8-Bit Horrors - Krampus

He knows when you've been naughty

The arrival of a child changes everything in your world. Some of those changes are subtle but fear is the one that chips away at you on a daily basis. Why is my little one crying, why is he so quiet, what if I do something wrong that causes him harm?

Chip, chip, chip.

Fear has been a permanent guest for Conrad Wendel, chipping away at him since being abandoned by his single mother as a baby. Of course, he could not remember her dropping him off at the hospital, but Conrad did remember, all too well, the years of bullying and abuse at the hands of foster parents and other children in the orphanage in his hometown of Kiel, Germany.

Back then, Conrad would escape his tormentors by climbing up to the roof of the orphanage and looking out over the port. There was something magical about the ships that came and went, leaving Conrad to wonder about their far-flung destinations. He imagined worlds beyond his meager understanding of geography, wondering if those places would be kinder than his own.

Conrad loved to write about those fantastical locales, dreaming up places where he was king, or at the very least seen as something other than a cast-off. When he finally made it out of the orphanage, at the tender age of 14, and onto a ship in the port as a castaway, he had no idea where his travels would take him.

When he landed in America, it looked like one of the cities he had imagined. Buildings towered overhead and bright lights shimmered on every corner, the neon sparkling in every color of the rainbow. Before long, though, he also discovered that New York, his final destination, had a darker side. He saw death and despair, madness and malaise in the eyes of those who hid in alleyways and underground beneath the hustle and bustle of the city.

It would have been so easy for Conrad to become one of those lost souls; an outcast once more. A slice of luck changed the entire course of his life. While trying to steal a bagel to quell his rumbling belly, the store owner grabbed Conrad and cursed him in German. When he responded in his native tongue, the shopkeeper’s eyes immediately softened. He led Conrad to the back of the shop, fed him, and then put him to work.

Oli Korbinian turned into the father figure that Conrad had always dreamed of. He was kind but also demanding, supportive but also tough. Oli was particularly fond of Conrad’s writing, pushing him to do more and offering practical advice, such as, “Always pay attention to the senses, Conrad.” He was the man that Conrad wanted to be when he became a father, and he now had the opportunity to do it. His only regret was that Oli was no longer around to see the good man that he had molded from a badly broken boy.

His troubled past played out like a movie inside his head, seemingly on an eternal loop. The voice of his wife, Ellie, snapped him out of it.

“Penny for your thoughts.”

He looked at her and smiled, once again caught by her beauty. The flicker of the fire in the hearth gave her pale skin a warm glow, while the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree caught her eyes, making them sparkle with a glint of mischief. “Just thinking how lucky I am.”

“Let me take Gustav to his crib, and then you might get even luckier,” Ellie said with a wink. She picked up the baby and took him over to Conrad, who placed a kiss on the little one’s forehead.

He watched them go, feeling an ache in his heart as they left his personal space. The urge to stand and follow them was strong, but Conrad remained in his chair and thought about how he would capture this special evening in his journal. How do you properly record something as magical as your child’s first Christmas?

Always pay attention to the senses, Conrad.

Turning toward the fire, Conrad felt the warmth of the flames touch his skin, triggering a memory of heat in an otherwise cold environment. A log cracked, buckling under the weight of the blaze, the sound reminiscent of breaking timbers. The scent of pine from a Christmas candle tickled his nostrils, reminding him of his time below deck as a stowaway on the ship. He heard his wife in the other room, singing a lullaby to his crying son that brought back the distant screams of horror. He saw it all in a single blink and marveled at how much had changed, but how certain unpleasant memories remained.

Conrad let all of it wash over him, feeling the words begin to form in his brain, ready to be spilled into his journal, hopefully after some fun with Ellie. The X-rated thoughts of his he and his wife in a pile of sweaty flesh slipped away as an unusual noise came drifting in from above. Looking up, Conrad followed the sound of what appeared to be footsteps moving across his roof.

He stood and moved to the window, looking out onto the street, where the falling snow gathered in layers of colors cast by the Christmas lights. He watched as larger clumps fell from the roof. There was definitely something going on up there.

Conrad opened the front door, immediately shivering as the winter air washed over him. He turned quickly as something large darted around the side of the house. Conrad didn’t get a clear look, but he was sure it wasn’t an animal, as the intruder moved on two legs. The hoof prints on the snow told a different story, but before he could investigate more, a crash and a scream from inside his home had him running back inside, front door remaining ajar.

