The carriage rode off at top speed away from the village to the insane asylum. The wheels clattered and rattled on the road, but as noisy as the sound was, it couldn't cover the loud screams that came from inside the carriage: "LET US OUT! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS! GASTON! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!"

Gaston sat on the box next to Monsieur d'Arque, listening to Belle's screams and curses with a satisfied smile. He wondered how long it would take her to get too tired to scream.

The man next to him was not as pleased. He was rubbing his temples. "Gaston, you know I never interfere with your affairs, but are you sure you want to marry this screaming cat?" D'Arque said.

"Absolutely sure, Paul," Gaston replied with a laugh. "That screaming cat back there is like an untrained filly, wild and full of temperament. You need to break her will before you can ride her."

At that moment the screaming stopped. Gaston gave his friend an 'I told you so'- look. "See?" That went quicker than even I had hoped.

The silence lasted only a few moments. Then Belle started screaming again. Monsieur d'Arque sighed. "Stop the carriage for a second, will you? There is something I need to do or I will go crazy." He took a bottle and a handkerchief out of his pocket, poured the liquid on the handkerchief and stepped off the box. "It's still half an hour till we get to the asylum, so if you don't mind, I'm going to silence that untrained filly of yours."

"I enjoy listening to my wife, like every good husband," Gaston said with a grin. "But go ahead if you must."


The carriage stopped and Belle stopped yelling immediately. She tried to listen to what was happening outside. What was going on? Where were they? They couldn't be at the asylum already - they had only been traveling for about five minutes. Why had they stopped? She didn't hear anything. But the carriage started to shake for a moment. Someone was getting off the box.

"Belle, what's going on?" Maurice asked drowsily. He was sitting on the bench across from Belle, his head resting against the side of the carriage. He was still wearing his nightgown.

Belle sat down next to her father and took his hand. "I don't know, papa. Try to get some sleep," she sighed. She wanted to sound confident, to assure her father that everything would turn out all right, but at this moment everything looked hopeless.

A second later the door opened and Monsieur d'Arque quickly stepped into the carriage.

"Monsieur, I kindly request that you let us go," Belle said, trying to sound civil and calm. If she could reason with this man it might be over soon. "We didn't do anything. We're not mad nor a danger to others."

"Talking about beasts living in a castle is reason enough, mademoiselle," Monsieur d'Arque explained simply. "Don't worry, mademoiselle, we'll take good care of you."

"You can't get away with-"

"Oh, I will," he interrupted her. With that, he leaned forward and pushed the handkerchief over Belle's nose and mouth.

"What is this?" Belle tried to get the piece of fabric out of her face, but as soon as she took a breath she started to feel drowsy. She smelt something sweet, but she has no idea what it was. There was something on this handkerchief. We have to get out of here, I have to warn… I have to warn the Beast

"Nothing to worry about, Maurice," she heard Monsieur d'Arque say in the distance. "It's only ether…"


"How tragic, such a beautiful young girl losing her mind," a woman's voice said.

Belle didn't know how much time had passed when she woke up again. She was lying on a couch, her head was throbbing and her mouth was dry. She had a hard time swallowing. She opened her eyes, but the shapes were blurry. After a few blinks, she realized that this wasn't her home.

She didn't know exactly where she was. She heard voices but she couldn't identify the voices. They came from behind the couch. She couldn't lift her head to see who was talking.

"She is supposed to marry this gentleman," a man answered.

The voice was familiar, but Belle wasn't able to identify who it was. It was an older man. She wanted to lift her head to see who else was in the room, but all her muscles hurt. She didn't have the energy to even move her arms.

What were they talking about? Who was going to get married? And who had lost her mind? It didn't make sense.

"Ah…" it was the woman's voice again. "Cold feet?"

"He was having dinner at the girl's house with her and her father, discussing the upcoming wedding, when all of a sudden she turned against him, thinking he is out to harm her."

"Lunacy? Hallucinations?"

"Apparently so," the man said. "You might find her talking about a beast in a castle. A beast that is gentle and kind. A beast she loves." The voice was dripping with sarcasm.

Belle couldn't hear exactly what the couple was discussing now. Her head was aching as if someone were hammering loudly. She did hear them saying something about a beast in a castle. Her Beast. They were talking about him. How could they know about the Beast? He was completely isolated. They couldn't know…

"Does she perhaps think of the gentleman as that beast? That she loves him, but that she is afraid of him as well?" the woman said.

