No Happy Endings

By: The Duchesses of Arendelle

Beauty and the Beast- She's Nothing Like the Rest of Us

Part One

AN: Wow, an update on this story at last! Sorry for the wait, but I've been busy putting a lot of thought into these stories. This one in particular I really enjoy writing. Mainly because I love learning about and watching movies about old 18th and early 19th century asylums. Asylums in general just interest me because they have this dark fascinating element to them. That being said, this one will be a 2 maybe even 3 parter. And I'm flirting with the idea of spinning this off into its own multi fic story with all the Disney princesses and other Disney characters in it. Let me know what you guys think of that idea. I'm not sure I'm quite ready to let this story go. But the ending will be ambiguous enough to stand on its own. I've been going back and editing some of the other stories in this fic to make it easier to read and more legible.

Anyway, enjoy this and don't forget to tell me what you think of the spin off idea!

"Alright Belle, time to get up!" A stern female voice boomed from behind the metal bared doors of her cell. Slowly, Belle opened her eyes as she heard the jingling of keys unlocking the iron door. With a harsh clank, the door open and two sets of hard footsteps filled the room. "She said up girl!" A second voice said, this one more shrilly than the other's. Belle groggily sat up and rubbed at her sleep filled eyes.

"Get out of bed, and be quick about it." The second woman, Madame Gertrude, commanded. Belle hurriedly rolled out of bed and awkwardly stood with her arms wrapped around the thin slip the hospital (If you could call it that) gave them to wear. The first nurse, Madame Magritte, came over and stood in front of the shivering brunette.

"Come girl, you've been here for a month now, you know the routine." She rasped out in her deep voice. Belle looked down toward the filthy stone floors under her feet and hesitated. "Now!" Madame Magritte commanded loudly, becoming impatient. Belle jumped a bit and quickly lifted her arms up. Madame Magritte and Madame Gertrude put on their gloves and made quick work of taking her gown off. Throwing it to the floor, Magritte motioned for Belle to turn around so she could search her and then to turn back around to the front to search again. Belle did so and slammed her eyes shut. She hated these daily intruding inspections. What could she possibly have hidden… in there… this morning that she didn't have last night when they checked her.

Satisfied that she was clear, Gertrude pushed Belle outside. "Stand here and wait for the morning bath call." She told Belle as she moved to the next cell. Belle stood beside her room's door. She wrapped her arms around her shivering naked body. In here, you were not afforded the luxuries of pride, or modesty. She looked around at the other shivering, naked, and broken women standing outside their room doors. Most of them were looking down at the floor, not even bothering to hide their nakedness. They had gave that up long ago. Some were looking off blankly into space, murmuring to themselves or rocking back and forth, screaming. Belle closed her eyes again and once again wished she were anywhere but here.

Finally, Magritte and Gertrude bought out the last girl, Bette, kicking, screaming, and swearing. Bette was the only girl in this entire crazy house that would purposely give the orderlies problems. Gertrude struggled to hold on to Bette as she motioned for the male orderlies to help. The two men quickly rushed to their side and took hold of Bette. Gertrude and Magritte both breathed sighs of relief. Out of breath and angry, Magritte told the two men to take her to the hydrotherapy room. "Let's see how she likes sitting in scolding hot water for 2 hours." She gritted out in a deep grumble. Bette smirked and winked at Belle as she was carried away. Bette was the closest thing she had to a friend in this place, and she never understood why she would bring these things on to herself.

"Well, they say I'm crazy, so I might as well act it. Plus it's the only way to get a hot bath around here." She'd told Belle once, blowing cigarette smoke out the side of her mouth and smiling.

"Alright shows over! The rest of you girls, form a single file and off to the baths." Gertrude shrieked out in her annoying voice. Belle turned to the front and ignored the girl behind her who was murmuring Bible verses and speaking of how Satan visited her every night. As they marched off to the baths, Belle looked at her surroundings. Le Charenton Women's Lunatic Asylum was the closest thing to hell on earth Belle could have ever imagined. For starters it was filthy. It seemed like dirt and grime covered every inch of the place. There were parts of the roof that were caving in and leaked something terrible. In the winter it was at its worst. More patients than a few died of pneumonia from the freezing temperatures. The food always tasted stale and moldy.

