When we arrived back at the village, it was still the middle of the night. And the town didn't just seem still and dead, but it seemed like someone had reached up and ripped out its heart.
And someone had.
The only question was who.
Dominique moved to put her arms around me as we walked towards my house. We passed by the tavern. I looked down at the ground, realizing I would never be able to look at that building ever again without wanting to collapse on the ground.
"Now, LeFou," Dominique said, "I know how you feel. But you can't… WE can't give up."
"But… but there's nothing to live for anymore," I said, allowing myself to crumple and find myself sitting in the dust.
"Yes, there is," she replied. "There is."
"And what is that?"
"Revenge."
"Revenge?"
"Someone killed Gaston. And I'm sure that BELLE was involved. She never liked Gaston." Thinking for a moment, she rephrased, "She never APPRECIATED Gaston."
"But would that… would she kill him?"
"I don't know, LeFou. I just don't know. Come on, let's find Chanal and Anne." She reached down and plucked me up by the elbow. "A bit like old times, isn't it?" she said with a sad smile.
"I wish we could just turn back the clock," I said. I bitterly remembered what Dominique had said about an attacking clock, and decided I meant the phrase literally. "Then Gaston would be back. We wouldn't have to be doing this right now." Dominique simply nodded. We walked in silence to the row of houses where Dominique lived, next to Chanal and Anne. Dominique approached the first house and knocked on the door.
A few moments later, the door opened and the tall, ebony-skinned beauty that was Chanal groggily poked her head at the two of us.
"What's go'n on?" she mumbled.
"Chanal," whispered Dominique, "I need to tell you something. But there's no way I want to say this twice. Let's go get Anne." Shrugging, Chanal closed her door and they retrieved Anne from her house as well.
"What happened to YOU, Domi?" inquired Anne, who wasn't looking too great herself. Dominique adjusted her dress and took a deep breath.
"At the castle. I don't know exactly what happened. I was looking for Gaston. I'd lost you two, so I walked outside to see if I could find you guys as well. And, I… I… heard a scream and then this THUMP sound coming down from the top of this tower. I figured it was one of those objects getting shown what for by Gaston… but instead… instead, it WAS Gaston."
"Wait," Chanal interrupted, twirling a strand of her thick onyx hair, "What do you mean it was Gaston? Like, he jumped out of the tower and landed on his feet? Mmm!"
"That sounds so sexy," Anne interjected, "I can't believe it. Isn't that just like Gaston! Where is he, anyway?"
"Yeah! We need to tell him how amazing he was, and how sorry we are that we missed it!"
"I need to tell him FIRST!"
"No, me!"
"No, me!"
"You guys," Dominique said flatly.
"Oh, I'm sorry," said Anne. "Keep telling it! Then what did Gaston do?"
"Did he flex his muscles?" asked Chanal.
"Kill that beast with his bare hands?"
"And what was up with the candle that kept trying to hit on me?"
"Has Gaston finally given up on Belle?"
"STOP IT!" snapped Dominique. "Gaston… Gaston didn't JUMP from the tower."
"Then what did he DO?" Chanal shot back.
"Gaston… Gaston fell."
"What do you mean?" asked Anne.
Not looking at either of them, Dominique said dispassionately, "Gaston fell. Far. And hard. Gaston… about fifteen minutes later Gaston died."
"…This has to be a joke," Anne said, "Gaston can't be DEAD. I just SAW him."
"He was FINE," said Chanal, "He wasn't DEAD. He was OKAY. He was ALIVE. And he's Gaston."
"He WAS Gaston," I squeaked. Chanal reached forward and slapped me across the face.
"You fool. You can't stand here and tell me Gaston is dead. I won't believe it." She began to walk back into her house.
"Believe what you want," Dominique said, "But Gaston was murdered and I, for one, plan to get revenge for him." Chanal stopped in her tracks.
"I will," she said.
"I will too," Anne chimed in.
"But we can't do it alone," I said.
"But I think the rest of the village just wants to forget about what just happened," Dominique admitted.
"Not the entire town," I said, snapping my fingers. "I have an idea."
Author's Note: Props to Rachel, who gave me the idea of the Silly Girls' revenge, and whose character I based Dominique on.