The past year has been... complicated. I’ve done my best to get through it but I started to feel the weight start to come down as the days got closer to the holidays. My mother passed away on Christmas last year. My father wasn’t able to handle it. He left without a word, leaving his sixteen-year-old son enough money to live on. We expecting him to be back once he calmed down, but I’ve only seen him twice this year. My grandparents took over looking after me. They believed that my father would come around at some point. I agreed with them only to not shatter their hopes. I no longer saw that man as my father. No matter what he did, we would never be a family again and I felt guilty for that.

My uncle volunteered to look after me over Christmas. He rented a nice cabin he wanted us to spend time together. My family figured being away from the city, surrounded by a beautiful winter landscape might help my mental state over the holiday. They also thought being around my cousin around my age might give me some company. I again didn’t bother to correct them that I didn’t really care for my cousin. People called him the miracle baby. After years of trying, my aunt got pregnant with him but it came at the cost of her life. He ‘d been born on Christmas Eve, and she died on Christmas. I saw how the holidays also affected my uncle. But my cousin didn’t seem to carry any weight of his mother’s death. I really only agreed to go on the trip to try to support my uncle now that I sort of understood his hardships around this time of year.

I arrived later in the day. My uncle met me outside and helped me with my bags. The cabin felt cozy with a fire going in the living room. It had central heat so the fire was mostly for show. He quickly took my bags up to the spare bedroom so I could go and see my cousin. He expected us to get along great that week.

I found him sitting on the couch, Switch in hand with the volume nearly maxed out. I said hello but did not get a response back. Soon my uncle came out with eggnog and cookies doing his best to appear festive. Deep down, I saw how much effort he put into appearing happy for us.

“Why don’t you two hook up the game to the TV and play together? The game can do that right?” My uncle offered.

“It’s a single player game.” My cousin said, not breaking focus.

His face fell trying to think of a graceful way to carry the conversation. I quickly stood up to walk towards where my bags were placed.

“I have a handheld game too. We can chill on the couch together.” I said and that seemed to resolve the issue.

I still played 3DS games. I saw no reason to upgrade when I could get games for pretty much nothing. I barely had time to play with school nowadays either way. When I came back to the living room, my uncle was in the kitchen getting dinner ready and my cousin was kind enough to leave me two cookies and half a glass of eggnog. His behavior should have bothered me. But I found myself not caring in the slightest about him. My chest felt too full missing my mother to really care about his attitude.

After dinner I helped clean the dishes then went to my room. I felt exhausted from being around people this time of year. I got into bed trying to fall asleep. Instead, I ended up staring out the window at the snow gently falling for most of the night. My mind not as peaceful as the weather outside.

I got early up to help my uncle with breakfast. He looked as tired as I did. My cousin didn’t come down for food and slept till noon. I was fine with that. The cabin was pretty quiet when he slept. We made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for lunch when a certain someone rolled out of bed. I didn’t say anything to him. Who doesn’t want to sleep in on Christmas break?

“It’s cold as hell in here.” I heard from the other room while I stayed in the kitchen finishing putting away dry dishes.

The chores helped me take my mind off things so I insisted on doing them.

“Kev, the heater is already on. Why don’t you sit by the fire?” My uncle replied.

“Because the fire isn’t started yet, Jason.”

I flinched at the words. Kevin refused to call my uncle Dad but instead used his first name. He sounded overly annoyed over nothing. Maybe he didn’t want to share a holiday with someone he barely knew. My uncle didn't get upset. He just joked his son was grumpy from over sleeping and offered to show him again how to start the fire. I made my way over to watch from the open doorway. Jason on his knees nursing a flame and Kevin sitting on the couch, the video game music already pouring out. I turned away starting to feel hot and not wanting to listen to the same few battle songs play over and over again.

Jason found me a few hours later in the spare bathroom cleaning the floor. It was pretty clean beforehand. I still found spots in the corners and hidden patches of dust behind the toilet.

“What are you doing down there?” He asked confused on my sudden cleaning spree.

“Mowing the lawn.” I answered back on reflex.

