Noel finally called the number. Nobody answers. Noel balled the note up and tossed it away.

The note was caught in mid-air by none other than Krampus. The Christmas demon was wearing a rather ugly Christmas sweater, patterned with demons wearing Santa hats. On his head was a Santa hat with a pair of plastic red devil horns sticking out from the white fur band around the base of the cap.

“Krampus?” asked Noel. “How did you get into my house?”

“You called me for a ride,” said Krampus. “Now, are we going or what?”

“I need to get changed,” said Noel. “I’m in pajamas.”

“Why didn’t you call me after you got changed?” asked Krampus. “I’ll wait in the living room.”

Noel quickly got changed into the only party clothes she had – a nice blouse and a cute skirt, with some tights and flats – and walked out to the living room.

“Is this okay?” asked Noel.

“As long as you aren’t planning to go on the tarmac,” said Krampus. “That’s where everyone is right now. The party’s nearly over.”

“Shit – what if I want to do that?” asked Noel.

“Then you’re fine,” said Krampus.

“Wait, what?” asked Noel. Krampus motioned over Noel. Noel looked down. She was wearing a pair of warm jeans, snow boots with wooly socks, a button-up long sleeve shirt, a warm sweater, and a vest with a fur-lined hood. Her other clothes were folded in a pile on the couch.

“Did you frikkin’ undress me?” hissed Noel.

“The magic did everything – in a literal instant,” said Krampus. “I saw nothing, nor did I want to. Now, are we going?”

“Well – “ started Noel, about to ask Krampus about Connor.

“Great,” said Krampus, interrupting Noel and taking his chain off. He tossed it in the air. A portal opened – right on the tarmac, where a crowd was gathered around the sleigh.

Noel stepped through the portal, followed by Krampus, who closed the portal shut behind him before putting his necklace back around his neck.

Noel peered around the cold tarmac. There was not a reindeer to be seen. People were singing songs, holding cups of hot cider and wassail and cocoa, but there were no reindeer.

“The Ride ended,” said Krampus. “The reindeer have all gone back to their homes, in the snow globes, until next year.”

“All?” asked Noel.

“Well, not quite all – I haven’t taken Comet back yet,” said Krampus. “You know – the reindeer Connor has?”

“Where is he?” asked Noel.

“So that’s why you wanted to come up here,” commented Krampus. “Come on. I’m sure Avery knows.”

“You can spot her here?” asked Noel.

“Of course I can,” said Krampus. Krampus led Noel through the crowd to Avery, who was singing loudly and off-key, drinking hot cocoa.

“Noel! You made it!” exclaimed Avery. “Krampus – thank you so much for bringing her.”

“You’re not driving home tonight, are you?” asked Krampus.

“Pfft – no. I rode with one of Noel’s brothers,” said Avery. “He’ll give me a ride back.”

“Uh…I think I should handle taking you and Noel home tonight,” said Krampus.

“Pssh – Krampus, you’re being too protective,” said Avery. “Be careful – someone might think you like me.”

Krampus’s face turned bright red.

“Are you drunk?” asked Noel.

“Not…exactly,” said Avery.

“How many cups?” asked Krampus.

“Six,” admitted Avery.

“Avery! That’s a lot for you!” hissed Krampus.

“Wait, so she’s not drunk, so what’s going on?” asked Noel.

“She had too much eggnog,” said Krampus, looking inside Avery’s cup and spotting the white foam and speckles of nutmeg.

“Oh, the rum,” commented Noel.

“Nope – plain old eggnog, on its own, gets a Christmas elf drunk,” explained Krampus.

“Avery…do you know where Connor went?” asked Noel.

“Home,” said Avery.

“He what?” asked Noel.

“He said he wanted to fly back,” said Avery. “You just missed him. He was here ten minutes ago! He said something about handling ‘harem’ business or something? I don’t know.”

“Ten minutes? I can still catch him,” said Noel.

“Yeah – I don’t think so,” said Krampus. “Look.” Krampus pointed toward the sky. Noel couldn’t see what Krampus was pointing at until it passed in front of the moon, which was nearly half-dark, half-light. Noel watched as the silhouette of a solitary reindeer flew away.

“Guess it wasn’t fated to be,” said Noel. “Alright, Krampus. Let me help you get Avery back to The Wreath – it’s the least I can do.”

“You don’t want to see your brothers?” asked Krampus.

“I’ll see them at home soon enough, but…I just want to go home right now,” said Noel, wiping her eyes.

“I understand,” said Krampus. “Avery! Come on! It’s time to go back home.”