"Good observation, Madame. This girl has the repulsive habit of reading fairytales around the clock."

It was her! They were talking about her! Belle tried to get up again. She had to stop them. They couldn't speak about her like that. She was not crazy. The Beast was real! She had to do something!

"She's probably living in her own fairytale world from time to time. Either way, we have to exile her insane beliefs and hallucinations."

"Help her," a new voice said. It was a man. Not the same as the one she heard before. This one was younger.

"Monsieur, I can assure you, we will do everything we can to help your fiancée to get back to the real world," the woman said. "But I must warn you: if her case is as severe as I think it is, monsieur, her treatment will be hard and difficult."

"Do whatever you must do to get her better," the young man said, determined. "We WILL be married."

Gaston! It was Gaston she heard! Then it came back to Belle. His final proposal, This couldn't be! "No…" she said weakly. "We won't."

"She is awake already," the woman said, surprised.

Within two seconds Belle felt a hand pushing her up. The hand held the back of her head, while another put a glass of water against her lips. Eagerly she drank as much as she could, not noticing that half of the water landed on her dress. The water helped to clear her head. Bits and pieces came back. It was still a blur, but she remembered sitting on the edge of her father's bed.

"You're safe, Belle," she heard Gaston whisper to her.

She pushed the hand with the glass away, turning to the side to look. There was Gaston, kneeling next to the couch. He smiled at her. He took away his hand and laid her back gently on the couch. Tenderly he pushed a lock of hair away from her face.

"You're safe," he repeated, caressing her cheek. "No one here will harm you."

No one except you! Just like you will hurt my father…. she thought grimly. As if she were struck by a lightning bolt, it came all back to her. The mob, the carriage. Monsieur d'Arque's handkerchief being stuffed in her face. The Maison des Lunes! She was in the asylum! Oh mon Dieu! Papa! Where was her father? He wasn't in the room. What if they had locked him up in a dungeon!

"Where is my father?" she asked aggressively. "What have you done to him?"

"Belle, calm down. No need to get upset. I'll make sure your father is being taken care of as long as you are here."

"How dare you!" she screamed as she jumped off the couch and attacked Gaston with her fists. She knew exactly what he meant by 'taking care of her father'! She had to look for her father and get him away from here!

"Easy now, Belle," Gaston said in an almost bored tone as he grabbed her wrists. "You don't want to hurt me."

"You see, Madame, her state of mind is very fragile," Monsieur d'Arque said.

"Definitely insane," the woman sighed. She came out from behind her desk and walked over to the coach. The woman was much stronger than she looked, and quite easily she took over Gaston's grip of Belle's wrists and dragged her over to a chair in the middle of the room. "Keep her arms on the arms of the chair," she said to Gaston, who immediately pressed Belle's arms against the chair's.

No matter how hard Belle tried, she couldn't get away. "You can't do this to me!" she yelled in a panic. What were they going to do to her? Like everyone in the village, she had heard the horrifying stories about the asylum. Everyone stayed as far away as possible from the asylum. Parents used it as a device to scare their children, threatening to send them to the Maison des Lunes if they didn't obey.

"LET ME GO!"

With great efficiency, the woman strapped Belle's wrists to the chair with two leather straps, saying. "Mademoiselle, don't make it worse than it already is." She took Belle's chin between her thumb and her index finger, forcing her to keep eye contact. "And if you don't stop screaming like an alley cat, I will have to gag you. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Belle whispered, almost inaudibly. She tried to fight the tears. This woman was probably more dangerous than she ever imagined Gaston to be.

"My sweet, beautiful Belle," Gaston said comfortingly as he knelt down next to the chair. "Come on, sweetie, give me a smile."

Belle's eyes burned with hatred. She could hardly look at the man, let alone smile at him. She tried to ignore him. She didn't react till he touched her cheek to wipe away a tear. Then she glared at him and snapped, "Why couldn't you have left me alone?"

Gaston grinned. "You know very well, sweetie, that I couldn't." He let his fingers trail over her neck and her collarbone. "You are all mine," he said, almost to himself.

Belle closed her eyes wearily. "What do you want from me?"

"Marry me, Belle!"

Belle's eyes snapped open. "I won't! I'll never marry you!" she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Face it, Belle: I'm the only one who can get you out of here," Gaston said with a self-satisfied and arrogant expression. He stood up and bent over her, his face only inches from hers. His cheek brushed against hers. She felt the stubble on his cheek. He kissed her cheek lightly, then moved from her earlobe via her jaw line towards her mouth.

