here is chapter two! eekee! im really excited about this revamped story! :D let me know what you think!
CHAPTER TWO
unsteady
Images of the mysterious man that had quite literally swept Briar Rose off her feet racked through her brain. He couldn't have been - no. She shook the silly thought from her head, because if he was he wouldn't have saved her. Yup, if it was infact who she thought it was she would have been in pieces, scattered dead somewhere in the forest. So it couldn't have been, could it?
As Briar absentmindedly approached her town she was surprised to see it alive and roaring louder than she'd ever heard. About ten men stood in the town square, torches at the ready with none other than Briar Rose's father at the center of it all. She entered the town stumbling, still tired and very shaken up from the crazy ordeal.
"Briar Rose!" A harsh tone called out, causing her to flinch away. "Oh honey!" Her father shouted again, racing towards her and embracing her in a grizzly bear hug.
"Dad? Whats going on - what's all the ruckus about?" She questioned, not liking how everyone was ogling her. Quickly, a new figure appeared behind Rose's father, and out of all the people that lived in the small town it had to be none other than Klaus.
Klaus and Rose had grown up together side by side. In their town, history and the maintenance of order was top priority and both of their fathers were on the Founders committee. His father was the youngest founders grandchild, where Rose's grandfather had been his best friend. Their families had been colleagues for generations, and Klaus didn't seem to want that to end with them.
For years it had been obvious that Klaus had been smitten with Briar but she had never paid much mind to him. When they had attended the meetings with their fathers he would always make a point to reserve the seat next to her for himself. But Briar had never had a boyfriend before, infact, the need for one had never even thought about having one. Which, for her small town; was fairly odd.
The town of Griffin, South Carolina wasn't your everyday run of the mill small town. After the incident with the Lupus the last remaining founder decided that it was best for the people of his town to be cut off from the world. He claimed it was because the rest of the world was cruel and unforgiving, but it didn't take a genius to figure out the real reason.
Griffin was situated in a clearing in the middle of Dark Woods Forest. The very forest that the beast called home. The brooke surrounded three sides of the town, and the only way to enter or exit Griffin was a dark path known as Devil's Curve. Countless numbers of people had gone missing along the trail. Reports of the monster itself mauling anyone stupid enough to try to escape Griffin.
The only way to ship supplies of goods and currency into the town was a truck that would venture twice a month at early dawn from a neighboring town over twenty miles north of Griffin. It was a long journey, but no one ever coming into the town was ever hurt, or had even reported seeing some kind of flesh eating wolf beast. It seemed that the beast, if there even was one, only ever hurt the residents that had been a part of Griffen since its establishments.
Over one hundred new settlers had for some reason that was well beyond Briar, moved to Griffin in the past seventy five years and not a single one of them had been harmed for coming or going.
Briars mother and little brother on the other hand; hadn't been granted that luxury.
Both of them had been murdered in cold blood; and not once did anyone attempt to search for their murders. Instead they instantly blamed it on a mythological creature that was nothing more than fiction. That fact alone caused Rose's blood to boil, and to top it off her father hadn't even blinked an eye. As soon as they never returned home he didn't even bother searching for their bodies. He just left them both in the middle of the Dark Wood to decompose into the forest floor.
Briar silently resented her father for that, and she wasn't sure if she could ever forgive him either.
"Oh thank the Heavens," Klaus breathed, sweeping Briar off her feet and into his arms with a swift movement. Briar yipped, completely caught off guard with the action. She pulled her body away from his with her arms, barely being able to fight against his death grip.
"What on earth do you think you are doing?" She questioned the obviously delusional boy, feeling discomforted in his embrace.
Klaus didn't dare answer the confused girl that he held tight in his grip, just gazed into her honey eyes and smiled deeply.
"Down boy," Rora cooed, making her way softly to stand next to her father.
