December  21st 2000

“JC, hurry up!” Chris pleaded. If there was one thing Chris hated more was shopping in the mall with JC, especially during the Christmas season. He just couldn’t stand being in the crowd with countless people doing some last minute shopping.

“Hold on a second Chris, let me just get this last thing.” JC replied, looking at the nice Christmas ornaments on display, “Look, aren’t they beautiful? It’ll go perfect for my tree.” He beamed.

“Yes, lovely.” Chris said sarcastically.

After what seemed like forever, they finally made it out of the Hallmark store, and Chris got hungry and ordered a cheesy pretzel for himself, while JC ordered a Cinnabon; the two of them found the exit to the parking lot and tried to remember where JC parked his car. It was cold, and Chris could see the steam coming from every breath he took. They were in upstate New York and were gonna spend the holidays in Joey’s rental house that he purchased recently. Florida, was the first choice for them, but Christmas never felt right if it didn’t snow, so they decided to spend it in New York instead, with their families and friends that were coming to visit as well.

“Do you remember where we parked?” Chris asked, looking at the parking numbers and figuring out where the car was.

JC didn’t say anything, he just took out his car remote and pressed the alarm button, a loud honking sound appeared, and sure enough, there was the car, a rental car that he rented for the days he was gonna stay in New York, it was a four door silver Mercedes, in which JC has a love for, Chris just sighed and placed the bags in the backseat and got inside.

JC pushed a few buttons on the navigation system so it can pinpoint where Joey’s house was.

“You don’t know where it is?” Chris asked.

“I know it’s on Alpine drive, but I don’t know to get there.” JC replied in a snarky tone.

Chris mumbled something to himself then turned the radio station, they were playing some nice Christmas music, and they both seemed to relax while singing along to the song.

Shortly after, they drove up to a long winding road, there were deep snowy forests on either side, and the snow started coming down hard.

“Is this the right way?” Chris said, he sounded a bit frightened.

“That’s what the GPS says.

“JC, you are going to believe a computer?” Chris argued and took his phone to call Joey to see where his house was, only to find out that his cell phone didn’t have any signal.

JC saw the worried look on Chris’s face and said, “What’s the matter?”

“I can’t get a signal.”

JC then took his phone out to see if he had a signal, nothing. “That’s odd.”

“Maybe the wires have too much ice in it; do you think we should stop?” Chris told him.

JC nodded before checking the navigation system again, this time, it started to malfunction, and it turned off, shortly after the car started to have problems, it stopped right on the edge of a steep snowy hill, surrounded by woods. Turning the ignition, the car wouldn’t start.

“Did the battery die or something, and this is a Mercedes?” Chris couldn’t help but laugh.

“Shut up Chris.” JC snapped.

He turned the car again, nothing. All the lights came on the dashboard but it didn’t show what was wrong with the car.

“Must be an internal problem.” Chris shrugged.

JC popped the hood open and went outside to check for himself, Chris followed him. It was really difficult to check a car in pitch black darkness and with all of the snow falling, they were gonna have to wait in case someone comes for help.

Chris let out an aggravated sigh and headed back to the car.

JC then joined him; he tried turning the car on again, no luck.

“What are we gonna do Jace? We can’t stay here all night, we might freeze.”

“Well, it’s better than being out there.” JC chuckled looking at the blankets of snow falling; it was really coming down, looked more like a blizzard then a simple snowstorm.

JC didn’t know if his eyes were playing tricks on him or what, but as he squinted into the dark snowy woods, he spotted something, a white light, a bright one, looked like one of those fluorescent light bulbs. Maybe it was a house or something.

“Chris, I think I found something.”

“What did you find your lost screw?” Chris laughed at his own joke.

“No dimwit, I think it’s a house, look.” JC pointed to the direction of the bright light.

There it was a bright light, clear as day.

“And you want us to go there to have a look, what are you crazy?”

“But Chris, it could be a sign, maybe the people can help us.”

“Yeah, maybe a crazy witch lady lives there and she’s using that bright light and wants to feed us to her creatures.” Chris said sarcastically.

“Or maybe it’s a nice lady, you never know, it won’t hurt to look, it doesn’t look too far, we can always make a run for it, look, it’s just one path from here to there, what do you think?”

Chris sighed, “JC, sometimes I don’t know about you, but I hope you are right.”

JC smiled at him but continued talking, “And besides, maybe we have cell phone reception and we can call Joey from there.

Chris agreed and got the necessary items from the car, JC turned the lights off and double checked everything before locking up.

“You ready?” JC said once outside.

“I was born ready.”

“Ok, stay close to me; I don’t want you to wander off now.” JC laughed.

“I’m not a puppy you know.” Chris muttered.

The two of them followed the path towards the direction of the bright light, hoping to find some sort of help and get them out of this mess.

“Where are they?” Justin wondered, he was busy tapping the pen on the table and anxiously checking the window every five minutes, he tried texting and calling them, but for some reason, it never got through, he was starting to get worried.

“How long have they been gone?” Lance asked glancing at the clock.

“About two hours mostly, who knows maybe more, the snow is starting to come down hard now, do you think something happened?” Justin responded, a look of fear on his face.

“Now Justin, let’s not think the worst okay?” Joey told him, but he too was feeling a sense of dread, he was gonna borrow his father’s truck to find them if no word was heard.

They were at Joey’s rental house, it was him, his parents, his brother and sister and Joey’s girlfriend Kelly, Justin’s parents, Lance’s, Chris and JC’s were coming on the twenty-third.

“Joe, I’m not letting you drive my truck in this crazy weather by yourself.” Joey’s dad told him.

“Dad, I’ll go with Justin and Lance, don’t worry I’ll be careful.” Joey added.

Joseph just nodded and headed back to where he was sitting, they all decided to wait and see what happens.

When JC and Chris had finally reached the bright light, they realized that it was a cabin, a small dark cabin, with only four windows on each side, without thinking Chris got up to the front door of the cabin first, he knocked once, then twice. No answer.

“Well, nobody’s home, let’s go.” Chris added, but JC stopped him when he gently twisted the knob, the door opened with a slight creak and was greeted by a warm atmosphere.

Trying to get their eyes to focus, they realized they were standing in a living room, small but big enough to accommodate a few people, a couch, a small fridge, a table, and a lamp, no TV.

“Old people must live here.” Chris said.

Though they didn’t see it before; in the corner of the room, stood a small tree, with ornaments and lights, a shiny star was shining brightly.

“How come I’ve never seen these ornaments and lights before? They don’t sell these kinds at the store.” JC wondered, touching a glass turtle dove, another was a tiny snow globe that read the words believe in it. JC looked at the snow globe more closely, there was a house inside the snow globe, and it looked just like the cabin, which was a bit odd to him.

“Maybe they do sell it at the store, and we haven’t looked hard enough.” Chris said, looking around the cabin.

“Yeah.” JC looked at the snow globe one last time before reaching into his pocket to pull out his phone, looking over at Chris he said, “Do you think there’s reception in here?”

“You can try.” Chris also took his phone out, he called Justin, but immediately the signal faded.

He groaned loudly, “They are so worried about us right now, I can tell.”

JC called Joey, same thing.

Chris and JC continued looking throughout the cabin, surprisingly it had a bedroom, two beds, a dresser, and it also had a small bathroom. Everything was in a neat organized fashion, it also had a linen closet, with towels neatly stacked on top of eachother; and they were a crisp white.

“What a cute and comfy place to stay for the night.” JC added.

“You want to stay here?”

“Yeah, why not, I mean, we can’t go anywhere right now just look how it is outside.” JC pointed to the small window, a raging wind and heavy snowfall blanketed the area.

JC was right, they’ll never be able to survive out there.

“Besides, I’m sure the old couple won’t mind.”

Chris just looked at him for a moment and said, “Well, where are they?”

“Maybe they are visiting family for the holidays?”

“Well, if they are visiting family then why didn’t they lock up?” Chris wondered.

“Good question.”

Chris just put his hands on his side and decided to charge his phone, he plugged it into the outlet by the wall near the fridge, he realized that he didn’t open the fridge, when he opened it, it was filled with a lot of food, milk, water, orange juice, a bowl of soup, a bowl of rice, bread, some sliced turkey, cheese, lettuce, everything was in pitchers, labeled, and in bowls, not cartons, so they didn’t know what brand was it.

