There's a small town in Wyoming that loves Christmas. Or rather, they used to. Before there was this jolly old man that would dress up as Santa and even had eight reindeer and a sleigh that he would have deer pull around the snow covered streets and hand out presents and candy to the children and people of the town.
They had even called him St. Nick instead of just Nick.
On Christmas Eve, like the many Christmas Eve's before, Nick would go around giving the children and people their gifts, calling out to his reindeer as he moved on,
" On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Donner, on Vixen, on Comet, on Cupid, on Blitzen! "
It wasn't how the story Santa tells it, but Blitzen was Nick's favorite of the eight deer.
And what beautiful and healthy reindeer they were, Blitzen was the largest of them, his antlers were also the largest and sharpest. He was also the strongest of the eight, it was why he was at the lead every year since he and the others came to live with the man.
But that Christmas Eve a group of hunters came to town, seven of them. They saw Nick with his reindeer and the leader of the group approached him along with his buddies, the man wanted the deers, both for their meat and their antlers. He had even offered to pay Nick a lot of money for them.
But Nick refused him, saying that his deer were not for sale and they would never be, they were his babies, having raised them since they were all fawns and were abandoned or had gotten lost from their mothers, the only family he had in this world, but if the man wanted the antlers, he'd have to wait for them to fall off naturally and he'd give them to him then. But he was not getting his deers.
The man was angered by this and upped the price, but Nick still refused saying no amount of money could get him to give up his deer and that it would be over his dead body before he'd let anyone have them.
The lead hunter's friends finally intervened and pulled him away saying that they could get more deer in the morning. But the deer they were hunting was whitetail not reindeer, it would've been illegal to have even the meat of the deers anyway.
But the lead hunter was a greedy man and if he saw something he wanted, he got it. No matter what.
That night when Nick had gotten home, he made sure his deer were well fed and watered before giving them rubs and pats, telling them how good they all were.
Stopping at Blitzen's stall, he told him to be good tonight and try to escape again, especially now that there were hunters about.
Another thing that he loved about Blitzen was how smart he was. All his deer were smart, but Blitzen seemed to have more in-depth meaning to his smartness.
After Nick left the barn, closing the doors and going to his cabin several feet away, Blitzen waited a little while before unlatching his stall door and walking out in the middle of the walkway of the barn, he turned to his brothers in question, but they turned their heads in answer, they were tired.
Blitzen went to the barn doors and slid them back open, leaving a gap big enough for him go through and leave the barn, he left the doors open and explored around the property before taking off through the woods to the pond that was also on the property.
Not too long after he left, two shadows came of the darkness, they were armed and were heading towards the barn, it was the lead hunter and another one of his buddies that was nearly as greedy as him.
The lead hunter chuckled at seeing the barn doors open, " He's made this too easy. " he chuckled to his friend as they enter the barn.
The first shot woke Nick up from his sleep, the second shot had him up and running down the stairs with his handgun, by the third shot, he was at the barn, by the fourth shot, he was inside and screaming at seeing four of his reindeer dead and having their antlers cut off, he shouted at the men, recognizing them, he fired his gun at them to stop them from killing anymore, but he was so distraught and wrought with grief he miss the lead man and that gave the other man the chance to shoot him.
He didn't miss.
When nick fell to the ground, it caused more uproar from the remaining deer, who were quickly shot. Once the men got what they came for, they counted their prize and realized that one was missing, but the second man convinced the first that they had plenty and needed to leave before the cops got there.
Not wanting to get arrested, they left, leaving seven dead, gutted, skinned, and butchered, reindeer and one dead old man behind.
Blitzen had heard the pops, but thought nothing of it. Realizing that he had been out longer than intended, he returned home.
He stopped when he cleared the woods, a smell hit him, it was awful, it was coming from the barn, he followed it and soon wished he hadn't.
What he saw was so horrifying and awful that at first he felt great sadness at the loss of his family, his mother had abandoned him because he was so small and weak that he hadn't been able to get up. He eventually ended up here along with his brothers.
The old man had been very kind to him and to them as they grew up to young stags. But now, they were all gone, killed and butchered and for what? Their skin, their flesh, their antlers, their lives?
Then the rage hit him, the rage at seeing his family and master dead and butchered. The guilt hit next, they were in trouble, and he wasn't here to save them. Then vengeance, it must've been those hunters. They couldn't have gotten far. Even if they had, he would now hunt them.
By that next Christmas morning, the neighbor had called the police at finding the carnage at Nick's property. The sheriff wasn't there before getting another out to the lodge that housed the hunters in town which he had already suspected to be responsible for this.
But when he got there, it was to another crime scene, all of the hunters were dead, they had been gored and trampled to the point that it looked almost like what had happened at the barn back at Nick's place, there was large hoof prints everywhere along single shot from a rifle that hit a wall.
The leader of the hunters was the worse one of the group, if that was even possible, but he was, if you take in that his head was crushed and he had a long sharp antler going through his body from the groin up, sticking out of chest.
There was rumors and speculation after that that it had to have been Blitzen, but how could a reindeer know the men was responsible? Can an animal like a reindeer be capable of such carnage?
