"Eyes I dare not meet in dreams

In death's dream kingdom

These do not appear:

There, the eyes are

Sunlight on a broken column

There, is a tree swinging

And voices are

In the wind's singing

More distant and more solemn

Than a fading star."

T.S. Elliot, The Hollow Man

It was a bitterly cold winter day. The kind that hid the sun behind thick grey clouds, and kept the kingdom in darkness. The heavy snowfall blinded all those unfortunate enough to be walking through the blizzard. The wind blew so hard, it could knock a grown man off his feet.

There was no going outside to play or build a snowman on a day like that. The king and queen were incredibly busy organizing an impending trade with a far off kingdom, and Princess Elsa still wouldn't come out of her room, the younger sister Anna had to find a way to entertain herself. That was why she wandered the vast isles of the castle's dusty library. Before Elsa had moved to a different room, Anna had never went there. She always let Elsa get the books and have her read the fun ones out loud. Now, the little princess had to read on her own. She had to do a lot of things on her own.

Anna skipped from bookcase to bookcase, trying to find a book she hadn't already read. She would only ever read the fairytales, the ones filled with bright illustrations and words she could actually understand. As she skimmed over the titles, she hummed a bouncy tune to herself. One that had her toes tapping on the the floor. Her humming was cut off by a harsh 'shush' from the other side of the library, that immediately stilled her actions. The old librarian was the only other person in the room with her. He didn't really like the fact that Anna had taken to perusing the bookshelves for the past few months.

Anna did her best to keep quiet after that, she really didn't want to upset him again, but her control slipped when she let out a delighted gasp. A book labeled 'The Golden Mermaid' was propped up on the shelf opposite to her. She loved mermaids, ever since Elsa had told her about them when she was three.

In her excitement to grab the book, which held her rapt attention, Anna failed to notice the large table that stood between her and the shelf. When her clumsy limbs rammed into the table leg, the entire surface rattled at the force. The piles of books, that had been stacked upon the table top, came crashing down. Loose papers flew everywhere and Anna fell to the floor with a thump.

She winced when she heard the rushed footsteps and heavy breathing of old Vendel. Her father had told her that the old librarian had been working in the castle library since before he was born. Which, Anna imagined, must have made him very old. That made a lot of sense, because he looked over a hundred to her. He was a skinny man, with long thin arms and a sallow face that made him look sickly. Heavy wrinkles sagged his skin, and the top of his head was bald and dotted with age spots. The crotchety man walked with a low hunch in his shoulders, causing his straggly white beard to hang past his hobbling knees.

As the old man hobbled towards her, he beheld the mess she made with a deep frown on his lips. His sapphire eyes looked unnaturally big while he wore those thick spectacles.

"Princess Anna!" he bellowed, but in his age, his voice lacked the strength to be intimidating. "What did I tell you about being careful in my library?!"

Anna scrambled to pick up all the books and put them back on the table. "Sorry Vendel," she puffed as she ran around the table and shoved one big book after the other onto the surface in a messy pile. "It was an accident."

She went to go pick up the loose pages, which had scattered much further than the books. However, even in her desperation to fix her mistake, old Vendel wouldn't stop in his tirade.

"You need to learn not to trip over your own feet, you clumsy child," he raved, straightening out the books she had so thoughtlessly dumped onto the table. "It's the flippant little girls like you who get taken by the Busemann."

Anna slowed her steps as she approached him with all the gathered papers. He swiped them from her hands with with an incoherent grumble. The little princess was far too focused on the previous statement to care what the librarian was saying then. Her eyes widened with interest.

"What's the Busemann?" she asked, half in fear and half in fascination.

When the old man looked at her then, his frown was replaced by a twisted grin. The glass lenses of his spectacles seemed gleam in the dimly lit room.

"Never heard of the Busemann, eh?" he asked, his voice was quieter now, and somehow that made it more frightening. "Well, no wonder you're so careless, little princess."

She gripped the edge of the table as she leaned towards the old librarian. "Who is he?"

