped in a beautiful blue snowflake-shaped box. I let him go first because I don't want to be that person, but unless he got me a house, I don’t think he can top this present. So it feels wrong to have him go second. He did get me something exquisite and beautiful. He gave me this heavy black and red box to unwrap. I opened it, removed all the green and blue tissue paper, and there was this beautiful Krampus statue made out of black opal. I picked it up and was immediately mesmerized by it. He told me to be very careful of the horns because they are extremely sharp. I went to touch it to see if it was true, and the slight graze against the tip of the horn made my finger bleed profusely. I set the statue down on the coffee table and went to the bathroom to tend to my wound in the sink.

The bathroom was very small, with light green tiled walls and floor, all blending in with each other. The light was fluorescent but dim, unforgiving, and with so much green tile around, the hue inside the bathroom mimicked the same color. The only other color that stood out against the tint in the bathroom was my lips and sweater, which were both red. When you open the door, to the left is the sink and mirror; to the right is the bathtub and window. Right next to the sink is the toilet, and enough space for a towel rack that is not there. I went inside to wash the blood off my finger, and I was looking down, watching the red-stained water flowing into the green drain. Once my finger ceased to bleed, I warmed up the water and bent down further to wash my face. The mirror gets foggy pretty quickly because of the temperature difference between the steam and the surface of the glass. When I looked up, I wiped the fog off the mirror and thought I saw those things from the crash looking in through the window. I turned around immediately to look out the window, and nothing was there. My mind plays tricks on me when I get worked up. I brushed it off and met Nicholas back in the room. I wanted to give him my gift, and he told me that he could wait til tomorrow so we had something to look forward to. I thought it would be more romantic to give it to him at the ski lodge anyway. We just went to bed and hoped to put this awful night in the past.

2:06 A.M.

We were both cuddling, deeply asleep, when we heard a loud knock on the motel door. Our eyes peered wide open, and we stayed under the covers looking at each other as if we were asking if we had just heard the same thing. Then there was another loud knock on the door. This time Nicholas jumps out of bed, starts to put on his clothes, and goes to look out the peephole. He whispered to me that all he could see was the silhouette of a large man with an oversized jumpsuit on. He watched the large figure knock on the door again. Nicholas yelled out, asking if he was the front desk attendant, and then asked what he wanted. I’ll never forget the sound of the distorted voices' reply, almost sounding as if multiple voice boxes were muttering the same sentence. A voice screams out, “It’s Santa Claus! Let. Me. IN!” We both looked at each other and instantly knew we had to get out of there. I jumped out from underneath the covers to get dressed myself while Nicholas was trying to get our bags together. There was another loud BANG. I went to look out the peephole to see for myself, and no one was there anymore.

I told Nicholas the man vanished. Confused and scared, we started scurrying around the room trying to gather our stuff and come up with an escape plan. Surely, it couldn’t be as easy as running outside, because where would we run to? The creepy guy in the lobby, who is probably the man banging on our door? The car that’s crashed down the road that doesn’t work? With limited options and no ideas running through my head, I looked out the window. To my surprise, there was one of those old phone booths outside, across the street from the motel. We both finally finish getting dressed when we hear something in the bathroom. I told Nicholas not to check what it was. He went to grab the floor lamp and headed toward the bathroom door. I went toward the front door to try to unlock it. As soon as I was able to unlatch the chain lock, the bathroom door flung open. Standing in the green hue of the bathroom is this very large man in a red jumpsuit. The way the light was shining, the face stayed hidden in the shadows.

The large figure started going towards Nicholas when he hit the man in the jumpsuit with all his strength, using the lamp. The top part of him fell off and started convulsing on the floor from the electricity shooting from the lamp. The top part of him. Why does he look so much smaller on the ground? Then, through the light shining from the sparks of electricity, I saw the same red and green clothes from the car crash. I heard three separate screams: one from the creature convulsing on the floor, and the other two from inside the red jumpsuit. I tapped Nicholas on the shoulder, opened the front door, and told him we had to run for it. As he’s getting ready to hit the creature on the floor another time, the red jumpsuit flings open, revealing two more of those small creatures inside. The only light in the room is illuminating from one of the creature’s burnt bodies, casting a red tint on one side of the room, and on the other side, a green hue shining from the open bathroom door. In the middle, where the two different colored lights met, their faces were revealed. The two creatures have eyes the color of a bellowing yellow, long pointed ears, teeth in the sharp shape of razors, and dressed like. . . elves. Were these actual effing elves? Were those the same creatures from the crash? From the window in the bathroom? It looked like the creatures were mourning their other partner. Nicholas said quietly but assuredly, “Run.” I quickly turned around and saw my Krampus statue sitting on the coffee table. I grabbed it right before scurrying out the door.

