Page 43 of Scary & Bright

“You got it, lady.” Starlight winked. “Good luck tonight. You look beautiful, and everything is going to be totally fine.”

And then, with a sassy flick of her yarn tail, she left, and I was alone in the green bedroom staring at myself in the full mirror beside the new closet. During this last moment alone in my room, I could feel my heart raging inside my chest and my pulse rushing in my ears. The girl I saw in the mirror felt almost like a stranger. Her eyes were bright, and her mouth curled up slightly at the corners. I hadn’t seen myself like this in ages. My appearance was often dragged down by my mental health or my self-deprecating attitude, but now? I felt good, and it was reflected in my face tenfold.

Before I slipped on my heels—I had selected a moderate pair from the closet, gold and strappy, but not so extravagant that I’d be unable to make the trek down the stairs—I felt inclined to pull the folded up piece of paper from my pants and carefully tuck it into the neckline of my dress. If I didn’t use it, it would be no big deal, but if I ended up needing it, I didn’t want to be caught without it. While it wasn’t an entire letter written out, it was enough of a stream of consciousness to keep my thoughts in order.

Finally, I had no more reason to stall. It was time to walk down to the conservatory and hope that there weren’t too many toys scattered along the path. As happy as I was with how I looked that evening, that didn’t necessarily mean I wanted to be seen by too many people, er, toys.

With a final deep breath, I moved to the door and opened it slowly. Even though it was evening, the reality of the South Pole meant that it was still light outside. Which was why I was surprised to see that the windows along the spiral balcony had been covered with sheer black curtains embroidered with stars to give the vague impression of nighttime. It was a thoughtful effort and immediately put a smile on my face. The lights on the huge Christmas tree were turned low, and Krampus had added little candles on some of the boughs, allowing the comforting flicker of candlelight to mingle with the nostalgic glow of the icicle lights. The entire castle was adorned with tiny details—just enough to tell me Krampus put genuine thought into this dinner, but not enough to make me feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed. Despite us only spending a short amount of time together so far, I was impressed by how quickly he had begun to truly know me.

As I reached the bottom of the wide and circling staircase, I could hear the faint sound of a piano tinkling in the distance, just a calm melody to cut the eerie silence of the castle. I followed Starlight’s directions and made my way around to the back of the tree, passing the door leading into the foyer, and the sound of the piano grew louder and louder with each step. The door to the conservatory was right where I thought it was, but now it was propped open, and as I caught a glimpse of my destination, I could feel my heart begin to gallop in my chest.

Just past the door, I saw candles on a table, the reflection of the tiny flames bouncing off the windows that made up every wall and even the ceiling. The piano music was undoubtedly coming from the conservatory, and I clutched my dress as I took the final steps into the space.

“Hi there,” Krampus’s familiar voice cooed as soon as I entered the room.

He rose to his feet in one smooth, fluid motion. He looked incredible. His long, dark hair was combed and brushed back perfectly between his horns, showing off that he’d cut the sides of his head down to a buzz cut, and it could have been the unusual light in the conservatory, but I was nearly certain he’d polished his horns as well. He was wearing a perfectly fitted suit without a tie, the top two buttons on his shirt unbuttoned. The look suited him—there was no way he would look like himself in a tie. His jacket was a fitting blood red, and it brought out the warmth in his yellow eyes.

“Hi, back,” I said with a smile from just inside the room.

I felt like a schoolgirl meeting her crush, like my breath was catching in my throat, and there was no way I was going to be able to not make a fool out of myself in his presence. Immediately, I felt unqualified to be at this dinner with him. He was… handsome and strong. He was sensitive and thoughtful, a testament to his incredible ability to rise above pain and difficulty, and I was… just Hollis, Holly, Nash. Life Ruiner Extraordinaire.

“You look like a dream.” He sighed, and a crooked smile appeared across his face, forcing my knees to go weak.

