Grateful – Thankful – Blessed

“There he is again, between those two SUVs.”

“I can’t see.”

“He’s coming across the parking lot. Quick, lets go inside!”

It was a brisk winter evening and a deep auburn glow welled up behind the mountains in the distance where the sun sank below the horizon. There was a light snow, like icing, which covered the parking lot and the girls could see the fog of their breath as they whispered to one another and trotted up onto the sidewalk from the parking lot. Mandy and Ashleigh waited for the automatic doors to slide open and sped into the Hobby Lobby. 

“Welcome to Hobby Lobby! Come on in and Merry Christmas!”

They smiled at the greeter and Mandy grabbed a cart and placed her hot apple cider in the cup holder. 

“That guy seriously creeped me out. He was definitely following us.”

“I know! I wish we hadn’t left Mark at the Cabela’s.”

“Okay… what’s left on the list?”

Ashleigh pulled out her purse and rummaged through it for her phone. The purse was garland green and in a flowy red script was written on each side “Holly” and “Jolly.”

“I still need some lights for the porch and a pie pan. You?”

“I’m all done. But I want to look at the pillows.”

The girls began walking down the main aisle towards the center of the store. They didn’t hear the automatic door sliding open again behind them. 

“Welcome to Hobby Lobby! Come on in and Mer—”

The man shambled past the greeter, brushing him aside. There was snow on the shoulders of his faded and torn hoodie which was pulled up over his head concealing his face in shadow. He stumbled with a slow focus down the aisle toward the girls. 

“Did I lock the car?” Mandy asked, and turned her head, as if to look. She gasped and grabbed at Ashleigh’s hand. 

“He’s here, he’s here—he’s following us!”

“Come on!”

The girls abandoned the cart and rushed down the aisle to the back of the store. The man increased his speed. Like a locomotive, he gained momentum with each step. A skinny associate stepped into his path.

“Excuse me, sir can I hel—”

The man shoved the boy out of the way and he careened into a shelf of enormous Christmas tree baubles. The shelf broke and the baubles came crashing down on him, covering the floor with the broken shards.

Mandy looked back and saw the boy covered with blood. Looming there between her and the boy she saw the man breathing heavily and regaining his speed. Ashleigh picked up a ceramic plate which portrayed a family of beagles dressed in their Christmas PJs decorating their tree in front of a blazing hearth.

Aw, cute. She thought, before whirling it like a frisbee at the oncoming man. The plate broke against his forehead not slowing him in the slightest.

The girls continued to run.

Ahead they saw the doors to the warehouse. But the man was nearing them now and they’d never make it in time. 

Without a word, the girls split up: Mandy turned left down an aisle of Christmas tree displays, Ashleigh to the right past some decorative pieces in red, green, gold, and white. Each bearing a yuletide expression of cheer.

NOEL

LOVE

JOY

PEACE.

The man chased Ashleigh. 

She couldn’t breathe. Adrenaline surged through her body. She wanted to scream but panicked gasps for air were all she could manage. 

The end of the aisle was blocked by a pallet of boxes from the warehouse filled with decorations, plaques, ornaments, and nativities. Ashleigh ran to the pallet and scrambled over it. As she lifted herself up onto the boxes, she kicked out at the air behind her. And connected. The man was right behind her. He grabbed her leg and pulled her back.

“NO! No no no no no!” She screamed and continued to flail her legs at him, to no avail.

The man twisted back his neck; his hood fell from his head and revealed long matted hair. He looked down at Ashleigh and grinned. Despite her panic, Ashleigh’s mind froze. For an eternity she stared up at the dried blood stains on the man’s fanged teeth. Coolly, rationally, her mind tried to incorporate this new bizarre knowledge into reality. This can’t be happening.

The man leaned over Ashleigh, pinning her down on the boxes, and began to lower his mouth to her neck. 

The spell broke. It was all terror now. All pure, fiery rage at the offense of this creature’s mere existence. With one last scream of fury she grasped for anything she could hold. She found it. And, with what little might remained she struck the man—the creature—in the heart.

The mantle-sized wooden nativity was unpainted, but included a small Joseph, Mary, Baby, and Manger all under the frame of the stable in which they spent that night. Attached above the stable was the Christmas star that led the wise men to find the newborn. The rays of that star stuck out above the nativity which now protruded from the vampire’s chest.

For a moment, he roared with anger and then there was nothing but dust.

“Ash?”

“I don’t know…” she replied, wiping the greyish soot off herself.

“Ashleigh? Are you ok?” asked Mandy, approaching with a security guard.

Mandy sat down beside Ashleigh, catching her breath. 

Tears streamed down Ashleigh’s face as she sat, staring down at her hands. 

The security guard looked around, bewildered. 

“Where did he go?” 

“He’s gone,” Ashleigh whispered. The security guard stared at her uneasily.

“Let’s get out of here.” Mandy said, helping Ashleigh to her feet. 

The girls left the Hobby Lobby in silence, the festal lights shone brightly in the window.