Naught Nice

This is for RM Stockton's Haunted Christmas Prompt. Here is the link if you would like to check it out!

Callie just turned 16 this year, and Christmas was on its way soon. Her mom took her to the mall for some Christmas shopping for their friend's and family just like they did every year. And as per tradition, for Callie putting up with her mother's eccentric shopping, she was allowed to pick one early gift. Barbie's, Polly Pockets, and makeup kits were the usual choice every year. But this year, Callie's taste had really changed, as she was now identifying as an "Emo". Strolling through the seasonal isle, Callie happened to glance up from her phone, and immediately something caught her attention.

Yes, this was more more her style this year. The newest version of The ElF On A Shelf, "Naughty Elf". She grabbed one of the packages and tossed it in the basket. "Oh absolutely not young lady!" Snapped her mother. "Come on Mom, you swore, any present under 50 dollars..." Callie protested back. "Besides, look how cute he is..." She said while holding him up with a cheesy grin, a grin her mother was rarely able to resist. Her mother rolled her eyes, and Callie WHOOPED in joy, knowing that meant her mother had conceded.

Later after they finished up dinner, Callie showed off her Elf On The Shelf to her father. "Creepy." Was all he could muster up. She laughed and went up to her room, and set her new friend on her nightstand. "Chuckles, that's what I'm going to call you." She noticed he came with a fancy little blank scroll, the directions said to write a message for Santa, she knew he wasn't real, but decided to play along. She wrote her note, rolled it up, and stuck it in the elfs little satchel. She climbed in the tub and then got dressed for bed. Climbing under her cozy blankets, she looked over and said "Goodnight Chuckles, sweet dreams." And turned out the light.

A loud noize woke Callie from her sleep, a big THUMP!

She flipped her light on, and noticed right away that Chuckles was no longer resting on her nightstand. "What the?" She thought to herself, looking over the edge. "Hello Callie." A voice said at the end of her bed. Callie sat straight up and shot a scared glance down to her feet. And there sat Chuckles, with his same big evil grin. Only this time, he was brandishing a large knife in his hands. And well, he was very much alive. Callie's first reaction was to scream, but instead of coming out of her mouth, it somehow went backwards, and down deep into the pit of her stomach.

"No need to worry, little thing." Chuckles told her while standing to his feet, then taking slow and deliberate steps toward her. "You see, this here toy isn't for you. No no no...." He trailed his finger along the edge of the blade. "Then why are you holding it?" She asked with a tremble in her voice. "Well you see there Callie, I'm a very special kind of elf, A Naughty elf to be exact." "Because, you're naughty?" Callie asked. "He sat directly in front of her, crossing his legs and placing his hat by his side. "I come from a very different part of the North Pole. You see, Santa has his elves to watch the children who are naughty and nice, and they are the ones who make his naughty and nice list for all the kids on Christmas. Well, there is a very special group of elves, just a few select of us, we are. Our purpose is to find the naughty parents in the world, and well, to play a little game."

He placed the knife gently in her lap, "Take a closer look dearie..." Callie glanced down at the blade and inhaled in horror as she saw both her parents names, one on each side of the blade. "So, you're saying my parents are on the naughty list? Why?" She questioned, handing the blade back, too scared to keep it in her own hands. "Well I can't tell you that girlie, that is part of the game, for you to get them to tell you their dirty little secret." Callie thought about this for a moment, this didn't sound like a very fun game to play. She inquired further, "And what if they don't want to play?". As if his look wasn't one of a twisted maniacal creature already, he was somehow able to warp his face into an even more sinister look. "Oh sweet child, that's where my fun, really begins."

Light breaking through the window, that was the next thing Callie remembers before opening her eyes to see Chuckles sitting right where she had placed it on the nightstand the night before. There was no knife anywhere to be seen, just her lifeless elf, sending that gleaming grin her way. Was that a dream? It felt so real though. Callie decided to pass it off as a really vivid nightmare, maybe her mom was right, maybe such a scary looking toy was not the best idea.

