Chapter 2 – Monster
After her encounter with the Monster Hermione was even more terrified than before. She knew he was a monster, but to have confirmation that he was also a murderer was apparently more than she knew how to deal with. Why she was so scared, she couldn't say. It took the combined efforts of Mrs Potts, Plumette, and lots and lots of tea to calm her down enough to talk about the encounter.
"I don't understand why he scares me so," Hermione murmured.
"Of course your mind is easily distressed," Mrs Potts soothed.
"I'm not distressed," she argued though she knew it was a lie.
"Dear girl," Mrs Potts sighed. "Your life changed so much lately; you lost your father and your freedom all in one day."
"Not to mention your changing environments over the last couple of months," Plumette added.
Hermione took a big sip of her tea before changing the conversation, "let's not talk about me. Whose murder was the Monster referring to?"
"I have no idea," Mrs Potts admitted. "I have never heard of the Master killing anyone."
"Mrs Potts, we don't remember what it was like before the enchantment settled here," Plumette argued.
"But the Master could not have changed so much?" Mrs Potts asked. "He is such a sweet boy, he would not harm anyone."
"I cannot believe that," Hermione exclaimed.
"He is not a monster," Mrs Potts argued.
"He would have let my father die!"
"He was a very bad host to your father," Plumette admitted looking pointedly at Mrs Potts to have her drop the defense. With a nod Mrs Potts agreed and deflated. Plumette knew that in her current state Hermione would not listen to any kind words about the Master. He would have to figure out how to fix that himself. Hermione would not have noticed Mrs Potts and Plumette's veiled signs even had she been able to see them, because her mind was completely occupied by wondering why Mrs Potts had such a complete trust and belief in the Monster.
"I wonder why you can't remember anything from before the curse," Hermione mused. "How long has the curse actually been here?"
"Five years," Mrs Potts replied.
"More than a hundred years," Plumette said.
They looked at each other in confusion and said in almost perfect unison; "You must be mistaken."
"Nothing has changed since the curse," Mrs Potts said. "It could not possibly have been such a long period."
"The rose tree grew," Plumette argued. "The tree has been growing bigger and bigger for as long as I can remember. It was only recently it started to wilt."
"The dead rose tree in the garden outside?" Hermione asked. "It looked to be quite old."
"It used to carry the most beautiful roses," Mrs Potts replied dreamily.
"I wonder what could have destroyed it so," Plumette said.
"Roses grow fast, but they are usually limited to the height of bushes. The tree outside is bigger than any rose tree I have ever seen," Hermione replied. "It has to be at least a few decades old."
"It is magical," Mrs. Potts said as if that answered everything.
"What does that even mean? What does magic do?"
"Changes it," Mrs Potts offered.
"But how? And changed it into what? And has the magic also changed you and the the castle?"
"I… I don't know," Mrs Potts admitted and Plumette was just as lost.
Lumiere and Cogsworth, who was the Monster's butler, came rushing into the kitchen.
"What did we miss?" Lumiere asked.
"Who did the Monster kill?" Hermione asked frankly which made Cogsworth gasp in surprise and spring to his master's defense similarly to Mrs Potts had done earlier.
"The Master would never murder anyone!"
"He admitted to me that he had killed someone and that the curse was his punishment!" she argued.
"You must have misunderstood him. He is not the monster you think. You must have done something to anger him yesterday and so he tricked you."
"No way," Hermione said taken aback by Cogsworth. She didn't like him because he just seemed to agree to anything the Monster would say.
"We can ask him?" Lumiere suggested trying to lighten the mood. "Maybe he will answer us honestly."
"You can try, but I don't think he will admit anything," Hermione replied with a slight smile.
….
Hermione spent a few days investigating inside, but her mind kept going to the rose tree. It had to be important, so she decided to look at it again. She made her away directly to the tree and stared at it; so, this tree was magical, but what did that even mean? She knew she had to understand to be able to break the curse. If the tree was the only thing to have changed over the last many years, there had to be a connection between the tree and the curse.
Looking closely at the tree it was clearly dying. It looked like it was wilting and it was starting at the branches. No, that was not quite right. It was starting in one specific branch. This branch had a cut mark on one side and this was the point from which the wilting started.
"That cannot be," she exclaimed. She was not a gardener, but even she knew roses needed to be trimmed and cut down to grow the most beautiful flowers, so why did this tree start to die from a single cut? The wilting turned the leaves and branches dark, but it was the deepest black around the cut mark. She had never seen wilting like this before.