“Fine, fine, one more cup,” said Avery.

“Here,” said Krampus, filling Avery’s cup magically. By the time that Avery noticed that the container was filled with milk instead of eggnog, Krampus had already teleported Noel and Avery back to The Wreath.

Connor spotted the giant devil bobbing next to a giant snowman. The two inflatable decorations were well lit and sat on top of Avery’s rental house like a pair of wedding toppers. Connor landed outside of Noel’s place. He shifted and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the small box and knocked on the door.

Noel didn’t answer the door. One of the seven men in her harem did.

“Hey,” said Connor. “Is Noel available?”

“Nope,” said the man.

“Can I leave a message?” asked Connor.

“Nope,” said the man.

“Come on – we both want to make her happy,” said Connor.

“Look – the seven of us are protective of Noel,” said the man. “We know what makes her happy better than you do, because, unlike you, we listen to her and take her needs seriously. We have a bond you know nothing of. She told us she wants nothing to do with you, Connor, so I suggest you kindly fuck off. Merry Christmas.”

The man slammed the door on Connor. Connor knocked at the door again.

“I told you – Noel doesn’t want what you’re selling,” said the man. “You broke her heart, dude – try not to ruin her Christmas Eve too.”

The man slammed the door on Connor one last time. Connor held his fist up to knock on the door one more time but stopped himself.

Apparently, Noel didn’t want him – she’d told the members of her harem she didn’t want to see him. The man was right – the members of Noel’s harem knew her better than Connor. They had a special bond, a bond he didn’t have with her.

Connor stuffed the box back in his jacket pocket. He shifted and took off for Camp Kringle.

Krampus walked Noel home from Avery’s house. The pair walked through the quiet streets of The Wreath, from Avery’s place near the forest to Avery’s rental unit in town, which she’d leaned out to Noel for the holiday season, as was tradition for Avery and her temp workers. The snow fell lightly over the town, which was softly lit by the warm white, red, green, blue, and yellow Christmas lights hung by the townsfolk with care. Where the light ended, the forest and the lake began, the town of The Wreath sandwiched between the forest and the lake that shared its name.

“You know, I could’ve just teleported you here,” said Krampus, breaking the silence as they reached Noel’s house.

“I know, but I wanted some fresh air, so, thanks for walking with me,” said Noel.

“You know…it’s not my place, but, you know, Connor…” Krampus started.

“I know everything, about the harem, all that,” said Noel.

“You do? Well, really – don’t let Connor ruin your Christmas,” said Krampus. “There’s a whole lot of Christmas left. But…if you wanted to get Connor back on The Naughty List, I suppose you could purposely let him ruin your Christmas…although that could also get you on The Naughty List, and I don’t exactly think you want to be pulling Santana’s sleigh next year.”

Noel pulled Krampus in for a hug. Krampus was surprised to find the mortal woman hugging him, and he gently hugged her back.

“I can see why Avery likes you so much,” said Noel, pulling away from the hug. “Have a merry Christmas, Krampus!”

“Have a Merry Christmas, Noel,” said Krampus, watching the woman who had managed to confuse him twice in under a minute walk into her house.

Krampus walked toward the Bear Claw Bakery and thought about Noel’s words – about Avery. Was it possible that Avery really actually liked Krampus, as a friend or something? They were coworkers of sorts, both under the command of Santana Claus, but, he’d never gotten the feeling that Avery actually liked him…at least not the way that he liked her.

Krampus remembered that he could just teleport home. He took his chain off, threw it in the air, and teleported into the warmth of his cabin on Camp Kringle. Inside the cabin, he found wet footprints leading to the guest room, a damp jacket hanging on his nice wooden chairs.

“Frikkin’ bears,” cursed Krampus. He took the jacket to hang it up. Something fell out of the jacket – a small box, labeled, ‘For Noel.’

Krampus hung the jacket up. He tossed the box in the air and used his magic to suspend it in midair. Like a surgeon, he carefully undid the ribbons and wrapping, revealing a small green and red velvet box. He opened the box gingerly. Inside, he saw what he was expecting to see from the start.

“Frikkin’ Pandora,” cursed Krampus. He rewrapped the package with magic so that it wasn’t obvious he’d used his demoncraft to peek at the gift.

Krampus put the box in his boundless pocket and pulled something else out of his infinite pocket dimension – his cellphone.

Krampus held it up to his head. The number he’d wanted to dial was already dialed.

“Hello?” answered a groggy woman.

“Avery, I need you to do something for me,” said Krampus. “You know that girl, Noel? Well…”