A Dark Tale Chapter 3

My body trembled from the cold stone floor beneath me, and I quietly wished that I was somewhere else.

Being trapped in this prison was worse than slavery. Slavery did not strip me of my humility.

I heard the sound of a door knob turning, and I slowly opened my dry eyes.

The door opened and I leaned my body off the cell's wall.

The Beast or monster or whatever he was stood in the doorway of my prison room.

"Sleep well." He replied lifting an eyebrow from the unburned side of his face. I assumed his other brow was burned off.

"What do you want?" I replied feeling exhausted from crying and frustration.

"Today is the day you began working for me. I suggest you get moving the work is not going to do itself." The Beast said smiling briefly. Then he walked out of the room.

I considered killing him quickly, but then I was reminded of the threat he held over my father's head.

I rose from the cold floor, and I could not feel my legs. I stumbled out of the prison room.

When I arrived outside of the room, I saw the Beast standing with a lantern in his hand.

"Follow me." He said walking down the hallway.

We walked down the hallway and through the door that led to the stone stairway. We walked out of the exit to the prison tower, and I followed him all the way into the main foyer. We walked down right side of the stairs in the foyer, and I noticed that the stairs were covered with velvet carpet. I noticed the entrance of the castle was lit by burning candles, but it was still dark and eerie. Once we made it down stairs, the Beast led me down a narrow hallway until we stopped at the last room. The room was labeled supplies.

"These are the supplies you will use to clean every inch of this castle." The Beast said and I was about to refuse.

"Don't speak and no you may not ask questions. If you have a question than you can ask one of the servants." The Beast said walking past me.

He was only inches away from hitting me in the head with his lantern.

The Beast began walking away. "One of my unbreakable rules is that you must not enter the West Wing. The West Wing is the most sacred and forbidden part of this castle especially for you." The Beast said turning around. He narrowed his peculiar eyes at me.

"I have no interest in entering any part of this castle. I just want to go home." I replied and the Beast walked toward me.

"Just make sure you do as I say." He said with his voice full of malice and venom.

The Beast invaded my personal space, and I could not tell whether he wanted to scare me or intimidate me.

I began breathing heavily from agitation, and the Beast turned around swiftly. I watched him walk down the narrow hallway and back into the darkness.

I sighed and opened the door to the supply room hesitantly. Once I entered the supply room, I saw that there was nothing fascinating about it.

It was a small room full of cobwebs and several useful supplies. I grabbed a broom and exited the room. I walked back into the main foyer, and I began sweeping the filthy marble floor.

Several minutes passed, and I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I continued sweeping until I heard distant footsteps.

I gazed around the foyer until I saw a middle age woman and a young boy walking from one of the nearby halls.

The woman was holding a kettle of tea while the boy was holding a tea cup. The boy had a bright smile on his face, and the woman seemed to wear a somber expression.

The boy ran towards me, and I almost dropped the broom.

"Hello." The young boy with blond hair replied. He was jumping up and down, and he hugged me around the waist.

"Hello there." I said still in shock.

"My name is Chip, what's yours?" The boy said staring me in the eyes.

"My name is Bonnie Bennett, it is nice to meet you Chip." I said trying not to sound too depressed.

"Hello, dear." The middle aged woman replied pulling her enthusiastic son away from me. She had tired look in her eyes.

"My name is Mrs. Potts. I am sorry about my son, would you like some tea?" She offered.

"It is nice to meet you. My name is Bonnie Bennett and no thank you." I said trying not to sound rude.

"Very well, if you do not mind me asking, what are you doing up at this time a morning?" Mrs. Potts said and I did not realize it was early in the morning.

"I am the Beast's new servant. He said that I have to clean every inch of the castle." I said and I frowned at the sight of Chip still jumping up and down in place.

Chip dropped the tea cup he was holding. The glass shattered all over the floor. I was about to clean the mess up with the broom, but Mrs. Potts stopped me.

"Don't you dare. I have learned to only listen to certain things the Master says. If you want to pretend like you have cleaned you may go to the kitchen and wash dishes." Mrs. Potts ordered with a somber expression still painted on her face. I could tell she was kind by her demeanor, but the sound of her voice was very slow and frail.

I refused to argue with her. "Alright." I replied handing her the broom.

Once I exited the foyer, I realized I did not know where the kitchen was. I walked down one of the hallways across the foyer, and I noticed there was two dining rooms. The first dining room was very small and it contained two round tables. The second dining room was large and it contained a long table lit with candles and a nice centerpiece. On the right side of the short hallway was a room with double doors label kitchen, and I wondered what was the large room at the end of the hall.

I decided to ignore my curiosity, and I entered inside of the kitchen. The kitchen was large and spacious. There was a large sink made of gold on the right side of the kitchen, and on top of the counter was a large pile of unclean plates and utensils. I felt like running away.

I walked toward the golden sink, and I contemplated my situation. I thought about the spells my Grams thought me, and I thought of a spell to clean all of the dishes. I poured water into the sink using a water pump, and I began to place the dishes in the sink one by one using magic. The dishes floated into the air, and I chanted the spell.

I continued a cycle of washing, rising, and drying the dishes using magic. Once the dishes were dry, I placed them back into a neat pile with a gentle wave of my hand.

"A witch." I heard a male with a potent french accent say.

