I shoved my hands into my pockets, cursing the luck of the designated driver as we all piled out of my tiny ass sedan. The football jacket I was wearing wasn’t nearly warm enough in the frigid night air. It was nearing midnight, and my drunk ass friends had decided last minute to check out the state’s most famous Christmas Light show. Not that any of them cared about it. Brandon had his girlfriend Jessie, and Mark had Carrie with him. And everyone was drunk; as usual, aside from me.

“Yo, Jacey, stop being a baby about it,” Brandon said, swaying slightly from side to side, with that stupid grin he always had.

I arched my brow at him, and pulled my hands out of my pockets. I was the only one not drunk or buzzed. Not that I didn’t enjoy it- I was just the only one not stupid enough to drive drunk. Mark would have driven while seeing triple and gotten us all killed. I made a gesture at him, and he laughed, leaning against his girl so he wouldn’t fall flat on his ass.

Jocks.

I snorted, well aware I was one of them.

“Let’s just get this over with,” I grumbled, turning towards the display of lights on the other side. Obnoxious Christmas music could be heard over the howling of the wind- the kind that always got stuck in your head after listening to just a few seconds. I shivered hard at a bitter gust, and drew the jacket closer around, trying not to show off how cold I really was.

“You want my jacket?” Mark teased from the other side of me, his arm swung around Jessie. I flipped him off, too, and then stomped through the layers of snow towards the sound of ‘Old Saint Nick’ blaring in the darkness. The sky was lit up, dark clouds tinged golden with the amount of lights throughout the forest. Maybe as a kid I would have been interested- but not at twenty three years old.

“Bite me! It’s cold,” I yelled back over my shoulder, met by the sound of my friend’s laughter.

I trudged through the snow, breath fogging up the air as I walked on. The area had a few stray cars left inside, but considering it was nearing midnight and the attraction was closing, most people had already gone home. Mostly families must have frequented the place. Though he wouldn’t be surprised to hear other college kids trampled around making a mess of things. Drunk, or maybe just really into Christmas.

Christmas itself was a few days away- I whipped out my phone to be sure of the date and grimaced. 11:45, December 21st 2019 flickered across my screen as it came to life. My battery was low- and of course the signal was crappy out here, in the middle of nowhere.

The first light that greeted us- or me, rather, since the assholes were lagging behind- was an oversized, ridiculous image of Santa Claus drinking from a pina colada on a beach chair. My niece would have loved it- she was five, after all. A large wooden gate blocked off the entrance of the forest, though if one were particularly daring, you probably could have snuck in through the side of the forest.

“Are you here alone?” A voice suddenly piped up behind me. Heart hammering in my chest, I whirled around, not having heard or seen anyone else there. They didn’t even make a sound in the snow.

The lights flickered behind me, casting colorful shadows on the white snow still covering the ground. A figure stood bundled up, long dark hair framing a pale face, hard to make out any real features on them. “Uh, no. My friends are just up there,” I gestured, immediately relaxing as I heard their loud voices carry down the path.

The girl’s smile grew a bit brighter- but it was obviously one of those fake, customer service smiles, that didn’t quite reach her dark brown eyes.

“Well, you’re in luck, then. You’ll be the last ones coming through the tour tonight so we can take our time if you’d like,” Her smile tensed as I gave a non-committal grunt of a response.

The smile on the girls’ face faltered a bit when she saw the other four stumbling closer, walking down the trampled path to where we stood. But she inhaled sharply, and then greeted them all. “Elison Skau at your service,” She held her hand out, the fake smile broadening as my friends stumbled closer. “That’ll be $20 a person,” she said cheerfully.

There was a chorus of groans, but one by one, everyone grabbed the cash, and handed it over. As per the norm, since I was the driver, my friends paid for it. This time it was Mark’s turn. It was a sort of unspoken rule to our group- but hey, I wasn’t one to complain about it when it got me free things. Even when the free thing wasn’t something I would have touched with a twenty foot pole. Their families were rich and mine...was not.

