The MPS: Jingle Bells, Monsters Smell (Part 4)

Hello there! I hope you're all having a good day so far, and finished your Christmas shopping! This chapter kind of got long (which I'll admit I was expecting a little), but I hope you enjoy it!

“So, Krampus,” Marina said once I finished telling her what happened with Ian Covett.

“And he didn’t want anything for this information,” she asked. I hoped my skin wouldn't get pale.

“Nope, nothing.”

Marina nodded. “Well then, killing the demon Krampus is our new goal.”

I looked at the books about demons that were piled. “Can we kill him the same way we killed Belphegor,” I asked hopefully.

Marina just shook her head. “There are different types of demons. Belphegor was one of the 7 deadly sins. Krampus, he’s a…Christmas demon I suppose. We don’t know if he’d die the same way, and it’s too dangerous to expect him to.”

I knew she was right, but I wished she wasn’t. Killing a Christmas demon was not on my bucket list.

Marina held my hand from across the table. “We’ll figure out how to kill it. I’d be surprised if I didn’t have a book here that can give us something. Now, did Ian tell you anything about where Krampus may be?”

I thought about it. “Not really. But I was thinking of checking Covett’s old store.” Seems as good a place as any to start.” Marina nodded.

“If you want me to come with-”

“No,” I said. “You need to keep Logan safe. I’ll be back as soon as Krampus is dead.”

Marina stood up. “I’ll find a way to kill it. You should go.”

I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to leave Marina. To leave Logan. If they got hurt I would never forgive myself. But I knew that if I didn’t kill Krampus, things would get worse, not just for Logan but for who knows how many people. I had too.

So I did what she said.

---

I never minded being alone before. I seemed to always be alone when I was a kid, so it was normal for me. But now I hated it so much I felt like screaming. Without Logan this whole thing was wrong. It didn’t help that I was still new to all this. Logan was my connection, and without it I felt lost.

I walked up the steps of the store. It was weird to think that just 24 hours ago me and Logan had been looking around here for fun. Now I was treating it like a crime scene, which I suppose it could be considered.

It was locked, of course. I had to break in. Looking back, I now wish I didn’t have to do that, but at the time, it was the only viable option. I didn’t even think twice about it.

It took about 2 minutes, but eventually I picked the lock. I didn’t know if this place had an alarm system, but I knew that if Krampus was here he wouldn’t want to get found out that easily. And I could tell he was here.

It was like his spirit was in the air. I almost felt like I could hear him, a growl in the darkness. My eyes tried to adjust, but they didn’t seem to want to work.

I looked around and was able to make out the shelves, piled high with toys of every kind. I tried to be quiet, not wanting to be the horror movie protagonist who yelled hello so the killer could find them.

I moved around the shelves, almost bumping into one or two. Finally, I found a door. I felt for a light switch and luckily found one. The lights weren’t overly bright, but at least I could see where I was going.

I opened the door and went through. The room I was in now was only lit by torches. It was like I had walked into a different building. There was only a spiral staircase.

Slam.

I turned sharply. The door was closed. I pulled on the handle, but it wouldn’t budge. I was locked in.

Great, I thought. This would’ve been a bad sign to anyone else. But at the moment, it meant that Krampus was here.

I just had to find him.

---

Logan’s POV

I was bored to death.

Yeah yeah, I was the one who said I should stay locked in my room, but I had hoped David would’ve fixed this by now. I wished someone would open the door. I never enjoyed being alone. Being lonely was and is the worst feeling you can ever experience, because most of the time there’s nothing you can do about it but wait.

I heard a light knock on the door and my entire body got a rush of excitement.

“Logan, it’s me,” Marina said. “David explained what happened.”

I desperately wanted to unlock the door, but I didn’t want to hurt Marina in any way, so I didn’t. “I’m okay,” I said, like a liar. I didn’t like lying to her especially, but I also knew it didn’t matter what I said. Marina could always tell when I was lying, whether it was about eating candy for breakfast or something serious like this.