"What kind of knife was used?" she asked the tree though not really expecting a reply, but still very much aware that this was a magical tree and maybe it could reply in speaking. Oh, magic was so confusing!
"I wonder what it looks like under all the blackness," she mused. "Has this disease destroyed the tree completely or is it only on the outside?"
Using the little knife she carried in her pocket, she started to scratch the surface. The blackness was as deep as she could see and could be scraped off in small soft flakes. She tried squeezing the the branch between two fingers. It was surprisingly soft and flexible. When she bent it, it didn't break and once she let go, it rose to the original position. She looked at her knife again and with a quick decision she pushed it deep into the branch. With very little force, she was able to push the knife in so deeply the end was sticking out on the other side. Quickly she removed the knife and was surprised to see it was covered in a black liquid. The same liquid was slowly pouring out of the cut she had made.
"What is that?" she asked and touched it with her fingers. Smearing it around with her fingers, she saw that it was not black, but very dark red.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" the Monster yelled angrily, pushing her away from the tree. "WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND YOUR FATHER TO CUT AND DESTROY MY ROSES!"
"I…," she had fallen to the ground when she was pushed, but she was scared for her life. The Monster looked murderous.
"GET AWAY!" he barked and she did as told. She got to her feet quickly and ran to the castle. She looked back once to see the Monster caressing the tree and running his hands over the branches.
She didn't want to hide, but she was scared of the Monster and was not ready to face him. The Monster had said her father had cut the tree, so the cut mark on the branch was his doing and he might have started the infection. Was that the reason he was in the dungeon? And here she was going around poking holes in the same tree making it bleed a strange liquid. She didn't want to hide like a coward but she also didn't have a lot of courage to face him. She hid in the library in an attempt to convince herself she was not hiding but only seeking comfort among the books. She didn't have long to calm down before the door was blown open and the Monster walked in. His eyes were cold and he looked ready to strike her.
"Of course, hiding in the library," he hissed and moved towards her.
"Not hiding," she whispered.
She tried to move away from him, but he grabbed her arm.
"Let me go," she screamed fighting back to free herself of his grip.
She was terrified but she was now also getting angry.
"I didn't mean to hurt your precious tree, so do not treat me like this!"
"No! You'll face my anger but not only for the roses," he hissed. When she didn't seem to understand he elaborated. "Every single one of my servants has been to see me this morning with a question that could only have come from you."
"I didn't tell them to…," she tried to argue.
"You are the one who wants to know who I killed!" he hissed. "I'll show you."
His grip on her arm was hurting her, but he didn't loosen it. Instead he dragged her kicking and screaming over to a painting on the wall. The painting showed a handsome boy with jet black hair and pale skin. His eyes were dark and piercing. The boy was surrounded by a man and a woman on each side of him. The woman had her hand on his shoulder but the man stood a little away from them as if he was trying to distance himself as much as possible.
"My father," the Monster hissed and pointed to the man.
A feeling of dread settled in her stomach. She was fighting to get out of his grip. She was scared of what was coming.
"Do you understand?" he was staring at her with cold hard eyes, and could clearly see her fear and alarm. "I killed my own family. My father and his parents; all dead within a single evening."
Finally he released her arm and she jumped backwards trying to get away from him, but she tripped and fell to the ground. She looked up at him in alarm and saw him towering before her.
"THAT is what I am; a killer!" he hissed angrily moving a step closer to her, which made her crawl further away.
"You are a heartless bastard!" she screamed at him. Her survival instinct finally set in, and she quickly moved out of his way jumping to her feet.
"Yes, I am!" the Monster yelled.
Tears were running from her eyes and with a final look at the monster, she told herself loudly; "Promise or no promise. I'm not staying here a moment longer," and she fled from the room.
She ran down corridors and stairs as fast as she could with her vision blurring due to tears refusing to stop. When she reached the entrance door she heard Plumette call her name, but she didn't stop. She just rushed through the door and ran across the grounds.
She had not before wondered what would stop her from leaving the castle grounds, but she discovered it now as she ran into an invisible barrier. As she impacted it, she was thrown backwards, but she refused to give up. Actually, she was mad that the Monster would use magic like that to keep her from escaping.
