My best fanfic friend, GoldGuardian2418, gave me the perfect advice I needed for this story! Thanks again, Goldie! Enjoy and no flames!
It was a cold, quiet evening in the Beasts's castle. The winter winds blew harshly, making howling sounds in the darkness.
In the castle library, Belle was reading a story to the Beast and his servants, Lumiere and Cogsworth.
A ghost story.
"Then, as the ghost moved through the hall, the girl felt her entire being grow cold...the beating of her heart became louder as the specter approached."
The servants looked scared, but not as scared as their master, the Beast.
The way Belle told the story made even the Beast shiver with fright.
"The girl ran as fast as she could, knowing the ghost was coming closer...and then-"
SLAM!
The window swung open by the strong winds.
"AAAAAAAAAH!" the Beast screamed as he was scared right out of his chair and fell on his bottom.
"Oh, goodness!" Cogsworth gasped. "Master!"
Belle got up and closed the window. Then she looked at the Beast and giggled. "Are you okay?" She didn't stop giggling.
The Beast got up and snarled. "IT'S NOT FUNNY!"
Belle recoiled from the Beast's rage. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything! I just never imagined you being scared-"
"I was not scared!" snapped the Beast. He stormed out of the library.
Mrs. Potts and Chip zoomed around a corner on their teacart.
"Master! What happened?!" asked Mrs. Potts. "We heard screaming!"
"Are you okay?!" Chip squealed.
"I'm fine!" Beast growled.
Chip noticed something. "Why's your tail all puffy? Is Belle telling scary stories again?"
Beast turned around to his behind. He was so scared, the fur on his tail stood on end.
"It's nothing." the Beast grumped. "I'm going to bed!"
And the beastly prince stomped away.
Outside the castle, a white figure was flying through the air.
It was a ghost. And a rather friendly looking ghost.
"Gee, I don't know where I'm going to sleep tonight." said the little ghost.
It was Casper the Friendly Ghost. He had left his cozy haunted house to get away from his nasty uncles, Stretch, Fatso, and Stinky, the Ghostly Trio.
For days now, he trio had been keeping Casper up all night with their scare rehearsals. They filled the house with howls and shrieks to practice scaring people.
So Casper decided enough's enough and he ran away.
"Whoa! A castle!" Casper's big blue eyes saw the enormous castle. "Maybe I can lay low there for a bit."
Casper went through the wall and entered the castle.
He noticed how scary it was.
"Boy, what a creepy place..." Casper said, hovering down the hallway. He saw statutes of gargoyles and creatures with fanged, gaping maws and sharp claws. "Terrifying monster statues really darken up a room." The little ghost shivered. This place spooked even a spook like him.
"I just hope there's a bedroom I can sleep in." Casper wandered into the West Wing.
The bedroom he found was the scariest room in the entire castle.
Casper gulped. "Okay, don't be scared, Casper. It's just a room that really needs a makeover that's all."
"WHO'S THERE?!" a voice boomed.
Casper nearly got scared out of his sheet. He heard horrible growls, it sounded like something bigger and scarier than his uncles lived in this castle.
The little ghost tried to get away, but when he turned, he ran right into the Beast!
When the Beast saw this shocked ghost boy, he gasped. Casper saw his sharp fangs.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The Beast screamed, but it sounded like a big, scary roar.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Casper screamed. "A MONSTER! A MONSTER!" The frightened ghost flew through the wall in sheer terror.
Downstairs, Belle was about enter the Westbound Wing to comfort the Beast.
"I hope he's not too mad at me." Belle said to herself.
But then, she heard screams coming from the Beast's room and saw Casper flying towards her!
Belle nearly screamed herself until the ghost swooped right past her and crashed into a suit of armor.
Casper groaned as he hovered above the wreckage. "Oh, my head..."
"It...It's a ghost!" Belle gasped out.
"No! Please! Don't be scared! I'm a friendly ghost!" Casper then took Belle's hand. "Come on! We have to get out of here!"
