#datlof

Frowning, Lewis knocked again, slightly louder.

“Lal, you in there?” He called out.

Again, there was no response. Glancing towards Simon, Lewis rested his hand on the handle and pushed the door open. Inside, Lalnable’s labs were the same as they had always been. Clutter was gathered on the workbenches and in Lalnable’s frequent absentmindedness, bunsen burners had been left alight. But there was no sight of Lalnable. Lewis and Simon walked into the lab and began looking around, Lewis turning off the still lit bunsen burners to prevent an accident from happening.

“Do you think he went out?” Simon shrugged.

“Who knows. He’s been pretty hard to keep track of the past few weeks. Barely anyone has seen him.” Simon replied. Lewis sighed.

“Yeah…”

“Maybe we should wait for him to come back?” It was Simon’s turn to grasp at straws now. Lewis looked over at his friend.

“And what if he doesn’t come back?” Lewis asked, tiredly. Simon blinked.

“What?” Lewis gestured vaguely.

“Well, he hasn’t exactly been himself lately.” It suddenly clicked for Simon.

“You think he’s run away?” Lewis grimaced.

“I don’t know friend. I don’t know. But, but I wouldn’t put it past him. Certainly not at the moment.” Simon looked around Lalnable’s labs again. They seemed even emptier now that the man who used to spend so much time in here might be gone. He suddenly started noticing the dust beginning to coat the less used objects, and the cobwebs that had collected in the corners of the room.

“Would he really run away though?” Simon murmured quietly. The pair remained quiet for a while longer.

“I guess we have nothing stopping us from calling the police now.” Lewis eventually said, breaking the heavy silence that had formed.

“I guess not.”

Despite them both having agreed to call the police, neither one moved. It was like they were both waiting, hoping that Lalnable would walk through the door. It was another couple of minutes again before Lewis finally moved.

“Come on, friend. Let’s get this over with.” Simon wordlessly moved to Lewis’s side and the pair left, walking back down the corridors towards Lewis’s office.

Lalnable had indeed run away, for he never returned to the castle, but neither was he caught by the police. Aside from the occasional murder, which began to happen with less and less frequency, it was like he’d completely vanished. Neither Simon nor Lewis heard from him or saw him again, and they both wondered quietly to themselves if he hated them for what they’d done.

Despite Lalnable having almost completely vanished into thin air, Lewis didn’t want to let his research on cloning go to waste, and so with the blood from a volunteer, a farmer from the outskirts of Datlof called Sjin, and some of the leftover blood that Lalnable himself had donated, Lewis continued working on the cloning research. Lalnable had done most of the hard work, and all Lewis needed to do was to calibrate the machines to the new blood sample, and then set the new parameters. Lewis wanted to see if it was possible to clone someone with a slightly different skill set to the original, so to speak. Lewis’s plan with these new clones was to see if he could program into the genetic makeup a higher magical ability.

“As I’m sure most of you are aware, tonight is going to be a reenactment of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Some of the people involved in this are Yoglabs employees, and others are close personal friends. Moments in this play might be a little rough around the edges, but as long as you enjoy yourselves tonight, we’ve done our job.”

Lewis finished talking and smiled down at the audience. A couple of murmurs ran around the audience, mostly between employees who had heard rumours about the play. Most people knew that it had been Lewis’s idea to do something for the patients of the medical wing who would be unable to go home over Christmas, but the idea of reenacting the play had come from the alpha of the werewolves, Alph. And as a result, the employees were expecting something that would most likely be an unforgettable experience, but not something you would expect to see done by a group of professionals.

“With that, I hope you enjoy the show!”

Lewis beamed as the audience clapped and he jumped off the stage and disappeared. Moments later the lights in the cafeteria dimmed, leaving only the lights above the stage on. A woman stepped onto the stage wearing a beautiful ruby red dress that trailed behind her elegantly as she walked. It was sleeveless and trimmed in white fur. The woman’s blonde hair was cascading over her shoulder and most of the audience gasped as they caught sight of her. The employees of Yoglabs recognised this woman as the second in command of the werewolves. A formidably strong werewolf called Wren.

Wren walked to the centre of the stage and looked out over the audience before she opened her mouth and began to speak.

“Old Marley was as dead as a doornail. There is no doubt whatsoever about that. Scrooge knew he was dead? Of course he did. Scrooge and he were partners for I don’t know how many years. Scrooge was his sole executor, his sole administrator, his sole friend, his sole mourner. Scrooge himself was a tight-fisted task master who thought of nothing other than himself and his own profit.”

Wren stepped to the side as a tall figure, wearing a long black coat and a top hat, stepped into the light on the stage. The figure lifted their head so the light shined onto their face. And it was revealed that it was Rythian, looking downright miserable and grumpy.

“Our story starts on Christmas Eve, with Scrooge in his counting house along with his clerk, a man named Bob Cratchit.”

Another figure stepped onto the stage, this one instantly recognisable as Duncan Jones, dressed in an old brown jacket that was clearly several sizes too small for the man. A couple of people dressed entirely in black scurried onto the stage and placed a couple of chairs and tables down, and Duncan and Rythian took their respective places.

“The weather outside was bitterly cold, but the fire inside the counting house was barely more than embers. Yet Scrooge wouldn’t allow his clerk to put more coal on the fire, as coal was costly.”

“Can we have some more coal on the fire please?” Duncan piped up, looking over expectantly at Rythian.

“No.” Came the gloomy response.

