Title: Grey
Category: Movies – The Santa Clause
Character (s): Bernard
Genre: Angst
Rating: M
Warning: Implied murder; Abuse; Violence; Depression
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that comes across as familiar.
Summary: Bernard isn't very trustful of Santa because he's a human. Every one of the new Santa Clauses he has met has let him down, broken his faith in the human race. What happens to the Elven boy when his history tries to repeat itself?
Prologue
The crashing sound of thunder could barely be heard over that of shouts and fists; all of which were aimed at the small door of a run-down cottage. The cottage belonged to a pregnant widow who lived there with her nine year old son. Her son, whom was clutching a too-large deep green hat over his dark curls, being the reason the villagers were attacking.
"Op'n th' door, Lili!"
"Gi'e us tha' boy!"
"'E's a demon!"
"It 'as t' be killed!"
The widow knew what the people outside thought. She knew that her son wasn't human, that he wasn't right, but he was not a demon either. Picking up her little boy, who rested safely against her stomach, Lili retreated deeper into the cottage where a part of the floor opened into a hole.
"Bernard," she whispered to the boy, "do you still have your bells on?"
The boy nodded fearfully, releasing part of his hat to pull out a string of bells that hung around his neck.
"Good boy. Listen carefully, child, I need you to hide here. When you cannot hear anything up in the house, I need you to ring the bells. A man in red will come to get you." She hugged the boy tightly. "Go with him, Bernard, but never forget that I love you, my son."
"I love you, mumma."
"Hide now."
Lili pressed a soft kiss to the child's forehead before placing him into the hole and closing it off. She smoothed out her apron and hurriedly brushed tears away from her dark eyes. With as much pride as a fearful mother could manage, the widow opened her home up to the angry villagers.
Bernard hugged both knees to his chest, hiding his face in them as the terrible noises of angry villagers rang in his ears. He could hear the few possessions of himself and his mother being thrown, could hear screams directed at his mother demanding him to be handed over, and the sound of his mother's shouts that he wasn't in the house.
A cry was heard, followed closely by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground above him, but no one ever found the hole where his small body was hidden. It felt almost like an eternity before the crowd began to withdraw from the cottage followed by a long string of angry utterances.
Soon there was no longer any sound in the house, so Bernard pushed the floor up to peer out of the hiding spot. His dark eyes filled quickly with tears when a few feet before him he saw the form of his mother's still body lying on the dirty floor. He quickly stumbled out of the hole and crawled to her.
"Mumma? Mumma, wake up. They're gone."
He shook her shoulder desperate to see a reaction. When none was forthcoming, the boy pulled the string of bells over his head and shook it over and over again. Tears streamed freely down his cheeks leaving tracks in the dirt covered flesh. His mother's eyes were open, yet completely vacant as she stared up at the rafters.
Bernard soon fell asleep on the ground with a hand wrapped securely in his mother's apron; a sleep that was disturbed by the sound of heavy footfalls on the wooden floor. The footsteps came closer and a glove-covered hand tapped the boy's shoulder.
"Kid? Are you alive?"
Bernard's eyes flew open and he stumbled away from the man; very nearly tripping over his mother's feet. His hat fell off of his head in the process causing the bigger man to pause slightly. The man knelt down to face the boy; a hand brushing through his thick white beard as he watched the child with concerned blue eyes.
"What's your name, elf?"
Bernard's eyes widened in fear at the term the man used. With cautious motions, he reached across his mother and retrieved the hat that had dropped. Soon it was back on his head and its overlarge size was covering up curls and the ears that he knew to be the bane of his life.
"'M a boy."
"All right. What's your name, boy?"
"Bernard." He looked up at the man. "Mumma's not waking up."
The man reached over and brushed a strand of dirty hair away from Lili's eyes. His own eyes traveled across her still form taking in the swollen stomach and the small puddle of blood that had congealed beneath the mop of her hair.
"I'm sorry, child. Lili isn't likely to wake up any time soon. My name is Santa."
The man picked up the string of bells from the floor and leaned closer to the boy, dropping it around his neck once more. This caused Bernard to give him a sad smile and wrap a small hand around one of the larger bells.
"Mumma said I'm supposed to go with you…."
"That's right, child. You'll be coming with me to my home and will live with others like you."
Bernard looked at his mother again and nodded softly. The man rose to his full height, standing a good four feet above Bernard's frame. A huge hand was held out to the boy which was accepted by the boy. Santa began the walk out of the cottage, stopping in the open doorway to await the child.
"I'm gonna grow up, mumma. I'm gonna be a good boy and not gonna forget what you told me. Promise."
With those words out, Bernard placed a kiss on her cheek. With one hand on his bell and the other on his hat, the boy looked around the house one last time and followed the man called Santa outside where he saw a strange creature with giant antlers standing idly by.
"Dasher, this is Bernard. He's coming home with us, boy."
The man gave Bernard an encouraging smile and lifted him onto the creature before climbing up behind him. Bernard grabbed onto the creature's neck tightly, terrified as it rose into the air. Santa took hold of the boy's hat, tucking it safely away into his coat as the reindeer sped off towards the North Pole.