The Twisted Christmas Trilogy (Complete Series by Daniel Parsons

Author:Daniel Parsons [Parsons, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AmWriting Ltd

Chapter 25

‘Dead…?’ White Fringe – or Jack as he was now called – looked to Nicko for an explanation. Then he laughed. ‘Ah, yes. Nicko’s little white lie. Well… I say little. He’s been holding those cards close to his chest for centuries. Not so little anymore, I suppose!’

Dropping from the platform, Jack discarded his robe, to reveal an ice-blue tunic, a navy, leather breastplate and a pair of willowy, pointed boots. Where his feet landed, he left a film of frost.

‘Allow me to explain by way of a myth,’ he swept a hand towards Toby, ‘for the younger among us.

‘There once was a man called Nicko who lived in the woods. One day he was approached by some elves. They fancied themselves refugees and thought Nicko, a lowly human, could protect them from a very bad man named Oberon.’ The word “bad” came out with an ironic smirk. ‘And so Nicko agreed. And in so doing, he began to weave his web of lies, starting by betraying his most loyal supporters, who he handed over to Oberon’s recruiters.’

‘That’s a lie!’ boomed Nicko. ‘That’s not how it was at all.’

‘He will, of course, deny this,’ drawled the elf with a roll of his eyes, ‘but, deep down, he knows he could have saved them if it weren’t for his greed. His lust to seize an opportunity.’ He grimaced. ‘And so, this pawn turned on his king and, in a shocking twist of events, finished the Faerie War in one precise strike.

‘At the time, the misguided elves were overjoyed. Fed up of chess, they were relieved the game of power had ended. What they didn’t know, however, was that Nicko wasn’t done. Unaware that the little pawn on which all of their hopes rested had just reached the edge of the board, they stood by as he anointed himself king and began systematically hunting down any pieces that opposed him.’

‘Jack,’ Stella said through a croaky filter. ‘I can’t… I can’t believe...’

‘Oh, can’t you? Well suspend your disbelief just a little longer because this fantasy is about to get a little more elaborate.’ He turned to the other hooded figure with a smirk. ‘Allow me to introduce another familiar face.’

Matching his movement, the second figure removed her hood. This time it was Toby’s turn to gasp.

Impossible! he mouthed. It’s her!

The limp hair. The wide, innocent eyes. The cat nestled close to her chest, balled into the foetal position below the folds of her robe. She was exactly as he remembered; the girl from his nightmare. The one who strangled him awake.

‘Alice, you too!’ Stella’s mouth hung open, her eyes shiny.

‘I saw her! She’s from my nightmare,’ said Toby.

At that, Jack smirked with pride. ‘You and thousands more.’

Stella gawped at Toby. ‘What?’

‘It’s her. She was there. In my dream. Her and that cat.’

‘You never mentioned that!’

‘You never asked!’

Stella’s attention again settled on Nicko as a glare. Apart from Toby, it appeared nobody else needed to hear their words to know what their eyes were saying.

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