Work Text:
Once upon a time, there was a little town in Maine, called Horseshoe Bay.
After five months barreling up and down the coast, discovering town after town’s vicious secrets, Nancy Drew was back in her hometown for a well deserved month-long break. Ace Hardy, who had begun his semester at UMaine for Pre-Med as she had left, had also returned on his summer break, ready to spend his vacation with his friends and loved ones, both of them finally curse-free.
Nancy sat back in the Claw’s outdoor patio chair that overlooked Horseshoe Bay’s beach, letting the warm air graze her skin as she did. Opening her eyes just a bit, she noticed Ted, George’s youngest sister, sticking up Christmas window clings.
“Isn’t it a little early to be putting up Christmas decorations?” Her head turned lazily towards Ace, who was sipping on a coffee.
“Really? When should they go up?” He raised his eyebrows. Nancy was about to respond, when a familiar British lilt called out.
“Horseshoe Bay’s heroes!” Bess Marvin practically tripped into the patio chair in front of them.
“How I’ve missed you!”
“My favorite platanchor!” Ace’s face lit up and he set the coffee cup down. Life at UMaine had opened him up a little, even left him a little more outgoing ( how else was he supposed to get notes when he was sick? ) -- or maybe it was just the coffee.
“I’m your only platanchor.” Bess deadpanned, staring daggers into him.
“I’m sorry-” Nancy sat up, waving a hand in between them. “What is the deal with all of these Christmas decorations? Is there some festival or tradition I don’t know about?”
Ace and Bess both looked at her like she had five heads.
“Lay off Scrooge, it’s my favorite time of year.”
“Summertime?” As Bess and Ace began to catch up, Nancy’s mind swirled.
Ace is definitely Jewish. How was Christmas his favorite time of year?
Even now, Nancy was never truly on break. An hour into catching up with Bess, a woman who worked at the local theater called her cell phone, asking if she could investigate an anomaly in the sound system. Ace was happy to give her a ride in Florence, jokingly pointing out houses that were putting up lights along the way.
The local theater was old, having been around since the 50s, with the only updates being fresher coats of paint to the walls. The “new” sound system was put in in the 80s, from what the woman and her husband had told Nancy, supplying her with tools just in case.
“I appreciate it. The thing keeps playing music randomly and I just need to get Mr. Baby here down for a nap.” The theater owner bounced the baby in her arms gently, causing him to coo. Nancy smiled, a spark of excitement going up her spine, reminded of how her own younger sister, Abigail, was due to arrive in a few months. Lifting the toolbox and heading into the back room with Ace in tow, Nancy took a preliminary glance at the speakers.
“I don’t see anything wrong with them- no wires, nothing busted from the outside. Give me a hand cracking them open?” Before they could attempt to open them, music started swelling all around them.
“Is that coming from the speakers?” Ace looked up, eyes wide at the sudden noise.
“I don’t think so.” Nancy held an ear close to the speakers, no noise coming out of them. She ran to the other, which was the same.
“What the hell is playing Silent Night then?” The music lasted for around thirty seconds and finally the tinkling melody grew softer and stopped. The pair exited the back room, running into the husband of the owner as they did.
“Sir, your sound system…it wasn’t playing that music.” Nancy wrung her hands as she spoke, nervously awaiting his reaction.
“I know. I turned off the electricity to it earlier, just to see if it would stop the music.” He was pale and looked like he was about to pass out. “I don’t know what made that noise.”
“That’s…weird.” Nancy started walking towards the concessions counter, looking underneath to make sure there were no hidden speakers, anything that could be logically explained.
“What’s weird? I mean, it’s Christmas Eve.” Ace was helping the man sit down, casting her a troubled look. After a thorough check, they made sure the man had some water and left the theater, a larger case at hand than a sound system anomaly.
“Listen, this is all super weird. The blowups, the decorations.” Nancy stared at the sidewalk as they made their way back to Florence. “I hate all of this fake cheer.”
Ace stopped walking, his hand pulling her back.
“You’re being a bit of a Grinch.” She stared at him incredulously. “I know Christmas is hard ever since…” Ace trailed off, squeezing her hand a bit.
