Holidays Bite: A Limited Edition Collection of Winter Holiday Vampire Tales

by Greenwood, Laura

  As they went to check out, she took her purchases from Danny, but he held onto the vinyl.

  ‘That’s one ugly as fuck doll,” he commented.

  “I have one. I thought it was kinda cute,” Angelica replied, taking the album from him to look at. Danny was a bigger collector of vinyl than she was, but certain things had to be owned. As she looked at it, disparate puzzle pieces in her brain began to connect, forming a large piece of the bigger puzzle that was Cailleach’s location.

  “Danny, holy shit, we have to get back to the office!” she cried, shoving the album in his face. Unfortunately, he hadn’t read the book on Cailleach’s origins, so he couldn’t make the connections her brain did. And when her thoughts became this cohesive all at once, it was impossible for her to voice them.

  Danny looked down at her and said, “All right, we’ll head right over. What the Hell is in that twisted brain of yours, Angie?”

  “A way to find this winter bitch and put her out of her misery.”

  It was a good thing that the store they were in was used to weird customers. The cashier didn’t bat an eyelash at her words, merely rang up her purchases and asked for her rewards card.

  She grabbed her bags and walked at a brisk pace out the door of the shop and into the general throng of the mall with Danny on her heels. As they exited the doors, Angelica was hit in the face with a mixture of wet snow and leaves. The force of the wind was so strong, thin cuts stung along her nose and cheeks.

  “Fuck!” she cried, pushing Danny back inside.

  “Why did that look like a snow tornado?” Danny asked. He paused. “I can sense magic out there.”

  “Is it her?”

  He shook his head. “It’s not Dark.”

  A gust shook the entire mall, and the lights flickered wildly.

  A few people ran for cover, thinking it was an earthquake. Others stopped in place, looking around fearfully.

  Wind and snow and ice buffeted the doors, making them swing open and shut with every burst. Angelica glanced outside the store entrance and saw that ice crystals formed on the glass, slowly connecting into beautiful patterns. It was about to be a disaster, and none of the humans noticed.

  She turned and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Everyone, get inside a store and stay there till the storm stops!”

  Most everyone listened: the wild weather outside was enough to make them believe that they did need to take cover. Plus, it was Chicago, and they knew what to do in a tornado. Even one made of snow.

  They did not all move in time, however. The extreme conditions caused the glass to explode, shards flying every which way, but especially straight ahead.

  Angelica and Danny covered their faces with their arms. She sustained a deep cut to the back of her hand, but it began to heal itself, leaving her skin and jacket sleeve sticky with cold, Undead blood. Danny’s puffy parka caught most of the glass in its fluff.

  A few others were not as lucky. One man was down, glass embedded in his calf. Blood trickled onto the linoleum. Another woman lay on her back, gagging and gasping.

  Glass stuck out of her throat, and Angelica knew there was no helping her. Blood soaked the ground and her blonde hair, while more bubbled up from her mouth, frothing at the lips. Her eyes were wide as blood most likely aspirated into her lungs. She gave a last gasping, ragged breath before she stilled, eyes forever staring up at the sparkly holiday decorations suspended from the mall ceiling.

  At least the color matches, Angelica thought idly, looking back to see what the Hell was happening outside.

  Snow began to pile into the mall, walling off the stores right near the door: a jewelry shop on one side and a kids’ clothing store on the other. Both were packed with people doing last minute holiday shopping. Kids shrieked and tried to run into the snow to escape.

  “No, keep them inside!” Danny called out to the parents. “The snow won’t kill you, but whatever sent it might.”

  Outside, the snow continued to swirl, and Angelica watched as Danny zipped up his coat and wrapped his scarf around his mouth. Sharp, biting wind continued to flow, and she had a horrible realization: her husband was mortal. He could need an amputation or possibly die from the cold.

  She was ready to tell him to run away when three shapes appeared within the snow, all different heights and sizes, and all walking through the snownado like it was a soft spring breeze.

  All three of them were female, clad in neutral greys and whites. Most magic wielders preferred bright colors. Earth tones were worn almost exclusively by elemental witches.

