CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio - "How to hunt an animatronic Santa" Creepypasta

Episode Date: December 22, 2021

CREEPYPASTA STORY►by ChristianWallis: https://www.reddit.com/user/Christian...Creepypastas are the campfire tales of the internet. Horror stories spread through Reddit r/nosleep, forums and blogs, rather than word of mouth. Whether you believe these scary stories to be true or not is left to your own discretion and imagination. LISTEN TO CREEPYPASTAS ON THE GO-SPOTIFY► https://open.spotify.com/show/7l0iRPd...iTUNES► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...CREEPY THUMBNAIL ART BY►Astrid Mayor: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8Vb2wSUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS-►"Good Places to Start"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7YCb...►"Personal Favourites"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEa2R...►"Written by me"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX6RA...►"Long Stories"- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...FOLLOW ME ON-►Twitter: https://twitter.com/Creeps_McPasta►Instagram: https://instagram.com/creepsmcpasta/►Twitch: http://www.twitch.tv/creepsmcpasta►Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreepsMcPastaCREEPYPASTA MUSIC/ SFX- ►http://bit.ly/Audionic ♪►http://bit.ly/Myuusic ♪►http://bit.ly/incompt ♪►http://bit.ly/EpidemicM ♪-This creepypasta is for entertainment purposes only-

You're going to pass that thing over? Dee sat down next to me with deflated shoulders and a look of exhaustion. We were both outside in the dark, perched and an old AC unit round the back of the mall where deliveries were dropped off. Looking down, I saw her aimlessly kick her legs back, and when I realized that she still wore a curled toe elf shoes, I lost all control and began to cackle as I passed it over. It took her a few seconds to realize why,

and when she did, she pulled a parker tight to hide a red and green striped elf uniform. Screw you, she said as she reached up and pulled her fake pointy ears before taking a drag. You wouldn't find this funny if you had to greet people dressed like this. Oh, come on, I'm sure the moorwalkers love it. Ugh, the old men keep trying to grab my ass, she groaned. What the hell is wrong with guys? This isn't the first time he's mentioned dressing with elf ears. I swallowed my laughter and took the join.

back when she passed it. You do look kind of cute, innocent like. Oh, that's just gross. Not as gross as what Dave's going to ask you to do with that candy cane. I pointed to the fake bit of candy that was pinned to her waist. Ah, she cried out before playfully hitting me. What is wrong with you? Nothing's wrong with me.

You're the one that's going to do it. She kept hitting me as we broke down into a fit of giggles. It drained you, working in a place like that. and sometimes, after a long day, left me feeling a few breadroll shorts of a picnic basket. It didn't help that staffing was practically non-existent, and internet shopping had all but killed after the Christmas surge. The owner, a sweaty little man who looked increasingly overworked with each new year,

tried to drum up more business by having us dress up like idiots. I was dressed as Santa for most of the day, but it wasn't that bad, aside from the fake beard that got itchy. It was Dee who got the worst of it, forced the dressers and elf and stand by a dingy-looking grotto, while greeting what few visitors we had each morning. It didn't help sales. Nothing the owner did ever helped. The mall was too far from any towns, and it was quickly dying.

If you ever needed to visit a massive building filled with keycutters and mobile phone repair shops, we had you covered. Other than that, there was nothing worth seeing. It's getting cold, Dee said when we finally stopped laughing. I don't understand why you don't get that dick boyfriend of yours to come pick you up. I want to be able to choose if I see him, she shrugged. And a maiden dropped me off at mine. Besides, you don't mind me riding along, do you? Your mother thinks I'm hilarious.

She is just being polite, I said. Truth is, she thinks her a bad influence. Is that right? I'm the bad influence. Doesn't she grow all your weed? Yeah, but she heard what Dave wants you to do with those candy canes. Oh, get lost, Dee cried with laughter. Seriously, I'm freezing. Any sign of her?

