It's Christmas Eve once again. The people stay up all night to greet the birthday of Jesus Christ, or simply to celebrate for its remarkable culture.

Christmas from time to time hadn't been celebrated due to the saviour Jesus Christ. Most people just find it as a special day of some sort. Couples find it as a special day of romance. Friends consider it as a special day for friendship. Some even look at it as a confession day. Children await this day for Santa Claus.

Of these few examples, Santa Claus is the most celebrated, especially for families. Santa Claus visits children around the world to give gifts.

Well, only those children who are in the "Nice" list. They always get gifts that they love. Of course to adults, it's just a fairytale since they're the ones providing the gift.

What about the children in the "naughty" list? You'd just think that these children don't receive gifts at all.

I'm actually in between agreement and disagreement. I need to find the missing children after Christmas eve. It's just a simple task, to be honest. Another long time to investigate. It probably would be given to a different unit or be abandoned.

I choose not to abandon. Something about the story of the parent of a missing child bothers me. Something so familiar. It tingles my senses and urges me to investigate.

The mother had told me on Christmas morning that her child vanished. No one in the neighborhood saw him leaving or anyone trespassing. The only thing that was left was a note on the pillow stating, "You've been a very naughty little child." They thought it was some sort of prank but they didn't waste time.

It's such a cliché situation, I know. But, I still accepted this case.

My niece vanished long ago, too, about 5 years now.

She was a pain to handle since she got in a lot of fights. But, she only fought bullies and defended their victims. It didn't even matter to her whether they belong to the school or not. My sister, who is her mom, had to ask me to take care of her at school since I work as a guard.

That near Christmas Eve, I decided to celebrate with them. I brought gifts for her. Her stepdad was talking about Santa Claus, trying to excite her. That didn't work because she found the thought of Santa Claus unbelievable. The stepdad didn't need to act anymore as he also found it unbelievable. They always clicked together.

Before 10, we let her sleep. Us, the adults, stayed up at night and drank wine. It went on for a two hours until the stepdad needed to go to the bathroom. He used the bathroom up stairs so he can also check on my niece.

We heard a loud bang. I immediately take my gun and head upstairs to where the sound originated. I enter with my gun pointing, only to see the stepdad looking out the window, desperate for something. My niece was gone.

I was about to blame him when he said that a man in a red suit came and forcefully took her. The man pushed him to the floor, broke the table, and left the note. He leaves with the child.

The note was the same exact one as today. A small note with the message "You've been a very naughty little child" written in red ink.

I investigated more and only a few cases were found in all these years. They all had the same claims, a man in a red suit came and took the children by force at the strike of 12. People believed these stories and protected their children since.

It's kind of a good story for children to stop being naughty but it's honestly disturbing.

Luckily for me, I got a lead.

As of now, I can only rely on a piece of red cloth trapped in the bushes of a missing child's home. I've gone to the lab and the scientists have found a path. Though it's been five months since I started.

They told me that this man resides at the northern region. It sounds weird and childish. The man is found on the North Pole, just like any Christmas story.

Were these crimes done by Santa Claus? That's funny. It probably might be a wannabe Santa Claus.

Or so I thought.

Nope. It was a wannabe. I got him captured as I immediately head to the North Pole after the confirmation.

Apparently, the man was a cannibal in Russia. He lived there until December and came to this country before Christmas Eve comes. He took 50 children during those 50 years.

All the children have been killed, including my niece. Their skins have been turned to furniture and the rest of the body are stored in the freezer.

Does he still need a freezer when it's this cold?! Is that logical? I don't know.

I arrest him. It was just a peaceful place so I thought of staying in his cabin, despite the furniture. I make coffee for myself and keep him tied up by my side. Fortunately, he has normal water and did not freeze.

After an hour, I carry him and leave the place. He has a sled with... moose?!

Can they even survive a weather this cold? Oh, wait. Their furs are thick. I forgot that for a second.

We ride it and arrive at my boat. I put him in a somewhat comfortable chair as I drive away from this cold area.

I arrive at the nearest area where my comrades await. They take the cannibal away as I talk to them a bit about the place he lived.

The country was now peaceful on this special eve.

Just kidding! Don't get your hopes up!

It actually didn't matter if the kidnapper was a cannibal or not. But whoever takes the current one will be the one replaced. It's a cycle.

And how do I know?

Because like any cliché stories, I ended up doing it.

It's not like I wanted to. It's because Santa Claus is real.

The naughty children are killed in ways our hearts find torturous. I don't like cannibals so I ended up eating them the same way the previous one did. There is no way of stopping. I can't even tell if science can explain this. And if I don't abide by its cycle, it would just involve the extinction of a neighborhood.

Believe me. I skipped a year by fighting the urge to kidnap. The cycle killed a whole subdivision.

My rationality can't compete.

I am completely a puppet of this Santa Claus.

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