Disclaimer: I don't own Beastly. I just have fun with the story.

Explanation: My own twist on the movie ending. Hope you enjoy it!

"I don't understand," Will told Kyle in his plain-spoken way. "Why won't you talk to her? The last time I talked to her, she told me she was hurt, which is girl-speak for 'call now, bonehead!'"

"She don't know what to do, so she go back to school, to go on the trip," Zola added.

Looking at his only two friends, Kyle realized that this was his last chance. Not his chance to break the spell; he'd already accepted that would probably never happen now. It was his last chance to make things right with Lindy.

He went upstairs to change his clothes, and realized he'd left his phone in his room. Holding it up, he saw that once again, there was a voicemail waiting for him. He kicked himself for not having it with him. It was Lindy again, probably trying to work things out. He was tempted to just ignore it and head out as quickly as he could so he could get to her, but he still wanted to hear the message – to hear her voice. Kyle fumbled awkwardly with his shirt, trying to put it on with one arm while he held the phone to his ear with the other to hear the message.

Sure enough, it was Lindy. But her voice was different, changed. She wasn't pleading anymore. It was cold, and hard.

"So I've been waiting around, and hoping for an answer from you, thinking eventually you'd come see me, or call me, or hell, just send me a lame-assed text or something. But nothing. And you know what I finally figured out? Sometimes, no answer is an answer. So I get it. I won't bother you anymore! Have a nice life!"

Kyle felt like he'd been struck to the chest with something as the message ended. He bolted from his room, frantically running down the stairs while he dialed Lindy's number. The phone rang, then went to voicemail.

No, no, no. She'd given up on him. She thought he didn't care. He tried again, the phone trembling against his ear as he prayed that she would answer. She didn't. He growled in frustration and hung up as her voicemail picked up.

Kyle started up his bike, bringing it to life with a guttural roar as he sped down the street back to Buckston Academy. Steering with one hand, he tried her again, this time leaving a message. "Lindy, it's me. I've been an idiot, I know, but please, don't go on that trip to Machu Pichu! I'm on my way to school to meet you, just wait for me! Please!"

The drive to Buckston seemed to take an eternity, even with Kyle practically breaking land speed records and several traffic laws to get there. Finally he arrived, and for once, didn't bother to stop and think of his scars. He had no time for that. He bolted off of his bike, running across the street and throwing open the doors to the school.

People, some of them ones he used to know, stopped in their tracks when they saw him. Kyle didn't care. He made his way to the main lobby, where there was a line of kids waiting for the bus to the airport. He scanned the line quickly, barely noticing the looks of shock and revulsion he got. Finally he stopped at the first person waiting. It was a girl named Annie, who was overweight, with thick glasses and braces. He and his group used to make fun of her, he remembered. Guilt pored over him for his previous actions as he asked her in barely a whisper, "Lindy Taylor. Have you seen Lindy Taylor?"

Annie's eyes were wide with horror, staring at him. But she managed to reply. "She's not here. She didn't come."

"Where? Please Annie, where?"

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How did you-"

"Please!" He cried out. "Where is she?"

She swallowed in anxiety. "Home, I think."

Without another word, Kyle raced out of the school, nearly colliding with a teacher who was coming to see what the ruckus was about. He darted out of the doors and took off towards Lindy's apartment, not bothering to take his bike. It was several blocks, but he could run it. He took out his cell and tried to call her again, and once again got her voicemail.

He could hear his heart pounding in his ears. His lungs felt like they were on fire, and the wind created by his vigorous running seemed to seep into his scars and burn him. He didn't care. He kept on.

Finally he was there, just across the street from Lindy's building. And that's when he saw something that made his racing heart feel like it stopped dead in his chest.

It was that scumbag Victor, Lindy's father's dealer, quietly exiting the building. His arm was tucked into his jacket, and he was looking around cautiously, like he didn't want anyone looking at him.

"God," Kyle whispered. "God, no."

Lindy's father had texted his daughter that Victor was arrested, but the son of a bitch must have gotten out on bail. And once he was out, he had only one thing that he needed to do.

Kyle bolted across the road, not bothering to heed the angry honks of cars trying to pass. By the time he got to the building, Victor was already gone. His hands were shaking so hard he could barely grasp the handle of the door. Somehow he managed, and he flew up the three flights of stairs to Lindy's apartment.

When he got to number 205, he pounded on the cream-colored door. "Lindy! Lindy, please, let me in!" But no one answered. Finally, Kyle took a step back, squared his shoulders, and kicked in the door, wood splintering and flying in all directions as it gave way under the force of his foot.

Lindy was there, and at first, Kyle was confused. He couldn't understand why she was just lying there on the floor, staring back at him.

He was on his knees at her side before he even realized how he'd gotten there. "Lindy?" he asked gently. He slid an arm under her back, pulling her into his embrace. He brushed her dark hair away from her face. He held her very close to him. Her gaze didn't change. It was still far away, empty. The look in her eyes, combined with the blood seeping out of a hole in her forehead, finally made Kyle realize that she couldn't see him anymore.

Great, heaving sobs tore through his chest as he cradled her. He felt like someone had ripped out his heart, his guts. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, dripping into his mouth, down his throat, but he didn't care. His sobs grew louder and longer, more and more and more until they erupted into a thunderous, primal scream.

This was all his fault. He was never so sure of anything in his life. Kendra had been right. He didn't care about anyone but himself. Because if he did, he would have come to Lindy when she asked for him. But instead he let her think that he didn't care about her. And she died thinking that he didn't care about her. She was all alone in this place when that bastard came to take her life.

