Mike woke up early this morning. He went to the bathroom to freshen up, and then looked into the mirror. He took a good look at himself and noticed the bruising on his left cheek. Last night, his father had slapped him hard across the face for calling him an alcoholic, which he actually is. Mike looked at himself in the mirror for a bit and said to himself, humph, Merry Christmas. Mike. When he was eight years old, his mother had died
of cancer. Since then, he basically raised himself. His life had been a journey full of hardships and rebukes, but every year when Christmas came around, a smile appeared on his face. Every Christmas, his beloved uncle Jack would come to visit him at their house. Right now, Mike is sixteen years old. He just has to wait two more years so that he can move out of his house.
His father never treated him right. Sometimes Mike feels it's the alcohol that changed his father into this completely different person. Mike went downstairs and started to prepare breakfast. He peeked into the living room and saw the same sad scenario once again. His father passed out on the living room couch. After another long night of heavy drinking, he put a few pieces of bread into the toaster and went to
take his father to his bedroom. Mike has become accustomed to becoming the caretaker of the house and his father. After finishing his breakfast, Mike calls his uncle Jack, and hearing his uncle's voice over the phone made Mike's eyes sparkle with joy. He said, Hey, Uncle Jack, when you're coming over. Uncle Jack replied, I'll be there soon. Hold your horses, kiddo. They both laughed with great enthusiasm. Mike's face lit up and enjoy He then decided to start
planning out the decorations for Christmas. There was snow all over the backyard. Mike went outside and he saw the green, huge assortment of Christmas trees scattered in the woods. Their house was at the top of the hill, surrounded by mountains. He remembered how his mother made him a snowman when he was little. Mike misses her every single day. After spotting a good sized Christmas tree, Mike started to cut it down so he could take it home and decorate it.
He works at the mall down the hill, and that's how he manages his food and other expenses. Mike's father works at a garage, but he spends all his money on alcohol. Around seven o'clock that night, the living room was all prepared for a nice, small Christmas celebration. Mike had put the Christmas tree right in the center of the room. Beautiful, color full shiny balls were hanging all over it. A golden bell was tied with a red bow, which was placed at the very top of the Christmas tree.
Mike decorated the room with colorful chains. He hung two pairs of socks on the slab of the fireplace. It was getting pretty cold, so Mike put some wood inside the fireplace and started a fire. Just then, he heard his father's coarse voice and looked behind him. His father was standing in the living room with that same angry
look on his face. Mike told him in a low voice, Merry Christmas, Dad, But his father turned away and said, I'm going into town to celebrate on my own, otherwise you and your boring uncle will ruin my Christmas eve. As his father grabbed his jacket and opened the front door to leave, Mike noticed his uncle Jack was arriving. Uncle Jack went to hug Mike's father, but he replied in a rude voice, keep your filthy hands off me. I'm running late, and with that he got in his
car and drove away. Mike and his uncle Jack stood in the doorway quietly and watched his father drive away. Seeing Mike's sad face, uncle Jack hugged him and they went inside. Uncle Jack had brought some delicious food for their special Christmas dinner and handed Mike a gift. As Mike opened the present, his face began to light up. It was an iPad. He'd always wanted one but could never afford it. He smiled and said, thank you, Uncle Jack.
