Hello friends, heres another chapter for you! Its a bit longer that other ones ive done, but not too much! Hope you enjoy! (Pleaase review! )
"Step away from her' bellowed a voice from the top of the stairs. It echoed around the room, that deep growly voice, and Annabelle jumped a mile. She started, and her hands slipped from the grip she had on Maryssas. When she regained her composure, she was surprised that her shaking sister had not taken hold of her hand again, but was in fact weakly trying to push her away.
"Go, Annabelle, be free! Take care of father, and live your life in the adventure you've always dreamed of-" Maryssa croaked hurriedly, obviously scared of whoever it was whos voice it belonged to.
"Shh, shh, Maryssa, shh! I will not leave you here, ill and suffering!"
"Back away, intruder. Or else you will face the same fate as hers."
Annabelle, angry at the commands, patted Maryssa on the hand and stood up strongly.
"I will not leave my sister here alone, but you are right. We will share a fate. A fate that does not include you, or this dingy house! Now let her go!" She shouted powerfully, tipping up her chin.
"I am afraid that is not an option. This girl trespassed on my land, and disrespected my fathers house. Therefore one of you stays or you both stay. It is up to you. " The bellowing voice echoed around the dim room, the tone slightly raising from irritation. Annabelle could still not see the speaker. She felt a tug on her leg, and quickly bent to see what Maryssa had to say.
"Please just go. It was my fault for this whole mess, I have to pay the price for it, go and get your adventure, beautiful sister!" She pleaded with Annabelle, as she did not want her to stay another minute in the old, dreadful castle.
"No wait, it wasn't your fault, it was mine for believing Guy. So if anyone should pay the price it should be-" suddenly the only possible solution to this problem became clear to Annabelle. She stood back up to face the unseen force.
" Take me instead."
Silence followed her statement, followed by a lot of frantic NOs from below her.
"Hush, Maryssa. He said only one has to stay, he never said it had to be you. You can earn money, and look after father, you can leave-"
"You would do that? Forfeit your own freedom for your sisters?" He interrupted, with a softer tone than he'd previously been using.
"Wait... step into the light." She asked, tired of the unknown.
"Do I have your word?" He snapped, still emersed in darkness. Annabelle tilted her head to one side and stared out where she thought he was standing. They heard a grunt, and Maryssa shielded her eyes, quietly sobbing on the floor.
Two heavy footfalls followed the throaty noise, before a huge man, at least 6"7, emerged in the moonlight strip. He had large shoulders and very large thighs, topped with a round head. He had long hair down to his shoulders that seemed almost unnatually matted, which seemed to change colour between brown and gold. A unruly beard bustled out of his chin, and a moustache joined onto it, which was curling around all over the place. He was wearing a pair of purple flannel shorts, and an old white vest top, that was ripping from being so thin, and his arms, legs and chest were all covered in bushy brown body hair. As he looked down at Annabelle, an annoyed look on his face, she could see a few purple lines running across his face and his arms, one running through his left eye, another through the middle of his right ear, making his ear seem very disfigured in the harsh light.
Annabelle took in a short breath, ignoring her sisters pleas, and said boldly,
"You have my word."
Before she collapsed back onto the floor beside Maryssa, , the momentous man jumped into action. He clicked his fingers, and ordered calmly,
"Take her away."
After that, everything whizzed by so quickly, Annabelle couldnt tell what was happening in what order. One moment she was clutching onto her twin, and another two men grabbed hold of Maryssas arms and dragged her away from her, too fast for her to follow. She screamed her name, but was too distraught to really hear any reply, wailing and cursing.
After quite some time, Annabelle had calmed down, and became aware of the man watching her intently. In a second, she was bashful, embarrassed that he had seen her lose her cool like that. She pulled her self up to sit on the window seat, and looked out of the window at a garden, which looked as if it had been abandoned for many months.
"You didn't even let me say goodbye." She whispered after a few minutes, before repeating louder, "YOU DIDNT EVEN LET ME SAY GOODBYE! AND... and I'll never see her again." She faltered at the last sentence, as she had only just realised this. She wasn't going to see her beloved sister ever again. She was stuck with this horrible monster for the rest of her life.