Just then, a third character stepped onto the stage with a loud exclamation of “A merry Christmas, Uncle!”

Everyone, both those on and off the stage, turned their heads to look towards the man who’d just arrived. Only a couple of people in the audience knew that this ginger-haired man was a member of the pack, a werewolf called Zach.

“Humbug!” Rythian replied, glaring towards Zach.

“Christmas a humbug, Uncle?!” Zach said, striding over to Rythian and standing in front of the table where he was sat. “Surely you don’t mean that?” Rythian turned his grumpy expression up at Zach.

“I do. What’s Christmas but a time for finding yourself a year older and not a penny richer. If I had my way, every idiot who goes around with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly in his heart.”

“Uncle!”

“You keep Christmas in your own way, Nephew, and let me keep it in mine.” Rythian said, turning back to pretending to be working.

“Keep it? But you don’t keep it.”

“Then let me leave it alone!” Rythian said angrily. And after a pause, “Much good it has ever done you!” He muttered. Zach straightened up and turned slightly, so he was facing the audience a little more.

“There are many things which I might say are good, yet not have profited from them. Christmas being one of them. But I have always thought of Christmastime, when it has come around, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of in the long calendar year when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut up hearts freely, and to think of some people below them as if they really were fellow travellers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, Uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good, and I say, God bless it!”

Duncan instantly stood up and began clapping, and members of the audience also began clapping.

“Bravo!” He exclaimed loudly.

“Not another sound from you.” Rythian said, glaring across as Duncan, who instantly fell silent, sitting himself down. The applause in the audience also began to trail off as the play continued.

“Don’t be angry, Uncle. Come, dine with us tomorrow.” Zach said, turning back to Rythian.

“No.” Came the sullen response.

“But why not?”

“Why did you get married?”

“Because I fell in love.” Rythian snorted and turned back to his pretend work.

“Because you fell in love.” He muttered quietly. “Good day.”

“I want nothing from you; I ask nothing of you; why cannot we be friends?” Zach implored, resting his hands on the table where Rythian was ‘working’.

“Good day.”

“I’m sorry to find you so resolute. We have never had any quarrel that I have been a part of. But I’ll keep my Christmas humour to the last, so merry Christmas, Uncle!”

“Good day!”

“And a happy New Year!”

“Good day!”

Zach turned on his heel to face Duncan.

“Merry Christmas, Bob!” He said, tipping his head in Duncan’s direction.

“Merry Christmas to you too!” Duncan replied, beaming happily.

With that, Zach turned and left the stage. Wren stepped back to the middle of the stage and addressed the audience once more.

“Scrooge was a grumpy old sod to everyone around him.” The audience chuckled slightly. “And later on that very same day when asked if he would make a donation to the poor to help their situation and save some from dying, he replied:” Behind Wren, Rythian stood up and looked out over the audience.

“If they are to die, then let them die and decrease the surplus population.” And intake of breath ran around the audience as Rythian sat himself back down again. Wren waited for a moment, before she continued on, in a quieter voice that that the audience almost holding their breath in anticipation.

“It it highly important to remember for this next section, that Marley, Scrooge’s old partner, was dead. For if you do not remember that, then what happens next will not seem so supernatural.”

Behind Wren, the people dressed in black began scurrying about again, this time taking away the tables and chairs and wheeling onto the stage a large block of wood that was obviously supposed to represent a door. In the centre of this door was a flap of fabric hanging down that had a door knocker painted onto it. Duncan had left the stage, and Rythian was now standing in front of the door, slightly to the side so the audience could still see the flap of fabric. Wren moved back to the side of the stage before she began talking again.

“Now it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about the knocker on the door of this house. And yet Scrooge saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change, not a knocker, but Marley’s face.”

As Wren spoke the last few words, the fabric lifted away and revealed the face os someone that even fewer members of the audience recognised. Zoey stared at Rythian before she called out in a ghostly sounding voice, “Scrooooooooge!”

Rythian’s composure began to crack as the ghost of a smile brushed against his lips and a quiet laugh tried to escape from him, prompting a couple of the audience members to chuckle quietly. Wren heard the small laugh from Rythian and spoke up.

“Scrooge did not find this apparition funny, instead he found it rather unsettling.” This caused the members of the audience to laugh a little more as Rythian struggled to regain his composure. “But even as Scrooge stared at the phenomenon, it was a knocker again.” Zoey’s face vanished behind the scrap of fabric again, and Rythian was able to return the grumpy expression to his face, with no trace of a smile.

“Humbug!”

“Scrooge went into his house and locked the door behind him, for he was not one to be scared by things like this.” Wren moved back to the centre of the stage as she spoke, and behind her, the people in black scurried around changing the scene once more. “But even so, tonight Scrooge went about his house and checked the rooms before he headed up into his bedroom. He looked around his bedroom, until he was satisfied, when he closed the door, and locked himself in then double locked himself in, which was not his custom. But as Scrooge settled himself down in his chair, the bells in the house began to ring loudly.”

The air was filled with the clanging sounds of bells ringing as off to the side of the stage in the darkness, a group of people began ringing bells. As they fell silent, Wren began talking again.

“This was succeeded by a clanking noise, as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the floors and a noise, much louder,  on the floors below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards his door.”

In the darkness by the sides of the stage, chains were shaken and someone made loud banging footstep noises. Wren began to step to the side of the stage as Rythian sat in a chair beside a small, hastily made fireplace.

“Then suddenly, the noise passed through the door and a spectre passed into the room before his very eyes!”