“You’re completely missing the point. It’s not Christmas Eve, it’s July and you don’t even celebrate Christmas! ” Nancy dropped Ace’s hand, rubbing her temples. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ll figure it out.”
The drive back to the Claw was spent in relative silence, with Ace quietly humming along to the tapes he had acquired along the years. Nancy wasn’t mad at him–worried and confused was more like it. Her first time back in Horseshoe Bay in months and it seemed the town had begun to give her yet another mystery to solve– one that made everyone, including her Jewish boyfriend think it was Christmas Eve.
In the hour spent away from the Claw, the decorations had gotten worse, as it seemed Nick had arrived back from Florida to visit for the summer as well. He was up on the roof, staple gun in one hand, and a string of lights in the other.
“Looking good!” Ace shot him a thumbs up and Nick smiled, shooting one back.
“Nick, have you seen Bess?” Nancy shouted up to him, which earned a shrug from him.
“Probably inside helping Jesse and Birdie with more decorations.” She closed her eyes, sighing heavily.
Great.
“I’ll be right back.” Ace had already picked up a strand of lights and was making his way up the ladder to help Nick as she pushed open the door to the Claw.
Bess sat in one of the booths, a punch bowl filled with white liquid. It reminded Nancy of one of the many concoctions the Crew had her try to get rid of the Wraith and she shivered.
“Bess, I need to ask you a question.”
“Oh, Nancy! Will you try this?” Bess held a spoon up to her, smiling brightly. “It’s for the party later. I want to make sure it’s perfect.”
“Uh-” The spoon was unceremoniously shoved in her mouth before she had time to object. The liquid on it tasted of coconut, rich and creamy.
“It’s Coquito. Something one of the visitors to the Historical Society had me try after they traveled to Puerto Rico.”
“That tastes delicious Bess, seriously, but do you have any books on the seasons changing rapidly? Maybe an entity that can cause it to be…Christmas?” Nancy waved the spoon around as she spoke, realizing how ridiculous she sounded as she asked.
“I may not have anything on sped up seasons, other than a few spells that can be cast, but there are some books on European legends and the like.” Bess took a moment to fish the keys for the Historical Society out of her purse, handing them to Nancy.
“Just remember to lock up!” She called out as Nancy exited the restaurant.
Looking to the roof to make sure Ace hadn’t gone anywhere, she was surprised to see it empty, neither Nick nor her boyfriend anywhere. In fact, the patrons that had been chatting and milling about earlier had left as well. Shaking off the weird feeling that had overcome her, Nancy got in her car and drove to the new, ( not a very well-kept) secret Historical Society.
As she parked and got out, she felt a few cold drops land on her arms and face. Thinking it was a July storm about to roll in, Nancy hurried to the door, only to see a soft flurry of snow falling from the sky. The tank top, shorts, and flip flop combo she had opted for that day obviously did not factor in supernatural weather anomalies and she inwardly groaned, shooting invisible middle fingers pointing to the sky.
There was a very small selection of books in the new Historical Society, ones that had survived the fire, albeit crispy around the edges, and ones that had been gifted to Bess from other Keepers around the globe. Nancy had no trouble finding the large tome dubbed European Legends, Folklore, and Myths, tying her hair up, and cracking it open.
The yellowed pages were grouped by country and held information about everything from the Loch Ness Monster to a thick section on Doppelgangers, but only a few paragraphs caught her eye:
Krampus, is a horned anthropomorphic figure who is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of December 5, immediately before the Feast of St. Nicholas on December 6. In this tradition, Saint Nicholas rewards well-behaved children with small gifts, while Krampus punishes badly-behaved ones with birch rods.
He is hairy, usually brown or black, and has the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. His long, pointed tongue lolls out, and he has fangs.
The picture that accompanied the text reminded her slightly of the Grimathorn, long horns and gangly limbs. Grateful she kept a crossbow in her car, she closed the book and tucked it under her arm, leaving the Historical Society.
