~Beauty~
I wake up to the sound of a vacuum cleaner. I'm guessing it must be Carina who I am now realizing is probably the maid. I look around and don't need to remember where I am. It's all I thought about last night. Even in my sleep -which I got very little of- the thought of being in danger lingered there somewhere.
I study the room and find it looks like a hotel room. Clean white sheets and pillows on a king sized bed, a nightstand and a lamp, a dresser next to a sliding door closet, and a desk in the corner with a small window looking out into the forest. There's even a small bathroom where I find an untouched soap, toothpaste and toothbrush.
Walking out of the bathroom, I stretch, not sure of what to do. Carina locked me in so I guess I'll have to wait for her to come to me. Maybe I should savor these moments. What if they're my last? I shudder at the thought and hug myself.
For the next few minutes, I search for something to use as a weapon but find nothing. With The Beast's athletic and beastly build, it's unlikely that I'll escape through fighting anyways. Maybe my strategy should be to play it cool and learn more about this place. Then, when the opportunity strikes, I'll find a way out and escape. But then again, any opportunity may be my last. Maybe it isn't a wise survival skill to play pretend.
My stomach growls as I realize I haven't eaten since breakfast yesterday. I must be so hungry that I'm imagining things because I swear I smell bacon and . . . pancakes?
Don't tell me The Beast is a master chef! I try to force myself to laugh but it doesn't come out. There's nothing funny about this situation.
I move closer and closer to the door until I'm leaning against it, breathing in the delicious smell of homemade breakfast. When was the last time I ate pancakes? Or bacon? All I know is that it was way too long ago.
My mom has never cooked anything except for eggo waffles and cereal since my dad passed away. We never had enough money to eat anything nice either.
Thinking about my mom makes me grit my teeth. I can feel the sting in my heart like a freshly cut wound. Did she ever really love me? The words she said to me yesterday said otherwise.
"Ouch!" I yelp as the door opens, connecting with my nose.
It's Carina. She's wearing an apron around her pajamas. "Oh sorry, dear! What were you doing so close to the door?"
"I thought I smelled food," I say holding my nose and carefully backing away from her.
She chuckles sweetly. "Well, you were correct. Breakfast awaits." She places a plate of bacon and pancakes on the desk with some orange juice. My mouth begins to water but I remind myself to not get excited too fast.
"Thank you," I mumble. It doesn't feel right to say thank you to a woman who agreed to hold me prisoner but I guess it could be worse. She could have let me starve. Wait, what if she poisoned the food?
"You're welcome. But um, The Beast, as you know him, requested that you stay locked in here until dinner. Though, I'll be back to bring you lunch."
"Why does he want me to stay locked here? What is he going to do with me?" I demand feeling my cheeks redden with frustration. The suspense is killing me.
She places my utensils on the desk and smoothes her apron with a sigh. Her eyes old the same desperation as mine. "I guess we'll both have to wait to find out, won't we?"
~The Beast~
I smoothen out my blazer and run my fingers through my hair over and over. I don't know how I look because all the mirrors in here have been destroyed. I broke them all. No, not with my hideous but with my fist. The image staring back at me upset me. But it's not like I want to know anyways. Well, I already do. I look hideous and I have for a while.
"Stop that, you'll ruin your hair," Carina scolds and then does a double take. "Wait a minute, are you nervous? Gale Princely cares enough about something to be nervous? That's a first."
"I'm not nervous," I say rolling my eyes. Carina has been very annoying these days putting her two sense into everything. She was hired as a maid not a life coach.
"Whatever you say . . ." Carina looks over the dinner table she set up and nods. "We're ready. Go and get her."
"Are you kidding? If I show up at her room she'll be frightened. She doesn't trust me." I just kidnapped her for crying out loud. That's the point of this whole dinner actually. I have been thinking that maybe after a nice meal she'll realize I'm not that bad. She'll realize this is all a big mistake I don't know how to fix. I'll do anything to shut her crying up. It's very annoying to listen to and besides, it's been awhile since I've had dinner with anyone.
Carina shrugs as if it's nothing. "Well, show her she can."
I walk up the stairs clearing my throat. I really don't know what to expect. I drop my shoulders trying to look as non-intimidating as possible and practice a kind smile. Never mind, no smile. It just makes my fangs more visible and everyone knows there's nothing more friendly than fangs.
I slowly unlock the door, hoping for the best. At first, I see nothing but an empty doorway. The room looks empty as well.
"Uh. . . Hello?"
Her figure flashes in my vision. She has the desk chair lifted up in her arms. She uses it to knock me to the ground, sending the chair crashing down the stairs. Belle gets up from the ground where she has landed and runs after it, her light brown hair trailing behind her. I get up and quickly follow. She makes it all the way to the front door but it's locked.
She helplessly pulls on it to no avail. I grab her by the arms and force her against the wall beside the door. I can feel my ears become red in frustration.
"Never try to escape again or you will regret it," I hiss. "Now, we are going to eat dinner together like civilized people. Do you understand?"
She looks me straight in the eyes the whole time, as if to show she isn't scared. But I can feel her trembling.
I didn't want to do this. I didn't want dinner to start like this. But it's her fault, she tried escape.
I gesture to the huge dining hall.
"After you."
I don't know what I expected. Maybe a "wow", or maybe a second of amazement but that's not what happens. Belle gives it a quick glance and then takes a seat.
She ignores the golden chandelier hanging above her that took forever for Carina to clean. She ignores the giant glass windows looking out into a large garden with a fountain. She even ignores the large dining table with the sparkling silverware. How does this not impress her?
I take a seat across from her and Carina sits at the head of the table. "Good evening, Belle," she greets with her sweet voice.
