A Hat of Silk and Lightning

The problem with building a snowman in the middle of a thaumaturgic circle is that rolling the bottom ball over the circle smears the circle. Thus, Edwin had to build the snowman and then redraw the circle. He wiped his brow and exhaled, but he had finally finished the major work. He checked the small electric generator, put it into the silk hat, and put it on the snowman. In front of the snowman he placed a chewed-on pencil, a crumpled T-shirt, a whistle, and three diamonds, He lit the candles surrounding the circle and started the ritual to summon the demon that would bring the snowman to life.

On the last syllable, the candles almost sputtered out but quickly returned to normal. The snowman's arm branches shook, the yarn mouth yawned, and the carrot nose twitched. The head swiveled a couple of times and then looked at the thin young man in robes before it. A sigh issued from the mouth, followed by a deep voice. “I do not see the sacrifice needed to complete the ritual. Without it, you know that your own may be forfeit, correct?”

Edwin smirked. “The person will be here when needed.”

The snowman nodded. “I hope your faith in others is rewarded.” It looked down at its body. “One moment. I appear to be missing legs.” The snowman's branches moved to point at its lower half. In moments its lower half had grown legs, increasing the height of the snowman. It moved its legs. “Better.”

Edwin nodded and pointed to the tokens. “The other parts of the payment have been allowed for as well: The hat has been linked to the diamonds; when you kill the intended victim the soul will be drained into a diamond.” The snowman nodded. “The hat also contains an engine that provides you with the ability to move along power lines. I know your own powers are more than up to the task, but I am required by the contract to give you some sort of tool to assist your work.”

The snowman nodded. “Very well. Then I shall get going. The sooner I am done, the sooner I return home.” The snowman looked outside. It sighed as it saw a power line just outside the room. “I guess we shall test your device.” The snowman was reduced to lightning, a bolt that flew to the line. In moments, the bolt was out of sight.

He watched the snow flying in the wind outside. With its ability to control and generate snow and ice, he knew he had summoned the perfect assassin for the given weather. He sat back and smiled as he knew his problems would be dealt with.

* * * * *

The bolt left the power line and formed back into the snowman. It inspected its body. “These mortals do sometimes produce wonders.” It looked at the twigs that formed its hand; it saw a pencil with multiple bit marks. “So my first client is in this building. Let us begin.” It began walking to the brick building in front of it. In moments he had found an open window; he smiled. “Let us see if I retain my native abilities.” The snowman's form was covered in a soft blue glow; the form became a flurry of snow and disappeared into the building.

The cloud flew past several young women in various states of undress, some just in towels. It ignored them and flew into a shower. Despite the obvious communal nature of the shower, only one blonde girl was bathing. It concentrated on the water caressing her body; he was rewarded as the water spraying down froze into spikes. The pressure of water coming out of the nozzle drove the ice spike forward at high velocity, and they grew longer as more water fed their growth.

The young woman did not even have time to scream as her body was penetrated by the spikes powered by the water pressure. It noted the love charm around her wrist. “That's not how that is supposed to be worn.”

It left the shower and returned to the power line to travel to the next stop on its short itinerary.

* * * * *

Edwin watched as one of the diamonds turned red. “Guess that engine worked. I wasn't sure if it would.” He put the diamond in a pouch and looked at the tokens, noting that the pencil was missing. “So much for the girlfriend,” he said grimly.

* * * * *

The snowman appeared next to the school gym. “I hope this is not the tale I am used to hearing.” It looked again into its hands; it saw a whistle. It nodded. It walked inside the gym. It took a few moments, but it finally found a single older yet very fit man inside lifting weights with no spotter. He was sweating profusely, giving his body a nice sheen and causing a puddle to grow beneath his feet. The snowman also noted the pale patch on his finger and could see a tall bottle poking out of a desk drawer. The only other decoration was that of a blond girl; she looked vaguely familiar but the snowman shrugged it off. It knew the man's story, or at least the man's reason for being here.

