Chapter 12 - Caged Monster
Beast was visiting his mother's grave again. He had used the enchanted book to travel there, as it was the easiest option.
He wasn't there to remember anything, or to give into his emotions. He just wanted to keep her company. He wanted to make up for all those years where he hadn't visited her. He didn't want her to be alone.
Sometimes, he wondered if his mother was buried there, or if this was just a memorial site dedicated to her, and her body was somewhere else. He would never know for sure, unless he dug her up, which he had no intention of ever doing.
The fairy tale book he had left her was still in good condition, as the apple tree must have sheltered it from the elements. It was a little tattered and worn, from being outside, and must have gotten wet at least once or twice, probably from rain water dripping from the leaves, but other than that, it was intact. He had been worried about it blowing away, perhaps being carried off by some strong winds. But there it still was, and there is where it would stay, resting on the grass in front of the tombstone.
Beast hadn't brought anything for her this time. He had thought about bringing her a rose from the garden, but he had grown to dislike roses a great deal, due to one in particular being the source of his misery.
Instead, he was reciting a quote about Guinevere and Lancelot aloud for her. He remembered it off by heart. "For madam, I love not to be constrained to love; for love must arise of the heart, and not by no constraint."
It was one of his mother's favourite lines. It confirmed the all-consuming power of love and Lancelot's utter devotion to Guinevere.
He wondered if his mother ever dreamed of knowing a love like that of Guinevere and Lancelot. Perhaps that was why she had grown so attached.
The hillside was silent. A light breeze rushed passed him, whipping up his cloak, moving his tail and rustling the branches of the trees. Despite the calm, peacefulness of the countryside, something felt... Off. He just couldn't figure out what.
His ear twitched. He turned his head slightly, to look behind him. And that's when he heard it. The loud barks of a dog.
Before he could react, a large, fierce black dog pounced on him. Beast fell back and crashed into his mother's gravestone, as the dog sunk its teeth into his arm as he tried to hold it back. He let out a cry of pain.
The dog was tugging at his arm, almost like it was trying to rip it off. Beast didn't know what to do, his mind was racing. He tried to focus on going back to the castle, to return to library and the book.
But nothing happened.
He was still there, the angry dog now trying to bite at his throat. That's what they were trained to do, to go for the neck and take a chunk out of it. He knew that, he had seen Wilfred do it. It was the quickest way for them to kill prey. This was clearly a hunting dog, but he couldn't figure out the breed, as he was too busy trying to stop the dog from killing him.
He had his injured arm held underneath the dog's chin, keeping it as far away as possible, which was only a tiny distance. He could see all of it's teeth, feel the saliva dripping onto his face as it barked and snarled.
It would seem that it would take his full concentration to return to castle, just the same as it did when using the book to get there. And he couldn't even begin to concentrate when the dog was barrelling down on him, inches away from ripping his throat out.
Why was magic so complicated?!
He stared into the dog's rabid, hungry eyes. He leaned further back onto his mother's tombstone, trying to distance himself from the dog's snapping jaws even more. He heard the tombstone begin to creak and crack, and the earth in front of it was upturned as it collapsed under his weight.
His mother's tombstone... Had been destroyed.
Something within Beast snapped. The animal caged inside of him, that was lurking away in the back of his mind came to the surface, clouding all of his thoughts and judgement, sending him into a frenzy. His only thought, no, his only instinct was to fight.
He let out a mighty roar, revealing all of his fangs before he grabbed hold of the dog by its collar with his uninjured arm and threw it with such ease. The dog let out a frightened yelp as it was hurled through the air, and a sickening crack followed as it landed heavily on it's back, and let out a pained cry, before rolling down the hill.
Beast got up, shaking with fury and rage. There was more barking coming from the bottom of the hill, as well as shouts and the thundering of hooves.
He glanced at his mother's grave, the slab lying on the ground, split in two. He wouldn't be able to fix that. He gritted his teeth and spun around, moving towards the sound of the hunters and their dogs. He'd make them pay for this.
But he hesitated, and the world around him seemed to stand still for a moment. The apple tree's leaves stopped moving in the wind, and so did the blades of grass. The shouts and barks were mere echoes.
What are you doing?! The rational, more human side of his brain, that was no longer in control, screamed. You'll be seen! Do you want to die?!
They'll be dead before they can do anything to me. The animalistic, cruel, impulsive, unthinking side of him retorted.
You can't!
Why not?!
You can't kill them, that's not me! I would never do that!
They're responsible for your mother's grave being destroyed. Don't you want revenge?!
Yes, but not if it means killing them!
So let's end this!
No!
You're such a pathetic worm. Never one to get your hands dirty. Well now you have to decide! You're not human anymore, so why are you still pretending to be?!
Everything started moving again. The shouts and barks became louder. What he did next was not only a choice, but also his instinct of fight or flight kicking in.