Attempting to get back to the Claw was a disaster- empty cars littered the road back, doors to stores were left open, no patrons or staff inside. Weighing her options, Nancy parked her car near the theater from earlier, looking for any sign of life. Nearing the open door, she heard the shuffle of feet and sniffling.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll fix it–” The first voice was calm, reassuring.
“You don’t know that!” A second, more wobbly voice interrupted.
“Hello?” Nancy knocked on the doorframe. Jesse Fan and Birdie Kohls were sitting in the corner near the concessions stand, a book and miscellaneous objects laid before them.
“Nancy? Oh my god, you’re still here!” Birdie stood up, running and hugging her.
“Wha–” She returned the hug, book dropping from under her arm, pulling away and grabbing Birdie’s shoulders. “You need to tell me what’s going on.”
“We may have made it Christmas by accident.” Jesse spoke before Birdie could.
“It was an accident. We didn’t mean to call him. I read the words by mistake.” Birdie sniffled and hung her head, retreating back to the corner where she had been sitting.
“Do you mean Krampus?” Nancy kneeled down and opened the book to the pages she had been reading earlier. “I understand why it would be Christmas Eve now. But why are people disappearing now?”
“He’s angry. He thinks we’ve all been bad.” Birdie was fiddling with a snowglobe of Horseshoe Bay, shaking it around.
“Shit.” Nancy cursed under her breath. “He’s punishing us by making everyone disappear. Got it.”
“We’ve been trying to figure out how to fix it– we don’t have a reversal spell and we don’t have Bess, but we have these?” Jesse gestured in front of her at the objects laid out: a piece of horn, a bundle of black hair, and the snowglobe.
“The horn and hair are his. He left this snowglobe in my shoes.”
“Wait, he left the snowglobe in your shoes?” Nancy read through the paragraph on Krampus again. “That’s it! Birdie, the snowglobe!”
“What about it?”
“You have to break it. Look inside of it.” Nancy jostled the globe a bit as she pointed at it. Doing so caused flakes and glitter to cascade around the encapsulated Horseshoe Bay. Outside of the real Horseshoe Bay, a smattering of snow began to fall.
“Oh my god.” Jesse breathed out, eyes widening. “We’re inside of the snowglobe.”
Birdie stood, throwing it across the room without giving it a second thought, but it bounced back, clattering against the hardwood floor.
“It didn’t work! What do we do?” Nancy retrieved the object from where it had bounced and thought for a second, eyes landing on the piece of horn.
“We have to use it against itself.” Picking up the horn, she started ramming it into the glass of the snowglobe. After a few hits, a small crack began to form. The deafening sound of glass cracking sounded from outside as Nancy continued, throwing it on the ground to finally free everyone.
The shatter of glass was louder than ever and there was a terrible shriek accompanying it. As fast as it had happened, the glass and shrieking were gone, leaving behind terribly confused Horseshoe Bay residents in its wake.
The theater owners, who had been busy cleaning the concession stand after their baby had finally gone down for a nap, stood blankly holding rags.
“What…what are you doing here?” The woman said, rag hanging limply from her hands.
Nancy froze, looking around.
“I am so sorry about these two troublemakers ma’am! You called me about them running in here and trying to hide out, remember? I will just get them out of your hair–come on you two.” She helped a stunned Jesse and Birdie grab their belongings and dragged them out of the theater.
On the road, the entire town was as confused as the theater owners, staring at the Christmas decorations as if they couldn’t remember putting them up (they didn’t remember putting them up, but being trapped in a snowglobe does things to the mind) . Nancy was careful to weave in and out of the cars carefully getting back on the road and made her way back to the Claw, where a confused Ace and Nick sat on the roof, with George yelling something up at them.
“I know it’s not even mine anymore but what are you two doing? It’s July! Bess is in there making spiced cider and hot cocoa, among other things!” George rubbed her temples with one hand, gripping her briefcase with the other.
“I can’t even leave for my classes without something weird happening.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Nancy stood next to her, chuckling slightly.
“You wanna tell me what happened?” George turned and raised an eyebrow at her. Nancy took a second to look at Jesse and Birdie, who were sneaking around to use the employee entrance and avoid Bess’ wrath.
“Just remind me to leave out cookies for Krampus in December.”