Speaker 1: Mike woke up early this morning. He went to the
Speaker 1: bathroom to freshen up, and then looked into the mirror.
Speaker 1: He took a good look at himself and noticed the
Speaker 1: bruising on his left cheek. Last night, his father had
Speaker 1: slapped him hard across the face for calling him an alcoholic,
Speaker 1: which he actually is. Mike looked at himself in the
Speaker 1: mirror for a bit and said to himself, humph, Merry Christmas. Mike.
Speaker 1: When he was eight years old, his mother had died
Speaker 1: of cancer. Since then, he basically raised himself. His life
Speaker 1: had been a journey full of hardships and rebukes, but
Speaker 1: every year when Christmas came around, a smile appeared on
Speaker 1: his face. Every Christmas, his beloved uncle Jack would come
Speaker 1: to visit him at their house. Right now, Mike is
Speaker 1: sixteen years old. He just has to wait two more
Speaker 1: years so that he can move out of his house.
Speaker 1: His father never treated him right. Sometimes Mike feels it's
Speaker 1: the alcohol that changed his father into this completely different person.
Speaker 1: Mike went downstairs and started to prepare breakfast. He peeked
Speaker 1: into the living room and saw the same sad scenario
Speaker 1: once again. His father passed out on the living room couch.
Speaker 1: After another long night of heavy drinking, he put a
Speaker 1: few pieces of bread into the toaster and went to
Speaker 1: take his father to his bedroom. Mike has become accustomed
Speaker 1: to becoming the caretaker of the house and his father.
Speaker 1: After finishing his breakfast, Mike calls his uncle Jack, and
Speaker 1: hearing his uncle's voice over the phone made Mike's eyes
Speaker 1: sparkle with joy. He said, Hey, Uncle Jack, when you're
Speaker 1: coming over. Uncle Jack replied, I'll be there soon. Hold
Speaker 1: your horses, kiddo. They both laughed with great enthusiasm. Mike's
Speaker 1: face lit up and enjoy He then decided to start
Speaker 1: planning out the decorations for Christmas. There was snow all
Speaker 1: over the backyard. Mike went outside and he saw the green,
Speaker 1: huge assortment of Christmas trees scattered in the woods. Their
Speaker 1: house was at the top of the hill, surrounded by mountains.
Speaker 1: He remembered how his mother made him a snowman when
Speaker 1: he was little. Mike misses her every single day. After
Speaker 1: spotting a good sized Christmas tree, Mike started to cut
Speaker 1: it down so he could take it home and decorate it.
Speaker 1: He works at the mall down the hill, and that's
Speaker 1: how he manages his food and other expenses. Mike's father
Speaker 1: works at a garage, but he spends all his money
Speaker 1: on alcohol. Around seven o'clock that night, the living room
Speaker 1: was all prepared for a nice, small Christmas celebration. Mike
Speaker 1: had put the Christmas tree right in the center of
Speaker 1: the room. Beautiful, color full shiny balls were hanging all
Speaker 1: over it. A golden bell was tied with a red bow,
Speaker 1: which was placed at the very top of the Christmas tree.
Speaker 1: Mike decorated the room with colorful chains. He hung two
Speaker 1: pairs of socks on the slab of the fireplace. It
Speaker 1: was getting pretty cold, so Mike put some wood inside
Speaker 1: the fireplace and started a fire. Just then, he heard
Speaker 1: his father's coarse voice and looked behind him. His father
Speaker 1: was standing in the living room with that same angry
Speaker 1: look on his face. Mike told him in a low voice,
Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, Dad, But his father turned away and said,
Speaker 1: I'm going into town to celebrate on my own, otherwise
Speaker 1: you and your boring uncle will ruin my Christmas eve.
Speaker 1: As his father grabbed his jacket and opened the front
Speaker 1: door to leave, Mike noticed his uncle Jack was arriving.
Speaker 1: Uncle Jack went to hug Mike's father, but he replied
Speaker 1: in a rude voice, keep your filthy hands off me.
Speaker 1: I'm running late, and with that he got in his
Speaker 1: car and drove away. Mike and his uncle Jack stood
Speaker 1: in the doorway quietly and watched his father drive away.