He chose to run.
He turned and staggered down the other side of the hill, towards the thicket. That's where the castle was, hidden deep within the forest. He had to get there.
He tripped and fell over the steep incline, and landed on all fours. Instead of correcting himself, he carried on running on all fours, as he wasn't getting anywhere on two legs.
He sprinted down the hill, reaching the bottom and charging towards the line of trees. He could hear the dogs, the hunters and the horses behind him. If he had to guess, they were at the top of the hill now, in hot pursuit.
A gun shot rang out, but as far as he was aware, it did not strike him. He felt no sharp pain, so he had to be safe.
He didn't look over his shoulder, to check where they were, he just kept moving. He wasn't sure if he would be able to outrun them, but he had to try.
He reached the woods, but carried on running, dodging trees and bushes, stumbling over tree roots protruding from the ground. He could feel the adrenaline coursing through his veins.
Another gunshot rang out, zipping through the trees and striking one, chipping off the bark and sending splinters flying.
The dogs were still barking, they must have reached the forest by now. How many were there? It sounded like there were five or six.
He had to lose them somehow.
He bounded towards a long line of bushes, but as he ran in, he came to the terrible realisation that it was a thorn bush.
He let out a pained cry as the thorns dug into his flesh, stabbing at every part of his body. He dragged himself through the bush, but every movement was agonising. He managed to break through to the other side, but didn't take a second to rest.
The dogs tried to follow him through the bushes, he could hear them yelping. He could also hear the thundering of the horses' hooves against the forest floor. The hunters had reached the forest too.
He ran deeper into the woods, going as fast as he possibly could, weaving and diving, jumping over fallen trees.
And that's when he saw it, a path covered in white snow. That was it, his way back to the castle. He hoped that it was only visible to him, so that the hunters could not follow.
As he crossed over into the winter forest, it felt like he was passing into another world. One minute it was warm, with sunlight breaking through the leaves, and the next it was cold, with snowflakes falling from the sky.
The sounds of the dogs and horses began to become distant as he continued running through the snow covered forest.
Eventually, he began to slow down, before stopping and collapsing at the roots of a tree. He rolled over and stared up the sky and the withered tree branches. The world seemed to be spinning, and he felt slightly dizzy. His chest was heaving, his throat was sore as he struggled to breath. His whole body was trembling. He was completely exhausted.
The adrenaline rush was starting to fade, and was being replaced by a large amount of pain that surged through him. His muscles ached and were throbbing. Some thorns were still stuck in his flesh, and the dog bite on his arm was bleeding. His whole body felt like it was on fire, burning under the skin. As he glanced down, he noticed that the dog had also clawed at his chest, so he had several large scratches on it. His grey cloak was shredded after being dragged through the thorn bush, and his trousers were in tatters.
But at least he was alive.
Beast lifted his arm and put it over his eyes. The sound of the dogs barking, the hunters shouting and the horses running was now an echo on the wind. He was safe now, they wouldn't follow him here. If no one had stumbled upon his castle in the last however many years, then it was unlikely any hunters would either. It was probably surrounded by magic, and the trail he had saw probably would go unnoticed by anyone else. Perhaps the entrance shifted and changed, maybe it was never the same.
He decided to rest there for a while, to catch his breath back.
He wondered if the hunters had got a good look at him. Probably not, as he had been moving, to them he was just a blur. They might assume that he was a bear, or something like that.
He just couldn't believe that he had been hunted. He had been hunting so many times... Now he understood how that boar had felt all those years ago, running for its life. He was also the one that got away. He had almost become their prize kill. He would have been killed, like the animal he was. That's all they would have seen him as. He wondered what they would have made of him, they wouldn't have a clue what he was.
He decided not to think about what would have happened if he had died. It was just hard not to, after coming so close to death.
It would seem that he was back in control, or at least, the more human side of him. It slowly began to sink in that he had probably killed that dog or severely crippled it. The force in which it hit the ground and the crack from its back signified that its spine had been broken. Perhaps snapped in two... Just like his mother's gravestone.
Worst of all, he had actually considered, debated with himself, over killing those people. And he had been conscious, unlike when he nearly smashed Mrs Potts, he had felt like he had become detached from his mind and body, but this time... He had been fully aware of what he was doing.
And that's what scared him the most. He may not have gone through with it... But he still hurt that dog, and he still thought about doing the same to the hunters.
He could have done it if he wanted to. If every part of his being wanted them dead.
Was he losing his mind? Where did the line between human and animal start and end? What even was he on the inside anymore?
Beast moved his arm away from his eyes and shook his head. He could question himself about his mental state later, right now he just wanted to get back to the castle. He wasn't out of the woods yet, both literally and metaphorically.
