A Christmas Short

Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah!

Christmas is today and I've decided to post another Oblivion Short!!! I've been in the Christmas Spirit lately (like listening to Christmas music and watching classic movies like It's a Wonderful life and Nightmare before Christmas) And it made me think about Christmas time around the Van Drake Manor. Obviously the thought was entertaining so I decided to give you all a treat and write it down. Without any further adieu here it is!

Oblivion Christmas Special

It was a cold night, not a usual Christmas eve in Southern Mississippi. The wind howled outside the Van Drake manor causing windows to shake slightly. Everything was quiet, not even a vampire crept the halls because Vladimir had given them the night off. And so all the light were off except for those of the Christmas tree in front living room and the colorful lights decorating the Manor’s roof and lawn. The grandfather clock in the Foyer chimed loudly through the halls calling out midnight and two large blue eyes popped open. The small, 13 year old brunette girl sat up in her bed and looked out the window at the moon light. She listened hard to hear even the slightest creak of the old floor boards, making sure Elliot and the girls hadn't returned early. When she was satisfied she was alone, except her Uncle down the hall, she slipped from her bed and crept across her room and slipped on her small fluffy house shoes before slipped out into the hallway.

It took a few minutes to move down the staircase and into the living room.

Ava’s eyes lightened at the sight of the tree. It was massive, glowing in a sea of colors. Ava walked over and sat down in front of it and stared at the blinking lights. This was her second Christmas at the manor but it still didn’t feel like home… She feared it never would. But the tree was filled with familiar ornaments, it was a familiar smell, and gave off a familiar feeling. She knew it would soon be over and taken down. But she didn’t want it to be… When her Uncle Vlad had told her about the magical world around her she found her new place. But the Manor was too big, there were too many unused rooms… Too much darkness. She would get used to it… one day…

Ava reached up and took an ornament off the tree and held it up to the light. It sparkled and shinned as she turned it. A smile spread across her face as she continued to play with the ornament but a sound coming from the hall made her jump and duck behind the couch. If Elliot caught her he would tell Vladimir and then she would have to answer too many questions. Ava peaked around the edge of the couch and saw the door open slightly, she heard thick Irish accented voices muttering quietly but she couldn’t tell who it was, nor did she see any shadows…

“Let’s check in here…” one voice whispered, “This room seems to hold a special purpose.”

Ava heard a loud thud and the voice exclaimed quietly.

“That’s a just a Christmas tree, you dolt…” A deeper voice grumbled. “Now shut up before the humans wake up.”

“What about the vamps? What if they come back?” the first voice asked.

“Oh they won’t bother us, not with all this silver on!” the deep voice laughed and Ava gasped silently. They were robbers!

Ava glanced around, the only way out was through the door were the men were. How would she ever get past them without alerting them? Her heart thundered in her chest… she could scream… Vladimir would hear her, he always had when she had nightmares. But that would let them know where she was... Why had Elliot been given the night off- wait they called them vamps…

“They know about vampires…” Ava’s jaw dropped. They knew about magic and monsters! “Shh… Did you hear that?” the deeper voice asked. Ava quickly clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from making any further noise.

She heard footsteps enter the room, Ava pressed herself into the back of the couch and closed her eyes.

“Do you smell that?” The first voice said.

“I do…” The deeper one said fearfully, “It’s a human… but it smells tainted. It’s a Van Drake.”

“It can’t be, we wouldn’t be alive if it were!” the other snorted.

“Find ‘em. Then we will know.” The deeper voice ordered. Ava bit her lip. She would have to improvise. She looked around quickly for a weapon but the nearest thing was a fire poker and there was no way she could reach it without being seen. Ava took a few deep breaths and decided to go for it. Quickly, she jumped and rolled across the floor grabbing the iron rod and leaping to her feet before the intruders even had a chance to gasp. Ava glared through the shadows but saw no one.

“Oh… it’s just a kid…” the first voice laughed. “Well that’s not a problem.”

Ava frowned, they sounded like they were inches in front of her, “Walk away now and you won’t be hurt.”

“You?” The deeper voice laughed, “Hurt us? You have a stick. We have magic and you are outnumbered, Give it up Van Drake.”

“One yell from me and you’ll be in big trouble.” Ava stayed in her stance like Vladimir had showed her.

Something grabbed the end of the poker and yanked it away from her, “Oh really? And why is that? Your vampires are gone for the night.”

“Vampires?” Ava smirked, “No, something worse than vampires. Vladimir Van Drake is just around the corner… and he’s very protective of his niece.”

“Blitz… I don’t think she’s bluffing…” The first voice said.

“Shut it, Fick…” the deep voice said and sighed.

“Show yourselves now and I’ll think twice about screaming.” Ava warned.

“Alright alright! Calm down…” There was a slight shimmer in the air and suddenly two people two and a half feet tall at the most appeared. They were as pale as the moon and had large pointed ears as well as red hair that was brighter than Fawn’s.

Ava blinked at the two small men in red tights and long shirts that were tied at the waist with a black cord. Around their necks hung gold chains with small daggers attached. Ava frowned at them.

“What exactly… are you?” She kneeled down to get a better look at the larger one he looked overly tough for someone she could stomp on.

“Wha- What are we?! Excuse me lass but shouldn’t you know? You are a Van Drake. Aren’t you?” Ava was happy she could place the deep voice of Blitz with the threatening looking one. Her eyes darted to Fick who was tall and very thin, His nose reached past his arm length… Ava had to keep herself from giggling.

