He'll Be Coming Down The Chimney Down Novels & Stories

I will my fingers to stillness again. “No, that’s-” My voice catches a moment, unsteady. My gaze drops—briefly, to the fire pits running down the center of the runner in the domed hall.The flames lick and pop as if they enjoy themselves, bright and careless. Heat drifts upward in lazy waves, perfuming the air with smoke and resin, but the marble beneath my slippers stays cold anyway. This winter's chill always finds a way in–through stone, through bone, through the smallest seams—no matter how many fires burn, no matter how I feed now.

I can't let her die. "CHELSEY!" I scream, hoping to hear her. "CHELSEY!" I call once more. Before a response can be heard, a supporting beam suddenly falls. I manage to dodge it, however, notice my exit has now become blocked. Ignoring that fact, I decided to venture on. I truly have no choice now. Hopefully, I can find another way out after. "CHEL-SEY!" I yell in between coughs. Breathing has become much more difficult as the flames continue to rise. I crouch down, hoping to stay below the smoke.

Zeke starts coughing, rushing to the door, pounding with both fists. ZEKE: (shouting) Open the door! Please! There’s someone here! He slams his shoulder against the door — useless. Smoke curls under the cracks. The temperature rises. Above him, the wooden ceiling creaks. ZEKE (V.O.): Am I... going to die? I don’t want to die... Flames burst from the ceiling. A burning beam crashes down, narrowly missing him. Zeke collapses to his knees, coughing violently. Tears blur his vision.

Brianna says, running a hand through my hair. “Why are we waiting in line when we could just wait for him at home by the fireplace?” That way, we could eat chocolate chip cookies and drink milk together—hoping the elves don’t steal my cookies. “Because this way, he can hear what you want today and then bring it to you on Christmas by coming through the chimneys,” my sister says, smiling. But her smile doesn’t look too sure. It’s the same smile she makes when she’s trying to convince our parents she’s innocent about something.

"She'll rise and they'll all cheer her, but the higher she climbs, the louder she falls." The candle flickers once more then dies. Darkness wraps around the chamber. The game is almost over.

"You know we're not getting any more sleep, right?" I sighed. "Yeah. Okay, munchkin, you can come in." Heidi bounded across the room, flumping onto the bed and bouncing up and down on her knees. "It's Christmas! Time to get up!" "Okay, okay! You want to go see if Santa came?" Heidi nodded her wide-eyed approval, sliding off the bed and racing out of the room. "No opening anything until we come down!" I heaved a sigh and settled back into my pillow, looking into Sarah's lovely green eyes.

I was about to stop them when, suddenly… Screee—craaape—screee… A high, grinding screech of tearing metal echoed from the central air vent in the ceiling, as if something enormous was crawling through the narrow ductwork. Everyone froze. Then, a clearer sound came from deep within the fireplace. Scrape… scrape… scrape… Something was moving down the chimney. Whoosh… A shower of soot and brick dust rained down from the fireplace, sounding as loud as thunder in the silent room.

I slipped the keys into my pocket and sauntered downstairs. The smell of something burning hit my nostrils as I descended down. I went straight to the kitchen realizing the smell was coming from there. And then I saw her. Hilda. Struggling to make whatever she was making. I fisted my knuckle on the door to get her attention. “Looks like someone is trying to burn down the house,” I said leaning on the door.

“You want to live? Listen to me. There’s a hatch three meters up. Use it. Move silently. No stumbles. No sound. They’re hunting with ears now.” “Why are you helping me?” My voice shakes. Her eyes catch the light—hard, unreadable. “Because if Hayden finds you first, it’s not just your life at risk.” She doesn’t wait for my answer. She releases my leg and drops down the chimney like she’s done it before. A moment later, I hear snarls erupt below—then the unmistakable clash of bodies. She’s drawing them away.

" Tears began falling from his eyes and trickling down his cheek. However, I wasn't fazed in the slightest. "So what?" I asked. "If I hadn't left you, when were you actually planning on finally snapping back to your senses? "Just as I thought, people only learn to cherish something when it's gone. Don't you agree with me?" Clayton's body swayed just a little. "No… That's not it. That's not true." I continued, "I was just lucky. Otherwise, I could have died if the chandelier had fallen right on top of me."