He winced and rolled onto his front, and then trudged forwards on all fours. He was still in a great deal of pain, and his body was screaming at him to lie down and rest some more, but he refused. Something about the forest didn't feel right, he didn't feel safe here either. He had to keep moving.
He could try to return to the library again, will himself to go back to the book. But there wasn't much point, his mind was still foggy and he wasn't that far now. Plus he didn't know if he needed to be in the same place he had wanted to go to in order to return.
He wasn't sure if he was going in the right direction, he could have been going around in circles for all he knew. The icy, bitter wind blew in his face and caused his eyes to sting, so he lowered his head and pressed onwards, padding slowly.
After a while, he reached a ditch, or rather a deep embankment, with a frozen river cutting through it. It was a short gap, but he was in no fit state to jump it, as he was completely drained of energy. The other side was quite high, and would be an ordeal to climb, but there weren't many other options.
He dropped down onto the frozen river, landing fairly well, and moved towards the other side of the embankment. There was a overhanging tree above him, with some of its roots exposed and growing down towards the river.
Beast lifted his paws and grabbed hold of one of the exposed roots to pull himself up. He gradually got to his feet and was about to climb onto the embankment when his eyes landed on a bone chilling sight.
There was a pack of wolves only a short distance away, huddled round a dead deer caracas. He stared wide eyed as the wolves tore away at deer's flesh, blood staining their grey-ish white fur, covering their snouts and paws.
There had to be around eight... Maybe ten of them. Perhaps even more than that.
He knew they lived in the forest, he and the servants had heard them howling many times, but he never thought he'd actually run into them, nor would he ever want to. He wasn't sure where they had come from, or how long they had been there, but it didn't really matter. He just wanted to know how he was going to survive this.
One of the wolves lifted its head, ears pricked up, and looked in his direction. He exhaled sharply and ducked down, pressing his full body weight against the loose soil and crouching as low as possible.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
He breathed quietly as he heard the crunching of snow. He heard sniffing and looked over his shoulder, peering upwards. The wolf was standing high above him on the other side of the overhanging tree, sniffing the air.
Beast held his breath.
He watched the wolf silently, examining its thick fur, long sharp claws, and the blood smeared across its mouth. It panted, its visible breath moving skywards.
It lost interest, and turned away, most likely going back towards its pack.
Beast let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the wall of the embankment. Any longer, and he would have had to breathe, which might have blown his cover.
But just when he thought he was in the clear, he heard a low, rumbling growl coming from behind him.
He turned sharply to find another wolf standing behind him. This one was much larger, bulkier, and was likely the leader of the pack. Its lips were curled back to reveal rows of razor sharp teeth, and its hackles were raised, making it look bigger and more threatening than it already was.
Any second, and it would pounce on him, maul him to death.
He couldn't let that happened.
His instincts kicked in again, but this time he fought back instead of running. He lashed out, clawing the wolf's face, scratching it across the eye.
There was so much blood.
The wolf howled in pain and reeled back, clenching its eyelid shut.
That was his window of opportunity, and he took it.
He didn't want to engage that wolf in a full fight, or the whole pack for that matter, so he ran. The adrenaline was back, and he jumped up the embankment and ran passed the wolves.
He heard the howling behind him as they gave chase. He didn't look back, he ignored the pain of his injuries and kept going, never stopping for a second.
He caught sight of the gate leading to the castle grounds. He sprinted towards it, bursting through the gate and charging towards the castle. The wolves did not follow.
Beast could see the castle now. He had never been so happy to see it, despite the fact that he had wanted to get away from it for so long.
There was no place like home.
He hurried up the steps and burst through the front door, startling the servants. He collapsed onto the floor, knowing that he was finally safe, that he could finally rest.
"Master, what on earth happened?!" Lumiere cried, rushing to his aid.
"Dogs... Hunters... They.. Attacked me... Had to- had to run all the way back... here." He replied, hardly able to speak, as all of the wind had been knocked out of him. For once in a very long time, he was actually level with Lumiere, as Beast's head was pressed against the floor, making Lumiere nearly as tall as him.
"Dogs, hunters, wolves? But we thought you were in the library!" Lumiere replied.
Beast attempted to rise, but his legs buckled. He was too weak to stand. "Chapeau, help him up." Cogsworth ordered the coat rack.
Chapeau leaned down as much as his coat rack body allowed him and helped Beast to his feet. "Bring him by the fire." Lumiere told him.
Chapeau helped Beast into a chair, and once he was in it, he pulled the chair closer to the fire, whilst rapping his cloak around himself more. "How did you end up running into a group of hunters and wolves?" Lumiere asked.
"I wanted to visit my mother's grave again so I used the enchanted book... And then they caught me off guard." Beast replied.
The servants exchanged glances "Why didn't you just use the book to come back?" Cogsworth asked.
"I couldn't, it wouldn't work... I wasn't focused enough on returning here... I was too busy trying not to die." He explained.