"Think about it, Belle. I can make you popular. I can make you respected throughout the village and beyond," he whispered. "As my wife, everyone will look up to you. You will be provided for. I'll take care of you for the rest of your life." He pulled back and smiled at her. "What do you say, Belle?"

The rest of your life… She gave Gaston a cold stare. "Not even if you were the last man on this entire earth."

"Suit yourself." Gaston turned away from her. "Do whatever you need to do with her," he said to the woman.

Oh my… what have I done! Belle thought in shock. For a moment she had forgotten that she was in the asylum. The only thought in her mind was not marrying Gaston. But he was the one who had ordered Monsieur d'Arque to bring her here. They would never listen to her. Only to him.

"Better start right away." The woman pulled the bell cord and not a moment later another woman entered the room. This one was plump and short, almost as broad as she was tall. She was dressed in a workhouse uniform.

"You rang, Madame?"

"This is our new inmate. Take her to the cleaning room."

The new woman removed the belts. Belle was too afraid to move. All she could do was stare at the marks the belts had left on her wrists.

"Come on, girl, let's go," the short woman said as she took Belle's arm and pulled her up.

This was not going well. Belle was starting to get desperate. She was all alone. They could do anything to her, and no one would ever know. Where was her father? Did he know she was here? She first had to get herself out of this awful situation, before she could look for her father.

She didn't look where she was going. The woman almost had to drag her into the right direction. The woman opened a door and there was a staircase going down.

"Go ahead, don't be scared." When she didn't move, the woman gave her a little push. "Come on, I don't have all day."

There was hardly any light. The only faint illumination came from the candles in the room at the bottom of the staircase. Carefully Belle climbed down the stairs, holding her hands against the wall. The stones of the wall were cold and clammy.

She entered the room. The walls were completely covered with white tiles. Or at least, they had been white once. Against one wall, there were a few shelves. They were stacked with towels, brushes, sheets. There was a water pump with a bucket under it. And on the other side of the room, the wall was also covered with tiles and a gutter.

Only one look at this room was enough to make Belle suspect what was going to happen to her. She swallowed and waited for the woman to speak, hoping she was wrong. She needed a plan. She needed to do something to get out of here. She couldn't let her fears take control of her. She was gradually getting some of her strength back. That was good. If she couldn't put up a fight, they could do whatever they wanted. If they thought of her as a prey, they would treat her like that. They would eat her alive.

"Take off your clothes and stand against that wall." The woman pointed towards the wall with the gutter.

"Why should I?" Belle asked, pretending not to know.

"In here, you do as you are told," was the simple answer from the woman.

Belle shook her head and crossed her arms. "I'm not doing anything till you tell me why." The woman ignored her, which was not a good sign. "I will scream if you hurt me!"

The meaningless threat made no big impression on the woman. She only smirked. "Be my guest, girl. I don't care if you scream or kick or bite your tongue off." She went back to the water pump and started to fill a bucket. "We like silence here."

For another minute Belle stood still, pondering her options. No one in here would listen to her. Was there any way to get out of here? She might be able to reach the door before this woman could do anything to her. But what would happen after that? She had no idea where in the asylum she was, or where her father was, or how to get out of here and back to the village.

The other problem was that things would probably get worse if she didn't play along. She had to keep in mind that the people around here were dangerous.

She sighed. Slowly she started to undo the knot of her apron. She wondered what would be better: take it slow and get used to the feeling, or do it quickly and get it over with. Who was she kidding, even thinking about it. Getting the worst over with was always better. She kicked off her shoes and took off her stockings. And then her dress. That was it.

"All of it," was the woman's comment.

Belle opened her mouth to protest. She had to take everything off? Of course they would. She took a deep breath and tried not to think. She took off her undergarments. There. She was now all exposed. She tried to cover her body with her arms as much as possible. She had never felt more vulnerable in her life. Maybe there was a reason this had all happened…or maybe it was a nightmare from which she had to wake up.

"Stand against the wall." The woman gave Belle a good once-over. "You're very clean," she remarked simply.

"Of course I am!" Belle said, offended.

"No need to act so haughty, girl. You're not much different from the other girls that I've seen come through here."