"He's an ancient being who lives in an old cabin out in the woods," the librarian said, his eyes trailing back to the papers in his hands. He his voice was soft and casual when he spoke but his words were anything but. "He looks like a man, only he's as pale as a ghost and is dressed all in black. He has long deadly claws, black as night and sharp as daggers, and four rows of pointed teeth that are like needles. He wanders the mountains in the day, but at night he comes down to the villages of Arendelle," he leaned in closer and his voice lowered to a whisper. Anna had to shuffle forward so she could hear him better. "He looks in through all the windows, searching for naughty children. And when he finds one, he hides beneath their bed and then he drags them down under," Anna jumped and let out a startled squeak as Vendel hissed the word 'drags'. She shivered as his lips twisted into a sickening grin. "He puts them in a sack and takes them back to his old beaten shack and locks them in his basement. And once the children's screams have gone hoarse and they have used up all their tears, he'll rip their skin from their bones and eat it."

Anna gasped as the eccentric man snapped his teeth like he was the Busemann biting into the children's skin. His grin vanished as he tidied up the scattered books so they were once again gathered into two orderly stacks atop the table.

"Let's just hope the Busemann wasn't looking through the window when you so carelessly ran into my table, little princess," he grumbled and then hobbled back behind the tall bookshelves where he had previously been before coming out to scold her.

Anna didn't have the courage to glance towards one of the library's windows and check if the Busemann was indeed watching her. She never wanted to see the pointed teeth and long black claws Vendel had described. The young princess was quick to scurry over to grab the book she had been coveting and then flee the library.

Anna had managed to banish the words of the old librarian from her mind as she lost herself in a story about kings, princes, and golden mermaids. Soon, the frightful story was put to rest in the background of her thoughts as she went about her usual day. It was only when nightfall came, and she was sent off to bed that the idea of the Busemann resurfaced again.

The story that Vendel had told was causing her imagination to run wild. Anna couldn't stop thinking about the monstrous teeth and claws he had described. With the tale still fresh in her mind, it was nearly impossible for her to push the thoughts aside. Especially now that the night had come to Arendelle, and the shadows twisted and stretched through every part of the castle.

Anna drew her bedroom curtains closed so the Busemann would be unable to look through the window. This action, unfortunately, made her bedroom even darker than it had been before. Pitch black, one might say. Without the light of the moon to guide her, Anna had to stumble to her bed from the window.

Not for the first time that month, Anna wished Elsa would come out of her room and talk to her. Her older sister always knew just what to say to cheer her up. She never seemed to be bothered by monsters or ghost stories. She wouldn't be scared of the Busemann.

Anna curled up in her bed, wrapping herself up in the thick blankets. She closed her eyes so tightly, she began to see swirling colourful patterns behind them. Her tense form and rapidly beating heart made it impossible for her to fall asleep. After a fitful twenty minutes with no rest, Anna opened her eyes to peek around her room.

She immediately wished that she hadn't.

In the far corner of her room, where Elsa's bed had once been, she could make out the siluette of a tall figure standing in the darkness. The person's face was obscured by shadows. The only features that were visible were two golden eyes and a wide grin full of pointed teeth.

When Anna saw those teeth, the ones she had been imagining all day, her heart jumped to her throat. The Busemann was in her room. He had come to take her away, just as old Vendel said.

The young princess couldn't move. She could only lay in her bed, petrified. This monster was going to take her away from her family, and lock her up in his basement. Then he would eat her skin. Her stomach caved in on itself and she wanted to scream, but she had no voice. She couldn't even open her lips.

The monster took a step towards her and the vicious smile never left it's lips. Though her gaze never left the Busemann, in the corner of her eye she could make out a large object sitting on the nightstand beside her bed.

An impulsive decision solidified in her mind as the Busemann took another step towards her. Gathering her bravery, Anna shifted closer to the edge of her bed. Her hand was shaking like a leaf when she reached out towards the object, which turned out to be a vase of roses. However, her movements were incredibly quick as she sat up and gripped the rim of the flower pot. Anna closed her eyes tightly as adrenaline rushed through her veins. She threw the heavy object with all her strength at the area where the monster stood.

The sound of porcelain shattering against the wall and water splashing on the floor filled her ears. When she opened her eyes the dark figure was nowhere to be seen. The broken pieces of the vase and scattered roses lay on the floor, with no indication that they impacted anything other than the wall and the floor. Anna wondered if throwing the vase had scared the Busemann away, or perhaps he had never been there to begin with. Anna shifted in her bed so that she was completely sitting up right and squinted at the empty space before her, searching for movement.

"You missed," a voice stated in a smooth baritone. Her blood ran cold. The sound came from right beside her bed.

This time, Anna was able to let out a piercing scream. She shrieked at the top of her lungs before leaping from her bed and running as fast as she could towards the door. She didn't turn her head to view whatever had spoken in her ear.