Klaus let loose a hearty laugh, putting Briar down on the ground with a satisfied smirk. Rose took in her surroundings, stepping away from Klaus and was undoubtedly confused with everything that had just happened. "We were going to tell you more subtly my flower, but your disappearance made us have a slight change in plans." Briars father's voice did nothing but agitate the fire growing in her. "Briar Rose, my sweet" he continues softly. "Sweety, you and Klaus are well -"
Klaus cut in abruptly, "marry me." The seriousness in his voice made Briar take a step away from him. She couldn't tell if he was being serious or was this some big joke they had all set up because she had ran off?
"No Klaus, there is no question to it." Her father snapped densely, "Briar these are hard times in the town and this is what's best for everyone. In a month you and Klaus shall be wed." Her heart stopped beating. How could they do this to her blatantly behind her back? She was the younger sister, Aurora should have been the one to have to have the responsibility to marry Klaus, not her.
"Why me?" she asked, taking yet another step back as subtly as possible.
"Well," Klaus began, "your father came to me offering up Aurora as insurance of his secure future but I wasn't interested in her -"
"I take offence in that," Rora groaned lowly.
"I wanted you," he finished lightly.
"But why?"
"So many reasons Rose, just please say you'll do it. Please say you'll marry me."
Briar looked around studying the crowds faces and she felt like a cornered animal. It was the most awful feeling in the world that she just couldn't understand, and what was even worse was that she knew there was no way in hell that she could say no to him. She knew that it was tradition that the children were responsible for the parents as they grew, they would rely on income from their children to survive after they passed their prime. There was no social security for them to fall back on. Not retirement money, just their children. This wasn't a new fact for Briar Rose but she just couldn't grasp at why it had to be her. She had always assumed it would have been Aurora's task since she was the eldest.
Aurora had wanted marriage, she had told Rose that not even six hours ago. Yet here they were, Rose about to make one of the biggest decisions of her life. A decision she had thought was years off. One that she would choose in passion and love and not out of duty for her family and their safety.
The eyes of the townsfolk surrounding her seemed unscalable at the moment and Rose's unsteady heartbeat faltered more times than she could count. So with an uneasy glance to her stern-looking father she looked back at Kendal before answering him in a voice barely over a whisper, "Yes Klaus, my answer is yes."
The town cheered, oblivious to the wilting Briar Rose, even though on the outside she was smiling, not nearly as much as Klaus. He once again swept her into his arms, spinning her several times before placing her back on her wobbly feet. "Alright then, now there are more pressing matters at hand." Her father clapped his hands firmly while rubbing them together, "Shall we take this conversation somewhere a little more secluded yes?" he suggested and before she knew it they had traveled to the quaint little house she called home.
"We thought he took you," her father said simply.
Rose was sure this must have been, let's befuddle Briar Rose day. "Who? Who took me?"
He grimaced deeply, moving a piece of her hair out of her face, "The Lupus darling, we all thought you were dead."
"But I'm not - he didn't, he would-" She stopped before she dug her hole deeper than she could crawl out of. Briar found herself wanting to protect the Lupus, wanting to defend him in every way possible even though she didn't know him at all. That is, if the man that had rescued was him. If he even existed at all. It was crazy how every time she thought of what the beast would like, or even of his name, a picture of the man before popped into her boggling mind.
Running a hand through her mangled chocolate shade hair while she looked to her father who was running his own hand over his parted lips. "Insolent little girl" he whispered grasping at her arm and calling out for Aurora, walking towards their home.
"What on earth were you thinking Briar Rose?" her father growled at her, stunned at his daughter's raging stupidity.
"I - I wasn't thinking -"
"You think?" he growls once again.
"Don't you think you're being a little be too harsh on her?" Klaus asked his almost step-father, almost protectively standing behind his daughter.
"I'm not a bit too harsh on her Klaus, and just because of the new-found relationship between you and my stupid daughter it doesn't mean that I won't punish her for when she has done something punishable worthy." Her father bellowed.
