Dark December [A Holiday Filled Horror Anthology]

Eyes Like The Stars By: LynnS13

Author: LynnS13
Category: Horror/Paranormal
Title: Eyes like Stars
Eyes like Stars

"Oh, sonny... Do you mind if I call you sonny? I'm a little too old to be calling you honey and besides, it's the holidays, and I miss family." Mrs. Stevens kept fluttering about. She was still graceful in her twilight years, and chatty too. "It was awful nice of you to help me, I always suspected you had a kind heart. I don't know that many people who smile with their eyes as easily as they do with a gentle curving of the lips. Do you want apple cider? It's warm and my secret is, I use star anise instead of nutmeg, that's what makes it tingly."

Samuel didn't want a cup of cider. He wanted out. His love for Mrs. Stevens' Christmas goodies is what got him there in the first place. She had asked him to come by after his route to help her out with decorations. Sam should have politely declined. He had the best excuse, there were not enough employees at the center; too many parcels going around those days. But he couldn't say no. So, after delivering that last smart, flat, wifi ready, it can almost read your mind TV, he knocked at her door. 

Mrs. Stevens was pleasant. He had known her for roughly a year, since he moved to Yule Town. She was among the first to make him feel at home. Samuel realized she was alone and therefore, craved company. It was natural, even expected that she'd open her home to him on Christmas Eve.

As he stepped in, the smell of cinnamon and apple bake was so overpowering that it could have been offensive in other circumstances, but he managed.

"Make yourself at home, and I can't stress enough... Thanks so much for coming. I've been cooking up a storm and hardly had time to prop up the tree." The lady might have been right. The smell of roast was mouthwatering. It scared away the overpowering stench of spices and a musty something else Sam couldn't quite figure.

"Did someone help you bring in that tree? Wow! That's a big one." Sam tried to keep the conversation lively. Mrs. Stevens had disappeared into the kitchen, leaving him alone in the living room. His eyes wondered towards dusty, old boxes underneath the fir tree. They looked out of place in an otherwise neat house. Maybe that was the source of that moldy smell cinnamon sprinkles couldn't suppress.

"That old thing? I chopped it down myself. Old school, like your young people say. It took me a while to drag it in from the woods." Sam furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief, but Mrs. Stevens didn't miss a bit. "I'm a lot stronger than I look. The perks of living a long, yet healthy life."

"I'll make note of that." Sam accepted the plate handed by Mrs. Stevens: a scrumptious slice if red velvet iced in cream cheese topped with green sugar crystals. "It looks like tonight you are wanting me not to follow advice. It's not particularly healthy to start with dessert."

"Life is not worth living if we can't stray during the holidays. Eat up!"

He took a bite, and then another. One minute, and lovely diminutive Mrs. Stevens watched him expectantly, dying to hear his opinion... The next, his world spun out of control and it all faded.

And there he found himself, tied to a chair with an eight of a roll of masking tape keeping his mouth shut.

"Are you sure you don't want that cider?" Mrs. Stevens offered once more. "It'll make things better for you... and me. There was only so much winter green and deadly nightshade in that cake. Enough to numb you down, but not quite to alienate the pain... See what I mean?" With unexpected dexterity, Mrs. Stevens cut along the muscle through the length of Sam's arm. The man screamed, though the sound was muffled by the gag. Beads of fine sweat ran down his forehead and nestled on top of hos lashes, mixing with tears.

"Shush, shush! I'm sorry. I'm not meant to spoil an offering. It's just a little drink. Remember what I said about good habits?" Mrs. Stevens smiled with tiny, sharp teeth. "It's so hard to keep these unnatural cravings at bay, but it is for the best. Too much blood will keep you young forever, just enough will lengthen your life, and preserve your strength. My family made terrible choices fueled by overconfidence, and now they are gone. This is a chance I've taken, to keep a sense of normalcy. But then, there's something about this time of the year that wakes up the rotten within me. A little too much kindness, a little too much love for a demon spawn to keep quiet."

The woman opened the boxes, one by one. Safe within them, some in cases carved with runes, others simply rolled in newspaper, her choice of ornaments were made available.

"This is my favorite." Mrs. Stevens mused. "So much more significant than popcorn wreath. There are enough florets made of human skin and polished bone separators painted in bright colors to cover a seven-foot tree. I can always use some more, though. You won't mind after you are gone, if I flay the length of your fingers to your wrist and dye those pieces purple? Purple metallics are the rage this year and one must always keep it fashionable."

She stopped for a second, considering. "Oh, don't you worry Sam. You won't be just an unassuming ornament tied up with string. You are a show stopper! That heart of yours will spray red on ever green. And your eyes, so blue... your eyes that shine like stars will lead the way." Mrs. Stevens took out an ornament, a wooden star carved with arcane designs, older than and far beyond human traditions. The decoration had a hollowed center, a spot meant for gems, or perhaps a couple sapphire portals to a soul lost through indescribable pain.

She walked towards him, armed with a gold-leaf filigreed spoon. A little pressure, a little pop, a little blood... a little price to pay for a perfect tree topper.