But out of everything, it was the staff Belle hated most about this God forsaken place. The people were cruel, rude, mean, and downright sadistic at times. Belle had heard stories, rumors, about what some of the male orderlies would do to the female patients when the nurses weren't around. Belle just prayed that they would stay away from her. On more than one occasions, she had caught different male orderlies staring at her with lecherous gazes.

Reaching the bathing room, Belle was shoved inside. "Alright ladies, go to your assigned tub." Magritte yelled out. Suddenly the room was a frenzy of scuffling women, all trying to find their tubs. There were some that had to be escorted. Belle stared as Gertrude grabbed a mumbling woman roughly by her arm and dragged her to her tub. Magritte was struggling with a girl of her own. The straw haired woman was screaming incomprehensible babble and struggling a bit. Both Gertrude and Magritte were both hefty set women, so lifting the thin women like she was nothing more than a rag doll, Magritte threw her in the tub. The woman came up sputtering and Magritte dunked her head back under what Belle knew was icy cold water. She continued to dunk the screaming women until she finally quieted down and was only now murmuring under her breath.

Belle saw Magritte look up and stare her directly in the eye. Belle quickly looked away and scurried to her tub. Slowly, she lowered herself into the freezing water. The water was so cold to the point where it actually hurt and started to make her body ache. But they could never, and would never have warm water. The warden, Monsieur D'Arque claimed it was for their health. But she knew it was because he save a lot more money bathing them in cold water then getting it heated. And guess who kept all that extra money. She despised Monsieur D'Argue. The sadistic old man had been transferred and made the warden of the women's asylum the same time Belle was committed. She remembered his yellow toothed grin and the way his long, thin, wrinkly fingers wrapped around her chin as he welcomed her to her new "home."

Belle sighed and let her thoughts wonder as she tried to take her mind off the numbing coldness of the water. How had she ended up here? It was the same question she asked herself every day, even though she knew the answer to it.

She had turned down Gaston's proposal of marriage for the final time. She didn't have time for his little games. She need to save her father and get back to Beast. Gaston never took her refusals well, but this time he was absolutely furious. When Belle had shown Gaston the mirror and the face of her Beast he was appalled. Not by the way Beast looked, but by the fact that she would choose that hideous creature over him. He was a specimen. He was the man all the girls wanted. He was Gaston. And he was losing out to a hideous beast. This infuriated the rugged hunter even more.

Snatching the mirror out of Belle's hand, he quickly mounted his horse and rode over to the tavern. He showed his male admirers the image of Belle's beast in the mirror. The men were horrified and disgusted. Rallied on by their leader, the men grabbed pitch forks, torches, axes, swords, knives, and any other weapon they could get their hands on. They rode up to the abandoned castle in the woods. Belle tried to beat them there, but the pouring rain and the strong howling winds presented a problem. Finally making it to the castle, she dismounted Phillippe and ran to the castle's gates. She instantly noticed the cracked and broken wooden doors of the castle itself and squeezed through the hole.

Looking around, she was horrified to see the men breaking, burning, and destroying her friends. "No." she whispered under her breath when she heard a loud pain filled roar from upstairs. She ran past the men savagely destroying the furniture and up the many flights of steps. By the time she made it to the top she heard the hard footsteps of boots hitting the ground. Belle looked towards the footsteps and saw Gaston emerging from the shadows, scowl on his face yet still looking very pleased with himself.

"Where's Bea-" she began to ask but stopped when she saw what Gaston was holding in his right hand.

"Beast?" he finished for her. "Right here. Here's your beast." He yelled angrily, throwing the large decapitated head of Beast to the ground. The head landed right before Belle's feet and she gasped in shock and horror. "No, no, no, no." she said to herself as she fell to the ground and cradled the bloody head of her Beast. Her love.