As soon as we got out the front door, Nicholas told me to go left, and he’d go right in hopes the creatures would only chase him. He gave me a kiss, told me he loved me, and ran in the opposite direction towards the stairs, screaming out to the creatures to chase him instead. My sweet, sweet Nicholas. I ran to the other staircase, and I stumbled, causing me to slide down the frozen white stairs. Somehow, I made it down first, and I looked up to see Nicholas at the top of the staircase and those two creatures getting closer to him. One jumped off the wall and slashed Nicholas’ face with his hand while the other one ran between his legs, planting itself behind him. As the one creature got behind Nicholas’ legs, the other one pushed him down, making him fall on the floor. I looked down next to me and saw a couple of big rocks. I threw one at them and screamed out. This got their attention, so I threw another rock, but that one hit one of the windows, breaking it. I threw a bigger one this time and accidentally hit Nicholas in the head, knocking him unconscious. Then the creatures sounded like they were laughing at me while they both leaped from the balcony level to the floor.

They started sprinting in my direction, and I ran straight to the phone booth and locked the door. Most of the booth was made out of sturdy wood but had plenty of glass windows. I picked up the phone to dial 9-1-1, and as soon as the police dispatcher answered the phone, the electricity to the booth cut out. I heard a bang from one side of the box, then the other, and it kept continuing for I don’t know how long. All I could do was crawl into a ball and cry for them to stop. Suddenly, it did stop. I looked up and peering through the window were those yellow eyes and sharp smile fixated directly upon me. They both grabbed each other’s hands and opened up their mouths wide, letting out the most nefarious scream. It was loud and screeching at a volume so intense that it shattered the glass of the phone booth. They closed their mouths to a menacing smile that showed each edged tooth from gum to tip. One of them slipped their strong, shriveled arm right between the glass and unlocked the door to the phone booth. This was it. It was two against one. I had my Krampus statue in my hand and a burning desire to live. It’s funny, Nicholas’ gift did end up topping the one present I got for him.

As soon as I go to stand up, I hear one of them squealing as the first one did back in the room when it was being electrocuted. It was Nicholas. He had used those two giant candy canes and lodged them directly into the sides of one of the creature's throats. The other creature shifted his attention from me towards Nicholas and lunged straight at him. I tried to fling open the door to the phone booth, but it got jammed on the lifeless body of one of those. . .elves. The other elf unhinged his jaw and latched their razor-sharp teeth right onto Nicholas’ throat. I used all my strength to kick open the door. With my right hand wrapped tightly around Krampus, I used my left one to get a handful of the elf’s hair. I plunged the horns of the statue directly into that little prick’s temple. The grip of its jaw finally loosened from Nicholas, and I threw that thing off of him. I held my hands over his wound, trying to keep it closed, but there was so much blood. He kept trying to say something. I was telling him to save his energy, and everything was going to be okay. He grabbed my face and pulled me in for one final kiss and whispered while looking me in the eyes, “You’re my favorite present.” He stopped breathing after that. It felt like I stopped breathing after that, too.

Epilogue

I sat there in the blood-covered snow with Nicholas wrapped in my arms. . . crying. I couldn’t believe he was gone. I must have been in shock. I didn’t move, I didn’t think, I eventually stopped crying, and I heard something in the sky. It sounded like it was a huge gust of wind, but the air was still. Then I heard the faint sound of bells ringing above me, and I finally looked up. Then, this time, a huge gust of wind did come, but completely silent. Like the sound traveled before as a warning of what's to come. I looked back down at Nicholas, and he was gone. I looked up at the phone booth to see if those elves were still there, and they disappeared, too. At this point, I’m so confused. Am I dreaming? I ran back to the room, and the door was locked. I had to kick the door down to get back inside. Once I got in there, it looked like a vacant room, like no one ever checked into it. I just sat on the bed inside the motel room. I was definitely still in shock. Suddenly, I hear a red truck pull into the back lot. I started walking downstairs to see if this person knew what was going on. As I walked up to the truck door, the person got out, and I was met with a musk of pine and peppermint coming from a very large man with a lot of weight in his stomach area. His hair was short, his beard was long and curly, both whiter than snow. I asked the man if he knew what was going on, and he looked right through me, ignoring my question. He started to head into the lobby, and I chased after him, screaming, but was still ignored. Why couldn’t he see me? Why couldn’t he hear me? I’m right there. I’m right there. I was right there. I went to open the lobby door to leave, and my hands went right through the knob. I tried to grab it again, and the same thing happened; it went right through the handle like it was transparent. In a rage, I decided to just go right through the door instead. Wait, did I just walk through a door?

I ran back up to room 2:06. At this point, I’m panicking, and then I hear the police come. They must have gotten the call earlier and sent someone to check on it. As they pull into the lot, I yell from the top of the balcony for the police to come up here, but they couldn’t hear me, either. In an instant, I appeared downstairs behind the police inside the lobby, and they were questioning the front desk clerk. The officers showed him a picture of our rental car down the road and asked him if anyone had checked in. The man told them no one had come by and “There are always vacancies during Christmas.” The police told him to be on the lookout for anything strange. When the police turned around, I thought they would see me standing there, but they walked right through me and out the door. I didn’t know what else to do. I walked back up to the room. I take a few steps inside, and I see the shadow of the front desk clerk behind me. I turn around, and we lock eyes. He rests his hand on the doorknob, puts a devilish smile on his face, and tells me, “Enjoy your stay at The Workshop.” He slammed the door, and everything went dark. I have been walking in the pitch black for who knows how long, aimlessly searching for Nicholas, aimlessly searching for my parents, aimlessly searching for love.