“Do you think we should eat this?” JC said, looking at the fridge.

“Well, I have some chewy bars in my backpack if you want any, cause I’m not sure if we should eat this or not, maybe its diet food, or maybe it’s poisoned.” Chris told him.

JC decided not to take any chances and offered to take the chewy bars from Chris’s backpack, he also had some Capri Sun juices as well, they ate in silence, it was really quiet in the cabin, no movement or anything, just the howling wind outside, they didn’t even hear a leaky faucet.

“So what should we do?” Chris asked JC who was discarding the wrapper in the trash bin near the small fridge.

“I guess we should stay for the night, hopefully by morning, we’ll be able to see what’s wrong with the car and we would call the guys as soon as we get reception.” JC explained.

Chris agreed and sat down on the couch next to him, turning the light from the lamp off, he got comfortable on the couch, and was awake for a few minutes before saying goodnight to JC, but he was already snoring.

“Man, as soon as this guy gets a comfy spot he is out like a light.” He muttered.

Chris lied awake for a few minutes more, before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

“Dad, I need to borrow your truck, now.” Joey frantically looked for the keys to the truck while Justin had his cell phone on his ear giving some details to the police.

“Ok son, but if you borrow the truck, please be careful, its getting dangerous, I wouldn’t want you missing too.”

Joey nodded and agreed to be careful and to take Justin and Lance with him, while the parents stayed behind in case the police came and asked them questions.

The three guys put on their heavy coats and headed to the garage to where Joey’s dad had his truck parked, it was a four by four, in which it could be handled pretty well if it drove in snow, closing the door to the truck, the three of them sat down, put their seatbelts on, with Joey being the driver, they pulled out of the garage and into the night.

About an hour of driving, they passed the mall, it was just about closing, and the wipers of the truck swiftly moved back and forth wiping the countless snowflakes from the sky. They searched the parking lot, just a few cars, but no sign of the rental car that JC and Chris were driving, which meant that they weren’t in the mall anymore. After exiting the mall, the storm started to get worse, Joey called his parents to see if they had heard from anything, but so far, nothing. It was now one in the morning and the guys had no choice but to return back home, it was really windy and the snow was difficult to see clearly.

“What are we gonna do guys?” Lance asked in a hushed tone.

“The storm may clear out tomorrow and we’ll be able to find them.” Joey said, forcing a smile and making a left turn towards his street. “I’m sure they’re okay.”

Justin remained quiet for the rest of trip.

“You’re alright Curly?” Joey told him.

“Yeah I’m okay, I’m just worried.”

“We are all worried, but I’m sure they’re fine, hopefully, we just gotta think positive.”

Lance nodded.

Justin then sighed but remained quiet again.

Joey pulled into the garage and turned off the engine, his sister opened the side door to let them in.

“Any news?” Lance asked.

“No, none sorry, the police said they can’t do anything tonight cause of the storm, but they would be out in the morning as soon as the storm breaks.”

They all nodded, and headed inside to keep warm, and headed to their rooms and tried to get some sleep, waiting until the storm ceases and dawn breaks, so they can continue their search in finding Chris and JC.

The next morning, sunlight shone on Chris’s face, he blinked rapidly trying to remember where he was, he heard voices, and didn’t know if he was still dreaming or what, he opened his eyes where he was met with another pair of eyes, he jumped from the couch and took a look at two children, or he thought they looked like children. It was a boy and girl, both wearing a red and green outfit, and a Christmas hat, that it was it looked like to Chris.

The girl had red hair and two braided pigtails that hanged loosely down all the way to her backside, she looked like she was about eight or nine, she had sparkles on her face; the boy, however, also looked about the same age, he had light brown/blonde hair, also with sparkles on his face.

“Wh-who are you?” Chris managed to say, what are you?”

“I’m Sparkle, and this is Elvin, and we are elves.”

Chris didn’t know if heard correctly or what, “wait a minute, you said elves?”

“That’s right, elves.” Sparkle replied simply.

“There is no such thing as elves.” Chris told them, glancing over at JC who was still asleep, he kinda forgot about him for a minute, running over to the couch, he shook JC to wake up.

“JC, wake up!” He shouted.

“What, what?” JC mumbled, he woke up with a confused look on his face.

Chris pointed at the two kids that were sitting there, quietly watching them.

“Who are they?” JC asked simply.

“Elves, JC, can you believe it? Elves!” Chris started laughing to himself.

“JC stared at them for a moment and asked them, “Are you lost kids?”

“We aren’t kids.”

“You look like kids to me.” Chris muttered to himself.

“I know this is difficult to believe, but we really are elves, you guys came here for the night and slept over, you came in a car which is not outside anymore and-

“Wait, what do you mean the car is not outside anymore?” JC told her wide eyed, without thinking he took a look from the window, he could see the trail that led up to the highway, but he didn’t the car, in fact he didn’t see anything, the snow looked like it was about three feet deep, it was snowing flurries now.

“Where’s the car.” JC said through gritted teeth.

“It’s being repaired in our workshop, you aren’t gonna see it until Christmas Eve, it’s our head elf’s rules.” Elvin told him.

“Head elf?” Chris replied.

“That’s right, Santa Claus, he’s our head elf.”

That sent Chris and JC for a laugh; they had tears in their eyes from laughing so hard.

“You kids are doing a great job on this really, but I really do need my car back so I can get home okay, so thank you for the hospitality.” JC said, grabbing his things and about to open the door.

“You can’t leave, you have to help us and you have to believe in us, once you step into our cabin, you have to find out what the true meaning of Christmas is, you have to believe.” Sparkle explained.

“And what if we don’t believe in the elves and Santa Claus.” Chris muttered, he was getting really agitated with this.

“Then Christmas would be erased, you would never hear a holiday jingle again, it would be Thanksgiving and New Years Eve only.

Chris and JC stopped for a moment, this was a lot to take in, can you imagine a world without Christmas? The joy of seeing a Christmas tree, being together with loved ones, seeing the happiness on kids faces. He turned to looked at the elves, they both seemed serious about this.

“Well before we do anything, mind if we get some breakfast first? So that way you explain everything to us? Chris told them.

The elves faces lit up and they smiled, “Of course, come to our workshop downstairs, we have everything you need.” Sparkle said.

Chris and JC followed them into the linen closet, Sparkle moved some towels that were neatly folded and underneath it was a bright red button, she pressed the button, and the wall near the closet, a wooden door appeared. She opened the door, and it revealed a long narrow staircase, it was made of glitter and gold.

“Wow.” JC whispered.

“You haven’t seen anything yet.” Elvin smiled.

They followed them down towards the narrow staircase; they stopped at another wooden door. Elvin and Sparkle turned to Chris and JC and told them if they were ready.

They both nodded.

Sparkle turned the knob of the wooden door, and what Chris and JC saw, was something beyond their imaginations. They stepped into a massive room filled with elves, there must’ve been hundreds of them, the walls were made of ice, and were covered with icicle Christmas lights, it was amazing!

Now it was Chris’s turn to say wow, “I don’t believe this, this is, this is incredible!” He gasped.

JC was too shocked to say anything; he has never seen something so beautiful. He looked around at the elves, they were all young, and they were about Sparkle’s and Elvin’s ages, they were talking excitedly, and wrapping toys in brightly colored boxes, there was a huge map of the world and some of them were pinpointing and writing down ideas of what they were gonna do next.

“Here’s the breakfast room.” Elvin told Chris and JC.

“You will be greeted by Laurie, she’s one amazing cook, just ask her what kind of meal you want, and you will get it.” Sparkle replied.

Just then the doors of the breakfast room opened, an older woman, with white hair, and thin-framed glasses, she was also wearing the same outfit as all of the other elves.

“Hey boys.” She greeted.

“Hi.” They both replied in unison.

She had a Southern accent and a bright smile on her face, “You must be Chris and JC, I’ve heard so much about you.”

Chris and JC were amazed that this woman knew who they were.

“You boys must be hungry, what do you want, eggs, bacon, waffles?”

They stepped inside the breakfast room and looked around, the windows and walls were also made of ice, and right in the middle sat a huge table, which probably sat nearly all of the elves.

“Waffles please.” JC said without thinking.

“I’ll have the same.” Chris told her, he was just as fascinated as JC was, never in their wildest dreams they have encountered something like this, and this was just the beginning.

