Crimson Christmas Read Free Page B

outside through the kitchen door. As
soon as she did, Lesley turned to the tree to play with his presents. He knew
he could open one and reclose it before his mother got back, but he didn’t know
which one to open first.
    A soft sound startled him and he looked around, only
to jump back when something under the tree rattled. “Hello?” he called after a
minute. Two reflective eyes stared back at him from between two presents.
    But it couldn’t be anything bad, right? It was under
a Christmas tree and it was small.
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” Lesley said. “Come out.”
Another present rattled before a Golden Retriever puppy jumped out with an
excited bark. “Puppy!” Lesley screamed at the top of his lungs.
    The back door opened, his mother yelled, “Lesley, be
quiet! I’m on the phone,” and she then shut it.
    Lesley held out his hands for the puppy, which ran to
him with its tail wagging enthusiastically. He hugged the puppy, knowing this
was going to be the best Christmas ever. Then the puppy grabbed his shirt
sleeve in its mouth and started pulling Lesley towards the tree as if playing
tug-a-war.
    “No, puppy, come to my room!”
    The puppy jerked its head, causing the boy to fall
forward, and began dragging him. When Lesley tried to reach for the couch, the
puppy growled. It pulled him to a small gift box.
    “Wait, puppy! What’s wrong?”
    The puppy let go of his arm, took his pant leg, and
pulled him easily into the box, which contorted to accommodate Lesley’s
struggles.
    “Stop, puppy! I can’t fit!”
    When the boy was waist-deep in the box, the puppy
wiggled out and went around Lesley to push him in the rest of the way. Lesley
tried to struggle, so the puppy nipped impatiently at his fingers and nose.
Finally, the boy was all the way in the box and the puppy hopped in happily
after him. The lid magically closed behind them.

Chapter 2
    December 23, Wednesday
     
    Hail woke with a shout, startling Ron out of his
sleep. Ron usually experienced Hail’s visions to make it easier, but that was
not the case this time. “What did you see?” Ron asked, hugging his brother.
They were sleeping over at Drake’s house. Fortunately, their friend could sleep
through anything.
    “It was dark and cold. I could feel so many scared
kids. They were terrified. I felt like they were dying, but they weren’t
injured. They were afraid because something is going to eat them.”
    “When?”
    “Christmas.”
    “It was a dream,” Ron said, relaxing a little. “You
were just having a nightmare because of all those scary stories Dad tells us.
Like that dream you had of the toe bats. Nothing is going to happen on
Christmas. It’s just a day like any other.”
     
    *          *          *
     
    Dylan woke suddenly, despite the peacefulness of the
house, and saw that it was only a few minutes before his alarm would go off. He
got up, showered, and dressed for work, aware the entire time that it was too
quiet. It felt like he had forgotten something very important, but he chalked
it up to being off his usual morning routine. Divina wasn’t trying to tempt him
back into bed, the boys weren’t teasing each other, and Mordon wasn’t…
    Huh… Mordon is actually the only quiet one in my
family .
    Dylan went to the kitchen and found the dragon eating
cereal at the table, dressed in his officer’s uniform. Mordon had been almost
scrawny when they first met, but that was before the dragon’s physical traits
kicked in. He was now an inch shorter than Dylan and much heavier built. Of the
two of them, Mordon was the fighter and Dylan was the strategist. Although
Dylan’s magic was superior by far, he preferred to use it for defense and
healing while Mordon used his dragon skills and weapons training to defeat
their enemy. Fortunately, Dylan could usually manipulate the enemy before it
came to a fight.
    “I thought you had the day off.”
    “I got called in. Three kids at the north end of town
ran