“Finally, some peace and quiet!” Jack said to himself as he closed the door to his office. He looked around the large room, trying to pick a spot where to sit, but he felt overwhelmed by the many choices he had: the couch next to the bookcase, a massive ergonomic chair at his desk, a comfy sofa in front of the fire with the little stool on which he could kick his feet up, or there was the chaise lounge by the window, which he loved so much, but the window was still broken from yesterday and he hated the draft coming from it. After going around in circles for almost a minute he finally picked a book and sat in front of the fire. The heat coming from the fireplace was nice, and Jack smiled, lifting his feet up to prop them on the stool.
“JACK! COME HERE, YOU GOTTA SEE THIS!” a voice erupted from beyond the office door.
Jack rolled his eyes but got up nonetheless - the voice was Armand’s, and the fact that he left his post just to come to Jack meant that there was something happening that was worth his direct attention.
“WHAT?” Jack shouted back, as he opened his door. He looked at the Great Hall unfolding in front of him, lit up by red, expensive chandeliers. At the end of the hall stood Armand, at his full 2.5 meters height, next to somebody who could have easily passed as his pet human. To say the man was short was an understatement. He barely got up to 1.4 meters, he seemed thin and frail and was looking around frightened, dressed up in red and green, his clothes resembling an elf’s attire. Jack raised an eyebrow as he approached the two men.
“Is this a mistake?” Armand asked, raising a folder and handing it to Jack.
He picked up the folder and skimmed through it.
“Alfie the elf?” Jack asked, an amused smile on his face. “What did you do, Alfie the Elf?” he asked, bending over, talking to the little man like you would talk to a child. He turned a few more pages, then gasped: “Oh, Alfie, you’ve been a naughty boy, haven’t you? I bet you made it straight to the top ten naughty boys on Santa’s list!” he giggled.
“What did he do?” asked Armand, curious. He wasn’t allowed to look through the files, he just followed what was said on the cover of the folders: up, or down. And Alfie was meant to go down, where Jack was.
“And you look so innocent and cute!” Jack continued, ignoring Armand’s question. “For a second there I actually thought this was a huge mistake, you being sent here.” he then looked at Armand, finally acknowledging that he asked a question. “This little fella likes to eat...a lot!” he said with a wicked smile on his face. “Guess what’s his favorite dish!”
Armand shrugged, confused.
“Braised heart...human heart!” Jack answered, looking like he was proud of the little man.
Armand gasped, horrified. “Maybe I should go back to my post.” he said in a hushed voice.
“Yeah, you should,” Jack said turning serious all of a sudden, “you wouldn’t want the boss to find out about your little trip down here.”
Armand turned his back on the two men and left without saying goodbye. Jack went back to studying Alfie’s file, while he was frozen on the spot, looking around the Great Hall, still shaking.
“Oh, Alfie, Alfie,” Jack said, sounding compassionate towards the elf, “you’ve had quite a good life, what happened? Where did this hankering for human meat come from?”
“Curiosity?” the man replied, shaking harder now, the little bells attached to his hat ringing with an echo across the hall.
“Yeah, that’s how a lot of people get...