Green Hills Mall
9:38 am, December 23rd

“Ho Ho Ho! And have you been a good little girl this year?” The man playing Santa asked with a deep laugh. The child sitting on his knee nodded, looking up at the big, bearded man holding her. “Well then, what do you want Santa Clause to bring you?”

After the girl had told him, he handed her a candy cane. Tammy raised a camera and snapped a picture of her taking the candy. As the girl jumped to her feet and ran over to join her parents, Tammy handed a card to the mother. “Here’s the URL, enter that code to download your Christmas picture.” Tammy told them.

Tammy was a tall, slender young woman, a few weeks’ shy of 19. Her soft, round face was framed by shoulder-length, straight black hair, streaked with ice blue highlights. At the moment, she was dressed as one of ‘Santa’s’ elves: a long sleeved green shirt, trimmed in red, a matching skirt, cut short above the knees, candy-cane-stripped stockings and little green elf booties. She had on a long, green, pointed hat with an ornament-shaped bauble on the end and a pair of plastic pointed elf ears. She’d taken this mall elf gig, hoping to make a few extra bucks to contribute towards presents for friends and family.  

From the front of the line came a pair of brothers, who climbed up onto Santa and started listing the toys they wanted before he even had a chance to ask them if they had been naughty or nice. Tammy took their picture with Santa and gave the card to their haggard looking mother. Behind them was still a long line of children and parents waiting for their chance to see Santa.

For the next hour, the line crept forward, never seeming to shrink any. Boys and girls of all ages crowded forward to sit on Santa’s lap. Some were speechless in the presence of the big, bearded giant asking them if they had been good or bad, others seemed to go on and on, listing everything they wanted. A few troublemakers kept trying to tug his beard off.

Finally, a little afternoon, there was a lull in the rush. “I’m gonna run out on break, Bob.” Tammy quietly told the older man playing Santa this year. “Want me to bring you back anything?”

“Bourbon.” He whispered back. “And have you been good this year, little girl? Ho ho ho!” He said to the tween sitting on his lap.

Grinning scandalously, Tammy grabbed her purse from under a fake snowdrift and slipped around the back of the fake North Pole display the mall had run up in the main atrium. After a few days of this routine, the teenager had figured out the best route from the main concourse to a small employee exit that led behind the building. Back here, there was only the loading docks and dumpsters. She could reach into her purse for the hidden packet of cigarettes and take a covert smoke break while no one was watching.

Tammy heard the door behind her start to open. Hurriedly, she dropped the cigarette on the ground and stamped it out with her foot. “I was just finishing up he-“ She began, starting to turn around. Her eyes widened in shock as she saw a tall, stocky masked man with a heavy dark coat and a ski mask walking out the door. He stepped forward quickly, moving up close to the teen girl. As she tried to step back away from him, one of his arms reached around behind her. As it pulled her forward, his other hand appeared in front of her, holding a folded white cloth pad.

“He-Mmmppphhh!” Tammy’s cry was cut off as the pad was clamped tight over her mouth and nose. She sucked in air to try and scream for help again. As she did, a sharp chemical smell flooded her head. She suddenly went lightheaded, as the chloroform took hold of her. She squirmed, trying to pull away, but the man held onto her, keeping the drug-soaked cloth pressed to her face.

“That’s it. Just breath it in and go to sleep…nice and easy…” The man whispered to the teen. After a few seconds, her struggled grew feebler as she slowly sank into unconsciousness. Keeping the cloth to her face a second longer, Tammy’s attacker slowly lowered the limp girl to the ground.

At that moment, a white utility van, emblazoned with the logo of a HVAC-System Repair company on its side, pulled out from around the corner. It came to a half next to the back door, the masked man and his unconscious victim. A second later, the side door of the van slid open and a second man jumped out. He was dressed the same as the first, a large, dark brown jacket and a ski mask concealing his identity, though he was shorter, with a thinner build. When he spoke, the higher voice gave her away as a woman.

