Page 25 of Santa Daddy, I'm Not the One

I stared at him in wonder. The tree had never done this with anyone else.

The tree’s lights flickered, glowing a little brighter. A cheer went up, then turned into a gasp.

“Landon.” I sucked in a deep breath and grabbed his hand away from the tree. The bright light had returned dull—even more so than before.

I sensed Landon’s distress. “It’s really me,” he said. “I did that to the tree.”

“He’s a curse!” someone cried. “He’s cursed the tree.”

“Stop!” I shouted over the cacophony of voices. “Every one of you quiet.”

“He touched the tree, and now the lights are even dimmer. You can’t defend him anymore. We all saw it.”

“But you all saw the tree get brighter than it ever has as well, right?”

“What does it matter if it doesn’t stay bright?”

“Why are you defending him, Santa? Have you forgotten that if the tree dies, you die as well?”

“Exactly. It’s my life at stake, yet I trust Landon—” I turned my head, but Landon didn’t stand beside me anymore. “Landon!”

The small figure was darting toward the sleigh. “Landon!”

He didn’t look back. I ran after him, the mob at my heels. Why was he running away? Were they right? Was he working with Frostheart?

I watched in horror as Landon climbed into the sleigh. He grabbed the reins and snapped them. The reindeer took off, their hooves pawing the air as they climbed higher and higher. Taking Landon away from me.

8

LANDON

Iclung to the reins, my body thrumming with adrenaline and the cold air biting at my skin. Below me, the townspeople had gathered with Nils, their voices a distant roar of disapproval and accusation. Nils was looking up at me, his figure standing out against the swirling snow and the dark shapes of the crowd. He’d sided with the people. And why wouldn’t he have? He was one of them. I was an outsider.

The feeling of betrayal, of being right about not trusting people, cut deeper than the chill of the night.

I tightened my gloved hands, the leather creaking under the strain, and I snapped the reins anew. The sleigh soared higher, away from Twinkle Glen, its lights twinkling dimly. Just when I’d started to hope and believe that maybe this wasn’t such aterrible place, that maybe I’d been wrong about the world, it had turned on me. But the dimming of the tree, their accusing stares, and Santa’s hesitation had shattered that fragile thought.

Yet again, I was running away, although I didn’t know where I was going. The Whispering Woods spread out below me, a dark, undulating sea of trees. I couldn’t go back to the workshop, not after what had happened. I needed to find a way back to my world, back to a place where at least the disappointments and pains were familiar.

Tears blurred my vision as I navigated the sleigh, the reindeer’s breaths puffing out in steady, rhythmic clouds. I’d never felt so alone, so utterly lost. The night seemed to close in on me, and for a moment, I considered letting go, surrendering to whatever fate awaited me in the frigid wilderness below.

The sleigh jolted violently, and a sharp cry of pain cut through the night. Has one of the reindeer been struck? The animals panicked, breaking their formation as we started a steep descent.

“We have to land!” I shouted, though no one could hear me over the wind’s howl and the reindeer’s distress. I pulled at the reins, trying to guide the terrified creatures down through the trees, branches whipping past us in a blur.

With a final, desperate effort, I steered the sleigh into a clearing. The vehicle crashed into the snow with a bone-jarring thud. I was thrown forward, my breath knocked out of me, and landed in a heap on the cold ground.

For a moment, I lay there, dazed and shivering. With a groan, I pushed myself up, my body aching from the impact. The reindeer were huddled together, one of them nursing a wounded leg. I approached them slowly, murmuring words of comfort, my fears momentarily forgotten in the face of their pain.

A sinister, mocking laughter echoed around me. What the…? I wasn’t alone. My heart pounded fiercely. The laughter grewlouder through the quiet, snow-filled glade. I scanned the edges of the clearing, trying to discern where the chilling sound was emanating from. The once tranquil woods now felt threatening. A shiver ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the biting cold. The reindeer shifted restlessly behind me. Whatever this threat was, they sensed it too.

A shadowy figure stepped out of the woods. The figure emerged with an eerie grace, its footsteps barely disturbing the pristine layer of snow. A cloak of shadows seemed to cling to it, fluttering with every step like the wings of a nightmarish creature. He stood tall and imposing, his form vaguely humanoid but twisted in a way that made my stomach churn.

His skin was a pale, icy blue, almost translucent in the moonlight, veins of darker blue crisscrossing like frozen rivers. His eyes were the most terrifying aspect, glowing with a malevolent red light that seemed to pierce right through me. They were eyes that knew no warmth, no mercy.

Horns, long and twisted like the branches of dead trees, curled back from his forehead, giving him an even more demonic appearance. His mouth was twisted in a cruel smile, revealing sharp, jagged teeth that gleamed like icicles.

He moved closer, and a chill emanated from him, frosting the surrounding air. “At last, we meet. Shouldn’t you be thanking me for bringing you here?”

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