The room smelled of chestnut and freshly baked bread. Kallum had just arrived at his girlfriend’s house to hang out with her and their friends, Thomas and Jack. He greeted Anne with a hug. 

“How’s it been?” he asked 

“I almost lost my toes yesterday,” Anne chuckled  “How do you deal with this cold for six months? It’s only been two weeks and I feel like I'm gonna die.” 

“Well I layer myself and also carry a flask of hot tea with me everywhere,” Kallum explained. 

Anne smiled with the warmth of a thousand suns and lead Kallum into the kitchen. He was immediately hit with the smell of steak, cornbread, spinach, and apple pie.  

“Anne when did you make this” Kallum asked staring at the food in awe. 

“I made it last night and added the pie this morning” She casually said. 

“I can’t wait till Thomas and Jack get here, it’s gonna be the best meal of my life,” Kallum exclaimed.

Thomas and Jack arrived shivering and covered in snow. Their faces were as red as roses. They sat down in front of the fireplace and Kallum sat the food on the floor in front of them, keeping it warm. 

“I hate this town” Thomas grumbled, “Every year we have to deal with the snow, why don’t we just move?” 

“Yes, the snow sucks but it helps with the crops and keeps the bugs away for a few months,” Anne said to him 

Kallum sat down in between Jack and Anne. He could tell Jack was scared but he wasn’t sure why and didn’t want to put him on the spot.  “Anne, how’s your brother doing?” Kallum said hoping to change the subject.

“He just got married actually” She exclaimed. 

“Congratulations”  Everyone said in unison.

“So when are you gonna pop the question Kal,” Jack teased. 

“We only got together a month ago” Kallum spoke. 

“So, my parents got married after 2 weeks” Jack bragged. 

Kallum sat up and flipped his hair back, he leaned close to Anne and brought his voice so low it was barely audible “Anne Bookwell will you marry me?” 

Anne’s face turned bright red and she started stuffing her mouth with spinach. That was the end of that conversation. Kallum had finished his food and headed to the sink to do dishes. Kallum always loved Anne’s kitchen it was so well organized and the beautiful coconut brown cupboards perfectly matched his skin tone. He cleaned all her fine china plates and cups then started on the pots. Kallum finished the dishes just before sundown. 

“Well guys I gotta go home,” Kallum said while heading out the door. 

He was instantly slapped in the face by cold winds, he took a swig of his tea and trudged home. 

By the time he reached his house, his hair had been covered in a thick layer of snow. He entered the house after shaking his head to get rid of the snow. Kallum headed towards the basement stairs and could hear his family arguing about their plan for the hunt. 

“We need to start soon and kill the villagers quickly.” His uncle Albert said nobly.

“NO! it’s supposed to be a massacre. It’s just called the hunt as a code name. We need to kill them slowly and make sure the mayor sees. The hunt is a message to the people to make sure they know the Smiths are all-powerful and they only breathe because we let them,” His cousin Ricky proclaimed. 

“Shut up all of you” Kallum’s father Maxwell commanded “We set out in thirty minutes and we will kill them at whatever pace is necessary. Except for the mayor; he is the key detail to making sure that our reign is instilled,” 

Kallum always feared his father. It wasn’t because he leads a gang of murders but the cold look in his eyes that made him always look calm. It was the same look a blind man would give you but it had a sharp edge to it.  

Everyone started getting into there ceremonial garbs and so did Kallum. As Kallum was putting on the black leather chest plate he felt his father’s glare resting on him. 

“Since this is your first hunt you get the first kill and also will use the ceremonial spear,” His father told him.  

 Kallum picked up the spear wrapped in gold and black chains, a wave of regret washed over him.   He didn’t want to say anything cause it would only make him even more of an outcast He had realized how wrong  He wrapped a black bandana around his mouth to obscure his face, as this tradition as everyone else did. 

“Kid, don’t worry even though this seems evil you’ll learn to enjoy it and even look forward to it,” Uncle Albert whispered. 

His boisterous voice almost made Kallum flee up the stairs, but he didn’t even though his body was overwhelmed with fear, he did not want to give his father another reason to hate him. Kallum started to walk up the stairs and heard the footsteps of the thirty other men in his family shuffling behind him.  

Kallum headed up to his room to grab the one keepsake he had from his mother, a ring. He didn’t wear it often as not to remind him of painful memories. He found the ring sitting on top of his pillow which was odd cause it was on his nightstand before. The ring was a silver band with a single amethyst resting as the spearhead shaped like the chained spear with diamonds on the shaft and chains. He slipped the ring onto his finger and felt sad when he did so. Kallum looked at himself in the mirror, he always hated mirrors because they made him critique himself the way his father does. 

His hair needed to be trimmed or he’d start to look homeless,  

“So I’ll be watching you during you're hunt so don’t do anything stupid,” Martin said. 

