I heard her sigh on the other end; she sounded irritated. “This Xmas Day Butcher is playing mind games with us, Lenny. We cleared George a year ago when she initially went missing. This guy’s good at hiding who he is.” Her voice was tense, and there was something about her tone—it sounded like she was on edge as well.
She let out a dry laugh. “This might be a stupid question, but you never considered any security cameras?” she asked, in a mocking tone.
I shook my head to myself. “I tried calling someone about that after the first ‘gift,’ but no luck in this weather. We never had the need for anything like that.This is all just insane.”
I felt the weight of the letter in my hands as I slowly crushed it, anger tightening my chest. “Why me? That’s what I don’t understand. What did I do to deserve this?!” I shouted, infuriated.
Detective Castillo remained silent on the other end. I could almost hear Castillo thinking to herself, like she was trying to figure out what to say in a crazy situation such as this.
When she spoke again, her voice was quiet, sounding defeated. “Without any evidence on who this guy might be, we have to play the game. I’m sorry.”
That just sounded like she was giving up because she had no idea what to do next. To be fair, neither did I. All I could do was follow the instructions of the letter.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I slowly realized that I might be doomed, and that meant that Angela might be too. I was at the mercy of a madman.
I took several deep breaths, trying to calm myself, but it wasn’t working. My jumbling thoughts came in and out like a revolving door.
Clara’s face, the Christmas party a year ago, the way she had just…vanished. Just like Angela, from one day to the next.
No one saw anything—no footage, no witnesses. She just disappeared.
I shook my head, trying to push the thoughts away, but it was like a demon clinging to me. “I think George knows something,” I said, my voice strained. I couldn’t let it go. My gut told me I was right and that I needed to listen to the Xmas Day Butcher. There was something inhis house, something I needed to find, and I knew something must’ve been there. Just like the reindeer earrings, it was a sign. “He’s hiding something.”
Castillo’s voice became stern. It only made the pit in my stomach grow deeper. “Look, Lenny, Clara’s disappearance is not on him. The Xmas Day Butcher is playing mind games with you. You want to know what I think? I think she ran away because she didn’t want to be controlled by her father anymore. She was young and reckless, and she had her issues—maybe she just wanted out—forever.”
She said that too easily, almost dismissively, but she may have had a point—maybe that’s what had happened after all.
I didn’t want to argue with her further; she wasn’t going to be of any help. I appreciated Detective Castillo’s efforts in trying to find Angela, but it just wasn’t enough. If I was going to find her, I needed to do more—do things I normally wouldn’t do. “Alright, Detective,” I muttered sleepily. “I’m going to try and get some rest.”
I hung up before she could reply. My words were a lie. I wasn’t going to sleep—not now, not with this gnawing feeling in my stomach, urging me to follow the clue of the Xmas Day Butcher.
“I’m going to George’s house,” I said to no one in particular. “I need to see what he has hidden.”
The thought of waiting and doing nothing was suffocating me; the growing unease in my heart because of Angela was never going to go away unless I found her.
I grabbed my coat off the lounge chair, sat in it, and slipped on my boots, which were resting beside it. I had no intention of callingGeorge to let him know I was coming; it wouldn’t work. It needed to be a secret. I needed to go in and out to see what was really going on. I was a desperate man, and I was willing to do desperate things, even if it was a trap. I had no other choice.
When I stepped outside, the chilly air sliced my face. My heart raced at the thought of sneaking into George’s house, but there was no turning back. I couldn’t wait anymore. I needed to go.
But then—a voice spoke out to me: “Come with me.” I turned around, panic swelling in my gut; no one was there. All I saw was an empty land blanketed with snow.
“Come with me!” the voice growled angrily.
I couldn’t tell if it was a manifestation of my mind or if it was someone in the woods taunting me from afar. I started to breathe rapidly, childish screams echoing in my mind, my head pounding with so much noise.
I ran back inside my house and shut the door just before I blacked out on the floor.
CHAPTER 9
DECEMBER 9TH
Ijolted awake and immediately checked the date:December 9th. I had blacked out and slept through the day. I took in a few deep breaths and suspiciously eyed the interior of my house. It was quiet; except for the sound of cold winds rattling my windows. I hoped I hadn’t done anything and that I had just slept. I checked my clothes—as far as I could tell, they were the same ones I had on the day before.
The screams had taken me back to the day they killed my family, and I couldn’t handle it. I needed it to stop, and that’s why I shut my eyes—closing my mind off to the world. Only the darkness calmed me.
Typically, I only blacked out during periods of highly stressful situations. Angela’s abduction and the Xmas Day Butcher’s evil game was breaking me in ways I didn’t think possible.
I remembered my plan to search George’s house for proof of Clara’s disappearance—those were the words of the Xmas Day Butcher. I checked my watch again; it was10:47 PM. The town was engulfed in darkness, the perfect time to go.
