Snow fell outside the boy’s bedroom window. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed, young Mike Raven marveled at the winter wonderland that had sprung up overnight. Christmas decorations twinkled in the night, a constant reminder that the holiday was only a few weeks away at this point. There was a red glowing Santa astride his sleigh, pulled by sparkling reindeer. Further off, near the dense woods enclosing the property, stood an inflatable snowman family.
Mike Raven had lived the first nine years of his life in Los Angeles, and this was his first experience of what his dad called a “real winter.” To say that he was excited would be an understatement. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow to arrive, when he would finally explore the snow-blanketed world beyond his window.
His father had promised to help him build a snowman come the next morning and his stomach fluttered with happy anticipation. Dad’s job as a traveling salesman kept him on the road for most of the year, and Raven didn’t see him that often. This Christmas was going to be different though. In Raven’s young mind, this was definitely shaping up to be the best Christmas ever.
He kept pressed his face against the cold windowpane, and his breath left smudges on the glass. Despite his eagerness for the day ahead, sleep was catching up with him. A yawn escaped from his lips, and his eyelids grew heavy. It was an hour past his bedtime already. He was about to crawl back under the covers when his gaze locked on a strange shape outside. At first he wasn’t sure what he was staring at. As the shape drew closer, details became visible and his heart hitched into his throat.
The weird figure advancing toward their home was made of snow cast in the form of a human silhouette. Flakes danced around the inhuman figure as it slowly turned its featureless head toward him. Raven grew stock still, terror keeping him rooted. He wanted to back away from the window, but his body refused to cooperate.
“Dad,” he croaked in a tiny voice.
To his growing horror, more snowy shapes emerged from the frozen yard. The snow golems shared little in common with the smiling, carrot-nosed snowman family billowing happily in the wind nearby. These creatures were blank-faced and boasted muscular, threatening physiques.
Monsters aren’t real, Raven thought.
He was about to learn otherwise.
“Dad?” he repeated. He was still paralyzed with fear, but his voice was sounded stronger.
A loud bang rattled his bedroom window, and he jumped back. A shrill scream escaped from his throat as a snowy fist punched the window a second time. Glass turned to ice and shattered. A sharp gust of air blew into his room, snowflakes hitting his face. Raven let out another piercing scream and fled his bedroom.
Terrified, he surged down the hallway. His breath coming in uneven, panicky bursts, he screamed, “Mom, Dad!” He pushed open the door to his parent’s bedroom.
Eight-year-old Raven dead in his tracks. For a beat, he struggled to process what he was seeing. His mother’s body lay splayed across the bed. Her skin was an unnatural blue, covered in frost, the eyes open wide and the lips frozen in a rictus of a scream. His mind went blank, shock stunning him into silence. Later on, the tears and nightmares would come, but right now there was only a deep-seated numbness.
Something moved in the dark bedroom. One of the ice creatures emerged from the shadows, menacing and alien. Raven’s terror gave way to raw anger. He would kill it. The nightmare creature had hurt his mother, and he would tear the thing to pieces. As the figure lurched toward him, his father’s voice filled the bedroom. “Raven, get down!”
Somehow his dad’s voice cut through his paralysis, and he hit the floor face first. There was a loud crack, and then a bullet punched into the inhuman assassin. Tufts of snow exploded from the entry point and the snow creature went supernova, a red aura of fiery heat enveloping its form. The next moment the ice golem fell apart, the magic animating the snow rendered ineffective. Where his mother’s killer had stood, there was now only a pile of black, watery sludge.
Never again would Raven find much beauty in winter, or snow, or even Christmas. It would always make him think about the tragic day when his childhood ended.
A strong arm reached down and pulled him back to his feet. In his father’s other hand was a glowing green pistol. Somehow, he understood that the weapon’s magic had destroyed the snow monster.
“Listen carefully, son. Our home is surrounded by those creatures but I’m going to keep you safe. I won’t let them hurt you.”
Raven looked up at his father and nodded. The man was dressed in a bathrobe and wore his favorite plaid pajamas underneath. There was something different about his dad’s face, though. A dark fire burned in his eyes, and he seemed almost…dangerous. This wasn’t the face of a traveling salesman but of a hero from the movies. Raven had never seen his father like this.
The sound of breaking glass reverberated through the house. At least one of the lethal ice creatures had made it inside.
“Come on, move!” his father barked. “I promise we’ll make it out of here. Do you believe me? Answer me, son!”