One by one, the others trailed forward, the couples holding hands and laughing at some joke between them, entirely too drunk to really be doing anything in the middle of a dark forest. I walked closest to our guide as she moved for the gate and opened it for us. The great door swung open with an audible creak, revealing the wonder of the lights before us. It was entirely lost on me, but I heard one of the girls squeal in delight, and smack their boyfriend’s side. At least someone was happy that night.

We stepped through the gate into another world, jaunty Christmas tunes blaring from all around us. It was like stepping into a Hallmark movie.

“All right, as I’m sure you know, the trail is three miles long, and full of the greatest lights- some you’ve never seen before in your life! It wraps around the start of Jólnir forest, so none of the deeper parts are disturbed,” as she spoke, I noticed a soft accent coloring her words- as if playing up the whole Scandinavian vibe thing she had. “The forest itself goes on for-”

“Yeah, whatever,” Brandon snorted from behind us, laughter and giggles echoing up from the back. “Just show us the way.”

I rolled my eyes, but looked to the guide, seeing she hadn’t even faltered and was still walking down the path. Her legs were short, but she’d made it quite a bit ahead of us. “Well, keep following me,” she called out in a sharp tone, her pace brisk. “Just don’t go off on any of the side trails. I know the forest by heart, but you lot aren’t as lucky. The forest is dangerous this time of year.”

“Hey, come on, I don’t need you getting us lost. I actually want to get back and pass my classes unlike you idiots,” I shot back over my shoulder, trying to hurry my footsteps to keep up with Elison. It was too cold, and dark, and my friends didn’t think a forest could be dangerous. They lived too long in the city, obviously.

“Oh come on, don’t be a baby! The lights are boring,” Mark groaned from the middle of the group.

“You wanted to come, dumbass,” Brandon shot back at the other, starting a barrage of quips and insults punctuating the overly cheerful sound of Christmas spirit.

We rounded the bend to be greeted by yet more shimmering lights on display. These ones gleamed with brilliant colors, far more elegant than the childish ones from the previous section. Eli stood at the front of the path where it opened up, turning around to wait for us with the fake smile plastered on her face. It probably irritated her to no end to have us there- but unfortunately for her, we’d already paid. Going back wasn’t going to be an option.

“It’ll be over before you know it- I promise you’ll enjoy it as we get further along!” Her cheerful tone did little to silence the grumblings of my friends. Even the girls seemed to be catching the restless mood.

Still, Elison turned and walked away, the small group trailing after her. I trudged forward first, but then stopped when I heard Brandon’s loud voice. “Where does this lead?”

Elison stopped, and turned, feet barely crunching in the mix of dirt and snow. I watched her smile falter again, and then turned to see Brandon had broken away from Jessie, and was standing in front of another wooden fence. Written in plain, red, blaringly obvious text, were the words “do not enter, authorized staff only.”

The trees were thicker beyond the gate, a mass of darkness beyond the bright cheery lights. I shivered at their imposing figures, but straightened my jacket to hide the movement.

“To the rest of the forest,” Elison answered in a tight voice, “Away from the lights- there are more trails that way, but those are only open in the hiking seasons,” Elison said, as she made her way towards the rest of us. She passed me, stepping lightly, and I caught the faint scent of pine and honey coming from her. “It’s dangerous with all the ice and snow. And not a part of the Christmas trail.” The smile on her lips was strained.

“Yeah. And probably a hell of a lot more interesting than this stuff. Why is there no lock?” Brandon asked, as he pushed the door open. Elison seemed to bristle, and moved closer.

“The sign should be more than enough of a warning,” she said in a tense tone. I couldn’t see her face, but I could imagine the false customer service smile had long since fallen from her face. “I really don’t advise you go that way- you’ll only get yourself hurt. The forest doesn’t like strangers.”

“Forests don’t have feelings,” Mark snorted, and came up to Brandon’s side. Their girlfriends were back on the path, just watching with a nervous air.

“Guys, come on. The quicker we get this show over with, the quicker we can go home,” I interjected, trying to be the voice of reason. It was the story of my life.

“Jace, Come on,” Brandon said, turning to me, “What’s she gonna do if we go this way? Call the cops?” Brandon rolled his eyes, and then gave Elison a lopsided grin.