"What?! But why?!" Belle took her hand back.
"Because there's this huge, scary monster upstairs!" Casper squeaked. "It was big! And hairy! And it had sharp fangs and terrible claws! It scared me half to life!"
Belle's jaw dropped. "You're a ghost and...the Beast scared you?" She started to giggle.
"What's so funny?" Casper asked, confused.
"Forgive me." Belle said. "I just never expected a ghost to be afraid of the Beast, especially when he's completely harmless."
"Harmless?! He is?!" Casper was flabbergasted.
Belle nodded. "Yes, he is. The Beast may look scary, but he has a good heart deep down."
"Really?" Casper's face softened. "Oh, no..."
"What's wrong?"
"You see, Ma'am, I'm a friendly ghost, I don't want to scare people, I just want to make friends. I try to make friends, but most of them just scream at me and run away. And I just acted the same way to that beast." Casper buried his face in his transparent hands. "I feel awful..."
"Oh, don't be sad." Belle cooed, stroking Casper's head. "I'm sure you can still make it right by talking to him."
Casper shook his head. "No, he was so angry when he saw me. I don't want to make a scene. Well, another scene."
"Actually, I wasn't angry."
Casper jumped when he saw the Beast come down the stairs. "I didn't roar like that because I was angry." he said. "I screamed because you...scared me."
"I scared you?!" Casper keeps getting more and more surprised.
"Yes," The Beast looked ashamed himself. "If there's anyone who should be sorry, it's me. I yelled at Belle because I was...scared by a ghost story she was reading. I felt embarrassed."
"Oh, Beast." Belle held his paw. "I'm sorry I laughed, I never would have thought a big, strong beast like you scared so easily. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."
"I know you didn't mean you. But that's no excuse for to lose my temper like that." Beast said softly. "Please, forgive me."
"Of course I forgive you." Belle lifted his chin up. "But you have you remember, it's okay to be afraid. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
"She's right," Casper said. "Nothing wrong with being scared, as long as you learn to eventually face your fears."
CRASH! BANG! BOOM!
"What was that?!" Belle exclaimed.
"Sounds like it's coming from the kitchen!" said Beast.
"Let's check it out!" said Casper.
The ghost followed Belle and Beast to the kitchen. When they came to the door, Lumiere and Cogsworth came screaming out.
"What happened?!" asked Beast.
"Master!" Cogsworth gasped out. "You probably won't believe this, but-"
"There are g-g-ghosts in the kitchen!" Lumiere finished. "And they're making a mess and devouring all the food!"
Cogsworth screamed and pointed at Casper. "Oh, no! There's another one!"
"It's alright, Cogsworth." said Belle. "This is Casper, he's our friend."
"That's right. And I'll check out this ghost problem for you." Casper poked his head through the wall and gasped.
It was the Ghostly Trio!
The three ghosts were eating all the food and tearing the kitchen apart.
Casper pulled his head back in. "Oh, no! It's my uncles!"
"Your uncles?!" Belle said.
"Yeah, they're the Ghostly Trio and they're really bad ghosts. They're just plain mean and love to scare people."
"Well, they're ruining the kitchen!" Cogsworth fussed. "How are we suppose to get rid of them?!"
Casper rubbed his chin. "Hmm, well, the only way I know how to get rid of scary ghosts is to...out-scare them."
"Out-scare them?" Belle inquired.
The Beast scratched his head. "How are we gonna-" He blinked, then grinned. "Wait a minute, you just gave me an idea!"
"I have?"
Beast whispered his idea to Casper.
"Yeah! That'll show 'em!" said the ghost boy.
Inside the kitchen, the Ghostly Trio were lounging on a bed of their own mess.
"This is the life, boys!" Stretch said. "This could be our new pad!"
"Our new haunt!" said Stinky.
"Our home away from home!" said Fatso.
