Chapter 13 - Down a Dark Path
Beast had a feverish dream that same night. His wounds and entire body ached and stung as he tossed and turned in bed, kicking off the sheets.
He felt like he was falling. He could feel air rushing passed him as he spiralled downwards into a black void, the light above him fading fast, out of his reach.
And then he hit the ground.
He gasped, as the wind was completely knocked out of him. Suddenly, he was no longer in his room, nor in the comfort of his bed. He was outside, in the forest.
The sky was a deadly shade of red, tinting everything around him, the snow beneath his feet, the trees surrounding him, with the same crimson shade.
He rolled over onto his front and attempted to rise to his feet. But he couldn't. It was almost as if some invisible force was pressing down on him, keeping him on all fours. It was like there were a ton of bricks placed upon his back.
His nose caught a whiff of something. He sniffed the air, the scent overwhelming his nostrils. He scanned the trees and caught sight of his target.
It was a boar, and it was standing only a short distance away.
Beast growled. His driving instinct to kill and eat took over and he charged, running straight towards the boar.
The wild pig squealed and started running away, but he pursued it, powering himself forwards. His injuries were gone and his body was no longer drained, giving him the freedom of movement and a driving force to push on. He could do anything.
He caught up to the boar with such ease and pounced on top of it just as they reached a clearing. The boar cried out in fear, and began to struggle, kicking its legs frantically as he pinned it to the ground. It squealed louder, and continued thrashing about, swinging its tusks and attempting to get a good angle to hit him.
Beast bared his teeth and reeled his head back before coming down on the boar's neck, sinking his fangs deep into its flesh. The boar cried out it pain, still kicking its legs wildly in a vain attempt to escape.
He sunk his fangs deeper, before finally pulling his head back and ripping a large chunk of the boar's throat out.
The boar stopped squirming, its legs stopped moving as blood pooled from its torn open neck.
Beast spat out the chunk of the boar's neck, and went over to its chest, tearing open its stomach using his claws. Its in-trails spilled onto to the forest floor, staining the already red tinted snow. The sky was still dark, and ominous but he ignored it as he began feasting upon the boar's guts.
There was so much blood. It was coating his fur, his paws, his mouth, and trapped under his claws.
He put his paws on the boar's fresh caracas and began pulling pieces of flesh out using his bear teeth.
"Adam." A familiar voice called out. He froze.
Beast lifted his head and looked at the edge of the clearing. He caught sight of a woman standing beside a tree, dressed in a simple, white nightgown. She began to approach him, her feet completely bare. The sky grew darker, with a large amount of clouds rolling over the red haze.
A strong wind whipped up and whirled around them, causing her long, blonde hair to blow across and shield her face from view. But even then, he knew exactly who she was.
She stopped in front of him, the dead boar separating the too. She lifted her bowed head, and the wind began to die down, causing her blonde hair to fall neatly by her shoulders, framing her face.
It was his mother.
He knelt in stunned silence as she stared down at him with cold, empty eyes. He could see himself in her eyes. The terrible creature that stared back had dark eyes, its lips curled back to reveal its sharp fangs, and the blood that filled its mouth.
Even though this form had become 'normal' to him... The monster reflected in her eyes was unrecognisable.
"What have you turned yourself into?" She questioned. "What have you allowed yourself to become?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Just a low, rumbling growl.
He could no longer speak.
She gave him a saddened expression "What happened to my sweet, innocent boy?" She asked, kneeling down in front of him. "Is there anything left of him? Anything left of the original you in there?"
He wanted to answer her, he wanted to say yes, that somewhere, deep within him, in a place he could not access, was her little boy. But he couldn't tell her anything. He just sounded like an animal.
"You're not my son... I don't know what you are anymore."
He felt like he had been stabbed in the heart. Hearing those words uttered from her lips was soul crushing.
"I'll tell you what he is. He's a low-lying, good for nothing abomination." Another familiar voice declared.
He glanced to the side and caught sight of another figure.
It was his father.
"What a disappointment you turned out to be. All that wasted money, time and energy, and for what? So that you could become... This." His father said scornfully, unable to describe him fully "And quite frankly, it sickens me to look at you."
Beast stared at them, glancing back and forth at his parents. His mouth was gapping open, he had no idea what to do.
Had they returned from beyond the grave just to tell him how ashamed they were?
He looked towards the edges of the clearing, and noticed more figures. They were dark shadows, hidden amongst the trees, surrounding him, suffocating him.
One of them he recognised as Angelica.
Were the figures people he had hurt throughout his life?
"It would seem the handsome young prince wasn't able to hold onto his humanity." Another person spoke up. "That didn't last very long now, did it?"
Beast spun around and his eyes landed on a figure he never thought he'd see again.
It was the Enchantress.
"That form matches what lies within you, now more than ever." She commented. "Why do you still want to be human when you aren't? You're an animal, inside and out. Always have been. It only took a small transformation to bring it out of you. And that's how you're going to stay... For the rest of your eternal life."
Beast snarled, his inner fury unleashed as he charged towards her. He pounced, but instead of landing on her and pinning her to the ground... He found himself back in bed, confined within the castle once more.