I checked my phone and let out an audible groan. She's late, I said, as I read the text. She's stuck at the hospital. She says if it goes past 11, I can get a taxi and she'll pay. Isn't there a storm due? What time is it now? Dee asked. Quarter past eight. Damn Come on

I said I'll open them all back up We'll have to wait inside Where do you get this creepy-ass stuff I asked E The first thing that greeted us Was the little Christmas themed display The owner had brought up by the entrance

And it was enough to make me wonder If we should just sit outside in the cold Plastic elves with round heads grinned at us The chipped pie-shaped eyes Squinting with a creepy kind of voyeurism Nicotine-coloured fake snow gathered around their feet where they stood stock still, staring right at me and anyone else who dared to enter. In the daytime, they looked cheap and laughable.

But with no real light other than the moon behind me, I found them deeply unsettling. Nowhere near as creepy as the Santa though. God knows, Dee shrugged as she made a bee-line towards the cafeteria. I think the elves came from some bankruptcy auction. the animatronic Santa, however. Santa slid seven feet tall and was made of spray-painted plastic and metal. Behind his eyes and lips,

and in between every joint of his arms, legs and torso, lay tiny steel mechanisms that looked all too ready to snip off any curious fingers. This was a homemade decoration if I had ever seen one, and I dreaded to think of who we'd put it together from scrap, and why?

Alice's been going nuts trying to figure out how to turn it on Dee cried as she pulled two chairs off the table and set them down for us No way to plug it in no sign of a battery But it's obviously meant to move anyone can see that Every time he tries pulling one of the panels off to get a better look He ends up slicing his hand open on something I looked at its enormous steel boots And notice the chips and scratches all along the tone sides

Must the hurt I muttered mindlessly, before tearing my eyes away and walking over to my friend. Creeps me the hell out, decrumbled as you put a feet up on the table. Every single kid who comes in starts falling their eyes out when they see it. The only business that thing would drum up is from serial killers. I keep begging him to just put it away, but he says he paid for it and he ain't moving it. Cheap asshole. Besides, she laughed as she reached over and poked my belly.

We got another Santa right here. right? Oh, if you think I'm going to be stood up there next to you, letting old Mall walkers molest me, then you've got another thing coming. Dee burst out laughing, and with a nudge of the elbow, she asked. Got another joint? Yeah, but... But what?

It's a long night, I replied, and we only just smoked. And, you know, it's one thing if we're doing something fun, but... I don't fancy sitting here, trying to swallow my palpitations with murder claws standing right behind me. Dee cackled loudly and stood up. Come on, why do we go sit in old owl's office? He never locks it and he's always stashing cheap whiskey somewhere. I looked over my shoulder towards the mechanical centre

and had to suppress a shiver. Its empty eyes always seemed to fixate me, no matter where I stood. Yeah, all right, I shrugged. Let's go. Have you seen Al recently? I asked as Dee tried the handle to his office. After a little bit of fiddling with an old credit card,

she bobbed the lock and it pushed open. I thought he said he leaves it open, I added. Dee shrugged my question off and strode into the office like it belonged to her. I haven't seen him today, she said as she sat down on the small sofa. How can a man that rich let something that ugly sit in his office? I groaned while eyeing the furniture. Nowing Al, he bought it from a strip. club, she said, quick wipe down and he'd happily use it. That man has no shame. It's like

working for Mr. Crabbs. I went to sit next to her, but stopped at the last minute. Distinct memories of my employer fairing old-looking divorces into his office for private meetings sprung to mind, and I shrunked away from his touch. I'll take the desk, I said as I walked over and switched on the lamp. Behind me, Dee began to giggle at my reaction to to the sofa. She might have said something about it, cracked a joke maybe. I can't remember. The light came on and the old fabric desk chair was revealed.

The flat seat soaked and greasy looking blood that dripped onto the floor in a thick puddle. I cried out and Dee hurried over. What the hell? she whispered. Did he hurt himself? Slowly I began to take in the surrounding area. noticing the broken photo frames and overturned papers. It looked like a fighter taken place, and there was more than just a one splash of blood.

Streaks of it appeared on the edges of the desk and all along the floor. They looked like finger marks, and they slowly tracked away from the desk and towards the door, thinning out bit by bit, until there was only a solitary handprint left on the jamb at about knee height. Oh boy, Dee whispered as both her eyes lingered on that spot. I couldn't help but picture our boss lying there with one bloodied hand, clutching at the doorframe. About a year back, I saw him get into a fight with some guys in a lot, she said.

