"The Hollow"

Author's Note: I was going to wait until I had a good-sized chunk of this story completed before posting it, but I've got it all planned out on index cards. Since I know how the story will end, updates will probably be anywhere from every day to every two or three days, depending on how crazy things get here. This story will have more to do with Halloween than Christmas. It will also have some horror elements as well as a sad back-story for one of the characters, so consider yourselves warned. :) I don't own Bernard, or any of the characters from The Santa Clause. I do, however, own Viola and Avery, as well as the creatures who live in The Hollow. You'll learn more about that place later. There is a map on my DeviantArt, if you want to know the layout. I go by contraryheartliger over there. I hope you enjoy it!

"Chapter 1: Changeling"

November at the North Pole was both a hectic time and a dark one. Quite literally, in the latter case, for there was no sunlight at all from early October to early March. The days and nights were marked only by the passage of time and Elfsburg's automatic street lamps.

Normally, Bernard would either have his hands full on the Workshop floor as he kept an eye on toy production and made sure all the Elves were pulling their weight, or he would be holed up in his office, up to his pointed ears in paperwork. Nearly three years ago, this familiar routine underwent a few changes. With the birth of Buddy Claus and Bernard's own return (both absence and return courtesy of Jack Frost), Santa found himself with a new baby and two Elves who were qualified for the position of Head Elf.

Curtis's solution was to act as Bernard's back-up, if the need ever came, and Bernard found that it came more frequently than he would have expected as he was often called upon to babysit for a few hours.

Not that Bernard minded spending time with his godson. Buddy Claus was surprisingly mellow and laid-back for such a young child, and Bernard simply adored him. He just wished the boy wasn't so adamant about refusing to go to bed. Tonight, the game of choice was hide-and-seek, and Bernard stood in the center of the nursery with his eyes covered.

"Seven...eight...nine...ten! Ready or not, here I come! Hm...now, where's Buddy?" Bernard planted his fists on his hips and scanned the room, knowing full well where Buddy was. It was hard to miss the two little feet encased in light blue footie pajamas poking out from underneath the curtains. "I swear, I saw him just a minute ago! Buddy? Where are ya, Sport?"

Buddy giggled, not quite realizing that sound carried.

"Ah, what was that? I think I heard something!" Bernard cupped a hand behind his ear and tip-toed closer to the window, lifting the tablecloth on his way over. "Nope, not under here. Boy, I hope I find him soon. I don't want to be in trouble with Santa!"

Another giggle, and Bernard was hard-pressed to keep back a laugh of his own. "Now, I know I heard something that time! I'm coming to get ya! Ahhhh...Aha!" Bernard quickly yanked open the curtains and picked up the toddler, who squealed with laughter and hugged the Elf tightly around the neck. "Found you!"

"Again!" crowed Buddy, peering up at Bernard through a mop of dirty-blond hair. It had a slight curl to it, and it was beginning to get in his eyes, but Carol worried that he was still too squirmy for his first haircut.

"No, not again, five times is enough," Bernard stifled a yawn against his fist.

Buddy yawned as well, having caught it from Bernard. "Tired?"

"Nah! But guess what?"

"What?"

Bernard whispered in Buddy's ear. "It's your bedtime." Buddy shook his head no, and Bernard nodded yes. "Mm-hmm. It's time to go to sleep, but you can pick out a story for me to read to you, okay?"

"M'thirsty."

Oh, here we go... Bernard knew what was coming next, because it happened every time he watched Buddy in the evening. First would come the excuses to hopefully delay going to bed, then the refusal to close his eyes and sleep. "Okay, a small drink. We don't want any accidents."

"I dun do that no more!" Buddy declared before squirming to get down.

"Anymore." Bernard let him down and followed him out of the nursery. "Hey, don't run, Buddy!"

He wouldn't realize until later that he had forgotten to close the curtains again.

Behind the Workshop, well away from prying eyes, a patch of ground began to warp and bulge. At first, it almost seemed to resemble a group of mole hills placed at regular intervals in a perfect circle. Then, with an audible 'pop', the first mushroom emerged. Its cap was red, speckled with white, and it was about the diameter of a silver dollar. More mushrooms quickly made themselves known, and before long there were thirteen of them, arranged in the shape of a ring.

Two hooded figures appeared within the ring, and they shivered and rubbed their arms as they stepped out of it. The male wore a pack, but the female carried nothing.

"It's been a long time, Viola," whispered the male, lowering his hood to reveal a youthful face, a head of black hair worn in a faux hawk, and large pointed ears. "I'd forgotten how cold it is here."

His female companion made no reply, nor did she lower her hood. Instead, she dug her hands into the pockets of her winter coat and peered around the side of the building. Seeing that the way was clear, she beckoned and disappeared around the corner.

"Viola!" The male Elf hissed before huffing angrily and running after her. "You're sure they won't find the Ring before we get back?"

"I'm sure, brother. Everyone's either working or asleep. No one would have any reason to skulk around behind the Workshop."

"Except us," he quipped.

"Avery..." Viola's tone was as icy as the ground beneath their feet, and her brother heeded the unspoken warning; she wasn't in the mood for jokes.

"Sorry."

They wove their way through the back streets and settled themselves outside the nursery window just in time to see Bernard jog out after a rambunctious toddler. Viola narrowed her eyes at his retreating back and turned away from the window to collect herself.