“I am… I just haven’t seen anything like you before.” She shrugged.

“Well you wouldn’t!” Fick said proudly. “We are elves! Only come out once a year near the end to collect supplies then we go back to our homes.”
“Shut it, she doesn’t need to know everything.” Blitz growled over his shoulder.

Ava tucked a lock of hair back behind her ear and settled on the floor, “So… You’re like Santa’s elves?”

Blitz head snapped toward her, his pale face instantly turned red. “Excuse me?! No we are not Santa’s elves.”

“I’m sorry, those are the only elves I’ve ever heard of.” Ava tried to keep her voice down as she glanced up at the door. “You should be quiet if you don’t want Uncle Vlad to come down….”

Blitz cooled at the mention of Vladimir. “What about your vampire pets?”
“They have the night off. I don’t know when they’ll be back.”

“Good… I wouldn’t want to have to hurt them.” Blitz said and crossed his arms.

Ava scrunched her nose, “With what?”

“Our silver daggers, stupid girl!” Fick shook his head and wagged the small golden dagger at her.

“Uh… I’m afraid those aren’t exactly silver.” She held back a laugh.

“They are silver enough to help us escape. Obviously we aren’t going to carry around pure silver… we wouldn’t want to permanently injure your little buddies.” Blitz answered smugly.

Ava decided to give up on correcting the little beasts, “So why are you here? What are you looking for?”

The two elves looked at each other and shrugged. Fick was the first to speak, “Legend has it there is something in this house that could feed five elves with one cube of it…”

Ava frowned, “You’re looking for food? Don’t you have it where you come from?”

“Elves live off of sugar. Natural sugar is like honey but your human sugar is like heaven on earth to us…” Blitz shrugged, “We were sent on a mission to locate these soft treasures and bring them back to our people.”

Ava smiled, “That’s so sweet…”

“Blitz… Maybe we should ask-“ Fick said but Blitz silenced him with a single glare.

“We won’t be accepting any help from humans and that’s that.”

Ava thought for a minute then snapped her fingers, “What if I happen to leave a plate of said food under the tree?”

Blitz eyed Ava for a long moment, “What’s your angle?”

“I just want to help. Why do I need an angle?” She pursed her lips.
Finally Blitz nodded, “Alright fine… Fick… tell her what we are looking for.”

“They are white and soft… Normally they are coated in a white powder and smell like vanilla.”

Ava thought a minute then blinked, “Marshmallows?”

Fick shrugged, “We don’t know what the name for them are. We’ve only seen them a few times though… We’d know them if we saw them!”

Ava nodded and stood up, “I’ll be right back.”

After a few minutes of searching, she found a bag of jumbo marshmallows and a box of sugar cubes. She also grabbed any other sugary food she could find. After grabbing a large plate from the cabinet and dumping all the food on it, Ava stumbled back to the living room. The two elves sat huddled around the fireplace muttering and barely noticed her presence. After setting the plate under the tree she moved away and sat back on her heels.

She cleared her throat and the two looked over at her. Their jaws dropped instantly and they walked slowly to the plate before sinking to their knees. Fick grabbed one of the marshmallows and held it up, it was the size of his head.

“Oh my…” He muttered.
“Fick… We’ve done it…” Blitz said with clear emotion in his voice. Ava smiled at the two as they filled their packs but still there were mountains of it left.

“You can come back and bring a few friends to help, right?” she asked as they pondered on what to do.
Blitz turned around and looked up at her, “We have permission to enter the Van Drake house?”

“As long as you only take what’s on the plate… I don’t see a problem with it… But you’ll have to leave before sunrise, if Elliot or the girls catch you it won’t be pretty.”

Fick grinned, “Oh yes ma’am!” the two turned and started to march noisily out the door but Ava caught them.
“Please try to be quiet… Vladimir is still sleeping.” She pointed up the staircase. The elves looked up into the shadows then turned to her and nodded.
“Don’t worry lass,” Blitz smiled, “We’ll be as quiet as a snowfall.”

Ava smiled and stood up and walked back over to the fire place. She heard the door open but Blitz cleared his throat again.
“Say, Lassie… what’s your name?”

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled again, “Ava, Ava Van Drake.”

“It’s an honor to meet you, Miss Ava.”

The two quickly bowed then slowly vanished into thin air. Ava looked at the spot a moment more before turned back and watching the fire… Funny little creatures. She never would have gotten this chance if she were home… but perhaps this could be home to her after all. She only needed to try…

Just before dawn, just as the sun began to light up the night sky, the door to the Van Drake manor opened with a slight creak. Four tall figures slipped in silently.

“We should probably put the presents under the tree.” Elliot looked at his sisters, they nodded in agreement. He opened the door and started to walk into the dimly lit room but he stopped dead when he saw the small figure underneath the tree. He pressed a finger to his lips to shush his sisters then walked in. A smirk tugged at his lips when he found the little Dark hair girl curled up with a small pillow on the floor. He grabbed a blanket off the couch and walked over just as quietly as before, kneeling down he draped it over her. Elliot smoothed her hair down and leaned in close to her ear. His words were soft but he knew from the small tug of her lips she had heard him in her dreams far away from the manor saying, “Merry Christmas Ava.”