Jingle, Jingle, Jingle

Flash fiction | Holiday horror

He dodged down the street with his head in his hands, tearing through the snowy drifts that avalanched on the sides of the road like tiny mountains. His ragged breath echoed in his ears, his pink nose running with cold. His ears had long since lost their feeling, and if they hadn't he wouldn’t’ve have noticed anything. The only thing he could hear was those damned bells.

Jingle jingle jingle.

He swore, ducking under some mistletoe and knocking into a pair of strangers tangled up in a kiss. Ignoring their shouts, he heaved himself back to his feet and sprinted away, taking shelter under a green-striped store window with decorated trees and giant ornaments balanced on top of books. Books and bells, trees and bells, green and bells. Bells. Bells. Bells.

It had started so innocently, when he'd done some last-minute holiday shopping before picking up his daughter from school. He hadn't seen her all week, due to visitation rights, but now that she was on holiday, she was his. His to spoil and hug and spend time with until Christmas morning, when that sick and unstable woman she called Mother would take her away again and lock her away like a fairy tale princess in a tower.

It made him angry. Furious. Mad enough to kick holes in the wall or bury a body. But there was nothing he could do. That madwoman had her fingerprints all over Holly's paperwork, and when the judge signed off with that dreamy, post-coital grin that only she could bring, Alan knew the battle was over. He'd lost. That horrid excuse of a woman had stolen his daughter away, the one person in the world that brought him happiness, and knew that he'd crack sooner or later.

Maybe that's why this year, he'd thought about giving her something special. A unique present, something she'd never forget. Like a knife in the back.

Jingle, jingle, jingle.

Alan swore. He stepped into the street again, leaping back as a car sped past, dousing him in sleet and soaking him to the bone. Those damn bells laughed, echoing their peals of merriment up and down the lane as he mentally screamed at them to please shut the hell up.

The bells. He'd gotten one for Holly. It looked like something that fell off of Santa's sleigh. She was too old now for Santa Claus, but he'd bought it anyway, in the hopes that it would make her smile. Then he'd found another one, perfect for the ex-wife. A black bell, with a dark leather handle and tiny golden details that danced around the rim. He'd never seen one like it before, and this one stood out like a shadow against the traditional green and red. It had been a long time since he'd bothered purchasing a present for his ex-monster, and maybe it was the good humor of seeing Holly again that encouraged him to put it in his basket. Either way, something drew him into keeping it. Holding it in his hand. And finally, once he'd stepped outside the store, to shake it.

Then the noise began.

It started as one bell, on the corner. Alan had halfheartedly smiled, and turned, expecting to see a bellringer for one of the local charities, but saw only a crowd of children and harried mothers clutching last-minute presents, waiting for the light to change. His brow furrowed, and he shook the bell again, wanting to hear it a second time.

The next ring came from his other side, about halfway down the block. No bellringer there, either; and no festive well-wishers this time, either. Only an empty beer garden, with snow-covered tables and chairs, empty save for the boot tracks that wandered towards the door. No bells, no Holly, no nothing.

Alan stood at the entrance to the beer garden, confused. He'd definitely heard the noise coming from here, yet there was no one. Just like he'd heard it on the corner, yet there was no bellringer there, either. For a moment, he debated. He could just stick it back in his pocket and go on his merry way, collect his daughter from school, and start celebrating the holiday. Or he could ring the black bell again, and try to figure out what on earth was going on.

He'd just decided to slip it back into his coat pocket when the sounds came again. This time, they crashed into his ears and echoed in his head, refusing to quiet as he dropped Holly's sleigh bell and stuffed his mittens into his ears. The ringing bells pealed loudly, celebrating the good news of the season and laughing at Alan's efforts to silence them. When covering his ears didn't work, he pulled his hood up, then down. Then he started walking, as if leaving them behind. Right when he was about to start running, he saw it.

There was someone on the corner. An older gentleman, stooped, with long arms and short legs, and spindly fingers that flexed and wrapped around a bell's strap. He was dressed in a black cape and looked like he'd fallen out of A Christmas Carol, the play from Holly's school this year. Even his hat, an old stovepipe-style, looked like it had seen better days, as the snow swirled around him and settled onto the raggedy brim.

When he saw him, Alan's heart stopped beating. Pressure mounted on his shoulders, and in his hand, the bell grew heavy. Then, he felt it. A significant pulling sensation, coming from the bell.

The stranger smiled, and held out his arm. The long fingers twitched, revealing a matching black bell in the palm of his hand.

"You wished for suffering." His raspy voice carried remarkably well over the hubbub of shoppers in the area. "And you will have it."

Alan looked around wildly, but no one else seemed to notice the misshapen lump of a man on the corner. In fact, everyone seemed oblivious to the entire thing. Didn't they hear the bells that tolled deeper, resonating in his mind? Didn't they see the long-fingered man gesture to his bell, calling it to him? And didn't anyone see how he smiled when he talked about pain?

"I can help you," whispered the lump-man. "I will give you everything. Give me what's mine, and you'll get what's yours."

Alan held out the bell. He could feel it pulsing at his fingertips, begging to be reunited with its owner. In a sudden fit of madness, he wondered if it would work. Give me what's mine. The bell, obviously. You'll get what's yours. What did that mean?

The shock of realization almost sent Alan to his knees. Holly. The stranger knew about the suffering he'd wanted to cause his ex. Now he wanted a trade, the bell for Holly. Was it really so crazy? Maybe it was the bells screaming in his ears, but it almost seemed plausible. There was something about this man, like a tiny dose of Christmas magic. And for one second - just long enough - Alan believed it.

"You want it?" he shouted over the screaming bells. "I want my daughter!"

The strange man dipped his head, and that was enough.

As hard as he could, Alan threw the bell. It bounced off the man's cape and rolled several times, finally coming to a stop at the stranger's feet. The sound he made - which may have been a laugh once - bounced off the beer garden's three walls and back at Alan.

"Now you'll get what's coming to you."

Back under the green-striped Christmas window, Alan screamed. His fingernails dug into his cheeks, creating rivers of red that streamed down to the sidewalk, kissing the shoes of every woman and child that passed by. Harried mothers covered their daughters' eyes, gripping their little boys' hands tightly as they passed. Businessmen in suits tucked their heads like turtles, giving Alan's distress a wide birth as they hurried on to their next meeting. And in the street, Alan cried out for his daughter, his one little girl, as the bells cheered one last time and drive him to the brink of sanity.

By the time the police arrived, there wasn't much to see. Only the broken, mangled body of a man who was once a grieving father, his fingers wrapped tightly around a red sleigh bell.

(Photo by Amy Lane, Pexels)

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Hello, dear reader! Here’s a bonus post this week: another Suff story, brought to you by yours truly. Curious about what the hell that is? Find out more here!

Don’t worry, you’ll still have a normal update on Wednesday. It’s another creepy chapter of the Lost Circus! (If you’re not caught up, try starting here:)

See you next time!

<3 Olivia