Black Christmas

Chapter 14

The only elf who doesn't know Jack's origin is Gavin. The others are surprised that he's never heard of Frost but assure him that he's lucky for this.

"Well, we've got a bit of a trip to the South Pole, should we tell him the story?" Alan looks at the others to see if they agree.

James looks at Greg. "You've been the big man's assistant for a long time, haven't you? I bet you know the story better than anyone else."

"That's true," Greg answers. "I was there for the whole thing."

Gavin is confused but eager to learn. "Tell me, Greg. What's the deal with this guy?"

Greg begins the story. "It started a long time ago. Before I worked for Santa, before my... incident. Before any of us were even around. Back in the early days when Frost and Kringle got along."

The other elves watch Gavin's face. They don't want to miss his look when Greg gets to the good part.

"See, they were partners, back in the day. Friends even. On green Christmases, Santa could always count on Frost to bring the snow to the warmer regions. In return, the big man would bring Frost on his trips, drop him off where it's coldest. Frost loved that."

Gavin is wondering at what point this story goes wrong. He's never heard of Jack Frost until now, but he doesn't sound like any kind of psychopath.

"It happened slowly, no one ever saw it coming. It was a few years back that he snapped. I was already working for Santa at that point."

Gavin's facial expression switches back to confusion. Still, he looks interested.

"He went... just fucking insane. The North Pole was already cold, but he gave it that constant, unbearable chill it has now. For no reason other than causing chaos."

"So that's why it's so goddamn cold every time I go outside now. I thought it was just global warming or some shit." Gavin's input doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but the others enjoy it.

Greg goes on. "Santa and I tried to stop him, but he was enjoying the trouble he caused. He went around freezing elves alive... smashing the twisted sculptures he created. He was a psychopath and a murderer, kind of like what we're dealing with now."

"So, how'd you stop him?"

"Well, Frost is powerful. He was insanely difficult to deal with. His only problem was that he was nowhere near as powerful as Santa. No one is."

"This still doesn't explain why he's at the South Pole. Shouldn't he be dead?"

"You have to remember, Gavin, this was back before Santa killed. He couldn't bring himself to do it. Once he stopped Frost, he had him sent away and imprisoned. He literally shipped him across the world."

"So that's the situation now? He's in some prison down south?"

"He's not in 'some prison,' Gavin. He's in his own prison. Santa had it built just for him. Sent some elves down that way to run it. He used to go down there a couple times a year to make sure everything was running properly. As a matter of fact, that's probably my job now."

Gavin tries to sum it all up. "So basically, Santa's partner goes crazy. Abuses his powers, kills innocent elves. Then he gets caught. And the big man builds a prison just to keep him under control."

Greg and the others nod.

"And now, Santa's gone insane, too, so this bastard is the only one that can help us."

"Well I don't know exactly how much he'll help, but I hope he can teach us about him a little bit, maybe show us what makes him tick so we understand him a little better. Anything is better than nothing, and this might be our only shot at a victory tonight."

Gavin understands. He's slightly afraid to confront this madman with the others, but he knows it has to be done.

Greg looks up front to Eric. "How far?"

"We've only got a couple minutes. Feel that new chill in the air? That's how you know we're close to Frost."