Merry Christmas

My very first proxy Christmas. Somehow I’d imagined it would be more like quirky television comedy, with a black humor filled gift exchange and a special miracle teaching all of us about the magic of the season.

That image was built on the mistaken belief that we get off Christmas. We don’t. We still got a present: the wonderful gift of a security detail.

Ahriman arrived in the morning, followed by two men in black suits. One was a huge bald man who fit his suit like a monster truck at a luxury car show. The other was a slim young man with black hair and a goatee. Unlike his partner, he fit the look perfectly, looking like a rising career star on the fast track to an executive office.

Ahriman started to talk about Lord Truth decreeing something, but the bald man spoke over him, saying “Mr. Truth wants the girl called Sky to be kept under our observation until the police investigation ends.” The two introduced themselves; the bald one’s name is Lazarenko, and the one with the goatee is Dumas.

Before they could do any observation, we had to get Sky out of her room. Did you know that Truth’s men have keys to all our rooms? Because I just learned that today. Lazarenko unlocked the door and pushed past the barricade of furniture. When he entered the room, Sky pounced at him. It’s a good thing he’s a big enough man to hold her back, because she looked ready to claw his eyes out. I’ve never seen Sky so angry before, even on the days when she tried throwing the couch out the window. She was screaming words I didn’t even realize she knew at Lazarenko and Dumas.

Lazarenko held her until she became too tired to fight. Lepidus went to talk to her and calm her down. While he did that, I looked out the window. A limousine was parked outside, and I think I could see the silhouette of Truth sitting in the back seat. He never came out of the car.

Whatever Lepidus said to Sky must have worked, because she was much calmer when I came back. Lazarenko was now dictating what our new living conditions would be. We only have three rooms, so with seven people, things would be getting crowded. In the past, we’d let Sky and me have our own rooms, but that wasn’t going to be possible. Which means now I get to room with her. Joy. The Jackson brothers get one room, Sky and me get another, Lepidus and Lazarenko get the third, and Dumas volunteered to take the couch so he can keep an eye on the front door.

I’ve since spent most of the day moving what few things I have into Sky’s room, and setting everything up to accommodate our newcomers. I hope you all had a better Christmas than me.