“Alright, split up and search.” Officer Ludwig told his fellow officers, it was early morning and the officers were around the tri-state area searching for Chris and JC. To them, they have been reported missing for twenty-four hours at least. The rest of the guys didn’t want the media to know about this, so they decided to keep this quiet and let them figure this out for themselves, the last thing they needed was for fans to worry about them. If they were missing, they were probably within the area anyway, if their location pointed elsewhere, then they would tell Johnny about it, and so Johnny could inform the fans and they could expand from there.

The rest of the officers got sent dogs to locate them, sometimes the scent dogs could smell other things that humans cannot. Meanwhile, the parents of the rest of the guys were flying in to New York today, they told them the news over the phone, and would be there and help them in any way they can.

“Ok, while they are doing the search, we should go back to where we were last night.” Joey explained to Justin and Lance, who still had the worried looks on their faces.

“Yeah I’ll go with you Joey, and we’ll come back here before my mom arrives from the airport.” Justin told him.

They all agreed, and headed back to the truck again, not to interfere with the officers and their scent dogs while they were searching.

Joey’s parents, sister and brother stayed at the house to receive calls, just in case they found any word of what the officers told them about Chris and JC.

Chris and JC were eating breakfast that Laurie had cooked for them, it was really delicious, or maybe it was the hunger talking.

“Laurie, this is the best breakfast that I have ever eaten.” Chris said in between mouthfuls.

Laurie just smiled at them and continued talking to one of the smaller elves in the room, it was ingredients for a Christmas cake she wanted to bake for Santa, and it needed to be special.

“Thanks Laurie, you’re the best.” The little elf said and hurried out the door with the list of ingredients to bring it to the baking room.

JC couldn’t help but smile at how the feeling of the warmth and comfort in the room, he kept thinking about his family, and that smile turned into a frown. Chris saw that, and told him what was wrong?

“Chris, do you think the guys are looking for us?”

Chris thought for a moment, “They must be worried sick about us that’s for sure, but you heard what Elvin and Sparkle said, we can’t call out, and they can’t call in.”

“But why not?” JC started.

Laurie was listening to what they were saying, “Don’t worry boys, just to let you know they are looking for you, but they aren’t gonna find you today.”

“They are looking for us?” Chris asked surprised.

Laurie nodded, “Yep.”

“How do you know?” JC responded.

“I know.” Laurie replied simply.

Chris just shrugged and continued eating; he drank the last glass of orange juice. When they were both finished, Laurie took their plates and cups and placed them in the sink.

“Thank you.” Chris and JC told her in unison.

“No problem boys, you come back here for lunch okay?” Laurie told them.

They nodded and opened the glass knob from the kitchen and into the icicle lobby, which was the main lobby where they were first arrived. Chris and JC saw Sparkle and Elvin talking to some of the elves, one of them needed help with a dollhouse, and they were trying to fix it together.

The elves saw that they were coming and greeted them, “Hey guys, enjoyed your breakfast with Laurie?” Sparkle said.

“It was good, thanks.” Chris asked.

“You guys wanna take a tour of this place? There is so much more to see before Christmas Eve.”

“Sure, we’d love to.” JC replied. “But before we continue, is it okay if we ask you something?”

The elves nodded and listened to what they wanted to say.

JC spoke, “We were talking to Laurie and she said that the guys are looking for us, is that true?”

Sparkle looked at them and said, “Yes, they are, but they aren’t coming today.”

“Well, can we at least them know that we are okay, they must be so worried about us.” Chris explained.

“We can’t do that, they have to find you guys without us telling them, they have to know, don’t worry, everything’s gonna be fine, all you have to do is believe.” Sparkle explained.

“It’s what makes this place so magical, a lot of people don’t see it, or it’s that, they don’t want to see it, as a child, it lives in them, when they grow up, they forget about this place and they move on with their lives.” Elvin continued.

“I believe in you guys.” Chris said quietly.

“I know you guys do, but your friends have to find the magic in them, and then they’ll find you.”

“But when?” JC sighed.

“Soon.” Sparkle told them, “Now, do you guys want to see the tour or not?”

They both nodded and followed the elves so they can show them the tour of this magical Christmas place.

“But I don’t want you guys to worry okay, Christmas is not about worrying about anything, and I understand that you guys are worried about your friends and family, and they are worried about you, besides Christmas Eve is two days away, a lot of things can happen by then.” Sparkle explained.

Chris and JC agreed and the elves led them to a place that read “Stables”.

“Stables?” Chris asked, “Do you have horses?” He laughed at his joke.

Sparkle chuckled, “No it’s for reindeer.”

“Reindeer?”

“Yes, reindeer, and no you haven’t seen a reindeer fly, but today is the day you are going to see them.” Sparkle told them excitedly.

They were led to a long mahogany hallway, clearly polished with wood, the side were covered with hay, and stalls had the names of the reindeer on it.

“See, this is Dasher, Dancer, Prancer and Vixen.”

“Seriously?” Chris asked in shock.

They looked just like ordinary deer, but they were much bigger, and had red and green scarves tied around the neck, and bells. The scarves had their names on them, a nice touch.

“Comet, Cupid, Donner, and Blitzen.” Elvin continued.

“And this little guy here, is Rudolph, he’s the youngest.”

“Does his nose really glow?” JC responded looking at the deer in amazement.

“Yep, we have to take him out now for his training, then he’ll be able to fly with the others.” Sparkle explained.

Elvin took him out of the stable, Rudolph looked at them intently, and Chris wanted to pet him, so he gently placed his hand on his head.

“Aww, he seems sweet.” Chris told them.

“Yeah, he’s very nice, he loves to eat fruit, that’s his favorite snack, and they are a couple of snacks over there if you would like to feed him.” Elvin explained.

JC got some slices of apples that were on the tray, and handed them to Rudolph, the deer munched happily.

Shortly after, they all headed outside, which seemed even more beautiful than the inside; there were pine trees and snow all around, an obstacle course, and an ice fountain.

“Wow.” JC gasped.

“This is so beautiful.” Chris asked in amazement.

Just then, Sparkle let Rudolph loose, and the deer, started to run and then it started to fly, right before their very eyes.

Chris and JC couldn’t believe this; they stared at a reindeer, who indeed was flying around and around the course.

Sparkle had two glowsticks in her hand, it told the reindeer where to go, and how fast to fly.

“He’s just an amateur, but he’s doing pretty well this week then the last week.” Elvin explained.

“Land!” Sparkle commanded.

Rudolph galloped over them and gently landed on a snowy clearing, his nose shone brightly.

Chris and JC just looked at everything in amazement, this was something incredible, and they wished that their friends and families could’ve experienced something like this,  like Sparkle said, this was only the beginning.

“Justin, it’s cold.”  Lance said tying his scarf around his neck for what it seemed like the hundredth time. It was already mid-afternoon, and Chris and JC still weren’t found, the scent dogs did pick up a location somewhere down the road, but then they lost track of them. The guys tried calling their cell phones again to see if they listened to any sort of ringtone, but nothing.

Justin sighed and stared at the long and winding road, and the whistling trees, nothing but trees all around, no tire tracks, no shoeprints, no nothing.

“Maybe we are on the wrong side.” Joey told him, who was looking at the officers and their scent dogs near the woods, it was starting to snow again, but very lightly.

Just then Justin received a text message from his mom Lynn saying that she has just arrived at Joey’s house.

“Guys, my mom just got here, we have to go.” Justin replied.

Joey let out a whistle to the officers saying that they were going to leave, the officers were going to remain there until nightfall, if nothing was found, they were going to search again tomorrow.

“I can’t believe that we actually saw a reindeer fly.” Chris said in amazement, he was too busy drinking some hot cocoa that the elves have given him and JC.

I know, a lot of people aren’t going to believe this.” JC chuckled blowing the steam off the cocoa.

“This is where we bake all sorts of goodies.” Sparkle explained.

It had the same icicle features, but there was always something different, this room had candy canes hanging from the ceiling, there were cakes and cookies everywhere, and it smelled so good.

“Yum.” Chris beamed as he looked upon the endless catering of snacks, he really did feel like a kid in the candy store.

“All of these are for the Christmas eve party before Santa flies out and delivers all of the presents to the good little boys and girls.” Elvin told them.

“Santa actually delivers the gifts?” JC asked confused.