"No, no, no, no, no." Belle screamed out as she began to writhe in the tub, causing water to fly everywhere. A hard slap across her face made Belle's eyes fly open and she realized where she was. What she was doing. Tears ran down her face as she cried for her Beast. Madame Magritte grabbed Belle by her brunette hair and dunked her under the water. Belle stayed submerged for a few seconds before Magritte brought her back up, only long enough for her to get a sip of air before plunging her back under the water. Belle came up sputtering each time. Finally Magritte let go of her hair and Belle took in several gulps of air. The scowling face of the woman met Belle's gaze as she spoke.

"You better calm down girl. That's the third time this week that's happened. One more and I'm putting you back on the shocks, you hear?" Magritte warned. Belle quickly nodded her head in understanding. She didn't want shocks. She would take anything but shocks. Magritte stared at her for a second longer before walking away.

"Alright, all of you, out of the tubs! Single file and get your towels. Dry off and then against the wall. Come on ladies, you know the routine!" Gertrude screamed as the women began to once again scurry around.

The women were marched naked out of the bathing room and back down the halls to their rooms. They were each given a 'fresh' gown to wear and were watched closely as they dressed. After each woman was clothed, Magritte went down the roll of people who were cleared for 'Socializing Time.'

"Angeline, April, Belle, Claudette, Evangeline, Eva, Eveline, Francis, Jaqueline, Katherine, Odette, and Yvonne. Single file and follow me to the Common Room." Magritte barked out. The girl's whose names were called formed a line and shuffled to the Common Room. The Common Room, or what Bette referred to it as 'The Place Where the Nurses Can Drop Us Off So They Can Go Sit On Their Lazy Asses And Do Nothing For Four Hours Room.'

Turning the corner and walking into the cluttered living room, she was surprised to see Bette sitting in a corner, smoking a cigarette with a content smile on her face. Magritte and Gertrude noticed her too and the women frowned as they confronted her.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you you'd lost your common room privileges for a week after that stunt you pulled this morning. And where did you get that cigarette?" Magritte was furious. Her face turned a dark shade of red as she stared down at the indifferent girl. Bette blew smoke into Magritte face with a laugh and the large woman angrily lifted her hand to strike the girl.

"Madame Magritte. Just what do you think you are doing?" Came the treacherous voice of Monsieur D'Argue. Magritte's face went from red to ghost white as she quickly lowered her hand and turned to look at the grey old man. "M-M-Monsieur D'Argue! Sir! What are you doing here?" she asked surprised. The man slunk over to the three women and stood in front of them as Belle watched. "I believe I am the one who gets to ask the questions. Now answer mine." He said coldly. Magritte stuttered before finding her words.

"I was just handling the insubordination of this patient. I've taken her common room privileges away yet here she is." She tried to explain to the man. D'Argue smiled and slowly walked over to Bette. Standing behind the chair she was sitting in, he placed his hands on her shoulders much to the raven haired woman's displeasure, thought she hid it well.

"Miss Bette Pardeu and I have a… understanding. I gave her permission to be in here. Do you question my authority?" he asked, staring down at the woman. Magritte bristled in embarrassment while Gertrude remained silent. "No Monsieur D'Argue. But what about the ciger-" he held a hand up and cut her off. "I gave them to her and gave her permission to smoke them. She earned them for her… good behavior." He smiled lecherously. A shiver ran down Belle's spin at the site of that smile. Magritte's face was now red again, this time from embarrassment and anger. "Is that understood?" D'Argue asked the woman. Magritte said nothing but shook her head in affirmation. "Good. Now if you'll excuse me ladies, I have work to do." He said, excusing himself. He gave one last lustful smile to Bette who returned it with a forced flirtatious smile of her own.

As D'Argue headed for the exit, he stopped and looked towards Belle. He gave the girl a long once over with his lascivious gaze and threw her the same smile he had given Bette with a lick of his lips, before finally leaving. Belle felt like climbing back into the freezing cold water again, just so she could cleanse her body of his gaze. From the corner of her eye she could see Bette waving the two nurses goodbye as they angrily stumped away. Belle took that as her opportunity to approach the girl.