My father had a habit of saying that phrase every time someone asked him a question with an obvious answer. I may not want anything to do with him, but some of his quirks stayed with me. My uncle smiled and got down on the floor next to me.

“You don’t have to do this. How about you and Kev hang out for a bit? Are there any new shows you want to talk about?”

I shook my head not looking up from my work.

“I’m fine doing this. It relaxes me. I want to give him some space too. I bet he’s not happy someone is invading his time off.”

Jason wanted to disagree. Christmas should be a time to spend with all of your family if it was possible. He didn’t want me to feel unwanted.

“I’ll talk to him.” He said and stood back up.

That would only make Kevin hate me more. I opened my mouth about to talk him out of it when the lights flickered off. Jason was a calm person and I’ve never seen him upset. He just tried the light switch a few times and shrugged thinking at worst he needed to brave outside to start the generator. A knocking came from the door soon after we left the upstairs bathroom. It echoed through the cabin and for some reason made my blood run cold. All the power of the cabin went out. For a second I thought the neighbors had the same issue, but it was far too soon for another person from a different cabin to be able to make it over here.

“Jason, the door!” Kevin shouted from his spot on the couch between the knocks.

I still heard his game music. The sounds being over powered by that knocking. My uncles started to walk down the stairs. I found myself reaching out wanting to stop him for an unknown reason.

“Who knocks this many times? Honestly, I heard you the first time.” Jason muttered as I followed behind him.

He told me to stay in the hallway so he could talk to whoever was at the door. He thought that maybe somehow the wind was blowing something against the door and someone wasn’t rude enough to knock so loudly and for so long.

I didn’t see much from where I stood. I heard the knocking stop as the door opened and felt the winter chill sweep through the cabin by the wind. Then I heard my uncle scream.

“Kids, run!”

Those two short words froze me to the spot instead of my body doing what he requested. He came running from the door, his arms wrapping protectively around me. He wasn’t much taller than myself and couldn’t really lift me off the ground to drag me away from the threat. I was still a kid in his eyes and not nearly an adult. A black shape came pouring through the door, the smell of pine flooding the cabin. Kevin came rushing over to see what the fuss was about.

We were unable to do anything as the creature found its way inside the cabin. Branching fingers of black roots covered the front hallway, reaching up to the ceiling. They connected to what looked to be clothing of what walked inside. The face covered with a dome of more black roots; puffs of breath came out between the twigs as it walked. I didn’t know how this thing fit through the door. It was almost as tall as the ceiling. The creature took two steps inside on legs much like a goat. Frost covered the wooden floorboards creeping out from the hooved feet. The air dropped so low I was shivering from dread and the sudden cold.

For some reason, my body acting on its own and pushed Jason behind me. Kevin stood in the living room doorway, mouth open and face pale. The monster stood, unseen eyes staring us down and the sounds of the roots creaked through the cabin.

“What the fuck... Are your like, Krampus or something?” Kevin whispered mostly to himself.

A laugh came from between the black roots sounding like cracking ice. A set of glowing eyes flickered to life in the darkness of that creatures' face. It raised a set of gnarled hands tipped with claws almost in a greeting.

“I am no such thing. I simply travel with the snow. I have come a very long way looking for a meal. Once I have eaten, I am able to move on, bringing the weather with me.”

The voice was low, almost a whisper that didn’t match the creature's size. Jason stood up, trying to act brave in front of the two teens.

“I have a lot of food. You can-”

“I require one of your bodies for my meal. You may pick whoever you would like to hand over.” The monster replied in an ice-cold tone.

My uncle nearly fainted on the spot. His eyes darted around trying to think his way out of this situation. He refused to offer either of us up, and the only other option was himself. I didn’t blame him for hesitating. Any sane person wouldn’t jump right into being eaten by a monster. While I watched his internal debate, Kevin slipped away into the living room. He snagged some newspaper and a lighter. I was helpless to stop him as he charged at the monster, flaming newsprint in hand. He grabbed a pretty big bundle so he was able to reach the creature with the flames.

“Get fucked!”

