Page 15 of Scary & Bright
“And it’s been ages since he’s even done that,” Tuff added, bringing up the rear. The stretchy wrestler had appeared to lose his steam on this extended tour some time ago but hadn’t excused himself. “Things have been pretty stagnant around here.”
“It might not feel so stagnant if someone installed some windows.” I slunk to the closest bookshelf. Its heavy wood frame had snowflakes carved along the side, and upon closer inspection, a delicate shimmer was glazed over the top of each, giving the details an iridescent sheen, just like freshly packed snow under the light of the moon. “Some natural light would definitely make this place feel less… depressing.” After running my fingers over the snowflake carvings, I turned back to the toys. “Not to mention, I have no idea what time it is or what day it is. Do you guys?”
Starlight and Tuff looked at each other for a moment as if they were communicating telepathically before looking back at me.
“No idea, actually,” Tuff said flatly. “But it’s not like any of us have appointments to keep track of or a schedule to adhere to. It’s kind of liberating, if you think about it. On top of that, we’re in the South Pole, sweetheart. Even if there were windows, the sun only really sets once a year. Light for six months. Dark for six months. You get used to it.”
The horse chuckled nervously, but I had come to realize that her high-strung nature wasn’t going anywhere.
“There actually were windows before my, uh, basement incident.” Starlight rocked herself closer to me. “And I wholeheartedly agree that some light would be a wonderful addition, but they might be out of the question.”
“Out of the question?” I asked as I began to walk along the bookshelf. Of all the reading rooms and libraries I’d seen so far, this one was by far my favorite. It was the only one where I immediately recognized the names of the books—most of them could have been found in any elementary school library. “Why would it be out of the question?”
Throughout the tour of the castle, I was still constantly prodding. Starlight and Tuff, as well as any other toys we crossed paths with, all seemed reluctant to tell me too much or anything at all. It was obvious there were secrets here, and I couldn’t tell whether they were being kept from me for safety purposes or because they couldn’t tell me. So, I kept digging for hints. Clues and puzzle pieces that I could string together until I eventually could see the full picture.
“There are things that Krampus struggles to control,” Tuff responded after a moment of silence. “Just like all of us, he has darkness and demons within him. But unlike the rest of us, his darkness is visible to everyone.”
I could hear a certain sadness in Tuff’s voice as he spoke, making it evident that there was genuine empathy there, along with a certain level of respect. From what little I knew of Tuff, he hadn’t struck me as a toy who was comfortable talking about or being honest about feelings, so his explanation felt slightly out of place with his persona.
“You saw the Christmas Tree, or the Great Tree as we’ve come to call it,” Tuff continued. “It’s beautiful, yes? The kitchen as well. The art in each room, the careful decor. Yes?”
I nodded. As strange as the place was, there was no denying its beauty and wonder.
“That is all Krampus. If he thinks it or feels it, so it becomes.” Tuff sighed, gesturing to the hanging lights overhead, which were also shaped like crystal snowflakes. “As for there being no windows? I’d wager that’s the first thing to go when you feel closed off from the world.”
“I see,” I said quietly, mulling over Tuff’s words in my mind. As certain as I was that the wrestler likely expected me to match his level of sympathy, he wasn’t the one who had woken up locked in a disgusting cell. As far as I was concerned, I was still in danger, even if I did enjoy exploring the castle.
“Oh!” I said with a jolt, pulling myself from my thoughts. I felt Starlight jerk in surprise with my exclamation, clearly not prepared for me to shriek with excitement. “I can’t believe this is here!”
My hands fumbled as I pulled a book off the shelf. It was a book my father had read to me when I was very small, about a young girl who woke up one morning with antlers growing out of her head. I hadn’t seen or thought about it since my childhood, and I immediately wanted to flip through the pages.
“With as many books as this castle has, you were bound to find something you liked,” Starlight said with a happy smile, following me to the daybed along the opposite wall. “There’s a little of everything here, not just us toys. Anything that was well loved usually ends up here in one way or another.”
