Author's Note: This is the love story of Vincent and Catherine. This story will be submitted in several parts and is based off the T.V. show "Beauty and the Beast", yet the "history" itself has been changed somewhat to suit the purposes of this story. Not all the parts of this story will contain erotic sex scenes as there is a plot. First and foremost, this story is a romance/drama, not a sex story. Also, this is story is AU, Please read and review! Also, I'd like to note that I do not own "Beauty and the Beast" or the characters and I will NOT be receiving any payment whatsoever for writing this story. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.
This fanfiction series is dedicated to Daphne.
~*~Chapter One~*~
Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; By Dylan Thomas
Though lovers be lost love shall not;
And death shall have no dominion.
A helper had came from Below and had pressed a small bit of white paper into Catherine's hand. He was not seen. No one who worked in the over-crowded office where Catherine had been employed for well over two years had seen the exchange.
Then the helper walked away silently, as if he had never been in the room. When she had a free moment, when no one was near to look over her shoulder, Catherine opened the slip of paper to read the message. Her eyes widened as she read Mouse's unusually scrawled handwriting, as if to emphasize the urgency of his message. The message said:
Catherine, Please come Below right away. Vincent needs you. Something is terribly wrong. Mouse
Catherine did not waste a second of time. She grabbed her purse from the top of her cluttered desk and burst into Joe's office, the note now crumpled within her hand.
"What's up, Radcliffe?" Joe asked, looking up from his pile of work in surprise. Catherine didn't usually burst into his office unannounced. The color of her cheeks were ever-so pale.
"Sorry, Joe," she said. "But I have to leave now."
"What's going on?" Joe asked with his usual tone of concern. "Are you sick or something?"
"Yeah," she replied quickly.
"Probably the flu. It's going around you know. Michelle had it the other day."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, Radcliffe. Take it easy, okay?"
"I'll be fine," she assured him, quickly exiting and closing the door.
~*~o~*~
Catherine drove to the parking lot on 42nd Street and parked her blue Sedan in front of the 24 hour shopping mall. Then she took off walking into Central Park. At the east edge of the giant park, she took a secluded pathway into a small forest. She then walked down a steep hill into a clearing and found the hidden entrance to the tunnels.
Mouse was waiting for her at the entrance. There was an agitated look upon his pleasant face. "Catherine, thought you'd never get here. Something wrong... with Vincent. Something terrible," Mouse said.
"Tell me, Mouse,' Catherine insisted. "Please."
"A horrible rage. No one can talk to him. Not even Father. Father is afraid. He said, 'Get Catherine.' So Mouse sent you that message."
"Where is he, Mouse?"
"In a cavern. Come, Mouse take you," he offered. He reached for Catherine's arm and lead her deep into the world Below.
~*~o~*~
Just before the cavern where Vincent raged, stood Father and Pascal. Catherine saw fear and worry upon their faces. "Catherine, Thank God you have come. Vincent is not well. We are debating what should be done," spoke Father.
Catherine could barely hear Father's voice over the agonizing sounds of Vincent's cries. He sounded as if he were dying from his rage. Vincent's tormenting wails put stabs of pain into Catherine's heart.
"He's dying, Father. I must go to him," Catherine said urgently, staring with sorrow toward the tunnel which lead to Vincent's location.
"No, Catherine. It's too dangerous. He does not know his own strength during his rage. You may be hurt," Father warned, trying to pull Catherine back.
"He needs me, Father," Catherine said firmly. "He IS my life. I have to go to him."
Father, Pascal, and Mouse watched in reluctance as Catherine walked through the tunnel toward the cavern where Vincent roared. "I have a very bad feeling about this," Pascal said with worry.
Father spoke to his companions. "If anyone can reach Vincent, it is Catherine," he said. "Let's pray."
~*~o~*~
Over an hour had passed. It was freezing in the tunnels that lead into the earth and deep into the world Below. Pascal had made a small fire, and he and Mouse bent down beside it's warmth. But Father stood at the cold entrance where Catherine had gone earlier, a grave expression upon his bearded face.
"What's taking so long?" asked Pascal, breaking the silence.
"Quiet. So quiet," Mouse observed.
"How can it be that quiet?" Pascal wondered, looking at Father uneasily.
The three were not certain when Vincent's cries of rage had ceased and when the deafening silence had began. The silence was nearly as frightening as Vincent's roars, for they feared the unknown. They feared for Catherine, because Vincent had not been himself, and he may have caused her injury in his intense fury.
"I'm going in now," Father sighed, turning into the darkened tunnels of jagged earth that lead like a miniature maze toward the cavern where Vincent had gone hours before.
He found Vincent and Catherine there. Catherine was sitting up in the soft dirt and Vincent's head was resting upon her lap. His eyes were closed, but hers were wide open. Father thought he saw emotion in them that he hadn't recognized before.
"How is he?" Father asked.
"He's alive,' was Catherine's reply.