Anna was driving to the Christmas cottage in Winter's Pass for a family get together with her sister Leslie and brother in law Dan. Anna smiled at her reflection. She had short cropped brown hair and hazel eyes that were very warm and expressive. It had been a horrible year for Anna working in the service industry and after quitting her new job two weeks in, Anna needed a break.
The Christmas music was canned and flavorless but Anna didn't care she was tired to the bone of working and making other people happy. She needed some Christmas cheer and family time. The Christmas cottage was perfect in every way and so off she went and three hours later she pulled into the winding drive in Winter's Pass Minnesota.
Pulling in the first thing Anna noticed was the power was off and no decorations were up yet. No worries, thought Anna, they could decorate later when Leslie and Dan arrived. The cottage had always felt warm and inviting but today the windows were dark and foreboding. The wind cut straight through her warm clothes to the bone with an icy bitter chill.
Picking up her suitcase Anna walked to the heavy wooden door with the brass knocker that was shaped like a lion.
Opening the door with the key and going in felt like a major accomplishment. On the rug in the entryway was a beautiful old piece of iconography which Anna opened, and there where the blessed mother should be was a shadowy figure with red eyes and a black shawl. Dropping the old icon Anna walked into the kitchen and began turning the lights on and then using her cell called Leslie, seeing she'd texted and called 12 times.
"What's up Les?" Anna asked when she finally got her on the phone.
"We're stuck in Denver and there's a huge blizzard. None of the flights are going through and we won't make it to Winter's Pass for another 36 hours because the pilot walked out along with the crew." Leslie sobbed into the phone.
"Look it will be ok, we'll celebrate when you get here and everything will be fine." Anna soothed wondering why she'd ended up arriving first.
Hanging up the phone Anna walked into the kitchen and noticed that there was only canned food and not anything fresh. Ok fine she could manage on that and the heat and lights were on but a blizzard meant needing to ensure enough wood for fires.
Outside the wind blew and Anna hurried to the woodshed and it was stocked perfectly. Ok well the grounds men had managed that.
Back in the cottage Anna went to her room and set it up. That night after eating soup and beans Anna fell into a restless sleep dreaming of the icon and that she heard her whispers in the house. When Anna woke up she was naked and standing in front of the window and outside the blizzard raged. The windows shook with the storm's utter fury and Anna looking out saw nothing but a white haze. Yet in the distance she thought she saw two red glowing orbs.
The next day Anna put the old Christmas things out and the tree up with all the decorations. Driving into town was impossible because the roads were closed and the nearest town was 8 miles away. The ornaments were old and handmade from the old country and not all of them made Anna smile. The angel was creepy and on closer inspection had red eyes and golden horns.
"Next year I'm buying new ornaments and e-baying all of you." Anna said looking at the angel collection and the other ornaments that somehow didn't quite leave her with warmth or joy. The Krampus and Santa were made of wood and hand painted. Santa was fine but the Krampus doll had a diabolical look in its glass eyes.
