"It's safe everyone, he passed us by again this year." Calivin said, as a collective sigh of relief was shared throughout the large room. He kept his eyes trained on the sleigh however, as the sounds of his fellows getting into bed filled the dormitory behind him. "So that's him, huh?" Laurie asked, startling Calvin out of his memories.

"Y-yeah. That's him all right, the santa who killed my dad." Calvin replies. Each time he says it out loud, it becomes easier to blink the tears away. He was only eight, but he knew that there was no point in dwelling on what you cannot change.

"I'm sorry your dad didn't figure it out in time." Laurie says, placing a hand gingerly on his shoulder as if he might crumble. He wiggles her off dismissively, she was always being a weirdo.

"Yeah, well." Calvin clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Eyes still glued to the path of the sleigh. Laurie shakes her head slowly, before turning away. "Goodnight, Cal." she offers sweetly as she walks away, but Calvin doesn't answer.



Ever since his dad lost his life to a santa one fateful night, the corruption of Christmas doing him in, Calvin had made his purpose to study their mysteries.

A Santa Claus is an extremely dangerous demon. Minted when great greed is left unchecked, a santa appears as a gentle old man. This is no mistake; they project an image created by the cult leaders who trade favors with them.

Over the years, the reality of what a Santa was became lost, as the notion that items were what made people happy gained popularity. Many people forgot what Christmas was about entirely, and became slaves to trying to meet a goal that was unobtainable, instead of enjoying the season's spirit. They welcomed danger into their lives eagerly.

Calvin's dad was no different, he thought he needed to buy his son lots of things to be a good parent. He became so entangled in this venture, that each holiday season he was more often than not at work. Picking up a second, and sometimes a third job each year, he lost sight of what mattered in this first place. Calvin just wanted him around.

In his bleak final moments, he had accepted a sneakily worded contract with a santa. Once his signature was on the summoned scroll, the demon had rolled it up and sucked his soul dry in one fell swoop. A nasty trick is a reasonable fare for lunch to a demon.

^{Photo by langll}
All the kids in the orphanage had tough stories, Calvin knew he wasn't unique. There wasn't any self-pity left in his body, at his tender age he already had a single-minded goal. He wanted to restore Christmas, REAL Christmas!

As it turns out, among the very poor it is commonly understood what a santa truly is. It doesn't matter if you become aware of something you are not involved in though. Any attempts to convey their understanding came off as jealousy at best, and pure insanity at worst.

This particular orphanage had just the right mix of souls under its roof however, to make a small militia of like-minded people. Unfortunately, they ranged in age from three to twelve. Not a particularly tough squad. Due to this, their plan was highly tactical, based in using their weakness as leverage.

They had a hopeful goal for Christmas morning, but first they must get some rest.



It was 4 am when the older kids awoke, they had agreed in advance that the mission was five and up. That left a dozen children pulling on winter clothing as quietly as they could in the blue light of early morning. As coats and hats found their places, the kids assembled in a half circle.

"Alright everyone," Calvin addresses the group from the middle, "We have to move fast if our plan is going to work." he meets the eyes of each kid in turn as he speaks. "If our calculations are correct, we can remove 3 santas from circulation this morning." The faces Calvin meets as he speaks are filled with determination.

"Okay! Let's split into our teams and get moving!" Calvin yell-whispers, managing to strike up excitement in the group. They scatter, stuffing objects into pockets as they exit the room. Outside, it is bitterly cold, but in their focus, it doesn't bother the children much.

^{Photo by Alicia Slough}
Unsurprisingly, Calvin was the leader of his crew. Similarly predictable, Laurie had insisted on going with him. With them were Janis, a book smart 10-year-old, and Peter, a lightning-fast boy of 7. They marched as swiftly as they could along the icy sidewalks, headed towards their pre-selected house. It was a bummer, but they needed bait.

The family Calvin had scouted out for their pack to use as santa lure was very middle class. Unfortunately, this was propped up by a mountain of credit card debit that was eating away at their livelihood. He had picked them after overhearing the mother complain over the phone about her husband's spending habits. He had followed her, and that was that.

Janis had read a few books about how lock mechanisms worked, and to the delight of the entire group, she had the simple front door lock open in minutes. Once inside, the children carefully passed the gifts from under the tree out through the front door in an assembly line formation.

When they finished, Laurie left with them gathered on a tarp. The idea was to pull them out of sight before the family woke up, and then return to the group. As she closed the front door behind her, Calvin heard a stirring upstairs. Uh oh.



The children quickly hid, readying themselves for action, weapons in hand. As expected, the first person down the stairs yelped in alarm. An already exhausted looking woman, the mother began crying and was downright wretched! Calvin felt his heart squeeze in empathy. No. He had to stay focused, if all went well, he would be returning her items to her shortly.

"What am I going to do? No no no..." She cries, sinking down to the ground in front of the empty tree. "This has to be a bad dream, please God..." She whimpers. As if he had been standing there all along, a man speaks from the shadows of the darkened room. "There is one way to save Christmas, dear." Santa steps forward, his mask of kindness is a work of art.