Anna flung the door open while yelling out for her Mama and Papa. With all the ruckus she was making, it didn't take long for her parents and a few of the palace guards to find her.

"Anna," her mother gasped as the child ran into her arms. The Queen hugged the girl tightly and caressed the back of her head. This comforting action did nothing to settle Anna's erratic breathing. "What's wrong?"

"The Busemann!" she cried out, only now glancing back to her room. She watched for a flicker in the shadows, a movement that would signify the monster was still there. "He's here! He's come to take me away!"

"Anna," her father whispered, his voice soft and warm. "There's nothing to be afraid of. There's no such thing as the Busemann."

"But he was in my room!" Anna argued vehemently. "I saw him coming towards me. I heard him."

The king glanced over to the two guards that had come running upon hearing the princess's screams. He nodded sternly towards Anna's room, motioning for them to check inside. Though he would continue to tell his daughter that such terrifying fables were a product of her imagination, he couldn't take the chance she wasn't imagining an intruder in her room.

The guards quickly ran to the princess' quarters and searched the inside while the king and queen stayed behind with their daughter.

Anna's breathing steadied as her mother continued to stroke her hair and hold her close. It barely registered in her mind as the rattling of armour echoed through the hall and the guards returned to salute their king.

"There was no one in the princess's room, Your Majesty," the older one stated while the younger guard stood rigidly at his side. "We can continue search the hall for an intruder."

"No, that's alright," the king sighed in relief, standing up straight as he addressed the guards. "I'm sure my daughter just excited herself. That'll be all."

The guards bowed to their king before marching off back to their previous posts.

"But Papa," Anna complained, still clinging to her mother's dressing gown. "It wasn't imaginary. The Busemann was really there."

Her mother and father exchanged a look that Anna didn't understand. A soft smile graced her mother's lips, as she scooped Anna up into her arms.

"I'll take her to bed," she said, cradling the princess to her chest. "You need your rest."

Her father nodded and even Anna could see the dark ring under his eyes and the heavy sag of his shoulders. Her mother turned and took Anna back to her room, but Anna could see her father's laboured steps as he went back to his quarters.

Anna's tiny fists gripped the silky fabric of her mother's dressing gown. She clung with such vigour that her mother had to pry her hands away as she placed her youngest daughter in bed. Anna continued to fuss, glaring at the dark corner of her room. She saw no movement nor lurking figures, but fear still chilled her veins.

"Sweetheart," her mother hushed in a soft soothing voice, sitting down on the bed. "It's alright. There's nothing here that will hurt you."

"He was right there," Anna said stubbornly, pointing to the wall directly across from her bed. "I swear Mama, I wasn't pretending."

Her mother glanced back towards the wall and her eyes widened. She gasped as she rose from her seat. Though, her startled reaction had nothing to do with seeing a shadowy creature in the darkness.

"Anna," she called to her daughter in a chiding tone, bending down to examine the broken pieces of the jardiniere and the roses that were now strewn across the floor. "You broke the vase your father gave you. I thought you liked picking flowers from the garden to put in here."

"I'm sorry mama," Anna answered, turning her gaze down to her silky sheets. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "I was just so scared. I didn't want the Busemann to get me so I threw it at him so he would go away."

Anna was startled by the amused chuckle her mother let out as she approached the bedside. "Well, I'm certain he won't be returning now," she said, running her fingers through her daughter's hair. "You probably scared him off."

Anna looked up at her mother with wide shinning eyes. "Are you sure?" she asked with a hint of uncertainty.

"Of course," her mother replied with a laugh as light as tinkling bells. "Monsters never expect a little princess to be tougher than they are. He's probably terrified that you'll throw something else at him."

Anna giggled as her mother made a silly face. However, looking off to the dark corner of her bedroom caused her bright smile to fade. She reached out to take the queen's hand and clutched it with a serious urgency that was surprising to see in a child so cheerful and small.

"Will you stay with me mama?" she asked, her tiny voice wavering with fear. "To make sure he doesn't come back."

A gentle smile curved at her mother's lips. "Of course my darling."

That night, Anna fell asleep still clutching her mother's hand, with her back facing the dark corner. It was not until Anna was in a deep slumber, that the queen was able to release herself from the hold. However, as she left the room, casting a fond smile towards her youngest child, she was unable to see the dark figure standing beside the bed.