Page 3

Knowing Krampus

KRAMPUS

T he human woman was acting weird.

She fidgeted by the door of the living room, and she looked terrified at the idea of stepping into the same room as him. She was the one who invited him in, so why was she still terrified? Had her invite not been genuine? If that was the case, then why would she have said it?

He frowned, studying her. The sun rays from the window illuminated her light brown skin, enhancing the warm tones even more.

A thick head of coils, darker than her skin tone by a couple shades, framed her head like a halo, coppery undertones glowing in the light.

Her big brown eyes were wide and alert, staying on him as if worried he would attack if she looked away for a second.

Was there no one else in the house? It wasn’t safe for her to be alone out here, so far from the rest of human society.

“ Do you live here alone?”

When she stiffened further, he realized that must have been the wrong question.

“ It’s not my house. I’m only visiting,” she quickly said. An answer, but also not.

He moved his gaze to the flames in front of him, soaking in their light and warmth.

He had been close to death—way too close. When the krampuses had been released into the human world a few days prior, all he had wanted was to complete his mission as slowly as possible, then eventually return home to more unavoidable, mindless work.

Taking humans for punishment wasn’t the best, but it had its nice moments, too. It was better than the work they had them do for the rest of the year, since at least during this time, they let the krampuses roam free through this world.

He thought this would be a mission like all his past ones: punishing bad humans, exploring more of an unfamiliar world, then going home after a job well done. What he hadn’t accounted for was being ambushed.

Another krampus, a youngster with gray fur, had held a grudge against him for a while, although he never understood the reason. They hadn’t interacted much in the past, and any time they had to talk—always strictly about work—the other demon had always been rude.

He , instead, had always been civil, but clearly that gray demon still had a problem with him, given that he tried to kill him at the first chance he got. He was still confused about what happened, or even why it happened—and no matter what excuse he thought of for the assault, nothing made sense.

The gray krampus had attacked him so unexpectedly that he had managed to overpower him at first, inflicting the worst of his wounds.

But he had fought back, and he cut deep, too.

That demon should be dead now. At least he should be, since he had left the gray demon for dead when he dragged himself away to take care of his own wounds.

He thought he would be fine, but the injuries had been deeper than he originally assessed, and he eventually dropped from the blood loss.

He imagined that’s how the human found him. He had been exposed so it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Yet he didn’t expect a human to approach even when he was unconscious, let alone nurse him back to health.

He could still hear the quick, shuddering breaths coming from her, and the constant reminder that she feared him was slowly wrapping itself around him like a choking hand. Somehow , it felt wrong to see such a pretty and seemingly kind creature in a distraught state.

He hadn’t known what happened after he fell unconscious, so when he had been freed from the shed, he had attacked. He wished she wouldn’t blame him for that. After all, it was instinct.

“ I will not hurt you,” he announced. “ I will not touch you or make you bleed. You have my word.”

That seemed to calm her and she hesitantly walked into the living room.

Still keeping her distance, she sat on the couch to his left and he watched her curiously, trying to understand her.

From her stiff shoulders and tense expression, she still seemed scared, but had still believed him when he said he wouldn’t hurt her.

Maybe it was just the shock of the situation but she seemed too trusting of him—and while he wasn’t going to hurt her, he still worried about her general safety.

He wished he could know what she was thinking. There were too many emotions flashing through her eyes and he couldn’t decipher any of them.

“ My name is Naomi ,” she cautiously offered. “ Do you have a name?”

Names … those were for demons with identities, and he had none. He was one of many, part of a bigger picture, an easily dispensable and replaceable cog.

“ I don’t.”

His answer clearly shocked her. Her face suddenly cleared of tension, eyes widening almost comically. She quickly opened her mouth as if to ask him more, but immediately forced it back shut. She watched him quietly for a few moments, then eventually decided to change the subject.

“ What happened to you?”

“ I had a fight with one like me.”

She tilted her head, frowning. “ Is … that common? For demons to fight between themselves?”

“ Depends . Not usually this violently, though.” He scratched around one of the bandages, and he didn’t miss her curious eyes following the motion, fixating again on the bloodied fabric. “ The one that attacked had some pent up frustrations about me.”