He arched his arm to toss the fire at the creature when a long hand reached down to grab the flames. It enclosed over the entire bundle, putting out the fire right away. The hand then went to Kevin’s shoulder to forcefully turn him around and then push him into me. Honestly, if I wasn’t so damn scared, the exchange might have been funny.

“I am not so cruel as to rip apart your loved one right away. I am able to wait for a long time. Make your peace, and then send out your choice when you are ready.”

I needed to hold back Kevin from doing something stupid again. The creature turned and as quickly as it appeared, it left. The cabin door open, blowing slightly in a cold wind. My uncle raced over to the door to slam it shut. He locked it, then pulled the heavy shoe rack in front of the door as if that might do something.

“Don’t be stupid! Let’s get to the car and get the fuck out of here!” Kevin shouted.

He pulled out of my arms and knocked my ribs hard enough to make a bruise. I sucked in my anger towards him to not make the situation more heated.

“Language! And it’s not there. That thing must have moved it.” Jason said and almost raised his voice.

Kevin refused to believe it. He shoved past to look out the front window. Not seeing what he wanted too, he ran to the living room to get a better look outside. I meekly followed, my heart racing to see what I already knew. In the past few seconds, the wind outside picked up. It started to howl, kicking snow around making the outside world completely white. No car could be seen beyond the front porch. If we strayed outside the wind and cold may kill us in a short while if that monster didn’t get us first.

The entire cabin shook with the wind as a terrible winter blizzard came down. We were without power with only a fireplace for warmth. I assumed we had a week’s worth of food, maybe a little less. The only way out simply for us to make a terrible choice. If we all didn’t want to starve to death in this cabin, one of us needed to die. My body shook, matching the windows rattling from the wind.

“We’ll all sleep in the living room. Can you guys help me bring the blankets and everything downstairs?” My uncle said, his voice strained.

Kevin snapped. He stormed over to his father saying how stupid that was. The living room windows were too big and exposed. He said that monster could smash them at any time to scoop us up. He said we should lock ourselves inside a bathroom with no windows until help arrives. Jason was patient, letting Kevin burn himself out. In a calm voice my uncle said that we needed to stay by our only source of heat.

I silently agreed with him. We both got to work bringing all the blankets, sheets, pillows and even towels into one spot to stay warm. I started to bring all the canned goods to the living room to make less trips to the kitchen in the future. At least the water still worked but we didn’t know for long. Jason started to fill up every empty container with water just in case. Luckily a small bathroom was next to the living room. Kevin stayed on the couch, playing his Switch until the battery gave out. He swore, tossing it across the room. I flinched at the sound of the joy con coming off in the landing. He then locked himself in the bathroom for over an hour. We left him alone to vent out his anger.

Soon we had the living room set up with a fire going. I stared at the pile of wood worried we may run out of things to burn before our food ran short. I brought some books so I decided to try and read them before we needed to sacrifice the pages to the flames. The wind outside never let up. If what that monster said was true, the snow wouldn’t stop until we let it eat one of us.

A long silence came between us. The crackling of the fire and the wind the only sounds.

“Thank you for being understanding when it comes to Kevin. He's always had a slight anger problem. All this stress is getting to him.” Jason admitted and didn’t look away from the flames.

I read between the lines. He wanted to thank me for not insisting we toss Kevin out because of how he’s been acting. I didn’t really like the guy but I didn’t want him to die. He did try and save us with the whole flaming newspaper thing. I wonder if he thought it through a little more, he could have done some damage.

“That monster didn’t give us a time limit. Maybe we can think of a way out of this. But tonight, we should just calm down a little.” I said and my uncle agreed.

We wouldn’t be able to think of any kind of plan being as stressed as we were. But what could we really do? The land line was down, our cellphones didn’t work. No power, only a fire for heat and no weapons besides kitchen knives. My uncle rented this cabin for camping, not hunting. There was no one else expected at the cabin for two weeks after we were meant to leave. Could we stretch our food to three weeks between three people? Maybe... At least our water was fine. The taps and shower ran lukewarm. Good enough to get clean with, but not good enough to warm up. If we took one step outside, that creature would eat us.