This is the best gift ever. The small house at the top of the hill blossomed in happiness and joy for one night, but who would guess that that joy would be temporary. Mike and Uncle Jack started to talk about sports and music while enjoying some roasted turkey and mashed tatoes. Uncle Jack poured himself a glass of wine and said, now, look, I just need you to be strong for two more years, Mike. Then you can come to New York and stay with me. All arrange for
your college and everything. If your mother was still alive, you wouldn't have to face so much trouble. Alcohol has made your father a completely different person. Mike shook his head and kept eating quietly. He knew that his uncle Jack was the only person in the world that truly cared for him. They finished their dinner and decided to watch a movie. Everything was going great when suddenly the doorbell rang. Uncle Jack went to answer the door while
Mike was doing the dishes. Mike yelled from the kitchen, who is it, Uncle Jack. The uncle replied, Oh, no, kiddo, looks like someone left you a Christmas gift on the doorstep. Mike was surprised. He looked at the clock. It was already ten pm. Who would leave a Christmas gift at this hour. Mike washed his hands and wiped them on his jeans. He then walked to the living room and saw a beautifully wrapped box on the dinner table. Uncle Jack gestured with his eyes and said, in an excited voice,
go on open it. The box was wrapped with silver glittering paper and tied with a red satin strip. With curious eyes, Mike unboxed the gift. There were three more boxes inside. He took out the three boxes and realized there was something in each of them. Uncle Jack was sitting on the armchair near the fireplace, but out of interest, he too came near the table. The three boxes were all different sizes. One was small, there was a middle sized one, and the third was the biggest. Mike decided
to open the little box first. What happened next changed Mike's life forever. Inside the box was an object kept inside of a zipped up plastic bag. As Mike took the object out of the bag, Uncle Jack's wineglass fell to the ground and shattered. The object was a human ear. The ear appeared to be preserved for a long time, as it had no blood on it. Mike couldn't believe his own eyes and was frozen in fear. As his eyes went to the other two boxes. He then noticed
there was a small note inside this box. With a shaking hand, he picked up the paper and read it. It said David Brown. Mike knew that name. David Brown was a boy from Mike's middle school. David used to bully Mike a lot. He once punched Mike's so hard in the face that Mike suffered serious injuries to his nose. Shivers went down Mike's spine. Uncle Jack screamed in horror, saying, what the hell, who's David Brown? Why did someone send you his ears a Christmas gift. Mike didn't answer his
uncle and went to open the next box. He was breathing heavily. Drops of sweat appeared on his face. As he unwrapped this one, the horror grew even more. This one had a severed index finger in it. It was the finger of a woman. Even though it was preserved like the ear, it still had red fingernail polish on it. Just like the smaller box, this box, too had a note. Inside. On the paper was another person's name, a name that
Mike remembered very well, Stacy Roberts. Stacy Roberts was the owner of the house that Mike's family rented when they lived down the hill. Mike's mom loved that house, but after she passed away, they had difficulties paying rent as most of their money went to paying for the medical bills. One morning, after Mike's mother had passed away, Stacy came to their house and told them to leave the house immediately.
Mike and his father begged her to give them another week to arrange for a place to stay, but she didn't give them an ounce of kindness. As Mike went to get their things, she did an extremely cruel thing. Mike's mother had a pearl necklace, which he kept in order to remember her by, but Stacy came up to him and snatched the pearl necklace from him, saying this will pay for your past due rent, your piece of shit.
As she shoved a crying Mike out of the house, the memories flashed in front of his eyes and he couldn't help but break into tears. Uncle Jack took Mike and made him sit on the couch. He then said, what's going on here, Mike? Please tell me who's doing this. Mike looked up at him and, in a scared, muffled voice, said, I don't know, Uncle, I have no idea. Uncle Jack turned and looked at the last box on the table, then looked back at Mike with terror in his eyes.
He went over and opened the box himself. As soon as he unwrapped the box, he let out a gasp of air and took a few steps backwards in shock. Mike slowly walked towards the third box and peeked inside. There was a severed foot lying inside a zipper bag in the same manner as the rest. There was no sign of blood and the skin was completely pale. The note inside read Matthew Scott. He recognized the name as somebody he worked with. He was the son of the storm manager. A few days ago, he had come to
work and started to harass a female customer. As Mike went to stop him, he pushed Mike to the floor and kicked him in the stomach. Mike still had the bruises on his stomach, which he didn't tell anybody about. Both Mike and Uncle Jack sat quietly on the couch. They were both shaken with horror. None of them expected their Christmas Eve to take such a bizarre turn. Uncle Jack said, in a terrorized voice, we should call the
cops right now. Mike nodded his head while crying. Uncle Jack went to the table again to put all of the horrifying things inside the main box. When he found a letter in it, he quickly turned towards Mike and screamed, Oh my god, what the hell is wrong with Christmas this year. Mike rushed over to him and snatched the letter from his hand to read it. The letter said your fourth gift will arrive soon. Mike couldn't even think anymore. He lost his calm and started crying out to Uncle Jack.