They looked like a bunch of nasty guys, and they kept asking about some cash. And what do you know? Next day, our goes for a three-week holiday, and when he returns, first thing he does is call those same guys up to his office. You know money laundering is what keeps this place open? Something has to, I said. Do you think we should call the place? lease? Maybe, she shrugged. Last time they came, he went off together money to pay him back. Maybe he's doing the same thing this time. Still, do you want to wait outside? She asked.

I took one last look at the blood-soaked chair and nodded. Yeah, she took my hand and led me out, but both of us were given pause at the sound of squilling metal and rusted hinges. A solitary cry. The sound had rung out somewhere deep inside the mall, hidden away in the labyrinth of shadows and glass shop fronts. Was that a door? Dee asked, and both of us stood on the metal gantry, looking down with our breath held. We waited and waited, but nothing moved. We should really head out the front and call the cops, I said, but neither of us took up the charge. I thought about taking the first step down towards the ground floor, but couldn't

quite manage it. There was no sign of anything or anyone down there. But... And second thought, Dee said. Al's a sleazy guy who can take care of himself. Let's just wait this out in the lunchroom, yeah? At least we can keep an eye on the parking lot. We'll see our ride coming from a mile away.

If he isn't in work tomorrow, then we'll call someone for help. Dee and I were in the lunchroom, raise your pace somewhere behind me, muttering rationalizations about what we'd seen. Feeling incredibly tired, I had my chin propped up in my hand, and was letting my eyes wonder the lot outside. More and more, I found them returning to the same, beat-up-looking car in the distant corner. I can't get a signal here, but maybe we're overacting. I mean, it might not even be his blood. Al's a feisty guy, and I bet my family's house he's got a gun squirled away somewhere in that office.

Not to mention, he isn't exactly a small guy and... Dee, I said, feeling the need to stop a rambling. Over the last few minutes My heavy weight had started to settle in my gut As my eyes fought their hardest To see past a gentle fury of falling snow And make sense of that lonely car D

Is that Dave's car? I asked When she ran over I think she was actually feeling a little happy Oh damn Did he actually turn up He does this sometimes tries to surprise me

It drives me nuts most of the time But today might be the first of the time but today might be the first time we'd be thankful. It's been there for ages, I said. It's been there since we first went outside. I noticed it, but didn't think anything of it. But I swear that's... Oh, damn.

Well, then it's not him, Dee cried, fairly annoyed. He wouldn't sit outside for an hour and a half without getting me. Would he? I swear there's someone in the front seat, I said. Oh, well, maybe they could give us a ride. And Dee, I swear to God that's... his license plate. No way you can read that from here.

I don't need to read it at all, just the part with a six-nine in it, I cried. Who else drives a car with the same make and model that also has the same number on the plate? Dee leaned down beside me and squinted hard through the snow. Her noance with me was fading,

slowly replaced with anxious acceptance. No way, she scoffed. I mean, yeah, it's the same make and model. And color. but why would he park up and just wait? Why would anyone do that? Should we find out? The snowfall had rapidly built up

and fears of being trapped in the hills was starting to nip away and my sense of calm. We'd had to camp out in the mall before during the Christmas season and it always sucked. But this time the thought filled me with genuine dread. I kept telling myself it was an unlikely thing to happen. But as D&I thought, away to the car, I realised it might soon be inevitable.

The snowfall was already thick on the ground, pulling out our shoes and soaking our feet all the way to her ankles. We were practically blind out there, marching through the near white-out conditions to what I hoped was the right part of the lot. Once or twice Dee tried shouting something at me, but both of us quickly gave up trying to talk to each other over the sounds of the gale force winds. When we got close enough to the car, to read the plate in full, Dee cried out and gripped my shoulder to help us off go quicker on the icy tarmac.

