.AN. Yes, this will be heading straight for tumultuous torture territory. Proceed with caution. Remember not to exceed your daily dose of smutty Disney fan fiction and consult your doctor if you have any questions pertaining to such matters. .AN.

Belle had drifted off to sleep in the hay after trying in vain to make herself comfortable. She tended to the scratches and scrapes on her knees and made herself a little nest. She trembled slightly when the cool air harshly drifted inside the tower and slept for what felt like a few minutes until-

"Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle!"

"Lumière? Is that you?" Belle crawled over from the haystack and towards the heavy wooden door. She pulled at the aged and splintered wood, but it was no use- the Beast had locked it when he left and had taken the key with him.

"Mademoiselle, we don't have much time- the Master will surely be back soon. Do you see a window across the room?"

"Yes!" Belle ran quickly and looked outside. The view from the tower was dizzying- the bridge to the castle appeared to be the size of her thumbnail, and the chasm that would later take Gaston's life seemed even more daunting.

"We have a plan to get you out- we'll assemble the rest of the castle staff to catch you."

"What? Are you insane? Falling on a pile of furniture would be worse than just jumping out with nothing to catch me!"

"You seem to have not met the rest of us- even your mattress is self aware!"

"… Ewww."

"We'll be in position soon. Don't worry, my dear! You'll be out of there soon enough!"

Belle listened as Lumière hopped down the stairs. She was not wholly on board with this plan, but it seemed to be her only way out. She looked helplessly through her tears at the restraints on the wall, wondering how strong they were. She worked on pulling apart the straps, but it was no use- the straps had been recently replaced and the metal was well oiled. It seemed that the tower was the Beast's favorite place to keep hostages and trespassers.

The Beast, clutching his "tools" in his fangs, quickly lumbered back up the stairs with his claws clicking on the stones. He planned his approach carefully- this would not be one of the pleasant and innocent encounters that he had previously dreamt of. He carried a selection of whips, crops, ropes, and a gag (unused, of course- he wasn't a total monster.). His mind elsewhere, he did not notice as Lumière hurried to his own destination, careful not to burn any tapestries or rugs with his lit tea candle hands.

Belle paced nervously in front of the window, nervously looking at what she could see of the ground below. All of the castle's inhabitants had begun to gather, with the notable exceptions of Mrs. Potts and her entourage, along with the cutlery and sentient wine bottles, as they would shatter instantly. Belle shuffled her bare feet on the dirty floor and tried to consider how fast she would fall- she had no clue how high up she was, and calculating the exact rate would be futile without scratch paper. At least she had gotten to read that physics textbook that Cogsworth had smuggled into her bedroom.

As Belle leaned out once more to watch their progress, the Beast burst in, startling his captive. Thinking quickly, Belle decided to take her chances with the semi-prepared castle staff and scrambled to the window sill.

The Beast froze in horror.

"WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU THINKING?" he roared, dropping everything as his eyes widened in fear and Belle crouched, ready to jump.

"That I would rather DIE than spend another second with a BEAST!" she shouted.

Upon hearing this, the castle staff scrambled into position. The mattresses stacked themselves on top of each other, bracing for impact.

Belle closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

For a split second, she felt weightless as adrenaline pumped through her veins and clouded her thoughts. The cool winter breeze surrounded her as she fell…

… for a fraction of a second, until she felt a sharp pain in her arm and her body slammed into the castle wall. Opening her eyes to see the Beast leaning out the window and clinging to her arm, she screamed in fear. His sharp claws started to break the skin; his cold gaze sent a chill through her spine. The castle staff attempted to climb on each other to reach her, but fell back into a pile of snow just as the Beast pulled Belle back through the window. Belle gasped in pain.

He threw her to the ground once more and prepared the restraints on the wall. Belle crept on all fours back over to the window.

"You honestly still think that that will work?" the Beast snarled. He grabbed her by the arm again an d dropped her immediately beside him so that he could keep an eye on her. Once he was satisfied with the leather straps he pulled her up and fastened them tightly around her wrists. Belle honestly didn't know what to do at this point- should she fight back or beg for his forgiveness?