I ran through our dire situation in my head a hundred times finding no answer. Kevin came back from the bathroom. He kicked me off the couch to curl up under blankets. He refused to look at us. I didn’t even try to talk with him. Our dinner was a single can of soup. I refused to eat not feeling very well. Kevin of course complained asking for more food. Jason never raised his voice but kept saying we needed to ration what he had left. Finally, my cousin gave up to return to the couch to sulk.

I brought the bowls and pot to the kitchen to wash. Jason followed behind to gather up all the wooden cutting boards, stirred spoons and even knife block. He knew our firewood was going to run out within a few days. The rest was outside along the side of the cabin. He regretted not bringing in more beforehand. I glanced at the wooden kitchen table wondering when we would need to start breaking it into pieces.

With the snow outside, the night wasn’t very dark. I could see easy enough in the gloom. The wind kept blowing causing me to feel colder than I actually was. Jason wasn’t able to sleep but Kevin passed out on the couch, snoring away as the ones awake stared at the fire. The wooden knife block burned for at least two hours them broke apart into embers.

“Do you still miss her?” I asked suddenly unaware of what made me say such a thing.

My uncle looked over a bit startled by the question. Soon his face tuned into a sad smile. He stared back at the flames knowing this conversation would come up this week but wasn’t really sure of what to say.

“I’ll always miss her. Weirdly enough, you look more like her than Kevin does. But seeing both of you reminds me that she’s not really gone. I don’t think she’ll ever be fully gone; you know? When we first got married, she hated the spare bedroom’s paint color. I came home to see her repainting the room an ugly blue. I asked her what she was doing and she answered back ‘Mowing the lawn.”

A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. My aunt died before I was born and yet parts of her was passed down through genetics and from my father who copied some of her traits. A great deal of my personality was shaped by my mother because I tended to spend more time with her while growing up. I’d wondered if I might ever stop missing her. As if this feeling might just go away someday. I knew it wouldn't because the parts of her was woven into who I was.

Kevin snored so loudly it woke him up for a second. He rolled over and fell right back asleep. Jason and I almost laughed loud enough to wake him again. I found a bundle of blankets, ready to try and sleep for a few hours.

I woke up first, finding the fire low. I got it going again and heard Kevin waking up. He complained about the cold. I ignored him. I wondered how much of his mother was passed down to make his father be so patient with him all the time. We got started on making breakfast planning on making eggs with a slice of bread when an issue came up. The bread was missing. I was positive there been nearly a full loaf sitting on the counter the night before. I spent almost an hour of looking, and that delayed cooking. Finally, Kevin snapped unable to take the cold and his hunger.

“Stop making a fucking show! You must have eaten it in the middle of the night! You didn’t have dinner so was hungry! If you're not going to be honest, I say we toss you out!”

“Kev! No one is getting tossed out! “Jason said trying to get between us.

“Did you eat it last night?” I asked Kevin. My voice so cold it shocked me.

“What? Fuck no! I heard some rustling so it must have been you! My dad wouldn’t-”

“If your heard me eating, why didn’t you stop me? Or are you just lying to make me look bad in order to have a reason to kick me out?” I said calmly.

I wasn’t as calm as my voice sounded. I was scared to death. This was two against one. I bit down on the inside of my mouth to keep my fear and anger down.

“Fucking no-”

“Kev enough swearing! You know better.”

“I understand I’m an outsider here. Your dad loves you. I’m just the nephew. And I’m someone who doesn’t have anyone expecting me to return back home. I can see the reasoning for wanting me to be that monster's meal, but I would have hoped we could have been open about this and not so quickly resort to lies and back stabbing.”

We all remained silent in the cold kitchen. The temperature so low I thought I saw my breath. I wore two sweaters and three layers of socks and still shook. I’ve never seen such a hot angry hatred on someone's eyes before. Kevin gritted his teeth, his fists at his side ready to strike. His face turned red and before his father could grab him, he came charging.