"Yes sir," Klaus retreated easily.
"Until your wedding day, she is still my little girl and I will treat her as such."
"I understand Mr. Avington. Loud and clear."
With that Klaus grabbed Rose's shoulders firmly, massaging them in a way. "Listen father I didn't -"
"Just stop Rose. Get out of my sight, I can't even look at you right now," He sighed, successfully breaking his daughter's heart for the second time that day.
Aurora had yet to stand up for her sister, she hadn't done anything but stand there with a solemn look plastered on her face. But that didn't come as a surprise to Briar. Her body shook slightly as she attempted to stand up, turning to face Klaus. "It - was nice to see you today Klaus." Politely she curtseyed lightly holding salty tears back. Briar looked at her father once more, and then to her sister before dashing up the wooden stairs and into her room despite Klaus' desperate pleas. She covered her mouth with her hands, trying to keep the tears from falling.
Within a few hours she had managed to disappoint her best friend and her father. She knew that passing that far into the forest was strictly forbidden but honestly she never thought that she'd extract a reaction out of her father like that. Especially when she wasn't exactly to blame either.
"Briar?" The soft voice of her sister rang through from the door with a soft pounding against the door.
"Leave me alone" Briar cried.
"I'm so sorry Briar Rose - I should have never said anything like that. Please let me in," Aurora pleaded.
Slowly she leaned away from the door enough for Rora to get in, and as soon as the door opened Aloura leapt into her sister's arms. "I should've gone after you, I'm so sorry Rose, so sorry."
"Stop Ror, I'm fine, seriously. No-nothing happened to me, I'm fine." She tried to get the subject thrown out the window so the reminder of how much hate swirled around her disappeared for a while.
"What do you mean nothing happened? Rose - don't try to shit me because I know you better than that. So why don't you tell me what really happened." Rora pushed for the truth, closing the door and sitting her down on her bed.
Briar began to shake her head, even if she told Aurora that some strange guy carried her to the brook and then disappeared she wouldn't waste a moment to go running off to tell daddy. Rora was always daddy's little girl and that was never going to change. Briar had never been attached to anyone besides the dog she had named Bobo when she was a little girl and her very dead mother.
Her father always favored Rora, she was the perfect daughter in every way in his eyes. But if her father knew half of the things that Aurora did behind his back she was sure that she would quickly become the new number one.
"I already told you, nothing happened." Her words didn't even fool her.
"Bull shit," Rora smirked.
"Nothin-"
"Just stop, what did you see? What happened out there, did you find him?" She asked impatiently grabbing at her sister's shoulders?
"Him?"
"You did didn't you, you lucky bastard you, you saw Arsen!" She exclaimed, something Briar Rose never saw before glinting deep in her eyes.
"Arsen?" Briar asked, her heart speeding up.
"Yeah, as in the beast, the Lupus, the mythical werewolf type thing! You know what I'm talking about Rose, so tell me - did you find him?" The sheer excitement and enthusiasm running through Aloura's veins was affecting Rose too, she could feel it radiate off her body in waves.
She stared at her sister, wide eyed and bushy tailed. Why was she intrigued by the beast? She knew that her sister was gonna shake her dry until she got some sort of reaction or answers out of her somehow. Without saying anything Briar bit her lip gently, locking eyes with her sister and trying to silently pass some sort of message towards her that she wasn't able to verbally.
With a loud gasp Aloura began to jump up and down excitedly like she had just won the lottery or got engaged. "You did!" she squealed.
"Well - I, I honestly don't know what I saw," Briar admitted.
"Tell me everything." She plopped down with a thud next to her sister, stars flying in her eyes.
Rose smiled, telling her sister everything that had happened to her after she ran away up until she got home and everything had bursted into flames. Aloura listened to every detail, absorbing every word her sister said and letting it sink into her brain until it was engraved into her. But then she smiled, telling her sister the one thing she thought would never come out of her mouth.
"Take me to him."