Either way after that day, no one in the town enjoyed Christmas, they still put up their lights and trees, but the joy was all gone.
And then another rumor started up, one of people seeing a larger than average Reindeer walking around Nick's property. The police were called out to catch it, but the reindeer was so violent they were chased away or even injured and when one fired at it the bullet didn't even phase it.
Soon nobody came around and nature began to take over the cabin and barn.
10 years later
" Are sure this is the place Jim? " A woman asked the man driving the van they were in as they pulled up to an old and abandoned cabin that had an barn several feet away from it.
Jim checked the address and looked at the photo on his phone, " Yep this is it. " He replied with a smile.
" Are we really going to stay here a week? " Another woman asked in the back.
" Well the town didn't seem very warming when we came and told them what we were doing here. " Jim replied to her.
" No to mention that crazy rumor about a homicidal reindeer. " Another man said as he fiddled with a camera in his hands.
" Well the start of that rumor was about an old man named Nick who used to go around pretending to be Santa Claus who actually own eight Reindeer and would go around giving gifts to people and children until a group of hunters came. " The first woman said.
" Yeah and they came here, killed the old man and his pet deer, took their skins, meat, and antlers, leaving the bodies to rot away. " The second man said with a laugh to his voice.
" It's not funny George. A person lost their life along with a senseless killing of those reindeer. " The first woman said to the second man.
" Sor-rry Raven. " George mocked back.
" Do you think there's bugs in there? " The second woman asked, looking at the house and barn with disgust.
" It's old and abandoned for the last 10 years Clair. So yeah, I'm sure there's bugs. But don't' worry, we have a generator to keep them away. Think of it like a camping trip only we have a more stable roof over our heads. " Jim answered her as he got out of the van after turning it off, going to the back to open the hatch to get out their equipment.
Jim, Raven, George, and Clair were a paranormal group looking for places to investigate, they most specialize in crime or the bizarre death stories and what happened to Nick and his reindeer defiantly caught their interest.
Raven got out next and was drawn to the barn, she has some psychic abilities, but it only allows her to find traces of what happened not the whole communicating with the dead like more powerful psychics can do.
She took her flashlight out, turned it on and looked around the dark barn, it looked like it had housed horses at one point, but according to what some of the townsfolk said, this was where Nick kept his reindeer, they even had name plates that were now covered in dust.
The first stall was empty, the second however held the skeletal remains of one of the rumored reindeer that Nick owned.
She saw that his antlers were cut from his skull, confirming the story of how they and Nick were found. She wiped away the dust and saw the name,
VIXEN
" I'm sorry for what happened to you Vixen. " She said with sympathy Going down the line of stalls, she found the other reindeer,
DANCER
COMET
CUPID
PRANCER
DONNER
DASHER
Each one she repeated what she had said to Vixen. As she finished speaking, she realized that one was missing, she went back to the start of the line and wiped away the dust,
Blitzen
The only reindeer not killed and rumored to have killed the men who killed his 'brothers' and master.
She wondered what had really become of the reindeer. And not of the rumors or stories that had been passed down over the years since this senseless killing.
She ran her thumb over the plate again, this time a flash of what happened here came through her mind, the scream from Nick who saw his reindeer being shot and butchered by two men in hunter's camo. Heard a shot and then she was back in the present with a gasp.
" Get anything there Raven? " Jim asked as he came in just as she gasped.
" Yeah. Death. I saw two hunter's killing Nick and his deer. " She replied.
" But there was seven hunter's that were killed, one had a reindeer antler pierce him from his dick and balls up through his chest, his head was crushed beyond recognition. " Jim said.
" I saw two. They killed and gutted the deer. Unless the others were outside waiting for them...Look at this. " She replied back, showing him the name plates and the stalls that had the deer in them.
" Why did they leave the skeletons? "
" They weren't human, just animals. They should've at least buried their skulls with Nick. They said he loved them like they were his kids. "
" Yeah, kids he'd dressed up in reins, harness', and have them pull him and a sleigh around town during the winter. "
" He only did it on Christmas Eve and it was only once a year, not all the time, unless he had a garden in the back that he would use them plow the ground up. "
" Maybe Blitzen wouldn't let them? " He asked as they left the barn.
" Then how did they get Nick's body out of the barn? If, and that's a big if, Blitzen protects this property, how? "
" Maybe they tranquilized him and got him out of there? And maybe they took him to a sanctuary and made up the story about it killing those hunters just to get tourists or people like us to come here and see the home of the killer reindeer. That's those nut jobs, we're here because of Nick, a person who died here. "
" It wasn't just him that died, those deer and hunters died too Jim. "
" I know. It's why after here, we're going to the lodge that they stayed in. One week, one week there. Then we upload out footage to Youtube like always. "
They were halfway to the cabin when they heard a scream from inside, it was Clair, they ran inside as fast as they could with George calling out to them to come to what was a sitting room in the cabin.
When they got there, they were shocked to see a skeleton in an old armchair, propped up like it was watching tv with a mug on the table and an old newspaper in front of it.