She looked happy, but I couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong. I took a look at the blurry shape in the driver's seat, registered the frost growing over the windows, and started to wonder why the hell anyone would sit out there with no heating. Not to mention they were stuck still,

refusing to look at us, even as Dee jogged over and bang the window with a fist. Something drew my attention, some movement I couldn't see, and I turned to look at them all behind us. Something in my gut told me it wasn't quite empty, as though another pair of eyes watched us

from behind all that dirty glass and rusted metal shutters. It was just about the only thing visible in the mounting storm, and as the snow piled up around its doors, I couldn't escape the feeling there was danger hiding, in its shadows. I couldn't have looked over for more than a few seconds, but it felt like an age. And when Dee started screaming,

I was whipped back to the present so quickly I was disorientated. I barely even registered what it was she was saying or crying as she turned and grabbed my jacket. Her fingers digging into the fabric so tight I heard Stiches start to give. It was so much, so quickly. Her screaming, the wind, the cold. the feeling of her nails as they caught my skin and started to dig in.

By the time I looked up, I know that only a few seconds could have passed, but it all felt like it played out over long minutes, like a kind of dream. Dee had managed to open the car door, and there sat Dave, looking right at me. But my brain nagged. Something was wrong. I just couldn't figure out what. He had his jacket,

his jeans, the little waving toy cat on the dash. It was all there. I just kept staring at him in disbelief. My face probably mirroring his own expression that groped at me with wide eyes and an open mouth. When my brain finally caught up with reality, it felt like a punch to the stomach. Dave's head had been twisted, damn near clean off.

His hands gripped the wheel, but his chin was pointing right at us over his left shoulder. The angle completely impossible. It wasn't that his neck was turned a bit too far for comfort. His head had been wrenched around two, maybe three times. He was so grotesque, I almost wanted to touch it, to see if it felt like vinyl or rubber. Movies had conditioned me to expect a bit of unrealism from that kind of gore.

But geez, I could see every individual hair of his eyebrows. I could see the blue and purple veins that had burst in his eyes. It was all so wrong I simply didn't know what to make of it And for some god-awful stupid reason I reached out and took his shoulder Just the check that he was dead What the hell are you doing? Dee cried

I just I couldn't get the words out And I soon recognised the signs of shock I decided to lighten the load in my head And pushed all the thoughts aside Until only a single notion remained I'm cold. We need to get inside, I said, my teeth chattering.

Dee said nothing as I pulled her up by her arm and guided her back to the mall. The grotto was different. Two large empty prints stood in the fake snow, each as large as my head. The Santa was gone. I looked at the footprints and tried to ignore what felt like a clenched fist planted square my gut. So far, my mind was racing to pull at some strange threads, ones I recognised from a thousand horror films and hackneyed stories. I wanted to shake them free, but they wouldn't go away. I should have been beside Dee, trying like hell to call the police, but deep down I knew

it wouldn't work. Lately, I had the feeling of being watched. Finding Dave's body had left me convinced it was more than just a feeling. I can't get through, D. said. stepping up to me and surveying the empty prince. I keep trying, but it's just dead. Al uses repeated to get signal out here, doesn't he? I asked, to which she nodded. Sometimes... Someone's taking it down, I guess.

I mean, they must have killed Dave earlier than eight, right? That was when we went out and sat out there. As for Al, could have been any time. We don't know Al's dead. Either way, we're stuck here, and I don't like it. My mother might turn up, but some day she's in work until midnight. Damn, I said, briefly looking at the windows where snow was falling thick and fast. I'm not sure she'd reach us if she left right now, and we've been stuck before, right?

It's reasonable we'd be here until morning. She might be a bit anxious, but she probably won't call the police for a while yet. So we just wait. Dee, I said, trying to catch her eye. I don't think we're alone here. I think we should lock ourselves in Al's own. office, she replied, I don't know what the hell is going on, but I want to be somewhere with the door we can lock.

Wait! She cried the last word so suddenly, I jumped and whipped around lightning fast, half expecting to find some dreadful plastic face gazing back at me. Instead, there were two blinding headlights staring right at us from the parking lot. For a few seconds, I was confused. Not sure if this strange car was going to ram us or reverse or what. only for the car to turn a meander out of sight towards the back of the mall. When I looked back at Dee, she was grinning with delight.

Graham, she cried. The name clicked, and I smiled too. The security guard had just arrived. I completely forgot it even shows up, I cried as I chased after Dee towards the rear of the mall. Me too, she replied as she reached the back door and pushed it open. It could have only been to be. In 30 seconds since we lost sight of the car, but when we ran out, we saw it idle in the middle of the small lot.