Zoey suddenly stepped onto the stage, dressed in grey tattered rags and home made chains dangled from her arms and her body as she walked slowly forwards. Rythian leapt up from his chair and ran around behind it.

“What do you want with me?!” He called out as Zoey moved ever closer. As Rythian stopped talking, so Zoey stopped moving, and the sound of the clanking chains fell silent.

“Much!” She cried out loudly.

“Who are you?” Rythian asked, coming out from behind his chair slightly.

“Ask me who I was.”

“Who were you then?”

“In life I was your partner, Jacob Marley.”

“Can, can you sit down?” Rythian asked, staring at Zoey and still hiding slightly behind his chair.

“I can.”

“Do it, then.”

Zoey moved over to the second chair which was on the other side of the fire to Rythian’s chair and sat herself down. Rythian was no longer hiding behind his chair, but he had not come any closer to Zoey, or made any indication that he himself was going to sit down.

“You don’t believe in me.” Zoey said, staring at Rythian.

“I don’t.”

“What evidence would you have of me beyond that of your senses?” She inquired.

“I don’t know.”

“Why do you doubt your senses?”

“Because a little thing affects then. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheat. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!”

Zoey suddenly stood up and yelled loudly towards Rythian, who ran back behind his chair and hid, although as his body shook it was clear it was shaking from laughter than from fear.

“Dreadful apparition, why do you trouble me?” There was a tremble in his voice and he was working hard to keep the smile from his face.

“It is required of every man that his spirit should walk among his fellowmen and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes forth not in life, it is condemned to do so after death. My spirit never walked beyond the narrow limits of our money-changing home…” Zoey lamented, loudly and dramatically as she waved her arms in the air.

“You were always a good man of business, Jacob…” Rythian said having managed to compose himself once more and was poking out from behind the chair.

“Business?!” Zoey exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air, causing Rythian to have to stop himself from laughing once more. “Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business! The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”

Rythian was on his knees behind his chair as his body shook with silent laughter. Zoey glanced backwards off the stage.

“I am here tonight to warn you that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate, Ebenezer.” Zoey said, staring over at Rythian who had finally climbed to his feet and got his laughter under control. “You will be haunted by three spirits.”

“Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Jacob? I think I’d rather not.”

“Expect the first tonight when the bell tolls one. Expect the second when the bell tolls two. The third, more mysterious, will appear in his own time.” Zoey raised her arms up and the chains by the side of the stage were rattled again as she began to walk backwards. “Look to see me no more; and look that you remember what has passed between us!”

Zoey kept walking backwards, the chains rattling loudly, until she had vanished into the darkness at the edge of the stage. Rythian, who had been staring at Zoey all this time, slowly moved around to the front of his chair and sat down heavily in it.

“Humbug…” He muttered softly before he closed his eyes and let his head nod.

Silence filled the air for a few moments. Then suddenly, without warning, there was a loud bong. The noise made both Rythian and the audience jump. As the ringing of the noise faded away, Rythian got up from his chair and glanced around.

“Expect the first at one? Well? Where are you?” Rythian asked, still looking around.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light, and when the audience next looked, a smaller woman was standing on the stage, wearing a beautiful white flowing dress, and a pure white mist was billowing out from the bottom of the dress, giving the woman the appearance of floating. This was the first ghost, who many recognised as Duncan’s apprentice, Kim.

“Ah! Are you the spirit whose coming was told to me?” Rythian had shielded his eyes from the bright light and only now began to lower his hands down.

“I am.” Kim’s voice appeared to have an echo of a thousand different voices to it.

“Who and what are you?”

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Past.”

“Long past?”

“No. Your past.”

“What business brings you here?”

“Your welfare. Come.”

Kim reached out her hand and Rythian gingerly took a hold of it. There was another bright flash of light and when this faded, Kim and Rythian had vanished. The people dressed in black had scurried back onto the stage and were changing the scene yet again, taking away the fireplace and chairs that had been a part of Scrooge’s bedroom. Suddenly, a whole group of people, laughing and talking together ran onto the stage. Someone with a violin went and stood in one of the front corners of the stage and began playing as the people on the stage began dancing merrily together, continuing to laugh and talk. Rythian and Kim appeared at the back of the stage, looking out over the festivities.

“Scrooge suddenly found himself looking out upon a christmas party that had been thrown by a man called Fezziwig. Scrooge, in his youth, had been apprenticed to Fezziwig, and looking out at the party he suddenly remembered the fun, laughter, merriment and enjoyment that he had experienced during these parties that old Fezziwig threw.” Wren spoke up, her voice carrying over the music of the violin.

“A small matter to make these silly folks so full of gratitude. He has spent but a few pounds of your mortal money. Is that so much that he deserves this praise?” Kim said, the voices echoing as she swept her hand out, gesturing at the dancing and merriment happening before them.

“It isn’t that!” Rythian objected. “He has the power to make up happy or unhappy; to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil. The happiness he gives is quite as great as if it cost a fortune!” Kim was smiling at Rythian and he suddenly stopped, looking up at Kim. “What?”

“Nothing. Come. Let us see another Christmas.”

The same bright flash of light filled the stage and in a moment all the people dancing and laughing had vanished and in their place was a young woman stood in the centre of the stage, next to a young man who looked remarkably like Rythian. A sad and heartbroken expression instantly filled Rythian’s face as he gazed out across the scene.

“Another idol has displaced me. A golden one.” The young woman said softly.