Call the cops quick. Uncle Jack grabbed the phone and started to dial nine to one one with his trembling hands, and just then the doorbell rang. Their faces froze in fear. They stared at each other blankly as a feeling of dread climbed up Mike's neck as he knew there was something even more horrible waiting outside for him. Uncle Jack froze in placed like a statue and kept looking at the door. Mike walked over to the door. He could feel his heart racing like a wild horse. He opened
the door and noticed another box on his doorstep. He took a step outside of his house. It was snowy and freezing cold. The wind was howling in the forest, and the night sky stood still as though it was witnessing the fear in Mike's heart. Mike quickly bent down and picked up the box in his hands, but noticed that there was something different with this box. The bottom of the box was stained red and dripping blood. He took the box inside and quickly opened it up. What
he found inside almost gave him a heart attack. Inside the box was a freshly chopped hand. Blood was dripping out of it. The bones and flesh were gushing from the cuts. But this time there was no note to be found, because there was no need for a note. Mike recognized the hand. The hand had his father's wedding ring on it, and not only that, someone had carved the words Merry Christmas into the hand. Everything turned pitch black in front of Mike's eyes as he collapsed to
the floor. When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a hospital bed. Uncle Jack was sitting next to him with a sad look on his face. Mike looked at him and said, where's my dad, Uncle Jack, to which Uncle Jack said that the cops had found his father in a dingy alley, lying unconscious in a pool of blood. He was returning home from a hub last night when someone knocked him out and chopped off his hand. He had already been admitted into the hospital's
emergency ward. Mike stared at the ceiling and thought to himself that he'd never be able to celebrate Christmas for the rest of his life. And worse, he will never know who took such gruesome revenge on all these people who treated Mike in such a bad way. Lily picked up the phone and heard her mother's voice. Your sister is already here. When are you coming, Lily said in a comforting voice. Mom. You know my shift ends at six pm. I'll be home soon. Now stop calling me
every minute. Missy heard her and said, Christmas is the most exciting time of year. I wanted so long for the holidays to come. Lily smiled and started to finish her work. Lily works in a consumer service forum. Being a young, pretty woman, she's almost everybody's favorite around the workplace. Her coworker, Missy, is her all time favorite companion. At work, everyone in the office was already in a mood for celebration.
The office was decorated with all kinds of Christmas items such as lights, stockings, garlands, hanging icicles, figurines, balls, stars, and much more. Almost all the employees were wearing a smile on their face. Lily was extremely excited about the holidays. After a long time, her sister had come to visit with her fiance. Now everyone was waiting for only Lily to arrive, they all would be leaving for Switzerland tomorrow. Clouds of happiness were waiting for Lily. After all, it's
Christmas Eve. Lily finished typing her letters and went to submit them to her boss. After coming back to her desk, Missy came to her with an overly excited face. Lily smiled and asked, now what. Missy blushed and said, I just heard our boss discussing with the manager about distributing the Secret Santa gifts. Oh really, I thought we'd all grown out of that kind of a silly game, said Lily in a mocking tone. Oh come on, you can still grow up and receive Secret Santa gifts. You're such
a spoil sport, Lily. Lily laughed and said, yeah, I know. You've got too many suitors in this office who are surely dying to give gifts to you. Missy laughed and replied that goes for you too, you social butterfly. Both of them started to chuckle in excitement. Every year their office arranges this Secret Santa game. People who admire someone can give gifts to that person in secret, but no one can know who gave which gift to whom. Mostly it's chocolate or pieces of jewelry for the girls. Lily
always gets them every Christmas. This year it will be the same too. After lunch, everyone was called to the cafeteria where the boss, mister Watson, wished everyone a Merry Christmas and announced that the secret Santa gifts will be placed on everyone's desk during the lunch break. After returning from lunch, every employee will find their Christmas gifts on their desk. Missy and Lily went to get their lunch and discuss their holiday plans. Around three point thirty, everyone
had gotten back from lunch. It was the last day before the Christmas holidays, so the work pressure was quite a bit less generally. Lily happened to work till around eight o'clock at night. As Lily reached her desk, she saw five or six gift boxes. Everyone was unboxing their gifts and wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Lily received chocolates and fans see jewelry, just like every year. She still had one box left to open. When Missy came by her desk. Lily opened the box and got a
