Belle cautiously made her way up the staircase leading to the mysterious, forbidden West Wing. Of course, Belle had noticed that most of the castle was kept in rather poor condition, but this particular area was a wreck. Smashed pieces of furniture littered all the corridors. At one point, Belle encountered a shattered mirror, still hanging on its wall. Each individual shard reflected the image of Belle's face. The poor girl shivered for a moment. As she advanced down the West Wing, Belle was overcome my a feeling of dread. She had to remind herself that it was only a dimly lit floor of the beast's castle. Nothing bad was going to happen to her. Belle quickly shook away her fears, and moved onward. Finally, she came across a large, wooden door. An intricate stone gargoyle was strategically mounted to the middle of the door, acting as a sort of knob. Belle drew in a deep breath, before grabbing hold of the gargoyle, and twisting it in a clockwise motion. The door creaked open, and as Belle stepped into the room, she inhaled lungfuls of dust and mold spores. Her brown eyes roamed about the room in wild curiosity.
Never before, had Belle ever seen a room in such ill condition. The West Wing was utter chaos. Smashed chairs and coat racks lay everywhere. Dirt, dust, grime. The place was abysmal. Belle assumed this particular room had not been lived in for years, now. Surly, the West Wing was unfit even for the likes of the beast. Belle walked slowly across the room. There was something behind a tattered drapery that caught her eye. Belle effortless pushed aside the heavy curtain, to reveal an old portrait of a man. By the looks of it, the beast had slashed his sharp claws across the man's face. Why? Belle gingerly pressed the straps of fabric back against the canvas, as if she was putting puzzle pieces together. Belle was surprised to find that the subject of the painting was a very handsome man indeed. But... there was something about him. This man had the most familiar blue eyes. The painting almost made Belle feel like she knew this man. In fact, she was almost sure that she knew him, but how could that be? Still, those blue eyes... Suddenly, Belle noticed a lovely red rose, enclosed in a glass bell jar, sitting undisturbed on a table. She was drawn to the rose, and as Belle came nearer to the flower, she thought that its petals seemed to glow. How interesting! Belle held her breath as she lifted the bell jar from the table. She needed to get a closer look at the elegant rose. Belle lifted her fingers, so that she might gently caress the red petals, when she was met with a ferocious roar. Belle whirled her body round to find the face of the beast. His features were twisted in rage and contempt, frightening the living daylights out of her.
"WHY HAVE YOU COME HERE!" the beast roared at her.
Then, the beast picked up the glass cover and replaced it over the rose. Belle was surprised to see how gentle the beast seemed, when it concerned the flower.
"I-I'm sorry," Belle backed away, stuttering.
"I warned you not to come here," the beast snarled, in a gravely low voice.
"I-I didn't mean any harm," whimpered Belle, "I was only curious."
"Do you realize what you could have done?" he asks, thrashing about, and throwing furniture clear across the room.
If Belle was frightened before, she was terrified now.
"N-no," sniffled Belle.
The beast did not seem to be appeased by Belle words, and he advanced towards her, in a threatening fashion. Belle could clearly read the murder in his eyes, as the beast extended his sharp, black claws, and took a great swipe at her. Belle immediately dropped to her knees to avoid the beast's claws. Her hands flew across the dusty floorboards in search of some weapon, with which she could defend herself. All Belle could procure, was a splintered dowel that must have once been part of a chair. When the beast pulled Belle up from the neck of her dress, she swung at him with her weapon. Belle's fear drove her to hit the monster hard enough to draw blood. The beast instantly released his grip on Belle with a howl, and as soon as her feet hit the ground, she took of running.
Belle raced down the corridors of the West Wing. Finally, she beheld the staircase that would bring her back to the main foyer. Belle took the steps, two, three at a time. The poor, frightened girl was desperate to put as much distance between herself and the beast as physically possible. Belle never stopped running for a minute. Because she was far too preoccupied with other matters, Belle was only faintly aware of Lumiere's voice calling out to her.
"Wh- Where are you going?" the candlestick mumbled
"Promise or no promise," Belle cried, "I can't stay here another minute!"
At that moment, Cogsworth attached himself to Belle's ankle, "Oh no, wait, please wait!"
Only, Belle did not heed the old clock's request. She forcefully shook Cogsworth off her leg, and continued her race to the castle's door. When she finally reached the exit, Belle flew through the door, slamming in loudly behind her. She was never going to look back.
Une Note Intéressante
I'm sorry that this is such a short chapter guys, but I didn't want to spoil the mood, by breaking up this chapter with another character's point of view. Okay, so you have the Syfy channel to thank for this update. I was watching a made for Syfy movie called Beauty and the Beast: A Dark Tale. Politely put, it was a waste of two hours of my life, but then again, most Syfy movies are. Well, at least I got some inspiration out of it.
As I'm sure most of you have noticed, I changed up the scene where Beast confronts Belle in the West Wing. I just thought that my way was much more dramatic than Disney's way. Plus, what fun would it be if I only regurgitated what the Disney Animators have already done? Not much!
So, I hope you enjoyed the update, and keep reading!
A quick Olympic medal count update for you all: The United States is in the lead with 36 medals. 9 gold, 14 silver, and 13 bronze! Germany is in second place with 29 medals, and Canada has taken third place with 25 medals. Sorry, Norway! Go team USA!
Tale as old as time,
xJadeRainx