Belle swallowed and closed her eyes, preparing herself for what was about to come. A split second later she was suddenly drenched in ice cold water. She wanted to look unfazed by everything that happened, but the water was so cold! She couldn't help it, she had to scream. If the people here didn't kill her, she would freeze to death! The freezing water felt like someone was stabbing sharp needles into her. She felt the prickly brush roughly going over her skin. It felt as though the woman was trying to scrub away whatever they thought was wrong with her.

She tried to think of pleasant thoughts as she suffered through these humiliations. All her pleasant memories were with the Beast in his castle. The afternoon they had spent in the snow and reading in the library afterwards. The sweet conversation they had had that day.

All of a sudden the brushing stopped. Belle opened her eyes. The woman threw a towel at her. It was so incredibly shredded you could hardly call it a towel anymore. Belle tried to get herself as dry as possible. She looked around as she put on her undergarments, but her blue dress was gone. Where was it? They couldn't expect her to walk around in her underwear, could they?

The woman opened a closet and took out a plain brown dress and laid it down on the table. "Put this on."

"I want my own dress!"

"In here, you don't own anything," the woman said, rolling her eyes.

Belle took the dress from the table. It smelt awful, and she could only imagine how old this dress was. She tried not to think how many women had worn this before her, or what had happened to them. She rubbed her arms to get warm again. She felt numb and miserable.

"Undo your hair," the woman said. "Let's have a look at your hair."

Belle quietly did was she was asked and gave the ribbon to the woman.

"No lice," the woman commented as she went through Belle's hair with the comb. Not paying attention to the hair knots.

I could have told you that, Belle thought as she rubbed her head. What's next?

The door opened and Monsieur d'Arque and Gaston were standing in the opening, smiling slightly. "How is it going in here?" Gaston asked.

"She's all done," the woman answered.

"What do you think, Gaston?" Monsieur d'Arque said.

Belle lowered her eyes. she didn't feel very confident anymore. Even though she didn't care for the opinion of the people in the room, she did feel slightly embarrassed with her hair down like this, And the ugly brown dress.

" Much better." Gaston grinned as he circled around Belle like a predator. His look sent a shiver down her spine.

"Mademoiselle de la Vallière, you are now officially registered into our institution," Monsieur d'Arque explained. "I advise you to do as you are told and concentrate on getting better."

Belle nodded, not really hearing what the man was saying to her. She was tired after everything that had happened. She wanted to go to her own bed, in her own room, in her own house. Or the gigantic four-poster bed in the castle, with the warm, soft blankets.


Belle walked between the two men through several hallways and down flights of stairs. She started to shiver. It was colder down here than it had been upstairs. And this dress was much thinner than her own blue one.

She straightened her shoulders and held her head high. She couldn't let them know her discomfort or the cold of this dress or whatever was going on. No matter what they tried, she would not let them break her spirit. She couldn't let them. No matter how much they hurt her, she would live through this. And as soon as she had the opportunity, she would look for her father, and then a way out of here.

Gaston might think that he was the most powerful man in the village, but he wouldn't be able to get away with everything. She wasn't a girl who was thirsty for revenge, but if someone took it out on her father, they would have to deal with her.

Unexpectedly, Monsieur d'Arque stopped. They were standing in front of a big door in the catacombs of the asylum. "Okay. Listen and listen good," he said warningly.

Belle didn't look at him and didn't react. They were just trying to scare her. She wouldn't listen.

"Look at me. This is important!"

She looked up to him and gave him a fake smile. "Yes, Monsieur d'Arque?"

"We're going to walk through the place where we treat the patients. Whatever you do, don't talk to any of the inmates or make eye contact with them.."

That is a very specific instruction, she thought. What could happen when you made eye contact with another human being? She narrowed her eyes and glanced at Monsieur d'Arque. "Why not?"

"You don't want to find out," he said as he opened the door. "Do you understand me?"

She looked at Gaston, who smirked at her as though he would love to see her disobey Monsieur d'Arque. That was just like him. "Yes, I do," she said carefully.

They walked through a large hall. To her horror, it was filled with what appeared to be torture devices. It was horrible to see. There were only men in this hall. This is where they treat the inmates, she thought in shock. The asylum was far worse than she had ever imagined.

Some of the men were locked up in cages not much bigger than the men themselves. Others were just chained to the floor or to the wall. She didn't want to look around, she didn't want to see what was going on in here. She didn't want to hear the pitiful sounds of the inmates. But Gaston made her look. He was walking right behind her. He held his hand at the back of her neck, forcing her to look. Her mouth fell open when she saw what was right in front of her. It was one of the most terrifying images she had ever seen.