Speaker 1: Seeing Mike's sad face, uncle Jack hugged him and they
Speaker 1: went inside. Uncle Jack had brought some delicious food for
Speaker 1: their special Christmas dinner and handed Mike a gift. As
Speaker 1: Mike opened the present, his face began to light up.
Speaker 1: It was an iPad. He'd always wanted one but could
Speaker 1: never afford it. He smiled and said, thank you, Uncle Jack.
Speaker 1: This is the best gift ever. The small house at
Speaker 1: the top of the hill blossomed in happiness and joy
Speaker 1: for one night, but who would guess that that joy
Speaker 1: would be temporary. Mike and Uncle Jack started to talk
Speaker 1: about sports and music while enjoying some roasted turkey and
Speaker 1: mashed tatoes. Uncle Jack poured himself a glass of wine
Speaker 1: and said, now, look, I just need you to be
Speaker 1: strong for two more years, Mike. Then you can come
Speaker 1: to New York and stay with me. All arrange for
Speaker 1: your college and everything. If your mother was still alive,
Speaker 1: you wouldn't have to face so much trouble. Alcohol has
Speaker 1: made your father a completely different person. Mike shook his
Speaker 1: head and kept eating quietly. He knew that his uncle
Speaker 1: Jack was the only person in the world that truly
Speaker 1: cared for him. They finished their dinner and decided to
Speaker 1: watch a movie. Everything was going great when suddenly the
Speaker 1: doorbell rang. Uncle Jack went to answer the door while
Speaker 1: Mike was doing the dishes. Mike yelled from the kitchen,
Speaker 1: who is it, Uncle Jack. The uncle replied, Oh, no, kiddo,
Speaker 1: looks like someone left you a Christmas gift on the doorstep.
Speaker 1: Mike was surprised. He looked at the clock. It was
Speaker 1: already ten pm. Who would leave a Christmas gift at
Speaker 1: this hour. Mike washed his hands and wiped them on
Speaker 1: his jeans. He then walked to the living room and
Speaker 1: saw a beautifully wrapped box on the dinner table. Uncle
Speaker 1: Jack gestured with his eyes and said, in an excited voice,
Speaker 1: go on open it. The box was wrapped with silver
Speaker 1: glittering paper and tied with a red satin strip. With
Speaker 1: curious eyes, Mike unboxed the gift. There were three more
Speaker 1: boxes inside. He took out the three boxes and realized
Speaker 1: there was something in each of them. Uncle Jack was
Speaker 1: sitting on the armchair near the fireplace, but out of interest,
Speaker 1: he too came near the table. The three boxes were
Speaker 1: all different sizes. One was small, there was a middle
Speaker 1: sized one, and the third was the biggest. Mike decided
Speaker 1: to open the little box first. What happened next changed
Speaker 1: Mike's life forever. Inside the box was an object kept
Speaker 1: inside of a zipped up plastic bag. As Mike took
Speaker 1: the object out of the bag, Uncle Jack's wineglass fell
Speaker 1: to the ground and shattered. The object was a human ear.
Speaker 1: The ear appeared to be preserved for a long time,
Speaker 1: as it had no blood on it. Mike couldn't believe
Speaker 1: his own eyes and was frozen in fear. As his
Speaker 1: eyes went to the other two boxes. He then noticed
Speaker 1: there was a small note inside this box. With a
Speaker 1: shaking hand, he picked up the paper and read it.
Speaker 1: It said David Brown. Mike knew that name. David Brown
Speaker 1: was a boy from Mike's middle school. David used to
Speaker 1: bully Mike a lot. He once punched Mike's so hard
Speaker 1: in the face that Mike suffered serious injuries to his nose.
Speaker 1: Shivers went down Mike's spine. Uncle Jack screamed in horror, saying,
Speaker 1: what the hell, who's David Brown? Why did someone send
Speaker 1: you his ears a Christmas gift. Mike didn't answer his
Speaker 1: uncle and went to open the next box. He was
Speaker 1: breathing heavily. Drops of sweat appeared on his face. As
Speaker 1: he unwrapped this one, the horror grew even more. This
Speaker 1: one had a severed index finger in it. It was
Speaker 1: the finger of a woman. Even though it was preserved
Speaker 1: like the ear, it still had red fingernail polish on it.
Speaker 1: Just like the smaller box, this box, too had a note. Inside.