“Nice.” She said, looking down at the crumbled figure at her partner’s feet. “What do you say we get this lovely thing secured for the ride?”

Reaching down, the two kidnappers picked up the unconscious Tammy. She was lifted into the van and set down onto the belly. Beside her were several white zip-ties which had been formed into makeshift cuffs. The large loops were slipped around the teen’s wrists and pulled tight, securing her hands behind her back. Her legs were bound as well at the ankles. From a box inside the van, the female kidnapper took a roll of duct tape and a large handkerchief. Wadding the cloth up, she stuffed the cloth into Tammy’s mouth before sealing it in with several strips of tape. Another strip went over her eyes.

Rolling her over onto her side, her captor’s stood up. While the man slid the van door shut, his partner climbed into the driver’s seat. As soon as the door was closed, she stepped on the gas, sending the van speeding away from the mall…

***  

Valley Ridge Mall
12:28 pm, December 23rd

“Sorry folks, Santa’s got to run a few errands…” Miss Land told the scattering of parents and children. The manager hung a sign on the door of the small, plastic cottage, decorated with cotton snowdrifts and blinking red and green lights. It read: “Feeding the Reindeer. Be back at: [1:00] Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!”

As they dispersed, Miss Land ducked back inside. “Alright everyone, that’s half an hour’s break for lunch, be back a few minutes before 1:30 and be ready. We should have a long line waiting. Tony!” She called out to the man dressed as Santa Claus, who was heading for the back entrance to the workshop display. “I want you here 1:30 sharp! Not a minute later. And don’t come back smelling like cheap booze again or you’re fired!” The man raised a hand as he stepped out. It was hard to tell what gesture he was making with mittens on, but it wasn’t hard to guess. The manager growled a warning at the Santa before heading back through the front door.

Left behind were the three elves. The three girls were in their late teens, all within a few months before or past their 19th birthday. They were dressed in matching elf costumes: a velvet dress in light blue, coming down to just above the knee. The edges were trimmed with white frost, the rest decorated with snowflakes. Below; blue stockings over black shoes and on their heads long blue pointed caps trimmed with white fur and the appropriate pointed elf-ears.

“You heard the boss, half an hour for lunch.” The first girl, Sarah, said. She was a tall, slender girl, with long, straight, light blonde hair.

“Woohoo…” Jeanne, the second girl replied in a deadpan monotone, half-heartedly twirling a finger in mock excitement. “Just enough time to get in line at the food court, let alone actually order anything or eat.” She was shorter then Sarah by a few inches, with short, dark hair.    

“No time to go to any of the shops either.” The third teen added. Catherine was a pretty girl with a round baby-face framed by curly auburn locks cut shoulder length.

“What, do you still need to do some Christmas shopping? It’s only two days away.” Sarah asked as the three walked out the back door. The Christmas Cottage was arranged so the back entrance was only a few feet from a door marked “employees only”, leading behind the mall storefronts.

“I need a couple things…for relatives.” Cathy replied, sheepishly. “I’ve been meaning to do it…I just couldn’t think of anything to get my aunt and uncle…Maybe I can slip away a few minutes early and do some shopping before all the shops close this evening…”

The other two tossed around suggestions as the three girls made their way to the employee breakroom. The breakroom was empty as they entered and collected their lunches from the refrigerator. They sat down at the old, rickety table and began to eat.

Sarah took a last bite of her sandwich and finished the last of her juice. The teen glanced at her phone. “About time for us to get back…” she began. Just then, the door to the breakroom opened. A tall, stocky man in a coast stepped inside. His features were obscured by a black ski mask. The three teens cried out in fright as he drew a pistol from his jacket and pointed it at them.

“You three, stay calm, keep quiet and you won’t be hurt.” The man ordered, gesturing with the gun. “Stand up and move over to the wall there.” He gestured towards the wall with the barrel of his pistol.