It considered the situation for a moment, weighing variables in its head, then smiled. He concentrated on the weights, and ice grew on them; soon there was enough extra weight that the man was struggling. It then concentrated on the sweat at his feet, freezing it into a slick ice. Between the added weight and the slick he was standing on, the man was struggling to stay standing up, a struggle he soon lost. The man hit the cement hard.

The weights soon followed.

The man sputtered for a few moments but soon stopped moving.

The snowman returned to the spot outside he had come from, ready to return to his journey.

* * * * *

Edwin watched another diamond turn red. He noticed that the whistle was missing. “He should have let it happen. He brought this on himself.” He put the diamond in the pouch.

* * * * *

It appeared just outside a nice little home in the suburbs. “That engine is a fine piece of work.” It looked at its hands; the crumpled T-shirt was there. “So this is the last of tonight's clients.” It began walking to the house. It walked to the open garage, moving toward the sound of someone hitting something solid. It ended up in the garage, a muscular young man punching the bag in front of him. The young man was crying. “Coach said I just had to talk to her, like that worked. At least I ruined that cheap necklace he gave her.”

It smiled as it saw how much the young man was sweating, unknowingly making its job that much easier. It focused its attention on all the moisture the athlete produced; the tears were the first to freeze, followed by the sweat. The thin shell became thicker as the snowman drew in the moisture from the surrounding area, eventually covering the young man. He soon suffocated under the ice shell. Soon another red diamond was in the pouch with its fellows.

The snowman smiled. “How ironic that sweat naturally cools the body. This was just the natural extension of that.” In moments the snowman was heading to the power line, one more trip to complete the night's business.

* * * * *

The snowman flashed near the shack where it had begun the night, solidifying quickly into his adopted form. “This form will not do.” He melted into his flurry form and separated out some of the snow. It sent that part into the circle.

Edwin smiled as he saw the flurry appear in the circle, followed by the hat and then the snowman reforming. He pulled out a small rod with a red button on top; when enough of the snowman had reformed he pressed the button. The snowman was surrounded by a soft red glow; electricity flowed into the red field. Within seconds there was nothing left of the snowman but the flaring of candles and the smell of ozone. He smiled. “I told you that the fourth sacrifice would show up. The hat may have allowed you to convert to and from electricity, but it also allowed me to pump you full of electricity.” He put the button down. “Welcome to the world of electrolysis, demon.” He grabbed the pouch. “With that final sacrifice, I guess that the diamonds are now mine.” He looked at the pouch and put it in his pocket, smiling as he patted it.

He then felt a chill in the air. There was a whisper in his ear. “I assumed the hat was trapped when I put it on.” The young man froze as his eyes widened. “The hubris of youth to forget how long I have been around.” Edwin saw the snowman reform, this time with a smile on its face. “You lost the girl because her boyfriend's removed the necklace, destroying its power. That old man died because his advice was what sent the boyfriend to talk to his girlfriend. They had to die for keeping you from what you wanted.”

Edwin's anger was warming him up. “So I used you to remove proof of my mistakes. It's what demons are for.”

The snowman sighed. “I actually approve of that. No one should have to worry about their mistakes haunting them.” The snowman moved closer to him. “But there is the matter of the contract.”

Edwin took a step back. “No.”

The snowman leaned into the thin young man. “I do give you credit for trying to destroy me. It was a clever plan, albeit expected. Nonetheless, I do need to kill you.” Edwin tried to run. The snowman howled, catching him in a flurry of snow. In moments, the young man was a frozen statue. The snowman punched the statue, shattering it. It grabbed the pouch and walked into the circle. A view of a world of arctic winds and ice had replaced the circle; it threw the pouch into the frozen world. The snowman collapsed as an insectoid form left it and flew into the circle, catching the pouch before it landed on the otherworldly ice plain.

The view soon closed, replaced by the ground of the thaumaturgic circle covered in a thick shell of ice.