Twelve Days of Christmas

Sixth Day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

My knees ground into the shards of glass underneath me as I shifted again, trying to get more comfortable. It wasn't possible with my knees bleeding and the glass digging deeper the more I moved.
I sighed, trying to brace myself further back on my heels to take the weight off my knees. It didn't help, just caused me to loose my balance, crushing my knees further into the glass.
I heard footsteps approaching the kitchen and I stiffened, the thought of the elfin monster coming to get me, flickered through my mind. My heartbeat quickened as the floor boards groaned under the weigh of the incoming person.
My father walking into the kitchen, looking down at me in surprise. As much as my stepmother punished me, you would think that he would be used to seeing my like this, but he wasn't. He was always away at work, so maybe he didn't realize how bad things got when he wasn't around. Still, he had to know by what punishments he saw, yet he did nothing to stop them.
I refused to believe the inevitable, that he simply didn't care.
"I'm going to the store, do you want to come with me?" My father asked, giving me an out. I nodded and he gestured for me to get up.
I slowly stood up, picking the glass shards from my knees while he got the keys and went to wait in the car.
I cleaned up the glass, then ran upstairs to change into a pair of hand-me-down jeans that would cover my knees. I used a pair of old socks with the toes cut from them to cover the cuts on my knees, so the blood wouldn't soak through my jeans. It was a trick I had learned early on in the punishments. My knees never seemed to have a chance to heal completely before more they were getting hurt more.
I had started wearing the socks throughout the day, but she started having me roll my jeans up, making my attempts of protection futile.
I was both fearful and excited to get out of the house, so I was grateful my father was letting me go out with him. I felt like the monsters were just waiting for the right moment to strike. I was like a trapped mouse, waiting for the cat to come in for the kill. If I went outside, it would only make it easier for them.
I stepped out of the front door, my eyes scanning the yard and surrounding areas for any sign of them. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but I knew they were good at hiding, always watching and waiting.
I slipped into the car, closing the door quickly and hitting the lock button. Not that it would be able to stop the monsters from crashing through the window and devouring me where I sat. But, we were sitting ducks until we pulled out, so it gave me a since of security where there was none.

My father drove to the store in silence. This was normal, it didn't seem like there was anything for us to talk about, especially with school on break.
We arrived a small convenience store and butcher shop in town, getting out of the car to go inside. I felt like I could breath easily now that I wasn't at the house.
Surely the monsters couldn't have followed me here.
We went inside, the smell of cardboard, various foods, and freshly butchered meat assaulted my nose. One of the lights flickered overhead, then flickered out. I froze, staring up at the light as if it was reacting from an evil presence. Had they followed me here? I took a deep breath, that was silly, a light wouldn't go out because a monster was around. Lights burned out all the time, I was just over reacted, I assured myself. With the one light out, it gave the store a gloomy, spooky feel. I tried to ignore the hairs on the back of my neck that stood up as I gathered food for Christmas with my father.
We went to the refrigerator unites to look at the meat, scanning the different varieties to find the cheapest.
"We have a special today on freshly butchered geese. My wife raved that it's all the new fad, but we haven't sold any, so they're 60% off today.
I stopped paying attention, letting my father talk to the store owner, while I scanned the different meats.
A pack caught my eye and I leaned in closer for a closer look, only to find eyes staring back at me, their eyes cold with death. I gasped and jerked back away from the pack of chicken heads. Who would sell such a thing?
Turning back to my father, I found him standing over by a counter, waiting on a goose. I guess we were going nontraditional this year, but it wasn't surprising if it was the cheapest meat. I tried to take my mind off the chicken heads, but they kept haunting me, pulling my attention back to them. I played with the hem of my shirt as the owner came out with a butchered goose, laying it on the counter. Then he turned around and went back, bringing out goose after goose, until there was 6 butchered geese packaged and laying across the counter.
"Someone decided to pay for these for you. They're all yours if you want them." The owner said, his chest heaving with effort as he looked at me father, glancing at me only for a split second.
"I don't need charity." My father said firmly.
"They're paid for, they're yours." The owner insisted.
"Who paid for them?" My father asked, glancing around the fairly empty store.
"I can't say." The owner said, but subtly nodded behind him, where the butcher room was.
My father didn't seem to notice, but I did. I looked behind the owner and through the crack of the door to see a flash of green and red.
My heart stopped, the blood draining from my face as I caught a better look of who was behind the door.
It was the monster elves, their eyes watchful with a gleam of intelligence that said they knew exactly how they wanted to butcher my body.
I gasped and turned on my heel, running from the store and fumbling with the door to the car. Climbing inside, I locked the doors, then sat curled in a ball, my eyes watching the door for the elves to appear.
It wasn't the elves who came out the door next, but my father carrying a few bags of groceries and one butchered goose.
I had been wrong when I thought they couldn't follow me. It was obvious that they could and would, tormenting me wherever I went.