White Elephant: Chapter One

Chapter One

December 20th, 3:30 PM

It was the Saturday before Christmas and all through the City Mall, many creatures were stirring: most of them human.  It seemed like the whole town was on the hunt for the last of their holiday shopping, including the Mayor's daughter, Erin Steele, dressed stunningly-- but practically-- in boots, black leggings, and a knitted beige sweater dress that ended several inches above her knees.

"Oh, what about this?" she said, extending her hand toward her roommate and best friend, Margot, sporting a festive red turtleneck and tight blue jeans.

Margot sighed and took a sniff of Erin's palm.  "Yeah," she muttered.  "That's good."

Erin had been testing fragrances in the Bath and Body shop for nearly half an hour.  She knew Margot didn't want to be here, and could see that her friend was now on the verge of losing her mind.  But Erin wasn't going to leave until she found the perfect gift.

"I don't know about it," Erin said, moving her hand to her face, testing the aroma again.   "It's too... I don't know... sickly sweet.  Almost like chloroform, or something."

Margot couldn't help but giggle.  "Yeah, and you know a thing or two about that."

Erin grinned.  It was true-- she had had more than a few experiences with the knockout drug in the past couple of years.  It was one of the primary hazards of Erin's peculiar hobby: fighting crime under the guise of the Blue Lynx.  As a superheroine, she prided herself on her fighting skills, her quick decision making, and her sense of right and wrong.  But even the most cautious crimefighter can be ambushed, and for some reason, Erin's foes seemed particularly interested in locking her in bearhugs and applying chloroform-soaked rags to her lips...

There was no need to think about it too much.  Especially the week before Christmas, and with so much shopping to do!

"So no on the chloroform scent, then," Erin said with a laugh.  "How about..."

"Erin, could we please leave," Margot said.  "This place gives me a creeps."

"Alright, alright," Erin said.  She played a quick game of "eeny meeny miney mo," settled on lavender, and went to the register.  After five more excruciating (for Margot) minutes in which Erin debated gift wrapping, the young women left the store and were back out in the main corridor of the mall.  A river of men, women, and children coursed both ways, sweeping the two friends into its waves, carrying them past shops bedecked in lights and garlands.  Erin laughed as she moved along-- it excited her to be part of the pre-Christmas action.  Margot, her eyes wide and her mouth set in a grimace, was noticeably less thrilled.

The girls moved through the corridor until they eventually arrived at a large open concourse.  A twenty-foot tall tree stood in the center of the space, with a large, wide stage extending around its substantial trunk.  On the stage sat a throne, and in the throne sat a skinny Santa.  On and around the stage, children, families, and people dressed as elves milled about, gawking at the elaborately decorated presents clumped underneath the tree.  It looked like an event was about to start.  Erin grinned.

"You want to ask Santa for anything?" she said to Margot.

Margot shook her head.  "What I want, Santa can't get me."

"So what do you want?"

"I want to get out of here."

Erin chuckled.  "Okay, okay.  We'll leave real soon.  There's just a couple more places I want to hit up."

Suddenly, a screech of feedback tore through the mall.  Erin winced and looked up at the stage.  A woman was standing up to a stand, tapping impatiently on a microphone.  She was a slender woman dressed in a tight red outfit fringed with white fur.  She was obviously going for a Mrs. Claus look, but she had one feature that ruined the effect: long bleached blonde hair that made her seem more like a punk rock singer, or a model, or a...

"Wait," Erin said, nudging Margot and pointing at the stage.  "Is that who I think it is?"

Margot squinted through her thick-framed glasses.  "Oh shit," she said.  "Is that... Sunny?"

"Ho ho hello everybody," Mrs Claus said, her voice booming over the sound system.  "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc.  Welcome to the first annual Claus Cares event, sponsored by your Speaker of the House, Brent Hammerson."

The concourse broke out into a light round of applause.  Erin kept her hands to her side.  What the heck was this?

"As you know, Mr. Hammerson has made it his mission to rid the community of crime and drugs.  By donating today, you'll help us achieve our goal of safe streets throughout the city.  And you'll get a picture with Santa, too!"

There was more applause.  Sunny was clearly loving it, smiling broadly and bowing and gesturing at the red-suited man in the throne.  Erin gritted her teeth.

"This can't be good," she murmured.  She and Margot were standing about twenty yards from the stage, two people in a crowd of hundreds.  Hammerson did fundraisers like this all the time.  They were always bullshit, but they never involved people getting hurt... But then again, most of them didn't feature Hammerson's right-hand woman as the star of the show.

"What do you want to do?" Margot asked, looking Erin in the eyes.

Erin pushed her hair back and smiled.  "I think we should give the people a show."

Margot nodded.

And without another word, the girls dashed out of the concourse, making their way to Margot's car, where they could get changed.

On to Chapter Two