" Clair! Shut up! " Raven shouted at the other woman.
" It's a dead person! How could anyone leave a dead person in here?! " She demanded.
" Guess we know what happened to Nick. " Jim said.
" How do we know that that is who it is? It could be a prop to add more flare to the story and rumors. " George said as he recorded everything with his camera now.
" Who else could it be? That is a man's skeleton, I can tell my the skull alone. Also look how's he dressed. " Raven said, stepping closer and just as she was about to point out what looked like a bullet hole where the man's heart used to be, George came over and began to fiddle with the man's skull.
" Stop it George. That is a real person's body! " She scolded him just as the skull broke off.
When that happened, they could feel a change in the air.
Raven felt an overwhelming feeling overcome her as another flash hit her and it was of the woods outside, they were moving fast, she saw the cabin outside in the vision,
" We need to leave, now! Let's go! " She exclaimed going for the door.
" We just got here! " Jim argued as he followed after her, Clair and George following.
" You don't understand Jim, we need to go. We are going to die if we don't lea... " She stopped as she got to the porch of the cabin. Her eyes grew wide and she froze on the spot.
" Raven? Raven? What are you looking at... " Jim turned around to see what she was looking at that had her scared, hardly anything scared her, she doesn't scare easily, so whatever caught her gaze must be terrifying.
Clair and George also came out and paused at seeing their friend frozen and scared. They followed Jim's and Raven's gazes and they too froze.
Before them stood a reindeer, it's fur was thick, matted in some places, in others it looked like it had moss growing on it. It was unnaturally large, almost the size of a moose with antler to match they were long, thick, and sharp at the ends. Another thing that was unnatural about this reindeer was his antlers, most reindeer had a set of antlers facing forward in the front while the ones in back faced backward.
This one's antlers all faced forward.
" That's not normal. " Jim commented breathlessly in his fear at seeing the large stag.
" Look at the size of him. " George whispered.
They were all afraid of this reindeer. But it couldn't be Blitzen, could it? The towns folk didn't say anything about him being this big.
It wasn't just the size or the condition that the reindeer was that caused Raven to freeze, it was the creature's eyes. They black as night and dead. There was nothing in those eyes.
" We need to leave. Move to the van, slowly. And don't turn your back to him. " Raven finally spoke.
" Stay together, he won't attack us if we do. " She continued.
They slowly moved towards the van the reindeer keeping an eye on them, George kept his camera on the creature as well. It wasn't everyday you saw a creature like this after all.
They were just about to the van when the reindeer charged at them in dead run, scaring them and causing them to scatter as it gave an angry call that didn't even sound like a reindeer's, it almost sounded demonic with unnatural it sounded.
It's hooves sounding like thunder as it ran after them, George went behind the car and hid, if he had the keys, he would've gotten inside, but Jim had the keys.
Clair ran for the barn while Jim and Raven back tracked to the cabin when the reindeer changed course and went after Clair,
" Clair! " George shouted to her, but that was a mistake as she turned to look behind her and tripped, but the reindeer didn't stop running, it ran over her, a sickening crack was heard even from the cabin as Jim and Raven stopped and looked on in horror of watching their friend get trampled again she continued to scream in pain until with one hoof and a hard stomp, her skull was crushed spilling her blood, bone fragments, teeth, eyes, and brain matter on the ground.
" NOOOO!!! " George shouted, he went to go over there and do something, what he wasn't sure, but anything was better than just sitting there and hiding.
" No George! he'll kill you! Get back to the cabin! " Raven shouted at him, Jim had gone to him and grabbed him before he could get passed the end of the van as the reindeer continued to trample Clair's body before them.
Jim finally managed to get George to the steps of the cabin before they saw the reindeer pick Clair's broken and bloody body up in its antlers and fling her away from the barn and into the back of van with a sickening splat, some of her blood got onto Jim and George.
The reindeer snorted and turned its attention back to the other three.
" Get in the cabin. Get in the cabin now! " Raven urged them, going to the door and opening it for them to get in.
Jim struggled a bit with George, but he finally got him on the porch and then shoved him inside, running in after him when he heard the thundering hooves of the reindeer coming.
" Barricade the door! Hurry! " He called to them as he cleared the door, he and George quickly pushed a thing that looked like an old dresser at the wall closest to them and put it in front of the door and braced themselves against it, waiting for the beast to strike the door.
But instead of the door, they heard the sound of crunching metal and the sound of air being released from tires.
The three looked at each other for a split second before Jim muttered, " No, no, no, " As he moved away from the dresser and to the window.
" Dude! What are you doing! " George shouted at him for leaving him there.
" Forget the door! He's trashing the van! "
" What?! " George came over along with Raven and they watched as the reindeer destroyed the radiator of the van and punctured holes in all four tires with its antlers.
" That is not normal! That is seriously not normal! How does that thing know to do that?! How! " George shouted as the reindeer then got to one side of the van and turned it on its side.
" Oh, come on! Just how?! WHY!! "
" WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!!! " Jim shouted.
" What are we going to do? " Raven asked as she watched the reindeer leave the van but knew it wouldn't go far.