He didn't know how long he sat there on the floor, rocking Lindy in his arms. Time seemed to stop as he tried to process what had happened. But he couldn't. He couldn't accept he'd lost her. Even though he knew what he'd seen, even though he felt her sticky red blood staining his skin and matting his clothes. He couldn't accept that Lindy was gone.

Because if Lindy was gone, there was nothing left for him. There would be no more world. And it couldn't end like this – it just couldn't. Not after he knew that magic was real…

"Magic," he whispered softly.

Magic.

"Kendra?" Kyle uttered. It wasn't a statement, it was a conjuring, a summoning. "Kendra!" he called out the witch's name. "Kendra!" he cried again.

"Keeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnndddraaaaaaaaaa!" he wailed now, imploring her to come to him.

"Yes, Kyle?" he heard a voice beside him. He turned to see Kendra there, kneeling next to him.

"Please," he groaned, his voice breaking with agony. "Please bring her back."

She stared at him, her green eyes hard. "I can't do that. I'm sorry."

He glared at her. "Yes, you can. You have magic-"

"And there are some things that even magic can't do," she informed him. "Lindy is a mortal, and her life ended in a very mortal way. There's nothing I can do." She got up and started to walk away.

"Wait!" Kyle cried. Gently he laid Lindy's body down on the ground and stalked over to Kendra, grabbing her arm roughly and turning her around. "It wasn't supposed to end like this. You know that."

"You're right, Kyle. It could have ended very differently," Kendra replied coldly. "You could have answered Lindy's calls. You could have accepted the friendship she wanted to offer. If you had, perhaps she wouldn't have been alone in this apartment when Victor decided to come after her. But you didn't. You shut her out. Life is full of regrets, Kyle."

Kyle scowled. "How can you be so cruel? I know, I was wrong. I screwed up. But Lindy shouldn't have to pay for my mistake! She didn't deserve this, she deserves a second chance!" Then it dawned on him. He remembered one of his first conversations with Kendra. "Everyone deserves a second chance. You told me that," he reminded her.

Kendra stared at him for a moment, but then she broke her gaze and turned away in frustration. "Oh, I can't! What you're asking me to do, it's nearly impossible."

"But it is possible," Kyle pointed out, his heart pounding with hope. "Whatever it is you're thinking about, it can be done."

Kendra sighed. "Yes, yes, it can be done, but it's risky! It might not work at all, I don't know! And I'd be breaking a whole lot of rules to do this."

"What is it?" Kyle pleaded. "Please, just tell me what you could do."

Kendra crossed her arms. "I can't restore Lindy's life, but I can send you back to before this whole thing happened. If you can get to her in time, you can save her."

Kyle laughed nervously. "Okay, great. So what do we need to do?"

"Hold on there, cowboy," Kendra said. "It's not as simple as it sounds. There are some things you need to know."

"Like?"

"Like, it's not an exact science. I will do my best to send you back to a reasonable point in time, but time travel is a very difficult spell. I could send you back a week, a month, maybe a year. Or, maybe many years before this all happened. Let that sink in: I could send you back 20 years into the past. You'd have to wait for Lindy to be born to be with her, and you'd be a much older man. Are you willing to accept that?"

"Yes," Kyle said without hesitation. "As long as she's alive, it doesn't matter."

"Hmph. I sure hope so. Another thing. If you travel too far into the past, you might accidentally alter some things other than what you actually want to change. Even one small thing you do-"

"Yeah, yeah, the Butterfly Effect, I know. I saw the movie. I need to be careful."

"Well, just be aware that by traveling in time, you may cause something else to happen that you weren't expecting. You may save Lindy, but you might inadvertently cause someone else you care about to die. You'll need to accept that too."

Kyle took a deep breath, trying to process everything the witch was telling him. "Okay, I understand. Anything else?"

Kendra looked at him guiltily. "Just one more thing. When the others like me find out what I've done, they aren't going to be happy. There may be a price you'll need to pay for saving Lindy's life. I don't know what it is, but it could be steep. I don't know."

He shook his head. "I don't care what the price is. I can't live without her. That's the only price I can't pay."

Kendra sighed sadly. "There's no way I can talk you out of this, is there? Even with all the risks?"

Kyle's gaze was like steel. "No way at all."

"All right," the witch relented, her arms dropping to the sides. "Give me a second to get ready. Go stand in the center of the room."

Kyle complied with her orders, passing Lindy's body as he went to stand in the spot Kendra directed him to. "I'll see you soon," he told her. "I'll make this right, I promise."

He looked up to see Kendra standing completely still across from him, her eyes glowing. "Kyle?" she asked.

"Yes, Kendra?" he said.

"Good luck."

With that, everything went black. Kyle felt the ground slip away from his feet, the pressure of the air around him dissipate into nothing. He felt as though he were moving and standing still at the same time. He thought he was going to be sick, but you have to have a stomach to be sick. He wasn't sure if he had a body at all.

He had to focus. He was going to get to Lindy. And nothing else mattered. The last two weeks didn't matter. Being abandoned by his father didn't matter. And the heartless, self-centered jerk he used to be didn't matter anymore either. That life was no life at all. Not before she came along.

And there would be no life after, if he failed…

No! No, he wasn't going to fail. He couldn't. Even if Kendra's magic faltered and sent him a hundred years into the past, he'd find a way to save her. There was no other choice.

Kyle lost track of how long this nothingness seemed to last, until at last he felt like someone had dropped him to the ground roughly, and the light came back all at once.

He groaned, shaking off the feeling of vertigo, and struggled to see and make sense of where he was…

To be continued…