The sun had just sunk below the horizon outside the Hillcrest Mall, the lights in the parking lot just starting to flicker on. It wasn’t a big mall – the town it was in wasn’t particularly big, either, so they didn’t really need a big mall – but, as usual for that time of the year, there were a fair few cars in the parking lot, resting, finding themselves slowly covered by the blanket of slow falling gently from the sky.

The front door had a huge wreath hanging above it, a red ribbon wrapped around it like a candy cane. Beneath it stood a young man, bundled up in matching scarf and earmuffs, ringing a little silver bell. Every now and then, someone would bustle by, in or out, either giving a donation or doing their best to avoid looking at him. When they swung the doors open, there was a brief swell of warmth, and of peppermint scent, from inside, both of which had enticed him to edge himself closer and closer as the afternoon had worn on.

There were other entrances and exits as well, of course, each of them decorated with a smaller, wreath, each with only a small red bow at the bottom for decoration. It was through one of these doors that the young woman, Jolene, burst. There were times when she allowed her relatives to call her Joy, but that name hardly fit her at this moment, no matter how merrily the bell atop her red, fur lined, hat was ringing as she rushed away from the mall, hot tears running down her cheeks, angry breath turning to fog in front of her face.

She had clearly also not thought her escape through very carefully. She hadn’t even grabbed her coat, or anything else to cover the short green felt dress she had on, or the thick red and white striped tights beneath that, or, more importantly, as it was the reason for her exodus, the thick, sagging bulge beneath both of those, one any mother could likely recognize, especially when their memories were spurred by the red pacifier clipped to the front of her dress.

A few more steps, and she’d have realized her mistake as she reached for the pocket of her coat to grab her car keys, only for her hands to slide across the smooth, pocket-less side of her dress. She’d stand outside for a minute or two, fuming, building up her resolve, and then stomp back inside to retrieve her coat and, more importantly, change back into her normal clothes. She’d do her best to keep from running into Hope during all of that, or any other living soul, if she could help it. Maybe once she was back in the jeans and sweater she’d arrived in that morning, she’d seek Hope out and slug her. The thought would bring a smile to her face, even if she knew she’d never actually do it, and as she traipsed across the parking lot, she’d find her shivering fingers clamping into a fist.

Instead, she felt a sharp pain blossom across her spine, sending her falling to her knees, cold snow quickly soaking through her tights. Jolene wasn’t a large girl, in any sense of the word, though the blow seemed designed for one. She fought to refill her lungs with air, to gather her wits for a scream for help, but then the pain came again, driving her down onto parking lot, stomach first.

Something sharp jabbed into the base of her spine, but she couldn’t cry out, couldn’t even trying to wriggle free. She felt a hand wrap around her wrist, pulling her to a nearby car. She heard one of the doors open, then allowed herself to be tossed inside, in a heap on the back seat.

As she lay there, staring forward, she saw someone get into the front seat, tossing a baseball bat onto the seat beside them. They ducked down for a moment, then the car’s engine roared to life, and they drove away, off towards the woods at the edge of town.