The engine wasn't running, but the lights were still on and pointing right at us, blinding me to who might be in the driver's seat. I quickly stepped out of the beam and walked over, my heart plunging into my stomach as I saw what waited for me. The car was empty, and one of the windows had been broken, and the roof was dented. The door was thrown. wide open, but the only sign of the security guard was this heavy-duty flashlight that had been left behind on the ground just outside the car. I quickly grabbed it and turned it on.

Dee screamed and I moved the light towards her. She was looking up, pointing towards the roof of the mall with one hand clasped over her mouth. I quietly tracked the beam across and caught sides of the pale face looking back at me. Graham was upside down. his back flat against the wall with limp arms dangling freely. Even from 30 or 40 feet away, I could tell his eyes were vacant and lifeless. But that didn't mean he was still. Something had already heaved him up to the very top of the wall in mere minute. I was now busy pulling the rest of him over the stony ledge with brutal efficiency.

A living person might have screamed at such rough treatment, but I could only make out the sound of breaking bones and tearing cloth. as his back arched to a complete 90 degrees before he was yanked over the rest of the way. Dee had stopped crying. Her lips were pressed tight and her face was white when she looked back at me. But I could tell she'd seen what had taken him.

The wall itself had handholds punched directly through the concrete and into the brick behind it. What the hell did that? I asked. We need to get inside. It was the only thing, she said. "'What are you looking for?' she asked. "'I have a hunch,' I replied as I pulled open the bottom drawer of Al's desk.

"'Ha!' I cried before reaching in and pulling out a snub-nosed revolver. "'It's so unbelievably damn illegal for him to have this, but thank God he does. "'It won't matter,' Dee said. "'I'm awful finding a weapon, but—' "'But what?' I asked as I checked the drawer for any ammunition. "'All I managed to find were three rounds, and that included one already in the gun. I loaded up the rest and took the pistol into my belt.

I'm not sure that gun's going to do much, Dee said as she watched me. I thought of the empty grotto and the strength it would take to climb that wall by punching into brick. Better than nothing, I replied. I don't suppose you saw any keys in Dave's car. Dee shuddered at the reminder of her boyfriend's death, but she answered anyway. Nothing in the ignition. Should we go check the footwell?

It might be her any choice, I said. But I don't feel optimistic. Maybe in the morning, but, for now, I think the best bet is to stay still. Dee went to reply, but she didn't get the chance. With a loud thunk, the light and electricity cut out all at once.

The mall itself didn't change, but the office were in cut to black and I managed to scramble to get the torch and turned it on. I found Dee pressed up against the wall, a look of panic on her face. What the hell? She whispered.

I silently agreed and turned the light towards the only door in and out of that room. For long seconds, nothing happened. I could hear only the muffled sounds of wind buffeting the building as D and I both held her breath

and stayed as still as we could. Then came the sound of something landing on the gantry outside. metal creaked and groaned, but nothing followed for long seconds, until at last there came another loud but softer crash of metal on metal. With steady rhythm, the sound of something large, slowly walking towards the door grew louder, until I finally shook myself free of the paralyzing terror and threw the door open to look outside. Whatever was out there was practically on the other side of the mall, but it was so heavy the entire metal wall. the entire middle walkway shook violently with each step. We have to move, now, I said, while grabbing Dee.

She was afraid, but as soon as she saw the distance between us and the dark shape, making its way toward the elevated office, it was clear she understood my meaning. The gap was closing, but there was time. We ran towards the nearby stairs and quickly made it down to the ground floor. Using the light, I checked the can tree and saw a brief flash of something. something red and large, but whatever it was, it suddenly moved too quickly and I lost sight of it. It's messing with us, I hissed, speaking only to myself. We need power, Dee said, her voice surprisingly calm. One of the shops has a secure room, but it needs power for the door to lock. How thick is the

door? I asked. I think it used to be a bucky, so it's pretty strong. I didn't like it much as a plan, but it was all we had. And I was desperate to start moving. This is bull crap! Dee hissed the words as we pushed open the door to the basement, my light catching a few other steps before they descended into blackness. There were only a few rooms down there, but I was mostly interested in the fuse box right at the back,

farthest away from where we were standing. Unfortunately, when we reached the floor, we were stuck navigating a claustrophobic collection of large pumps, pipes, and large aircon units that towered over. for us. This is bull crap, I growled as we carefully stalked away past row after row of machinery. I can't see a damn thing, just keep an eye out for the door to the back room. When Dee's hand found mine, she crushed it so hard it hurt. But it got my attention silently and I turned the flashlight back to where she pointed.