“What? No!” The young man said, reaching out to take hold of the woman’s hand. “I am not changed towards you. Have I ever sought release from our engagement?”

“In words, no. Never.”

“In what, then?”

“In a changed nature, in an altered spirit. Can I believe that you would choose a dowerless girl? I release you, Ebenezer. With a full heart, for the love of him you once were.”

“Remove me from this place, Spirit!” Rythian said, turning angrily towards Kim. “Haunt me no longer!”

Rythian started to grapple with Kim, whirling across the stage in a cloud of bright white mist. When the mist cleared, Rythian was alone on the stage and only a single chair remained. Wearily, Rythian sat himself down in the chair, closed his eyes and let his head fall upon his chest. A few moments of silence passed before the same loud bong as before rang out, twice this time. Rythian jerked awake in his chair as a loud laugh filled the air, and walking down from the back of the stage dressed in a resplendent green cloak trimmed in white fur came Simon, a wreath of holly and ivy resting on his head, and in his hand he held a beautiful silver torch with flames flickering brightly at the top. Simon’s laugh was as jolly as it was loud and many of the audience members found themselves smiling as they watched the dwarf approach Rythian.

“Merry Christmas, man! Come in, and know me better! I am the Ghost of Christmas Present!” Simon’s voice was loud and booming and Rythian stood up and took a few cautious steps towards Simon. “Touch my robe.” Simon commanded.

Rythian reached out and took hold of Simon’s green robe. The pair began moving forwards slowly as behind them, the people in black changed the scene yet again, setting out a table and chairs and a collection of people gathered around, with Duncan sitting at the head of the table. And on Duncan’s right hand side was the alpha of the pack himself, Alph. Simon and Rythian stepped to the side as Wren began to narrate again.

“Scrooge found himself this time in the home of his clerk, Bob Cratchit, where a small Christmas dinner was being served among the five children, his wife and himself. Scrooge was rather surprised to see such a small goose to feed such a large number of people, but he was sternly reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Present that it was all Bob Cratchit could afford.” Wren fell silent and Duncan stood up, holding a small mug up in the air.

“A toast, to Mr. Scrooge!” Duncan announced loudly as Rythian straightened himself up and puffed his chest out importantly. “The Founder of the Feast!”

“The Founder of the Feast indeed!” Said the woman who was playing as Mrs. Cratchit, known to some in the audience as Fiona. “I wish I had him here, I’d give him a piece of my mind to feast upon!” She said sulkily.

“My dear, the children! Christmas day.” Duncan said, lowering his glass a fraction.

“It should be Christmas day!”

“Christmas day.” Was Duncan’s quiet reply. Fiona sighed.

“I’ll drink his health for your sake and the day’s sake. Not for his.” Fiona stood, raising her glass up followed by the other people sat around the table, aside from Alph. “A merry Christmas and a happy New Year! He’ll no doubt be very merry and very happy.” Fiona then took a drink from her glass as everyone else around the table took a drink also. Alph was the last to drink and he waited until everyone had drank and then tipped his head back and downed it.

“And a merry Christmas to us all!” Duncan said, raising his glass into the air, and everyone around the table echoed Duncan’s words.

“And God bless us, every one!” Alph screamed loudly, causing nearly everyone on the stage to cover their ears.

“Let us see another Christmas at another home!” Simon announced loudly, once the ringing from Alph’s  screams had faded from their ears.

Rythian took hold of Simon’s robe once more and the pair moved slowly across the stage as the scene behind them whirled once more, with a gathering of people standing around, talking and laughing together, similar to the scene from Scrooge’s past with the party hosted by Old Fezziwig. This time though, Zach, as Scrooge’s nephew, was standing in the centre of the room with his arm around the waist of a pregnant woman, that many people knew to be Zach’s wife, Hope.

“Scrooge was now surprised to find himself in his nephew’s house, looking out on what appeared to be the Christmas party that Scrooge himself had been invited to. As he watched the party unfurl, with games and laughter and singing, he began to feel a longing and wished he could join in with them. That was, until he became the butt of their joke within the games. Then the Spirit took Scrooge on a walk through the city, and everywhere they went they saw people with smiles on their faces and heard laughter in the air. And eventually the pair ended up alone in the graveyard.”

As Wren spoke, the people on the stage slowly dispersed, laughing and talking to each other until only Rythian and Simon remained, standing in the middle of the stage. Simon looked around and sighed.

“Here I must leave you, for my time has come.” He announced. Rythian turned to him with horror on his face.

“What? Here? Now? Can’t you at least take me back to my room?” Simon laughed loudly before he turned and began walking away.

“Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!”

“Spirit! Wait!”

But Simon was gone and Rythian was alone. At the back of the stage, an ominous black mist began to grow  and swell and out of the darkness appeared a tall hooded figure. No one could see into the shadows underneath the hood to discern who it was who was playing this spirit. The figure approached Rythian quietly and stopped dead behind him. Rythian whirled around and saw the spirit for the first time.

“Are you the third spirit, of whom I was told about? The dark spectre said nothing, and did nothing. “I presume you are the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come?” Once again the spirit said nothing, the dark mist billowing around the stage. There was an air of anticipation in the audience, almost like they were holding their breath. “If you will not speak to me, then lead on!”

The figure raised one single arm and pointed towards a dark corner of the stage where a group of men had gathered. They were huddled together and clearly having a conversation, so Rythian sidled closer to listen in on what they were saying. The spirit followed behind Rythian, silently.

