(Hello again everyone...if anyone is still interested in this... im really sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I have had quite a lot of exams recently, and yknow... got a bit distracted...so apologies. I will make it up to you I promise! )

Also very sorry that this is quite a lot shorter than other chapters, but the next should be longer (might include Be Our Guest c; )

Benedict Adam East stood in the centre of the kitchen, many people bustling all around him. Only a few short hours before, he'd felt his usual, grumpy self, but the arrivals of the two strangers had shaken everything up. Of course, people had found themselves there before, and he had treated them like he did the first girl, Maryssa. Well at least until he asked Lum to release them a few days later. But no one had stood up to him, or shown even an ounce of confidence in his presence, not even many of the others who lived there with him. He rested his head in his giant hands. The kindness the girl had shown to her sister, Benedict had never seen it before. It unsettled him, and he didn't know what to make of it.

As a child, Benedict lived with his father, after his mother died of a brain tumor when he was very young. He couldn't remember her, only the coldness of his father's body when he first gave him a stiff hug at the funeral. After that, they barely spoke two words to each other, Benedict locked himself away in his room. His father never wanted a reminder of his love for Benedicts mother, and he had soon married another. Benedict knew the woman married him for his money, but his father wouldnt listen to him. After only one year of marriage, fights would break out every evening, always ending in the loud clap of her palm smacking his face, or his genitals. Benedict often heard screams from downstairs, but chose to ignore them. He did venture down once, only to find his father, naked, cowering on the floor, and she hit him hard on the skull, body and crotch with a baseball bat repeatedly. She had been laughing, him crying, blood pouring from his head and bruises showing up all over his vulnerable body. Benedict screeched and darted back up the stairs, despite his fathers pleas for help, and did not return down for many months, petrified of what he would face downstairs.

In this time, Benedict taught himself to never trust anyone ever again. On days where his wife was away, his father would try and spoil Benedict, buy him presents and give him money to bribe him out of his room. Without any response from his son, he soon gave up, and left him to his own devices. Benedict spent a lot of his childhood writing in a diary, and, when Internet was invented, uploading his life on a blog.

When he reached 15, Benedict left home, without telling any of his family. He decided to travel the world, but didnt get very far. Soon, news came over the grape vine that his stepmother had cheated on his father for a long time, so they had split up, vowing to never see each other again. Benedicts father had soon after created the fund for any mentally unstable people who needed help. It wasnt until he died that Benedict returned home, realising that, in fact, his own father had suffered severe brain damage. He quickly moved back in. He carried on the fund, continuing in the same house. It had never been his dream, but he felt it was the one thing he could do to repay his father for looking after him, even if it was pretty badly. Benedict felt bad at the way he had treated him when he needed him most, so he felt it was the only way left to shed the guilt.

Many people had come and gone from Prince Adam House, each and every one just as different as the next. But the one thing they all had in common was the fact they all had mental instabilities, ranging from eating disorders to schizophrenia. For the first few months, a therapist came everyday to talk to everyone individually, but they didnt seem to be helping, so Benedict had cut them, claiming that it cost too much money. The therpist didnt understand why, and kept returning, which led to Benedict becoming paranoid. He forgot why he even cut it in the first place, but decided the best action would be to sever ties to the local villages completely. He didnt want anyone to find out about them.

Everybody living there was friendly, and supportive, but that didn't cure them so not many people left after they arrived.

That thought brought him back around to his current situation. Should he be nice to this new girl, Annabelle, or should he make her obey him?

At that moment, Mrs Potts stumbled into the kitchen, quickly followed by Lum. Lum immediately sank into one of the worn wooden chairs and sighed, his eyes closed.

'What do we do now?' He mumbled under his breath, but Benedict heard him. However, rather than lose his temper like normal, he decided to just let it go. That felt strange in his gut, but it was a nice strange. He was surprised and stared off into space as he thought about this new accomplishment. Already this girl seemed to be having an effect on him. Lum noticed this and looked up at him quizzically, through half closed eyes.

It took Mrs Potts four attempts before either of them finally responded to her again.

"I really think you need to just go to sleep. It's been an incredibly long night, and we all deserve a little extra lie-in, in the morning. Come on now, boys, off to bed with you."

For once, Benedict obeyed her without a word. Instead of storming off up the stairs he lagged behind Lum, who seemed equally as downbeat. Mrs Potts noticed this, but decided to say nothing of both of their changes in character. It wasn't often these two were ever vaguely quiet, and she smiled. It was quite pleasant to be honest, even though it meant they were disheartened by the events of the evening. She wasn't surprised to be fair. It had been the most eventful night she could remember for a long while, and she had experienced a few.

Taking her own advice, as soon as she knew the whole house was in their beds, Mrs Potts leaned back on her bed sighing. It didnt take long before her head hit the pillow, already in a deep slumber.