He looked on at her sadly. He hadn't realised how harsh he had been, sweeping away that girl so quickly, it had been a 'heat of the moment' thing. He wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with her now though, so just stood there, letting the brunt of the exchange overwhelm him for a moment.
"I'll show you to your room." He said plainly, showing none of the conflicting feeling he felt in his brain right at that moment.
"M-my room?" Annabelle mumbled, not fully taking in what he said.
"Yes, well I doubt you want to stay here. " he grunted. She shook her head. "Then follow me."
Annabelle followed him down the stairs, back where she had come from. As he opened the door at the foot of the stairs, two voices could be heard, bickering. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but as soon as they saw the door movement, they shut up.
"This is Lum, and Bruce." The large man said bluntly, quickly gesturing as to who was who of the two men. The young, thin, blonde one, who she thought was Lum, (odd name) beamed happily, whilst the fatter man with the mustache she assumed was Bruce, looked slightly more wary.
"What's your name?" Grinned Lum elvishly at her, as they joined them walking now down the corridoor. Annabelle walked behind Lum and Bruce, who had pushed in front of her, between her and the man.
"Annabelle, " she looked away, taking in the sights of the ancient house. There were lots of brilliant paintings littering the red walls, and the carpet under her feet was the softest she'd seen. It was then she realised that, He, was not wearing footwear. She could see a lot more in the corridoor lights, which seemed to be the only technology of this century in the house, so she could tell the purple lines on his face were, in fact, scars, and the one through his ear was actually across his head, and his right ear flapped in two pieces. She shuddered. She had never seen something like that before.
"Pretty name," said Lum, snapping her back away from the ear. He leaned forward, so he was out of Annabelles earshot, and whispered to the boss:
"You should probably tell her any rules you may have... and your name probably. " The man sighed. He didn't really want to be doing this.
"We have some rules in this house," he started, and she gave a brief nod. "You are allowed everywhere in the house, this is your home now. Except the West-Wing."
"Whats in the West-Wing?" She asked quickly.
"It is Forbidden." He snapped sternly, turning around to look at her, as if to prove his point. This drew them all into silence, including Lum. This didn't last long though. Soon he was whispering again:
"A big rooms coming up, take her there. Oh, and maybe it would be a nice idea to ask her to dinner."
"Its 3am!" Bruce hissed, stopping Lum in his tracks for a second before:
"Tomorrow evening then. Let her sleep for now, she will need it." He nodded, agreeing with Lum. After a few seconds, he stopped, in front a wide, pink double door.
"This is your room. I suggest you sleep for as long as you will, as you have had a long night." He said gruffly, not used to thinking for other people's needs. Annabelle walked into the room, looking back at him warily.
"Oh and tomorrow, you will join me for dinner." Startled, Annabelle whizzed around, to refuse, before he shouted, "It is not a request!" And slammed the door in her face.
Annabelle sunk down to the ground in defeat, completely worn out now by the days events. She couldn't believe it had only been that afternoon since Guy had first cornered her in town.
She took a look around the room. It was ginormous, and very, very pink. A large four poster bed sat in the middle of the room, and a large walk-in wardrobe also sat right next to it. Annabelle got up, and stumbled her way over to the bed, and sat down. She sunk into the soft mattress, but instead of the joy of this comfort, she just became overcome with a longing for her own, hard but comforting, bed at home. 'Oh I miss home so much.' She thought to herself, and a single tear came dripping out of her eye. 'How could this ever become my home?'
She had run out of tears from earlier, so just had a solemn, sad expression as she sat still on the edge of the soft bed. If anyone had been looking, the look on her face looked more forlorn and melancholy than if she had been weeping.
She sat there for who knows how long, seconds, minutes, before suddenly jolting back to reality. Her mouth felt like sand-paper, and her body was shaking slightly from cold.
Annabelle gazed around the room, looking for a jacket or blanket for warmth, when her eyes caught sight of the digital clock on the windowsill.
16.25!
