Lahat ng Kabanata ng Silent Night, Eyes Shut Tight: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

I practically burst into Sophie's room."Sophie! Sophie!" I shook her little shoulder urgently.Mom sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes. "Chloe? What is it? It's so late—""Did Santa have his big sack of presents?!" I cut her off, staring at Sophie's sleepy face.Sophie blinked, groggy. "What?""The Santa who came out of the chimney!" My voice was shaking. "Did he have his big sack of presents?"Sophie shook her head, her voice tiny. "No… He had a sack on his back, but it was all lumpy and wrinkled. And it was moving."My blood ran cold."What do you mean, it was moving?""Like…" Sophie made a squirming motion with her little hands. "Like there were things inside, wiggling around. Not presents. Something else."The answer horrified me.A kid making up a lie would never forget Santa's iconic gift sack. And they definitely wouldn't describe it as a "lumpy, moving sack.""Chloe, are you crazy?" Mom said, her voice sharp with impatience. "Scaring her in the middle of the night! Sophie need

My phone almost slipped from my hand.Going to die? What does that mean?I immediately started a voice call. It rang twice before he picked up."Hello?" His voice was calm, a young man."Please tell me what's happening!" I was practically sobbing. "What do you mean my whole family is going to die?!""Calm down," he said, his tone unnervingly level. "Whether you live or die depends on luck. But if you're willing to trust me and follow my instructions exactly, you might have a chance.""What instructions? I'll do anything!""Listen carefully. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. From 11:30 PM to 2:00 AM, your entire family needs to be in the living room, in sleeping bags, under the Christmas tree.""And then what?""This is the most important rule," he said, his voice turning serious. "You have to be perfect sleepers. You can't actually fall asleep—absolutely not, or you'll die in your sleep. But no matter what you hear, what you smell, or even if you feel something touch you, you absolutely canno

The alarm cut out, and the living room plunged back into a deathly silence.Under the flickering lights of the Christmas tree, I saw the most terrifying thing I will ever see.Click. Clack. Click.The sound of dislocating bones echoed from the fireplace as the creature unfolded itself.First came a second leg, just as pale, its joints bent at angles that defied anatomy.Then a third, and a fourth.CRACK.With a louder snap of bone, the creature's torso squeezed out of the chimney.Its body was gaunt and skeletal, its skin a corpse-white gray, with ribs clearly visible beneath its skin. Its four limbs were splayed out at bizarre angles, like a spider that had been crushed and then reassembled.If it weren't for the enormous, dark red cloak draped over its body, it would have looked nothing like Santa Claus at all.When it had fully emerged from the fireplace, I almost screamed.I was certain it was much, much bigger today than what Sophie had described.Even in a crouched position, its

The creature was gone, dragging my father with it. The living room fell quiet again.But a deep sense of unease told me it wasn't over.I glanced at my phone. It was still half an hour until 2:00 AM.The rules said not to make a sound until two, but Mom had already broken that rule.I wanted to tell her to be quiet, but I was too terrified to speak myself.All I could do was watch her kneel in the blood and weep.Strangely, the creature didn't return to attack her for crying.For a moment, there was a brief, eerie calm, broken only by my mother's choked sobs in the blood-soaked room.Sophie, still in her eye mask and earmuffs, tugged on my sleeve, trying to say something.I quickly clamped my hand over her mouth.Just then, a familiar voice echoed from deep within the chimney:"Sarah… help me!"It was Dad's voice."Sarah, I'm not dead… Pull me out! I'm stuck… Please… help me…"His voice was filled with pain and desperation, as if he were fighting for his life inside the chimney."Honey

The minutes crawled by. I fought to stay awake, lost in a haze of exhaustion and fear.The monster was still crouched over me. Realizing I wouldn't be easily tricked, it stopped humming and just watched me, its rotten eyes roaming over my face.Then its gaze shifted to Sophie, lying beside me."Sophie, Mommy has a Christmas present for you," it said in my mother's sweet voice. "Open your eyes and see."Sophie whispered, "Mommy?"No!I realized with a jolt of horror: When did her earmuffs come off?Then, my father's voice spoke."Sophie, Daddy's here. Take off your eye mask and see the big present Daddy bought for you."I didn't have time to react."Daddy! Mommy!" Sophie tore off her eye mask and shot up, beaming. "The game is finally over—"Her voice cut off.Before her was not her mother and father, but the monster.It was crouched over me, staring down at her with its putrid face.And held high in its right hand was a dripping head: my mother's. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, her m