Okay, so it's been a while since my last update. I'm truly sorry, but I've had so much senior stuff going on it's not even funny.
Mad Props to the Mad Hota! (Not that she's mad, she just has crazy betaing skillz)
I quietly slipped out of the sleeping house. I went to our stable and grabbed the bundle I had prepared the night before, giving Jean one last hug. Although I knew that my feet would hate me for it, I had to travel by foot.
I secured the stable door, turning to face the dark forest. I began walking, not daring to look over my shoulder. If I did, I would never make it beyond the edge of the clearing.
I hoped that Papa would forgive me, but I had to do it. I could not fail my family. They needed him, and it had been all my fault…
The rose that he had picked for me, in exchange for my life now sat lying on his bedside table, with a note begging him not to come looking for me.
I only had a few hours until they would wake and find me gone. I needed to move quickly.
The forest surrounding me as I walked was almost too quiet. The crunch of the snow under my feet was the only sound. I suppose I should have been grateful for that. I would be able to more easily hear Papa's approach.
It was nearly noon before I found the path that I had overheard him telling the rest of the family. They had seen this coming, they knew better than to tell me. They must have known that I would go, whether I had their permission or not. It had been Camille's idea to not tell me, I'm certain. But I had heard them..
They had been arguing… How could I not notice an argument that loud, even if I did sleep in the attic room?
"You can't let her go to him!" Beau cried angrily. "You're the one that picked the flower! You should go!"
"I know, Beau! Don't you think I know that!" Papa snarled. "I'm going!"
"But won't she notice something's wrong when you never come back?" Camille asked, her voice shrill with terror, though I highly doubted that her concern was for me. "She may be ugly, but she's not stupid!"
"I leave two days from today." Papa said firmly. "She doesn't need to know."
"But Papa!" Marguerite cut in, her beautiful voice raised as loud as it could. Almost like she wanted me to hear…
I stopped walking, jolted out of my reverie by a howl coming from nearby. The howl was alarmingly close… I heard it again, and it was even closer.
I began to run, not wanting to meet the creature making that noise. I heard several pairs of paws behind me. I couldn't look back, and I was blind with fright. I didn't notice the white mist until it was too late, and the sweet scent of roses too strong.
I fell to the ground, crawling on my hands and knees a few more paces before my mind slipped easily into a rose-scented darkness.
How ironic it seemed to me then that beasts would claim both my life and my father's when neither of us appeared at the Beast's castle.…
I slowly eased into consciousness, only faintly aware of the scent of roses and the soft linen pillow against my cheek. I was safe from the wolves, and that was all that mattered. The funny thing was that I could still hear the wolves breathing. Like they were in the room with me…
I opened my eyes a crack, letting them adjust to the dim lighting of the room. I was in a sitting room, lying on a small bench, with a soft pillow under my head, and my cloak tossed over me like a blanket.
I sat up, my eyes opening wider as I searched the room looking for the creature that had been here only moments before. It had to have been here! I heard it breathing! There was no one – nothing – in the room with me.
I tossed my cloak to one side of the room and stood. The Beast couldn't have vanished that fast. My eyes caught sight of a door and I hurried towards it. I turned into the hall, bumping into something huge. It knocked me off balance and I stumbled backwards, sending a little table and myself to the cold, stone floor. I could hardly see anything. The twinkling of light of the few candles in the sitting room had disappeared, blocked by the massive thing I had bumped into.
"It is good to see you are awake." The Beast – at least, I assumed him to be the Beast – growled.
He moved slightly, allowing a sliver of light to spill into the hallway, and across my face. He only gave me enough light to make-out a shape.
"Oh, Papa…" I whispered, terrified. The Beast was bigger than I had imagined him to be.
"You…your father is nowhere to be found." The Beast said softly. "I'm sorry. I know there were wolves…I found them when I found you."
I snorted quietly in the back of my throat.
"Papa didn't even know that I left, Monsieur." The Beast was silent for a moment before he snarled something in a language that I did not recognize. The fireplace in the room behind him crackled a bit and a fire cheerily began to burn. I stared past the Beast a moment, too scared to look at my captor. I had to do it though. I had to look.
If not now, when?
I closed my eyes and raised my head. I took a deep breath and forced my eyes open again. I found myself staring up into his eyes, into his face… I felt my breath catch in my throat.
Papa had only spoken of his size. He didn't know himself that that was not the most horrifying of features. The Beast's face was animal, but his eyes were almost human. They could not belong to a…beast…
I opened my mouth and screamed. Papa hadn't seen his face, couldn't possibly know how terrifying this Monster truly was. I saw his frightening eyes fill with an extraordinary pain before he closed them and looked away.
"Your room is through that door." He – it – pointed. I was unable to look at anything other than the Beast though.
He stood on his two hind legs, as a human would, but he was at least two feet taller than any man that I had ever seen. He was covered in black fur and dressed in black clothing that seemed foreign to me. I lowered my eyes to the floor finally.
"You are frightened of me?" He asked, his voice filled with an unspeakable pain. I pretended not to hear his questions, keeping my eyes on my hands that sat shaking in my lap.
"I –" He stopped. I could feel his eyes on me, studying me. I felt a jolt of sudden fear. Was he angry to have been deceived by my name? I was no match for my sisters; Belle was hardly a name suited to me.
"I would like to welcome you to my home." He said quietly before I heard his footsteps echoing in the hall as he left me alone in the sitting room. It was then that my tears began.
Hours later, the sitting room would be where the Beast would find me, finally asleep and free of the horrible waking nightmare that I had come to know.
Dun-Dun-Dun!
I'll have an update for you sooner than the last time, I promise! Just leave me a review!
Once again, mad props to mah Beta:hugs teh Hota: