“I can’t deal with you right now. Go swap yourself out with Freddie,” I finally snapped.
“I’m not leaving you alone,” Sunny retorted.
“Go away, Sunny. This is a joyous place, and you’ve done nothing but bitch. I mean it, go away,” I ordered.
Sunny looked like he was going to argue, but he turned on his heel and walked off.
“What crawled up his ass?” Phil asked.
“I don’t know. Ashford, was he always like this?” I asked the man.
Ashford looked torn. He and Sunny had been friends for a long time. “It’s hard, Callie, celebrating Christmas in a foreign land when your family’s back here. Christmas doesn’t mean the same because we missed out on so much.”
“But why can’t he embrace it now? We’ve got the baby coming, Sunny doesn’t need to miss out on the magic anymore,” I asked.
“Callie, most people on Christmas Day are tucking into hams and turkeys. They’re not watching for a sniper or taking bullets under fire. Sure, the armed forces try to celebrate Christmas, but honestly, it’s not the same,” Ashford said.
“But Sunny has had Christmas since leaving the armed forces. I understand what you’re saying, but he’s being a total Grinch. Are you feeling grumpy, Ashford?”
“No. I can see the magic that Fiona and Simon have created,” he admitted.
“Which means Sunny’s being a miserable asshole,” I stated.
“Oh, he’s being that, alright. He’s just kicked a reindeer over and stomped into the main hotel declaring he hates Christmas,” Freddie said, entering the cabin with a chuckle.
“He kicked a reindeer!” I exclaimed.
“An ornamental one, Callie. Don’t panic,” Freddie explained, hands up.
“Damn, I thought you meant he’d kicked a real one,” I gasped, and everyone laughed.
“Sunny would have gotten his own ass kicked if he had!” Phil drawled.
“Okay, so where are we with activity?” Freddie asked.
While Ashford brought her up to speed, I wondered how I could help Sunny see the magic of Christmas again.
Connor
Cabin thirteen was quiet, but there was definitely a presence. By the reports we’d been given, people heard voices here, felt like they were being watched, and things moved of their own accord. I was unsure if what I was watching was benign or malicious yet. Despite our best efforts, the entity hadn’t yet spoken to us. The readings showed us something was close, but the SLS camera hadn’t picked anything up either.
“Temperature dropping,” Merrick said, checking his thermometer. Solace had the camera, content to hide behind that.
“I’ll put the REM Pod down and the REMBuddie bear. If it’s a child, they might play with it,” Cherry stated as she emerged from the bedroom.
I nodded and called out again, hoping to get a reply. There was a shuffling noise, and we all turned. Cherry’s eyes went wide as we took in the REMBuddie now sitting in the doorway.
“Someone moved that!” Cherry exclaimed.
The REMBuddie lit up.“Strangers.”
“Hi. My name’s Connor. And yes, I guess we’re strangers.” I replied and introduced the rest of the team.
“Want?”REMBuddie said.
“What do we want or you?” I asked.
“You.”