“I don’t know much about it either way. I only know he’s dead.” One of the men said.

“When did he die?” Asked another.

“Last night, I believe.” The first replied.

“What has he done with his money?” Another man asked, leaning forwards.

“I haven’t heard. Company, perhaps. He hasn’t left it to me, that’s all I know!” The first man said once more. “Well, gentlemen. Good night, and merry Christmas!”

The other two men murmured ‘Merry Christmas’ also and the three vanished off the stage. Rythian turned to the spirit and frowned.

“What was the meaning of that conversation, Spirit? And why did those men not respect the man who had died?”

Again the spirit remained completely silent. It raised an arm and pointed to the other side of the stage where a woman stood with a bundle of fabrics next to an old man. Rythian wandered over, followed once more by the ever silent spirit.

“If he wanted to keep them after he was dead, wicked old screw, why wasn’t he more natural in his lifetime? If he had been, he’d have had somebody to look after him when he was struck with death, instead of lying gasping out his last there, alone by himself.” The woman said, obviously gossiping about another dead man. Perhaps the same one. And it was clear that Rythian was beginning to think that maybe it was the same man.

“It’s the truest word that was ever spoken.” The man replied. The woman shoved the bundle of fabrics towards the man.

“Open that bundle, old Joe, and let me know the value of it!” The woman said as the spirit stepped in front of Rythian and pointed it’s arm once more.

Rythian turned, and behind him, in the centre of the stage, was a gravestone, with artificial snow hiding the name of the person to whom the gravestone belonged. The same dark mist that seemed to follow the spirit around was billowing around the gravestone as Rythian slowly made his way towards the stone, the woman and the man at the side of the stage vanishing into darkness, leaving Rythian and the spirit alone on the stage. Rythian stopped a few feet away from the gravestone and suddenly turned to the spirit.

“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point, answer me one question. Are these the shadows of things that will be, or are they the shadows of the things that may be only?” Silence.

Rythian swallowed and turned back to face the gravestone. He took a couple more steps closer and held out his hand, about to brush the snow from the surface of the grave. He paused for a moment before he took a deep breath and brushed the snow away. The snow fell from the gravestone and revealed a name etched into the stone. The letters were so large and clear, that even those in the back of the audience could read the name: EBENEZER SCROOGE. Rythian let out a cry and turned to face the spirit, falling onto his knees.

“No, Spirit! No, no! Spirit, hear me! I am not the man I was! Why show me this, if I am past all hope? Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me by an altered life!” Rythian begged. And for the first time, the spirit moved slowly, nodding it’s head ever so slightly. “Oh thank you! Thank you! I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will like in the past, the present and the future. The spirits of all three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!”

And as Rythian finished speaking the dark mist rose up and entirely shrouded the stage in darkness. A murmur ran around the audience as silence filled the air and the dark mist swirled. Slowly, the mist cleared and as it did, the sound of church bells filled the air and the scene of Rythian asleep in his chair by the fireplace became clear on the stage once more. Wren slowly walked across the stage until she was in the centre. She looked out on the audience, making sure she had their full attention before she began speaking.

“When Scrooge awoke, he found it to be Christmas day.” Behind her, Rythian arose from his chair as the people in black scurried onto the stage for one last time, clearing away the chairs and the fireplace. “And Scrooge was indeed true to his word. He did honour the spirits of Christmas, all the year round. To the people who knew him, he became as good a friend as any of them had ever known. And as Tiny Tim had observed:” The rest of the cast had come out onto the stage and were standing behind Wren in full force.

“Merry Christmas, and God bless us, every one!” The entire cast shouted out.

Applause rose into the air, and some people even stood as they clapped. Those on the stage bowed once, bowed again, and bowed a third time before they finally left the stage and the lights were switched back on and people began dispersing. Congratulations were given to the people who had performed, and soon the only people who were left were Simon and Lewis, and a couple of the werewolves. The werewolves were talking among each other as Simon and Lewis sat on the stage, Simon swinging his legs as they looked out over the sea of empty chairs.

“I think that went pretty well, friend. Don’t you?” Lewis asked as he smiled slightly. He was still wearing the black cloak that he had worn for the third spirit. And Simon was still proudly wearing his green robe.

“It was great, Lewis!” Simon gushed.

“I’m glad!”

The pair sat for another few minutes. Eventually the werewolves left and they were truly alone.

“Well, we should probably go to sleep, it’s getting pretty late. Merry Christmas, friend.” Lewis said, jumping off the stage. Simon followed him and when Lewis turned around to face him, Simon pulled Lewis into a spine crushing hug, almost lifting Lewis off the floor.

“Merry Christmas, spaceman!” Simon said loudly before he put Lewis down, who gasped for breath. “I’ll see you tomorrow, spaceman.” He said cheerily as he trotted over to the lift, Lewis following behind.

“Get here bright and early, Simon, we need to clear all this away.” Lewis said, grinning. Simon snorted as he pressed the button for the lift.

“Yeah right. I’ll see you tomorrow at midday.” Lewis chuckled slightly. The lift pinged and the doors opened. Simon walked inside and pressed the button for the ground floor. “See ya tomorrow, spaceman!” He cried out, waving at Lewis as the doors began to close.

“See you tomorrow, Simon, and get home safe!” Lewis said, waving back at Simon.

“Well why don’t you go see him?” They were talking about Rythian, someone who Lewis still hadn’t properly met yet. Hannah sighed and closed the book, deciding to abandon it all together.

