Try This Cleanse

Sandy wouldn't be able to explain, later, how it got out of control. Everything was blurry and hardly any of it made sense.

She was kneeling at the fireplace, trying to build the fire hotter and hotter, to purge whatever malevolent force had taken hold of the red and white polyester and garish plastic.

Why are my knees damp? And what's that funny smell?

The decorations on the mantel caught. She didn't notice at first, what with her nostrils full of burning plastic, and her brain full of stop the elf.

The rug took the flames eagerly, and she pulled back, away from the biting heat. Before she could shake the cotton wool out of her head, the tree went up with a whoosh.

Still woozy, Sandy struggled to contain it. She felt for her phone to call for help, and then remembered he smashed it.

The smoke choked her. For the third time in less than forty-eight hours, Sandy felt herself losing consciousness.

With the blackness closing in, weighing on her, something in the back of her mind poked insistently, trying to get her attention. That's important!

It was useless, she was slipping away and under...

She dreamed.

Karl was back at last... so quickly it was like he never left... but he wasn't her Karl. He was an angry, ugly twin. He was saving her, always saving her, but this time it was like his skin had been peeled away and the rotten underneath was showing. Spitting spiteful words and hauling her painfully under the arms. Away from the heat and smoke... Stupid bitch, what did you do, you weren't supposed to-

-Cool. It was cold and wet under her face.... and he was gone again. There was wailing, blue and red light, and voices...

It was a relief to wake in a bed with clean white sheets. The room was dull, sterile, and not spinning. Most importantly, it wasn't on fire. Best of all, no elf.

Instead, there were two police officers wearing grave expressions. Her home was gone, burnt to a shell. Arson, they said. Accelerants in the fireplace. Her husband and children were missing.

Her head felt clearer than it had in days. I'm a suspect.