“Well, if you believe in the spirit of Christmas, then yes, other times everyone else goes shopping cause they are so busy buying that people just forget about the true meaning of it all.”  Sparkle explained.

JC thought about that for a moment, that was kinda true, some people did forget about the true meaning of Christmas, they just start buying and spending, and they don’t even know what Christmas is about, it’s a time where get together as a family, or sometimes even really good friends get together and enjoy this holiday season, he suddenly felt pretty guilty about buying gifts to all his loved ones, and as if Sparkle was reading his thoughts.

“You don’t have to feel guilty JC, its okay if you bought things for your loved ones, you still are gonna get a special gift from us.”

“We are on the nice list?” Chris said excitedly.

“Yes, all of you are, I know that you are all very devoted to your friends and family, so all you have to do is wait until Christmas day.”

“We are going to see them soon right?” JC asked, a hint of sadness in his voice, he was looking forward to seeing them again, it wasn’t that he wasn’t enjoying this Christmas fantasy that he and Chris were having, it’s just that he really missed them.

“You will, soon, I promise.” Sparkle said with a smile.

Meanwhile at Joey’s house

“Hey mom.” Justin greeted as he entered the door.

“Hello sweetie!” Lynn came running to him and started hugging and kissing him all over.

“Mom.” He said with annoyed tone, he caught Chris’s mom Beverly with a worried look on her face, his heart sank, what could he tell her?”

“Hi Beverly.” Justin spoke to her softly.

“Hi Justin.” She then waved at Joey and Lance who entered the door as well.

“Lance honey, your mom is coming tomorrow morning and as for JC’s parents, they are coming tonight.” Lynn told them.

Lance nodded, he sat down on the sofa and sighed, he saw Chris’s four sisters, playing a board game, and they all had solemn expressions on their faces.

Lance hoped that Christmas wasn’t gonna end up like this. He tried to cheer things up, “Hey mind if I joined you girls?”

“Sure.” Taylor, Chris’s youngest replied, she got another chair for him and Lance sat down to join them in their game.

After countless hours of searching, Chris and JC weren’t found; they decided to search the following day before Christmas Eve. It was now nightfall, and JC’s parents had just arrived, they were just settling in their guest rooms. Tyler, JC’s brother was unpacking his things, while Heather, his sister, was watching a Christmas movie on TV. Joey’s parents went out to do the some food shopping, it was just Beverly, Chris’s sisters, Joey, Lance, Justin and Lynn.

Justin was feeling kinda bummed and said he was tired, he excused himself and headed to the guest room, he turned on the radio and one of their Christmas songs were playing, it was “All I Want is You this Christmas.”

Justin couldn’t help but get all teary, he didn’t care if he recieved any gifts this year, well at first he did, but now that he was worried sick about Chris and JC, he didn’t care about any gifts, he just had to find out if they were okay, something should come up, he couldn’t bare the fact that something horrible had happened to them, he tried not to think the worst, but after  two almost three days of not calling or any sort of communication, he was slowly going insane, he started to cry until he cried himself to sleep.

At the cabin

“Thank you for the pajamas, these are nice.” Chris looked at the pine green silk pajamas, they sure looked comfy, and it had his initials on it. JC, on the other hand, had red silk pajamas, also with his initials on it.

They each also had their own set of slippers. “I don’t even know how to thank you for your hospitality.” JC said.

“You don’t have to thank us really.” Sparkle told him, “Your rooms are just down the hall, its almost Christmas Eve and we have lots to do before the big delivery.

“So get some sleep.” Elvin responded.

“The guys said goodnight to them and slipped under the covers, it was one huge room, that accompanied two beds, both decorated very Christmasy.

“This is real nice, much better than all those hotels we stayed at.” Chris chuckled.

“Right?” JC laughed.

“Make sure you don’t sleep walk like the last time.” Chris joked.

“I was not sleep walking.”

“Yes you were, you scared the crap outta me, and remember the time that Joey farted on the bed?”  Chris started laughing hysterically.

“Joey is always farting, speaking of Joey, I miss him.”

“I miss him too, I miss all of the guys, and my family, I hope we see them soon, we can’t get out of here without our car, when are we getting our car back anyway?” Chris wondered.

JC shrugged, “Beats me, but I hope we get it back, they must be so worried, they probably have the police searching for us.”

“You got that right, I hope this isn’t like a worldwide media search, cause then we are screwed.” Chris replied.

“I’m not in the mood to talk to anyone right now, I just wanna know how the heck we are gonna explain this when we do get out of here.” JC explained.

“We’ll tell them the truth.”

“Chris, I don’t think its not that simple, you really think people are gonna believe that we have been stuck in Santa’s igloo for two days or more?”

“It’s not an igloo JC, it’s a cabin.” Chris corrected.

“Whatever it is, but you know what I mean.” JC just sighed and plopped his head on the pillow, “I’m too grouchy to think of anything right now, so tomorrow we’ll talk.”

Chris just nodded and said goodnight to him, they slept and waited until morning.

The next morning

Chris awoke up first, there was already breakfast waiting for him, he looked over to JC who was sleeping across from him, he too had breakfast waiting for him, there was also two notes that occupied the meal. Chris read his, it read: “Good morning, here are your favorites, hope you enjoy, compliments from Laurie.”

Chris smiled to himself, and put the note into the pocket of his jeans that was sitting on a chair. He headed to the bathroom and did his business, when he was done; he started to enjoy the breakfast, and he was getting kind of bored, so he wanted to have a little fun, so he tossed a pillow over at JC, it landed smack right on JC’s face.

“What the?” He mumbled.

“Rise and shine sleepyhead, breakfast is ready, eat up before it gets cold.” Chris smirked.

JC just glared at Chris, he hated waking up when he still felt sleepy, but the breakfast that he had in front of them looked pretty appetizing.

JC just started eating and got himself comfortable.

“Aren’t you gonna brush your teeth first?” Chris said making a face.

JC just shrugged and said, “I will later.”

Chris just looked at him for a bit but continued eating, after finishing up their breakfasts and getting dressed and everything, they headed out of the room, it was quiet, but Chris could hear chattering from the hallway.

“We should go exploring.” Chris told JC.

“Exploring where?”

“You know exploring?” Chris looked around to see if there were any elves around.

“But what if we’ll get in trouble?” JC wondered.

“JC, must you be so chicken?”

“I’m not a chicken.” JC said.

Chris just laughed but motioned him to follow him, the two of them headed down the hall where they never went before; hopefully they’ll be able to find their way back.

Joey added a cup of sugar to his coffee, it was morning, and he didn’t get much sleep last night, he took a look at Justin and Lance, who were sitting on the table, both of them with solemn expressions on their faces, they were both eating a bowl of cereal. Joey took a glance at Justin, who was playing with his cereal, which never occurs to him, cause he always ate his cereal, and would be cranky for the rest of the day if he didn’t eat any. Joey just sighed and helped himself with some breakfast and joined them.

Lynn, shortly came downstairs afterwards and greeted the boys, a small smile across her face. “Morning boys.” She greeted, the guys greeted her back, and she looked over at Justin, and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be in the living room if you wanna talk okay?

Justin nodded slowly and continued playing with his cereal.

Lynn proceeded to the living room to join the others.

“My parents are coming today.” Lance said breaking the silence between them.

Joey and Justin both nodded but didn’t say anything, but Lance continued speaking.

“You know guys, I know this is hard, this is hard for all of us, tomorrow is Christmas Eve, maybe if we keep thinking positive, something miraculous might happen.”

“Lance.” Justin scoffed, “Do you really think that something wonderful is gonna happen tomorrow? What the heck is wrong with you?”

“Justin I’m just saying-

“You aren’t saying nothing, we are never gonna see them again, our careers are over, over!” Justin shouted.

“Don’t say that!” Joey told him.

“Don’t say what Joey, it’s the truth, we are done, and our Christmas is ruined!” Justin sobbed.

The parents in the other room heard the shouts and walked in, Lynn saw how stressed he looked.

“Justin sweetie.” She continued.

“Leave me alone mom, just leave me alone!” Justin shouted and stood up from the chair, grabbed his jacket that was hanging by the door, and opened the back door to head out.

“Justin, where are you going?” Lance told him, running behind him.

