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Aura
I hadn’t realized I’d gone so far. I followed the tiny creature until I found myself in the woods. The ball of fluff was nearly frozen when I caught it. It tried to run away from me, thinking I was a predator, but the snow was too much even for it, and it couldn’t advance further. I took it in my hands and looked at its cute little face. It was the most adorable baby bunny I’d ever seen.
“Where is your mommy?” I asked, my teeth chattering. I could barely speak, not that the bunny could understand me. “How did you get so lost?” Then I looked around me and shook my head. “Now we’re both lost. But at least we have each other.”
A scarf would’ve been welcome. And a hat, and the tights that I’d left abandoned on the floor of the living room. I couldn’t feel my knees. I tucked the baby rabbit underneath my coat, close to my heart, and it latched onto me, happy it had found some warmth. By now, it knew I wasn’t going to hurt it. As I held it there with care, I looked around me, trying to make out the cabin in the distance. On a bright day, I would’ve been able to see it, but it was dark, the moon had hidden behind the clouds, and the snow wasn’t letting up.
“We have to move,” I said to the bunny. “And keep moving, or we’ll freeze to death.”
I started in the direction I thought would lead me to the cabin. I looked for my own footprints in the snow, but the wind and the snowfall had covered them. It was hard to see, and it was hard to walk. I tripped on something, regained my balance, then took a deep breath and instantly regretted it. It hurt to breathe. Heavy snowflakes clung to my hair, my eyebrows and eyelashes, and I was shaking so hard from the cold that I could barely stand upright. I tried to relax and will my body to adapt to the constantly dropping temperature, telling myself that it was fine, I hadn’t gone too far, and the cabin or the barn would soon come into view.
I started to lose feeling in my toes, but I pushed on. Against my chest, the baby bunny was warm and comfortable. If not for that, I would’ve been really pissed at myself right now that I’d been so irresponsible.
Soon enough, I saw something before me. It was tall and shadowy, but it was something, so I hurried toward it.
“Krampus!” I called.
I couldn’t distinguish any clear features, and I got closer and closer, until I literally walked into a tree. I would’ve laughed, had I not hurt my head pretty badly. I felt like crying, but if I did, my tears would turn into icicles, and that would definitely not improve my situation.
“Stupid,” I said to myself.
The tree was tall, with a thick trunk. I couldn’t believe I’d mistaken it for Krampus. Was he even looking for me? Did he know I was gone? I’d left him in the barn after he’d annoyed me with his silly pity party, and now I felt bad for having done that to him. I’d told him that I needed and wanted him, and my actions from earlier in the day had proven it. What else did he want me to say? Why couldn’t he just believe me?
I slid to the ground, using the tree as support. It somewhat protected me from the snow. I was so tired that I didn’t think I could take another step. I was going to rest here for a moment, then get up and find the cabin.
Thinking about Krampus, I felt differently now. I wasn’t annoyed anymore, and I could see I’d been wrong to not give him time to process my words and get used to the idea that I liked him just the way he was. I couldn’t blame him for not believing me. The townspeople had been so mean to him, and I’d grown up in that community. Surely, he thought the stories about him had influenced me.
And they had, to some extent. But then I met him and saw how kind and generous he was, and suddenly, those stories meant nothing at all. They were just silly things told my silly people who were afraid of the unknown. I wasn’t like that. I wasn’t afraid of the unknown, otherwise I wouldn’t have sent my blood to the Temple to be mated to a monster. I was glad it was Krampus.
No, it didn’t matter to me at all that he was big and covered in fur, that he had horns, and that he wasn’t handsome in the way a human would expect. What if he was handsome for his own species? He was the only survivor, so we would never know, but who cared? I didn’t. It had only been two days, and I already felt attached to him.
I loved spending time with him, talking to him, and I adored his cooking. I loved how gentle and careful he was with me, and that he wanted me to be warm and comfortable at all times. Well, except for that one time when he tied my hands to the bed, but I wasn’t going to hold that one exception against him. And the leather mask had pissed me off too, but maybe it hadn’t been too bad that he’d made me wear it. It forced me to slow down and let someone else take control.
I curled up, trying to preserve some heat. I could feel the baby bunny’s heart beating steadily next to mine, and I wondered if it was asleep. I was feeling beyond exhausted. I didn’t want to close my eyes, but I had to because the wind was too harsh.
“One more minute,” I whispered to myself. “I’ll rest my eyes for one minute, then I’m getting up.”
Never mind that I couldn’t feel anything below the waist. Somehow, I was going to make it.
I must have dozed off. I woke up with a start and tried to move my limbs, but nothing seemed to work. I checked on the bunny rabbit, and he was sleeping peacefully against my chest. That gave me hope. I struggled to push myself to my feet, but it was no use. I only managed to end up on my knees. My dress was soaked, and I couldn’t feel my nose, my lips, my ears... nothing. It was like... I knew I had a face, but I couldn’t feel it.
“Okay, I just need to rest a bit more. I’m weak, but I’ll feel stronger in a minute.”
I dozed off again, and this time, I was woken up by a noise. No, a voice. It sounded low and guttural, and when I opened my eyes, I saw a massive shadow standing over me.
“Krampus?” I whispered. Or tried to. In truth, I probably didn’t make a sound, and just called his name in my head.
I looked up, up, up... and was met with the sight of two incandescent eyes. They burned in the sheer darkness like the eyes of a beast.
Despite myself, I screamed.
Chapter Nineteen
Krampus
Her reaction to seeing me hurt me deeply. It was a miracle I’d found her, and it was all thanks to Frost and his sharp nose. But when I called her name, and she looked up at me and screamed, my heart shattered in my chest. I took a step back, then I saw her collapse on her side. I rushed to catch her. She was limp in my arms, and I realized she’d fainted. From the cold or as a result of seeing me... I didn’t know. I gathered her in my arms and motioned to Frost to lead the way. In this snowstorm, I couldn’t quite see the cabin myself.
What had she been thinking? I’d have expected her to take the road to town, not go behind the cabin and into the woods. I’d found her at the edge of the woods, sleeping with her back against a tree.
