Holiday Tails

Chapter 3
Winter Cabin

Chapter Description: I can't think of a better title but, Zach and I go o a cabin fifteen days before Christmas to celebrate with Adler and a friend of hers from highschool.

"Brrr, how much further until we're there?" Zach asks between the chattering of his teeth in this cold snow; hands covered in gloves and under his armpits. His beaver tail is standing straight up, parallel with his back Despite being in more layers than me he's still cold. It goes to show how much he hates the cold.

"Not much further." A friend of Adler invited us to a winter cabin for a winter party fifteen days away from Christmas. Adler got a lift from her friend and Zach and I took our own ride to a parking lot. We've been taking a bit of a long hike to actually get to the cabin with the chilling winds blowing in our faces. The scenery is at least very admirably beautiful out in this snow ridden path.

"When we get there, I am so going to see if they have warm water and if I could get a hot drink to warm myself up."

"I think I'll join you in that. I just wish it wasn't so cold or that we weren't doing this at night." Our journey lasts us another ten or so minutes before we reach the cabin.

"Oh thank god we made it. I don't think I could have lasted any longer. My tail definitely needs to relax for a while. And I'm lucky my legs just went on autopilot because I'm not sure if I have feeling in them or not. "

"That's definitely not a good sign. Let's go in before anything bad happens." We both swiftly enter through the front door and are blasted with a wave of refreshing warm air.

"Well, it's about time y'all showed up, sugars." That definitely sounds like Adlers' friends' voice because Adler would never call us sugar. Across the room is a skinny hot bubblegum pink and lime green rabbit with crystal blue eyes that looks like she came from the 1990s through time travel. "Do be darlins' and close that door. Yer lettin' out the heat. Oh, and take off yer boots and coats and set 'em in that there closet." It takes us no time to get our boots and coats taken care of. "Oh my, where are my manners? I just started giving y'all orders without a proper greetin'. My name is Hazel. Adler is just freshenin' up. Why don't y'all take a seat and I'll make us all a hot drink?"

"She's hot." I catch Zach whispering that. Ever since I've known Zach, I've never seen him have a visible crush on someone or even let any words like that slip.

"Alright then, Casanova, let's sit."

"Y-yeah." He follows me over to a nearby couch where we wait for Hazel to bring out four mugs. She comes out with a serving tray with the mugs, whispering something to Adler.

"Thanks for the warm drinks. Are they just hot chocolate?"

"Close. Peppermint patties. Nothin' beats the refreshin' taste of one. I was outta schnapps so I used a touch'a peppermint vodka." I know I won't be able to handle more than a couple of these if I'm lucky because I'm a lightweight drinker. Our drinks go down smooth as they warm us up. This place looks fairly empty, devoid of decorations and such. After our drinks, Adler gets straight to the point.

"Alright, why don't we open our gifts? I'll get them."

"Me too, sugar." Throughout it's been kinda obvious, to me at least, that Zach definitely has a major crush on hazel. Both of them return with the presents, all neatly wrapped ( not including the sloppily wrapped ones Zach did ). "Let's hand 'em out. Now, don't y'all go openin' them until we are all ready." We both nod as we are handed our presents. Zach and I are both given a bigger looking one and a smaller one about the size of a gift card. They both giggle to themselves as they tell us to open the bigger ones first.

"Huh? I see someone was trying to be funny, calling me a big baby for not liking the cold." Zach shows off his box of size five Huggies Little Movers.

"That was not the intention, sugar. It is just a joke gift. No hard feelins' meant."

"Same with mine, right?" It's nowhere as embarrassing as a box of diapers but I was given a package of 2T-3T Huggies Pull-Ups training pants.

"Just another gag." As I take my eyes off Hazel and Adler I notice Zach start to drop his box, eyes transfixed on the floor.

"You okay, Zach?" He doesn't respond, so something is up. "I'll get my phone from my jacket and call for help. Something's not right."

"No need, Ulrich. Hazel and I planned for this." I start to freeze up as my body begins to feel like it's burning from the inside out. Burning like how I imagine swallowing molten metal feel like.

"What's... going... on...?"

"Don't you worry a pretty little hair on that head of yours, sugar. It'll be over any moment now." I start to close my eyes and my mind starts going all fuzzy, a loud static sound ringing in my ears.

"Ugh..." As I open my eyes I'm greeted to the site of a baby beaver in nothing but a diaper and plain red shirt slapping his tail on the floor, hands also slapping against it. My energy feels drained, so I just sit. It takes a moment to realize that I shouldn't be eye level with a baby when sitting. "What's goin' on? Eeek!" My voice definitely doesn't sound right at all. I sound almost like a baby myself.

"Hmm, Zach definitely took better to my mental regression than yer significant other." I turn my head to see two large figures nearby. "Maybe I shoulda givin' him an extra dose."

"Why did you do this to us?" They look down at me as I decide to check myself out. I'm only wearing a pair of blue training pants and a blue striped polo.

"Callin' in a favor for Adler, sugar. Yer parents wanted their little boys back. Zachs' parents just wanted their little Zach back. Now I just hafta regress yer brother." I try to stand up but I start to feel dizzy as I do, my mind going a little foggy. "I think it's kickin' in finally. No need to worry, this will all wear off the day after Christmas and you will go back to bein' an adult." Soon enough those words start to become nonsensical like they're from a foreign language as I walk over to Zach in toddler like wonder, staring at his tail...