“I’m taking a walk, leave me alone.” He muttered angrily, he slammed the door behind him, a photo frame fell down, it was a photo of the five of them of Christmas last year, Lance bent down to pick it up, they all looked so happy, they were all in Orlando, Lance remembered that it was a huge party with their friends and family, and he hoped that he would relive that again.

“JC, take a look at this.” Chris was standing in front of a sign that read the directions of which rooms were where. One room in particular caught his eye, it read “Fix-it-room.”

“What like the fix-it shop from Sesame Street?” JC chuckled.

“Maybe, no but do you think our car is in here?”

“We can go check if you want to.”

Chris read the room number and realized that it was on another floor, searching for an elevator, he found one that was just right down the hall, pressing the red button, the mahogany doors swung open, inside, it was made of ice, and a plush red and green carpet.

“Nice interior.” JC said looking around the elevator.

Chris pressed the button to the “Fix-It-Room.” After a few minutes in the elevator, it arrived at their destination, the doors opened and it led to an even bigger room, this room, wasn’t made of ice, it was made of wood, a deep rich mahogany color, there were pieces of wood everywhere, metal, and all sorts of machinery. They saw some elves, but these were much older than the ones they’ve seen, they looked like they must’ve been in high school or something.

“May I help you?” A voice spoke up from behind them.

An elf, a tall red haired girl, with freckles, she wore glasses, she also wore the same red and green outfit as the rest of the elves were wearing.

“Uh, yes, um I don’t if you know us or not but we are looking for our car, maybe it’s in here?”

The elf looked at them confused at first but then she realized what they were talking about, “Oh! I know who you guys are, Chris and JC right? Yeah Sparkle and Elvin told me about you, your car is almost ready, let me take you to it.” She smiled warmly at them.

JC looked at her surprised that she even knew who they were, even if she really was an elf.

“I’m Pepper by the way.” She said, and this is where the older elves stay at, the younger elves aren’t allowed here cause of the machinery and such, it’s too dangerous for them.”

“So you actually fix stuff?” Chris asked looking around the room.

“Oh yes, we fix everything from cars to sleighs.”

“But our car wasn’t broken or anything.” JC told her.

“No, it wasn’t, but it did have an electrical problem though, so we just brought it here.”

“And how exactly did you bring it here?” Chris wondered.

“We transported it.” Pepper replied simply.

“Transported it how?”

“By magic.” She said.

Chris and JC just shrugged at eachother and followed her to where the car us, shortly after, they did see the car, there it was with a whole bunch of other elves around it, they were cleaning it, waxing it, putting air on the tires, hood open, trunk open, they were talking excitedly amongst themselves.

“There it is, it’s almost done, you’ll be able to take it tomorrow night.” Pepper explained.

“Tomorrow night?” JC said.

“Yes, tomorrow night, you guys are going home, but your friends are gonna find you here first.”

“How are they gonna find us? We are in the middle of the freakin woods.” Chris muttered.

“They’ll find you.” Pepper repeated.

Chris was confused, but he rather just keep his mouth shut and wait until tomorrow.

JC, on the other hand, was looking forward to go home and see his family and friends again; this has been a remarkable experience that he may not easily forget.

“So, mind if you tell me what was wrong with the car?” JC continued.

“Oh yeah sure.” Pepper walked to the car and explained the cause of the problem, “Your electrical circuit shorted out, which is why the car stalled in the first place, and wouldn’t turn on or anything, but all is fixed now.”

JC was impressed how much she knew about cars, let alone, she probably knew a lot of things, after all, this place was a magical place.

Chris was looking at another elf, a tall stocky one; he was under the car, fixing something. “Hey.” He greeted, and was covered with oil and grease on his face.

“This is Toby.” Pepper introduced him to the guys. “He does the wiring on cars like these.”

Toby told them the problem and where he hooked up the wires just so they know.

“Thank you for your help.” JC told both Pepper and Toby.

“Yes thank you.” Chris repeated.

“No problem, it’s what we are here for.” Pepper told him.

“Yes, tomorrow night, your car would be parked exactly where it was found.” Toby explained.

Chris and JC both nodded and wondered how all of this would work, but since they were elves, they must’ve known what they were doing, even if this all was a fantasy they were in.

Justin was seated on a bench, in a nearby park, they were a few people around, but they could care less that he was, he was staring at the frozen pond in front of him, and no ducks, no birds or nothing, it was too cold for them anyway. He knew that the police were still looking for Chris and JC somewhere around here, but he was starting to lose faith, and thought to himself if his best friends would ever be found. He also knew that the search was gonna be cut short, and they won’t be able to search for Christmas Eve, and at least the media didn’t know what was going on, and Justin wanted it to keep it that way, not even Johnny knew that Chris and JC were missing for these three days, this was a scary thing to think about, and didn’t want the fans to know anything yet, he hated to see the worried looks on the fans faces, he couldn’t destroy their holiday fun.

He has been sitting down at the park for almost an hour, the park around him were surrounded by woods, he had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, and wondered if the police are searching in these parts of the woods, but what if he went into those woods and what if he’ll get lost, he didn’t wanna risk taking that chance, especially now that Christmas Eve was just around the corner.

Getting up from the bench, he decided to head back to Joey’s house before he caught pneumonia or something, he took a look at the woods again, that strange feeling remaining in his stomach, he shrugged it off and walked back to the house, which was just a short distance to from the park.

“Pass the salt Lance.” Joey told him, he was making some potatoes for lunch.

Lance passed the salt to him, and just then, the back door flew open, Justin who was nipped from the cold.

“Justin!” Joey and Lance cried in unison.

His mom heard the door and she came running to him, “Justin, do you know how cold it is outside? Do you want to sick before Christmas? What was going through your head, you know that whatever its bothering you, you can tell me about it, you don’t have to run off from your problems.” Lynn argued.

“Well, gee mom; you should already know what my problem is.” Justin snapped.

“Don’t you get an attitude with me, all I’m doing is trying to look out for you.”

Justin just scoffed and headed upstairs to his room.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Joey called out to him.

He didn’t get an answer, he just heard the door slam shut behind something.

This time, it was Joey that was starting to lose his patience, he placed the pans down the counter and headed upstairs to Justin’s guest room. He didn’t bother to knock, and just let himself in.

He saw Justin staring out the window, his expression hard, like he was thinking about something.

“Joey, how many times have I told to knock before entering?”

“Oh I’m sorry, I must’ve lost my manners.” Joey replied in a sarcastic tone.

Justin stayed quiet for a moment and turned his direction back to the window.

“Justin, you know you weren’t supposed to speak to your mom like that, its almost Christmas, it’s a time of-

“Perpetual hope and forgiveness Joey I know.” Justin continued the sentence for him.

“Why are you so angry? I know you are worried about the guys, but what Lance told you before that tomorrow is Christmas Eve, anything can happen, maybe the cops would find them, maybe-

“Yeah Joey, maybe they will, maybe they won’t.” Justin muttered.

Joey remained quiet for a bit.

“You know?” Justin said, “When I was at the park near the pond, you know the woods that are across from it?”

“Yeah?” Joey replied, taking a seat on the bed.

“I had a strange feeling all of sudden, like something was telling me to go there, isn’t that weird?”

“Have the cops checked that side?” Joey asked him.

“I don’t know, maybe they did, but-

“Do you think Chris and JC are there?” Joey said

“Maybe.” Justin hesitated. “But we can’t go ourselves, cause we don’t wanna get lost either.”

“Yeah you’re right, maybe we can go check this afternoon?” Justin beamed.

“I heard that we were getting a blizzard warning again.” Joey replied, a hint of sadness in his voice. “It was supposed to last all day until tomorrow morning or something.

“Seriously?” Justin let out an aggravated sigh.

“That’s what the weatherman said.”

“But what if he’s wrong, tell you what Joey, we are going to those woods, in fact, we should go right now, before the snow comes, no blizzard is gonna stop me.” Justin argued.

Chris and JC were just finishing up their lunch at the lunchroom, Toby and Pepper showed them where the lunchroom was, of course, Laurie was their usual chef, she was busy slicing up some carrots and placing them in a pot of soup.

“Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, I am so excited!” She smiled.

“Is there gonna be a Christmas Eve party?” Chris asked.

“Oh yes, lots of festivities, we are just about done, Santa’s sleigh is almost packed with gifts, the naughty and nice list is checked, twice that is.” She gave a wink to Chris and JC.