Speaker 1: On the paper was another person's name, a name that
Speaker 1: Mike remembered very well, Stacy Roberts. Stacy Roberts was the
Speaker 1: owner of the house that Mike's family rented when they
Speaker 1: lived down the hill. Mike's mom loved that house, but
Speaker 1: after she passed away, they had difficulties paying rent as
Speaker 1: most of their money went to paying for the medical bills.
Speaker 1: One morning, after Mike's mother had passed away, Stacy came
Speaker 1: to their house and told them to leave the house immediately.
Speaker 1: Mike and his father begged her to give them another
Speaker 1: week to arrange for a place to stay, but she
Speaker 1: didn't give them an ounce of kindness. As Mike went
Speaker 1: to get their things, she did an extremely cruel thing.
Speaker 1: Mike's mother had a pearl necklace, which he kept in
Speaker 1: order to remember her by, but Stacy came up to
Speaker 1: him and snatched the pearl necklace from him, saying this
Speaker 1: will pay for your past due rent, your piece of shit.
Speaker 1: As she shoved a crying Mike out of the house,
Speaker 1: the memories flashed in front of his eyes and he
Speaker 1: couldn't help but break into tears. Uncle Jack took Mike
Speaker 1: and made him sit on the couch. He then said,
Speaker 1: what's going on here, Mike? Please tell me who's doing this.
Speaker 1: Mike looked up at him and, in a scared, muffled voice, said,
Speaker 1: I don't know, Uncle, I have no idea. Uncle Jack
Speaker 1: turned and looked at the last box on the table,
Speaker 1: then looked back at Mike with terror in his eyes.
Speaker 1: He went over and opened the box himself. As soon
Speaker 1: as he unwrapped the box, he let out a gasp
Speaker 1: of air and took a few steps backwards in shock.
Speaker 1: Mike slowly walked towards the third box and peeked inside.
Speaker 1: There was a severed foot lying inside a zipper bag
Speaker 1: in the same manner as the rest. There was no
Speaker 1: sign of blood and the skin was completely pale. The
Speaker 1: note inside read Matthew Scott. He recognized the name as
Speaker 1: somebody he worked with. He was the son of the
Speaker 1: storm manager. A few days ago, he had come to
Speaker 1: work and started to harass a female customer. As Mike
Speaker 1: went to stop him, he pushed Mike to the floor
Speaker 1: and kicked him in the stomach. Mike still had the
Speaker 1: bruises on his stomach, which he didn't tell anybody about.
Speaker 1: Both Mike and Uncle Jack sat quietly on the couch.
Speaker 1: They were both shaken with horror. None of them expected
Speaker 1: their Christmas Eve to take such a bizarre turn. Uncle
Speaker 1: Jack said, in a terrorized voice, we should call the
Speaker 1: cops right now. Mike nodded his head while crying. Uncle
Speaker 1: Jack went to the table again to put all of
Speaker 1: the horrifying things inside the main box. When he found
Speaker 1: a letter in it, he quickly turned towards Mike and screamed,
Speaker 1: Oh my god, what the hell is wrong with Christmas
Speaker 1: this year. Mike rushed over to him and snatched the
Speaker 1: letter from his hand to read it. The letter said
Speaker 1: your fourth gift will arrive soon. Mike couldn't even think anymore.
Speaker 1: He lost his calm and started crying out to Uncle Jack.
Speaker 1: Call the cops quick. Uncle Jack grabbed the phone and
Speaker 1: started to dial nine to one one with his trembling hands,
Speaker 1: and just then the doorbell rang. Their faces froze in fear.
Speaker 1: They stared at each other blankly as a feeling of
Speaker 1: dread climbed up Mike's neck as he knew there was
Speaker 1: something even more horrible waiting outside for him. Uncle Jack
Speaker 1: froze in placed like a statue and kept looking at
Speaker 1: the door. Mike walked over to the door. He could
Speaker 1: feel his heart racing like a wild horse. He opened
Speaker 1: the door and noticed another box on his doorstep. He
Speaker 1: took a step outside of his house. It was snowy
Speaker 1: and freezing cold. The wind was howling in the forest,
Speaker 1: and the night sky stood still as though it was
Speaker 1: witnessing the fear in Mike's heart. Mike quickly bent down
Speaker 1: and picked up the box in his hands, but noticed
Speaker 1: that there was something different with this box. The bottom
Speaker 1: of the box was stained red and dripping blood. He
Speaker 1: took the box inside and quickly opened it up. What
Speaker 1: he found inside almost gave him a heart attack. Inside
Speaker 1: the box was a freshly chopped hand. Blood was dripping
Speaker 1: out of it. The bones and flesh were gushing from
Speaker 1: the cuts. But this time there was no note to
Speaker 1: be found, because there was no need for a note.