Sure enough, there was the room we'd been searching for. Only now, it looked like something straight out of a nightmare. The door had been blown outwards, like metal under pressure, and by right it shouldn't have been standing. It certainly didn't fit the hole behind it, but something had grown around the frame and held it in place. The substance, whatever it was, resembled roadkill crossed with an industrial accident. Pipes and needles and semi-recognisable tools jotted out of roiling fur and liquid flesh, reminding me of a ferromagnetic fluid. He never stayed still, but he never really moved either. I think we both would have left right there and then, were it not, for the sound of someone crying out from within.

Hello? They shouted. I can hear you out there. Please, please help me. Ah damn, that's Al, Dee said. A hand gripping mine so hard I felt blood pooling in my fingertips. All right, I said, mostly to calm myself. All right, we got to do this.

If anyone knows what's going on, it's Al. The door opened nice and easily, despite every bit of the jam being gummed up with fur and pallid skin that never stayed still. Stepping inside, I saw a dungeon right out of someone's worst nightmare. The whole room was a rancid bubbling mess of meat and metal with fleshy growths descending from the ceiling. In each one, their hung a victim, trapped in the substance.

Their upside-down faces resting at about chest height, hoping to free them, I ran to the closet and saw Graham staring back at me with lifeless eyes. I only needed one glance at the missing portion of his skull to realize he was dead. The same was true for Dave, who'd somehow been transported out of the car and to hear, and for a few of the other unfamiliar characters

who lay suspended in this horror. All of them showed signs of coming apart in grotesque ways. The liquid flesh and metal that in case Graham was steadily pouring into his skull against the flow of gravity and into his open mouth Dave's broken neck had split open and clinking metallic probes scuttled between exposed vertebrae

like termites in a house The others who appeared to have been dead much longer were all barely recognisable as human All that remained were faces and tufts of hair Somehow Al was alive writhing and fighting the mast that encased him. Get the hell over here, he cried.

I began to tear the awful substance away from him. It was like handling greasy, raw chicken and unseen shards of metal consistently cut in my hands, so that progress was slow and wouldn't speed up until Dee appeared a few seconds later with a crowbar. I was about to ask where she found it, but I stopped when I saw

what looked like a bunch of nerves growing out of the end. I realized she must have torn it from one of the horrifying stalactites that surrounded us. Their writhing forms, constantly producing an endless array of familiar shapes and tools. How long have you been here? I whispered to Al, just as Dee freed his shoulder and his arm came loose. I don't know, he said, but we have to leave now. Is a murderous Santa Claus machine running around? I cried hysterically. Where the hell did you find it?

I didn't D got his second arm free And refusing to wait any longer Al began to tear away every last bit of metal and flesh That held him in place By the time it reached his legs Dee and I were forced to watch and grimace As he meant Al pulling out tiny metallic filaments

That piered his skin He snapped them with an audible twang And each time he swallowed an agonized scream Behind clenched teeth that made me wonder just how deep they went. What the hell do you mean you didn't find it? Dee asked once he was free and on the floor. It took a few seconds for the blood in his body to write itself.

So he knelt there, panting and answered our questions. It appeared by the dumpster, he said. Sometimes people chuck stuff in the bins for pickup. It's a pain of the ass, but this time... Well, I turned up, and there he was, standing right by the back entrance. next to the dumpster like someone couldn't be bothered to throw him in. I thought, you know, where the hell not? He looked homemade, but so what?

I figured a small business must have made it, and then for whatever reason they threw it away on our doorstep. You know, I would honestly like to blame you right now, I said, but I'm not sure anyone could have predicted this. To be fair, the costumes are just fine. D and I took a moment to look at him as his words settled in. What? he cried. A tragedy shop dumped something like 30 bags in our dumpster.