The thought was actually very comforting, to think that objects that provided so much joy to a person had somewhere to go and didn’t just end up forgotten in storage or left in a landfill somewhere.
I sat carefully on the edge of the daybed. It was arranged with a fluffy white down comforter and pillows embroidered with beads in elaborate patterns of blue and silver.
“Don’t get too comfortable!” Tuff announced, still doing his best to keep the momentum. “I’d at least like to know you’re settled somewhere before leaving you be.”
“If you like this room, though, I’m certain you’ll like the next one. Well, er, if it’s anything like I remember it being,” Starlight assured me. “And why don’t you bring the book with you? It’s not like anyone else is enjoying them these days.”
“All right, all right, sorry for the delay,” I said with a hint of sarcasm, hoping Tuff and Starlight were keen to my humor. “I’m coming.”
I flipped through the pages quickly before carefully closing the book and holding it against my chest. Just holding it made me feel close to my father, who had passed away suddenly just after I left for college. His death, along with my mother’s, had been another one of the straws that led to the inevitable breaking of the camel’s back.
As the three of us exited the reading room and continued our slow ascent up the spiraled balcony, I caught a whiff of something delicious. A shiver crept up my spine and down each of my arms as I remembered Starlight reminding me that toys didn’t need to eat. That meant that he had been in the kitchen. The thought that he could have walked right past the room we were in without me even noticing was a horribly creepy one. If he was able to be so silent while also being so huge and menacing, I was definitely in trouble. I didn’t even want to draw attention to the scent and ask what it could be for fear I might not like the answer.
My toy companions were speaking to one another, but their voices had become a blur of noise as my mind wandered to the creature that may or may not be watching me, waiting for me. Hell, even preparing to eat me, kill me, torture me, or bring me toward any variety of painful ends against my will. Tuff had twice now done his best to explain the beast away, justify why he was the way he was, or paint him as this pained, lonely creature who just needed someone to understand him, but I couldn’t bring myself to consider that to be true.
Besides, if Krampus were really an entity who craved kindness more than violence, then why was there blood all over the basement wall? Why was his earthly legend so awful? The secrets my companions weren’t telling me were beginning to wear on me. My mind continued to take mental notes of the castle’s layout, and I did my best to ignore the crushing dread about the fact that there really were no windows in this fortress. My options for an exit were next to none.
“Ta-da!” Starlight announced as Tuff reached up and turned the golden doorknob for the next room. Her exclamation pulled me out of my thoughts, and my eyes widened with immediate admiration.
“Whoa,” I said quietly, slowly stepping into the room. “This is… This is something else.”
It was like my dream bedroom had been plucked from my imagination and made real—just without any windows. A fireplace ran along the entire length of the back wall, and a low flame danced slowly in the hearth. Above the fireplace was another bookshelf with the covers arranged by color in the shades of a rainbow, from red all the way to violet, into black and white. The wall with the fireplace was the only wall with exposed stone, and the rest were painted a beautiful deep green, with a gold border framing each wall. A circular bed was sunk into the floor, decorated with earth-toned pillows and bedding. Stepping into the bedroom felt like stepping into a quiet forest at dusk with muted natural tones. Even in this strange place, it struck me as deeply serene and comfortable. The room wasn’t big, but it didn’t need to be. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a dark wooden dresser with a beautiful gold-framed mirror hung over it, as well as tall candles surrounded by evergreen boughs and red berries—a repeating motif. A door was beside it, stained the deep color of natural wood. A door to an attached bathroom, perhaps? Could I be so lucky?
“Do you love it?” Starlight asked, her voice peaking in an excited shriek. “With as much as you liked the last room with the comfy-cozy feel and the nature-themed decor, I thought you might like this one as well.” She rocked herself toward the door beside the dresser. “That’s the bathroom, of course, so you’ve got some privacy there as well.”