Speaker 1: Mike recognized the hand. The hand had his father's wedding
Speaker 1: ring on it, and not only that, someone had carved
Speaker 1: the words Merry Christmas into the hand. Everything turned pitch
Speaker 1: black in front of Mike's eyes as he collapsed to
Speaker 1: the floor. When he opened his eyes, he found himself
Speaker 1: lying on a hospital bed. Uncle Jack was sitting next
Speaker 1: to him with a sad look on his face. Mike
Speaker 1: looked at him and said, where's my dad, Uncle Jack,
Speaker 1: to which Uncle Jack said that the cops had found
Speaker 1: his father in a dingy alley, lying unconscious in a
Speaker 1: pool of blood. He was returning home from a hub
Speaker 1: last night when someone knocked him out and chopped off
Speaker 1: his hand. He had already been admitted into the hospital's
Speaker 1: emergency ward. Mike stared at the ceiling and thought to
Speaker 1: himself that he'd never be able to celebrate Christmas for
Speaker 1: the rest of his life. And worse, he will never
Speaker 1: know who took such gruesome revenge on all these people
Speaker 1: who treated Mike in such a bad way. Lily picked
Speaker 1: up the phone and heard her mother's voice. Your sister
Speaker 1: is already here. When are you coming, Lily said in
Speaker 1: a comforting voice. Mom. You know my shift ends at
Speaker 1: six pm. I'll be home soon. Now stop calling me
Speaker 1: every minute. Missy heard her and said, Christmas is the
Speaker 1: most exciting time of year. I wanted so long for
Speaker 1: the holidays to come. Lily smiled and started to finish
Speaker 1: her work. Lily works in a consumer service forum. Being
Speaker 1: a young, pretty woman, she's almost everybody's favorite around the workplace.
Speaker 1: Her coworker, Missy, is her all time favorite companion. At work,
Speaker 1: everyone in the office was already in a mood for celebration.
Speaker 1: The office was decorated with all kinds of Christmas items
Speaker 1: such as lights, stockings, garlands, hanging icicles, figurines, balls, stars,
Speaker 1: and much more. Almost all the employees were wearing a
Speaker 1: smile on their face. Lily was extremely excited about the holidays.
Speaker 1: After a long time, her sister had come to visit
Speaker 1: with her fiance. Now everyone was waiting for only Lily
Speaker 1: to arrive, they all would be leaving for Switzerland tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Clouds of happiness were waiting for Lily. After all, it's
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. Lily finished typing her letters and went to
Speaker 1: submit them to her boss. After coming back to her desk,
Speaker 1: Missy came to her with an overly excited face. Lily
Speaker 1: smiled and asked, now what. Missy blushed and said, I
Speaker 1: just heard our boss discussing with the manager about distributing
Speaker 1: the Secret Santa gifts. Oh really, I thought we'd all
Speaker 1: grown out of that kind of a silly game, said
Speaker 1: Lily in a mocking tone. Oh come on, you can
Speaker 1: still grow up and receive Secret Santa gifts. You're such
Speaker 1: a spoil sport, Lily. Lily laughed and said, yeah, I know.