“What do you want?” Jeanne asked, nervously as she rose from the table.

“You’ll find out.” The man replied. He kept the gun trained on the teens as they awkwardly moved to stand, side by side, against the far wall. “Turn around, put your hands behind your backs.” As the girls did, he moved over behind them, pocketing the pistol. Moving quickly, he secured their hands together with plastic zip-ties taken from a jacket pocket.

“Ouch!” Cathy grimaced in pain as the hard plastic cut into the skin of her wrists. “Please! That’s too tight! It hurts!”

“Shut up.” The man growled, eliciting moans of fright from the three girls. After securing their hands, he went back down the line, zip tying their legs at the ankles. From another jacket pocket, he withdrew a roll of duct tape. As he was gagging the girls with strips of tape, the door to the breakroom opened. The three grunted frantically into their gag, trying to warn whoever was coming. Their cries turned to moaned of despair when they say the newcomer was another intruder in a jacket and mask. She was pushing a small trolley, which had been loaded with three large, empty cardboard boxes.              

“Grabbed these from shipping.” The female kidnapper said. “Think they’ll be big enough for these three?” She nodded her head at the three captive elves. The teens whimpered in fright as they realized the empty boxes were intended for them.

“Sure.” The man said, quickly tearing off three more strips of tape to blindfold his captives with. “A little cramped, but I don’t hear any complaints, do you?” Ignoring the helpless captives’ terrified moans, the kidnappers picked up the squirming teens and dropped them, one by one, into the empty boxes. The tops were closed up and shut with packing tape. Turning the trolley around, the two kidnappers wheeled it and the three boxes out of the room…

***

Pinewood Park Mall
8:30 PM, December 23rd

“Ladies and Gentlemen, your attention please. The mall will be closing in half an hour. Please finish your purchases and prepare to leave the premises.” A voice chimed over the intercom.

“Finally.” Beth thought with a weary sigh. The teenager lifted the squirming kid off of Santa’s lap and handed him to his parents. She glanced over at the line. Despite the announcement, there were still plenty of people, hoping to squeeze their kids in to see Santa before the mall closed.

Beth was a short, slender girl, 19 years old. She had short, light brown hair, worn in a pixie cut. Her elf costume consisted green felt vest on over a long-sleeved red and white stripped t-shirt, green tights and a pair of red shoes. A cap ending in a large bell and elf ears completed the look.  

Eventually, the line petered out. The people at the end slowly slipped away as closing time neared. Beth and the other elf, a guy named Sean, gently chased away the rest. “Santa will be here tomorrow.” Beth told one family, as nicely as she could. Even after the last of them left, though, they had to stay behind a few minutes and tidy up the ‘Santa’s Workshop’ Display, making sure it would be clean and neat for the first visitors tomorrow. Beth shared goodbyes with the other elves and the guy playing Santa.

She slowly made her way to one of the exits of the mall. As she stepped out of the doors, a gust of wind blew through the young woman, making her teeth chatter and eliciting a cry of dismay from the teen. “God, it’s freezing!” She said with a groan. The thin cloth of her costume did little to keep the young woman warm in the cold winter winds of late December. She jogged out into the parking lot, towards where she had parked.

The employee parking lot was tucked around the back corner of the mall, in the most inconvenient place on the grounds, Beth thought. A few of the streetlights on this park of the lot had burned out a few days ago, so the place was shrouded in shadow. By this time, most of the workers from the various shops had already left, so the lot was largely empty, apart from Beth and another man climbing into his truck.

As he started his car and sped off, Beth spotted her battered old sedan, on the other side of the lot. Beside it was a white utility van, with the logo of some sort of service printed on the side. The teen ran to her car and began digging through her purse for the keys.

She’d just located them when the side door of the van slid open. Silently, a tall, heavily built man jumped out. Beth heard footsteps behind her, but before she could turn, the man was on her. His thick, strong arms went around the young woman. Beth cried out fright as she was lifted off her feet. As she squirmed, helpless in his grasp, the man turned and carried her over to the van.

