Author's Note: So, I wrote this in July during a heat wave and thought that this might cool me down a little. All recognizable Christmas stories belong to their owners. So, since pretty much every Christmas song gets its' own Christmas special, I wondered why "Gothic Christmas" by Within Temptation did not. Story breakdown: basically three witches decide that they are not going to celebrate Yule this holiday season and are going to celebrate Christmas in their own way.

A Gothic Christmas

Jezebel sunk down in front of the fire in the home that she shared with her sisters, Jade and Jasmine. Normally she was happy about this time of year. Yule was quickly approaching and she and her sisters should be preparing for it. This year, none of them seemed to be in the spirit. Yule was getting to be such an ancient tradition and was not a cheery holiday anymore. It was supposed to celebrate a the dawning of a new season and of a new year. They were supposed to be floating around the house clearing out the old to bring in the new. The house was supposed to be decked out in holy and a Yule log was supposed to be burning in the fire. They were supposed to be reconnecting with nature. This year, the girls just were not feeling it. They wanted to celebrate like the mortals did.
They wanted to celebrate Christmas.

Jezebel did not see why they could not. Sure, they were witches and were often the symbols of Halloween. Halloween was so overrated for these witches. The mortal version of Halloween always portrayed them as ugly, warty, fat, and green. The sights of those images always made the sisters laugh and even offended them a little. They were not any of those things and were far from it.

All three of them had long black hair that looked blue when the sun hit it. They had a pale, flawless skin tone that would had made mortals confuse them with vampires. They were all slender with curves that would make humans do a self-esteem check. The mortals did not mess everything up. The sisters did wear pointed hats and long, black dresses. They also enjoyed flying across a full moon and giving the locals a fright on Halloween. Other than that, they lived a quite, quant life in a small cottage, tending to their herds in the woods.

They did not eat small children either.

Jezebel threw another log onto the fire. Outside snow was starting to fall and would soon coat the ground. She loved the snow. If she hated snow, then she would have hated where they lived. It snowed almost all year around in some locations of the country. The only way that their herbs survived in the frigid weather was through a summer spell preformed by Jasmine.

Jezebel was the youngest of her sisters. Jasmine was the oldest and Jade was the middle child. They had always lived together and probably always would. The three of them had made a vow that they would never get married and only produce a child if their line was threatened. Witches were made and not born as mortals were. Witches were always female. To be a family, the witches must be made by the same person. Witches were made to be equivalent to the mortal age of sixteen and aged about a fourth as fast as mortals. Needless to say, witches lived for a very long time.

Jasmine and Jade entered the cabin. Both had snow on the shoulders of their cloaks. Their cheeks were rosy and they were laughing as they shook snow from their hair. Jasmine was carrying an arm load of delightful smelling herds and Jade held an old lantern in hers. Jezebel resented the closeness that her other two sisters had. They were both created fifty years before Jezebel had been. Jezebel was a newly made witch of twenty. Because of the age difference, the other two treated her as if she was a delicate flower.

"Jezebel, come take these," Jasmine called. She held out the herbs.

Jezebel knew that she no choice, but to get the herbs. Her sisters were not cruel to her. They just treated her like a baby. She walked over to Jasmine and took the herbs.

Jade sat the lantern down on a stool by the door. "I must say, it is getting much colder out there!" she exclaimed as she threw her cloak down on the ground.

Jezebel nodded. She was still holding the herbs. "I have been keeping extra wood on the fire to keep the draft out."

Jade nodded and tapped Jezebel's head gently. Jezebel hated whenever her sister did that. It made her feel as if she was a dog. "Good girl," Jade said as she stepped further into the cottage.

Now, Jezebel felt even more like a dog.

Their home was just a simple, wooden dwelling. The downstairs had two rooms, a living area and a small bedroom. Upstairs there was a small loft. Almost everything they owned was ancient or handmade. There was a small root cellar underneath the cottage where they kept extra herbs.

Jasmine smiled at Jezebel as she took the arms out of the youngest witch's arms. Jasmine was a little bit more gentle toward Jezebel than Jade. The other two witches followed Jade.

The three sisters gathered around their small table. They had to get the herbs cleaned quickly or the plants would lose their magical properties. Once they were cleaned, Jasmine would take them into town and sell them to the local doctor. The sisters were known to have the best herbal remedies in town. If the mortals knew that they were actually using magic, the girls would be run out of town or worse.

Jezebel picked up a piece of lavender. Lavender was probably her favourite herb. "Are we going to celebrate Yule this year?"

Jade broke the herbs she was holding in two. "I do not know." She looked at Jasmine. "Are we?"
Jasmine got a thoughtful look on her face. "Well, we always did say that we wanted to celebrate Christmas."

"That is true," Jade commented as she sat her herbs down.

Jezebel looked at her sisters. "If we do celebrate Christmas, we will have to change some things."