“Yeah I also heard that we were going home tomorrow or someone is gonna find us.” JC told her.

“Yes they are, they can either come tomorrow morning or the evening, we have a blizzard coming up, but a lot of things can happen.”

“But if we have a blizzard, how can they find us?” Chris asked.

“Oh they will.”

Chris turned to JC and said, “Maybe they will find us Jace, and we can go home to see our friends and families, maybe they’ll get a slow plow or something.”

“Yeah maybe.” JC said, taking a sip of water from the cup he was drinking.

After they helped Laurie clean up, she led them out of the lunchroom, in fact the whole room was divided into three parts, the breakfast room, the lunchroom, and the dinner room. JC liked how organized this was, and sometimes she had some help from the elves to do her cooking.

“Thanks Laurie.” JC told her.

“Yeah thanks.”

“Anytime sweetums, you come back here for dinner now you hear?” Laurie told them.

“Will do.” The guys nodded and walked out of the lunchroom and ran into Sparkle, who had a bunch of ribbons in her hand.

“Oh I’m sorry; I didn’t see where I was going.” She chuckled.

“Where are you going with those ribbons?” Chris asked.

“To the wrapping room of course, come on, come help me.” Sparkle said excitedly.

Chris and JC just shrugged and followed her, she led a narrow hallway and into a large room, nearly as big as a gym, she opened the door and they both knew why it was called “The Ribbon Room.” Chris and JC thought they had seen it all, but this room was covered with tinsel, ribbons, wrapping paper, and toys, a lot of toys, and gift boxes.

“Here hold this.” Sparkle gave them the ribbons that she was holding, and she went to go to this huge gift box, a name tag was hanging on it, Chris looked at the name tag, it read “Sally, Merry Christmas.”

“Who’s Sally?” Chris asked Sparkle.

“Sally is a three year old girl who wants an oversized teddy bear; she’s staying with her grandmother, and she doesn’t have anyone else to play with.” Sparkle explained.

Just then, a huge plush white teddy bear was being dropped into the box, along with a few other stuffed animals, a giraffe, a panda, and a tiger, and a unicorn.

“She’s gonna love it.” JC said, his voice just above a whisper.

“Yes she is.” Sparkle responded with a happy sigh.

Elvin made his way into the room, carrying some small boxes in his hand, “You wanted these?” He told Sparkle.

Sparkled beamed with joy and said “Yes.” She motioned him to help her out with the rest of the wrapping, Chris and JC also helped out all through the rest of the afternoon.

Justin, Joey, and Lance were at the park near the woods, it was starting to snow, Lynn did not approve of this, and was kind of upset with her son, but Justin insisted on coming to the park to investigate, he couldn’t sit around and wait for the cops to do the work, he was tired of waiting for them, he decided to look for Chris and JC himself.

“Are you sure about this?” Lance told his younger friend.

“Sure, I’m sure.” Justin added.

He followed the narrow road into the woods, the snow was coming down hard by the minute, making it difficult to see, they left their truck parked at the parking lot of the park, and they couldn’t bring the truck here into this narrow path.

“We should go back Justin.” Joey said, buttoning his coat for the hundredth time, it was getting cold.

“Joey, we can’t, we’ve only been out here for half an hour.” Justin whined.

“But what if we catch hypothermia or something, and that would be far worse, don’t you think?” Joey snapped.

Justin remained silent for a moment, Joey was right, they can seriously ill out here, and he couldn’t risk that fact. “Ok Joey, we would just keep going a little further and if we don’t find anything, we’ll turn back okay?” Justin promised.

Joey nodded and turned to Lance, who had a scarf tied up covering his nose and mouth, who also agreed.

After a few minutes of walking into the woods, Justin spotted something, it looked like a house, or a cabin of some sort, but he was looking at the back of it.

“Guys look.” Justin said excitedly and pointed to the cabin.

“Do you think Chris and JC are in there?” Joey added.

“I hope so.”

“But I don’t see their car.” Lance continued.

“Maybe it’s parked somewhere else?” Justin said with a shrug.

“Maybe.” Lance replied.

Justin, Lance, and Joey ran towards the cabin, there boots sinking into the snow with every step they took, they peered into the foggy window, and they didn’t see a back door, so they went around to the front. They knocked at first, no answer, Justin twisted the knob and the door opened with a slight creak. Stepping inside, the guys were revealed by sudden warmth and comfort, a small Christmas tree stood at the corner.

“H-Hello?” Justin stammered.

“Anyone home?” Joey called out.

“Do you know that we are entering on someone else’s property?” Lance whispered.

“Well this is an emergency.” Justin told him back.

They looked around the small cabin, a sofa, a refrigerator, linen closets, a bathroom, and a bedroom that had two small beds.

“Do you think Chris and JC stayed here or something?” Joey replied.

“Maybe they did, but if they stayed here then where are they now?” Justin wondered.

“You know, before we start talking, we should call our parents so they won’t worry about us.” Lance added.

“Good idea.”

All three of them pulled out their cell phones and dialed their designated numbers, but little did they realize that their phones didn’t get any signal at all.

“That’s weird.” Justin said.

“Yeah, no signal, no bars at all.” Joey went to the window to see if  his cell phone got any signal, no luck.”

Lance looked at the both of them and said. “Hey, do you think they came here and they tried calling us from here and maybe that is why nothing got through?”

“I see your point, maybe they have been here, and maybe they parked their car somewhere near these woods, and maybe they left back or-Justin stopped for a moment and started to think.

“But what if something horrible happened to them.” Justin continued.

“No, that’s impossible, this cabin doesn’t look menacing.” Lance said looking around.

“Maybe they don’t want it look menacing, maybe it’s a trap to lure us here, and what if some maniac comes back and starts-

“Justin!” Joey and Lance cried out in unison.

“Don’t even joke about something like that!” Joey argued.

“Yeah, maybe a nice old lady lives here, not some serial killer.” Lance added.

“You’re right I’m sorry, I let my imagination run wild again.” Justin laughed nervously and sat down on the couch.

“Well, then what are we gonna do?” Lance said, taking a seat next to him.

“I don’t know, we can’t go anywhere, look at the snow outside.” Joey responded.

They remained silent for a moment until Lance spoke up.

“You do know that our parents are going to wonder where we are right?”

“Oh you got that right.” Justin said.

December 24th, 2000

Sparkle and Elvin were waiting for Justin, Lance, and Joey to wake up from their slumber; they had eventually fallen asleep at the cabin, they weren’t aware that they were being watched by the two elves that were in the room. Just then, Joey started to stir on the couch he was sleeping on, he yawned and rubbed his eyes and looked around the room.

“Oh man.” Joey grumbled, “What time is it?” He glanced at his watch and saw that it was about nine in the morning. He tapped Lance who was still asleep across from him, “hey Lance, wake up.” He stopped when he saw two figures in the kitchen area, he looked at them intently, it was a boy and a girl, and they were dressed in holiday colors, and they had Christmas hats with little bells on them.

“Hi Joey!” Sparkle said with a wave.

Joey just stared at them dumbfounded, “Uh..guys? Guys! Wake up!” He said a little louder this time.

Justin shot up from the other small sofa, “What Joey!”

“We have company.” Joey added.

Justin and Lance gave him a weird look and looked to the direction to where Joey was staring.

“Who are you?” Justin blurted.

“Elves, I’m Sparkle and this is Elvin, and we have so much to tell you, and I know that you probably don’t believe us, but you have to believe us, tonight is Christmas Eve and you have to come to the Christmas Eve party and hang out with us, that way you’ll be able to go home and take Chris and JC with you.” Sparkle explained.

Justin let out a gasp, “You know where Chris and JC are?”

“Of course we know, they have been here ever since, come on, we’ll tell you on the way.”

Without even thinking, Sparkle took Justin by the hand and Elvin motioned them to follow.

“Where we going?” Lance wondered.

“You’ll see.” Sparkle grinned.

Justin, Lance and Joey followed Sparkle and Elvin; this was all happening so fast, everything else felt like a blur to them. When they reached the wooden door, Sparkle gently twisted the knob and it revealed a beautiful ice room, right in the middle of the room stood a huge evergreen Christmas tree. It looked ten times bigger than the tree at Rockefeller Center in New York City.

“Wow.” Justin gasped.

Joey and Lance just looked at everything in amazement, everything was beautiful, the room had tons of toys and trains going around, this was like a dream.