“Do you feel any physical pain,” she asked. I shook my head, before remembering she couldn’t see me.

“No, whatever’s coming after me hasn’t come yet.”

Marina sighed. “We know what that is too. It’s Krampus, the demon.”

My eyes widened. Krampus. The monster of Christmas. This was not good.

I couldn’t just sit here. I needed to help David. I couldn’t lose him, especially not like this.

But there was one thing my mind couldn’t get past. “That’s not right,” I said. “The story of Krampus was that he worked with Santa, kidnapping the naughty children while Santa rewarded the good. Why would he go after those with christmas cheer?”

I heard Marina sigh. “Genuinely, I don’t know. I was thinking Krampus was sent away by Santa Claus, since I can’t imagine he wouldn’t see that Krampus is a monster after all this time. Maybe now he’s getting revenge.”

“I guess that makes sense,” I said, and smiled. “Marina, after this is over, we’re gonna do the usual christmas traditions right?”

She hesitated, and I realized that she didn’t know if we’d all make it to Christmas.

“Of course,” she said firmly, as if she really believed her words. She almost made me believe it too.

“Well then,” I said. “What did you get for David?”

I heard Marina sit down. “Some books I saw he wanted. What about you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I can’t think of what to get him. It has to be something meaningful, because this is our first christmas as friends and I need to show him that this is an awesome holiday. And of course, that he’s my friend and I care about him.”

I could tell Marina was thinking, so I stayed silent for a minute. I looked around my room and noticed something on my desk.

It was a wreath. Weird thing was I never put a wreath in here.

“Marina, please tell me your the one who put a wreath in here,” I said, moving away from the object.

“What are you talking about?” I heard her concern rise again.

Shoot.

---

David’s POV

The stairs were anything but normal. By the time I had gotten to the 10th step, the ones behind me began to disappear, and I had to run like the flash so I wouldn’t fall and become a splat on the ground, because nothing could be easy.

Finally, I made it to the top. The stairs began to reappear, and if it weren’t for the fact that I knew ghosts, ghouls, demons, and vampires existed (and so much more I hadn’t encountered yet) I would’ve thought I made it up. But comparing disappearing steps to other things I had seen, like the literal gates of Hell, this seemed like nothing.

So I continued on the journey to kill Krampus.

The room was empty, but it felt wrong. The walls had giant holes, and something in them was moving. I looked at the other end of the room and saw the door.

At first, I walked at a normal pace. Then things started crawling out of the holes in the walls.

Spiders.

Now, I pride myself in being a fairly brave person. I mean, I was a detective, came in the job description. However, one thing I hated was spiders. I blame it on the fact that the one present my dad ever bought me was a tarantula, who somehow managed to get out when I was 8, and proceeded almost bit me. Not fun. Ever since I hated the little things.

Seeing the nasty little creatures, I froze. My hands shook as I realized I needed to go. I ran to the door faster than I had ran up those stairs.

My hands trembled, but I tried to hold them steady as I opened the door. I looked back at the spiders, who were crawling towards me. My heart skipped a beat as I ran through the door and closed it tight. Would they be able to get through? I didn’t know, but I sure hoped not.

---

Marina’s POV

Logan wouldn’t answer me. I didn’t know what he meant when he was talking about a wreath. I was worried enough about David, I couldn’t afford to worry about Logan too.

I stood up and looked at the book I had been reading about Krampus, skimming over the words rapidly. I needed to find something, anything.

Luckily, whoever ran things up above decided that things should work out slightly in my favor.

Burning Krampus over an open fire. Would it work? Well, that was the question we needed answered. Sadly, there wasn’t time to figure out if this would actually work, but i needed to call David.

“Logan, I’ll be right back. I just need to call David,” I said. I thought I heard a small murmur of agreement and went to the phone.

