Kriv the elf punched in the last several commands, prompting a beep from the terminal.

"All systems are online and ready, Sir!"

"Excellent," the massive figure said in a deep baritone that rumbled through the chamber. He was big, bigger than any living thing Kriv had ever seen. The puffy red coat and trousers added to his girth, while the thick-soled black boots added to his mountainous heighth.

If you can call him alive, Kriv thought. If you can call any of us alive.

The Demon King of the North could be considered alive, in a way. The energy that he and his helpers drew their forms from was a living energy after all, siphoned from any and all that invoked the Demon King's true name.

Kriv moved aside as the Demon King took step after thunderous step towards the dias and the obsidian throne that stood behind it. Each step sent a tremor through the floor.

He seated himself upon the throne and pulled a silver-domed cap down over his head; a tangle of soft white hair beneath the relective cap.

"Activate the temporal flux," the Demon King said. "Be sure to link all time zones. I want them all to hit at once."

Kriv nodded and then flashed a questioning glance to his partner, Evenia.

She offered him a nervous smile in response, then flicked a series of switches on a panel in front of her.

Lights flashed to life within the emotion siphon, a mysterious device as old as the Demon King, indicating the procedure was ready.

The device hovered above the silver cap, connecting to it by way of a single cable. It sparked and popped with electricity as the cogs within the machine synced with each other.

"What is our theoretical output this year?"

Kriv glanced at one of the displays and performed a series of quick calculations in his head.

"About seventy percent of last year's output," he said.

The Demon King muttered a curse under his breath, then said, "Oh well. It can't be helped. That should still be enough to get us through until next year. Barely."

He just didn't understand it. Where had all of their spirit gone? Humans numbered exponentially more than in previous centuries, but their Christmas spirit had dwindled to half of what it used to be.

It made the Demon King ravenous.

"Proceed," he said, his voice a rumble of thunder.

The Demon King tilted his head back and opened his mouth as wide as it would go.

This part always made Kriv nervous. If humans only knew what they were actually doing when they invoked the name of Klaus, they would run screaming and dive under their beds.

The Demon King's mouth expanded wider, stretching far beyond its natural limits. His teeth elongated and split into multiple rows.

This continued until the Demon King's gaping orifice was as wide as his body. It was a miracle that the domed cap stayed put on his head.

The emotion siphon hummed as it increased in power.

A thin stream of chromatic light streamed down from the machine's pinched tip and drifted down into the maw that was the Demon King's mouth.

Kriv heard the sounds of the memories pouring out of the machine. Laughter, joy, love, and some sadness-there was always a little sadness as not everyone had an occasion to be happy on Christmas-all flowed down to be consumed by the Demon King.

The entire process lasted fifteen minutes before the machine fell silent, the flashing lights within winking out.

The Demon King closed his mouth and licked his lips. A warm red glow emanated from his cheeks.

"Ho, ho, ho!" he said and rubbed his belly. "Not bad for seventy percent!"

Both Kriv and Evenia grinned at the Demon King before powering down their equipment.

The Demon King approached the two and in one smooth motion, scooped them up and placed them on his shoulders, one per side.

Together the three exited the workshop and were met with the sounds of laughter from the other elves as they danced and played in the snow.

A snowball rocketed out of the darkness, headed straight for the Demon King's face.

He threw up a nonchalant hand and caught it, smiled at it, then tossed it aside.

"Until next year," he said, and continued out into the snow-dusted night while the northern lights shimmered and sparkled overhead.

#fiction #fantasy #Christmas #Klaus

The man in black leaned forward and reached out a hand.

Stefanie jumped at the movement, her anxiety spiking, before she realized the man was only switching on the recorder resting on the cool metal table between them.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Stefanie’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“That’s what I thought about the others. The ones from my” -she paused- “dream.”

“I’m happy to show you my credentials again if that would make you feel more at ease,” the man said and reached into his coat.

Stefanie winced, but kept still in her chair.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I believe you. I’m just a bit worked up is all.”

The man nodded once and said, “Do you mind if we run through it one more time?”

Stefanie sighed but nodded.

“Great. Can I get you anything before we start?”

She shook her head.

“Excellent,” the man said. “Whenever you’re ready.”

She took a deep breath and said, “So, I was walking into some office building because I had forgotten something. I was supposed to be the only one there. It was after hours and pretty late. Anyway, when I went in I saw a light on at the end of a hallway that led to another office.”

Stefanie reached for a smoldering cigarette burning away in an ashtray on the table. She took a long drag, then released a thick plume of smoke.

“I could hear two voices but I couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. So I leaned in and listened. There were two...I guess I’d call them agents. They looked a lot like you,” she said.

The man smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“They were talking about how, in the last three months, the government has been using controlled mass-homicide to cut the population down in size. They started talking about how they only had until January first to finish.”

Stefanie shivered and said, “Then they started discussing creative ways to implement the next wave of killings. It was terrible, some of the things they came up with. But then they saw me and came after me.”

She laughed, more to herself than to the man.

“I’ve never run so fast in my life,” she said. “They started screaming ‘We can’t let her go! She can’t wake up!’ and ‘She’s going to tell everyone what we’ve done!’

Stefanie fell silent as she recollected the terror of the chase.

The man held out a hand, palm up, and said, “Please, go on.”

“It got weird. I started leaping through...gateways maybe, or windows. I’m not sure. I just know they led to various places: memories, previous experiences from my life, and a few that I didn’t recognize. But every place I went, they’d show up, until they finally caught up to me. One man yelled ‘Don’t let her go through! Fucking get her!’ but as they reached for me, I fell through the window and woke up.”

Stefanie leaned back in her chair.

The man brought his hands together with the finger tips touching.

“And that was it?”

“That’s it,” Stefanie replied.

The man stood, reaching again into his pocket. His hand brushed against the grip of a firearm.

Oh my god, Stefanie thought. He is one of them!

She scooted the chair back in case she needed to bolt for the door. Her heart thundered in her chest.

The man pulled out a folded piece of paper and held it out for her.

“Your discharge paperwork,” he said with another half-smile. “You’re free to go.”

Stefanie released a relieved breath and beamed at the man. She reached out a shaky hand and took the paper.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice heavy with sincerity. “For a moment I thought-well, it isn’t important. Thank you!”

She exited the interrogation room and then the building, stepping out into a chilly night. She needed sleep, real sleep, but the relief she felt left a warm, pleasant feeling in her chest which stayed with her all the way home.

The man didn’t move from his chair in the interrogation room.

A second man entered, dressed in dark clothing similar to the first man’s wardrobe. He seated himself in the chair that Stefanie had vacated.

“Pay up,” the newcomer said.

The first man pulled a bill-fold from his coat and withdrew several large bills and plopped them down onto the table.

“What do you want to do about her?”

The first man pulled at his lower lip as he thought.

“Put a monitor on her, but leave her be. I don’t think she’ll be a problem.”

The second man nodded, and together the two stood and exited the interrogation room.

#fiction #mystery #conspiracy