I could feel the electricity sparking in the air, and just heaved a sigh. “Jesus Brandon,” I muttered, and swept a hand through my hair. He was an idiot sometimes, but wasn’t usually this thick. “What are you going to do if we get lost? Running off into a forest at midnight? This has to be one of your stupidest ideas. And you’ve had plenty of them…”

There was a moment where I thought they might listen. And then Mark laughed, kicked the door open, and stomped forward. The sound of twigs cracking and untouched snow being trampled made me wince visibly. “Come on, Carrie! Leave the babies behind if they don’t want to come!”

Brandon clapped Mark on the back, laughing as he passed. Afraid of being left behind, the girls hurriedly trotted after them. “Sorry Jacey,” Jessie shot me an apologetic look as she passed by, knowing her boyfriend was an ass for this.

For a moment, I sat still. A cold wind blew straight through my jacket, the sound howling in my ears, chilling me to my core. I glanced aside to Elison, who was staring at the open gate where they had walked through. “Sorry, I’ll go try and bring them back,” I said hurriedly.

Elison gave a sigh, and shook her head. “People just like doing exactly what they aren’t told to do…It’s predictable.” I frowned, and looked at her. She was smiling again- only, in an eerie way that didn’t quite reach her dark eyes. She flicked her gaze to me, and then the smile faded. “It’s really not safe back there…” she said in a tone of warning.

I trudged after my friends, leaving the warmth and safety of the lights, barreling into the darkness. I heard their voices from ahead, laughter and arguing echoing over the darkened limbs of trees. In an instant, the comfortable world of lights was bathed in shadows. The sound of music had faded into a distorted echo- breaching through the darkness of the woods.

The sound of my own breathing had somehow grown louder, and I hurried my steps, trying to be as fast as possible while still trying to be careful. I didn’t want to fall and snap my neck out here in the wilderness. Or worse. I cursed my friends under my breath when I finally caught up. “What the hell Brandon! Mark?” I snapped, the chill of fear only fanning the flames of my anger.

“Chill out, Jace,” Brandon snorted, though he staggered, tripping over something, and laughed. “The lights were boring, anyways! Let’s go find some bears,” he laughed, and I shot a useless glare. We could hardly see in the darkness. Only the smallest rays of the moon filtered in through the branches. And this idiot expected to find bears?

“Chill out? First you guys make me drive you to this shitty forest, and then we break into off-limit grounds, right in front of that girl? Seriously, what the fuck…” I was at my limit, and if I knew they weren’t going to get their drunk asses hurt without me, I would have turned and left them there.

I wasn’t sure how far we’d walked, but it was far enough for the Christmas lights to have all faded away. A sudden sound from the trees dried out the retort in my mouth, the words dying on my lips. It was a ghastly sort of screech, shocking us all into silence.

“What the fuck was that?” Mark hissed

“A-A bat?” Jessie offered, her voice trembling.

“That was not a fucking bat…” Brandon responded. I heard a faint tremble of uncertainty in his voice.

“Yeah, no kidding…” I whispered, and then turned in a tight circle, the sound of a twig snapping nearby making us all jump. Something moved just beyond our field of view. Twigs cracked, and branches snapped, the sound of earth and snow crunching beneath heavy footsteps.

“Bears don’t sound like that either,” Brandon said softly, “The fuck is it!?” I saw the edge of his back as he moved forward and reached out, trying to keep him from leaving.

“Don’t be an idiot!” I hissed, jerking him back by the neck of his jacket. He grunted, and then gave a nervous sounding scoff.

“It’s nothing! It’s just a deer or something. It can’t be a bear. My dad used to hunt, deer make some strange sounds, that’s all…” though Brandon didn’t sound entirely convinced, he still shook my hand off, and stepped into the darkness.

“Brandon!” Jessie called out after him, but remained frozen in the place she stood. I couldn’t blame her. I clenched my hands into fists, and cursed, breaking away from the others- just a step.

The ghastly shriek repeated itself, cutting through the air like ice. We heard a scream from ahead, and then a loud snap that echoed out into the sudden silence.

“Brandon?” Mark called out first.

A dead silence answered.