I decided to give Adrian's perspective a try. Let me know what you think. :D
Chapter 3
Adrian has been pacing back and forth since he left Belle's room. Nobody has ever had the nerve to talk to me like that. Part of him wanted to put the girl in her place, but there was another part of him that was interested. He was so accustomed to being feared that her snapping at him made him want to know more about her. It made him want to understand her, but at the same time it made him want to teach her to why everyone feared looked at the painting on his wall. It's a painting of a rose bush. The bush was colorless, lifeless; until the base where the thorns were thick and pointed and the bright green leaves that reminded him of the task he had to accomplish. He couldn't make Belle fear him, he had to find someone who could love him. As if on cue, the witch's voice popped into his head.
"Adrian, how is she going to love you if you keep her locked up and just keep her in fear of you? You actually have to earn her love not just kidnap her and pray she will fall in love with you because she is pretty and you buy here expensive things. Have you learned nothing?" she taunted him.
"I tried talking to her. I was told she was quiet and meek. Her attitude took me off guard, along with her ungratefulness for everything I have given her. She's so hard to please!" he said.
"You have a lot to learn and little time to learn it in." With that she was gone. With her departure, the rose bush gained more green and a little white rosebud appeared. He sat down in his chair and put his face in his hands. What did she think he was going to say to Belle? Hi, I'm Adrian. I think you are beautiful, so beautiful that I have been stalking you and lurking in the shadows just to see you; because I know you could never care about a freak like me. Then, I told your father that I would send my men in to kill every one of his if he didn't hand you over to me so I can try and force you to love me because a witch cursed me and I will die if I cannot find someone to love me before a painting of a rose bush fully blooms. That's the way to win over a woman's heart. I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong here. She loves books, I saw the amount she read when she was home. Maybe I have the wrong ones? She loves writing, she gets such a passionate look when she does. I got her everything she could want to for that. She has every kind of clothing that can be bought for a woman, jewelry, and shoes as well. Where am I messing up? Then he remembered what the witch had said about kidnapping Belle. He tried to reason with himself that he hadn't kidnapped her, her father gave her willingly to him. Kidnapping is taking, he had asked. More like threatened. He sighed loudly.
"Sir," Henric said, as he knocked.
"Yes," he sighed. He sounded exhausted. Until then he hadn't realized just how tired he was, both emotionally and physically.
"The girl… Belle, she seems rather ill. She will not leave her bed and she hasn't eaten much," Henric reported. Adrian's heart sank deep into the pit of his stomach. No, this can't be happening. Not to her, anyone else just not her. He was puzzled by these thoughts, he barely knew this girl and he was so concerned about her health. He banished the thoughts to nothing but the fact that he needed her to live, he needed her to break the curse. He walked out of the room and opened the door to Belle's. She was laying in her bed and he could not deny her beauty. Her long chestnut hair was spread out all along her pillow and her all of the color was washed out of her skin, as if she was a ghost. She had a slender build, although it appeared that she had begun to lose weight. Her long eyelashes fluttered as she opened her deep brown eyes. He gently put his hand against her forehead to check her temperature and electricity pulsed through his skin. She flinched and he pulled away. She flinched at my touch. I must repulse her. He had to force himself to focus and not dwell on what just happened.
"Are you well?" he asked.
"Yes," she said, in a raspy voice.
"You hardly have a voice. Do you need water?" he asked. She nodded slightly, as if she didn't have the energy to do anything else. Not wanting to leave her side, he called Henric to bring in water. He handed it to her and she gave him a thin smile. Jealousy burned through Adrian. She smiles at him and flinches away from me. Her hands shook as she tried to take a drink. He took it, with best efforts to not touch her again, and held the glass to her lips. She took small sips and then pulled away from the glass.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Do you need anything else?" he asked her. Her eyes closed as she drifted to sleep. He dared to softly touch her cheek. She softly grumble and rolled towards his touch. The electric current rushed through him, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. Just as he went to let go, her lips turned into a sleepy smile. His heart skipped a beat. He pulled away from her and made a silent promise to check on her in the morning.
