Chapter 1

The halls were silent and the stone floors gave Belle a slight chill as she tiptoed around the palace. Everyone had gone to sleep hours ago but her mind was fully awake despite her body's pleas for rest. Visions of the past kept creeping into her head. No matter how hard she tried, she could not convince herself that all of it has been put behind her and that the future looked somehow bright.

This was not the first time she had been haunted by these memories. They had been going on for weeks and not always at night. Whenever she let her mind wander is when the images would crawl back into her conscience, which didn't happen too often since she has been with Adam. But when she slept the visions became so vivid, so real. It was too much for her to handle. Some nights she would stay up until the wee hours of the morning, trying to escape the horrors of the dreams. The days after she would be so blatantly exhausted that Adam would insist she rest and the visions would return.

Belle was still struggling with the decision of whether or not to tell Adam of these dreams. Yet she still moved silently on in the direction of his chambers. She hoped with every step that reality would pull her back and stop her in her tracks. She did not want to worry Adam for he already had a lot on his mind, from rumors of Gaston returning to preparing for their wedding. He was so sensitive and protective when it came to Belle. If she had a bruise or a cut, any place on her body, he would carry her anywhere she wanted to go. If she left the castle for a few hours or even days, he was filled with sorrow and did not rest properly until she arrived home safely. "Adam does not need this right now. He will drown himself in worry." Belle thought as she turned into the West Wing. No matter how much she fought it, her heart seemed to overrule her brain and before she knew it, she was at his door. On the other side was the man her heart longed to see.

…..

Adam lay in his bed, just waking. He had been sleeping restlessly lately. He guessed at the cause; Belle. He had noticed her pained looks and uncharacteristic fatigue. Something was troubling her and therefore it was troubling him. He just didn't know what and that bothered him the most. He wished she would just tell him instead of trying to protect him. The thought that she might not trust him with something pained him. He knew that Belle meant well and he blamed himself for being so unapproachable. He tossed and turned in his bed but could not get comfortable. Adam then put on his robe and slippers as he made his way to the doors of his balcony. In an attempt to rescue his thoughts from Belle, he grabbed a book and a chair, preparing himself to be up all night. As he walked out onto the balcony he left the doors open to his room, seeing no need to close them and block out the nice summer night air.

As Adam had gotten to the fifth chapter of his book he heard a small noise, a slight giving way of an object. He slowly got up from his seat, not sure what to do or what it was that had moved inside his bedroom. He cautiously made his way to the open doors of the balcony and stood there trying to guess what or who was on the other side. As he reasons with himself, trying to determine if what he heard was real or just the usual paranoia that comes with the night, he hears a disturbance of the silence. Someone was sobbing and crying his name. Recognizing the voice, he rushed inside.

…..

Belle prayed one last time for a change of mind but to no relief she slowly forced the door to open, to give way to the truth. She inched her way to the elegant bed, fit for a king, her king. She climbed on top of the covers feeling her way, careful not to get too close to the right side where Adam usually slept. He was strange like that, having a full bed all to himself but he still left enough room for company. "Adam, I need to tell you something…" Belle drifted off and let the words hang in the air, waiting for any kind of response: a grunt, a touch, a small movement, or a rustle of sheets. None of those came and she started to wonder if he was still sleeping or just ignoring her. Both were unlikely since he was an extremely light sleeper with his senses still heightened from when he was the Beast and it was very unusual for him to distance himself from her like that. Even when they were fighting he would at least acknowledge her presence and listen to what she had to say.

Not being able to see anything in the pitch black dark of the room, she spread out her hands and arms trying to feel for him to reassure herself that he was there. "He has to be here, he must. These dreams can't be true, can't be real." She kept reaching until she felt the bed drop off and she lay draped over the bed. Her hands had felt no man, no body; she didn't even hear a single breath being taken in or let out. Her fatal discovery hit her hard. Her heart sunk so low, she didn't think she would ever be able to pull it out of the pit of despair it had just plunged into. She heard herself gasp and she felt the tears roll down her cheeks like a waterfall of sorrow. Belle collapsed on the bed, clinging to it, feeling the indention Adam's body had left after years of use but no matter how hard she wished the indention was not filled with his warmth. She cried out Adam's name but no answer came in return. Here she was again like that horror-filled night, lying in the same position, crying and heartbroken. In more ways than one, tonight was worse. There was no body to cling to, no hand to hold, no unexpected miracle, and no joyous reunion. She was not in the arms of the man she loved and for all she knew, she had just made that man up after the Beast was killed, to try and cover up her heartbreak. Her visions must be true.

Gaston was thrown off the cliff and the Beast, her beast, was dying in her arms. She kissed the palm of his hand and told him everything was going to be alright now that she was there and that they were together. But to no avail her words became lies and he slipped away from her, hands cold in her firm grasp and a lifeless body laid underneath her. She whispered, "I love you." But her intimate words did nothing but drift away on the wind. She thought she would die there with him from her grief and then their story would be like that of Romeo and Juliet's, Adam's favorite book.

Belle snapped back to reality. She was still sobbing, crying for Adam to appear. She curled up, grabbing all the sheets and bringing them up to her chin and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She put her face in her hands, preventing her from seeing the shadow in the doorway obstructing the moonlight's haunting glow. Belle heard footsteps, running, getting closer. She removed her hands from her face and looked up to see the tall figure of a man. As the man reached out to her, she gasped before screaming and sprang out of the bed towards the balcony. The figure had said something but she couldn't hear it over her screams. As she got to the railing and realized she couldn't escape him anymore, she swiveled around to find a young man with long auburn hair and loving blue eyes standing before her. "Adam." She gasped.