  “Cailleach’s trio of witch bitches,” she commented. “What the fuck is your problem?”

  The one in the center, an older woman with a bad bowl cut stepped forward, a ball of swirling magic in her palm.

  “Our goddess sends a message, Empress,” she said with a titter.

  “Hasn’t she heard of a phone?” Danny asked, voice muffled by the scarf.

  “No one asked you, Consort,” another woman said, her lank hair riddled with fallen snowflakes. It was too cold inside the mall to have them melt. She flicked her wrist and five long, thin icicles flew through the air, straight at Danny.

  Most men his age were in no shape to dodge such quick projectiles, and since they were not Dark magic, his innate abilities to avoid spells were of no use. Angelica cringed, but she needn’t have worried.

  Using the snow on the ground as leverage, Danny ducked and slid, the final icicle missing him by a centimeter. They crashed into a display of diamonds, shattering the glass and sending shrapnel everywhere.

  This battle just cost the FBI a hundred grand, Angelica thought. Actually, make that ‘cost me.’ Fuck it.

  She pulled her gun and shot the lank-haired witch once in the shoulder, sending her to her knees in pain. One thing about the Covens, they were not a warrior species. While vampires and shifters were born to battle, most witches never saw combat and had no idea how to handle it.

  “You three are way in over your heads,” she told them. “If you turn yourselves in without further fuss, maybe I won’t kill you.”

  “Fat chance,” said the final witch, one with fiery red curls. She held her hands before her and cast, “Rigescunt indutae.” The very air between her hands solidified into ice from the moisture and she sent the sphere at Angelica.

  Angie grabbed a blade from her pocket and sliced through it. The razor-sharp edges split and one side sent a nasty cut along her forearm, right through her already torn jacket.

  Undeterred by the pain, she shot her twice, then a third time. She was going for the final two bullets to kill her when the Witch #1 witch cast something unintelligible.

  From the broken doors, long, bare branches came at her call, wrapping around Danny instead of Angelica. The woman must know who they both were, that Angelica would give up if Danny were at risk.

  She didn't know the Empress very well, then.

  Rough wood bent and melded itself around Danny, ensnaring him, while the lank-haired one cast the same spell as the redhead. This time, it was aimed at the branches. They began to freeze, and in turn, to freeze Danny.

  He tried in vain to break free, and the redhead took Angelica’s momentary distraction to cast a simple wind spell, knocking the vampiress off her feet for a moment. It appeared that the witch was losing blood at a rapid rate, and the beginners’ spell was all she could manage.

  “Oh, go to Hell already,” Angelica snapped, shooting her twice between the eyes. She dropped like a sack of potatoes, her lifeless skull cracking on the filthy, wet tiles.

  The one with the lank hair shrieked, and at the sound of her voice, the ice encasing the branches cracked, along with her concentration.

  It wasn’t much, but between the drop of vampire blood in Danny’s system and the now wet wood’s weakness, he snapped his arms partway out of the trap.

  Satisfied that her husband could handle himself, Angelica faced off with the witch she took to simply calling Witch #1, just to give her a
name.

  “Did you think something as paltry as a parlor trick could distract me enough for you to beat me?”

  Witch #1 smirked, looking like the storybook depiction of a witch. Or a grandma on LSD. “Really?” She glanced up behind her spectacles.

  Angelica, not one to typically turn into a frog whenever a crazy lady said “jump”, glanced up as well.

  Descending from the ceiling were icicles as long as her sword and as thick as light poles. One would easily stake her, and definitely kill Danny and anyone else who might wander into this part of the mall who wasn’t already hiding in a shop.

  “Lacunae stiriaque impexis!” Witch #1 cast with what Angelica could only call a maniacal laugh.

  For all her bravado, the icicle spell did not work all at once. A few fell at a time, and Danny rolled out of the way of two, while another landed square on the top of the lank haired witch’s head. Its sharp tip speared her brain with a wet, squelching noise. Her body stood rigid for a moment as the nerves processed her death. The corpse trembled violently and then fell to the floor.

