Chapter 1
Last Christmas
Carrie was an average young woman in her early twenties; she lived in a small village far away from the big cities. The village is surrounded by miles of forest; there is even a lake that the villagers use for ice skating in the winters. This story takes place around Christmas. There is an old coffee shop by the square where Carrie always spends her time studying in the mornings. It’s just a few days until Christmas and in the square, there is a giant Christmas tree as always around Christmas time. It’s dressed in hundreds of ornaments and strings of lights, and on the top there’s a big golden angel ornament. Carrie sits and admires the tree as she sips on her hot coffee inside the shop, “It’s so beautiful when the snow is lying on top of the tree branches and the lights shine through it.” She thinks while she takes another sip before diving back into her schoolwork.
There are Christmas songs playing in the background and a few other students also sit and enjoy some coffee inside while looking at the snow-covered Christmas tree out in the square. Carrie gets a sudden chill down her neck; it feels as if someone’s gaze is piercing through her skin. She raises her head, looking around to see who it could be, but she only finds that everyone is minding their own business. “Maybe it’s one of Santa’s elves spying on me.” She chuckles to herself and goes back to her schoolwork. Meanwhile, they are putting together the stands outside for the Christmas market tomorrow. Every year on the 24th of December there is a big Christmas market where all the small businesses and some middle school classes sell food, and all kinds of Christmas treats and handmade crafts. It is one of the most wonderful days of the year for a lot of the people living in the village. This year, though, will be different from every other year.
The clock on the town hall building strikes 12:00 and the sound of the bells echo over the snow-covered square and signals that it’s lunchtime. Carrie packs her stuff and finishes her coffee and puts her coat and her scarf on and heads out into the cold but beautiful snowy weather. She needs to hurry over to the church to help with the wrapping of the Christmas cookies her choir is going to sell at the Christmas market tomorrow. Carrie has always loved singing, even as a child she used to perform at every school event and had always been praised for her angelic voice. With her beautiful golden hair and big green eyes, she is the embodiment of true innocent beauty. Even now, as her hair flows in the snowy wind, it shines like gold while she hurries up the church steps. The warm air embraces her as she enters the church hall, and the sweet smell of cookies is almost intoxicating. The whole choir is there, and even Father O’Hare is helping with the packaging of the remaining cookies for tomorrow’s market. Carrie takes off her coat and scarf and hangs them up by the entrance and joins in with the others.
Time has flown by in an instant, and it’s close to midnight as Carrie heads for the coat rack to get dressed. As she takes on her coat, she notices that her scarf is missing. She looks around to see if it has fallen onto the floor, but it is nowhere to be found. “Well, I’ll just ask the others tomorrow If anyone has seen it.” She says to herself while heading out to go home. There is a light snowfall, and the snowflakes shine in the moonlight as she walks down the road to the village; the Christmas lights make the whole village look straight out of a fairy tale. Carrie lives on the outskirts of the village in a timber house with her parents and her little brother. There’s a big oak tree in the backyard with a swing her father once put up when she was little, her mother’s rosebushes and a gardening shed make up the rest of the backyard. As Carrie gets closer to her street, she suddenly freezes. She is certain she can hear a second set of footsteps. Her heart starts to race, and she turns around to see if anyone is following her, but she is met only by an eerie silence and the cold mix of darkness and moonlight. The silence is broken by the sound of a branch breaking; Carrie starts to walk at a fast pace, and her heart is pounding harder and louder. She is almost running by the time she sees her house; she quickly gets inside and locks the door. She calms down as she hangs off her coat and heads to the bathroom to get ready for bed. “It has been a long day”, she tells herself, as if she needs to reassure herself that the eerie feeling she has had all day is only in her head.
Carrie wakes up to her alarm and to the sound of her mother making breakfast downstairs. It’s 8:00, and her shift at the market starts at 9:30, followed by a small Christmas concert in the evening performed by her choir. She gets out of bed and heads to the bathroom to get ready for the day. She tosses her nightdress and underwear into the laundry basket next to the sink and steps into the shower. The anxiety from last night still lingers, but as the warm water hits her face, it feels as if all those feelings are being washed away. She steps out of the shower and starts to dry off when her mother calls from downstairs that breakfast is ready. “I’ll be down in a minute,” Carrie shouts. She gets dressed, and just as she’s heading downstairs, she notices that her closet door isn’t closed. She looks inside and sees her clothes pulled to one side. She can’t remember ever leaving it like that, but she shrugs it off as holiday stress. She closes the door and walks down the stairs and joins the others for breakfast before heading out to the market.
