The beast demands either Yosef or Carly become prisoner! This won't end well... Will it? The song "You'll Never Win My Love" from Jem and the Holograms will be featured here.
Meanwhile, Carly was still looking out the window in the bakery. She was worried about Yosef; she knew the blizzard in the area he was supposedly in had struck, and Carly was praying and hoping for his safety.
"Come on, Carly," One of her coworkers said. "It's only been about three days; he said he'd be back within the week. You shouldn't be so worried."
"I know, and I don't know why, but I am," Carly said. "I have this instinct that something's gone wrong in a way we're not going to expect."
"Now you're just being overly paranoid." Her coworker said.
"But with that blizzard, how do we know something didn't happen?" Carly said, as she turned back to her coworker, her back to the wall.
"I get what you're saying, but… Wh-Wh-Whoa! Carly, look out the window!" Her coworker said.
Carly, curious as well as annoyed, turned around to look out the bakery window, only to see the luxurious coach from the beast's castle.
"We gotta get up to speed; who knows who could be in that coach!" Carly's coworker said before dashing in.
Carly looked at the coach, and she saw the door open. Out came Yosef, and Carly ran back in, shouting, "Guys! Yosef's back! And he's come in this regal, expensive-looking carriage of some sort."
"That was quick." "Back so soon?" "Sheesh…"
Everyone met up with Yosef outside, all asking him how things went. Yosef held up a hand and everyone stopped talking. Seeing the look on his face, Carly knew that something was wrong.
Yosef brought everyone inside and he explained what had happened, including the beast and the deal he made with him.
Needless to say, everyone was shocked and scared. Some did not even believe what they were hearing.
"Seriously?! Are you sure that it wasn't a dream?!" "Come on, guys! If it were a dream, he'd have come back in the car, not in that carriage that's something out of a fairytale!" "He's right…" "That aside, I guess that means your trip was a bust…" "But what are we going to do without Yosef?"
Carly, having heard the whole story, including the fact it was the vanilla beans that was the center of the argument, clenched her fist in frustration.
"ENOUGH!" Carly shouted, as she caused everyone else to look in her direction. "Listen, the bottom line is that this all ties back to me. After all, Yosef only got those vanilla beans because I asked him to. Besides, it's not like the store will crush without me…"
"Carly, you're not…" Yosef began, but Carly held his hand.
"I am." Carly said.
Everyone gasped in surprise.
"You're not serious, are you?!" "Are you saying what I think you're saying?!" "This isn't gonna end well…"
"That's right; I'm going in Yosef's stead. Besides, it's not like I'm gonna be cooped up like Rapunzel." Carly said, putting on a brave face.
"You're not going to sacrifice your dreams, are you?!" "You've gone crazy!" "We'll figure something out…"
"No," Carly said. "I'm going. I'll pack my essentials and a few of my guilty pleasures. I'll bring my phone, too, so I can stay in touch with you guys. Better than letting Yosef suffer when I was the one who wanted the vanilla."
No one argued her point. Carly resigned herself to living with the beast for the rest of her life. While her heart felt a sense of dread, she refused to take back what she had said.
The next morning, Carly had brought her suitcase with everything she loved, from her recipe books to her phone and her computer to stay in contact with everyone else. While she was afraid of what was going to happen, she knew that it would be better than living with the guilt of letting Yosef take the punishment for her entire life.
Yosef, everyone from her work, and her best friend May all came to see her off. Carly was standing in front of the carriage that brought Yosef home, and she said her goodbyes.
"Hold down the fort, okay?" Carly said, tears in her eyes.
"You're one of my best pastry chefs, Carly," Yosef said, crying. "You'll be missed."
"I promise to be strong and brave," Carly said, hugging Yosef. "I'll keep in touch."
"At least you won't be bored with your books." "Good luck." "We'll try and figure something else out to get you out of there." "You'll be in our thoughts."
After hearing the sad farewells of all of her friends, Carly went into the coach, before giving her company one more tearful look. The door closed, and then the magic coach started to go to the beast's castle.
Though they all wanted her to someday come back safely, no one expected to hear from her outside of phone call or text ever again.
After a few days, Carly was growing bored with looking out the window of the coach all day long. She felt really down and blue, and she was scared of what the beast was going to do to her. However, Carly knew she had to stand up for herself if she was going to confront a beast.
"If I make him upset… I don't even want to think it." Carly said, with a shudder.
The coach soon stopped in front of the brass gate. The outside of the gate was still heavily covered in snow. Carly was unsure of what to do, but she stepped out of the coach, and she opened the gate.
Entering the courtyard, Carly was spellbound by how beautiful the springtime weather was in comparison to the winter disaster outside of the gate.
"Wow… Yosef wasn't kidding," Carly said, as she started to approach the castle door. "This is really out of a fairytale."
Approaching the gate, Carly took a deep breath.