She held her hands out towards the barrier and when she felt it, she pushed with all her might. Using all her anger, frustration, alarm, and fear as fuel she pushed her way through the barrier and forced her way off the grounds.
She stopped just after the gate and looked back. The castle was looming over her in the dusk and she ran on straight into the forest. She had no plan, but only a desperate wish to get away from the Monster. She ran further and faster than ever before.
Her heart was beating hard against her ribcage and she was out of breath. She sat down on a fallen tree trunk to collect her breath and to decide on a plan. She was in the forest and the sun was getting low.
She just needed a little rest and then she would be able to go on. At least that was what she told herself. She tried not to think about the fact that she had brought no food or water, that she had forgotten to bring Philippe in her haste, and mostly she tried to not think about the animals that lived in the forest. She was for good or bad all alone and a new feeling of despair settled over her.
"I will not give up," she whispered to herself, and that was when she heard it. The howling of the wolves. She got up and looked around. She had nowhere to hide.
"Stupid, to run off without a plan," she reprimanded herself. At the same time she heard the wolves again. This time they sounded closer, much closer, and she was panicking. She looked around after something to defend herself with, and all she could find was a long stick.
She could hear the snarling of the wolves and turned to see five wolves move between the trees. The first wolf jumped at her and she swung her stick hard hitting the wolf but also breaking the stick. The wolf stayed down luckily. The second wolf jumped at the same time as the first wolf hit the ground but miraculously it jumped into a tree. It landed on the ground and did not get up again. The three other wolves circled her and two of them jumped at the same time. Again, she had luck on her side as one wolf jumped straight into the other wolf and both stayed on the ground not moving. Now only one wolf was left and when it jumped it seemed to miss a step because it ended up rolling around on the ground instead of flying in the air. Whatever had happened it had incapacitated the wolf as it also stayed down. She quickly looked over the wolves and spent a fleeting thought on what could have happened. The wolves went down too quickly, but she was still tired, and she did not wish to be near the wolves if they woke. Instead of worrying too much she ran on.
Her new path led her to a little lake. She had run straight into the water and now she was soaked from the knees down. She backed up, but then she heard the wolves again. Had they already gotten up? She moved forwards through the lake. Soon the water was to her waist. She turned back to look towards the lakeshore and saw three wolves there. They were looking at the water and at her, and she kept her eyes on the wolves as she backed away moving further out in the lake. By the time she stopped the water was to her neck. The wolves started howling but instead of pursuing her they suddenly turned back to the forest.
She waited for a long time before she tried to make her way back to the lakeshore. The wolves might be lurking and waiting for her to come out.
Unfortunately she waited too long as she felt her legs cramp. All the running had gotten the better of her, and she realized she was in even bigger danger than before. Slowly she moved towards the lakeshore, but before she had made it very far her legs gave out under her, and she felt herself sink beneath the water. She tried to stand, tried to swim, but she could not get to the air. No matter what she tried, the surface got further and further away and she could not hold her breath any longer.
Blackness filled her vision but then suddenly she saw Death. The white almost skeleton features of his face was all she could see. With a stray thought she realised his eyes were no longer cold and hard. His hand grabbed the back of her shirt, and she felt a tug as he yanked her upwards.
When she broke the surface she took a deep and desperate breath, which caused her to start coughing. He was still holding her up, which she was grateful for. At that moment she knew she would not be able to stand on her own.
"Stupid girl," he muttered. "Why did you go into the water? I could have protected you on land."
She didn't reply, but kept coughing up water.
"Get all the water out of your lungs."
Slowly her coughing subsided and her breathing normalized. She wanted to say something, but didn't know what. He had just saved her life, but he was a horrible Monster. She clung to his arm for support.
"Let's go back now," he said looking at her.
She had started to shiver in the cold water.
"Hang on tightly," he said as he held her close to his body. "This will feel strange when you have never tried it before."
He tightened his grip on her and she did the same. One moment she was looking at the dark surface of the lake and the next her vision blurred until suddenly she was looking at the carpet in the hall of the castle. Her stomach shifted and she felt sick. It was as if she had been ripped out of place.
"Poppy! Come quickly," he yelled over her head before looking at her green face. "Magical travel is not pleasant the first few times, but it is fast."
"Oh my," Mrs Potts said looking at them. "What happened?"
"She almost drowned. I'll take her to her room, but you need to take care of her."
"Of course," Mrs Potts said.
