Beauty is the Beast

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

My stomach growled at me, but I was not willing to eat another of those damn snack bars my father insisted on keeping in the house. The damn thing stuck between my elongated fangs and felt terrible against my new, roughened tongue.

For the first time in five days, I snuck downstairs, aiming for the large hallway mirror, knowing I had to do the brave thing and actually look upon the damage caused to me. Before, I had been too scared to look upon my ghastly reflection, using only my paws – hands! – to feel the changes wrecked upon my once lithe body. Now, I knew it was real, not my imagination, not a dream my subconscious had created to scare me.

I took a deep breath, trying to pull together my courage and stepped before the glass. My face, once freckled and mildly tanned, was covered in a soft sort of fur, almost like the chinchillas they had at the local pet shop. My ears were now pointed like an elf, mildly hairy but not disgustingly so. Two horns grew from my temple, spiralled and an off shade of cream; my teeth were all curved and sharpened, two escaping the recess of my mouth to hang over my lower lips, like a vampire from a low budget movie.

I already knew my whole body was covered in this strange hair and that I had grown, to my chagrin, a tail, which hung limply between my legs, covered in a coarser hair like that of a dog, but seeing my face like this, deformed and unnatural, made it all seem a little more... real, I guess.

I reached up a hand and stroked my hair. My hand was covered in hair like my tail, resembling more like paws of a cat than human hands, and my nails, which before had been short and chewed down to the base, had become long sharp claws. Luckily though, if we were counting short miracles in this whole nightmare, my hair had remained long and reddish brown like my mothers. At least I had that to comfort myself.

My eyes... well, they had not been exactly normal before, but now they were both a deep blue, navy like my right eye had been before. My eyes were still human – they were normal.

I was so lost in taking in my new haggard appearance that I nearly missed the soft call from the living room. "Girl?" The voice was familiar, but on turning and peering into the room, there was nobody there. I padded on all fours like an animal, finding it more comfortable than walking on two legs, doing a lap of the room in case somebody was hiding.

The room was definitely empty. The only thing that stood out from the chaos still left here from the battle which had taken place five days previous, was the hand mirror atop the fireplace, the only thing undamaged and slightly glowing against the wall. "Hello?"

"In the mirror, dearie."

I stood properly and lifted the Victorian silver and stroked along the handle, which bore hand carved roses and faced the glass, expecting to see my own reflection but instead, looking out at me like this was a normal occurrence, was the face of the enchanter – Jonah, I reminded myself. "You never told me your name," he smiled, his head cocked slightly to the side.

"You never asked," I countered, trying to gain some ground, but knowing I would never be seen as an equal to him. He was magical, for all I knew, he could have been fifty, despite looking like a Calvin Klein model, and I was just a little girl, now cursed and bound to this house.

He laughed, the sound like wind chimes on the breeze. "You have got guts, kid; I will give you that... So, what is your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I already know, but I thought you would have preferred to tell me yourself, Alexia St. Clair."

"How-"