He blinked a couple of times and lifted his head. Dawn was breaking, with sunlight shining through the frameless windows on the balcony and filling the room with its golden glow.
He shielded his eyes from the bright morning sun and rolled over onto his back.
It was just a dream. His subconscious tormenting him about all of his concerns and fears, manifesting and taking the form of his parents, and the Enchantress herself. He may have gotten over their deaths, but the thought of what they might think of him now if they were here still haunted him.
He let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't real.
He hadn't had a dream in a long time. He did have quite a few sleepless nights, and even when he did sleep, if he had any dreams, then he never remembered them. But that dream... It felt different, not like any of the others he had experienced throughout his lifetime. For a while, he had been so convinced that he had gone through all of it, despite how unrealistic some of it seemed.
He sat up and grunted when his injuries from the day before stung. They didn't hurt as much, but the pain was still there.
He glanced down at the bed, and his eyes widened when he saw claw marks raked across the wooden bed frame, as well as the pillow and mattress, causing all of the stuffing to leak out.
Had he done that during his sleep?
There was a metallic taste in his mouth and overwhelming smell in his room. It smelt like... Raw meat.
He glanced down at his paws, and noticed that there was blood, fur and pieces of flesh underneath his claws.
Beast looked around, and caught sight of the source of the smell. It was a dead boar, lying on his bedroom floor, surrounded by a pool of its own blood that was staining the stone.
It was facing him, its lifeless eyes staring directly at him. Its throat had been torn open, and so had its stomach.
Just like... In his dream.
"It wasn't a dream?" He questioned aloud. At least he could talk now, not being able to was frightening. He wouldn't know what to do with himself if he could only make animal noises.
He was glad the Enchantress left him with that ability. He would need it, in order to communicate with someone he wanted to fall in love with him.
He climbed out of bed and walked over to the boar. He thought he'd be more shocked, perhaps reel back in horror, but... He didn't feel anything.
He scooped it up using both arms. Holding it was easy enough, despite its size. He then carried it downstairs to the kitchen. Once he entered, he dumped the dead body on the middle table, much to the servants' surprise.
"Can anyone explain to me why this was in my room?" He asked.
"You don't remember?" Cogsworth questioned. "You ran out of here in the dead of night and came back dragging that boar along with you." The mantle clock explained.
Seeing his parents again might not have been real, but the killing of the boar was. He tried to recall actually committing the act... But his mind drew a blank. Just like when he had tried to smash Mrs Potts.
"No, I don't remember." He replied.
Had he taken sleep walking to the extreme?
"You did have a rather strange look in your eyes..." Lumiere commented. "They were so dark and empty. You weren't yourself at all."
Beast stared at the dead boar for a moment. "I think I'm losing my mind." He murmured.
"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Master. You went through quite an ordeal yesterday. Perhaps this is just a repercussion of that?" Lumiere suggested "You're still restless, you should go back to bed. This is probably just a one off."
"I wish I could believe that." Beast replied, turning away.
"What do you want us to do with this?" Cogsworth asked, gesturing at the boar.
He glanced back at them "Just cut it up and serve it for dinner. You can probably make it last for a few nights." He responded, before leaving.
As he walked back upstairs, he began to wonder what exactly had occurred last night. In his dream, he had killed a boar... But he had also killed one in reality.
At least he had gotten one at long last. It wasn't the same one he had shot at all those years ago, but it was close enough.
He didn't feel very accomplished though.
Perhaps he was still stuck in that animalistic mind frame, or maybe it was just a lingering after affect of when his survival instinct had kicked in.
He had been quite hungry yesterday, and he hadn't eaten anything. Maybe his body and mind had driven him into going and hunting down the nearest prey.
Why was he acting like an animal all of a sudden? He was never like this before.
Or had he?
Come to think of it, none of this was really a recent occurrence. Humans don't walk on all fours, they don't growl at dogs that only want attention, eat with only their fingers and mouths, follow scent trails, and rip up everything with their claws that they weren't even supposed to have.
He hadn't been human for a very long time. The moment he was turned into a beast, his state of being had been changing, to become just like his appearance. He had lost himself, his identity, his humanity... Everything.
He really was an animal. And he wasn't even trying to hide it anymore. Because there was no hiding from it. There was no way to save himself from it.
If he had to speculate, he would say that last night's dream was a warning. A premonition of what was to come. If he never found love, if he never broke the curse, then that monster, that unthinking, unfeeling, mindless creature, which only instinct was to hunt and kill, was what he was going to become. It was what he was slowly becoming, every second of every day, he was slipping, going further down a dark path that he wouldn't be able to go back from. Soon, there would be nothing left of his human self within this form. Eventually, he would lose himself forever if he allowed it to happen.
Not only had he woken up from the dream... But he had also truly woken up to his reality, and the darkness that was consuming his mind. There was something within him, a voice, a whisper, nagging at him, telling him to let go. His boiling anger and untameable rage needed to - wanted to be set free.
He wasn't sure if he'd be able to ignore it forever.
A/N - This is really just a follow on to the previous chapter, to add on to what happened, as most of the chapters have taken place quite a fair distance apart in terms of time frame recently.