Barrel The Nightmare Before Christmas Novels & Stories

Sophie stood in the middle wearing reindeer antlers and the biggest smile. "There you are! Dad's getting the tree. We have so much to do." The front door opened and Derek and Jason carried in the biggest Christmas tree I'd ever seen. Derek's eyes found mine across the room and held for just a second. Long enough that my coffee mug suddenly felt too hot. "Morning, Maya," he said, voice still rough. "Morning."

He’d introduced her to his full collection: leather cuffs, spreader bars, nipple clamps, a violet wand that made her scream and beg in equal measure. He never rushed. Never lost control. Every scene built on the last, pushing her further into surrender. Tonight—Christmas Eve—he’d planned something different. She knelt in the living room, naked except for the leather cuffs on wrists and ankles and the collar around her throat. A fire crackled in the hearth, casting flickering light over her skin. He entered carrying a large black box tied with red ribbon. “Merry Christmas, Eliza.” He set it in front of her.

"Christmas wishes? I believe they are. Why do you ask?" "Well…" Malaya looked embarrassed, chewing her bottom lip the way Laila did when she got anxious. "Barry at school said you get one Christmas wish every year. Like, one special one. And he's wishing for a new bike." "That's a great wish," Laila said warmly, brushing Malaya's hand. "And Christmas is coming up fast. But remember, wishes don't always come true exactly as we think they will. Sometimes they happen in ways we don't expect."

Christmas was going to be a disaster. And maybe… something much worse.

It was about whether my bones were done remembering. "I won't break," I said, and only then did I realise my palms were flat on the wood, as if I could keep the staves from closing and swallowing me whole again. I lifted my hands. The barrel stayed open. The room stayed ours. "Good," he said. "Because it's going to get loud." "Always does," Harp rumbled. We re-clenched the barrel loosely and rolled it into shadow, to die a quiet death as a "leak" when the tide changed. The Wraith let us up into air and stars. The harbour hadn't noticed we'd swallowed a sin.

That night, we all sat in the living room watching a classic Christmas movie. Onscreen, in The Polar Express, Santa slid down a chimney with his giant sack of gifts, smiling at the children. I watched the screen, but all I could picture was the twisted figure Sophie described. Spider fingers, too many joints, a tilted head, standing perfectly still. Suddenly, it hit me. A gaping hole in Sophie's story.

The dozen went inside and August closed the hatch behind them, peering through the slats at the village as it burned. He saw a few of the beasts lurking in the night, but they stayed well away from the flames and did not come their way either. August also beheld a human form out there amongst them and his heart raced, but soon fell. He’d thought this man a stray soldier they’d lost, or a villager out running in his heavy over cloak, but neither theory proved accurate. This man stood very tall, but not as big as the hairy giants. He wore a more stylized robe, not a brown woven garment, but a single piece, draped over him—ivory white in color save for the profile of the ebony raven head on its

Jess slowly turned, not sure if she wanted to see what behind her was. “Mom” Jess whispered and threw her hands on her mouth as she saw her mother dead, still holding the gun she just used on herself. Tears filled Jess eyes. She run towards her mother, but before she could reach her, she disappeared. Jess lookeda round but it was pitch black again. “Mom!” Jess yelled into the darkness, her voice breaking because of the tears in her throat. “Who do you think you are?!” The man from her nightmares asked. Jess spun around to find the source of the voice. There he was. Jess fell over unto her backside as she was shocked by his precents. He held the old brown belt that Jess knew so well.

As Kit looked out into the backyard, she could see the pieces of trash thrown everywhere that was coated in the slimy concoction that looked like congealed blood. It was something that could inspire horror movies from the looks of it. She understood why Mitsuhide didn’t want her to see it or the other guys in the house as well. She knew they would downplay anything just to keep her calm. She almost smiled at that. She knew they all were trying. Things were looking like that other shoe was falling right now. She took a deep breath and turned around and looked at the door for a minute.

I hated it. "Do you think that we could get the humans a spell before they leave the blood bank?" I asked as we ate. "Why?" Sammy asked. "My family made a spell a few months ago that saves humans from the Nightmare. If the humans in the blood bank have been here long enough, they may not have a natural immunity to the Nightmare and they could be at risk if they leave the building." I explained. "No shit?" Paul asked and my family all nodded in agreement. "You really found a way to save them?" Stone clarified.