Blind and the Beast

The End

-Belle-

Her father had his arms around her shoulders and Vandy was pushing her from behind. Both of them had panic in their voices as they tried to flee whatever was happening behind them. She struggled in vain against both of them.

"Stop!" She shouted, but they did not hear what she had to say. Vandy was gone first. He was no longer standing at her side and then her father finally stopped pushing her away, but his hands remained firmly on her shoulder, locking her in place. There was an eerie silence coming from behind them. The only thing Belle could hear was the heavy breathing of her father.

Her father tried to turn her away once more.

"Belle, we need to leave." 

They could see what had happened. That was the benefit of sight, but there are some things in the world that are unexplainable. Belle knew exactly what had happened, but she could not believe it. Her heart pounded in her chest violently and her breathing became more erratic. She stepped forward blindly as emotion built up in her throat. Vandy reached out his arm and stopped her.

"Belle."

He only said her name, but that word held everything that he was unable to say in the moment. 

"No." She said softly at first, but then louder. "No. Where is he Vandy?  Take me to him."

Vandy stood frozen and Belle reached out for her father.

"Please Papa, take me to him." 

Her father drew his hand away from his daughter. He was distraught for his daughter and the pain he had caused. There were too many men dead from this foolhardy yearning for power. He just wanted his daughter back, but he realized that she had left him the day he let her go.

"He is right in front of you Belle. He is dead." He said. Her father didn't know what those words would do to her.

She just let go of his arms and fell to her knees, reaching out blindly until she found him. 

The tears came and Belle found that she did not care where Gaston was. She did not care about anything as she was overcome with grief.

-Polly-

She was in the forest driving Chip crazy with all her worrying.

"Just go back to the Castle if you are so worried!" Chip had told her, but she would not do that. She just folded her arms and refused to move. 

She refused to move until they heard someone come running towards them through the forest. Branches were breaking and leaves were crunching from one person sprinting straight for them. Chip stood warily and stepped in front of all of them, but when it was just Vandy who entered the clearing, everyone took a collective breath of relief. 

"Vanderwall! You scared us all to death!" Polly said, accusingly, but her teasing tone died in her throat.

He looked like he had aged ten years in the hour they were apart. His hair was disheveled and he had a bleeding cut near his shoulder, but what stopped her were his eyes. He looked like the world had ended and death was behind him. Polly's heart echoed the grief in his eyes.

"You had all better come back." He said simply. 

Polly stopped herself from asking. She just looked back at all the faces that mirrored her own. It was as if everyone had received the same message from Vandy. Anette pulled her daughters against her and they all exchanged haggard looks. Everything was about to change for them.

They all followed Vandy back to the castle. It was the longest that Polly had ever gone without asking a question. Questions would not really help them anymore. Vandy stopped Anette outside.

"Keep the children out." He said quietly and she nodded. She turned to the kids and took them to the garden. He opened the door for the rest of the staff to enter and when it was just him and Polly standing at the threshold of the door they just stared at each other.

"He is-" Polly stopped. It seemed almost disrespectful to even say it.

Vandy hugged her tight against him and whispered every detail to her as she sobbed into his shoulder. There was no softening the news. 

They stood in the kitchen until they managed to pull themselves together.

"We need to be strong. We cannot fall apart." Vandy said before they walked through the door, leaving the kitchen and their safety. 

Polly managed a small smile and hooked her hand through Vandy's and let him take her to the gruesome scene. Everyone would look to Vanderwall for what to do next, and he needed someone to stand next to him and support his answers. 

Their first course of action was to have the murderer thrown out of the castle and left to the forest without even the respect of a burial. It was revenge that everyone wanted, but no one dared speak of more violence. 

Cleaning came next. It was the only thing that they knew how to do. Somehow it felt like if they could just fix everything that was broken then things would get better. 

No one moved Belle. She knelt at his side for hours, sometimes crying and sometimes not. She did not respond as Polly and Vandy tried to coax her away. She did not even move when her father begged her to leave the place behind and return to the realm of the humans.

She did not stir when tensions rose between her father and the staff. There was no love between the human and all the beasts around him. They were all looking for someone to blame and they had each other as willing participants. Accusations and insults were traded until Vandy took Maurice to a room to cool down away from the horrors.

Everything was finally clean. The only evidence that a fight had even taken place was the missing doors and the King Beast still in his final spot on the floor. Now that everything was in its place, Polly began to feel the full weight of her loss. 

He wasn't the beast any longer. He was Adam. The only way he could have ever been free of his curse was in death. His face looked young. He no longer had to battle with himself. He no longer had worries. He was free in everything, but he would never be able to enjoy it. This is the life he should have had. 

-Belle-

"I suggest you get back from him." A voice called out from behind her. She barely even registered the voice.

"No really dear," a hand was on her back, sending a wave of electricity down her spine, "you should take a step back."

Belle sat up straighter but didn't bother turning toward whoever was talking to her.

"What do you want from me?" She asked. 

"I don't want anything from you. I want him."

"You can't take him from me." She said, defensively. She wasn't ready to let go. Not yet.

The woman sighed loudly.

"Listen, girl, I'm not the most patient woman in the world. I was in the middle of something very important when I found out I had to come deal with this. I'm tired and I really don't want to be here right now so cooperate with me or else I'll turn you into something less bothersome."

Belle finally turned on the woman with a scowl, "Who are you and who asked for your help?" She demanded.

The woman didn't respond right away.

"Interesting." She said to herself. She moved towards Belle and sat next to her.

"I'm the sorceress and you are crying all over my Beast King." She said.