"Did they follow you here?" Mrs Potts asked worriedly.
"No, I lost them." He told her.
"Are you sure?" Cogsworth butted in.
"Yes." Beast insisted rather agitatedly. "Do you think I would have come back here if they were right on my tail?!" He yelled angrily, getting up from the chair. A surge of pain rushed through him and he clutched his head and sat back down.
"Of course not, Master." Cogsworth responded fearfully.
"Try to take it easy, Master. You've been through quite an ordeal. Is there anything we can get for you, something to tend to your wounds?" Lumiere asked concernedly.
"I'm fine. I just need to rest." He responded, attempting to get up again and succeeding in doing so.
"But master, you're bleeding. Just take a minute to sit before you move." Lumiere recommended.
"I said I'm fine! I can manage on my own!" He shouted. His head throbbed. He felt dizzy, was he dehydrated? He felt a little hungry too... He'd have to deal with that later, he just wanted to go to bed and forget this day ever happened.
"Master, your cloak has been ripped to shreds! The seamstresses made some clothes for you to wear that will fit your size some time ago, why don't you wear one of those instead?" Mrs Potts suggested.
"I don't care about clothes a group of spinning wheels and sewing machines made! Just leave me in peace!" He retorted, storming off, even though he was still rather uneasy.
As he was making his way to bed, he thought of the enchanted book in the library. Would it work, now that he was out of danger...? All of a sudden, he was back there, standing in front of that god forsaken book.
Beast gritted his teeth and slammed his paw against the table. "Now you work?!" He exclaimed angrily, yelling at the inanimate book. "After everything I just went through?!"
Now he could focus on returning to the book?! His mind was clear now?!
He picked up the book and was about to toss it into the roaring flames in the fireplace, but stopped himself. It would be so easy, he would finally be rid of it, and the temptation it brought. He could watch it burn along with the wooden logs.
What was the point in trying? It probably wouldn't burn anyway, after all, it was magic. The enchanted mirror didn't break when he first used it and tried to smash it against the ballroom floor.
He stuffed it onto the shelf and left the library, slamming the door shut. "Master, I thought you were going to bed?" Lumiere asked him, clearly confused. Why did he keep popping up everywhere?!
"Lock the library up! And if I ever try to use that stupid enchanted book again, then stop me! I don't care how you do it, just make sure I don't make another mistake like that!" He ordered, shouting in his face. "That thing has caused me nothing but misery." He muttered, stomping passed Lumiere and heading upstairs to his room.
Once he arrived in the comfort of his bedroom, he immediately climbed into bed and surrounded himself with the warm sheets. He glanced down at his bitten arm, and the claw marks on his chest, and his thorn riddled body, and began to pluck them out, one by one. Some of them were deeply buried in his flesh and proved difficult pulling out. He had to use his teeth on a few.
He swore, he would never leave the castle again. Today was just a cruel reminder that there was no place for him in this world. Not even his mother's grave was a safe place to go. He'd never be able to go back.
He never should have left. He shouldn't have tempted fate. If he had stayed away... Then her grave would still be intact.
He has tainted her final resting place just by being there. Was he doomed to ruin everything he touched?
There was nothing the outside world would ever see him as except a monster, and he had proven that today, by possibly breaking that dog's spine, or going as far as to kill it.
The dog bite stung. He hissed through gritted teeth and rolled onto his side. He then attempted to lick the wound in order to clean it, but it only hurt more. Why on earth was he even licking himself?
He stopped and lowered his arm, staring blankly at his paws.
He saw the blood from the wolf under his claws.
He nearly killed those people too. He was seconds away from running down that hill and mauling them to death. He... He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he had gone through with it.
Now he knew what the castle had become. It wasn't a home, nor was it a prison, it was something even more degrading. It was a cage. If he couldn't keep the monster within him contained, then the castle was the next line of defence, keeping him away from everyone and everything.
Perhaps it wasn't the outside world he needed protecting from. Maybe the outside world needed protecting from him.
A/N - To answer your questions Guest22:
No, I never gave Beast's parents names. I could never settle on one, plus I didn't think he'd ever refer to them by name. My favourite scene from the movie, though, it's hard for me to settle on one. I suppose I'd have to say the ballroom dance between Beast and Belle. Pretty iconic. And this chapter alone answers your third question.
Next chapter will be up on Wednesday. The schedule will be Wednesday, Sunday, Wednesday, Sunday and so on and so forth. You get the picture. I'm 7 chapters away from finishing the writing process, so that's why I'll be posting my often, so that the posted chapters can begin to catch up with me as I pull ahead.
This chapter is the first action packed one. I love writing fast paced stuff. Really sucks you in to the story. It also might be setting up for a scene during the movie plot, you can probably guess which one. Really shows off Beast's deteriorating mental state too.
Anyway, I'll see you in 3 days. Hope you enjoyed.