You think I ain't going to check it out to see if it's worth keeping. Look at this, he said, while reaching out to touch a lapel and these waistcoat. That sturdy material right there, and the kids love an elf come Christmas. Did you wash them? I asked. Owl shrugged. I gave him a sniff. I pinched the bridge of my nose and swallowed my words. When I spoke,

It was the D. Can you check Dave for his keys? Don't bother, Al said, cutting us off. I've got mine in my pocket and my cars parked out front where it always is. Let's go. Before we left, I had D and I grab another two sets of keys just in case.

One off Dave and one off Graham. Hopefully we wouldn't need them. But I didn't feel like putting any more faith in Al. When I turned the corner and saw the grotto, the elves were all of their backstead. me. I skidded to a halt so quickly that decolided with my back. She didn't swear or curse. All of us had been running towards the front of the mall, perfectly aware of what might be waiting for us. It was a risk I'd hoped would pay off. It didn't. The animatronic Santa was facing us,

empty eyes and a hollow grin fixing us even in the dark. Surprising though, even as D&I were frozen in terror, Al settled past us and looked at it quizzically. I think we can do this, he whispered. It's right there, I hissed. No, he said, stepping out toward it, closing the distance to just 10 or 15 feet. No, it's not. Before I could stop him, he walked up to the centre and tapped it. A hollow sound like a bell rang out and he turned back to us with a grin.

"'It's not here,' he cried. "'I didn't understand what exactly he meant. "'But just in case, he thumped it a few more times "'and even grabbed it with both hands and rocked it back and forth, "'his laughter verging unhysterical. "'Cautiously, I allowed myself to approach the Santa, "'painfully aware that Al had refused the hand over the keys. "'For goodness sake, Al,' Dee cried as we passed him

"'and moved toward the door. "'We need to leave. all right he said with a nod I just wanted to prove to you that we were set His voice was cut off by sound Like a toolbox falling into custard I snapped around a sea But with no light in the mall

And only a thin bit of moonlight And the fading torch in my hand It was hard to gauge what happened clearly At least at first Something had landed on Al The growing puddle of blood And the arterial sprays that had soaked us both even as we stood over ten feet away

made it clear there would be no revival for Al Neither Dee nor I cried out But we both grew stiff with terror As we realised what we were looking at It moved like a spider But looked more like a jellyfish sculpture Made out of refurbished tools Only it wasn't just that either

Fingers and hair and flaps of torn skin Were jammed into every little crevice So that you couldn't tell if you were looking at something alive, dead, or a bit of both. If I had to guess, it was the last option. Like the strange substance in the basement, this thing didn't stay still either. Every inch of it coiled and rolled over itself, but it lacked the shapelessness of that lifeless goop downstairs.

It skittered and moved, even as it stood tearing over Al's crushed and lifeless body. Suddenly, a piece of it struck out at the metal centre, then combed itself to the mouth. For a few seconds, I thought he might yank the machine towards it, but slowly I realized that the main mass of the body was shrinking. It was pouring itself into the animatronic. And just like that, I understood how this thing had liked to move and hunt, and maybe even get close to people without being spotted a million miles away. The thought that it might have stood there in mobile in its hiding place for weeks as hundreds of people poured. past it to go shopping, made my skin crawl.

With a final slurp, the last of the thing tumbled into the center, and with a noise like a breaking train, the head turned to face us. Nope, Dee cried as I choked forward to grab the bloody keys that lay in the floor. We've got two others, remember? In a single motion, she swung me around and had us both facing the doors out of there. Normally the shutter would be down, but something had her. already done the job of tearing its pieces at some point in the night. With hardly any distance to go, we were out in the wind and snow, before that monster had even taken its first step. We were

a further 50 metres away when something blew the whole front door out in a flurry of snow and sparking metal. Where before it had felt as though something lurked in the darkness, watching and hunting us with gleeful patience, I now got the sense we had ticked it off. Something was tearing towards us, with a bit of the darkness. Something was tearing towards us, with a little bit of the darkness, watching, speed that belly did sheer hulk in mass, and I'm sure if we hadn't turned the corner when we did, it would have crushed us into the snow, like it was a freight train running over a penny. Still, the less than the second that elapsed between us turning and the sound of screeching metal coming to a stop was enough to send white-up pangs of terror coursing through my veins.