Speaker 1: You've got too many suitors in this office who are
Speaker 1: surely dying to give gifts to you. Missy laughed and
Speaker 1: replied that goes for you too, you social butterfly. Both
Speaker 1: of them started to chuckle in excitement. Every year their
Speaker 1: office arranges this Secret Santa game. People who admire someone
Speaker 1: can give gifts to that person in secret, but no
Speaker 1: one can know who gave which gift to whom. Mostly
Speaker 1: it's chocolate or pieces of jewelry for the girls. Lily
Speaker 1: always gets them every Christmas. This year it will be
Speaker 1: the same too. After lunch, everyone was called to the
Speaker 1: cafeteria where the boss, mister Watson, wished everyone a Merry
Speaker 1: Christmas and announced that the secret Santa gifts will be
Speaker 1: placed on everyone's desk during the lunch break. After returning
Speaker 1: from lunch, every employee will find their Christmas gifts on
Speaker 1: their desk. Missy and Lily went to get their lunch
Speaker 1: and discuss their holiday plans. Around three point thirty, everyone
Speaker 1: had gotten back from lunch. It was the last day
Speaker 1: before the Christmas holidays, so the work pressure was quite
Speaker 1: a bit less generally. Lily happened to work till around
Speaker 1: eight o'clock at night. As Lily reached her desk, she
Speaker 1: saw five or six gift boxes. Everyone was unboxing their
Speaker 1: gifts and wishing each other a Merry Christmas. Lily received
Speaker 1: chocolates and fans see jewelry, just like every year. She
Speaker 1: still had one box left to open. When Missy came
Speaker 1: by her desk. Lily opened the box and got a
Speaker 1: real surprise. Inside there was a heart shaped diamond pendant.
Speaker 1: Missy said with dazzling eyes. Wow, that's a little expensive
Speaker 1: for a Secret Santa gift. Someone must have a serious
Speaker 1: crush on you, Lily, and she started to laugh in
Speaker 1: that same old way. Lily held a pendant in her
Speaker 1: hand and said, in a worried voice. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I should take it or not. This is really expensive.
Speaker 1: Who would buy such a gift for me? Missy peeked
Speaker 1: inside the gift box and said, look, there's a note
Speaker 1: inside it. Lily took the note and read it, would
Speaker 1: you like to have dinner with me for Christmas? Lily
Speaker 1: started to blush like a teenager. Missy constantly pulled her leg.
Speaker 1: She had to admit she was enjoying the attention. Hence,
Speaker 1: Lily said, in an excited voice, if I knew who
Speaker 1: my secrets say is, I would surely cancel all my
Speaker 1: plans just to have dinner with him. Missy and Lily
Speaker 1: started to laugh again. As time passed, everyone started to
Speaker 1: leave the office. People were finishing up their work as
Speaker 1: soon as they could and leaving for the holidays. Around
Speaker 1: five point thirty, Missy came to bid goodbye to Lily.
Speaker 1: She wished her a happy holidays and left the office.
Speaker 1: Was almost empty. Lily was almost done with all her work.
Speaker 1: There were just a few basic formalities left before she
Speaker 1: left for the holidays. She wrapped her things up and
Speaker 1: went to get a soda from the cafeteria before leaving.
Speaker 1: Just as she inserted her dollar bill and pressed the
Speaker 1: button on the soda machine, the entire office lost power.
Speaker 1: Oh God, not today. She turned on the flashlight on
Speaker 1: her phone and rushed to her desk. The entire area
Speaker 1: was empty. There was no one else on the office floor.
Speaker 1: Lily started to get very worried because the exit doors
Speaker 1: work on a card punching machine. Without electricity, only the
Speaker 1: security guards can help people to pass through the doors.
Speaker 1: She took up her bags and tried to call the
Speaker 1: security from the office phone, but it was Christmas Eve
Speaker 1: and the phone kept ringing and ringing and no one answered.
Speaker 1: Lily looked down at her phone and saw that it
Speaker 1: only had three percent charge remaining. She felt like an
Speaker 1: idiot for not plugging her phone into a charger without
Speaker 1: wasting a single second. She called her mom, Hello, Mom, Uh,
Speaker 1: I got stuck in the office. Her mom said, but
Speaker 1: you said you'd be done by six Lily. Her mom
Speaker 1: replied in an angry tone. No, not because of work.
Speaker 1: There's been a power outage. I need you to call
Speaker 1: nine to one one for me. But before she could
Speaker 1: finish her sentence, she noticed that her call got disconnected.