Then I heard something else, like laughter. This wasn’t the sound of some people enjoying each others company though, it was the sound of someone who knew they had already won and was basking in the glory. A broken laugh of both pride and grief.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. I fell to the ground and looked at the phone. Could I reach it?

I had to try.

I began to crawl towards it, as photos and crystals fell to the ground around me.

I needed to tell David.

---

Logan’s POV

The wreath lunged at me.

I know that sounds crazy, but that’s what happened, so deal with it. I wouldn’t lie about something like that, and I’m not that creative.

I tried to tear the wreath off me, but it just got around my neck. I felt it get tighter. The air in my lungs began to disappear and I struggled to breathe. I held onto the wreath and continued to try and pry it off me. This isn’t how I’d die. No way.

Somehow, I was able to get my fingers underneath the wreath and pull it at least a little off my throat. I took deep breaths as if I had never realized the joys of feeling air in my body. I let my claws come out and ripped the wreath in two.

I continued breathing deeply and sat down. I had a feeling more things were coming, that this was only the beginning.

I wasn’t wrong.

---

David’s POV

My escape worked, luckily. The spiders couldn’t get in, but I still heard them from the other room, so I backed away.

Something must’ve found that funny, because I heard laughing. It was the giggle of a little girl. As far as I knew, Krampus wasn’t stupid enough to possess a little girl, right?

The room seemed to be a storage area, but there was only one toy in here, a porcelain doll. A smile was permanently plastered to it’s face. I took a step closer and smelled it. Blood. Her dress, it had splashes of dried blood all over it.

I cursed.

The doll’s smile widened and then she was gone. Like she had turned invisible.

I looked around, hearing her laughter from everywhere. Then I saw a knife begin to rise. It flew towards me and I ducked, just in time or that knife would’ve killed me.

The doll was still invisible and still seemed to be circling me like a vulture. I looked around for anything I could use to fight the thing. My gun wouldn’t work if I couldn’t see my target, and I wasn’t wasting my bullets.

I saw the knife rise again. This time, I saw a piece of wood by the wall. I grabbed it just as the knife flew and swung.

I heard a loud crash. The doll was visible again, her smile gone as her body crumbled into pieces.

I took some deep breaths. I hadn’t ever been afraid of dolls, but that experience may have changed that. All I knew was if I ever had kids, or any of my friends did, I would not ever give them a porcelain doll.

---

Marina’s POV

The earthquake wouldn’t stop. I continued to reach for the phone until finally my fingers wrapped around it.

However, this wasn’t the end of the chaos.

I began to look for David’s number, but before I could do anything, the table I had been near collapsed on top of me. It had been new, so I knew that this wasn’t natural.

My phone slipped out of my hands, and I heard the laughter once again.

No. I wouldn’t let this demon stop me from saving my son. And I wouldn’t let it stop me from saving my sons’ best friend either.

So I tried to move the table.

---

Logan’s POV

I was right, obviously.

The next thing I knew, there was a present in my room. The weird part however, was the fact that on it was a timer, and it was counting down.

A bomb.

I didn’t know what to do. My door wasn’t budging, and Marina wasn’t answering me. My window wouldn’t open either. I was stuck in here with a present bomb.

40…39…38…

It seemed like the longest minute in my life, yet it also felt like the time was passing way too quickly. Either way, I couldn’t do anything. I even tried to scratch it with my claws, but it didn’t work, which I guess I should’ve expected after last time.

Please David, I thought. Please hurry up.

---

David’s POV

When I opened the door, I found him.

Krampus was turned away from me, but I knew it had to be him. He seemed like a normal human, if it weren’t for the horns sticking out of his head. I wondered why he had them when the only other demon I had met didn’t, but I also knew that wasn’t important at the moment.

“Well, took you long enough,” Krampus said, turning towards me. His eyes didn’t actually glow, but they almost seemed to have this red and green light in them.

I shrugged. “You didn’t make it easy.”

