Chapter 1

1

SOPHIA

I loved this time of year, when the air was cold and brisk, and the scent of baked goods and candied items surrounded me. People stood around, everyone enjoying the annual festivities. Even the children were excited to see Krampus.

The streets were a blur of red and gold with lanterns flickering against the new falling snow. Laughter from couples rang through the frosty night, and I smiled as I sipped my cider and people-watched.

The Krampusnacht celebration was in full swing, and my intimate, little town was buzzing with life and excitement. Everyone started choosing their spots on the cobblestone streets to watch the show for the evening. Mothers held mugs of steaming mulled wine, and children snacked on cookies and other delicious goodies as they stared wide-eyed all around.

I clutched my drink and inhaled deeply, the air smelling of roasted chestnuts from the wooden stall to my left. I curled my fingers around my mug, the warmth seeping into my gloved fingers as I hunched into myself to stay warm.

A few of my friends—who were also my coworkers—milled around me, chatting about the festivities and how we’d get together after this for dinner.

We all agreed to come here to the event together after we’d gotten out of the office, and I even invited our boss, Lucian. We always joked between our small group how he had a perpetual stick up his ass and about how unbearably proper he was. He needed to loosen that tie and relax.

Our boss declined—no surprise—so the rest of us met here just to take a break from the monotony of our daily lives.

Yet, as I sipped my wine, my thoughts strayed to Lucian. It seemed I was doing that more and more often lately.

I shouldn’t have thought about him tonight when there was so much going on around us to distract me, but he lingered on my mind like the forbidden temptation he was. He was just so… magnetic, with his brooding, apathetic nature and demeanor.

I shook those thoughts away, forcing myself back into the present. Tonight wasn’t about Lucian or the naughty feelings he brought out in me.

“Earth to Sophia. Are you even listening?”

I turned my attention to Clara. She nudged me with her elbow, her smile tipping up the corners of her lips.

I blinked and smiled back, bringing my drink to my mouth and feigning nonchalance. “Sorry, what?”

“Look at that one,” Clara said, pointing to a Krampus actor who seemed to tower above the crowd.

I focused on the creature. He wore a horned mask, his body draped in dark, tattered robes, and under those was thick fur that covered him from head to toe. The heavy beat of drums sounded all around us as he stomped and swayed, scaring children and then making them giggle.

Chains clinked as he moved, his feet covered in hoof boots, and his theatrical, glowing eyes of the mask swept over the crowd.

“I’ve ever seen this one before,” Henna—another coworker—said as she watched on with awe. “He’s massive.”

I watched the Krampus move closer, and when his gaze flew over the growing crowd once again, I didn't miss how his focus halted on me the moment he saw I was looking at him.

Instantly, my chest tightened because, although I couldn’t see his face, I felt his stare. I could feel that our eyes were locked even though I couldn’t see his, deep in the Krampus costume. Behind that mask, there was something unsettling about him. Something far too… aware of and solely concentrated on me.

“Fuck, he’s creepy,” Helga, our third friend, said.

Clara laughed. “Leave it to Helga to say it like it is.”

“Yeah,” I murmured, mainly speaking to Helga, not responding to what Clara said. Finally, I managed to tear my gaze away from that Krampus. But even as the parade moved on and more actors dressed in monstrous outfits stalked down the cobblestone street, I felt the heat of the first beast’s stare like a brand.

As the night wore on and we made our way from the crowded parade to visit all the little food stalls set back from the street, that unease faded, and I went back to enjoying myself. Laughter spilled from our lips as we moved on from hot cider to mulled wine, our inhibitions fading.

But after that discomfort was long gone, I realized the tingling on the back of my neck would come and go. And that’s when I kept spotting him .

Because it seemed no matter where we went, I kept seeing my Krampus—mine… the one who wouldn't stop staring at me during the parade. He was always there, just on the edge of the crowd, that demon mask in place, watching me with those eerie, glowing red eyes.

Get a grip , I thought to myself. I tried to brush it off. It was Krampusnacht , after all. The whole point of tonight was for thrills and excitement. And I almost talked myself down into the calm fun from before and accepting I was being ridiculous. But when we all turned a corner and my three friends wandered to a stall serving more mulled wine, I realized I was alone.

And there he was.

Standing motionless in the shadows, the darkness wrapping around him like it was another part of his costume, he and those scary, glowing eyes fixated on me.

My breath hitched, and I involuntarily took a step back.

He took a step forward—toward me—but then stilled.

Suddenly, I realized the girls were back, now standing beside me, as Clara shoved a new mug of hot wine at me.

“Did you see that guy again?” I whispered to her, hearing the tremble in my voice despite my efforts to sound calm.

“What?” she asked, her voice a little slurred.

I glanced at her, then pointed to where Krampus stood. But he was gone, only shadows left in his wake.

She waved me off, clearly already a little buzzed. “You’re being paranoid. You’re going to see them all over the place, Sophia. The point of them is to look scary as hell.”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, and I heard the lie laced in my words.

But deep down, I knew this wasn’t part of the celebration. This was something else—something darker. Something sending a tremor through veins causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end.

In fact, I knew exactly what was happening.

I was being hunted.