Speaker 1: Lily thought to herself that now her mom will think
Speaker 1: she got stuck at work. What a great way to
Speaker 1: start the holidays. Lily had no idea what she could do,
Speaker 1: but suddenly she thought of a plan. The maintenance department
Speaker 1: was kept downstairs, someone would surely still be there without
Speaker 1: any delay. Lily ran down the stairs. The maintenance department
Speaker 1: was equally dark, just like upstairs. She couldn't see anything
Speaker 1: except the long empty passage lying ahead of her. Lily
Speaker 1: was just about to start crying when she saw a
Speaker 1: flashlight coming towards her. She almost screamed in relief. Hey, oh,
Speaker 1: thank god. A man came up to her with a flashlight.
Speaker 1: Lily had seen this guy earlier. He had only recently
Speaker 1: joined the workplace, but she had never talked to him.
Speaker 1: The guy was wearing glasses. He was a man of
Speaker 1: average height and had a simple face. He smiled in
Speaker 1: a shy manner and said, Oh, I'm sorry if I've
Speaker 1: scared you. Actually, I was just about to leave when
Speaker 1: the power cut off, so I thought i'd check upstairs
Speaker 1: in case someone was still stuck there. Lily smiled and replied,
Speaker 1: I'm just so relieved to see you. I thought i'd
Speaker 1: gotten stuck all alone inside this office when the power
Speaker 1: was out. The guy smiled and said, well, it's really
Speaker 1: lonely to be lonely. Lily nodded her head, hearing such
Speaker 1: a weird thing, and said, I think we should call
Speaker 1: nine one one, because I think the office security people
Speaker 1: have left two. The guy said hesitantly, yes, I was
Speaker 1: just about to call them. By the way, I'm Alan.
Speaker 1: If you want to, we can wait this out in
Speaker 1: my cabin. I've lit some candles there. Lily started to
Speaker 1: walk with Alan to his cabin, and then she asked him, so,
Speaker 1: what are your plans for this holiday, to which Alan
Speaker 1: replied right now, I'm just hoping to have dinner. As
Speaker 1: Lily stepped inside Alan's cabin, she got a surprise. There
Speaker 1: were two candles on his desk, and his cabin was
Speaker 1: nicely decorated too. Lily said, in an impressive tone, Wow,
Speaker 1: you did some good decorating. This cabin is so romantic.
Speaker 1: She noticed Alan get a bit shy. They both sat
Speaker 1: down and Alan offered her some water. Lily took a
Speaker 1: sip and said, did you make the call? Alan said
Speaker 1: in a hesitant voice, yes, yeah, yes, I was just
Speaker 1: going to. He then quickly picked up his phone and
Speaker 1: called nine to one one to report the entire situation
Speaker 1: and the power outage. Lily sat there quietly until Alan
Speaker 1: ended the phone call. After the phone call, Alan sat
Speaker 1: down in his chair and said, are you feeling hungry?
Speaker 1: I've got some spaghetti and meatballs with me. Lily felt
Speaker 1: a bit weird and said, why did you bring such
Speaker 1: heavy food? Weren't we all going to be leaving for
Speaker 1: the holidays today. Alan started acting a bit awkward and said,
Speaker 1: I don't know what I was thinking. I had just
Speaker 1: packed something to have in the office for today, but
Speaker 1: forgot to eat lunch and went out and grabbed some
Speaker 1: hot talks. Then they started to both laugh awkwardly. Lily
Speaker 1: noticed Alan wasn't all that worried about getting stuck in
Speaker 1: the office during Christmas Eve. In fact, he was being
Speaker 1: quite casual about the whole matter. Lily asked, Alan, so,
Speaker 1: what did you get in your secret Santa? Alan sighed
Speaker 1: and said, oh, I don't think people really like me.
Speaker 1: Not everyone is as popular as you, right, Lily. Lily
Speaker 1: smiled awkwardly at his comment and looked at the wall clock.
Speaker 1: It read six point thirty. She was surprised to see
Speaker 1: that nine one one was taking so much time to
Speaker 1: get help here. Suddenly her eyes went to the paper
Speaker 1: lying on the desk. It was a note which had
Speaker 1: some basic office information scribbled on it. She recognized the handwriting.
Speaker 1: It was exactly like the handwriting from her secret Santa
Speaker 1: note today. A cold shiver went down her spine. She
Speaker 1: softly asked Alan, if you don't mind, could you bring
Speaker 1: me some ice from the freezer in the cafeteria. I
Speaker 1: kind of bumped into my desk in the dark and
Speaker 1: hurt my knee. Alan immediately stood up with a smile
Speaker 1: on his face and said, of course, anything you need.
