Meg ran towards the front door, clutching the dog to her breast but turned away when she saw the lines of elves leering up at her from the other side holding daggers. A crunch of glass behind her made her spin and she saw that a mob of elves were wrecking the room and working on the windows. A group of them had already knocked down the room's double doors and were stripping her Mother's wet bar to make Molotov cocktails. Already, they had torched the tree and couch and the winter glaze of the room ebbed in the flickering amber light. The fat man stepped out of the darkness towards her, goosing the throttle on the chainaxe.
"YOU NEED TO GET IN THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON, MEG!" the fat man howled, coming closer.
Without thinking, she ran for the double doors that led back to the rest of the house but didn't compensate for the winter climate. Taking the turn too hard, she slipped on the ice and landed on her hip, sliding into an end table with a crash. Something small and jingly hopped onto her shoulder and lashed onto her earring, yelling "Yeeha! Got her!" with its high-pitched voice into her ear. Meg squealed as it hopped off and pulled down, holding her to the floor and she swiped at it but missed. With a burst of strength, she sat up and lashed out, knocking the elf aside. It somehow kept its footing and yanked again, bringing tears flooding into her eyes. Behind her, heavy boots were crunching closer.
"YOU LITTLE FUCKER!" she screamed and batted at the elf again, but it just jiggled aside and pulled again to keep her low. Forcing herself to get up, pain lanced through her ear and neck as the elf growled and tore the earring free. Warmth dribbled down her face and neck as she snatched Archibald up again and twisted to her feet. Stumbling away towards the hall, a line of elves carrying bottles with flaming rags hopped off the bar and ran after her.
Meg had lost one of her shoes in the slide, making her hobble instead of walk and she pulled the other off so she could run faster. The rough ice and snow stabbed the bottoms of her feet, but with the sound of bells just behind her, she ignored it and sped up. The elves were unable to keep up and screamed obscenities and waved knives. Something hit the wall near her and she felt a hard impact on her back. It had been a bottle, but thankfully it hadn't broken.
Another bottle of something expensive hit the wall in front of her, exploding in a shower of glass and sending flames running along the floor. She squealed and jumped over it as another crashed into the ceiling in front of her, sending flaming liquid raining down. Remarkably she wasn't hit and the chorus of elves screamed in anger as they rushed forward.
Remembering her shoe, she turned and heaved it overhand, knocking one of the leading elves off its feet. The bottle it carried broke and flame spewed out across the nearby elves, covering them and sending them scattering. As they screamed and ran around trying to fan the flames out, Meg almost laughed in spite of herself.
"Burn, you fuckers!" she spat, taking a moment to catch her breath. More elves came forward, hopping over the flaming mob and she ran towards the study.
"Just give up Meg," Claws' booming voice echoed from behind her. "I've still got other houses to visit!"
Meg stopped at the edge of the study when she realized that it was a dead end in more ways than one. Its bank of windows looked out over a steep drop that she couldn't survive and no exit meant that they would have her cornered. She needed another option and ran for the intersection near the washstand as she heard the sound of heavy boots entering the hall. A voice began to sing and she shuddered as she fought to keep her footing.
"Slay-bells ring, the gore is glisten'ng
You're gonna die, hope you're listen'ng."Archibald was yipping and when Meg looked at him, he growled. She wanted out of here as badly as he did, but how? Her mind raced over the villa's floor plan and each one ended up with her hitting a dead end. Her hands were trembling from fear and the cold, with pain being a close third.
"Going to cut you apart, tear out your heart."
With nowhere else to go, she followed her instinct and ran for her room like a child. Maybe she could climb down the ledge to the street, but that was only if they weren't waiting for her. That was a big "if", but there weren't many options left so she forced the fear back and tried to keep calm. Shimmer's voice reminded her that fear is the mark of prey and she couldn't give up.
".Stalkin' in a winter wonderland!"
This time when she ran through the threshold, she avoided the doorjamb and slammed the door without hitting herself. Looking around, all of her doobries were gone and the place had been trashed, the contents of her dressers and desk pulled out over the floor like a gutted animal. Maybe the big HJ ate her doobries to make itself bigger, but that couldn't explain the giant axe.
"Pretty soon, you'll expire." the serenade continued.
Meg forced her mind to keep running as she tried to block out the off-key singing. The elves could have handed a bigger axe through the shattered window for the HJ, she thought and turned to look out. The glass was shattered and she grabbed a pillow to smooth the busted pieces off the sill. No elves jumped at her and she craned her neck out. There was a ledge and a roof below her and it looked doable. Now if only she could make it to the street.
".and I'll cook your spleen, o'er a fire"
Despite her discipline, the voice was terrifying her and she desperately looked for some sort of weapon. Finding another tennis racket, she tossed it aside -a lot of good that would do against a chainaxe. The whimpering started in earnest again and she stepped over the barking dog as she tossed the scraps of what had been her room. Shoes, gotta find shoes she told herself as she tried to keep control of herself.
"I'll tan the parts I don't eat, to cover my feet."
She found a sneaker and scrambled for its mate, but the dog was making it hard to get at it. Batting him aside angrily, she found a boot and made do with it.
".Stalkin' in a winter wonderland!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she screamed at the locked door as she fought to get the boot and sneaker on.
"You know you can't get away from me, Meg," The voice said from somewhere down the hall. It was closer now and Meg fought to tie the laces. "We'll just run you down in the street. You AND your little dog too!"
"HE'S NOT MY DOG!" she screamed back. Between the cold and the fear, it was impossible to get the sneaker's laces tied and it wouldn't hold on any other way. She scrambled across the floor looking for a replacement and found the other boot.
"If you give up now," the voice came again, this time closer. "I'll let you live."
In spite of her fear, she stopped moving and stared.
After all of this, he was going to let her live?
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