“Are you calling me a fucking liar?! Are you fucking-”

His body knocked me to the ground and I was smart enough to cover my face with my arms pressed together. He punched down as hard as he could, but he hit my forearms instead of my face. The attack only lasted a few seconds. Jason pulled Kevin off, and got a few knocks to the cheek for his effort. The teenager pulled away, still red with anger. He charged back to the living room leaving me breathing hard on the kitchen floor.

Jason got down, shaken with his cheek turning red from the punch. In a few hours a bruise would appear in that spot.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. He's never, not like this...”

He sounded so distraught it hurt my chest. I sat up shaken but alright considering.

“It’s not your fault. What’s going on... well it sucks. But I'm going to grab some blankets and stay in a room upstairs.” I said brushing myself off.

“You’ll freeze.” Jason protested.

“I’ve been without heat before. I’ll be fine under a few layers. If I get too cold, I’ll come back down. At least a day or so away from Kevin to let him cool down would be ideal.”

As much as my uncle wanted to disagree, the pain in his cheek proved that keeping us separated would be the best idea. At least for a little while. I waited by the stairs for him to gather some blankets for me and some pillows. Kevin didn't say anything and just watched from the couch. I noticed he tossed some more wood in the fire. A bit too much. We would start to need to break down the dressers all too soon if Jason didn’t keep an eye on him.

I took two books with me. I got settled into bed, my hands getting a little cold as I read. In a short while, my uncle came upstairs with some scrambled eggs. I stomach growled from not eating the night before. I thanked him but we didn’t speak further. That day I spent in bed, listening to the blizzard outside and tried to forget what kind of situation we were in. Jason was able to cook some pasta over the fire. It didn't taste great but was warm. I took my dirty dishes downstairs and retired back to bed. I wondered how long we may be stuck for, and if I needed to avoid Kevin for the rest of the stay.

I drifted off to sleep, feet a bit cold but otherwise warm enough. For the first time in a while, I had a dream about my mother. If by some chance I died in this cabin, I started to wonder if there was an afterlife and if I could see her again. I wanted to tell her a thousand things my grief clouded when she was still here.

I was still half-asleep thinking about her when I felt the weight on my chest. My brain registered the cold blade of the knife against my throat and for a few seconds the fear of death was replaced by the calm of wanting to see my mother again. I snapped out of my acceptance of death knowing she wouldn’t want me to die so young. I didn’t dare move. My thoughts raced through my head trying to figure out a way out of this.

Kevin said on my chest, a wild look in his eyes. The knife shaking in his hand from excitement instead of regret over what he was doing.

“That thing never said you two needed to be alive to be eaten.” Kevin said, his voice trembling from joy.

I was not having this. I refused to let this bastard take my life. I feared for my uncle in that moment. Was he safe and asleep downstairs, or did my cousin silently deal with him before heading to take care of me? I will admit, I expected something like this of him. Nothing so extreme as murder but I thought we may get into another fight in this room. I slipped my arm under my pillow, the blankets shielding my movements. Before the knife came down, I pushed up, knocking Kevin off balance. He cried out, stumbling back and I swung down my weapon directly to his temple. A sickening crack came as the hammer slammed against his skull. I grabbed the knife and wasted no time checking on if the strike knocked him out or not. My socks slipped against the hardwood flooring. I nearly fell down the flight of steps to the living room trying to find Jason. He was face down in a pile of blankets. In the light of the low embers, I saw a spot of blood on the back of his head.

I didn’t really have a plan. I just went over to him checking for a pulse. That woke him up, making him slowly sit up with my help. Kevin knocked him in the head with some firewood then went to take care of me. I helped Jason to his feet, his head still groggy. I let him use my shoulder for support then it all hit me. Now what? Would I really need to force Kevin outside? Or could we just lock him in a room until help arrived? A primal scream of rage that came from the top of the stairs made it clear the second choice was no longer an option.

I refused to leave my uncle behind. I forced him behind me and raised my hammer ready for a fight. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Seeing Kevin charging down the stairs with a closet rod in his hand terrified me more than the monster that started all of this. He gave me no time to plan. He just jumped right into fighting, the metal rod coming down painfully on the arm that tried to block it. I got tossed back to the ground again, my hammer knocked out of my hand. At least being in such a rage Kevin didn’t think to pick it up.

