30 Day Holiday Challenge Day 1- Black Friday

 It was chaos. Pure and utter chaos. 

That was the thought running through Aeron’s head as he witnessed the carnage occurring all around him. 

Women screaming and shoving each other while the men looked as if they were prepared to exchange blows. Children huddled around a man covered in cloth dyed the color of blood. All the while the shopkeepers valiantly tried to protect their wares and bring back some sort of law and order to their little township but odds of victory were low. 

It was chaos. And it was beautiful. 

“And you claim that this is a yearly event, this…’Black Friday’?”

Aeron turned to his human companion and tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Where did you find so many carcasses of unicorns? I could have sworn that they no longer existed in the human world."

Rolling her eyes, Harper shoved one of the unicorns into the demon's hands. "They're not real. See they are fluffy and stuffed with cotton and probably a lot of cancer causing materials, if I'm being honest. But they are so cute! My nieces will love them….wait. Did you just imply that unicorns are real?"

“In case you have forgotten, I, your companion for this surprisingly delightful journey to this den of greed, am a full-blooded demon. Yet, you are shocked by the existence of unicorns?” 

“To be fair, believing in demons is totally acceptable because there are demons in the Bible. But believing in unicorns? Probably going to get you the reputation of being a weirdo.”

“Fascinating.” Plucking one of the unicorns out of her hands, Aeron frowned at the strawberries stamped on its torso. “I do not remember them being so… tattooed. Interesting way to claim your ownership. No matter, I am certain your nieces will adore these caracasses and the cancer they will bring them.” Turning on his heel, the demon headed to the entrance. “Let us procure these creatures and make our way to the next venue on your list.”

“Oh my god, please don’t call these toys ‘cancer causing carcasses’ in front of my sister or her kids.”

“I make no promises.” 

The two made it through the checkout with minimal fuss; a little shoving and jostling, but nothing unexpected for Black Friday shopping at the mall. Also not unexpected: the size of the line. Thankfully, it was moving along at a decent speed, but it was still decent wait.  

As they were waiting, Aeron noticed a sign claiming “Holiday Wall Trees- Buy 1 get 2 free!” Fascinated by the idea of trees that were meant to grow out of the little holes in the wall, the demon wandered off to investigate them while Harper held their place in line. When he got to the bucket of these “wall trees”, Aeron scoffed at the ludacris objects in front of him. They were not real trees you could grow in your house. They were plastic lies that released the most foul of odors. And yet, a hoard of people were swarming around these buckets of deceit; tearing through them as if their lives depended on procuring the correct one. Truly a fascinating sight.

However, as he turned back to see how Harper faired in the torturous line, Aeron felt his blood boil and suppressed the urge to bare his teeth. Standing behind his beloved was the most vile woman. Of course her appearance did nothing to attract him but that is not what made her foul. The aura surrounding her soul was nothing but anger and entitlement. The level of rage being exuded by her soul matched that of some of the demons he served with back before he was sealed away. The fact that she was currently screaming at the back of Harper’s head only solidified his conclusion that this woman was wicked.

“Do you hear me?!” The woman screeched at his girlfriend, who simply rolled her eyes and continued to ignore the fiend. “You have no right! I have kids, so I should get priority. You are probably some single, childless, friendless feminist who really has no business being here anyway. Stop being so selfish. You people really…”

“Hey,” Harper interrupted the woman’s rant when Aeron slid into the space at her side. “Did you find a wall tree that you liked?”

“Hardly. They all smelled too cheery for my taste. Does no one appreciate the subtle aroma of decay anymore?” The corners of his mouth tweaked up slightly at the woman’s gasp and Harper’s giggle. “But no matter. I'm sure we can find all sorts of heinous things at other shops during this Blackest of Fridays."

"Excuse me!"

The couple ignored the shrieking voice coming from behind them. "Excellent. It looks like you are to be served next. I'm sure the spawn of your sister will enjoy their taxidermied unicorns."