The sound of screaming, both from his wife and child, came from the back of the house in the little one’s room. Conrad moved as fast as his legs would carry him, bumping into a side table that sent a framed family picture to the floor, the glass shattering on contact.

He almost overshot the room; his speed combined with his slippery socks on the hardwood causing him to slide when trying to stop. Conrad grabbed hold of the doorframe and pulled himself into the room and into a living nightmare.

“Look who’s here,” the thing said, the smell of rancid meat coming off it in waves.

Conrad retched and took a backward step, his fight or flight instinct telling him that the latter was the better option. Gritting his teeth, he held his ground and appraised the beast standing before him.

The thing stood over seven feet tall, the curved horns on its head accounting for a good part of the height. From the waist up, he looked mostly human, although the slightly grey pallor of his skin and the razor-sharp teeth jutting from his grinning mouth told of something otherworldly. His legs were those of a goat, albeit a muscular one, the cloven hooves tapping out a rhythm on the hardwood as he seemed to hop in excitement. He wore a fur coat, much like Santa’s, although this one was black and torn in places. In his right hand, he held an ornate staff, with his left, he held Ellie, who was still clutching the now-wailing Gustav.

Tearing his eyes away from the creature, Conrad looked at his wife, his heart breaking as tears streamed down her face. Snow coming in through the shattered window danced around the room, making it look as though the entire scene were being played out inside a snow globe. “Are you okay?” Conrad managed to ask.

The thing tightened its hold on the top of Ellie’s head, forcing her to nod. Its talons broke her skin while doing so, sending thin rivulets of blood snaking down her porcelain skin. The effect might have been beautiful were it not so horrifying.

“Wh…what are you?” Conrad stammered.

“A debt collector from your homeland. You may call me Krampus.”

Conrad shook his head, confused. “I…I don’t understand.”

The creature tutted and turned to look at Ellie, who tried to shrink away from his gaze. He held her steady, gripping tighter still. “Do you believe your husband to be a good man?” He made her nod. “Do you believe he would never harm a child?” Nod.

“Wait.” Conrad said, hands held aloft in surrender.

“You’ve never told her, have you?” Krampus asked, leering.

“I…”

“You’ve never told anyone, not even Oli, the man you thought of as a father.”

“I…I wanted to forget.”

“Had you confessed, the debt would have been paid. Your silence makes you a bad, bad boy, Conrad.”

“I’ll confess now.” Conrad fell to his knees. “Please let my family go. They have done nothing.”

The creature stared at him, no sign of compassion in its eyes. It blinked slowly and snorted. “Confess and one will be spared. The other…not so much.”

“Please.”

“CONFESS.” The room seemed to shake under the power of its voice. Gustav screamed, his small face turning bright red with effort.

“You can’t make me choose. How can I?”

“Both then,” Krampus said.

Conrad began to sob. “Okay.”

“Confession first, then decision.”

He hung his head and began to talk. “Ellie, my love, I have done wrong, but believe me when I tell you that it was a mistake.”

“Raise your fucking head and look at her when you speak.”

Staring at his wife, he continued. “They were all so cruel to me in the orphanage. I wanted to escape, to get away from it all, but I needed a distraction. I…” Conrad gulped, as though trying to choke down the memory, but it all came spilling out. “I set a fire on the roof. Something small, yet big enough to be seen, to draw attention away from my escape. By the time they saw it, the blaze was out of control. I watched it burn as the ship sailed.”

“All dead but you, little Conrad. Such a bad boy.” Krampus looked at Ellie and Gustav. “Choose.”

“What do you mean? Choose to live or choose to die?”

The creature shrugged. “Choose.”

Ellie looked at her husband and mouthed, “The baby. Gustav.”

“I can’t,” Conrad wailed.

“Choose. NOW!!”

“My son. I choose my son.”

Krampus grinned as he twisted Ellie’s head and snapped her neck. As she fell to the ground, he plucked Gustav from her arms and made for the window.

“What are you doing?” Conrad screamed.

“The baby lives, but with me. Your debt is paid in full.”

As the thing sped out the window and into the cold world outside, Conrad felt his mind snap under the weight of his bad deeds.