real surprise. Inside there was a heart shaped diamond pendant. Missy said with dazzling eyes. Wow, that's a little expensive for a Secret Santa gift. Someone must have a serious crush on you, Lily, and she started to laugh in that same old way. Lily held a pendant in her hand and said, in a worried voice. I don't know if I should take it or not. This is really expensive. Who would buy such a gift for me? Missy peeked inside the gift box and said, look, there's a note
inside it. Lily took the note and read it, would you like to have dinner with me for Christmas? Lily started to blush like a teenager. Missy constantly pulled her leg. She had to admit she was enjoying the attention. Hence, Lily said, in an excited voice, if I knew who my secrets say is, I would surely cancel all my plans just to have dinner with him. Missy and Lily started to laugh again. As time passed, everyone started to leave the office. People were finishing up their work as
soon as they could and leaving for the holidays. Around five point thirty, Missy came to bid goodbye to Lily. She wished her a happy holidays and left the office. Was almost empty. Lily was almost done with all her work. There were just a few basic formalities left before she left for the holidays. She wrapped her things up and went to get a soda from the cafeteria before leaving. Just as she inserted her dollar bill and pressed the button on the soda machine, the entire office lost power.
Oh God, not today. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and rushed to her desk. The entire area was empty. There was no one else on the office floor. Lily started to get very worried because the exit doors work on a card punching machine. Without electricity, only the security guards can help people to pass through the doors. She took up her bags and tried to call the security from the office phone, but it was Christmas Eve and the phone kept ringing and ringing and no one answered.
Lily looked down at her phone and saw that it only had three percent charge remaining. She felt like an idiot for not plugging her phone into a charger without wasting a single second. She called her mom, Hello, Mom, Uh, I got stuck in the office. Her mom said, but you said you'd be done by six Lily. Her mom replied in an angry tone. No, not because of work. There's been a power outage. I need you to call
nine to one one for me. But before she could finish her sentence, she noticed that her call got disconnected. Lily thought to herself that now her mom will think she got stuck at work. What a great way to start the holidays. Lily had no idea what she could do, but suddenly she thought of a plan. The maintenance department was kept downstairs, someone would surely still be there without any delay. Lily ran down the stairs. The maintenance department
was equally dark, just like upstairs. She couldn't see anything except the long empty passage lying ahead of her. Lily was just about to start crying when she saw a flashlight coming towards her. She almost screamed in relief. Hey, oh, thank god. A man came up to her with a flashlight. Lily had seen this guy earlier. He had only recently joined the workplace, but she had never talked to him. The guy was wearing glasses. He was a man of
average height and had a simple face. He smiled in a shy manner and said, Oh, I'm sorry if I've scared you. Actually, I was just about to leave when the power cut off, so I thought i'd check upstairs in case someone was still stuck there. Lily smiled and replied, I'm just so relieved to see you. I thought i'd gotten stuck all alone inside this office when the power was out. The guy smiled and said, well, it's really
lonely to be lonely. Lily nodded her head, hearing such a weird thing, and said, I think we should call nine one one, because I think the office security people have left two. The guy said hesitantly, yes, I was just about to call them. By the way, I'm Alan. If you want to, we can wait this out in my cabin. I've lit some candles there. Lily started to walk with Alan to his cabin, and then she asked him, so, what are your plans for this holiday, to which Alan
replied right now, I'm just hoping to have dinner. As Lily stepped inside Alan's cabin, she got a surprise. There were two candles on his desk, and his cabin was nicely decorated too. Lily said, in an impressive tone, Wow, you did some good decorating. This cabin is so romantic. She noticed Alan get a bit shy. They both sat down and Alan offered her some water. Lily took a sip and said, did you make the call? Alan said in a hesitant voice, yes, yeah, yes, I was just
going to. He then quickly picked up his phone and called nine to one one to report the entire situation and the power outage. Lily sat there quietly until Alan ended the phone call. After the phone call, Alan sat down in his chair and said, are you feeling hungry? I've got some spaghetti and meatballs with me. Lily felt a bit weird and said, why did you bring such heavy food? Weren't we all going to be leaving for the holidays today. Alan started acting a bit awkward and said,
I don't know what I was thinking. I had just packed something to have in the office for today, but forgot to eat lunch and went out and grabbed some hot talks. Then they started to both laugh awkwardly. Lily noticed Alan wasn't all that worried about getting stuck in the office during Christmas Eve. In fact, he was being quite casual about the whole matter. Lily asked, Alan, so, what did you get in your secret Santa? Alan sighed and said, oh, I don't think people really like me.