“Chris and JC are in that room right there, we’ll be back with you shortly in time for the party.” Sparkle told them.

Were Chris and JC really behind this door? The guys wondered, it marked “Gym room.

“Maybe the guys were working out for our next album.” Joey joked.

Justin shrugged and pushed open the double doors to the gym room, inside the room was also made of ice, and everything was decorated with balloons, and there was a long table with a lot of plates and cups, a bowl of fruit sat right in the middle.

The guys gasped when they saw Chris and JC helping an older woman setting the table.

“Chris! JC!” They cried out loud.

They turned around and gaped in shock, Justin couldn’t hold back the tears and they all went running towards eachother.

“Is it really you?!” He gave JC a big hug and Joey and everyone else starting hugging and crying.

“Have you been here all this time?” I thought something bad happened to you guys, and we were all so scared, your parents are worried sick.” Justin, Lance, and Joey they all started talking all at once, they all thought time has stopped, they hugged eachother one more time, they even forgot about the older woman that was watching them, a huge smile on her face.

“Oh well this is just lovely, I love the bond that you all have.” She gushed

“Sorry Maggie, um Justin, Lance and Joey, this is Maggie, the party planner.” Chris introduced them to her and they all exchanged hugs.

“You have a lot of explaining to do you know.” Joey said, pointing an accusing finger at Chris and JC.

“We will tell you everything, believe me, this was hard to believe at first, but once you see this place, then you’ll know.” JC explained.

“Its Santa’s Workshop!” Chris blurted out loud.

“Santa Claus, as in the guy with the beard?” Lance joked.

“Dude, he’s real, everything here is real, I mean, we haven’t seen him yet, but we his sleigh and all the toys and its like surreal, its just wow.” Chris rambled.

“Yeah as kids grow older, the spirit of Christmas leaves out of them, some are lucky and continue to believe in it, others, not so much.” JC continued.

“So how did you guys get here?” Justin asked.

“On the day we went shopping at the mall, the snowstorm hit, and we kinda got lost on the way back to Joey’s house, and our rental car broke down, which was just up the road right there, we tried calling you guys but we never got a signal, it was kinda of frightening at first cause I knew that you all were worried sick about us, then we saw a light in the woods, we followed the light and it led us here, we decided to stay for the night and wait until morning, but Sparkle and Elvin found us and brought us to this magical place.” JC explained.

“And our car is being fixed.” Chris added.

“So that’s what happened to you guys.” Lance told them.

“Yep, and we tried calling a gazillion times but there’s no phone service out here.” Chris responded.

Joey nodded and his stomach growled loudly, “Sorry guys, we haven’t had breakfast yet.”

“Well come on, follow me, let me take you to Laurie, she’s the one that does the cooking around here, you’ll love her.” JC added.

All five guys talked amongst themselves and were all arm in arm, they were indeed together again.

Christmas Eve party

Christmas music was playing in the background, all of the elves including, Sparkle, Elvin, Pepper and Toby were attending the party, Laurie and Maggie were also there, they were all at the gym sitting on the long table, each conversing excitedly, drinking hot cocoa, eating holiday cookies, and exchanging gifts, the members of *NSYNC were also enjoying the nice company, it was gonna be their last day at this magical place, and Justin, Lance, and Joey couldn’t believe that all of this actually existed.

“You guys will be able to go home tonight at midnight.” Sparkle said taking a sip of her cocoa.

“That is great to hear; you have such a wonderful friend to us, all of us, all of you.” JC told them.

“Yeah, this is like a fish out of water experience, never in my wildest dreams would I think of this happening.” Justin chuckled.

Sparkle smiled, “I just want a favor from you guys, if that’s okay.”

All the guys looked up from their plates and waited for her response.

“I want you to sing, Together Again.”

The guys just looked at her and then at eachother.

“We haven’t sung that song in three years.” Joey told her

“But, let’s see if we remember it.” Justin added.

Sparkle grinned and pointed to the small stage that was across from them, so they’ll be able to sing there, all five members rose up from their seat and headed to the small stage, which was decorated with stockings and snowflakes hanging from the ceiling.

Chris spoke into the microphone that was standing in front of him, “Ahem, ladies and germs, hi.”

Everyone in the room turned their attention towards the stage, voices turned into whispers.

“I hope you are all having a good time!” Chris continued, “Sparkle has informed us, that she wants us to perform a holiday song, and its called Together Again, honestly, we haven’t sang that song in maybe about three or four years, and so, as a gift for her, and for all of you in this room, we are gonna try our best in singing this, I hope you all like it.”

The members all huddled together and made a mental note to themselves.

“You guys ready?” Chris said.

They all nodded yes and went to their designated microphone stands, and they started to sing a rough acapella version.

How can I say that I love you
When you're so far away
So tell me why you had to go
Was it me, I need to know

What can I do to make you see
That I'm here, here for you
I really hope that you'll come home
So we can be together again

What can I do (what can I do)
To make you see (to make you see)
That I'm here (I'm here)
Here for you (I'm here for you)
I really hope (I really hope)
That you'll come home (that you'll come home)
So we can be (so we can be)
Together again (together again)

Ooh...together again
Ooh...together again

When they were finished, Laurie was wiping a tear from her eye, “That was so beautiful, I, you, you guys are amazing.” She then started applauding, and then everyone in the room started to give a loud applause, Sparkle and Elvin were giving out whistles and cheers, Pepper and Toby were throwing confetti , balloons starting floating around.

“You all have been wonderful crowd Merry Christmas Eve!” JC shouted into the microphone.

Just then, the large wooden doors from the gym room opened, and Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus  entered.

“I have just listened to the most beautiful sound in the world, and I know it had to come from you guys.” Mrs. Claus said.

This was actually the first time that the guys had actually seen Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus in all of the days they’ve been here.

“Thank you Mr. C and Mrs. C.” Lance added.

Chris started running towards them, “I am very honored to meet you, besides meeting the random guy at the mall who dresses like you.” He took his hand and shook it.

Santa laughed his trademark belly laugh, he was old and big, his cheeks were rosy, he was the real deal.

“I must be dreaming.” Justin added, pinching himself.

“No, you’re not.” Mrs. Claus replied cheerfully.

“You know, it’s almost time for me to go, you boys have to go home soon.” Santa told them.

The elves all rose up from their seats and started running around the room excitedly, and all headed to the room where Santa’s sleigh was, the guys followed them, when they arrived there the sleigh was set, the reindeers were tied to it, the giant red bag of toys was sitting in the back, everything was ready to go.

“Here’s your cocoa sir.” One of the youngest elves said, and handed him the warm mug of cocoa.

“Thank you.” He placed it inside the cup-holder, and he reached into his bag, and pulled out five boxes, neatly wrapped with ribbons and brightly colored paper.

“These are for you, Merry Christmas.” Santa smiled, handing them to all five members.

“No way.” Chris cried, grabbing the box.

“Way.” Joey chuckled.

“You take care of yourselves now okay?” Santa explained.

The guys all nodded excitedly and thanked him, they all watched him pull up, and the sleigh started to rise and float to the air, he waved goodbye to everyone in the room and blew a kiss to Mrs. Claus, who she returned the kiss back, and he headed into the nightsky.

“This is amazing.” Lance said, still looking up at the starry night sky.

Snapping away from his thoughts, Sparkle called out their names saying they had to go back home now. Elvin had brought their car out and they all headed inside.

“It feels great to be behind the wheel again.” JC said with a grin on his face.

Chris sat next to him, while Joey, Lance and Justin sat in the back, all of the elves were waving goodbye and thanking them, giving them hugs, it felt like a concert to them, only they weren’t being chased.

After giving their last goodbye to them, Sparkle handed JC the keys, she wiped a few tears from her eyes and whispered Merry Christmas and told the guys to continue to do what you all do best.” She whispered.

“We will.” Justin replied.

JC took the key and smiled, he put the key into the ignition, the car turned on and everything went white….

December 25th, 2000 Christmas Day

Justin blinked his eyes rapidly trying to make the white flash of light disappear, when he got his eyes to adjust, he wasn’t in the car anymore, in fact, he didn’t know where he was at first, but then he realized that he was on a bed, in a room, why did everything look so familiar? He looked around the room, his clothes, his bag, the clock on the wall read 6:45am. Frowning, he looked out the window, there was snow on the ground, after coming to his senses, he realized that he was at Joey’s rental house, in his guest room.