His arms tightening around her was the only warning she had before she was ripped from one place to another. This time they ended just outside her room. The door swung open easily and he carried her inside. He placed her in the bed and as the duvet flew up to cover her, she realised that though she was cold she was no longer wet. Even her hair was dry! How had that happened?
She looked at him, but he was looking at the fireplace, which suddenly flared up.
"Magic," she whispered.
"Yes," he acknowledged. "It is the fastest."
Just then two women came running into the room. One was short and plump while the other was tall and thin. Both rushed to her side.
"Dear girl, how are you feeling?" the short woman asked laying her hand on Hermione's forehead.
"Mrs Potts?" Hermione whispered before grabbing the hand on her forehead. "Is it you?"
"You see me!" Mrs Potts replied happily but quickly her demeanor changed. "You are too cold. We must have you warmed up."
"Blankets?" the tall woman asked with Plumette's voice.
"Yes, and warm tea," Mrs Potts replied and Plumette ran from the room. "The fire is going strong now, so hopefully we can make sure the fever does not stick."
Hermione looked around and noticed the Monster had left. She didn't know how she felt about him just then, so she was grateful that she didn't have to face him. Plumette came back with her arms full of blankets and the two women set about covering Hermione in many layers.
As Mrs Potts and Plumette fussed about her she felt safe and she allowed her mind to relax. A name she had heard had stuck in her mind.
"Poppy," she whispered. "Is your name Poppy?"
"Yes, dear," Mrs Potts replied. "Poppy Pomfrey Potts. Now settle down while Plumette and I take care of you."
She decided to do just that. She considered the last few hours. The rose tree was of utmost importance to the Monster, since he had completely lost his mind over it. But still he had saved her life. Why had he done it when he had been so angry at her? As she fell asleep her mind could still not think clearly.
The fever claimed her, but it was not as bad as it could have been. Probably not even as bad as it should have been if the Monster had not used magic. She was only sick for a few days, and Mrs Potts and Plumette took good care of her. She was not happy about being stuck in bed, but it allowed her to think and to clear her mind.
She had finally been able to see the servants, and she wondered why. Something was also nagging her about Mrs Potts. There was a feeling that she was overlooking something. Maybe she didn't know enough about the servants. She would have to question them when she was up again.
What did she know about the curse? The Monster had admitted to killing his father and grandparents, but had not mentioned his mother. What had happened to the her? Had she died before or after the killings? The curse was a punishment for the killings, but from where had it come? The curse affected the Monster, and due to the curse an enchantment affected the castle, and all the servants. Did the curse or the enchantment affect Hermione and was that the reason she could see the servants now? What did the curse actually do? The servants all seemed like they had been here from before the curse though they didn't actually remember much. Was that because of the enchantment or because of the time that had passed since the curse? When was the curse even cast? The rose tree was somehow able to grew though nothing else had changed. All her questions just confused her more.
She thought back to when the Monster pulled her from the water. What did it actually mean that he had saved her life? She was grateful to be alive, of course she was, but she didn't owe him anything, right? He had deliberately acted in a way that would scare her, so he had pushed her to run, but then he had also jumped into the water after her. That led to the question of how he had known she needed to be saved. He must have somehow been observing her, yet he hadn't stopped her from running. Then she thought of the wolves and how strange they had acted, how easily they had gone down, and wondered if he had helped her even there.
That begged the question of why; why he had acted and why she cared. She knew why she cared; she needed confirmation that he was the monster she believed, she needed to know the servants were wrong when believing in him, and she needed to know that there was not one bit of goodness hiding in him, because if there was then maybe she had been mistaken about him.
…
It took four days before Hermione was finally able to convince Mrs Potts that she was well enough to rise from the bed. Mrs Potts had wanted her to stay a few days longer, but Hermione was tired of being confined to the bed. In the end she was allowed to go to the library, if she promised to not overtax herself. She promised and she knew just what to do. She would spend her time slowly looking over the books and maybe settle down at the couch near the window to read.
When looking over the books she was searching for something specific; a book about magic. She had finally accepted that magic was real, and that it might just have saved her life. She wanted to know more, but the only book that seemed to be about magic was the Book of Abramelin the Mage by Abraham of Worms. It was not the kind of magic she was looking for, so she ended up putting it back and finding a copy of The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer instead. That was more to her taste though it did not help her much in her quest for information about magic. Half way through the book she heard someone come into the library.