“I bet Dad doesn’t approve,” Kallum said. 

“I don’t care what the old man thinks” Martin smiled “He’s probably going crazy anyways, old coots always complaining about how his hairs our gray from us driving away his beloved” 

The issue with their father is he was never the cold shell of a man he is now. He used to be the kindest and caring person ever. He sat out of the hunt for his entire life until our grandpa got sick and couldn’t lead anymore. After his first hunt that kind man started turning into something that resembled a bloodthirsty monster.  

Kallum gave his little brother a hug and told him to be safe. Kallum met up with the rest of his family in the middle of town, and once he saw them he started fidgeting with the ring so that he wouldn’t run in fear of getting stabbed by the monsters that stood before him. 

``“We attack the oldest one first then spread out and make some noise,” His father said with his cold, dead eyes beaming through Kallum’s soul.        

Kallum kicked down old man Warner’s door and said a prayer in his head, he then thrust his spear through the sleeping old man, blood splattered on his sheets. The light died in his eyes he heard howling come from behind him. Everyone had scattered and started ransacking people’s homes. The only way to describe it was pure anarchy. He watched as all his family went into their friend’s homes and slaughtered people they had made bonds with. 

People who trusted them, Kallum realized.

 Kallum marched up to his father and yanked his father’s hood down. 

“Tell me why we do this?” Kallum demanded. 

“We perform the ritual of the hunt every twenty-five years to ensure that the townsfolk remember who’s in charge and that they should never try to rebel against us” His father calmly explained as if he’d practiced it a million times. 

“But why do we do this?” Kallum said “We don’t live like savages anymore so why do we act like them” 

“You must always remind scum that it belongs below your boot and not shaking your hand,” Maxwell said with a slight edge to his voice.  

“Mother left you for this very rea-” Kallum choked “son” 

His father had rammed his sword through Kallum’s heart. “Never mention your mother boy, she left because of you and you're childish behavior” Maxwell kicked Kallum’s limp body then walked towards the rest of the Smiths. 

The last thing Kallum said was “Monster” and then everything got cold and his vision went blank. 

Martin had been watching his older brother’s confrontation with his father but wasn’t expecting it to end that way. He quickly clambered down the tree he sat in and rushed towards his brother’s freezing corpse. 

Martin gently closed Kallum’s eyes. 

“I will avenge you” Martin whispered in his brother’s ear.  

Martin picked up the chained spear and sprinted towards his family. He tackled Ricky and stabbed him in the throat right as he went to breach Anne’s house. Blood spilled out of the hole where the spear had been. Martin ran into Anne’s house and shook her awake

“Anne I need you to run to the Mayor’s office and gather as many people as you can,” Martin ordered, “and if you see any of Kallum’s family members don’t stop no matter what.” 

Anne nodded her head and ran outside. Martin left the house and was greeted by his father and the familiar smell of iron, pinewood, and evil. 

“What do you think you are doing?” His father asked bewildered.  

“Finishing what Kallum tried to do” Martin shouted with tears streaming down his face. 

Martin rushed Maxwell and pushed him over. He ran towards the Mayor’s office as fast as his legs could with his father close behind. When he reached the Mayor’s office he realized that no one was there. Anne had failed he assumed. But he also noticed that not a single Smith was to be found except for himself and his father. Maxwell punched Martin in the face and Martin bit his father’s arm as he retracted his fist. Maxwell kicked Martin in the face and Martin landed in front of the wide-open doors of the Mayor’s office. Martin noticed that there were people inside the building, his people. Just then his father jumped at him and Martin merely rolled out the way. He heard his father crash into the office and his father got up as fast as he fell down. Maxwell ran for the door but just when he reached the edge, the doors slammed in his face. Anne and Ms. Crawford started wrapping chains around the door. 

Maxwell gave Anne a questioning look. 

“We heard Maxwell say that everyone should follow your uncle Albert and he headed to the Mayor’s office so one by one we knocked out your cousins and uncles as they walked into the building your father is the only conscious person in there. She gestured towards several other townspeople hidden in trees, bushes, and snow piles. 

Martin collapsed from exhaustion.              

After the Smiths were arrested, they were sent to a remote island and never heard from again. Kallum was buried in the center of the town and planted a tree atop of his grave which was named the Sweet Kal since it smelled like Kallum, cinnamon. Martin personally paid off the debt of the Smith’s which was a whopping three hundred thousand dollars, he worked it off for most of his life and when he paid off the debt he was sixty-seven. Anne and Martin opened an orphanage right next to the Sweet Kal, they named it the “Smith-Well Orphanage”. 

“Can you tell me a fairytale now grandpa?” Kallum II asked 

“Yes, I can my Sweet Kal,” Martin smiled.