(A/N: Last chapter~ I hope y'all have enjoyed!) WC: 1724

vi

I was suddenly thankful I still had my ice climbing shoes on as I slammed my pick into the mountains slanted incline, kicking my spiked boot into the thin layer of snow until I hit the layer of ice beneath it. I have never climbed upwards so hastily in my entire life, but my life did depend on speed so-

A loud, near deafening shriek split through the air, causing my body to curl in on itself and a loud ringing to echo through my ears. The cry sounded again and this time it echoed through the entirety of the mountain range, hell, even Whoville probably heard it.

I risked a look down, and I instantly regretted it.

My muscles tensed at the sight I saw. Below me by a few good yards, was a morphed and corrupted creature that my mind couldn't have created even in my worst nightmares. It was covered in patchy green fur, coarse and spiky. Hunched over to the point its vertebrae pressed against its frail, rotted skin. Its two pair of arms were uneven in length, the top two were roughly the length of a man's arms, but the second pair dragged along the floor, as if forgotten by their owners. Its knobby joints shifting grotesquely as if they knew no bounds, mindlessly shifting three-sixty.

As if its crusty, green, putrid flesh that was dotted in puss bloated boils wasn't gross enough, then its face was. A large yellow horn-like appendage sprouted out of its smooth, spiked head. Two yellow eyes with beady, slitted ruby red pupils staring at me with blatant blood lust, and then two smaller eyes of the same appearance opened as well. It didn't seem to have a neck, but a clear series of cicatrix's marred its skin where one sound be, almost like it tried to claw its head off.

Almost as if my mind wanted to give me anymore reason to go faster, my eyes dropped to its claw dipped fingers. The little grapnels were curved downwards and sharpened to a point, the crooks and nannies of the nails stained red were the blood never truly washed away. It screeched again, its jaw detaching and showcasing two sharp radial rows of jagged teeth and fangs, its forked tongue waving wildly in the cold crisp air.

All I could think was one thing.

The Grinch was real.

I kicked into high gear as I jabbed my twin ice picks into the snow, scrambling up the mountainside in a half-planned attempt at survival. I heard more shrill shrieks and the sound of nails scratching dreadfully against the ice, then a scream as it lost its grip. I couldn't even sigh in relief when I suddenly felt something grapple onto my shoulder and tug.

The force caused me to yank my right ice pick out of the mountainside and it went flying, but not before hitting the Grinch on its way down. The Grinch let out yet another ear-splitting scream, letting go of my arm as it slid down a few more feet. I glanced at the claw marks that was painting the snow a macabre crimson, the three sister marks deep enough to need stiches.

I need to get to safety before I pass out from blood loss.

I didn't know if there was a major artery in my arm or shoulder, but I didn't want to take any chances. So, I continued my trek up, injured and one ice pick short.

I eventually reached the rounded edge of the peak of Mount Crumpit, pulling myself up as more red leaked from my shoulder. I didn't know if it was the high altitude or the injury, but I was feeling really dizzy. I turned around and looked down at where the Grinch wasn't far behind, I raised my last ice pick and shouted a few choice words before chucking the thing at its putrid head.

It screamed at me at the most opportune moment, for as its jaw detached to let out a cry, my ice pick buried itself through the floor of the mouth. The bloodied tip peaked out from the underside of its jaw, and a sound more pained and gruesome then I have ever heard ruptured from deep within its throat. I spared myself the scarring image opting to slide over to where I had planted an anchor within the icy overhang, fumbling with my hands as my vision doubled.

My vision was fuzzy at the edges and my adrenalin high was crashing, my conscious ebbing in and out like radio static. I tried to calm myself and slow my blood flow, since a fast heartbeat wasn't helping to slow the blood gushing out of my shoulder. A strong tinnitus overtook my ears as I snapped a carabineer onto the rope tied to my harness, letting muscle memory take over as I mindlessly looped my ropes to my anchor.

I turned my head in time with the Grinch's longest arms hooking onto the summits snowy edge, its claws sinking into and cracking the nearby ice. I put my back to the cliff edge, meeting the Grinch's eyes when it started to fully pull himself over and onto the summit, eyes enraged and a hole in his mouth from my ice pick.