There was a basin filled with water. On the edge there was a chair attached. In the chair there was a man, chained by his wrists and his ankles. With some sort of device the wardens rotated the chair, letting the man fall backwards into the basin. They held him there under water for at least half a minute as he struggled frantically, chained and helpless. When they pulled him back up he looked nearly drowned.

She placed her hand over her mouth in shock. Gaston loosened his grip on her not a moment too soon. She had to turn away from this scene.

As she turned her head, she brushed against Gaston's chest. He put his arm around her comfortingly. He tenderly caressed her hair. He whispered soft words she couldn't hear. She looked up to him. And he smiled. He smiled! How could he smile at her in a place like this!

"Don't look so frightened, girl. We don't treat the women here. Only the men," Monsieur d'Arque clarified with a sick grin on his face.

The men… Papa! If there was one place in this entire madhouse where he would be, it would be here. Neither Gaston nor Monsieur d'Arque would hesitate to treat her father here! "Tell me where my father is! Is he here?" she demanded. Neither one of the men responded to her. She pushed Gaston away and shouted. "WHERE. IS. MY. FATHER?"

"What did I tell you!" Monsieur d'Arque hissed. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her aggressively towards the door. "Lower your voice! Cast down your eyes!"

But it was too late. The man in the chair had seen Belle and started yelling. "WOMAN! WOMAN!"

Even though the man was chained, it took all the strength of the warden to keep him in his chair. After that, all the other men started to shout as well. "WOMAN!"

"Monsieur! Take that girl out of here!" one of the wardens yelled. "This is going to be hell!"

Belle didn't know where to look. Everywhere in the hall men were shouting, screaming. The men in cages were jumping up and down or rattling against the bars. The sound was too much to bear. This place was horrible. Just horrible.

Once they were outside again, Gaston put his arm around Belle's shoulder. "I think Belle has seen enough for one day, Paul," he said.

Her nod was as good as unnoticeable. She had to get away from here.


Not much later she was standing in a small, dark room. There was a fire burning in the fireplace, but the screen in front of it was so thick, she could hardly see the light or feel the heat. The only other light came from two lanterns hanging from the ceiling. There was a window through which she could see the moon. But the opening was too high and too small to get through. The room contained only a bed, a table and a chair.

"You will be happy to know that Monsieur Gaston here is willing to pay for a private room for you," Monsieur d'Arque said.

"My room?" They were really locking her up in here! Once in the Maison des Lunes, no one ever came out!

"You can show your gratitude to your benefactor," Monsieur d'Arque continued.

"Gratitude? For locking me and my father away?" Incongruously, she laughed. This was insane! This whole situation was insane!

Gaston sighed in annoyance, "Paul, do something. This girl really has to learn her place in life."

Monsieur d'Arque shrugged. He quickly grabbed Belle's arm, twisted it behind her back and pushed her down on her knees. His other hand was holding her neck, pushing her even more down.

"OUCH!" Belle screamed. Tears started to flow. "Please, monsieur, you're hurting me!"

"First you will show us you are a good girl and thank the kind man for taking care of you," Monsieur d'Arque said to Belle. He twisted her arm a bit further. "Come on, girl. We haven't got all day."

The pain was excruciating. There was no way out other than to do what they said. It was better to just do what she was told. "Thank you," she said in a voice no louder than a whisper.

"Full sentences, mademoiselle." Monsieur d'Arque sharply twisted her arm as far as he could, making her scream. "Full sentences."

More tears came to her eyes. She had no choice. She felt her arm would break if she didn't say the right thing. Monsieur d'Arque would do it. She knew it. She had to obey. There was only one way out of here. Her voice trembled: "I thank you, Gaston, for taking such good care of me."

"That's better," Monsieur d'Arque said as he let go of her. "Keep up the good work and you will be out of here in no time."

"It's nothing, Belle." Gaston smiled as he held out his hand to help her up. "I will always take care of you."

Belle looked at the hand with hatred. She would never accept it. She just couldn't. She would rather stay on this cold stone floor than to accept him.

"Come, Gaston, let's leave our guest alone. She has a lot to think about."

Gaston smirked as he looked down at her. "Remember this, Belle: you've brought this on yourself."


A/n: Thanks Trudi, for editing this chapter!