I stopped cleaning briefly and some the plates were frozen in the air.

"Yes and who are you?" I asked the unwelcome intruder.

"Forgive me, mademoiselle my name is Lumiere." The middle aged gentleman said with a bow.

"Well, Lumiere it is nice to me you. My name is-

"No, no there no need for you to introduce yourself. I am aware that your name is Bonnie Bennett, my belle. Word travels fast around the castle." Lumiere said placing his hand over my mouth.

I stared at him in shock, and I slowly removed his hand. Another male walked through the kitchen doors.

"Lumiere how did you get here before me." He stated.

"Because I am faster than you Cogsworth." Lumiere stated and I forget about the plates in the air. I dropped my concentration, and the plates fell toward the floor.

Lumiere ran toward the falling plates. He caught two with his hand and the last plate with his foot.

"See what I mean." Lumiere said with a confident smile.

"No, I do not Lumiere. There is work to do around the castle, and here you are. This is not a cordial meet and greet!" Cogsworth said and I feared for the rest of the servants working around him.
Cogsworth had a frown on his face, and I wondered was it permanent.

"Forgive me for my rudeness Bonnie. I am Cogsworth. The Master's butler and majordomo." Cogsworth said with a bow similar to Lumiere's.

Cogsworth was an overweight and short middle aged man, and Lumiere appeared taller and slimmer. They both appeared to be close in age. Lumiere sat the plates down in their rightful place and walked towards Cogsworth.

"Relax old friend, we have a guest. Let's celebrate." Lumiere said throwing his arm across Cogsworth's shoulder.

"I know I just want to be prepared." Cogsworth said.

"Prepared for what?" I questioned watching them.

Both their eyes widened. "Nothing. Prepared for nothing." Cogs said still seeming surprised.

"Have a good day ma chere!" Lumiere said speeding out of the kitchen with Cogsworth behind him.

After they left they kitchen, I dwelled on what they implied about preparing for something. Did the Beast have something horrible in store for me? I decided to brush off my thoughts, and I cleaned the remaining dishes by hand.

When I finished cleaning the dishes I exited the kitchen. I walked back into the foyer, and I noticed it was empty.

There was the sound of footsteps or people muttering. I looked at the top of the left stairway. The words West Wing were engraved on the walls, and I could not ignore my temptation.

I could care less about the Beast's orders. I could kill him with one flick of my wrist. I needed to prove that he did not own me. I am no one's property anymore.

I crept up the left stairway carefully, so no one would hear me. I grabbed an unlit candelabra and walked down the dark, long narrow hallway of the West Wing.

"Incendia." I chanted quietly. When the candles were lit, I saw strange statues of creatures like gargoyles and demons. I passed by the dark and haunting statues, and I saw a room with tall double doors at the end of the hall.

I walked towards the room swiftly. I open one of the doors, and I closed it gently. When I walked inside of the room I heard low cracking sounds, and I realized I was stepping on broken pieces of glass. There was broken glass all over the floor, and I noticed there were no mirrors on the walls. The paint on the walls was chipped, the furniture in the room was broken and some of the cotton had been ripped out of the chairs, and there was old picture frames lying against the walls with no picture. I looked in the center of the room, and I saw a torn painting. I walked closer to the painting and the only thing I could see was a person's dark brown hair and cobalt colored eyes.
The middle of the face was torn, and I was about to piece it together until a bright red light glowed around me.

I turned my head around and moved toward the corner of the room. There was a red sparkling rose sitting under a glass case on a small table. Across from the rose was an object covered with a torn sheet and behind it was a balcony leading outside of the room.

I turned my attention back to the rose, and I was distracted by its appearance. The red rose seemed to be sparkling with magic, and I assumed it was enchanted. I lifted the glass off of the rose and the magic continued to glow.

I sensed movement behind me, and I turned around to see a picture frame flying towards my head.

I quickly fell to the floor and the picture frame fell beside me. It was seconds away from hitting me. I glared at the demonic Beast standing over me.

"How could you betray me!" He yelled. A chill went down my spine.

"Get out!" He yelled and I knew I would have hearing damage.

"Get out!" He yelled again and this time I had enough.

"No!" I screamed getting off of the floor and facing him. We were eye to eye. I could feel the heat radiating off of him.

"I don't answer to you or anyone else." I spat still looking him in his discolored eyes.

The Beast looked like he was about to explode. The unburned side of his face turned red, and the veins in his eyes were showing.

I held out my hand to chant a spell. "Moti-

I said but I was quickly cut off. The Beast grabbed me by the shoulders and stole some of my magic. I was weakened immensely, and then we disappeared from the room.

I closed my eyes. When I opened them I saw that I was lying on the cold prison floor.

"I am back in the prison tower." I muttered sadly. I could not breathe or think. If I stayed in the castle than only two things could happen.

Either the Beast was going to kill me or I was going to rot in this prison cell.

AN: Well, well…. I hope this chapter was ok. I may try to update one more chapter tomorrow. Summer school starts on Monday for me and it will not end until the beginning of July. I am taking an English that consists of me writing nothing but essays so I hopefully will not be too busy. Thanks for the wonderful reviews, favs, and follows. Until next time….

Also, notice that the servants are not objects around the castle. That will be explained later. All I can say is there is definitely something off about them.