Beau and the Beastess

Chapter One - Annabelle

"Where is he?" Annabelle shouted as she stomped across the marble floor of her front entryway, not allowing the look of fear on her servants faces to calm her in the slightest.

"I don't know, Miss," her butler answered, his voice trembling. "The Driver said he'd be here over thirty minutes ago... Uh...maybe they got lost?"

Annabelle glared at the man who was two heads taller than her and shouted, "This isn't his first rodeo... He knows the way here by now. Call and tell him if he isn't here in five minutes, he won't get paid and I'll take my business elsewhere."

As much as Annabelle wanted to believe that this would be the last time she'd need to use The Driver's service, the twenty other times she'd tried and failed proved it difficult to have faith.

She wasn't getting any younger, however, and her thirty-fifth birthday was looming. Annabelle wasn't sure if she'd get another chance to reverse her aunt's curse.

This only made her angrier, and as she stormed through the old mansion she owned on the outskirts of Savannah, Georgia, Annabelle roared in frustration. Picking up an antique vase off the side table, she heaved it and sighed when she heard the satisfying shatter of the glass against her fireplace.

Her chest rising rapidly, Annabelle began to calm herself down, noticing that she was alone in her living space. The servants often scattered when she flew into a fit of rage, which seemed to be happening more and more lately. Annabelle was having a hard time controlling her anger, something she used to be able to do with ease. But as her time grew shorter, and it became obvious that trying to find a man to love the woman beneath The Beast was a futile effort, her reasons for remaining calm were becoming harder to remember.

Once she turned thirty-five, Annabelle knew that The Beast would totally take over, and the girl she used to be would be gone forever.

Annabelle rested her hands against the mantle and looked into the mirror hanging above it. Small of frame, but strong of will, that's what her father had always said to her, Annabelle remembered with a heavy heart.

Although her reflection looked the same in the looking glass to her as it always had, she could hold it in her hand and see the twisted knots that were hanging wildly around her head. Years ago she'd cut her long brown locks into a short pixie and dyed it blonde. That way, when Annabelle looked at herself in the mirror, she still looked appealing to her eyes, but she was reminded that she was not the same girl she'd once been.

She could look down at her body and see how horribly disfigured it was, therefore, Annabelle tried to never look down. Sometimes her hand would accidentally cross her vision, and she'd spend hours obsessing over her mangled form.

In the mirror, however, she was a pretty woman with a fair complexion and deep brown eyes. Annabelle had no idea what her face looked like to others, but from the reactions of her staff, and the few strangers she'd allowed to cross her path, she gathered it was terrifying.

"Madame," her butler called from the hall. "The car is pulling up the drive."

Annabelle twirled away from her reflection, glass crunching beneath her heels as she hurried out. When she reached the large wooden door, Annabelle flung it open to see the dark car with tinted windows parking in her circular drive.

When The Driver got out and a tall lanky man was pulled from the back, rage fueled her again and Annabelle roared, "Why does he not have a bag over his head?"

The Driver looked up at her with a smirk that was just begging to be slapped off his face and replied, "He don't need it, Madame... I think I've done you proud this time."

His words didn't register immediately, but when she saw the handsome captive get closer to the stairs, Annabelle realized that he was being led by his arm, that his eyes were staring straight ahead but unfocused, and that his face was void of expression at the sight of her.

Good God, the man was blind, Annabelle thought, and a hideous grin spread across her face, causing The Driver to momentarily lose his footing. Perfect!