*It should be noted that all characters in this story are fictional and not based on any real-life people, situations or events*
This tale begins on Christmas Eve. It was snowing, and Christine Falmer was dead. That’s the first thing I always think of. The snow was unexpected; it had been a warm year, but that night there were nearly fifty centimetres. And of course, Christine Falmer was dead.
Christine was the girlfriend of my friend, Den and boy, she was hot. Okay, sorry, I know that sounds bad. I didn’t really know her, I must confess. But I liked her. Everybody liked her. To be honest with you, I don’t know anyone who really knew her, except Den. Den never really said much about her.
Anyways, back to the story. It was snowing, and Christine Falmer was dead. The cops found her frozen in a snowbank, with blood everywhere. Yet, there weren’t any wounds to be found on her body. That’s what everyone agreed on, even Gene Kravitz, who thought they faked the moon landing and that vaccines gave you herpes. I guess that doesn’t sound very reliable when you think about it, but the point is everyone else agreed with him, this time.
When she was found everyone went crazy for a bit. Mom demanded I be home by five, but that proved to be unnecessary. The cops announced a curfew the next day. I find it funny now, that they thought that would make any difference. Christine Falmer died at noon. Of course, no one knew that then, so I can’t fault them for it. I just find it funny.
We kids were scared too. I stayed at Den’s house most of the day, with Malek and Francisco too. That’s where I heard about the monster.
Malek was the one who saw it first. He told us, in hushed tones, that he had seen a stranger with a red coat around town in the weeks leading up to Christmas. “Red leather, like a biker.” He told us that he looked normal at first, but then Malek caught a glimpse of his eyes, and the man changed, somehow.
I was skeptical, but then Den and Francisco shared their stories. I was the only one who hadn’t seen the man in the red leather coat.
A bit of background is needed for this next part. I’ve always been a bit of an odd kid. I was the kind of kid the teacher made sit alone because I never got along with others. Den adopted me, and since Malek and Francisco were his friends, I hung out with them. Yet, after all my time spent with them, I never could shake the feeling that I was the odd one out.
One night, I left Den’s house early after I spent the evening over. I felt alone even though all my friends were present. I walked along the gray sidewalk in the dark when I finally saw him. When I saw the man, he didn’t just look at me. I remember his eyes opening wider than they had any right to and his sockets being filled with jagged, bloody teeth. Never in my life had I wanted to cry, curl up and die, as badly as I did at that moment. The feeling of loneliness and fear swallowed me as I closed my eyes as tight as I could, anticipating the worst. When I finally opened them, the monstrous man had been replaced by Christine Falmer. She looked five, maybe six, and held out her hand to me. I reached for it. Yet, something felt deeply wrong, I felt like something terrible was drawing me in like I was sinking in molasses, but I didn’t care. I suddenly didn’t feel so lonely, for once in my life I felt whole. that drug-like feeling was stronger than any doubts.
To this day, I am not 100 percent sure if I truly did see Christine that night, but I am sure that I would have been dead had it not been for Malek, Den, and Franc. The memory remains a haze, but one minute I was reaching for Christine’s hand, and the next I was laying in a puddle of blood, I’m not sure whose. I was desperately clinging to consciousness, and all I could hear was the struggle of the three as they wrestled the man in the red leather coat.
I was never filled in on what truly happened that night. We all acknowledged the horror brought on by that night but the event was never recounted. All I know is the man fled, to where I have no idea. Den managed to get a piece of the man’s jacket during the struggle, and it was full of writhing maggots.
The boys brought me home to my panicked and worried mother. She cried and hugged us all when she found out what happened. Whether or not she believes us is up for debate but she never questioned me about it. I asked Den how they’d found me, and he said they were worried after I left so quickly and they decided to go after me.
Den never quite got over Christine. Her abrupt death and the shut and closed case would plague him for years to come. We concluded that we knew exactly what had happened to Christine, and we visit her grave every year with flowers.
Ever since that fateful night, I no longer feel lonely. I no longer feel like the odd one out. I no longer feel so scared. I’m more alive than ever.