"I don't trust you," the Monster said out of the blue.
"I don't trust you either," she said and looked up from her book to stare at him. He was standing in the middle of the library.
"It has come to my attention that I have a bad temper," he said completely ignoring her comment. "And apparently I lash out on you."
"That is correct," she replied.
"Lumiere, Cogsworth," the Monster called while turning to face the door behind him, "was that enough?"
"You are supposed to apologize, sir!" Cogsworth said.
"Isn't that what I just did?"
"No," Cogsworth replied. Cogsworth was correcting the Monster. Had the world turned upside down? She sat up straight and put her book down. Whatever was happening looked to be interesting.
"You need to include the phrase I'm sorry", Lumiere added.
"But what if I'm not sorry? I'm not sorry for getting angry when she so clearly was hiding something, and then she goes out of her way to destroy my roses, and finally she tried to turn my servants into her informants! How am I supposed to not get angry over that?" he hissed at them.
"You could just have pretended," Cogsworth said sourly.
"What do you want?" Hermione had risen from the couch and had moved closer. At her comment the Monster turned back to face her. His eyes were not as cold and hard as earlier, but neither were they friendly or welcoming.
"They demand that I apologize to you," he admitted indicating the two servants behind him.
"I don't want an apology that you do not wish to give."
"Then what?"
"Answer some questions, will you?" she asked. He looked suspicious but nodded. "What did you do to the wolves?"
"Confused and stunned the first group, and confused the other," he replied.
"Why?"
"Because you are a stupid girl, who ran straight into danger," he hissed. "I know you ran because of me and I am not ready to add your death to my sentencing." Something didn't seem quite right with that comment with the way his eyes looked anywhere but at her, and for a monster who always kept eye contact it was just strange, so she asked a different question.
"Who would punish you?" she asked. He didn't reply, but just stared at her in defiance. "You are lying to me!"
"Fine," he admitted. "Your death would not add anything to my punishment except having the servants angry at me."
"You were protecting me," she acknowledged and he didn't contradict her. "What would you have done if I had not run into the water?"
"Nothing," he hissed.
"Would you have protected me until I thought myself safe and then dragged me back to the castle?"
"I was going to let you get safely out of the damned forest and send that bloody horse after you," he admitted. "Then I would protect the castle and all who lives here so that others like you and your father would never find us."
"Would you really have let me go?" she pressed not believing him.
"Yes."
"I don't believe you," she admitted. "Why would you do that?"
"To protect my people," he said waving his arms about indicating Lumiere and Cogsworth, who were still observing them.
"The servants? You want to protect them from what?"
"From others who might not leave an enchanted castle alone."
"You care about them," she said. It wasn't a question. She knew the answer already, but she still voiced her comment.
He cared about the safety of the servants, and that showed her that there was at least a speck of goodness inside him. She considered all the times the servants argued with her that their master was not a monster. Maybe, just maybe there was more to him than she had seen. She decided to trust her new friends and their belief that he was not a monster, but that did not mean she would trust him or forgive him.
"I apologize for hiding the truth about my investigation. I also apologize for doing experiments on the rose tree. I do not however apologize for turning your servants into my informants as you so put it, for that was their own idea and I did not ask that of them," she said very clearly keeping eye contact with him and he seemed surprised. "I do want an apology from you, but I want a sincere one so I can wait until you can give it."
"I…," the Monster seemed lost for words.
"That is how you apologize," Lumiere whispered to Cogsworth, who nodded in agreement.
"I will honor my promise to stay here and I will make an effort to not hide my actions from you if you in turn promise to make an effort to be civil to me and not lash out before you know what is going on," she said.
"I can agree to that," he said. "I will endeavor to listen before jumping to conclusions."
"That is all I am asking for," she replied.
"Splendid! Just splendid," Cogsworth exclaimed. "Maybe now the castle can get back some peace and quiet…"
"What my friend means," Lumiere said cutting Cogsworth off, "is that now we can all be friends and work together and not against each other."
"Right," Hermione said moving towards Lumiere. "Now we can really start to work on breaking the curse."
"The curse can't be broken," the Monster said.
"There must be some way," Hermione said full of optimism.
"Are you arguing with me over the curse?" he asked surprised.
"No, just expressing a different opinion than you," she said.
"It feels a lot like arguing," he grumbled.