Speaker 1: I'll be right back. As soon as Alan left, Lily
Speaker 1: sprinted over to his phone and opened it. Oh thank god,
Speaker 1: it wasn't password protected. She checked the call logs and
Speaker 1: discovered the dark truth. There was no record of a
Speaker 1: call going to nine one one. Alan hadn't called the cops.
Speaker 1: Drops of sweat started to appear on her forehead. She
Speaker 1: immediately called nine one one. Once the cop picked up,
Speaker 1: she said, in a tense voice, Hello, please help me.
Speaker 1: I've been trapped in an office by a guy. He's
Speaker 1: a psycho. I have no idea what he's up to.
Speaker 1: Please come as soon as you can. Our office address
Speaker 1: is But she couldn't finish her sentence because she heard
Speaker 1: a thud sound come from behind her. Her eyes frozen fear.
Speaker 1: She knew something horrible was about to happen. She slowly
Speaker 1: turned her head and saw Alan was standing at the doorway,
Speaker 1: looking fiercely at her. The ice bucket was lying on
Speaker 1: the floor. Alan's eyes looked fucking creepy. There was anger
Speaker 1: written all over his face. He said, in a stuttering voice.
Speaker 1: You you played me. Huh. Can't trust you women at all.
Speaker 1: Why were you so hyped up to leave this office?
Speaker 1: You only said this afternoon that you would happily cancel
Speaker 1: all your plans just to have dinner with me. Lily
Speaker 1: took a few steps back and said, in a frightened voice,
Speaker 1: I didn't mean it that way, Alan, I hardly know you. Listen,
Speaker 1: we should get out of this place. We can talk
Speaker 1: later and try to get to know each other first.
Speaker 1: She reached into her bag and took out the diamond pendant.
Speaker 1: She raised her hands towards Alan and said, you know
Speaker 1: you can keep this for now. It wouldn't be nice
Speaker 1: of me to take such an expensive gift. Alan started
Speaker 1: to laugh hysterically and then screamed at her in furious anger.
Speaker 1: Why because I'm not good enough for you. Lily was
Speaker 1: in tears. Her hands were shaking. She couldn't move her legs.
Speaker 1: Alan started to walk like a maize and growl and scream.
Speaker 1: He kicked the glass door of his case so hard
Speaker 1: that the glass shattered with a loud noise. There was
Speaker 1: broken glass all over the floor. Lily screamed in fear
Speaker 1: and sat in the corner of the room. Alan looked
Speaker 1: at her and said, in a spine chilling voice, you
Speaker 1: know I can give you so much more than this
Speaker 1: stupid pendant. I can give you the best Christmas gift
Speaker 1: in the world. You want me to show you how
Speaker 1: much you matter to me? Right? Fine? Then what Alan
Speaker 1: did next was completely unexpected. Lily didn't see it coming
Speaker 1: at all. Alan picked up broken glass from the floor
Speaker 1: and started to cut himself up. Ah He started by
Speaker 1: slashing his wrists blood was pouring like a fountain onto
Speaker 1: the white floor. Lily kept screaming seeing such a vicious sight.
Speaker 1: Then Alan brought out the ultimate horror that would curse
Speaker 1: Lily for the rest of her life. He steadied his
Speaker 1: eyes and stared directly at her and said, I've loved
Speaker 1: you from the first day I saw you, Lily. I
Speaker 1: hoped that you would like me too, but I was
Speaker 1: never enough for anyone. Then he took the glass and
Speaker 1: sliced his throat in front of her. Lily screamed in
Speaker 1: horror and fainted to the floor. Worried about her not
Speaker 1: returning home, Lily's mother had called nine one one. When
Speaker 1: the cops came, they discovered Lily lying unconscious on the
Speaker 1: floor and Allan lying dead in a pool of his
Speaker 1: own blood. It was then discovered that Allan had intentionally
Speaker 1: shut off the power in order to trap Lily inside
Speaker 1: the office. Christmas would never be the same again for Lily.
Speaker 1: She would get nightmares that Alan was standing in front
Speaker 1: of her with that angry, hurtful face and blood gushing
Speaker 1: out of his wrists and neck.