Laura heard it before she saw it, the rusty Ford pick up veering across the carriageway and screeching to a halt in front of her. The front bumper was barely millimeters from her leg, the driver’s wing mirror clipping the wheelie bin she’d balanced her rucksack on. With a grunt she lifted the rucksack and tossed it into the open back of the truck. The passenger door flung open ‘Hurry up’ shouted Amy from the driver's seat, ‘everyone’s waiting for us.’

Laura climbed into the cab. ‘Cheers, sis’ she said, ‘Merry Christmas.’

‘Merry Christmas indeed’ Amy looked over and frowned at her sister ‘Because nothing says Happy Holidays more than a 6am airport run.’ A trail of horns blasted as Amy threw the truck across three lanes of traffic to the exit ramp. ‘You look pale’ Amy said, passing a travel mug to her sister. Laura gulped down the hot bitter coffee. ‘So who is ‘everyone’ that’s waiting for us?’

‘The usual crowd, mum, dad, Aunty June, weird cousin Luke, his deadbeat girlfriend, Jimmy and Claire, Uncle Max -’

‘- Fuck, not Uncle Max? Thought he’d popped his clogs years ago.’

Amy shook her head, ‘Nope. Fit as a fiddle. Looks better than ever in fact.’

‘Jesus, he creeped me right out when I was little. You know I thought he was a vampire?’

Amy laughed ‘I know. You were terrified of him. Sobbed every time he came in the room.’

‘To be fair, he was strange.’ Laura suppressed a shudder. ‘I mean how many people do you know who wear a long black cape? And have a coffin in their spare room?’

‘You've always been a drama queen.’ Laura took the coffee from her sister and swigged a mouthful. ‘He was a magician. The cape was his costume. And it wasn't a coffin, it was one of those boxes for chopping women in half.’

‘Well you say that, but did you ever see him do magic? I never saw so much as a bunch of flowers pulled from a hat.’ Amy crossed her arms across her chest, fighting back the sense of dread she hadn’t felt since she’d last seen Uncle Max.

‘Maybe he’ll entertain us this trip?’ Amy raised an eyebrow, ‘Saw Aunty June in half maybe, or make grandma levitate? Or ... ‘ she stared at Laura before baring her teeth ‘perhaps he’ll feast on our blood?’ Amy let out a blood curdling scream, increased further by Laura thumping her sisters thigh.

It was a normal crazy family Christmas, and Laura managed to avoid Uncle Max for the first couple of days, busying herself helping mum with the cooking, and playing endless lego battles with her brothers twin boys. By the end of Boxing Day, people had started drifting back to their normal lives, and eventually Laura ended up face to face with Uncle Max, alone in the dining room.

He nodded gravely at her. ‘Laura, how nice to see you. I hear university is going very well.’

Laura nodded, unable to speak.

‘Medicine, I understand’ Uncle Max continued. ‘That must be very … useful … for someone such as yourself.’ He licked his lips, his tongue a livid red that made Laura shudder.

‘What choice did I have?’ she whispered.

Max reached out, and Laura recoiled as he brushed a finger against the small scar at the base of her neck. ‘You healed nicely’ he said, ‘No one would ever know.’