Chapter 1: Blood and Tears
Snow crunched under his feet as Gaston scrambled through the forest.
Today was his ninth birthday and tears blurred his vision as he ran.
His parents had given him a new book. His parents….
Gaston tripped over a root, gasping for breath.
Part of him wanted to lie down here but…
He pulled himself up, his mind swimming and continued dragging himself in the direction of the village.
The festival was this week; they had been traveling there for his birthday.
Gaston wished they had never made that detour.
A swipe of claws and splattering blood jolted through his head as his father's screams echoed in his ears.
"RUN!"
"They were always thinkin', that's what got them killed"
His grandmother peered down at him over her glasses.
"All that thinking" she hissed. "And all them books. Mark my words, all that business is nothin' but trouble."
Gaston kept his gaze fixed on the tabletop, wishing she would stop talking. He dared not say so, as he would get a swift club about the head from her walking stick.
"Don't you worry boy, I'll make a real man out of you. Drink this"
She shoved a jug towards him. Gaston peered into it at the slimy yellow substance, unable to hold back a grimace at the quivering mass.
"Go on boy, drink your eggs. Ten eggs a day makes you big and strong. Just like father was, before he followed that floozy into all them books."
Gaston scowled at the way she referred to his mother. His grandmother didn't seem to notice as she dumped the contents of the jug down his throat.
"Now go chop that firewood, boy"