“I feel horrible for saying this, but I haven’t had spare time lately.  What with helping you get yourself sorted and crime’s been on the rise lately, you should really try and do something about that by the way,” she looked pointedly over at Lewis before continuing on, “which means less and less sleep for me. I’ve been absolutely exhausted these past few days. Even Athena has been sleeping a lot more than normal.” Hannah glanced over at Athena who ruffled her feathers slightly as she glanced up upon hearing her name before she went back to sleep. Lewis’s gaze followed Hannah’s over to Athena and he hummed thoughtfully as he looked at the owl.

“Have you tried calling him?” Hannah shrugged.

“A couple of times, but he’s never picked up. I mean for all I know, I could be calling him while he’s at work. I don’t know his schedule.”

“Texts?” She shrugged again.

“A couple every so often, but he never replies.” Hannah was thoughtful for a moment. “I just don’t know, Lewis.” Lewis pushed his chair away from the computer and leant back, his hands resting in his lap.

“You’re not doing anything this weekend, are you?” She shook her head. “Set some time aside to visit him then.” Hannah nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds alright. I’ll drop him a text and let him know I’m thinking of coming over.” Hannah pulled out her phone and began texting as the door to the lab opened and Simon walked in, followed by Lalnable.

“Hi, Simon. Hi, Lal.” Lewis said, smiling over at his friends. Hannah glanced up briefly from her phone.

“Hey.”

“Hello, Hannah!” Simon beamed over at Hannah before he ran up to Lewis. Lalnable said nothing but sneered slightly in Hannah’s direction as he followed after Simon. “Lewis, Lalnable has had a really cool idea!”

“What is it?” Lewis asked, looking expectantly up at Lalnable. Lalnable shrugged and turned slightly away from Lewis, glancing towards Hannah, the sneer returning to his face.

“I don’t know if I should bother you with my stupid ideas, you seem pretty busy with her.” Lewis frowned slightly at Lalnable.

“If I was busy, I would say. But Simon said you’ve had a cool idea and I want to hear it.” Lewis said, trying to remain amicable, despite how Lalnable’s comment had irritated him; he didn’t want things to escalate like they’d done last time and especially not in front of Simon.

“Yeah, so you can take it and say it was your own idea.” Simon was frowning up at Lalnable and Lewis was becoming more stressed as it appeared that the conversation was headed in the same direction as before. Hannah had finished texting Rythian and she’d put her phone away, turning her attention to the conversation that was taking place.

“Look, Lal, I swear I won’t steal your idea. I just want to know what it is.” Lalnable sneered and Lewis thought he was about to retort when Simon butted in.

“Come on, Lalnable! I want to see what Lewis thinks of it!” Lalnable thought for a moment before he shrugged and leant against the table, crossing his arms.

“Well, Simon and I were talking together, and I had this thought, ‘cause we were talking about things like terminal illnesses and how they could be cured,” as Lalnable spoke, the tension that had been building began to dissipate, helped along by Simon hopping from foot to foot, unable to keep still with the excitement, “and so I thought, what if we could clone people?”

“We could clone people and cure them of their illnesses durning the cloning process!” Simon jumped in, talking animatedly. Lewis frowned thoughtfully and absently scratched at his beard.

“I wonder if cloning someone would cure their disease? Can the cloning process be modified in such a way that it’s possible to even do that?” Lewis murmured thoughtfully, mostly to himself. He suddenly looked up at Lalnable and grinned. “What am I talking about, we’ve got to clone someone first!”

“Does this mean you think it’s a good idea?” Simon asked. Lewis grinned over at Simon.

“I think it’s a great idea! Lal, would you be willing to do research into it? I mean, I don’t want to shove this on you if you don’t want to, but you already have a lot of knowledge on human biology and this was your idea in the first place, I don’t want to take it away from you.” Lalnable was nodding, a smile creeping onto his face.

“Yeah, I can get started on some research, not sure how long it will take though because I’m pretty busy with some other experiments.”

“Take as much time as you need, friend.” Lewis smiled at the pair.

“If we can actually pull this off this’ll be amazing!” Lalnable said, pushing himself off from the table, smiling excitedly. On the other side of the room Hannah’s phone pinged as she received an incoming text. Everyone glanced over to her as she looked down at her phone.

“Was that Rythian?” Lewis asked, leaning in his chair to look over at Hannah. She read the text a couple of times before she looked up at Lewis.

“Hi, Hannah!” The woman with the brown curly hair said, standing up and going over to hug Hannah. Lewis wandered over to the table as Hannah let go of the curly haired woman and gently reached down and hugged the other woman who hadn’t stood up.

“Hannah, I haven’t seen you in ages, how have you been, ooh! Is this your boyfriend? Didn’t you say his name was Lewis? Hi, Lewis, you’re going to be the next mayor aren’t you? You’re totally going to be the best mayor,”

“Zoey, shh.” The woman with curly hair said, gently holding her hand over Zoey’s mouth, smiling as did so. “Let Hannah introduce him before you bombard him with questions.” Hannah grinned as the woman took her hand away from Zoey’s mouth and sat down next to her again, holding her hand tightly. Hannah took hold of Lewis’s hand and sat herself down opposite the couple with Lewis beside her.

“Alright, so introductions. Lewis, meet Zoey and Fiona.” Hannah gestured to Zoey and then to the curly haired woman, still holding his hand. “Zoey and Fiona, meet my boyfriend Lewis.” Fiona held out her hand for Lewis to shake.