They had just finished eating all the food when Casper came in. "Hey, guys."
"Casper! Good timing, Bulb head!" Stretch sneered. "Start cleaning up this mess and get all our things from our house over here!"
"Why?"
"Because we're movin' in here, that's why!" Stinky snapped. "This castle is our new digs!"
"I don't think that's a good idea, guys." said Casper. "Someone's already living here."
"Oh, yeah? Well, we'll just scare 'me out of here!" said Stretch. "After all, finders creepers, losers weepers!"
The trio laughed.
And then, the lights went out.
"Huh?! What the hee-haw?!" said Stinky.
"Don't these people pay the electric bill?" Stretch complained.
GRRRRRRRR...
The trio stiffened at the sound of that growling. They turned around there, towering over them was the Beast!
The trio screamed in fright of the angry beast.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOARRRRR!"
The Beast let out his most powerful roar, sending the trio flying through the walls and out of the castle.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!" Stretch yelled.
"Forget this place!" Fatso said. "Let's just save ourselves!"
The trio flew off and screamed all the way back home.
"That was awesome!" Casper said. "You really did it!"
Beast simply smiled. "And I wasn't even trying."
Belle and the servants entered the kitchen. "You were great, Beast!" She gave him a big hug.
Casper saw the Beast blush. "Yeah, my uncles are so scared, they're probably still running!"
"Casper! Casper!" It was the sound of a little girl's voice.
Eveeyone saw a little girl in a red outfit and red witch hat carrying a broom come into the kitchen.
"Wendy!" Casper went over and hugged her.
"Casper! I've been looking all over you " Wendy giggled, her smile bright as her blonde hair.
"Wendy! I want you to meet my new friends." Casper presented his gal pal. "Everyone, this is my very best friend, Wendy. She's a witch, a good witch. Wendy, this is Belle and Beast."
"It's nice to meet you." Wendy said with a curtsy. "Whoa! What happened to this kitchen?!"
"It was the Ghostly Trio." said Casper. "They were going to move in here, but Beast scared them off real good!"
"This is going to take a while to clean up." Beast said.
"Oh, don't worry about that." Wendy took out her wand. "I've got this."
Wendy waved her wand and the kitchen started to clean itself! The dishes were fixed and placed back on the shelves, the scraps of food were gone, and before anyone knew it, the kitchen was sparkly clean.
"Amazing!" Beast said.
Belle clapped her hands together. "Wonderful! Thank you!"
"It does come in handy on wash day." Wendy put her wand away. "We better get going, Casper."
"Yeah, it was nice meeting you all." Casper shook hands with the Beast.
"Come visit us, whenever you can, Casper." Beast smiled. "You're quite a remarkable boy."
"Indeed." Belle hugged the little ghost. "Thank you for coming, Casper."
Belle and Beast watched Casper and Wendy get ready to take off on the witch's broomstick.
"Goodbye, everyone!" Casper waved.
"Bye, Casper! Take care!" Beast said, waving goodbye.
"See you again soon!" said Belle.
Casper and Wendy flew away into the night. Belle and Beast held each other's hands and shared the same smile.
"It's so nice that Casper has a special friend of his own." said Belle.
"Yes, she reminds me of you, Belle." said Beast. He stroked Belle's cheek, making her giggle.
"Beast!" Belle chuckled. "You know that tickles me!"
"I know..." Beast poked his claws into Belle's neck, making the girl squeak and giggle even more.
"Nohoho!" Belle laughed.
But Beast was just getting warmed up. He tickled Belle's sides and she laughed and laughed.
"Hahahahahahahaha! Beheeheeheeast!" Belle retorted by tickling Beast's stomach.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The Beast laughed onto the ground a story Belle tickled him into submission.
"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" Belle cooed.
Lumiere, Cogsworth, and Mrs. Potts were watching them from the window.
"Ah, those two are certainly made for each other." said Mrs. Potts.
"They certainly are indeed." said Cogsworth.