Christmas Full Throttle
Part 7: Ho-ho-hold It Together
The moment Tom disappeared through the door, the noise swallowed everything. It sounded like a whole pack of kids screaming “YEAHHH!” at the same time, while the host was yelling something into the mic that was probably meant to be “MAGIC!” but came out more like “MEGA!”
Jonas stood there, frozen. Not because he was scared—okay, maybe a little— but because his brain couldn’t decide whether this was still a normal Christmas evening or a game level officially labeled “family-friendly” that secretly felt like “Boss Fight: Marketing Edition.”
“Okay,” Lea whispered. “Plan: we stick together. We’re low-key.”
Sofia raised an eyebrow. “Low-key… wearing clothes that literally say ‘Good Vibes Only’?”
“Sofia,” Lea hissed.
“I know, I know,” Sofia said immediately, raising both hands. “I am the human camouflage.”
Mehmet glanced at the door. “And if headset-guy shows up again?”
“Then we’re…,” Jonas searched for a word that didn’t sound like pure panic, “…tourists. Teen tourists. Just looking around. Totally normal.”
Lea nodded. “Exactly. And we’re not walking out there like a squad on a mission. We’re walking out like people who lost the bratwurst stand.”
They slipped out one by one. Outside, the Christmas market was a full-on explosion of fairy lights. Music, the smell of mulled wine, crowds everywhere. And up front, the stage—bright like a mini sun.
Tom stood there—Santa mode activated. He waved, he laughed, he nodded. From a distance, everything looked perfect. Only if you really knew him, you’d notice how tense his shoulders were, how precisely his smile was calibrated to “please-don’t-let-this-collapse.”
The host bounced around next to him like an overcaffeinated Christmas elf. “AND HERE HE IS! OUR SANTA CLAUS!” he yelled. “GIVE HIM A HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE! AND DON’T FORGET…”
Jonas looked at Lea. Lea looked at Jonas. They were thinking the same thing: Here comes the sketchy part.
“…AFTER THE SHOW, THERE’S A LITTLE SURPRISE FOR YOU!” the host shouted, pointing at a cardboard stand next to the stage. On it, in massive letters, it read: WINTERSPARK FAMILY CHALLENGE.
Underneath it was a QR code so huge even a squinting grandpa could scan it.
“Aha,” Sofia muttered. “There it is. The sacred QR.”
Lea stayed calm, but her eyes narrowed. “No filming,” she whispered. “Just remember.”
Jonas’ fingers twitched anyway. Not for content. Just because it was absurd: everything was loud, happy, so aggressively “Christmas!” and at the same time it all felt like a setup.
The host leaned toward Tom. He kept smiling, but his words were too quiet for the crowd. Jonas couldn’t hear them. But Tom nodded. Too fast. Too forced.
“Guys,” Mehmet whispered. “Back there…”
Jonas turned his head. Behind them, at the edge of the crowd, stood a guy in a black jacket, headset on, eyes scanning. He pretended to look at his phone, but his gaze kept drifting back to them.
Sofia pressed her lips together. “That’s headset-guy.”
Lea took a slow breath. “Okay. We act like we didn’t see him.”
“I can’t do that,” Jonas whispered. “My face can’t.”
“Then just look like a person who looks stupid,” Sofia said. “That’s your specialty.”
Jonas wanted to argue. Then realized he was already too busy looking stupid.
On stage, kids were being called forward now. “Come on up, come on!” the host shouted. “Who wants to help Santa?”
Hands shot up like rockets. Tom knelt down, gave high-fives, said something that sounded like “Ho-ho-ho” but actually felt more like “please-be-careful.”
Lea watched every detail. Where was the stand? Who handed out what? Who moved where? Her eyes worked like a grid.
And then Jonas saw it: Next to the stand was a young woman holding a stack of small cards. She smiled warmly, but her movements were routine— like someone who’d done this a hundred times. She handed a card to parents. To kids too.
“Flyers,” Jonas whispered.
Lea barely nodded. “Remember.”
Headset-guy took a step closer. Then another. He pretended to just drift through the crowd, but his direction was clear: straight toward them.
“Okay,” Lea said quietly. “We move. Now.”
“Where to?” Mehmet whispered.
“Somewhere it makes sense for teens to be,” Lea said. “The snack stand. We’re hungry. We live for crêpes. We’re innocent.”
Sofia grinned. “I actually live for crêpes.”
They edged toward the side. Jonas felt the stare on his neck like a laser. He forced himself not to look back. Not to run. Not to look like someone thinking, Oh no, we’ve been spotted.
At the crêpe stand, it smelled like sugar, grease, and happiness. Lea studied the menu like it mattered. Sofia pointed at the Nutella options like this was the biggest decision of her life.
“Two crêpes,” Sofia said loudly. “Extra chocolate. Because Christmas.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Jonas saw headset-guy stop a few meters away. He didn’t stare directly. But he was there. Like an NPC about to start a quest— except this quest probably wasn’t “Bring me three candy canes,” but more like “Disappear.”
Mehmet took the paper from the vendor and whispered, “What if he comes over?”
Lea bit the inside of her cheek. “Then we play even dumber. And even nicer.”
Jonas swallowed. “I can’t be any nicer.”
“Yes, you can,” Sofia said. “You’re Jonas. You always can.”
Just then, Jonas’ phone vibrated. A message. Not from user017_xd.
Unknown: “You’re moving wrong. Not toward the exit. Not the stage.”
Unknown: “Go toward the photo booth. Left of the Ferris wheel.”
Unknown: “And whatever you do—don’t look back.”
Jonas’ heart did a quick flip. He showed Lea the screen without saying a word.
Lea’s eyes narrowed even more. “Okay,” she whispered. “That’s either help… or the next trap.”
Sofia took a bite of her crêpe and said with her mouth full, “I hate how exciting Christmas is right now.”
Mehmet swallowed. “Photo booth… left of the Ferris wheel…”
Lea exhaled. “We go. Slowly. Normal. And we stay together.”
Jonas slipped his phone away. He glanced back toward the stage one last time. Tom waved, laughed, played Santa. The host beamed at the crowd like an overexposed ad.
And suddenly Jonas knew: the real stress wasn’t on the stage. It was between the fairy lights.