"Hi." She whispered lowly, timidly playing with the ends of her hair with both hands and biting her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up after the first of her shock treatments. Bette looked up and smiled welcomely at the brunette.

"Ah, if it isn't le petite beauty." She said, blowing smoke and smiling up at the girl. She motioned to the seat next to her and Belle tentatively took it. "So how is the resident beauty lunatic? Meet anymore beast or talking furniture?" she asked. Belle had told her why she was here, and though Bette didn't believe her, she was never cruel to her like others were. She joked about it good naturedly. Belle looked down. "I'm fine." She responded. Bette frowned around the cigarette in her mouth and brought her hand up to take it out. "Come now mon petite, you have to do better than that." she told the brunette. Belle briefly looked up and stared into the woman's face before looking back towards the ground. She had always thought so much of Bette, from the moment Belle had first walked through the gates and saw her throw a nasty right hook at an orderly. And the stories she would tell Belle of the things she had done, the places she'd visited before she had gotten thrown in here for 'Overtly obscene conduct unbefitting for a woman.' i.e. many sexual encounters with many different sex, color, and race of people. Bette was a beauty in her own right. Raven hair that stopped at her thin shoulders. Pale skin with a beauty mark on her left check. And bright red lips. The lipstick in which she had gotten from D'Argue. Belle continued to look down as she spoke.

"It's just the usual. I miss my… my father. My home. My friends. My books… I miss reading…" she trailed off. All those things which she had lost and where never getting back. Bette smiled sadly at the girl. She was too sweet a kid to be in a fucked up place like this. Belle remained silent, not wishing to speak anymore. Bette bumped her arm and Belle looked up. The raven haired rebel smiled at her and leaned in to whisper so only they could here.

"Well, one of those things I can fix." She whispered conspiratorially. Belle furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She had no idea what Bette meant until she saw the woman reach down her shirt and pull out a tiny brown book. Belle's eyes widened in excitement as she looked at the small leather book in Bette's hands. "Where'd you get that?" Belle whispered in awe. "Antony. The warden gets me whatever I ask for." She said, handing the book over to Belle who gently took it, cradling it in her hands like a new born baby. "Wow… but… how do you do it?" Belle asked, feeling the book as if she was trying to make sure it was really real. Bette's smile faltered for a second and a sad expression crossed her face but was gone as quick as it came.

"Well. Being the warden's favorite little fuck toy has its privileges, no?" she said with a laugh that Belle knew sounded too forced to be genuine. Belle looked away from the book and towards her friend. She knew the last thing the woman wanted was for someone like Belle to feel bad for her. So instead she showered the girl with gratitude.

"Thank you so much Bette. You don't know how much this means to me." She said as tears began to escape her eyes. A genuine smile crossed Bette's face at Belle's gratitude. "Come now mon petite, no tears! We can save those for tonight's dinner. I believe its moldy bread with porridge… again." She joked. Belle let out a chocked laugh and nodded. She brought a hand up to wipe her tears and she stared at the book. Bette leaned in and whispered again. "What are you waiting for? That book isn't going to read itself." She nudged the girl a bit. Belle smiled and looked at the book.

Just as she opened it the doors to the common room flew open and Monsieur D'Argue barged in again. Looking around the room, he found who he was looking for and began to make his way over to her. Bette quickly and stealthily took the book back from Belle and hid it as D'Argue came to stop in front of them.

"Belle." He began, holding his hand out to her. "You have a visitor dear girl." He said, grabbing her wrist and hoisting her up. A visitor? Everyone she cared about or who cared about her were dead or in here. She looked at Bette in fear and the woman looked around, trying to think of something to do but powerless to actually do anything. The doors slammed behind Belle as she was dragged out of the room and down the dark corridor to the rarely used visitor's area. As they approached the table which her visitor was seated, she stopped dead in her tracks. No. No. No.

A large muscular man in a red and yellow shirt, black pants, and brown hunting boots sat at the table. At the sound of footsteps, he turned around and smirked at her. Her breath caught in her throat and she could only say one thing.

"Gaston."

AN: Thanks for reading! More to come!