An understatement, really, but he wasn’t able to provide a better explanation. He was lost, too.

She kept fidgeting in her seat, her eyes wandering around the room as she purposely tried not to focus on him. It looked like she was holding herself back from something. Eventually , she sighed in defeat.

“ Can I ask you what you do? I don’t know much about krampuses,” she said, her voice hesitant but full of curiosity.

“ We punish bad people.”

She scooted forward in her seat, gaze curious. “ People in general? The stories about you always talk about children.”

“ People in general,” he confirmed. “ We find all types of people, of all ages, and depending on the offense, we hurt them, kill them, or bring them to Hell .”

Again , he said the wrong thing. She stiffened at the word “kill” and completely froze at “ Hell ”, curiosity draining from her face. Were all humans this easily impressionable or was it just her?

He was already bad at interactions in his own world, but figuring out how to speak to a human was a new level of difficult. Over the years, he had managed to learn the social rules of demons—albeit barely—but he would have to improvise here…. one of his least favorite things.

He had met many humans, but it wasn’t like he ever had an actual conversation with them. Every conversation was just him reciting a list of their bad deeds, and all they did in return was scream or plead for mercy.

That realization made him stiffen, too. In all his centuries as a krampus, had he truly never spoken to a human in a normal manner? How could he have not changed even a little bit in all these years? Was he truly so comfortable in his ways that he never altered his habits—even accidentally?

“ Why were you around this area?” she quietly asked, concerned. “ There’s no other people here.”

She wanted to know whether he had come for her, he realized.

“ There is no target here,” he assured her. “ We just ended up here by accident during the fight.”

Her body visibly relaxed, and a corner of his lip tugged upwards. He frowned, turning his face back to the fire. She was a curious human, this woman…

“ Can I take a look at your injuries?”

He shook his head, not looking away from the flames. “ There’s no need.”

“ Are you sure? I know you said you heal faster than humans, but you did lose a lot of blood. Your bandages are bloodied again, too.”

It was almost funny, seeing such a tiny and defenseless creature worried about his well-being. But she was a human, and it made sense that she wasn’t aware how strong his kind could be.

“ I will be fine. The wounds have almost closed completely. There is no need to worry, human.”

“ Naomi ,” she corrected him on instinct.

“ No need to worry, Naomi .”

Saying her name out loud felt odd, intimate. He wasn’t used to names, to this type of familiarity. Something moved inside his chest, like a parasite, and his whole body tensed. He stood up, heading to the front door.

“ Once I fully recover my strength, I will have enough magic to go back to Hell .”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her jump up from her seat.

“ You want to recover outside?” Naomi asked, confused. “ It’s cold out. And you’re still covered in blood and dirt.”

“ I’ll be okay. I don’t feel the cold.”

“ You can stay here,” she blurted. For a moment, she sounded nervous about him leaving . He immediately discarded that thought—it was too ridiculous. “ Just while you recover. You can stay warm, and you can use my tub to wash up.”

He froze with his hand on the doorknob. She really wanted him to stay?

Even when she was still clearly scared of him?

This human must have lost her mind. He had promised he wouldn’t hurt her, but still, did this woman have no survival instinct?

Had he not shown her how threatening he could be?

He hoped she didn’t make it a habit to let dangerous beings into her home.

Hopefully this was her first and last time doing something so reckless.

The hair at the back of his head rose from the image of her stumbling into some other creature instead—someone with a temperament like the gray demon who had attacked him. Something tugged at his chest, a need to approach her and wrap his arms around her small form.

His face scrunched into a deep frown, confused by the wild emotions and thoughts quickly passing through him.

“ Well , the bath might be a little small for you.” She continued, a nervous, quiet laugh leaving her. “ But there’s a shower in the main bathroom.”

He studied her, confused. She was still fidgeting a bit, but mostly seemed sure of her proposal—definitely more determined than during her previous invitation to come inside her house.

Considering how quickly his body was healing, he might only need one day to recover his magic. One day should be fine. He could behave for a day.

And maybe… maybe experiencing this type of interaction would be good for him. Like an exercise in socialization, and a chance at learning more about another species.

“ Okay ,” he gave in. “ I’ll stay.”