A Demon For Christmas

Ch-1

Amelia’s shoulders felt cramped from driving for so long and the exhaustion was making it a little hard for her to see outside clearly.

“Are we there yet?” a chirpy boyish voice mumbled, and she glanced at her son, who was practically bouncing in his seat.

Pondering over his question, she looked at the windscreen, squinting through the flurries of snow.

They were still on the mountain road, and, at this rate, they might be trapped in this snowstorm, but she couldn’t let her son know that.

“Almost, baby,” she murmured but could tell that Ethan barely heard her. He was already humming in tune to the festive jingle spilling from the radio, tapping the window in excitement..

Children and their attention-span.

As a smile formed on her lips, Amelia’s eyes suddenly flickered to the envelope on the dashboard and her smile fell.

It contained the formal notice of her grandmother’s death and an inheritance of a cottage she hadn’t visited in years.

Shame ate at her insides and she gulped back the bile forming in her throat.

Even when Granny Nancy died, Amelia never left the city for the burial held in their small town. It took a f*****g inheritance and her life flipping on its head for her to return home.

“Look, Mom! Snowflakes!” Ethan’s nose was pressed against the window, his breath fogging the glass.

She forced a smile. “Yeah, baby. Snowflakes.”

The snow fell heavily, and the thunk of the wipers did little to clear her view. Her heart skipped a beat when the tires skidded slightly as she eased around another curve.

Ethan’s voice piped up again, cutting through her unease. “Mom, I can’t see anything but snow! Are we lost?”

“No, baby,” she whispered. “We’re close, I can feel it.”

This time, though, the words weren’t a lie. A sign whose edges were rimmed with frost loomed ahead, and her breath caught as she read the faded letters through the storm.

WELCOME TO MAPLE RIDGE.

Relief unfurled in her chest, and Amelia grinned widely. She slapped the steering wheel with one hand, hooting. “We made it!”

Ethan squealed in delight too. “We’re here!”

“Yes, sweetheart,” Amelia laughed, her heart lighter than it had been in months.

They rolled into town and even through the storm, Maple Ridge felt impossibly warm.

The streets were lined with old-fashioned lampposts, wrapped in garlands, their lights twinkling through the snow.

Storefronts glowed with cheerful holiday displays–wreaths and bows, tiny Santa figurines, fake snow glittering on miniature Christmas trees.

It was a little early for decorations, but that was Maple Ridge for you.

They didn’t wait for December to start celebrating Christmas.

Amelia felt a pang in her chest as memories of her as a little girl flooded back. She had walked these same streets, her boots crunching through the snow while the sound of the choir practicing for the holiday service lingered in the air.

It was all still here, as though time had paused in Maple Ridge. And somehow, that hurt even more.

She turned onto the familiar gravel drive, and her old family house came into view. Its white paint was clearly wearing a fresh coat and it looked like there had been a little remodeling.

The porch light was on, casting a warm glow over the snow-covered yard.

Before she could even turn off the engine, Ethan had flung open his door and was racing through the snow.

“Is this it? Where you grew up Mummy?” he shouted gleefully, his boots kicking up little puffs of snow as he bounded up the steps.

Amelia laughed, shaking her head. For once, she didn’t have the heart to scold him for not waiting. “Go knock on the door, baby,” she called, stepping out into the cold to retrieve their suitcases from the trunk. “Let grandma know we’re here.”

From the corner of her eye, she watched him bound up the steps, his small gloved fist thudding against the wooden door.

The wind nipped at her cheeks, but she paused, hands full of luggage as the door opened and revealed her mother.

Kat stood in the doorway, bundled in a knitted cardigan, complete with a look of confusion and surprise as she peered down at Ethan. “Hey, sweetheart, are you lost? What’s your name?”

At the question, Amelia felt a pang of guilt in her chest. If she had sent her mother pictures of Ethan through the years, she would have easily recognized him.

But how could she keep everyone up to date when her life had been hell?

“I’m Ethan!” Her son’s voice cut into her reverie and she looked up to see him pointing eagerly in her direction. “That’s my mama!”

“Amy?” Kat gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. Then, before Amelia could respond, the older woman was rushing down the porch steps, throwing her arms around her.

“Hi, Mom,” Amelia said shakily. God, she missed this warmth.

Her mother pulled back to cup Amelia’s face, brushing away the snowflakes clinging to her cheeks. “Are you okay, my baby? Are you really okay?”

Tears pricked at Amelia’s eyes, and her throat felt tight. “I’m okay,” she still whispered, biting back the tears. “Now that I’m here, I’m okay.”

Kisses were planted on her cheek before Kat pulled Amelia inside, helping her with some of the luggage.

Warmth immediately hit her as the door closed behind them, and Amelia almost ran to the fireplace. But the sound of laughter and voices filtering from the living room stopped her.

With a jolt, she realised that the whole family was here.

“Amelia!” A chorus of voices erupted as she stepped past the foyer into the living room.

Almost immediately, her aunts, uncles, and cousins swarmed her, pulling her into hugs and peppering her with questions.

“What’s the big city like?”

“Amelia, Kat says you work at some fancy corporation these days. Can you cope with our boring ole town?”

She’d forgotten how loud and chaotic her family could her compared to Greg’s stilted family, who barely visited them during the holidays. Whenever it did happen, the whole experience was filled with criticism of Amelia’s house-keeping abilities.

Amelia smiled and laughed, letting their warmth wash over her, though it was overwhelming. Her relatives all still lived within five minutes of each other; she was the only one who had left. And now, being back here, she wasn’t sure if she felt relieved or suffocated.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Ethan giggling with his cousins, already fitting in as if he’d known them forever. It eased the tightness in her chest.

But then the conversation turned, as she knew it would, to Greg.

“That husband of hers was a waste of space,” her Aunt Linda said, her voice sharp with disdain. “The way he treated you—disgusting.”

“I always told you he wasn’t good enough,” her uncle chimed in. “Good riddance, I say.”

Amelia forced a tight smile. She’d known news of her divorce would have travelled back to her gossiping, tight-knit family, but some discretion, please? Their words made her feel exposed, like they were peeling back layers that she’d worked so hard to bury.

Her eyes darted around the room, searching for escape when they landed on the small frame perched on a shelf right by the nook leading to the hallway. Her breath hitched.

It was Dylan’s picture. Her brother…her late brother.

The forced smile slipped from her face and her heart took a sudden lurch. Why… why was his picture out? She made sure that they boxed everything up and locked it in the attic.

A strange darkness shimmered around the edges of her peripheral vision. Was she going to faint?

Oh god. Not in front of everyone.

She wanted to leave before she was overcome. “I want to get water to drink. I’ll be right back.”

Someone muttered okay and she took an unsteady direction to the kitchen.

Amelia wasn’t sure how she managed to walk down the hall behind them, but she found herself by the back door.

She pushed it open.

Icy cold slapped her unprotected arms, but she didn’t feel a thing.

Even though it was still bright and snowing heavily, everything looked dark around her, and Amelia fell to her knees.

Pain curled around her heart, and she was gasping, choking on the bleeding wounds from the past. But as intense as the pain felt, no tears fell from her eyes, just like those years ago.

When the pain continued to build up, Amelia forced herself to stand. Then she walked around the house to the front and got into her car, driving off into the snow that was almost as tall as her tyres.