"Why would you jump out the window?" he growled, pacing in front of her. Belle's eyes remained fixed on the floor. She didn't want to give away his staff- he would tear them to bits in an instant.

"Well?"

"I told you why," she replied callously.

The Beast reached towards her. Fearing that he would strike her, Belle shrunk back. Instead, he simply pulled her chin up with one claw and stared tempestuously into her bright, hazel eyes. For a moment, he believed that he could see into her soul. Searching deeply, he wanted to see just what made her tick. He wanted to break her down and build her back up just the way he wanted. He wanted a woman that respected him- one that would not even think to call him what he was: a monster, a beast, a nightmare.

Belle remained silent, concealing her dread in a shroud of defiance. She squirmed and kicked, hoping to get him to let her go. She couldn't decide whether it was his hot, slow breath on her face, or her fear that was making her sweat profusely. His azure eyes looked familiar, but it was the first time that she had really looked into them. She had seen them somewhere before, but where?

He pulled back.

"Undress," he commanded.

"W-what?"

"Undress, I said." Belle's restraints were close to the ground, allowing her full access to her arms, so his command wasn't completely unreasonable. However, she wasn't concerned with that in the slightest. The Beast expected her to expose herself for his pleasure. No one had seen her undressed before, with the exception of Madame Armoire, but she did not look at her the way Belle expected him to look at her body, so she did not count. This man was worse than Gaston. She scowled at the Beast with disbelief.

"You honestly think-"

The Beast reached for the whip, which was long with a strong metallic handle.

"If you're going to be difficult, I have a way to remedy that. I'll say it one more time. UNDRESS."

Belle's hands shook as she reached down to undo the metal clasps that held her dress together. It was a lovely shade of olive green that complemented her eyes. The clasps came apart with gentle snaps as Belle slowly pulled the fabric down, revealing the light cotton dress underneath. It was thin enough to reveal her handmade brassiere, created specifically to make Gaston stop staring at her breasts but was now worn due to the habit of just putting it on. It was fashioned from two soft handkerchiefs and sewn together with old fabric odds and ends inserted for padding and comfort. She slipped it off as well, but ran into a problem- she was stuck underneath the pile of fabrics, unable to remove the rest of her layers. The Beast, who had been watching intently, simply reached forward once more. Belle, once again frightened of his claws, pressed her back as close to the wall as possible. Once again, he did not strike her- instead, he ripped through the tangled mess in an instant, leaving Belle to remove her corset herself.

The Beast threw the remaining scraps of fabric aside and turned to face his prisoner once more. Belle covered her swollen breasts with her hands as tears gathered in her eyes once more.

She looked up, angrier than she had ever been.

"What do you want with me?" she cried. "I know a man just like you in my village. He followed me everywhere whenever I would go into town for a book or to sell eggs from our chickens, always staring at me, touching me. That egotistical brainless brute wouldn't know a haystack from a horse's-"

"Sit up," the Beast snarled. Belle straightened her back and continued. "No- like this." He pulled her up so that she stood on her knees with her legs spread apart. He reached for a scrap of lace from her dress and tied her hands together behind her back. Belle struggled but was quickly subdued by his massive paw on her chest. "He didn't… do anything to you, did he?"

"Well, the day I came here, he forced himself into my house, and asked me to marry him. Though I wouldn't exactly say 'asked', it was more like he didn't believe I would say no, because he believes himself to be God's gift to humanity. Always strutting around town… And everyone loves him! I wouldn't be surprised if he slept in a different woman's bed every night."

"What did he do when he was in your house?"

"He told me that I was to be his wife, and had an entire wedding set up outside- with the entire town in attendance! Then he told me that he expected me to just be a pretty baby factory that spent the entire day inside cooking, cleaning, and rubbing his feet when he returned from hunting! And then- oh, this is the worst part- he tried to force himself on me. The way he came after me, it was awful! He knocked down furniture, threw chairs… I was barely able to get him out of my house by fooling him."

The Beast looked down.

"Y-you say I'm just as awful as this man?"

"Well, I don't seem to remember him tying me up in a tower and holding me captive in his house forever…"

The Beast rose to his hind feet and made his way towards the door.

"W-where are you going?"

"I need to get something to seal up that window. Stay in that position until I return."