It had been so near. Ahead lay Graham's car with a light still. God, we were so close, but I knew deep down, we'd never make it. I might have been crying, maybe even babbling. I'm not sure it even matters. In an instant,

all my racing thoughts crystallized into a single, terrifying idea. D, I cried, and I threw the keys towards her. Get the hell out of here, I screamed, before taking a sharp left and prowling towards the fire exit by the back. It was a 50-50 chance,

but, to my relief, I heard the monster turned to chase me. The last thing I saw before I pulled the door shut was Dee clambering into the driver's seat and the emotionless glare of the badly sculpted Santa face thundering towards me at breakneck speeds. I muttered curses under my breath as I went to run right back to the mall

to the very same entrance we just left. I made it ten metres at most before the door behind me burst open like a SWAT team had kicked it down. The thing that chased me didn't even slow and when I saw a glimpse of it I saw arachnid limbs emerging from its knees and elbows

that gripped the floor and fought to keep the monster upright the sight of it struggling to keep up at such high speed gave me an idea all I can say for Al is that thank God he won't let a bad idea get in his way those old gunball machines no one actually uses I'm always littered with them

and left over from the 90s they stood at most corners in the hope that some I'd drop a few coins in it to chew gum that wouldn't even last five seconds. Whatever the reason, I was familiar with them, if only because I'd scratched my head after they still darted the place, long after they've been fashionable. I was still lucky to find myself near to one when the idea came to me, and I quickly threw it to the floor in a desperate crash.

The sound that followed was like thunder, meeting a high-speed car crash. The animatronic lost all traction and collapsed in a forward-moving fall, skidding to a halt after only a few metres, as its ridiculously heavy frames scratched grooves into the cheap floor. Tendors and limbs shot out to try and arrest its inertia, which now carried it in the wrong direction to my flight, but the monster's attempts the slow were useless in the face of its own mass. By the time it scurried out of its metal house, I had reached the shutters. I risked only a quick glance at ours brutalized corpse, and was on the verge of crying for joy as I saw Dee,

pull up in a car. Lights were blinding, but they illuminated enough of the space behind me to see that thing tearing through the building to reach me. I didn't even open the car door. I jumped in through the window head first and he drove off with a tire squeal of acceleration.

The last thing we heard as we left the lot was a sound of that thing ripping the front entrance apart, piece by piece, in a terrifying rage. By the time the storm cleared, and people made it to the mall. There was nothing to be found except rubble and broken glass. The mall itself was written off as a shoddy construction job

compounded by years of poor maintenance. Al was notoriously cheap and his business empire, if it could be called that, he caused a frightening number of injuries and close calls. It soon came out that when he bought the mall for cheap, it was only on the condition that he got a ton of repairs done. He never did, of course. So, in everyone's eyes, there was a pretty good explanation for the missing people,

and by the time their bodies were finally dug up from under all that broken concrete, no one thought twice about why they're in such bad shape. A few journalists rant stories asking why some of those dead people had gone missing days before the collapse, but nothing really came of it. D and I spoke a little about what happened, but it was all written off as shock by some, or a sick prank by others. After a while, we had to stop sharing our version of events. People either thought we were crazy or cruel.

D and I did our best to imagine that it all ended with thousands of tons of rock crushing that monster to death. But, I've never been satisfied. I don't know why it pulled that building down, but it worked out pretty well for it, didn't it? People walked away thinking nothing had happened. Everything from the timing of the storm to its choice of disguise, tells me it wasn't stupid.

I imagine it had lain in that old standard decoration for weeks, picking stragglers and late workers off one by one, until the coming storm left us cut off and the opportunity was too good to pass up. So I guess I wasn't too surprised when I saw a photo in the paper just a few weeks later that caught my eye. Since seeing it and verifying with my own eyes,

I've spoken to Dee and she's agreed to what we need to do. There's a town not too far from us that's hosting a little winter festival, ice skating, Santa's Grotto, a Ferris wheel. It's nothing big, but I'm sure a few thousand people will still pass through it by the time Christmas Day rolls around. Only, there's already been a few missing children in the area, sparking fears from the police.

But no one has yet to connect their disappearances to the eerie-looking animatronic Santa that stands looming over visitors right by the entrance. D and I know better though, and tonight we'll be paying that thing a visit.