"Beast!" I screamed, running up behind her to try and catch the woman as she fell back. The bullet had caught her in the stomach, blood seeping into her thick fur as she looked up at me.
"Y-you returned," she said in disbelief as I smiled, taking her bloodied paw in mine.
"Of course I did."
"Well...how heart warming," Gaston spat, standing shakily to his feet as he kept his musket aimed at us, despite no ammo in the fire arm.
"You monster!" I shouted at him, "Just because she looks the way she does, means nothing! You saw her as a beast but you are the beast! All she wanted to do was live her life and you had to come and ruin it!" Angry tears streamed down my face as Gaston tried to give me a cool expression.
"I see the dog has found a pet. She is a beast, just look at what she did to you."
"Only because she didn't know any better! Only because every other time someone had confronted her she had to defend herself!" I stood after gently resting Beast on the ground, "You have murdered an innocent!" I grabbed him, my fists pounding into his chest as he stumbled back, not prepared for the attack. "She wanted nothing to do with any of you! We were to live our lives away from everything!"
It was then that I gave a hard hit to the center of his chest, making the built man stumble back enough to smack his back into the banister. Rain had begun to pour on us as Gaston lost his balance, reaching out and grabbing the front of my dress the fabric ripping as he summer-salted over the banister and fell into the darkness.
I stared at the place Gaston had once stood, unable to find words as water soaked into my hair and dress. A whimper from behind me reminded me that Beast was still on the ground. I hurriedly ran to her side, collecting her into my arms as best as I could, taking her hand to my cheek. Beast smiled, running her thumb gently along my skin as I closed my eyes, tears mixing with rain. "I never thought I would see you again," she breathed, wincing as she moved slightly.
"I could never leave you, Beast." Beast smiled, seemingly satisfied with the response as she rolled her head to the other side. I shook my head frantically, curling my body over hers, hearing the last sigh of life escape from her lips. "No...no! Please, Beast! Don't leave me...you can't leave me when I love you..." the words flowed freely from my lips but the realization was overshadowed by the limp woman in my arms.
My body trembled as I wept, every so often sniffling out a "please" as if it would fix things. I didn't want to live without her, that was clear now. I wanted to be by her side, beast or human. I wanted to be hers and I wanted her to be mine. But I had been too late...I had let her get away.
Suddenly, the ran falling around us started to twinkle and sparkle, each drop glowing on the ground around us until the entire ground under Beast was glowing white. I felt a hand on my shoulder, looking up at a beautiful woman with hair a blinding white. She smiled, pulling me to my feet and resting her lips in my ear, "I knew you would be the one," she whispered before a gust of wind blew her away in millions of pieces. My gaze turned back to Beast, gasping as her body was lifted into the air by nothing, the glow encasing her body as it turned golden and began to explode in curls of smoke around her, covering her figure entirely.
Seconds passed before another gust of wind dissipated the smoke, exposing the naked, human, and woundless Beast on the ground. I rushed to her, removing my water-drenched cloak to wrap around her bare body, a smile pulling on my face. "Beast...Beast! Come back to me!" I cried, shaking her gently as her eyes slowly opened. I gave a sigh of relief, tugging her against my body as I felt her arms start to wrap around me.
"You did it..." she whispered, "you saved me."
The castle then exploded in the same golden smoke, clearing just as the rain ceased and we looked upon a completely new world. Each stone had been polished, windows washed, the trees were green and healthy as were the rest of the grounds and suddenly we were being welcomed by a flock of human servants, dragging us from the rooftop and twittering about getting dried off before we caught a cold. I had saved her. I had saved them all.
COMMENTS: We are winding down here. I've got two more chapters from Beast's perspective so all the necessary questions get answered, named, fought over, and eventually cleaned up. Hope you've enjoyed it so far. See you all next week!