It's completely bonkers how ready the woman is to accept that Santa is in her living room. Perhaps it is just way easier to swallow than the reality of all the presents being gone. In her world, she's failed as a mother if there are not gifts under the tree. Any escape from that is welcome to her, even if it's unhinged. She smiles as the santa moves closer.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She says, maybe she does think it is a bad dream? It's really hard to say what's going through her head, but the fact remains unchanged, in a brief moment it was likely she would die. Santa unrolls a long scroll which he keeps stashed in a baggy sleeve. The twinkle in his eye is hunger, not the markings of a cordial nature, but she doesn't know that...

^{Photo by suju-foto}
"Just sign here for my records, and I will right all wrongs." Santa is salivating now, but the grateful lady is only looking for a pen. They couldn't mess this next part up, Calvin thought. How would they live with themselves if they caused this woman's death?

He knows they've practiced the moves as many times as could be helpful, and Janis and Peter were good kids... still, without Laurie the plan might go south. Gulping down his nervousness, Calvin grips the small mirror in his trembling hands. In every book the children had found that spoke of this sort of demon, there were mention of mirrors.

Legend has it, that if you can line two mirrors up with a santa between them, he will become trapped if he looks into either one. Disposing of him is then as simple as smashing the mirror, at least if the stories were true. There was also the minor detail that all of this may be incorrect, but Calvin couldn't entertain that right now. He needed to believe in something, lest he pee his pants.

The woman leans in to sign the contract, blissfully ignorant that it is her death warrant. As the pen touches down, the face of Santa begins to warp. His jaw elongates, as dagger like teeth sprout up from his gums. His eyes glow red, monstrously cruel. When the desperate mother screams, it is already too late. Her name gleams in wet ink on the parchment paper.



Peter is ready, he dashes across the room to shove the woman out of the way, as Calvin rushes forward with his mirror held high. Across the room, Janis tries to line up with him, but Calvin can tell something is off. Wiggling side to side, Janis realizes her leg is stuck between cords, she had not noticed them in the dim lighting! Crud. If the Santa shifted positions, their plan would be ruined!

Frantically trying to wiggle free, instead Janis topples over. True to his speedy reputation, Peter scrambles to get over to her mirror. Before he can get far, he has a problem though. Santa is on to them, he snatches Peter up into the air before he can get out of arms reach. His eyes are fire under his festive hat, as he considers the boy.

This split second was the lucky break they needed, for right at that moment Laurie pushed through the front door, mirror held high! Calvin had been frozen in panic in his initial position, yet it turned out to be just the right place to be.

As Santa looks up to asses the new addition, instead he is greeted by his repeated reflection in the mirrors. With a shriek, he dissipates into a swirling mist, which collects to funnel into Laurie's outstretched hand mirror. The frazzled mother screams out. Sucess!

The mirror shatters against the floor.
^{Photo by buzukis}
The woman sat in shock as the children brought the gifts back into her house. She stared blankly as Calvin and Laurie restacked them under the tree. She slowly shook her head, as Peter found a broom, and began sweeping the broken mirror up. As Janis crouched down to meet her eyes, and ask if she was okay, the woman seemed to suddenly find her awareness again.

"You kids broke into my house! Stole our gifts!" She begins in a high pitched voice, "I'm calling the police!" the lady announces, and immediately heads towards the kitchen. Before she can reach her cellphone, the kids are long gone. They know they streets unlike anyone else, and by the time she dials, they are a few blocks away.

Back at the orphanage, they find they are the first group to arrive home. The sun is still coming up, painting the sky in pink hues. They try not to panic, it was still early. The other kids would be back soon. "We really did it!" Laurie shrieks, "Great job, Cal." she leans in, as if she thinks they would share some mushy moment. Yuck.

"Yeah. It was a good start." Calvin replies, turning away to face the other kids before Laurie got any bright ideas. "Next year we will do even better." Calvin says, wistfully eyeing the clouds, which blaze orange in the light of the rising sun. A few Santas taken out of rotation wouldn't save Christmas, but year after year it would add up. Calvin would never stop, not until each one of them met the floor from inside a mirror. In the years to come, he would become known as the Santa Slayer.



I meant to do a little free write for #pic1000, and it just kept growing! As I looked at the prompt photo, I thought "I want to write a different kind of Christmas story." my mind began to wander.

I hate Santa, Okay. I said it. I hate the idea that children from less wealthy homes think Santa just doesn't like them as much. I despise the idea that good parents work themselves to the bone to gift items. It's all just yucky and silly to me.

I do love Christmas though. Christmas is a time to appreciate your loved ones in my world. I'm not religious, but I enjoy setting up a tree for my kids. Making crafts, playing in the snow...

That's what life is all about in my book. So, I wanted to write a story where the spirit of Christmas is defended from consumerism. I honestly have another 2k words in my head about it 🤣 Should I write it? Let me know below 😁💕

^{Happy Holidays!}