"Wait a goddamned minute," the lady yelled as she reached forward and curled her hand around Harper's bicep. "I should be going next. I have kids waiting for me, so I should be allowed to go in front of you. You are young and clearly don't have kids, so you can wait." A sneer crossed the woman’s face, making her look even more repulsive. “And really the only reason I came to this store was for those unicorns. My daughters have been begging for them. But you took the last ones. So unless you want to be single-handedly responsible for ruining Christmas for several innocent, adorable little girls, I suggest you hand them over to…”

“You know, I actually love destroying kids’ hopes and dreams,” Harper cut in, her voice filled with a large amount of fake enthusiasm. She turned to her boyfriend and flashed him a toothy grin. “Hey Aer, maybe we should probably pick up more of these, what did you call them… oh right, caracasses. We could stop by a toy store and pick up more fake animal caracasses. Maybe some ‘Sayonara Kitty’ dolls. Those are popular this year, so we should snatch them up and ruin Christmas for more children.”

“I would love nothing more, my dear.”

“Awesome!” Her smile got wider as she turned to look at the woman standing aghast at her side. “Of course, we’ll have to wait for the police and paramedics to arrive first because if this woman doesn’t let me go, I will be snapping her fingers, and I am pissed off enough that I might break them one at a time instead of all at once.”

“WHAT!?!” All eyes turned towards the trio at the sound of the woman’s ear-piercing shriek. “ARE YOU THREATENING ME RIGHT NOW?” Her head swiveled back and forth as she attempted to make eye contact with the other guests in line. “She threatened me. I feel threatened.” Of course no one responded to her; no one wanted to get dragged into this.

Harper leaned in closer to the woman and dropped her voice. “Considering you are the one still holding onto me, in clear view of the security cameras by the way, it looks like you are the one threatening me.” The woman quickly dropped her arm and took a step away but Harper moved in closer, forcing the woman to back up until her back was against one of the poles holding the bands that formed the structure of the line. “Now, here is what is going to happen. You will leave us alone. Actually, you will leave everyone alone. Because no one deserves to be forced to deal with your shit. And…” she raised her voice to drown out any potential protests from the obnoxious woman. “If you don’t. I’m going to give him my full support in dealing with you however he wants,” she says as she points her thumb over her shoulder at Aeron. “And I promise you, he can be creative.”

“I must profess that this moment has reminded me why I selected you as my partner,” Aeron murmured in Harper’s ear as he reached up and readjusted her wrinkled sleeve while the woman sputtered in anger behind them. “I believe the shopkeeper is ready for you, Harper. You go ahead and make your purchases and I will wait at the door for you.”

As soon as his girlfriend was distracted at the counter, the demon turned and pinned the woman back against the fabric railing with a single glare. “You, madam, are very lucky that my love is such a compassionate woman, for I am not.” He took one step closer to the bothersome woman and lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘If it were my decision, I would plague you with a curse that would cause blood to ooze from every pore in your blood. Water would not be able to remove the blood due to the fact that the liquid that you so desperately need to survive would now scald you and leave burns so terrible that they would weep puzz. You would be a walking biohazard. And your doctors would be unable to even begin to fathom how to treat you.”

“But,” Aeron continued as he pulled away and slid under the rope to his right. “As I said, I fortunately, yet strangely unfortunately, fell for a benevolent woman. Therefore, you shall keep your health. Merry Dark Friday.” While walking away, a small grin made its way across his lips as Aeron heard the woman let out a sob as she started to babble to anyone who would listen that he was a monster.

Harper was waiting for him at the entrance, but instead of asking questions about his delay, she simply wrapped his hand in hers and led them out into the main section of the mall. “You ready to experience some more Black Friday craziness?”

“Of course. I am quite intrigued by the cult meeting I saw being held down the hall from this store’s entrance.”

“Cult meeting? In the mall? On Black Friday? Are you sure that is what you saw?”

“There were children in brightly colored attire chanting for their leader to come out. Then the higher ranking members cloaked in green began to lead the children in hymns until their crimson clad leader took to the stage.”

After a minute of staring and processing, the image that he described finally came together in Harper’s mind and she began to laugh uncontrollably. “Oh my god, you’re talking about Santa.’

“Is that the name of the cult? A bit short and unoriginal really.”

“No, no. Santa Claus is the name of the man in red. He… you know what. Let’s go check it out, and I’ll explain more later. First though we need to stop by the wine store. I overheard someone at the register say that they’re selling cups of eggnog with alcohol in it right now, and it might only be nine in the morning, but I already can tell I’m going to need it today.”

“Lead the way, my dear.”