Not everyone is as popular as you, right, Lily. Lily smiled awkwardly at his comment and looked at the wall clock. It read six point thirty. She was surprised to see that nine one one was taking so much time to get help here. Suddenly her eyes went to the paper lying on the desk. It was a note which had some basic office information scribbled on it. She recognized the handwriting. It was exactly like the handwriting from her secret Santa
note today. A cold shiver went down her spine. She softly asked Alan, if you don't mind, could you bring me some ice from the freezer in the cafeteria. I kind of bumped into my desk in the dark and hurt my knee. Alan immediately stood up with a smile on his face and said, of course, anything you need. I'll be right back. As soon as Alan left, Lily sprinted over to his phone and opened it. Oh thank god, it wasn't password protected. She checked the call logs and
discovered the dark truth. There was no record of a call going to nine one one. Alan hadn't called the cops. Drops of sweat started to appear on her forehead. She immediately called nine one one. Once the cop picked up, she said, in a tense voice, Hello, please help me. I've been trapped in an office by a guy. He's a psycho. I have no idea what he's up to. Please come as soon as you can. Our office address is But she couldn't finish her sentence because she heard
a thud sound come from behind her. Her eyes frozen fear. She knew something horrible was about to happen. She slowly turned her head and saw Alan was standing at the doorway, looking fiercely at her. The ice bucket was lying on the floor. Alan's eyes looked fucking creepy. There was anger written all over his face. He said, in a stuttering voice. You you played me. Huh. Can't trust you women at all. Why were you so hyped up to leave this office?
You only said this afternoon that you would happily cancel all your plans just to have dinner with me. Lily took a few steps back and said, in a frightened voice, I didn't mean it that way, Alan, I hardly know you. Listen, we should get out of this place. We can talk later and try to get to know each other first. She reached into her bag and took out the diamond pendant. She raised her hands towards Alan and said, you know you can keep this for now. It wouldn't be nice
of me to take such an expensive gift. Alan started to laugh hysterically and then screamed at her in furious anger. Why because I'm not good enough for you. Lily was in tears. Her hands were shaking. She couldn't move her legs. Alan started to walk like a maize and growl and scream. He kicked the glass door of his case so hard that the glass shattered with a loud noise. There was broken glass all over the floor. Lily screamed in fear
and sat in the corner of the room. Alan looked at her and said, in a spine chilling voice, you know I can give you so much more than this stupid pendant. I can give you the best Christmas gift in the world. You want me to show you how much you matter to me? Right? Fine? Then what Alan did next was completely unexpected. Lily didn't see it coming at all. Alan picked up broken glass from the floor
and started to cut himself up. Ah He started by slashing his wrists blood was pouring like a fountain onto the white floor. Lily kept screaming seeing such a vicious sight. Then Alan brought out the ultimate horror that would curse Lily for the rest of her life. He steadied his eyes and stared directly at her and said, I've loved you from the first day I saw you, Lily. I hoped that you would like me too, but I was never enough for anyone. Then he took the glass and
sliced his throat in front of her. Lily screamed in horror and fainted to the floor. Worried about her not returning home, Lily's mother had called nine one one. When the cops came, they discovered Lily lying unconscious on the floor and Allan lying dead in a pool of his own blood. It was then discovered that Allan had intentionally shut off the power in order to trap Lily inside the office. Christmas would never be the same again for Lily.
She would get nightmares that Alan was standing in front of her with that angry, hurtful face and blood gushing out of his wrists and neck.