During breakfast though, she couldn't help but watch her parents, wondering if they did hold some big secret from her. She decided to tell her parents about the dream, they just looked at her curiously and assured her that they had no secrets.

The following morning Callie woke up to her mother screaming crazily. "Callie, get down here NOW!!!" She rushed downstairs to see her living room had been destroyed, lamps smashed, cushions torn up, their tree and presents, completely demolished. Her parents screamed and blamed her, asking her why she would act out in such a way. Callie insisted on her innocence, "Maybe a burglar broke in?" They told her she was grounded indefintely, and she spent the rest of the day in her room. That night she was sitting at her desk listening to music (since mom and dad confiscated her computer) when she heard a scraping sound coming from behind her. She turned to find Chuckles standing behind her, dragging the knife along the ground. "Strike one! Hehehe!" He snorted. "Holy shit!" Callie cried out. "Ah, ah, ah, little one... you don't want to end up on the naughty list either." He said, pointing one of his tiny fingers at her. "Two more chances to tell the truth, your parents have... better make them play along!" And with that, he turned, did a freakishly quick little hop up onto the nightstand, and the knife vanished as he turned back into his plastic self.

It was dinner time again, and Callie once again told her parents what happened, but that now she knew it wasn't a dream. She begged them to tell her what they were hiding, she told them she was afraid of what might happen if they didn't. They scolded her and told her to stop whatever game she was trying to play and sent her to fetch the elf, then her father ordered her to take it straight to the outside trash, then to go straight to her room for the rest of the night. She reluctantly obliged.

It was the middle of the night when she once again heard her mother screaming, only this was not an angry scream, it was a scream of absolute terror. She ran into her parents room to find her mom holding her father's lifeless, bloody body. "What have you done??" Her mother shouted at her. "I told you, it wasn't me!" She screamed back, still horrified at the sight of her father. "What, it was the fucking elf?? Are you out of your mind???" She layed her head on her husbands chest and sobbed.

"Actually, she is the most sane one here... especially compared to me." Callie's mother looked up, her face becoming white as a ghost when she saw the little elf, standing in her doorway, holding the blade covered in her husbands blood.

"That was strike two little Callie!" He cackled while wiping one side of the blade. He then showed them that same side of the blade, there laid the name of her dad, just as before. But just as quick as she saw it, it began to vanish from the blade. "Only mommy now..." Chuckles said, pointing the knife at Callie's mother. "Please you don't need to do this!" Callie cried, running to place herself between her mom and the elf. "Oh, but trust me girlie, I most promise you want to hear this... come on 'Mommy', tell your little darling doll why you're on the naughty list." He crept forward. "Please Mom, it's ok, just tell me!" Chuckles then darted around Callie and slashed her mother's face open. Her mother cried out "Ok!..." She looked at Callie, gabbed her hands, and said, "I'm so sorry honey... but we kidnapped you, you aren't actually our child." Chuckles chuckled.

Callie ripped her hands away, and pushed herself away from the now foreign woman sitting in front of her. "Why are you doing this?" The woman asked Chuckles. "Easy dearie, I'm just answering Callie's note." He pulled it out of his satchel, unrolled it, and cleared his throat. "Ehhem... Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is to know why I feel like I don't belong. Callie." He sneered, looking at her with vile satisfaction.

He then directed his attention to Callie. "What would you like to happen now, little doll? The choice is yours..." He extended the blade toward her and smiled.

The next day, Callie woke up in her bed, covered in blood, and a blade in her hand. She looked at it, no names... looked around, but saw no sign of the elf. She slowly walked to her parents room and pushed the door open, there layed both her fake parents, mutilated beyond recognition.

She went to the dresser, got on the phone, and called 911. Never to find out what exactly happened of the Chuckles, the naughty Elf. But also, never again wondering why she didn't feel like she belonged.