“Nice to meet you, Lewis.” She said, smiling widely at him. Lewis shook her hand, surprised at the strong grip she had.

“Hi, Lewis!” Zoey said, waving at Lewis from across the small coffee table.

“Hi.” Lewis replied, smiling at the pair. He’d only been in their presence for a few moments but he liked them already.

“Where’s Rythian? He’s supposed to be coming, isn’t he? I’m sure I told you to invite him too.” The smile fell from Fiona’s face for a moment and even Zoey looked down.

“He said he was still ill.” Fiona explained. Hannah frowned in sympathy.

“Poor guy. He’s barely had any time to relax since he got here, what with having to find a job and coping with all the bugs he’s been catching.”

“Yeah, I feel really bad for him, and I really want to go visit him and make sure he’s ok, but I can’t risk getting ill right now, but I really want to see him cause I haven’t seen him in ages, and I really hope he’s ok,”

“Yeah, we all hope he’s ok.” Hannah said, cutting across Zoey’s constant speaking. “I’ll check up on him soon, make sure he’s doing ok.” She turned to look at Lewis. “You’ve already met Rythian, though, haven’t you?” Lewis stared at Hannah blankly.

“Have I?” Hannah smirked.

“Yeah, you met him briefly once when you were leaving my house, and he was arriving. Tall, dark skinned, kind of unusual looking, wears a mask…” Hannah gave a brief description of her friend to jog Lewis’s memory.

“Oh! Oh him! Yeah, I met him that one time, but we didn’t really talk much.” Hannah nodded.

“Yeah, him. I’ll have to introduce you properly one day.” Hannah sighed before changing the topic. “Alright, does anyone want anything to drink? I’m going to get myself a tea.”

“I’ll have a tea too please.” Fiona said, smiling up at Hannah as she stood up.

“Alright. Zoey?”

“Oh, I’ll have a glass of milk please, I mean as long as you don’t mind paying for it,”

“No, it’s my treat.” Hannah said, smiling. “And, Lewis?”

“Tea please, Hannah.” He said, tilting his head up to look at her.

“Ok, so three teas and a milk. I can do that. Lewis, do you want to help me carry the drinks over?” She said, gently patting his shoulder.

“Alright.” Lewis climbed to his feet and followed Hannah over to the counter where she ordered the drinks and then leant against the counter looking at Lewis as they waited for the drinks to be made.

“So… what do you think of Zoey and Fiona so far?” Hannah asked, smiling at Lewis. He grinned back and lent against the counter beside her.

“They seem nice.” He replied genuinely. “Zoey seems like she could talk the hind leg off a donkey though.” He said, his grin getting wider. Hannah laughed.

“That she could, but it’s always a pleasure listening to her ramble on.” She said, the smile on her face turning soft as she glanced over at the couple. They were leaning close to one another, their foreheads touching as they had a quiet conversation between themselves.

“So how did you meet them?”

“I met Fiona a number of years ago now, we train at the same boxing club and we’ve been sparring partners for a long time. And we just sort of became friends through that. And I met Zoey through Rythian, she used to be his neighbour until she moved in with Fiona.”

“Here are your drinks, that’ll be six pounds fifty please.” The barista said, setting down the last of the drinks on the counter and totting up the bill. Hannah pushed herself off the counter and pulled her purse out of pocket.

“Do you want me to pay for them?” Lewis asked as Hannah started rummaging around for the correct change.

“Nah, I’ve got this.” She replied before handing the waiting barista the money.

“Thank you.” The barista said, smiling at Hannah after he counted out the money to check the correct amount was there and putting it into the till. Hannah grabbed two of the teas.

“Thanks.” She called out as she moved away from the counter, leaving Lewis to grab the last tea and the glass of milk. They returned to where Zoey and Fiona were sitting and soon everyone was settled with their drinks.

“So how long have you two been together, if you don’t mind me asking?” Lewis said, after taking a sip from his tea and placing the cup back down on it’s saucer. Zoey and Fiona looked at each other and Lewis could tell they were working it out.

“Oh, about seven months in total probably, Hannah introduced us when we all decided to go out for a meal because I was spending the nights sleeping at hers, and then we saw each other a couple of times after that and it just sort of happened, like there was no set day when it happened, but we really hit it off on that first day and we just kept going from there.” Lewis was smiling as he listened to Zoey’s ramblings, and glancing over at Fiona he could see her smiling too.

“Yeah, she was just the lovely woman I’ve been looking for.” She said, grinning at Zoey.

“Fiona, you’re embarrassing me!” Zoey said, blushing. “But Fiona is the best, she’s amazing at massages and she’s been really good at keeping unwanted exes away from the flat and she can fight, she’s like this amazing superhero and she’s just amazing! So how did you two meet? I mean I know Hannah’s a reporter, and she’s probably cornered you wanting to get an interview or something but, did you meet before that?”

“We actually first met before I decided to run for mayor.” Lewis said, glancing towards Hannah and smiling. He still had a slight scar in his side from that encounter. She grinned back.

“Yeah, I watched as this scrawny lanky guy managed to fight off three blokes with a sword of all things.” Hannah said, grinning at Zoey and Fiona.

“A sword? That’s awesome! How come you have a sword? Where did you get it? Do you still have it? How come you were allowed to walk around the streets carrying it?”

“It was a gift from a friend.” Lewis said, before Zoey could fire off another question.

