He Sees You When You're Sleeping

4th December- Star On The Tree

"Who's going to do the honours?" Caitlyn called. The Christmas tree looked magnificent. Red and gold tinsel sparkled on its branches, along with a tangle of rainbow fairy lights woven around its trunk. Baubles of all shapes and sizes hung off the branches, and a silver star sat atop the tree, towering majestically over the living room.
"I am! I am!" 5-year-old Jamie squeaked. The little boy rushed over to the light switch and turned out the lights. The fairy lights were now visible, and they bathed the living room in a warm light. Jamie jumped up and down on excitement. Caitlyn picked up her little brother, bouncing him up and down in her arms.
"It's amazing, isn't it?" She breathed. Jamie nodded enthusiastically.
"Caitlyn, I need your help in the kitchen!" Came a shout from another room.
"Coming, dad!" She called back. Setting her brother down on the floor, Caitlyn turned the lights back on and hurried over to the kitchen to fetch the plates.
Jamie watched her go. Once she was out of sight, he decided it was time to cause a little Christmas mischief.
He took hold of one of the baubles and began pulling up and down, giggling as he saw the whole tree branch bounce along with it. He heard a loud snap and stopped immediately. The branch had snapped. Jamie's mind whirred as he tried to come up with a solution to this problem. A plan struck him- if he got ahold of the fairy lights, he could use some of them to tie the branch back together!
After taking a second to marvel at his own genius, he set to work. He crawled beneath the tree. Pine needles snagged at his jumper, but he ignored them. It was very dark under here, he realised. Jamie felt around in the darkness blindly, using his hand to guide him. He felt it rest on a thicker piece of wood. That must be it. The tree trunk. He felt a thin strand of plastic with bumps on it- the fairy lights. Now all he needed to do was get them off...
He started pulling at the Christmas lights, trying to ease them off the trunk. He grunted- this was harder than he'd initially thought. No problem. He still had his huge muscles to help him!
"Jamie, honey? Where are you?" His mother called. Jamie froze like a deer caught in the headlights. He started clawing more frantically at the lights. He felt them begin to loosen. No time to lose. He grabbed a fistful of them and made his escape.
Still grasping the lights in his hands, he failed to notice that he was pulling the tree down as well. There was a loud crack as the trunk began to splinter. Jamie gasped and crawled faster. He managed to make it out just before the tree collapsed behind him. The Christmas star fell onto the ground and shattered into a million pieces. His mother hurried into the room and halted as soon as she saw the mess.
"Jamie!" She scolded. "What have you done?"
Jamie tearily confessed that he'd snapped a branch and had tried to get the fairy lights to fix it. His mother shook her head disapprovingly.
"I know it was an accident, but that doesn't mean you can get away with it. Go to your room for five minutes. Then you can come down and have dinner." She ordered. Jamie wailed, but made his way to his room nonetheless. Caitlyn and her father stepped out of the kitchen.
"What happened here?" The father asked.
"Jamie destroyed the Christmas tree. The star's broken, too. He's in his room if you want to talk with him." The mother sighed. The father's eyes widened. Not in anger, Caitlyn noticed, but in fear.
"Dad? You alright?" She asked. Her father didn't answer. He walked over to the remains of the star, picking up the tiny pieces in his hands.
"I know we've had that star for years, but we can get another one. It's not that much to worry about." Caitlyn said in confusion to her father's reaction. He suddenly turned around, his face grim.
"Jamie has killed us all." Caitlyn took a step back. Her father's odd behaviour was freaking her out. "Listen, we have to get out of here. Now." He took Caitlyn and her mother by their wrists and made for the door.
"Dad, what's going on? What about Jamie?" Her father turned around and gave him a look she'd never seen before. One she'd never forget.
"Leave him. If it gets what freed it, maybe it'll leave us alone."
Before they could ask any more questions, her father strapped them into the car and drove off. Caitlyn could hear Jamie's scream ringing in her ears for miles after they'd left.

Years passed, and that night was almost forgotten. Ever since that day, the family had moved from place to place. Eventually, Caitlyn and her mother began to accept this as reality. They stopped asking questions and trusted the father.
But the father hadn't moved past yet. Memories of his son haunted his dreams and waking hours. You saved the rest of your family, he told himself. It was the right thing to do. But a piece of him didn't believe what he was saying.
A voice woke him from his slumber. One of a little boy. Dylan raised his head, his vision blurry. It took him a few seconds to focus on the child who stood in the doorway. "Daddy?" The child repeated. Dylan sucked in a breath.
"J-Jamie?" He stuttered.
"You left me to die." Jamie frowned. "The tree-monster came and got me. You once said that I would die in the arms of my loved ones. But you lied to me. I died alone and scared."
His father stumbled backwards, his heart thumping in his chest. "Jamie, I didn't mean to. I promise. I'm sorry about what happened, and-"
"You're lying, Daddy." Dylan shut his mouth. "The monster I freed killed me, but it let me have a Christmas wish."
"And what was that?" Dylan's throat was dry.
"Revenge." An animalistic growl escaped his son's throat, before he unleashed the Christmas spirit upon his father.

Jamie exited the room, humming to himself cheerfully. He didn't even try to hide the mauled body he left behind.