Krampus laughed. “What’s the fun in making it easy? Then again, I was hoping that one of the others got to you. It’s a waste of my time, killing you. You don’t even have Christmas spirit,” he said.

I took out my gun, but that only caused him to laugh again. “You think that’s going to kill me? No demon can die from a simple bullet. If they could, we wouldn’t seem like a threat, now would we?”

“That’s why Santa left you, didn’t he,” I said, and the demon’s eyes hardened. I continued. “Yeah, he saw you were a monster, impossible to tame. He knew that you were too dangerous, so he sent you away, like you were nothing. Maybe because he was right. What are you? What makes you so special that he should let you work with him? He was adored, you were barely tolerated, only created to scare some kids into not yelling at their parents.”

He didn’t like that, not one bit.

He charged at me, his horns grazing my arm as I dodged. It hurt bad, which led me to think that they were dipped in poison or something of the like. I held onto my gun and the piece of wood tightly. Then I remembered my promise.

“Where do you keep your souls Krampus,” I asked. But he didn’t seem to be in the mood to answer me.

Krampus came at me again, but this time he pinned me to the wall. His hands, or I guess I could say claws, wrapped around my neck. I struggled to get any air, and I had a feeling I was going to die. That’s when my phone rang.

I put my gun in my pocket and slowly reached for my phone. I pressed the answer button.

“Burn him over a fire,” was all Marina said. She repeated herself at least 5 times, but after the second, I knew what to do.

Krampus looked at me, eyes wide. I grabbed my gun and shot at the piece of wood. The flames danced around on it, and I stabbed it through Krampus’ chest.

He stumbled back, letting me go. The wood had gone all the way through. He screamed. Then he crumbled, like he was made of dust, except the dust was red and green. After a minute, the dust began to disappear as well.

He was dead, but that wasn’t the end of it.

As he did, bright lights began to appear from where his dust had been. I knew immediately what they were. Souls.

They noticed me, and then they were gone, flying off. I assumed they went to their owners.

---

Logan’s POV

The timer was at 5 when it stopped. I yelled for Marina and heard a small call for me. I unlocked the door (which now opened) and saw her.

She was under the table, but didn’t seem too injured, at least physically.

“It is done,” she said. Then her eyes closed. I felt for a pulse. She was alright, or at least she would be alright. I couldn’t blame her. I lifted the table and pulled her out. Then I put her on the couch with a blanket.

I sat down on the ground, leaning my head against the couch, and my eyes began to droop. Maybe I needed a rest too.

---

David’s POV

“Thanks again Roberts,” I said, walking up to Ian Covett’s cell.

Roberts nodded. “It’s nothing. He’s been acting differently though, just to warn you.”

I looked at Ian. “What do you mean different?”

Roberts shrugged. “Just different. More human, if that makes sense.” Then the guard left.

Ian noticed me, and he came straight to the bars. “You. You did this to me,” he said.

I nodded. “I promised I would get your soul back, didn’t I?”

Ian shook his head violently and slammed his fist against the bars. “Why did you do it? I feel…everything. The guilt, the grief, it’s all here. God, why did I do it? Why was I so stupid?”

He no longer seemed crazy. He just seemed like he was having a mental breakdown.

“Look,” I said. “You didn’t know what would happen. But now that you’re here, you can pay for it. Isn’t that good?”

Ian almost nodded. “No! Why did you do this to me? I was happy without my soul, I didn’t feel a single thing. Why would I choose this over feeling nothing? What’s so great about being human?”

I looked him straight in the eyes and smiled. “You get to feel real happiness.”

Then I left.

---

Logan, was right. Christmas with him and Marina was great.

I had never really had much fried chicken, but this wasn’t bad, and seeing the tree light up certainly made the room better.

The part that Logan got excited for however was presents.

Me and Logan decided Marina could go first. She opened the box from me.

Inside was 3 new crystals (since some of them had broken when we were fighting Krampus) and some candles. “I hope you like the smell, I didn’t really know what to get you,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck.

