“Siblings?” His face in awe or maybe shock was a better word for the storm raging in his mind. His time to think cut short by the thumbing pain comes back rushing to his forehead. Rolling over onto his back clutching his forehead as he screams out once again, one of the hooded figures bends down and picks him up like a bride being sweep off her feet. There was a hum coming from her, it was subtle, it was soft like an early morning bird and it seemed to make his pain dull. He takes the moment to dwell into his pain almost as if sulking in it. He catches a glimpse of the feet carrying him which caused him to stare as they were nothing like Krampus’; their feet were much like humans, much like his own, except for the dark charcoal physical look to them made it look as if their feet were covered in a mixture of snow slush and gunk. “Hey, little Kram, you alright?” she asks with a smile that mimics the devil himself; her shark like teeth shinning like pearls from the inner entrance room light above. The light angled in such away Elbert could only see the bottom half of her face.
Seeming to have calmed down once she set him down on his feet, “How you feeling?” she asks him once again this time removing the hoodie completely from her head, Krampus had called her a Belsnickel but she looked nothing like he did. No horns, no hooved feet, she tilts her head as he stares on before letting out a chuckle “what?” she asked soft but demandingly, “nothing” he responses while scratching the back of his head. “Hey Elbert, you alright” a chipper voice asked him from behind, he turns around scanning his field ow shocked when he looks down and sees Sherman “what the hell is going on?” he says to himself out loud. His nostrils begin to flair up, he smells something sweet in the air. His heart begins to race as he looks around for the scent before his nose settles on the creature before him. A gasp echoes around the room bouncing off the walls not far from an echo. The crunching of what sounded like twigs, no the snapping of candy canes.
He was almost out of it, completely unaware until the alarming ring of blood curtailing screams the iron taste caught on his tongue while shreds of meat were caught between his teeth. “what have you done!” St. Nick shouts with such fury that he charges at Elbert throwing him off the little elf “Oh my dear Sherman, what has that devil done to you” His red face, flushed with streams dripping down his face with each drop landing on the face of a frozen in time Sherman. Was he shocked or fearful was a question to be asked, but one Sherman would never be able to answer. The sadness buried beneath his anger, his bright red overalls covered in splattered crimson red “get the hell out!”, as he turns his head only so slightly that Elbert could see him cutting the side eye shocking him as he had never seen St. Nick so angry. St. Nick stands to his feet and gives a swift slash of his hand across the air send a pressure of force so great that it pushes Elbert and the Belsnickels back out onto the porch locking them out from re-entering.
The taste of copper still on his lips mixed with sugar and cane. His heavy breathing continues as the adrenaline rushes through his body until he feels a firm grip on his shoulder causing him to look up “Delmar!”, she says to no avail, the continuous thudding of his heart beating hard against his chest causing her to gently put two fingers up against his neck above his pulsing vein. A slight burst of light comes from her long black nails causing his heart pace to become steady. Getting up and walking down the steps Elbert quickly collapses into the snow on the ground, rolling over on his back into the snow “what the fuck is happening to me?”, “Well you’re taking being a Krampus better than the others did?” better than the others, he thought to himself but didn’t he say I was becoming a Belsnickel?. What could that even mean? He was stuck within the confusion of the riddle or was it straight forward…he couldn’t tell laying there looking up at the stars, the colors of the night sky vivid with color, a bright indigo with light glazes of purple spread about. The snow next to him puffs up and some lands on his face, “what are you looking at?” the yelling from St. Nick inside the house surprising was the only thing this whole night that didn’t disturb Elbert. He just laid there sighed, watching as his breath would take form in the cold winter air “See that..that right there is Perseus” he looks out the corner of his eye to a confused look on her face “The hero…” he further tries to explain to her, talking so much his voice begins to crack a little “he….never mind” the moment of silence between them was long and awkward. The continued distant and muffled shouting of St. Nick, it was chaotic in there but out here…out here it was bliss. “Hey what’s your name by the way?” he thought to ask, she paused “its Adale”, “you’re fairly young to be a Krampus? No?”, “following implies I came of my own will” a grunt comes from one of the other Belsnickels; he turns his head from looking inside the window. “Girl you choose just like we all did” his rugged voice and passive degrading tone made Adale stop talking. She pulls herself up from the snow and jumps to the roof of the house.
Elbert’s blood boils for Adale, he sits up and his eyes glow fury like volcano lava as he amps himself up to make a move the front door comes swinging open with Krampus standing in the door way. His features covered in the shadow thanks to the immense light behind him “come my children we shall descend to the southern land of ice”, “what….I can’t stay” Krampus only continues to walk forward passing by in leaving only the slight breeze to answer his question. He looks at all of his siblings staring out the window with suck sadness and such hatred before his eyes lock with St. Nick.
The air in the room stain with the scent of copper and cinnamon, the record player in the study room skips repeatedly Oh, the weather outside is frightful; the perversion of the words mixing with the crying and child like whining coming from the other room “Oh Nick, what are we going to do” Mrs. Claus ask St. Nick, he say nothing only merely grunts and continuing to stare out the window as Elbert and the Belsnickel get swallowed by the darkness following Krampus. “We ready ourselves for the hunt, dear” St. Nick says reaching behind the door and grabbing a silver and candy red Whitworths rifle from the mid-20th century its barrel glowed of pixie dust and Santa’s heart burned for payback.
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