Note: This story is based on one of the most famous fairy tales of all time and my personal favorite, Beauty and the Beast. I was trying to write up a chapter for another story but this came out instead so... *shrugs* I have a few ideas for some additional scenes but other than that, I honestly don't know where it's going or if I'll get around to finishing it but I'm going to put it up for now anyway because I'm hoping that it'll give me the incentive to try to complete it.
~Beast~
Chapter 1
~~~ooooo~~~
The man crept closer to the center of the garden, the sound of trickling water becoming louder with each step forward, guiding him toward his goal.
His breathing came faster, nervous, excited, terrified beyond belief. He was so close he could taste it. A lifetime's worth of studying and searching far and wide and it was finally within his reach.
Success.
The culmination of years of research had led him here, to what could quite possibly be the breakthrough of the century.
If what he sought was found in this garden, he would be the envy of all his peers.
It could be the answer every man and woman in the medical and scientific communities were looking for.
It could be the discovery to end all discoveries. Hundreds, thousands, of years down the road, men would still remember his name and speak of him in awe.
At the end of the garden path, he thought he heard a faint noise from behind him, almost lost in the sound of water splashing from the fountains, a beating of wings perhaps, and nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around, his eyes scanning first the shadows of the bushes and trees around him then the sprawling dark castle that loomed over the garden. Heavy black drapes hung over every balcony and window, lending to it an oppressive atmosphere that was at complete odds with the tranquil, welcoming one of the garden. Like a mausoleum, it was silent, as though not a soul dwelled there despite the stories he'd heard in the nearby town that now flitted through his mind. Rumors of a beast that prowled those halls, perhaps lurking in the shadows of the castle walls at that very moment.
He shivered and berated himself silently.
He was a botanist, a man of science. Creatures from myths had no place in a mind such as his, claims by superstitious townspeople living near the beast in question notwithstanding.
But he should be quick about it and get what he came for before the recluse who lived in the castle received wind of his uninvited presence. A monster he might not be, but a man who shunned society and kept to himself would not tolerate someone trespassing on his property.
Another step and suddenly, there it was.
The center of the garden appeared much more well-lit than the rest of the garden but the man could tell at a glance that it was due to the fact that, with the exception of what he had been searching for, everything else there was made of white marble. He pushed his cowl back from his head and stepped out onto the circle formed from great slabs of marble stone, drawn inexorably toward its sweet perfume.
It gleamed in the moonlight, a single flower, blood-red under the bright light of the moon. He moved toward the ornate stone planter, his eyes fixed on the flower growing quietly in the cold evening air, hidden in plain sight on a small bush in the cross section of four magnificent water fountains. A sudden breeze swept through the garden, bringing a spray of water from the two fountains on the west side of the circle and drenching the man's clothes but he barely noticed it.
Was it by happenstance that this flower had been brought to this garden with its open air and the cool windy climate of this region that would allow it to flourish? Was it by chance that the ancestors of the current owner of the castle had decided to plant this rarest of flowers between these fountains to draw attention to it? Or had they somehow managed to find out what no one else had known—the conditions it needed to survive? When the sun came up, the flower would be in direct sunlight until it sank back down over the mountains on the other side of the garden and the mist from the fountains kept the air moist and the soil around the bush perpetually damp.
This flower, little known, but dating back over four centuries was the last one of its kind.
He reached a hand out and the sound of the stalk snapping seemed to echo clear back to the town. A low growl came from the shadows behind him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. A whimper escaped him as his grip tightened on the flower in his hand.
Another growl rumbled like thunder from the darkness.
A voice hissed, "Who dares to steal my flower?"