  Witch #1’s eyes widened and she held a hand over her mouth, momentarily forgetting that her spell was supposed to kill Angelica and Danny.

  Angelica couldn’t forget it, however, as more of them began to tremble. She grabbed Danny’s sleeve and prepared to run when a wall of them fell down at once, blocking her path. If she turned, she’d have to make it past Witch #1.

  “Leá!” came from the doorway.

  Magic so bright and showy even Angelica could see it flew across the ceiling, melting all of the icicles and sending a wave of lukewarm water cascading down over the hallway. Angelica, Danny, and Witch #1 were all soaked through.

  Standing at the broken entrance was Roman, the turncoat himself, appearing quite pleased with his magic. He glared at Witch #1, held out a hand, made a fist, and cast, “Marwolaeth.”

  The old witch didn't have time to utter a sound before she dropped to the floor, dead.

  He smirked at the Mancinis and wiped his palms on his pants. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  I could say the same thing, Angelica thought. “That spell is illegal.”

  “Not according to PID and Coven agreements. I can use it on magicians who are a danger to humans. Like Easy-Bake Granny over here.” He gave her corpse a kick.

  “What are you doing here?” Danny wondered.

  “Christmas shopping,” Roman said with a straight face. “Imagine my surprise when I come to find all this.” He gestured to the general carnage. “You’re welcome, by the way.”

  Angelica gave a curt nod. Deep down, she wondered if this wasn’t planned and he knew to come and finish the job, ‘saving’ them. “Come back to the PID with us. We have information, and you now need to sign off on a report about the incident.”

  Eyes widened and he held a hand up.

  “No protests,” she snapped. “If you do not come, I will have reason to terminate you based on the use of that spell and no defense given.”

  Everyone knew that ‘terminate’ did not mean ‘fire’ in Angelica’s world.

  He agreed to come, however grudgingly.

  Back at the PID, Angelica and Danny needed to get new clothes before doing anything, lest Danny get hypothermia, and Angelica needed to heal herself with yet more human blood.

  They went into Angelica’s office to see Sean giving Roman the stink eye and vice versa.

  “I wrote up my report, can I go now? I had a date.” Roman stood up and tried to push past Angelica.

  In her heels, she was only an inch shorter and broader than the witch. She stood her ground, arms crossed over her chest.

  “Sit.” She went and took her seat behind the desk, and Danny stood at her side, arm resting on the high back. “And tell me why you claim to have somewhere to be, when an hour ago you said you were going Christmas shopping.”

  His face paled three shades lighter.

  “No one likes a liar, nor do they trust one,” she continued.

  He huffed. “Okay, I don’t have a date. Happy?”

  “Very.” She sat back and crossed her arms over the soft t-shirt she had to put on. “Why did Cailleach send those three to attack a mall?”

  “What makes you think I know?” he challenged.

  Sean gestured to his hands, placed loosely in his lap. “The holly in your watch.”

  Roman jumped and leaned as far from Sean as he could get while remaining seated. “I’m festive.”

  “As festive as Krampus,” Danny commented.

  “Do you think I’m stupid?” Angelica wondered. “If you’re not actively working with Cailleach, then you want to attract her. Despite knowing I chose you to lead the team trying to kill her.”

  He shook his head. “It’s not like that. You’re jumping to conclusions.”

  “Then enlighten us, damn it,” Sean said.

  Roman jumped from his seat again. “Forget this.”

  Without getting up, Angelica cocked her gun and aimed it between Roman’s shoulder blades. He stopped as he heard her thumb the safety and went rigid.

  “If you want to leave on your own two legs and not in a body bag, you will tell me the truth.”

  He whirled around. “The truth is you’re hunting someone who is only doing what they have to in order to survive.”

  “She killed a family. Innocent people,” Danny said. “She is immortal. She had no need to do that except to feed her ego.”

  Sean stood up. “And if you’re on her side, then you’re a traitor.”