“And Mr. Mayor here duped people into believing that it was a fake sword.” Hannah said, grinning and elbowing Lewis. He grinned sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, I mean I’m glad I was carrying it that time.” He said. Hannah laughed.

“I’ve got to say, I was pretty impressed that you managed to fight them all off on your own. But you still needed me to fix you up a little afterwards.” She grinned slyly.

“It wasn’t that bad.” Lewis said indignantly. “I’m sure I would’ve been fine!” Everyone laughed.

“Yeah, you probably would have been fine honestly.” Hannah said, ruffling Lewis’s hair. “But I couldn’t let you have all the glory.” She winked. Lewis chuckled slightly.

“Well it did save me money at the very least.” He said, elbowing her gently. She shoved his shoulder.

“Alright, enough fighting you two. Or will I have to break it up?” Fiona said, grinning. Lewis and Hannah pulled apart, smiling.

They stayed in the coffee shop for a number of hours, chatting and getting to know each other before with a yawn Zoey announced that she needed to head home and have a nap. At which point the two couple split and went their separate ways. And then Hannah and Lewis split apart as he headed to Yoglabs to do some work and Hannah headed home to finish writing an article that she was hoping to get printed in the news tomorrow.

The day of the election dawned grey and overcast and Lewis struggled to pull himself out of bed. Through a crack in the curtains, grey light was shining onto Lewis’s face and he blinked his eyes open slightly, rolling over to check the time. Beside him Hannah sighed in her sleep and rolled closer towards him, wrapping her arms around him. On the headboard of the bed Hannah’s owl, Athena, ruffled her feathers quietly as she slept. Lewis let Hannah embrace him in her sleep for a few more minutes before he brushed her hair from her face and murmured quietly in her ear.

“I need to get up, Hannah.” Hannah opened one eye slightly and looked up at Lewis.

“No you don’t.” She replied quietly, snuggling closer to him. He smiled and hugged her tightly.

“Yes I do.”

“Nope.” He smiled again.

“I’ve got to go to work.” Lewis paused and thought for a moment. “And it’s election day too.” He said, dread and worry creeping into him. Hannah opened her eye again and squinted up at Lewis.

“Is that today?” She hummed thoughtfully as she closed her eyes again. “Well you’d better win.” Lewis chuckled slightly, but he knew that she was only half joking. He knew that she thought Doug Drumpf was a moron, but then anyone with half a brain cell did, and she had taken James Black as her sworn enemy due to his stance on equality and women’s rights.

“I’ll try not to let you down.” He said softly, stroking her hair.

“Mmm, you’d better not.” She murmured, still hugging Lewis close. Lewis played with her blonde hair for a few moments before he pulled himself away from her grasp and got up out of the bed. Hannah groaned and blinked sleepily up at Lewis. “I was going back to sleep and you woke me up again.” She complained. On the headboard Athena opened her eyes and stared unblinkingly at Lewis. He grinned.

“Well it’s time to get up. Otherwise I’ll be late for work, and for everything else that’s happening today too.”

Lewis had only been able to spend a couple of hours at Yoglabs before his duties as a candidate for the next mayor of Datlof pulled him away, and once he’d left the building he spent the rest of the day smiling and waving for cameras as he talked to voters and interviewers. The day passed in a whirl and by the time the polling stations closed at 10pm the grey skies were dark and heavily overcast with the promise of rain later on in the night. Lewis was in a school hall with Lalnable and Simon as the voting slips were taken away so that they could begin the long process of counting them out. Hannah was around somewhere, doing what Lewis wasn’t sure. He didn’t know if she was taking a night off from being Lomadia to cover the election results or if she had decided to forgo being a reporter. Although knowing Hannah he suspected that former was the correct assumption. Now that the votes were being counted, Lewis was a bundle of nerves and nothing Simon or Lalnable could say or do was helping him to calm down. The exit polls had suggested that despite the favour towards Lewis in the days upcoming to the election, the results were going close between him and James Black and he was panicking, knowing there was nothing he could do now except sit and wait.

“But what if he wins?” Lewis asked, looking at Simon as he sat on the floor of the school hall, Lalnable standing nearby as the dwarf sat beside Lewis.

“Then he wins, Lewis. And there’s nothing you can do about it. But you’ll be fine. You’ve got a lot of support,”

“But the exit polls, Simon, they’re so close!” Simon reached up and patted Lewis on the shoulder.

“Chill out, spaceman. If you freak out too much the cameras will start filming you having a mental breakdown.” Simon grinned as Lewis groaned and held his head in his hands.

“So how long is this going to take anyway? When do we find out the results?” Simon shrugged.

“I have no idea.” He said cheerfully. Lewis groaned again.

“We could be waiting here all night!” Lalnable wandered over to the pair.

“Yeah, I think we will be here all night.” He said, looking over his shoulder.

“What?!” Lewis stared up at Lalnable who just shrugged.

“I overheard some reporters talking about how the results would be known in the early hours of the morning. That’s all.” Lewis groaned for a third time and buried his head back into his hands.

“Cheer up, spaceman!” Simon said, elbowing Lewis. “You’ll be spending the night with us!” Lewis couldn’t help but grin at his friend.

The night drew on and as the clocks ticked past midnight and on to early morning the heavens opened and rain started pouring down outside as inside the schools and halls, people worked tirelessly to count the hundreds and thousands of votes. And as the night drew on, Lewis found his anxiety passing away to boredom and then tiredness and it wasn’t long before he found a quiet corner to curl up in and go to sleep. He figured someone would wake him up if anything important happened.