"Good evening," Belle replies quietly. She says it through her teeth like if she opens her mouth a bit more a whole array of colorful language would be spit out at us. We start to eat and there's an awkward silence or maybe a tension filled one. Belle's the only one to blame for that. She's the one who attacked me and tried to escape.
I glare at her without meaning to and she returns it. We continue to stare daggers at each other for a few moments before she sticks her tongue out. It's the most childish thing I've ever seen. "What are you five?"
"What are you seventy?" she retorts.
"No, I'm nineteen," I growl and Belle's jaw drops a little. "What? My beautiful face lead you to believe otherwise?" I say gesturing to my face and giving the most sarcastic smile I can muster.
To my surprise she giggles. Carina gives me a confused glance, I return it. "What's funny, dear?"
"Nothing," she says stabbing her chicken with a fork. "It's just that face you made was cute."
"Oh, that's nice of you, make a sarcastic comment about my face." I grip my fork harder to keep from lashing out further.
"It wasn't sarcastic. Believe it or not it was actually kind of cute." She takes a bite and meets my eyes with a steady gaze and a small smirk. My anger amuses her.
I throw my fork into my plate and growl. "How dare you?!"
Carina and Belle both jump. "Gale, please calm yourself..."
"No Carina, I will not calm myself! I could have killed her and I still can! So she better watch how she speaks to me." Who does she think she is? She needs to know who's in authority. Back when I didn't look like this, my looks gave me authority. No one talked to me like this because they wanted me to like them. Now because I'm ugly, she thinks she can step all over me.
Belle's brown eyes narrow at me. "I wasn't trying to be rude. It's not my fault you're too insecure to take a compliment!" she shouts.
I slam my fist on the table and stand up knocking various items over. "Take it back."
"Please, just calm down," Carina pleads, frantically trying to fix the table.
"I won't take it back!" Belle shouts standing up as well. "Why did you take me in the first place? Why can't you just let me go?"
"Because I don't feel like it!" I knock over my plate, sending food across the room. Why did I just say that? I don't mean it. I want to let her go.
"You know what? You're as ugly in the inside as you are on the outside! I hate you!" she screams and that's the last straw. It's almost exactly what the witch said the day she cursed me.
I march over to the other side of the table, grab her, and throw her over my shoulder. She punches and yells but I ignore it.
Carina follows behind us. "Gale! Think about what you're doing!"
I walk to the basement that's next to the front door. It's old and I never use it but it has a strong lock. This will teach her. It will get her to appreciate how I treated her.
I walk down the stairs and then throw her in. She lands on her butt with a loud boom. She's crying now, all the fight knocked out of her. Her shoulders collapse and she covers her face as she sobs.
"You're going to stay here and think about what you've done!" I say and slam the door shut. The sound echoes through the hallways of this empty place.
~The Hunter~
Chemistry has never been more boring. Without Belle, there's no one to bug. I use to take pictures of her during class when she wasn't expecting them and show them to her after class to bother her. She always hated it because she said she looked ridiculous in all of them. But I thought she looked beautiful in all of them. Well, except for that one where she was in mid-sneeze. She looked kind of funny in that one.
I still can't believe that I was forced to go to school today. Belle was kidnapped just yesterday and now I have to carry on like nothing's wrong? Everything is wrong without her. The school hasn't seemed to have found out yet but I know it'll only be a few days before it's all over the newspapers and news channels. Then, I'll really feel it. Seeing it broadcasted will make it more real.
For now, I feel numb. I know she's gone and she's in danger but I don't think I fully understand it. It doesn't feel real. It feels like any moment she'll walk through the door and nothing will have changed. She'll have a new book in her hand and tell me about the plot and how she wishes she could spend all day reading it.
In a way, I want to hang on to this feeling. This feeling that things will work out and Belle is okay. I know it won't last forever so everything in me is praying the police will find her alive and well soon. I can only imagine the feelings that will drown me when I begin to understand what's going on.
A girl that sits right behind me in all my classes stands in front of the seat Belle usually takes. "Do you mind if I sit here?" she asks with a sweet smile, her dimples showing. I want to say that I do mind. That when Belle gets back she'll have to leave but I force myself to shake my head.
It's only temporary.
"No, it's fine." She takes the seat and winks at me. I just nod. She's had a crush on me ever since the first day of school but I was never interested. All I saw and all I still see is Belle.
The teacher continues his lecture and I feel my phone vibrate in my jeans. I sneak my phone behind the text book and check it. It's the police station. I told them to call me if they found anything. Have they found Belle?
In seconds, my breathing is unstable and I'm shaking.
My hand shoots up and the teacher nods. "What is it, Mr.Bolton?"
"May I go to the bathroom? It's an emergency." The teacher would usually shut the idea down before it came out of a student's mouth. They were big on not letting anyone out of class for any reason. But since I scored the winning touchdown at the last game, which resulted in a big cash prize for the school, all the teachers have been pretty lenient with me.
"Fine, but go quickly."
"Thank you, sir." I race out the room. Right when I get out of the classroom, I answer my phone with a shaky hand. They're either calling to tell me good news like they found Belle or the one that could shatter my world forever: They found her but she's dead.
It couldn't be.
I clear my dry throat and let out a weak,"What's up?"
"It's Officer Browns. We may have a lead on finding Belle. She left her phone in her car and a call from The Beast was made to her. We're going to trace the call as soon as we can but due to the amount of security The Beast has on his phone it might take a while. We'll keep you posted." His words practically make me melt.
"Th- thank you." I can hardly believe it. It's been almost 24 hours and the police said because of that the chances we'll find Belle alive have shrunken immensely. But I have to have hope or I won't make it. I have to hope they'll find Belle alive. There's no other choice.
I hang up and lean my head against the wall. We're getting closer to bringing Belle home. I might actually get some sleep tonight.