  Roman looked at the two men, then down at Angelica, who maintained an outward appearance of nonchalance. Meanwhile, inside, her stomach was churning. If Cailleach was gaining support of elementals and regular magicians alike, what sort of plan did she have up her sleeve?

  “Christ, you guys are like the mob,” Roman spat.

  “At least in the mafia they kill you quickly. I, however, don’t offer such luxuries,” she assured him. “Especially not to double crossing liars.”

  He held his hands up, and then his eyes slipped over to the windows. They were heavily curtained to keep out the sunlight. Many of the windows in the building were fake, but Angelica never got around to replacing these.

  “Praetrunco!” he cast, and the heavy glass shattered all along the one wall, letting in the rushing wind and snow from a hundred stories up. “Oighir teacht.” A wall of ice came up from the ground and he leapt past Sean and out the window, unperturbed from the freezing winds despite the fact that he was not wearing a coat.

  “That went … well,” Danny said.

  Sean scoffed. “If you call letting a turncoat get away, sure.”

  “They always run, but they never get far,” Angelica said.

  Chapter 8

  The night wasn’t over, not by a long shot. First, Angelica needed someone to come and fix those windows immediately, and make sure her computer wasn’t ruined. And there was the idea she had in the mall. That needed to be addressed.

  And of course someone needed to inform the PID and the Grand Coven that they had someone else to be on the lookout for.

  They decided on the library to finish their conversation, since that was where the book Angelica needed was.

  “So, Danny said you figured out how to take care of Cailleach once we locate her?” Sean said, leaning forward, hands clasped. “How?”

  “Corn,” she replied simply.

  Sean arched an eyebrow. “The food, the band, or Children of the?”

  She found the book and opened it up, showing them two photos. One was ghastly, of a humanoid looking doll made of corn husks, sitting over a table while a family had dinner. The other was of a simply woven bundle of cornsilk, tied with a ribbon.

  “Whoever is the last to reap their harvest keeps the corn doll for a season, housing Cailleach for the winter,” she explained. Snapping the book shut, she continued, “What if the doll isn’t meant to provide her shelter, but life? What if she is tied to that little effigy?

/>   “She killed the kid to become the reproductive goddess of spring way earlier than intended to breed. But why? Because she’s dying. This bundle of weeds is all that keeps her here. Unless…”

  She trailed off, her brain once again working too fast for her to speak.

  “Unless what?” Sean and Danny asked at the same time.

  “Unless she has endless winter to thrive in,” Angelica finished. “She feeds off of and into this season. To be immortal and eternally powerful, she needs two things: constant winter, and easy access to children. Not something she can get in Greenland or Antarctica.”

  She could tell Danny and Sean were trying to keep up with her logic and suppositions, and she wished that she had a better grasp on her own mind sometimes. It moved quicker than the rest of her could follow.

  “I think she has two things in mind to do: elongate winter to enhance her powers for a few days, perhaps even prolong the effects of the Solstice, and then ensnare children just like she did the kid she killed, with the promise of meeting freakin’ Santa Claus.”

  “Can she?” Sean asked. “Prolong the Solstice?”

  “If she has enough elementals on her side, why not?” Danny replied. “It’s science, really, aided by magic. Enough ice created, why couldn’t it slow the Earth’s progress until Chicago was stuck in an eternal Ice Age? Dude, don’t you watch the news? We’re headed there anyway.”

  Angelica nodded. It helped that her husband was more than a pretty face. “Exactly. She can speed up climate change if she wants. But with it being her doing, no amount of recycling or lack of toxic waste dumping will help. And Danny, you saw what Roman was capable of.”

  He cocked his head. “Melting the ice?”

  Sean’s look of skepticism matched Danny’s. “What’s that got to do with her creating an Ice Age?”

  “Roman used a Latin fire spell, widespread but heavily controlled. He then proceeded to use both Gaelic and Welsh spells through the night. The Covens only teach Latin; Gaelic and Welsh are extra credit studies. If he has that much control over the elements he uses and a cache of spells most modern magicians don’t, having him in her corner means we’re nearly fucked. We have to stop her, but first we need to neutralize him.”