"Nice try, but it takes a lot more then that to kill me,"

The Grinch unhinged its jaw to let out a cry that blew my hair back and filled my nostrils with the stench of death and decay, but before he could reach for me, I leaned back-

And I fell.

The rope was tight and sturdy to where it was attached to my harness, the cold air rushing past me as I fell. Fast. It was almost surreal, the way my vision blacked out from the outer corners in, and how the Grinch leaned over the summit of Mount Crumpit-

And he smiled.

vii

I jerked forward, my body swathed in a heavy weight. I could feel beads sweat roll down my temple and spine, gathering at the small outcropping of my collarbone. My eyes were glued shut with tears, I felt feverish all over, and my hair was down and matted at the base of my skull. I reached my hands up towards my eyes, rubbing them open, and squinted against the sudden bright light that flooded my vision.

My head spun around in confusion, questions like where, who, when, why, and how, flooding my mind.

I soon realized I was sitting on my full-sized bed, my blankets in a flurry of disarray. That stubborn light was the sun filtering through my window, and the weight was a fuzzy robe that was wrapped tightly around my body for warmth.

I was then dunked into further confusion, because I was not in my room two seconds ago.

My door creaked open to reveal my mother and father who sported large smiles and eagerly whispered in eerie unison "Cindy Lou Who~ It's Christmas Day~ Come downstairs and join your siblings to open presents!"

It was the same small speech every year, always spoken in unison. Yet, this time I was off-guard. How was it Christmas Day already? I had just fallen off a cliff with nothing but a harness, a drowsily put together anchor and ropes to hold me steady. This doesn't make any sense-

"What?" I asked dumbly, rubbing my eyes again as they cooed at me in an oddly condescending manner.

"Oh, silly Cindy Lou, you must've had a really deep sleep if you're so disoriented. It's Christmas Day, and you need to get downstairs to open your presents!"

"Your mother is right Cindy, you must join us downstairs immediately. Honey, go get the camera- "

They quickly rushed back down the hall to descend the stairs, sounding and looking more excited then the actual children in the house. I took one more glance around my pale room, still skeptical, but otherwise everything seemed to make sense now, I was really exhausted from climbing last night...

Yeah, that must be it.

I nodded as if to reaffirm my beliefs, ignoring the weight in my gut saying otherwise. I slipped into my slippers that sat by my low hanging bed, walking over to my vanity mirror to fix my hair before risking being photographed looking like a slum.

As I brushed my matted hair, I hummed happily to some unknown tune. Letting my mind wonder until I screamed, shrill and almost inhuman.

A white-hot pain shot through my arm, pain throbbing and ebbing in my right shoulder. I yanked down my robe to see the shredded remains of my long underwear, three sister gashes running from the base of my throat to below my collarbone. They weren't scabbed over, but rather rotting and clotted on the surface, the veins running under the skin a putrid green color.

I dropped my hairbrush as I gripped the dresser for support from the ever-present pain that was spreading through my body like a wildfire. I glanced downward at the dropped hairbrush, my eyes widening at the sight of caramel strands interlaced with crinkled swamp green colored ones.

I snapped my head towards the mirror when I heard the horrid sound of claws meeting glass, catching a glimpse of red stained nails leaving deep gashes in the thick glass of my window. My heart was palpitating abnormally fast, everything seeming to amplify tenfold, including the pain. My body felt sore, and I opened my mouth with a sickening crack, releasing a grotesque cry of pain.

Then I snapped my head down, an odd sense of calm overtaking my frail, shaking frame. My head shook and snapped every few seconds, but I didn't focus on that. Rather, I fixated on the attuned sound of collective hearts beating all throughout Whoville, and the sudden insatiable want for the taste of that thick crimson liquid that flowed through them.

My eyes rolled back, and when I looked at them in the cracked mirror of my pale bedroom, I saw nothing but yellow sclera's and silted red pupils, a chilling smile curling and scrunching up my malleable flesh.

You thought this was the end of the story? Ha.

This was just the beginning.

~~~

(A/N: <3)