She must have slept for about twenty four hours, as she could not bring herself to imagine just sitting there for that long. 'But I don't remember falling asleep? !' She whispered to herself, but there was no other explanation. She sighed. To be honest she still felt tired, probably the cold woke her up. Talking of which, there was no blankets, just a large duvet on the bed. Annabelle sloppily attempted pulling it off and wrapping it around herself, but it was very, very heavy. It just wouldn't come off the bed! She tugged and tugged from all sides, getting completely tangled up in the weighty material. Exasperated, she gave up, and dropped the duvet onto the floor, angry with it.
It was at that moment that a large clattering came from behind the door of the large wardrobe. Annabelle hadn't explored inside there yet, so her eyes widened, and she raised her hands in peace in front of her body.
After a fer more scratchings and curses from behind the door, a very portly woman with black curled hair and very thin ankles came bustling out of the door, carrying multiple clothes hangers. She didn't notice Annabelle at first, but as soon as she did, she almost jumped out of her skin!
"Oh my Lord, who are you!?" She exclaimed loudly, dropping the coat hangers, which clattered to the floor.
"I'm-I'm Annabelle." She stuttered, her relief that this woman didn't seem dangerous overwhelming her.
"Oho, I know! You're the beautiful girl who gave her freedom for her sister! The whole house has been raving about you, sweetie! " she smiled widely, her circular cheek bones rosy and happy, inviting Annabelle to trust her.
"My name is Madelyne Bouche, maybe you have heard of me?" She waited a few seconds before continuing, "perhaps not. Well, I was a fabulous opera singer in France when I was young, oh so many years ago! Particularly popular even, I was known as the Grande Bouche! Yet unfortunately, my career ended suddenly during the war of Drobe, my village, and the next, Miror... oh dearie, am I boring you with my talk of the past? Tell me yourself!" Madelyne babbled along, obviously very keen in her own voice. But Annabelle took to her quickly, liking the kindness in her voice, and friendliness that this house seemed to have lacked.
"You must know my story already. " she replied to her shyly, but she smiled, unable to resist the beaming face staring back at her.
"That is true, I have heard a great number of rumours this past day, but surely they cannot all be true?" Madelyne asked, intent.
"I'm sure they are not, but there is honestly not much to say!" She insisted, as although she was beginning to trust this kind lady, she wasnt quite ready to share her life story.
"Okay hon, lets not dwell on the past! Would you like to...ask any questions about your future here? It isnt as bad as it may seem right now!" Annabelle pondered this. She did have a lot of questions, just which were the most important to ask.
"Urm yes I do have a few...well for one..."she said warily,"what is his name? And who is he, what is his authority!?"
"The master?"
"Yes. Also why do you call him your 'master'? Surely he is younger than you?" Annabelle was intrigued now, curious as to what his name really was.
"It is quite confusing, this story, but you seem like a smart one, so, here goes!
"His real name is Benedict East, but not many people address him as such. He owns the house, at least, his great grandfather owned the house, for himself to live in. It has been passed down the line for generations, but ever since his father took over, he chose to make the house a charitable trust, the Prince Adam Foundation. It is named after Benedicts great grandfather, he was Prince Adam, of some place or another. So technically, it still belongs to the Trust, but Benedict does own the Trust in general, so we're safe for the moment. As for why we call him master... I'm not entirely sure... I guess he has the money, he owns the house, so he is the master of the house... so it just kind of stuck!"
Annabelle sucked in a breath. Well, whatever she was expecting, it wasnt that. Prince Adam... his great grandfather?! And what a name; Benedict. 'I never knew anyone was still called that anymore!' She thought.
"Thank you Madelyne for your help! I was really curious about that, it has been bugging me," she exclaimed with false enthusiasm. She wasn't sure why she put on the act, maybe she felt like her initial reaction to the information was too subdued or something, but Madelyne Bouche looked happy, so she felt good too.
"Happy to be of service, dear! Just call my name and I'll be right here, helping you settle in to this new home!"
Annabelle froze, a grin left plastered on her face. She had said it. Now it was real. This place really was going to need to become home to her, and she had no idea how that was possible.
Hope you liked it! Another character added and some more developments on the Beast, even his name! It was quite hard coming up with that, so your personal thoughts on that would certainly be appreciated, as would any ideas for the continuation of this fic! TTFN!