Finally, Jason came around. He pulled Kevin off after a minute of the assault. It felt like much longer. He tossed his son half way across the room, the effort making him dizzy making him collapse to the floor. I found the hammer ready to defend us both.

“I’ll fucking kill you! I’ll fucking kill you both of you shits!!”

I only got to my knees when Kevin's scream of rage scared me too much, I stopped moving for a second. He turned completely feral. I would not be able to win in a fight with someone like him. He came again, face red and eyes wild. The metal rod slightly bent but a deadly weapon in his hands. Everything happened so fast I wasn’t sure what transpired. I tried getting out of the way, but the rod hit my head so hard I saw stars. I fell to the ground thinking I was going to die. When my sight came back, I saw Jason and Kevin still, almost embracing each other. Both breathing hard, Jason’s face filled with horror.

Kevin’s eyes went to his stomach, then to his father’s face. The rod dropping from his hand and he stumbled back a step. Blood started to bloom outwards from a small spot on his stomach. With and expression of disbelief, Kevin placed a hand on his stomach, staining it. A bloody knife dropped from Jason's hands. The same one Kevin wanted to kill me with.

“Dad...?” He asked in a tone that made him sound like a child.

I raised my head wanting to get back up only for the darkness to take over again. I didn’t know how long I was out. I woke up, feeling oddly warm and finding the cabin bright. The light hurt my eyes. Blinking, pounding pain came to my head. I refused to give in. I sat up, trying to make sense of what happened. The lights were on. That mean we had power and heat again. That fact made my stomach drop to the floor, my body turning colder than it had been in the past few days.

On shaking legs, I got up to follow the trail of blood leading to the front door. It looked as if someone was dragged along the hallway. The shoe rack pushed aside and front door open letting in the cold. My uncle stood, face white as the fallen snow outside. Tears came to my eyes but I refused to let them take over. I stopped next to my uncle, his eyes wide and staring out into nothing.

“Is Kevin...” I asked in a weak voice unable to say the full question.

I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to die but I didn’t want this. Because my uncle loved his son and I loved my uncle. He shouldn’t need to suffer through another missing person in his life. To my shock, he reached over to pull me into a hug. His body stuff and cold from standing in the doorway for so long.

“There was never a Kevin. There has only been you.” My uncle answered back.

His expression and voice chilled me to the bone. It was as if the fear of what he said turned into a physical thing that wanted to force itself through my throat as a scream. I swallowed it down, making my chest hurt. My stomach twisted unable to accept what I pushed down. With all my will power, I nodded and held him back. If this was what was needed for my uncle to deal with what he did, I was going to go along with it.

I let him sit in his bedroom for a full day in shock. We could have left at any point but I needed to clean up the mess we left behind. For some reason, Jason wanted us to stay at the cabin for Christmas. I scrubbed away the blood stains and put the cabin back in order. When he came out of his room in the morning, he acted as if nothing happened. He cheerfully made pancakes while humming Christmas songs. When Christmas did come along, any of Kevin’s gifts were given to me. The tags weren’t even changed. I acted along knowing this was for the best.

I’ll be going home with my uncle tomorrow. This cabin is going to sit empty for a while without anyone knowing of what happened. It didn’t feel right for Kevin’s death to be swept under the rug. I needed to tell someone, anyone of what we needed to do. That monster may come back here to target the next renters. Or it may go to where ever it is able to snow for the next meal. I only hope the next set of people don’t suffer the way my uncle has.

I called my grandparents saying Jason wanted me to stay for a while. They were fine with that due to their age. They found it hard looking over a teen and wanted to retire somewhere warm. I don’t know what to do when people come asking about my cousin’s location. Or if anyone is going to notice him missing. Until they do, I’m going to keep my uncle’s delusion alive. I think after everything it would be unfair to drag him back to reality. I hope that we can carry on like this for when the next Christmas comes along. Maybe, even one more after that if we’re lucky...