XII.

Dali entered the backdoor of Kay’s house and tripped over a shoebox. Like a cat, he soundlessly caught himself before he fell.

He slowly tip-toed across the floor and perused the room in order to gain more information about the woman who may or may not have kidnapped Santa Claus.

It looked like the typical living room of a single woman except for one thing. In the middle of the floor between the couch and the television, there was a giant snail shell covered in thick, red spirals.

Dali shuddered when he looked at the snail shell. There was something wrong about it and it wasn’t because it was so out of place. The snail shell started to pulsate and hum.

What the fuck?

Dali quickly slid across the floor away from the shell. He wanted to find Santa Claus and be done with the whole assignment. The humming got louder even though Dali was getting farther away from the shell. When he made it to the last room down the hallway, the hum was nearly deafening.

Though it was probably not the stealthiest of moves, he barged into the room. He could sense there was someone else in there with him but he didn’t see anyone because of the darkness.

Then a muffled voice said, “Let me outta here!”