WARNING THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS RAPE AND ABUSE, PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION
Being alone for a week wasn't the biggest thrill for her, although most in the village would be ecstatic to be without their father, or any many in the house. She wasn't like others though, she actually enjoyed her father around, his noises of tinkering and building, his curses for when something didn't work or his cheers for when they did. The only upside would be that she could catch up on books from the local book shop, snuggled up on her chair, with the fire roaring and nothing but the wind against the shutters, then the dreadful knock came and she sighed, letting the book droop in her hands before she got up.
"Bonjour Gaston." She knew she was annoyed, she had stopped hiding her distaste for the man a long time ago.
"Belle, hello!" He had that stupid smile on his face, the one that would make every woman swoon and every man jealous. To her, she found it annoying and unnecessary.
"What do you want Gaston? I am actually busy."
"Why, Belle, I came to see you! Today is your lucky day. The day where all your dreams come true." He pushed himself inside, brushing past her and towards the vanity they kept near the door, admiring himself as he did so. She rolled her eyes, this was the same speech he did a month ago, and a month before that.
"What could you possibly know about MY dreams Gaston?" She moved around him, grabbing her basket, an apple, and the book she had previously borrowed. She turned around after placing the book in her basket and noticed he was now very, very close to her.
"Everything, why, picture this!" She watched as he trekked the mud further into the house. Moving towards the fireplace arms outstretched. "Coming home to a well lit fire, roasting my latest catch. My wife," He gestured to her, making her roll her eyes. "Massaging my feet while the children and dogs are running around. We will have six, or seven." He rubbed his chin in thought.
"Dogs?" She was puzzled why anyone would need that many.
"No, Belle, strapping boys like me!" He puffed out his chest, as though proud.
"Well, thanks for the offer, again. But the answer is the same as last month, no." Turning she made her way towards her door, that was her mistake. She felt his hard hand on her upper arm, spinning her to face him. Anger was apparent on his face, but this anger was different than her previous rejections of him.
"No one says no to me, no one."
"Well, I am and I stand by it." She gave him a look of anger as well as annoyance. "Now, let go, you're hurting me." She tried to pull away, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy, her arm didn't budge.
"You. Are. Mine. Make no mistake about that." As if on cue, like he had practiced it, he leaned in for a kiss. With her free hand, it came across his cheek, the smack seemed to echo but she stared at him definitely.
"I am not property! Let go and GET OUT!" This time she got in his face, her own anger fuming. Suddenly her vision had spots and her lungs had no air as her back hit the floor. Without thinking she crawled towards the door, not caring how it looked to him. She felt a kick to her side as she watched him go to the door, checking outside before closing and locking it. Holding her side she stood, leaning against the vanity, shaking her head she made her way to the back door. His hand was on her again, and lazily she tried to fight him off, but her head was spinning making everything difficult. She could feel her dress being loosened and fear kicked in, she kicked him in the shins, earning a backhand to the side of her face making her drop again. Her hands shot out, reaching for anything and everything, something to help her, then she felt a handle. Unsheathing it she held it to his throat, and he stopped. "Get. Off. Me." Slowly he lifted off of her. "NOW!" He jumped a little at her shout, but he did indeed leave. She stood there for a moment, terrified of what could have happened. She ran to the door, bolting it shut as well as the back door and any windows that were open, she had a week to hold him off before her father was back.
To her unluckiness, he was back not 2 days later. She had reminded herself to keep the door bolted, she could still open it a few inches, but it was always locked. She didn't have to look to know who it was, because he was the only one that visited her.
"Go away Gaston. Leave me alone." She knew she sounded fearful, but she didn't care.
"Belle, I just want to talk, I want to, apologize." He gave her a smile but it meant nothing to her. "Now, be good and open the door for me."
"No." She shut the door and walked away, sighing to herself. She tried to think of where she left the knife, she saw it on the fireplace mantel when the window shattered to pieces as a log came through, then him. Her eyes were wide as he made his way in, that sickening grin on his face once more. The knife, she turned away and tried to reach the mantel, something smacked her in the back of the head and made her drop, looking to her side the small log he used he had thrown at her. She tried pushing herself up, but he used his foot to move her onto her back, she could feel the fear and nausea building up around her.
"I told you." He knelt down undoing his trousers, licking his lips. "You are mine." She pushed her legs to crawl away from him, but this only earned a chuckle from him. She watched in horror as her blurred vision watched his trousers fall to the ground, she made a choking noise as tears filled. Turning away from him she crawled towards the door, trying to scream but a gurgled mess of tears and choking noises came out. When a scream did come out, she was hit on the back of the head, turning over on her back once again. He held her chin in place and smiled at her, she lifted her hand trying to smack him, but she moved to slow and he brought both her arms above her head, pinning her there as his other hand made work of her dress. When his hands wouldn't work fast enough, he pulled out a knife and cut from the waist down. She tried to wiggle away, kick her legs out, move her arms, but he pulled on her face again, his face told her not to move, and she was frozen in fear. Who knows how hard the next blow would be, who knows what he would do if she tried to move again. Roughly letting go of her face, she stared at the ceiling, feeling his hand where it shouldn't be, and something else. She allowed herself to cry silently, no one would save her, no one was her prince charming, no one was coming. She felt pain rake over her body, from her legs, chest, shoulders. He grunted and moaned, shaked, his hands holding her too tight, but she no longer felt the pain, she no longer felt anything. He released her, she didn't take her eyes off the spot on the ceiling, she didn't move when the door slammed shut, she didn't move when the fire finally went out. When the moonlight finally caressed her face, she moved, slowly up the stairs to the bath, cold water welcomed her and she scrubbed all she could. She shivered as she put a new dress on, and made her way back to the entryway. Vomiting as she saw the lone red spot on the ground, and his fluids mixed into some of it. She bolted the door, shut the shutters and was just about to start another fire when the door was banging again, his voice almost trilling with excitement as he said her name. She looked to the back door and didn't think twice about what to do.
She could hear the screaming voices, realizing it was around her, her eyes snapped open. The ceiling was different from hers, there were voices she didn't recognize. Then she saw a hand above her and she grabbed it, following it to the face it was attached to. An elderly woman was staring at her in both alarm and worry, she held up her other arm, to show she meant no harm, slowly she let go, but backed away, realizing she was in a rather large bed.
"Are you alright m'dear?" The elderly woman watched her, her hands placed in front of her, her brows together, watching everything she did. Why was the bed shaking? The woman looked behind her to a small child, she couldn't see what he looked like, just the blonde hair as he ran out of the room. When the boy left through the doors, her eyes widened as something came through them, ducking its head to get in. He paused at the door and watched her. He didn't move, just stood there as though someone froze him.
"I… I heard the screams… Are you alright?" He spoke to her in that gentle ton from before. Her head couldn't make sense as to what she was looking at, part of her was excited, she had read about these kinds of things in her books, yet the larger part was still afraid. She brought her eyes back to the elderly woman, who softly smiled at her, offering her hand, that's when she threw herself at this lady, and without hesitation she was embraced. As afraid as she was, there was an odd sense of calm that came with the warmth the elderly lady had.