Jasmine nodded. "Some of the mortals traditions are pretty lame." She picked up a stock of lavender. "It will have to be a gothic Christmas."

Jade nodded and smiled flashing her brilliant white teeth. "I know just where to start." She turned to Jezebel. "Fetch the book of Christmas stories."

Jezebel nodded and ran up the loft. The sister kept all of their books there. The Christmas book had been purchased at a used book vendor in the village a few seasons ago. The sisters had looked through it a few times. She found the book between two spell books. She grunted as she picked the heavy book up and carried it downstairs.

Jasmine and Jade had finished with the herbs and had cleared the table off. Jezebel placed the book carefully on the table as if it were made of gold and stepped back.

Jasmine bent over the book and opened it to a random page. She studied the picture with a frown line forming on her forehead. Jezebel and Jade moved behind the eldest witch. From what she could see, Jezebel saw nothing wrong with it. It featured Santa Claus dressed in a red suit. His beard and hair were as pure as a baby's soul. His cheek were rosy and his eyes had a gentle look in them. He was smiling a smile that made Jezebel want to crawl up on his lap and never get down. Clearly, there was not a problem here.

Jasmine must had thought otherwise.

Jezebel looked up at her sister. "What is wrong with it?"

"He is too happy and jolly," Jasmine replied coldly.

"Isn't he supposed to be?" Jade asked. She was also confused.

"Not for us." Jasmine began to pace the room. "He needs to become like us. Red is not a good colour. He needs to wear black."
"And grunt in Latin?" Jade prodded.

"Aye, that would be nice," Jasmine stated.

"And slay a dragon or two?" Jezebel said wanting to get into the game.

"Who does not like a dragon slayer?" Jasmine asked.

Jezebel shrugged, not adding that she did not like dragon slayers. "The sleigh needs to go as well."

Jasmine thought about it. "Yeah, it does. A chariot would work so much better."

"Yes," Jade agreed.

Jasmine flipped to another story and read:

You know Dasher and Dancer

And Prancer and Vixen,

Comet and Cupid

And Donner and Blitzen.

But do you recall

The most famous reindeer of all?

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

Had a very shiny nose

And if you ever saw it

You would even say it glows

All of the other reindeer

Used to laugh and call him names

They never let poor Rudolph

Play in any reindeer games

Then one foggy Christmas Eve

Santa came to say

Rudolph with your nose so bright

Won't you guide my sleigh tonight?

Then all the reindeer loved him

And they shouted out with glee

"Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

You'll go down in history!"

Jezebel and Jade groaned again. "This simply just will not do," Jasmine stated.

Jade made a face of disgust. It was a lame story. It was too bright and perky for her liking. Most importantly, who named their child Rudolph? It reminded her of some sort of medieval torture device. Surely the parents of this kid could be arrested for child abuse. Also, Rudolph was too much of a wimpy name. It implied joy.

"He needs a name change," Jasmine said. "Ragragord, the evil reindeer overlord. That is what I would name my son."

The other two witches nodded in agreement.

"What about the bright nose?" Jezebel asked.

Jasmine frowned, clearly she had not thought about that. "Well, that will have to go."

Jade was almost afraid to suggest what she was about to. "We could make it black, like a normal reindeer," she said in a small voice.

Jasmine clapped her hands together. "That is a brilliant idea!"

Jade smiled a small smile. She was glad that she could be of some use to this project.

"What about the eyes?" Jezebel asked. She was looking at the book now.

Jasmine gave the middle sister a look. "What about them?"

"They are warm and fuzzy."
Jasmine run over to her sister and grabbed the book. She studied the picture and groaned. "No, no, no, no!" She slammed the book down on the table. "This is all wrong! We cannot have an evil reindeer overlord with happy eyes. They need to have an evil glow." She paused. "It will not be a sleigh either, but a chariot."

Jezebel let out a sigh of relief. "That sounds so much better!"

Jade was glad to see that their Christmas plans were going rather well. The mortal version of Christmas was awful. She hoped that the mortals would embrace the sisters way of celebrating Christmas. They needed to see that Christmas did not have to be all warm and fuzzy. Warm and fuzzy feelings were not the way of the witches. Sure, the witches were not evil, but that does not mean that they gave up all of the old ways. The thought of being a mortal just made Jade sick. Mortals were boring, as their Christmas holiday proved, and they did not know how to change. Witches could change whenever necessary. The rewriting of classic Christmas stories was a fine example as to how witches were better than humans.

Jade knew that she had better snap out of her daydream. There was after all a lot of work to be done. This entire holiday had be rewritten. She was not sure if they was going to get it done in time. It would be worth it. They were going to have a Gothic Christmas and hoped that the rest of the world would have a Gothic Christmas too.

I think that I am going to make this a Christmas tradition and update around the holidays. Hope you have a "Gothic Christmas!"