“Help! Somebody help!” Beth screamed, as loud as she could. Her eyes widened in horror as she looked inside the open door of the van. Another young woman, dressed as an elf, lay on the floor of the van. Her wrists were crossed behind her back, trapped together by a narrow plastic band. Her feet had been similarly restrained. Strips of tape covered the poor girl’s eyes and mouth. Nearby were three large, cardboard boxes, stacked one next to the other. The way the three containers shook, and the frightened sobs coming from inside them was revealing.

Sitting in the driver’s seat was another kidnapper, identity hidden by an oversized jacket and a black ski mask. Beth was surprised when the second kidnapper spoke, her voice revealing her to be a woman. “Get her inside! Quick!” Beth was lifted inside and dropped onto the floor of the van, beside the first captive girl. The man climbed in as well, putting one knee on top of his captive, keeping her pinned down.

“Help!” Beth gave one last cry, before her attacker slammed the door shut, cutting off her screams for help. At that moment, the driver started the van up and sped out of the lot. Meanwhile, her partner began securing his latest captive like the others; the girl’s struggling arms were yanked behind her back and zip-tied together. She kicked her legs, frantically, but couldn’t stop him from looping the plastic cuffs around her ankles and yanking them closed.

“He-Mmmppphhh!” Beth gagged as a wadded up cloth was forced between her lips.

“That’s enough out of you, miss.” The man said, pressing tape over Beth’s lips to keep her from spitting out her gag. He ripped off several more strips, ensuring she would be quiet for the trip. Beth gave muffled whimper of fright as a tape blindfold plunged her into darkness. She felt the man get up, off her, and climb into the passenger’s seat. The teen squirmed, exploring her bonds. A few moment’s awkward struggling convinced her she wasn’t going to wriggle free anytime soon. She could only lie on the floor of the van, listening to her fellow captive’s frightened sobs as all of them were driven off into the night…

***  

Unknown Location
5:52 am, December 24th

The crowd milled about, a babble of chatter filling the large room. There were a couple dozen, men and women, dressed in evening finery. Each of them also wore a black domino mask, obscuring their features. At the front of the room, a raised stage had been assembled. A black curtain was stretched from wall to wall, hiding a space behind it.

At a few minutes to six, the conversation died down, as everyone scrambled to find a seat. The curtain’s parted briefly and a young woman stepped out onto the stage. She had on a narrow black stress and a domino mask. She was also wearing a headset with a microphone. Flashing a grin at the assembled audience, she spoke, her voice amplified by a hidden sound system. “Welcome Masters and Mistresses. Thank you for coming out this evening. We have several items which will be of great interest to you. So, without further ado, let us begin this Special Christmas Eve Elf Auction!”

As she said this, the curtain’s parted. On the other side, the kidnappers had assembled five upright metal pillars, fitted to heavy metal baseplates. The thick poles had been painted in red and white stripes, giving them the look of a candy cane. Bound to the poles were the five teenagers. Bands of brightly colored tinsel circled their bodies, at the ankles, the knees and above and below their breasts. Beneath the decorative garlands, tight plastic straps held them trapped against the pillars. The girls were still dressed in their elf costumes.  They looked out at the audience, eyes wide with shock and terror.

Grinning, the auctioneer walked over to the teen on the far left. “Let’s start with this beauty, aged 19 and very cute…” She slid one arm around the captive’s shoulder. Her other hand reached out to gently caress the teen’s breasts through her shirt. The girl squirmed helplessly as she was fondled.

“Mmmppphhh!” Tammy grunted in fright, shaking her head. Her cries were muffled by the large rubber ballgag wedged uncomfortably between her teeth. It was colored to resemble a Christmas ornament. A tight leather strap kept the gag in place. The other teens whimpered into their gags in fright, unable to believe what was happening, but unable to wake up from this nightmare.

“Now, what am I bid for her…”