It’s ironic, to think that Rudolph would be the one to kill Santa.
Is it a nightmare? A dark fantasy? A Christmas story gone horribly wrong?
No, I assure you that it’s all true.
I mean, I should know.
I’m the one killing Santa after all.
Now before you get all huffy and get your panties in a twist, let me set some facts straight. At this moment, I am falling to my death with Santa and now my life is flashing before my very eyes. This is not your world, whoever or wherever you are, if you are there at all. Maybe I’m talking to somebody, maybe not. All I’m doing is trying to set straight what transpired since that fateful night.
Oh well. It doesn’t matter in the end. Both Santa and I will be dead in a few moments. At the very least, I’ll be able to rest assured that I am taking out the greatest terrorist of the 21st century.
What? You speak of ISIS? The Taliban? What are you talking about? Those guys were nothing. They were squashed by the various world governments in their vie for power before this even started! Even Canada, the peaceful hat of America, joined in on the dog fight to the top.
Actually, it’s this fight for power that directly led up to this. You know the story. Those in power eventually get greedy and want more. They trample down the low and reap the profits. Corrupt government, shady deals, yadda-yadda.
Need I say more?
Sigh, I think I’ve been avoiding the past long enough. Might as well dive in and see what happened to lead up to this.
----------------------------------------
> Quote:Today, December 20th, 2016, marks the one year anniversary of the day Christmas was canceled. I regret to inform you that Santa has released a public statement saying that he will NOT be bringing Christmas back this year. Last year’s public statement is as follows:
>
>
> > Quote:To all you boys and girls of the world, I have lived for hundreds of years and seen much of what humanity is capable of but none of that compares to what I have witnessed this last decade. In light of what humanity has accomplished as a whole, I must sadly announce that Christmas is canceled indefinitely. I wish you a happy holidays even if there will be no presents to place under your trees and in your stockings this year. Oh, and always remember, I’m making a list.
> > Sincerely, Santa
Tired of rereading the news article in his hands for the umpteenth time, an orphan tosses the wrinkled paper onto the bed beside him with a sigh. The date now is December 24th, 2016, the night before Christmas, or it would have been if it hadn’t been canceled. It is also the 16th birthday of a certain orphan, a Rudolph Scarlet.
An orphan since the tender age of three, Rudolph had long grown disillusioned to the world. He had been given up by his parents and developed a somewhat cynical view of the world around him. Somewhat mature for his age while growing up, young Rudolph had never grown close to any of the children his age or truly made any friends.
Over the years, especially with the state of the world, he had come to believe in the creed of give and take, the only exception being the mother of the orphanage for she cared for all the children equally regardless of background or even if they were thankful for her care or not. Following his creed of give and take, he vowed to himself on the night of every birthday that he would repay the kind mother for the kindness she had shown him over the years.
Breaking him from his thoughts, mother Catherine calls for Rudolph from the bottom of the stairs. “Rudolph! There’s somebody here that wishes to see you. Come down please.”
“Yes Ms. Catherine! I’ll be down in a moment.” Getting up from his small cot, Rudloph takes a moment to fix his hair, change into one of his nicer looking shirts, and throw his threadbare jacket over it all. He figured that he might as well be presentable for whoever this visitor was. It’s not like anybody is apt to go out and adopt an adolescent in this day and age without good reason; afterall, the only children to be adopted within the last five years were much younger than he and only because they looked cute. Perhaps they would soon become orphans once again after they had outgrown their cuteness. It is the truth of this world, sad as it may be.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Walking down the stairs and crossing the hallway, Rudolph is greeted with silence. All the other children had long hidden themselves in anticipation, for Rudolph had only ever received one potential parent meeting. The end result is clear as Rudolph is still in the orphanage; the couple had unfortunately been put off by his mature demeanor upon meeting the child in person.
Taking the silence in stride, Rudolph stands before the oaken door of the office moments later. He hesitates for a second, as if the wooden door had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world, before giving two sharp raps upon the door.
“You may enter, Rudolph.” Called mother Catherine from within. “We are ready to start the meeting now.”
Opening the door revealed a sparse office containing enough to be presentable for guests, but clearly not intended for regular use. Against one wall is a small bookshelf with potted plants while in the center of the room stands a solid desk paired with a matching office chair; before it lie two simple chairs, one for the child and the other for guests. The other wall, to the left of the desk and chairs, is a large double paned window allowing the golden morning light to stream in and bask the room in its warm glow.
Other than Rudolph, the only people in the room are Ms. Catherine and a man. Where Ms. Catherine had on a homely dress, the burly stranger was garbed in a velvet suit trimmed in white fur; a similarly fashioned hat lay across an armrest. In light of recent events, Rudolph could only assume that he were mocking Christmas with what he was wearing.
Noticing the silent stares, Rudolph finally takes a seat.
“Ahem. Good morning Rudy. This man is Niko Laus and he was interested in adopting you. Isn’t that great?”
God, even his name mocks Christmas. What does he want with me though? There’s always a reason a person does things. Now to figure out what his reason is.
“Greetings young man, as Ms. Catherine here has said, my name is Niko Laus. Why don’t you introduce yourself?” Contrary to his santa-like appearance, Niko’s voice was soft and reserved.
“Hello. My name is Rudolph. I don’t have a last name because my parents abandoned me and as such, I have abandoned it.” Wary of the man, Rudolph’s response was curt and to the point.
Staring the man in the eye, Niko stares back unflinchingly. In fact, the only other person to ever do that was Ms. Catherine.
“Rudy! How could you say such things? I’m sure they had-” Niko raises a hand, interrupting her.
“It’s okay Ms. Catherine. It’s understandable that he would hold some resentment to his parents for making him an orphan. So tell me, Rudy, would you like to be adopted?”
“Before I answer yes or no to that question, I want you to answer a couple of my own.”
“Sure thing, kid. It’s fair enough.” Niko then folds his hands in his lap and leans back into his chair.
“Firstly, what do you want to adopt me for? The only kids that ever get adopted are the young ones because they’re cute and impressionable. A guy wouldn’t simply adopt a guy like me for no reason at all.”
“What do I want to adopt you for? That’s easy. I need you to do a job for me. Now, before you ask, I’m sure I could find another person, but it’d simply take too long and I’d like to get the ball rolling early.”
“Huh.” Taking a few seconds, Rudolph lets the words sink in for a bit before asking his next question.
“Okay then, last question. This “job”, will I be getting paid?”
Confused, both Ms. Catherine and Niko give the boy a look of shock until Niko starts grinning widely.
“HAHA! I like how you think kid. I know this world is a give and take so rest assured that you’ll be well compensated. So, I ask you again. Do you want to be adopted?”
“Deal.” Sticking out his right hand, Niko met him halfway and shook it firmly.
That was the night that started it all. That was the day that my future changed. I didn’t know it at the time, but I would soon be helping Niko Laus in his plan towards world change… that is, before I decided it was better for the world to kill him of course.