Avery joined her in the shadows, and the two siblings kept the interior of the nursery in sight. The room cast a yellow light upon the snow, and they were careful to avoid it. He scraped his lower lip with his teeth and picked at his cuticle. I'm not used to being the stable one. I don't know if I can keep this up.

"This should be our home," Viola grumbled, almost to herself.

"That ship sailed a long time ago," Avery went from picking to chewing, a habit his sister hated, but she wasn't paying any attention to him. "There's no work for us here, which means no housing-"

"Nonsense! Do you remember back when Jack Frost froze him three years ago? I heard from our sources that they kept his house tidy for him while he was away. And yet, just because we didn't make the cut, we had to leave! No second chances, nothing!" Viola realized she was beginning to raise her voice, and she lowered it to a whisper. "Do you have it?"

Avery sighed, removed his pack, and lightly patted it to indicate that he did. Bernard wasn't his favorite person, either. If an Elf didn't pass basic training, whether it was due to poor work ethic or a general dislike of children, there were no second chances; a person's nature couldn't just change, and (according to Bernard) the pressures and fast-paced work environment just weren't for everyone. Santa was the one to pick out the hopefuls for training, but it was Bernard who had the final say on who made it and who didn't. Avery knew all this, and still the potency of his sister's hatred unnerved him. Sure, Bernard was on their 'Naughty List', but this wasn't even the same Santa...

"They're coming back," Viola warned, and they fell silent as Bernard entered the room, carrying Buddy in his arms.

It was a long, cold wait. They watched with mounting annoyance as Buddy selected a story for Bernard to read, only to change his mind three times, get out of bed, and pick out a different one.

Avery whispered to his sister, "Doesn't he know that kid's just stalling for time?"

"Sure, he knows." Viola replied, "Why he's just going along with it is beyond me."

They strained their ears to hear what Bernard was saying.

"Are you sure you want this one?" Bernard tapped the book's cardboard cover with his index finger, raising his eyebrows and holding the boy's gaze with his own. He was a patient Elf, at least where children were concerned, but he meant business now.

"Yeah!"

"Are you positive? Because once you're in bed, that's it. No more getting up. Is this really the book you want?"

Buddy scampered over to his bed and quickly got under the covers. "Ready!"

Bernard couldn't help but chuckle at that as he crossed the room and sat on the chair beside the bed. "Okay, then. 'Peter Rabbit' it is."

Over an hour later, Buddy was just beginning to drift off to sleep. The story hadn't worked, but humming seemed to be doing the trick. 'Silent Night', if the siblings were correct. Avery tried to get comfortable, but after a while he gave up and groused, "I can't feel my heinie..."

"You're the one who insisted on sitting down because you were 'tired'," Viola shot back. The wait wasn't doing her temper any favors, either. "Get up and brush off the snow. You'll be fine."

Avery got up with a grunt and did as he was told, but the numbness remained. "Why did we have to leave so early anyway?"

"I thought the little brat would have fallen asleep by now..." Viola ran a hand anxiously through her short black pixie cut. "He's nearly there, though...and Bernard's looking a little blinky himself. I don't think it'll be long."

It wasn't. Buddy was asleep two minutes after Viola finished speaking, and Bernard looked at his watch before tip-toeing out of the room. Viola and Avery could see the other room from where they were, and they watched Bernard tidy up a bit before settling down in an overstuffed armchair and closing his eyes.

Avery reached out to open the window, but Viola stopped him and signaled for him to wait. As if on cue, Bernard twitched and scratched his nose before adjusting his position. They waited for about ten minutes before Bernard's breathing grew slow and deep, and only then did Viola allow her brother to act.

The window opened easily without a sound, and the siblings climbed silently into the nursery. This was the most dangerous part of their plan, because the draft from the window might wake Buddy, but the boy didn't stir.

"Yeah, he's out," Avery mouthed the words as he opened his pack.

Viola carefully lifted Buddy in her arms, and for one awful moment she thought that they were caught, because Buddy did open his eyes just then. She pasted on a friendly-looking smile. "Shhh..."

Buddy looked puzzled, but he closed his eyes again and nestled his head against her shoulder. As far as he knew, this was just another one of Daddy's helpers, and he soon fell asleep again.

Viola kept an ear tilted at the door and listened for any sign that Bernard might be waking up, but his soft snoring reassured her. In fact, so relaxed was she that she went to the door and peeked through the crack at him. You pompous jerk. You have no idea what's happening, do you? I wonder how long it will be before someone figures it out...

"Viola."

Her brother's voice never went above a hissing whisper, but Bernard snorted in his sleep and stirred. They both froze, but his snoring soon resumed, and they sagged with relief. Viola shot her brother a dirty look, but he simply pointed to the bed.

Lying in Buddy's place was...Buddy. Or, rather, something that looked exactly like him. Its chest rose and fell with the breath of slumber, and Avery gave Viola a thumbs-up. They left the way they came, through the window, and Avery closed it behind them.

Bernard slept on, unaware of the thing that now inhabited Buddy's bed. A part of him must have sensed that something wasn't quite right, because even as he slept his brow was creased in an uneasy frown. Their lives were about to take an alarming turn.