She said, "Hello? I'm here; your prisoner, sire. I came here on my own free will! Please, in the stead of Yosef, I will be your captive."
"You must be Carly," The beast's voice said, as Carly looked around, in fear. "Come in."
This statement took Carly aback; taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves.
"Thank you." Carly said, as she was expecting the doors to open up and for something spooky to happen.
The twin doors opened, and Carly's eyes went wide with shock to see the beast standing there, in front of the dining room table, with an entire meal ready for her, including a table setting.
The beast was also surprised to see her; Carly was more beautiful than he expected, but it was the inner beauty that was shinning brightly from inside of her that was catching his attention.
"Come, sit, eat." The beast said, a little forcefully.
He started to approach her with a hostile aura around him; this scared Carly, and she felt like she was in danger.
Almost as if the weather sensed the situation, the entire environment outside the castle turned into a thunderstorm.
Carly was scared half to death and the beast kept coming after her. Carly kept backing away, a little scared.
"I… I, um, I'm not hungry." Carly said, getting the sense that something bad was going to happen.
"That wasn't a request!" The beast shouted, as he made a grab for her.
Carly ducked away, before saying, "You expect me to comply with that behavior?"
Snagging her by the arm, the beast snarled, "You belong to me!"
"Let go of me! That hurts!" Carly shouted in fear; she slapped the beast's hand away before backing up a bit.
"I am fear-inducing in appearance, aren't I? That is outside of my control. Regardless, I will win your love." The beast declared.
"With that behavior, that will be easier said than done…" Carly said, as she felt a little braver, and she felt a song coming on.
"You'll never win my love, coming on so strong!" Carly sang, as she backed up, only to hit the wall and look at the beast.
He roared as he made a grab at her.
She swiftly dodged before hiding behind one of the furniture pieces.
"You'll never win my love; you're going at it all wrong!" Carly song, as she soon ran after the beast once again tried to get her.
She started backing away and she continued to sing, "You'll never win my love, acting cruel and mean! You'll never win my love, unless you change your routine!"
Carly stood her ground as the beast approached.
She put her hand out, before singing, "If you abuse me, you'll only lose me! You'll never make me care!"
Carly leaped out of the way, tucked and rolled as the beast once again roared and tried to grab her.
"Give me a rough time, you'll have a tough time! You'll never get anywhere!" Carly sang, as she once again stood up.
The beast made it closer to her and he roared once again before snagging her arm.
"What are you thinking of when you act unkind? You'll never win my love without a new frame of mind! If you abuse me, you'll only lose me! You'll never win my love!" Carly sang, as she soon gave the beast a good look in the eye.
He kept on roaring and rampaging. Carly, sensing to get out of the situation, ran down the hallway, in fear of her own life.
"Suffering your tyranny is a fate worse than death!" Carly shouted, as she ran.
The beast kept roaring and screaming in pain and agony; it was as if Carly's rejection of him angered him further.
Carly ran up the stairs into the hallways, and she skid to a halt when she saw that it was safe.
"Oh, man, that scared me. I need to be able to figure out how to keep him from acting up like that. Giving in to his behavior like that is just too much; it's out of the question," Carly said, before taking a deep breath. She looked out of the corner of her eye and saw a door with her name on it. "Wow… He had a room prepared for me?"
Opening the door, Carly saw a luxurious bedroom, fit for a princess. Carly was confused at the implication. She knew the beast had intentions for her, but she did not know what they were. They only knew each other for less than ten minutes.
"Sheesh… If he was going to keep me prisoner, he certainly is giving me a better room to stay in than a dungeon or tower." Carly said, as she entered the room.
She looked around and saw there was almost anything a girl could ever want. There was even an in-suite bathroom, just like the room Yosef had.
Opening the closet, Carly saw there were luxurious dresses and other women's clothing in there, including shoes, hats, and other accessories.
Looking to the side table, Carly saw that there was a bouquet of flower buds in a vase. She approached them, and they bloomed to reveal they were red roses.
"I don't get it," Carly said, as she sat on her bed; her luggage had somehow magically teleported to the room. "How can such beautiful and wonderful things be in a castle of someone like that beast? Unless…"
Carly looked out the window; she felt awful about leaving her life behind just to appease the beast that threatened Yosef. While she had yet to acclimate, it seemed to her that there were a lot of questions that had fewer answers to them.
Carly, feeling that her life was ruined, fell on the bed, and started sobbing and crying loudly. Without a companion in the world to be there for comfort, Carly bawled and cried her heart out.
Over time, as she let her emotions out, she somehow wound up falling asleep on her bed.
The beast, meanwhile, overheard her tears from nearby, and he sighed loudly before continuing to walk the halls.
Having cried herself to sleep, Carly failed to realize how tired out she was when she woke up the next morning.
"Man… What happened to me?" Carly asked aloud; she looked around, and she soon realized where she was.