I felt my body freeze as he walked around the table to guide me to my seat. His hand flattened against the small of my back, and I could feel electricity flow through me from his touch.

I looked around the room to keep from swooning. The conservatory was beautiful. Massive plants sprawled around the room and climbed up the glass walls, the icy light from outside filtering in through the ceiling and between the leaves. If I wasn’t already aware of the magic in Krampus’s control, I would have wondered how he kept such impressive tropical greenery alive. He must have taken special care to warm the windows and keep the place appropriately lit during the dark months because leaves as large as dinner plates hung happily overhead, vining across the ceiling. Krampus had set up a rectangular table in the center of the room set with two plates across from one another, decorated in gold and rust colored accents. A baby grand piano was in the corner, half-disguised by greenery and playing softly on its own, providing the melody I’d heard.

“Thank you,” I said quietly as he pulled my seat out for me. “Everything looks amazing, honestly. You, especially.” As the words left my mouth, I couldn’t help but cringe slightly at myself. Apparently, it was next to impossible for me to be eloquent, even when the situation truly called for it.

“I just thought it would be nice to do something well, nice.” He sighed as he helped me scoot my chair into the table. “And I wanted to thank you for being you, I guess.” He continued to talk as he looped around the table back to his seat.

Silver lids covered each of our plates, and whatever was underneath smelled amazing. I knew Krampus was essentially able to manifest anything he may want or need, but it was obvious he’d gone above and beyond for this particular meal.

I fidgeted with my hair for a moment, pulling it over my opposite shoulder. Suddenly, everything felt impossible to say. All the plans I’d had to confront him about his collar or his plan to sacrifice himself felt too heavy to bring up, like I might ruin the moment. There was certainly no guarantee we would have too many more moments like this.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly as he situated himself at the other end of the table. “You seem nervous.”

“Not nervous, really,” I tried to explain, twirling a piece of my hair around my index finger. “Well, okay, maybe that’s the right word for it.”

“For what?” he asked as he pointed his own index finger at my glass, filling it with a deep red wine from out of thin air before pointing at his own and doing the same.

“For the realization that, maybe, I’m too invested in this?” I suggested, already feeling like I was unintentionally steering this night toward disaster with my own anxiety. I could feel the words I wanted to say on the tip of my tongue. We hadn’t even started eating yet, and I was already feeling like a volcano about to erupt. “Also, because I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

Krampus tilted his head to one side with confusion before lifting his own silver plate cover and gesturing for me to do the same. I could see him begin to tense up, but I admired him for doing his best to keep the night on track.

I lifted my cover as well and was more than impressed to see such an intricate, mouth-watering meal. There was beef wellington, sliced and set atop a carrot puree, roasted brussels sprouts with fresh grated parmesan cheese on top, and a beautifully creamy mushroom risotto. There was no way he’d had time to prepare all of this just while Starlight and I were upstairs—he had to have bent some magical rules to get such a miraculous display ready for us on such relatively short notice. Immediately, I felt stupid for bringing up such a heavy conversation before having the chance to dig in, but I hoped we could find a balance between talking and eating.

Because even though I definitely didn’t want to, we did need to talk.

I saw Krampus squint one of his eyes as if he were bracing against some invisible pain, and I knew right away he knew what I was referring to.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Thankfully, he kept it light rather than getting too intense with his own questions. He thoughtfully sliced a piece of his dinner and bit it off the fork with his teeth, signaling to me as well that it was okay to eat.

I sliced off a bit of my own wellington and felt my eyes roll back in my head for a moment as I popped it into my mouth. It was beyond delicious and rich, and it nearly melted in my mouth. The good news was that it would truly be difficult to get too upset or riled up while enjoying such a quality meal.

“I mean,” I started as I cut off another piece, “that I know there are consequences for you if you don’t do as your brother demands.” My eyes closed, unwilling to face his expression before I took a final deep breath and said what needed to be said. “I know about your collar.”

---