Marina smiled. “It’s perfect David. And you did make a good choice. Cinnamon is probably the best smelling candle there is.”

I smiled back at her.

Marina then opened the present from Logan, new tarot cards and tea bags. I couldn’t read what tea he had gotten her, but she seemed to enjoy it.

Marina hugged both me and Logan, and it was one of the better hugs I had gotten in my entire life.

I let Logan go next.

“Aw, this is awesome,” Logan exclaimed, taking out Marina’s gift, an ugly sweater with rudolph on it.

Marina just smiled. “Press that button,” she said. Logan did, the the light on Rudolph’s nose lit up red. Logan looked like a child who had just found his favorite new toy.

Then he reached for my present.

I felt sweat on my hands. What if he didn’t like it? What if he thought it was weird?

Logan unwrapped the tiny box and took it out.

It was a silver bracelet, but that wasn’t all. On it was a few bumps and lines. Logan grazed his finger over it.

“Morse code,” he said lightly. I nodded.

He looked up at me. “Best friend, until the end,” he said, reading it. I nodded again, not knowing what else to do. His face was almost unreadable.

“Look, if you don’t like it or you think it’s weird, that’s fine. I can just return-”

He wrapped his arms around me tight. I froze. “Thank you,” Logan whispered. Then he let go.

“I think it’s your turn,” he said.

I was still getting over what just happened, but I agreed.

First was Marina’s. Inside was a few books, each one I had wanted for awhile now. I looked at Marina. I was going to ask her how she knew, but then realized that was a stupid question. Why ask a psychic how she knew anything?

Finally, I grabbed Logan’s present, unwrapping it gently and with slightly shaking hands. Inside was a journal.

Logan smiled bright. “Open it,” he said.

I did as he said and gasped.

Inside were pictures of us. One was of me and Logan by Marina’s car, laughing about something I couldn’t remember, but remembered the joy at the moment. Another was of me and Marina, talking over a cup of tea. Logan was peaking out from the side frame, and I realized he was the one who took the picture, and was preceding to photobomb.

I smiled. “Thanks Logan,” I said. “This-this is the best present I think I’ve ever gotten.”

Logan waved me off. “It was nothing,” he said. “I just thought that after everything we’d want to keep all our best memories somewhere. There’s plenty of empty pages.” I nodded.

We were in the middle of Home Alone 1 when I noticed Marina was asleep. I couldn’t blame her. Christmas was exhausting.

I looked over at Logan, who was sitting right beside me.

“Logan,” I whispered. He turned to me.

“Yeah?”

“Next Christmas, we do this again?”

“Of course. If you want that.”

I didn’t think about it.

“I think I would, if we live that long,” I admitted. Logan smiled. There was a silent pact between us, that we would both make it, at least to next Christmas.

We had just started Home Alone 2 when I felt something on my shoulder. I looked down to see Logan. He was asleep too.

For a moment, I panicked, thinking of what to do.

Then I just grabbed a blanket, put it on top of him, and continued to watch the movie.

Not that I watched too much more, since in the next few minutes, I was asleep as well.

Not bad for my first real Christmas.

So, what do you think of David, Logan, and Marina's second adventure? I think I'll probably write more, since I now have multiple characters I've created for this series and a whole document about every single characters relationship with thee others, but I don't know when. Anyway, have a very merry Christmas (or whatever you celebrate), and a happy New Year!

Here's the other parts!
Part 1: @gracepro/the-mps-sequel-to-accused
Part 2: @gracepro/the-mps-jingle-bells-monsters
Part 3: @gracepro/the-mps-jingle-bells-monsters-316f1376a8ffe

And if you need to catch up, here's the first MPS story: Accused!
@gracepro/accused
@gracepro/accused-part-two
@gracepro/accused-part-two-e284bc46819b3 (part 3)
@gracepro/accused-part-4
@gracepro/accused-part-5