Content Warning: Drugs and Hallucinations
Story by Kharma Gentner
Merry Christmas, my butt! Venna thinks as she angrily clacks away on her ancient keyboard. With every key she types, she recalls how she got herself into this situation of working alone into the night. Earlier, under the pretense of friendly conversation, Venna’s boss Mr. Burgory had asked about her Christmas plans. When she told him that she didn’t have any, he wanted her to stay late.
“Seeing as it’s Christmas Eve, everyone else is busy,” Burgory had explained. “I really need the business reports finished before the end of the year. If you stay and finish them tonight,
you don’t have to come in next week.” Persuaded by the idea of a week-long break, Venna had agreed.
Now, Venna clicks “Save” on the computer and kicks away from her desk on a roller chair. Three hours of punching numbers has finally caught up with her, and she's not even done yet. She tilts her head up and closes her eyes, trying to fight a headache. After a few minutes, she realizes that the headache won’t go away unless she finds medicine. She doesn’t have any in her desk, though, so she gets up and checks Burgory’s office.
Drawer after drawer, she searches until she finds a bottle labeled, “Nexcedrin.” She’s taken Excedrin before, and this can’t be too different, right? Without checking the label, she takes two of the pills. Then, remembering that she still has work to complete, Venna pops three more capsules to get her through the night. She takes the bottle back to her desk in case she
needs more.
Back in her office, Venna waits for the medicine to kick in. She walks to the glass wall that allows her to get a good view of the city. The only element in the New York sky is the pale,
round moon contrasting with the obsidian surrounding it. Venna focuses on the seemingly glowing moon when suddenly something crosses in front of it: Santa’s sleigh.
Shaking her head, blinking her eyes, Venna knows that there’s no way that’s what it was! She looks back at the glaring moon, waiting for something else to happen. Maybe she’ll see a
blinking light and realize that it was just a plane, or maybe the moonlight will reveal that it was just a formation of birds. Nothing happens, but she knows that it couldn’t have been Santa’s
sleigh. She turns around, goes and sits on her chair, and scoots up to her desk. The second she sets her arched hands on the keyboard, the lights go out.
“I just sat down!” she groans. She crosses dramatically over to the light switch and flicks it twice. The lights are still off, so she does what anyone would do and flicks the switch ten more times. Then she hums a Christmas song while flipping the switch on every beat. Still nothing, which she expected, but she had to have a little fun.
Her smile at the little gig quickly turns serious as she hears a crashing sound coming from somewhere in the hallway. It sounded like glass being broken. It must be a robber! Venna needs
to hide, but where? The only large items in her office are her desk and this tacky Christmas tree that was set up by Burgory against her will. She could hide behind the tree, but she needs to
hurry.
Once behind the tree, Venna crouches down and moves the decorational gift boxes to block her. She calmly analyzes her choices, but turns out to not really have any. She can’t call the
cops because the only phone she has is the landline on her desk. There’s no way to escape without entering the hallway, where the robber is, and she doesn’t have a weapon to fight. She just has to stay and hide.
Venna hates feeling so useless! She tries to focus on what she can hear; it will give her a sense of control. There’s a set of footsteps—loud, heavy footsteps that must belong to a large
man. Wait, now Venna hears animal steps; it sounds like a bunch of light-footed horses. One by one, doors in the hallway are busted through. Venna can hear the man walk into the offices, but
no other sound comes from the rooms. He’s not rummaging through desks or cabinets in search of money, so what is he looking for? Before she can think of an answer, her office door is busted
open and broken off of its hinges. Come on, man, she thinks, it wasn’t even locked! Even with pine needles blocking her view, Venna can see the doorway and the bulky figure standing in it.
As she looks closer, Venna sees a pair of scuffed heavy-duty boots supporting a large man donned in crimson. Venna gives a small gasp as she realizes who the man is: Santa Claus. This isn’t the Santa Claus she came to love and know, though; this man is different. His face, hidden behind a chest-length, dust-colored beard, expresses pure hate through eyes of ice. The only rosiness he has on his cheeks is from bruises, and his classic puff-balled cap has been replaced with a black bandana.
His crystalline eyes survey the office and don’t seem to spot Venna behind the tree. Santa still enters the room, though, and circles Venna’s desk. When he reaches her computer, he notices that it is powered on and smirks. Then, Santa hums a Christmas song—the same Christmas song that Venna hummed when messing with the light switch. He had heard her somehow!
Venna shivers as Santa marches over to where she’s hiding. He stops in front of it and snatches a golden ornament from a branch. He tosses and catches it casually, and he greets her with a simple, yet frightening, “Hello there, Venna.” What can she do? She’s been found, and Santa doesn’t seem in the mood to give presents. Wait, that's it, the gift boxes under the tree!
Venna grabs a box from in front of her and quickly stands to shove the tree on Santa. The star topper, made of a heavy metal, fell down on his forehead and produced a gash, but he only toppled backward when Venna hit his head repeatedly with the box. It might not be much, but it’s all she needed!
She bolted around the tree and out of the office, knowing that Santa would soon be on her trail. Soon, she hears a stampede of horses after her. It must be Santa’s reindeer! Venna glances
back to see that they move extremely fast. She needs to find a room with a door still on its hinges and close it behind her! As she continues to sprint through the building, she becomes less and
less hopeful of her plan. Santa was very thorough in breaking all the doors, and she wonders for a second if this was all planned.
Up ahead! The breakroom still has its door! It feels as if the ligaments in her legs are tearing apart, but she must keep going. She leaps into the room and quickly backs up into the door to close it. One by one, the reindeer ram into the door to try to break it down. Venna needs a way out of here, quickly. The only way out is through that door and the windows, but she’s on the third floor! Another reindeer slams into the door and she knows that she has to take a risk.
Venna unlocks the window and crawls out of it. She places her foot on the outside ledge, secures her footing, and lifts her other leg out. She faces the building and prepares for the drop. She takes a deep breath. Then, a reindeer rams into her, forcing her off the ledge and to the ground!
“Ah!” Venna screams as she falls.
“Ah!” Venna screams as she wakes up, still at her desk. She jerks her head up in hazy confusion, then looks at the bottle of Nexcedrin on her desk. She groans as she reads the label,
which says, “May cause hallucinations.” Then the lights go out.
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