She slapped herself in the face, as she remembered the mess she put herself in and the events of the previous day.
However, Carly was surprised when she saw something she was not expecting: hanging on a coat hanger in front of her was a beautiful dress.
It was a pink, floor-length, one-sleeve, bracelet sleeve halter dress with a bell skirt that had pink embroidery on it.
"It's beautiful!" Carly said, her eyes widening with joy at the dress.
She got out of bed, and ran to get a better look, and she looked at the note that was attached.
'Carly,
Forgive my foolish, overly brash behavior.
You alone are the queen and the head of the castle.
You may go wherever you wish in the castle. It would be unfair to keep you cooped up.
To show I repent, I give you this dress. I will hope that you come to dine with me tonight.'
Carly knew he had somehow come into her room.
"Of course he was able to come in; it's his castle," Carly said. "But for him to leave me this dress and give me a note asking me to join him… I guess there's more to him than meets the eye."
She smiled a little bit; she sensed that the beast was being meaningful and was regretful of his behavior.
Putting on the dress, Carly went downstairs into the dining room to eat breakfast. However, the beast was not there. She was surprised that the beast was absent.
"Where could he be?" Carly asked aloud; she sat down to eat, and she partook in the food that she had in front of her.
She was really happy with the food, and she loved it to her heart's content. She was so happy that she kept eating until she was stuffed like a turkey.
"That was delicious," Carly said, as she put the dishes that she washed away. She smiled. "I guess if the beast is making distance after yesterday's episode, I guess he must really be beating himself up over what happened…"
Carly decided that rather than dwelling on the beast, to go and look around at her new home to see what it was like. Outside of the monster who was supposed to be her captor, the entire palace seemed to be something out of a fairytale no matter which way she went.
However, Carly soon stumbled upon something; she saw a portrait, and it looked a tad dusty. She rubbed it to get the dust off, and it was revealed to be a portrait of a young man.
He was a young man with platinum blonde hair, green-blue eyes, wearing a teal uniform with badges, and he looked stern, and professional with his arms crossed.
"Wow… Who is that? He's kinda cute…" Carly said aloud, but then she shook her head. "This is no time to be going gaga over some guy who's probably not even here."
Carly turned around and she walked into another room; she had seen almost every kind of room for almost anything, so she was not expecting much for the next one.
However, when she walked in, she merely saw musical instruments that were somehow or another playing on their own. Curious, she walked farther in. She saw violins, flutes, clarinets, etc., and they all were either floating in the air or playing themselves. She was confused.
"Wow…" Carly began, only to turn around when she heard piano playing.
She flinched when she saw the beast; oddly enough, it was the beast himself that was playing the piano, and the other instruments were playing in time.
Carly smiled as she saw the calm, almost happy and pleased expression on the beast's face. She started humming a little bit to the music, and she actually began to dance a little with the music.
However, the beast noticed her and he stopped playing the music out of nowhere. The other instruments stopped, too. Carly flinched when she realized she was noticed.
"I beg your pardon…" Carly said. "Forgive my intrusion."
Rather than roaring at her, he gave her a sad, regretful look.
"No. I apologize for my raging yesterday," The beast said. "I was out of line."
She was surprised that this was how he acted in front of her. However, Carly sensed his sincerity. She looked at him with sympathy, and she said, "So long as you learned your lesson…"
The silence that came afterwords was a little odd, and Carly decided to break the ice.
"You certainly have a way with the piano." Carly said.
"I see you like the music in here," The beast said, as he smiled and looked around at all of the instruments. "You certainly were acting like you were enjoying yourself."
"How couldn't I?" Carly said, as she approached the beast. "It wasn't as if the one playing it was doing poorly. You were doing an excellent, beautiful job."
This comment merely got a scoff from the beast. He stood up, and said, "How can someone as grotesque as me…"
"Play the piano so well?" Carly said, interrupting, with a giggle. "I doubt the way you look is a factor."
The beast smiled a little bit, and then he approached Carly.
"Shall we dance?" He asked, holding out his hand.
Carly was still a little nervous about the situation, but she sensed that he became more gentle, and she gladly put her hand in his.
The instruments took their cue and started to play a waltz. Carly and the beast started to dance a little, and Carly's fear and concern towards her situation melted in an instant.
She grew closer to the beast, and she felt a lot more comfortable and happy around him.
Days passed, and Carly soon grew to see more sides of the beast that she had never seen before. In spite of his behavior when they first met, she saw there were things about him she never knew.
For example, the animals in the gardens never feared him; as a matter of fact, birds were more than happy to perch on his arms and head.
"Hahaha! Looks like birds love you." Carly said, as she was also out in the gardens, picking roses.
The beast also laughed heartily and they were once again enjoying themselves.
Seems things are going a little better now. Question is, what's going to happen in the future with this situation.