Beauty In Her Madness (Winterland Tale #3) - Stacey Marie Brown Page 0,19
kicked in. I didn’t even think; I took off running, something in my gut telling me to get away as fast as I could. I didn’t know if I were running from real monsters or just ones in my head.
There didn’t seem to be a difference between the two now.
Chapter 7
“Santa Claus is com-ing to town…” The jingle looped around me like a noose. I was all for holiday tunes, but after the tenth hour of my shift, the same songs on repeat, I was starting to get cranky.
Okay, I had been cranky all day. Lack of sleep did that to me. My mind spiraled all night with excuses and theories until I couldn’t take it and went for a five a.m. run. Now, after spending the day and evening with hordes of sticky, loud kids and perverted fathers, I was ready for some wine, a bath, and sound sleep.
“I’m out.” Lei, the other elf on a double with me today, strolled out of the break room, her arms holding her belongings. “I’m so exhausted.”
“Yeah.” I rolled my head around, my muscles screaming for a massage. “You on tomorrow night?”
“Yeah.” She rolled her dark brown eyes, brushing back her black hair. She was probably the closest person here I could call a friend. I never had a lot, always too focused on my goals, only getting along with other overachievers, which Lei Okada was. She was first-generation, her parents coming from Japan. They were nice, but they put a lot on her to be the best. Anything below an A was not acceptable. She was studying to be a doctor, but on her breaks, she doodled and drew amazing graphic art. “Working most of the week.”
“Me too.” I picked up a child’s sweater from the floor, tossing it in the lost-and-found box.
“You want help cleaning up?”
“No, I got it. Will give it a quick vacuum and head out.” I was “lead” elf, which meant I had the responsibility of an assistant manager, opening and closing, at a whole whopping dollar more an hour.
Gabe had the day off, and our other Santa, who already left, was a sweet, retired, older man who lost his wife and needed to get out of the house.
“Okay, girl. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Lei blew me a kiss and walked out.
The music buzzed around me, and I headed to the closet, pulling out the vacuum, trying to ignore the sudden anxiety of being alone. Normally I loved it. Had never bothered me.
Humming to the music, trying to keep my mind from landing on anything, I rolled the vacuum over the rug. Movement out the window pulled my attention. Narrowing my gaze. I spotted two children skipping and playing across the field in the forest, wearing what looked like green board shorts.
Christmas dumplings. Why were they wearing shorts? The forecast said it was going to snow tonight.
I pressed up to the window, trying to spot their parents standing somewhere around. The tree lot was closed, the night mode already dimming it in spotted shadows. Shit. Were they lost? Where were their parents? They were going to freeze to death dressed like they were.
I didn’t even think as I ran out into the night.
“Hey!” I called to the boys. From afar, I could tell one was short and round with brown hair, the other one taller, skinny, and blond. “Hey, stop.”
The two turned around to me, then looked at each other, their eyes going wide in shock.
Was I seeing things, or did they both have pointy ears?
“Where are you two going? Where are your parents?” I moved quickly across the terrain. The closer I got, the more the boys’ features felt odd. Childlike, but strangely adult-looking too, almost cartoonish.
“Duuuuddeee.” The tall one gaped at his friend, sounding an awful lot like some cliché surfer. “She can see us.”
“Gnarly, man,” the rounder one responded, his tone in the same slow speech. Then in a blink, they took off. Every few feet, they rammed into each other, bouncing, making them giggle and fall to the ground. In a flash, they’d pop back up and do it again.
Were they high? These kids couldn’t be more than first graders.
They leaped past the forest line. Anxiousness jumped up my throat. “Wait!” My legs picked up speed, tearing into the woods right behind them.
They were gone. “What?” My brain struggled with the logic of them abruptly vanishing. My head darted around, trying to see any movement. “Hello?”