“How did I get back here, weren’t we just in the car a minute ago?” Justin thought, and he immediately thought of the guys, careful not to wake anyone up, he opened the door and headed down the carpeted hallway, all was quiet in the house, he decided to check out JC’s room first, since it was next door to his, he didn’t bother to knock, and he walked right in, he glanced over at JC’s bed, there he was, sleeping soundly, did he even knew what was going on? He needed to find out.

“JC.” He whispered.

JC didn’t stir, but he could hear him silently snoring, Justin realized there was no way in waking JC up at this moment, so he decided to let him sleep a little longer. After stepping out the room, he jumped up when Chris appeared behind him.

“Damn it Chris you scared me!” Justin said in hushed tone.

“Sorry.” He whispered back.

“What are you doing up?” Justin asked.

“It’s Christmas dummy.” Chris chuckled.

Justin was quiet for a moment then he said, “Yeah, but weren’t we you know, last night at that cabin?”

Chris nodded, “Yeah, that was another reason why I’m up, I’m just as confused as you.”

“So what does that mean, how did we get here?” Justin wondered.

“I-I don’t know, magic I guess?” Chris responded back.

Justin thought for a moment and told Chris that he was gonna excuse himself to go the bathroom, Chris was gonna go back to his room and gather his things, Joey and Lance also came out from their rooms, also with confused looks on their faces.

“We need to tell JC about this.” Chris muttered and headed to JC’s room.

“Hey sleeping beauty, wake up!” He shouted at the top of his lungs.

“CHRIS!” Joey whispered loudly, “Not so loud, it’s still early you know.”

Chris smirked and tried to wake JC up, the look that JC had on his face said it all.

“Chris, you better have a good reason to wake me up so damn early.” JC said through gritted teeth.

“We’re home JC.” He replied simply.

JC looked at him, then to the other guys that were in the room with him.

“Home, as in home, home?” He asked.

“Well, technically my guess is that we are in Joey’s rental house in upstate New York.” Chris continued.

“But if we are here, wait a second how did we get here, I drove last night, did I?” JC asked.

“The first minute we were in the car, the next minute we were here.” Justin told him.

“And its Christmas.” Chris said, looking out the window staring at the snowy sidewalk.

At that moment, Chris’s mom entered the room, “Merry Christmas boys! You are up early, come down to the kitchen and get some cocoa.”

“Mom?” Chris looked at her, to him, he hadn’t seen her in a few days, to her, it felt different.

Chris ran up to his mom and gave her a big hug, “Mom! I’m so happy to see you! Merry Christmas, I missed you so much!”

“Chris, what are you talking about, I saw you yesterday.” She asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, that you were all at a Christmas Eve party yesterday with some friends, and you came home super late last night.” Beverly explained.

“Mom, I wasn’t here yesterday, me and JC weren’t here, I went to the mall, and me and JC got lost and our car broke down, and we stayed at a cabin near the woods, and we couldn’t call home, and you were worried about us, and they were elves and Santa Claus and everything.” Chris rambled.

Beverly just looked at her son and to the rest of the guys. “Chris honey, you had a nightmare.”

“It was not a nightmare mom! We were missing, the police were searching for us, that’s what Justin, Lance, and Joey said, they came after us, then they were missing, and we were all in this magical place mom, you’ve got to believe us, we saw Santa and-and-

Beverly put a hand on Chris’s shoulder, “Honey, you were here yesterday, all of you were, and Lynn, Lance’s parents, JC’s parents, and Joey’s parents as well, okay? You just had a nightmare, I know you’ve always an overactive imagination, which is why you tend to have vivid dreams, now come downstairs and get some breakfast, then you can open your presents.” She gave him a tight hug and kissed him on the forehead.

After she left the room Chris whispered to the guys, “You guys remember don’t you, I am not going crazy?”

They all nodded.

 “We remember Chris, we remember everything that happened.” Lance said.

“Maybe we should just keep this to ourselves, maybe the elves did something.” Joey added.

“Yeah maybe.” Chris sighed. “But why?”

“Who knows, maybe they didn’t do this for the bad intentions, maybe they were doing this protect themselves or something.” Joey continued.

They all agreed that they were gonna keep this to themselves…

Meanwhile in the living room

Chris hugged his sisters for the millionth time, “Chris, you’re smothering me.” His youngest sister Molly said.

He let her go and they all continued to open presents and drinking their cocoa, this felt nice, everyone was happy, everything felt normal.

“Hey, there are more presents underneath here.” Karen, JC’s mom said.

Sure enough, they were five boxes underneath the tree, wrapped and covered with a bright red ribbon, the five boxes looked strangely familiar.

“These are for you guys.” Karen said, handing the five boxes to them, “It doesn’t say who its from though.”

Chris took his box and he looked at the other guys and he knew that they were wondering the same thing.

“We should open ours at the same time.” Joey added.

They all opened there’s and inside the boxes were red pajamas, which were the same pajamas that Chris and JC had when they were sleeping over at the cabin, and they all had their names on them.

“Wow, these are nice.” Justin added.

There were more things inside the box, five snow globes, JC remembered the snowglobe, it was the same snow globe he was looking at that was hanging on the tree back at that cabin. He looked at the snow globes, they all said “Believe.” But they each had a different Christmas character, a snowman, an elf, a santa, a Christmas tree, and a reindeer. JC also found something that was not inside the rest of the boxes, a letter; it was written in a very nice handwriting.

“Guys, look.” He whispered. They all huddled around him and started to read the letter silently:

“Dear *NSYNC, I hope you guys are not still confused, what you guys remember are true, it did happen, but what we did, needed to be done, in case you are wondering what is happening, and how you got there, let me explain. The car that you were on last night, has been slightly upgraded, just for that particular night, when you turned it on, the car went into a time warp, replacing the reality you knew, into an alternate reality, that is why your parents think that you were there with them all along, you were never reported missing, we decided to do this because if we left the reality the way it was, the authorities would never ever believe you, they would probably think you made all of this up, we didn’t want you to go into all that trouble, I hope you aren’t mad at us, but we figured it was for the best, nothing else changed, you are still the best pop act in the world right now, so you don’t have to worry about anything, and in case you would like to know where your car is, it is parked outside, along with the truck that Justin, Lance, and Joey left at the parking lot. I hope you like the presents we gave you, and another thing, if one day you pass by the woods again, the cabin, will not be there, you see? That cabin, is a magical cabin, it only appears for the Christmas season, then when Christmas is over, it disappears, so you guys were lucky that you actually experienced this whole magical place, and we were honored to have shared this with you, continue believing in the spirit of Christmas and you will get many great things in the future, we wish you all of the best of luck; Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

                               Your friends Sparkle, Elvin, Pepper, Toby, the elves, Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

                                                     P.S Thank you so much for singing to us, it means a lot.

By the time the members of *NSYNC finished reading the letter, they had tears in their eyes.

“What a beautiful letter this is.” Joey whispered, wiping a tear from his face.

“Yeah.” Chris said with a smile.

The parents saw that the guys were still huddled together, Lynn went up to them and asked them who the gift boxes were from?”

Justin quickly thought of something and told her that it was from a fan they met at a Christmas charity event in Florida, and the presents were really meaningful. Lynn understood and looked at the nice pajamas and the snow globes.

“These are really nice.” Lynn said, “you should put them on the mantle.”

Lynn took the snow globes and placed them on top the mantle along with some photos that were also there.

“And as for the pajamas, you should wear them, they look pretty festive.” Lynn continued.

The guys agreed and they headed back upstairs to their rooms to change, when JC entered his room, he placed the letter inside his notebook, that was in the dresser, he decided to keep it there for safe keeping. After the guys changed into their new pajamas, they all headed back downstairs.

They all complimented one another how nice they looked, especially the parents, after everyone finished opening their presents, the whole family just sat there conversing and enjoying the Christmas morning with one another. Chris, JC, Justin, Lance and Joey were forever grateful, even if this was an alternate reality, they were still loved by their parents, nothing else changed between them, of course, and they would never forget the magical Christmas experience they all had encountered, it had been a scary ride at first, but everything turned out good in the end. After all, grownups are grownups, and kids are kids, but even grownups should listen to their inner child every so often, they might learn something.