Beast (25 page)

“You are right, my beauty. I would have never guessed. But then again, I did not expect Buttons to ever warm up to me either. As you can see, he also proved me wrong,” I said, walking closer.

I slowly put my arm out to pet him, but I was hesitant at first. When my hand came in contact with him, he flinched, as if a fly had landed upon him. Then he stood there calmly as I rubbed my hand on his neck. He shut his eyes, seeming to enjoy it.

Mirabelle dismounted and stood next to me. She looked ecstatic, as if she could not believe that Majestueux was finally okay. I was in shock myself.

The three of us watched the setting sun, taking in its beauty. The sky was magnificent. Light danced off the clouds. Mirabelle wrapped her right arm around my left and laid her head on my arm as we stood together.

Once the sun finally set, Mirabelle took Majestueux into the barn to brush him and feed him. I walked with them to the barn and then sat on the steps to wait for her. I could see Mirabelle in the barn, taking care of him.

When she came out, she walked quickly over to me, which made me stand up swiftly.

“Are you ready for dinner?” I asked as she walked closer.

“Yes, I am. Will you eat with me tonight?” she said while putting her arm through mine.

Her eyes looked deeply into mine, almost as if searching for something. A goofy grin came over my face.

“I would love to. Thank you.”

Once we sat down at the table, we began to eat. I could tell that Mirabelle had something on her mind.

“You look troubled. Are you okay, Mirabelle?” I asked after some time.

“Yes and no. While I love your company and we have fun here, I miss my family,” she explained. “I keep having dreams about them. They are so vivid and realistic; I actually hear their voices, and I feel the wind as they pass by and the heat from the fire that they have burning.”

“Have you ever had dreams like this before?” I asked.

From the way it sounded, she was having visions, not dreams. She was seeing her family for real, but she did not know that. I was curious to know if she had ever had these dreams before coming to the castle.

“Yes, I have had these kinds of dreams before. When I arrived here, I started having them instantly after I began to eat with you,” she told me.

“In the dreams about your family, what is going on?” I asked curiously.

“In the most recent one, Evaline was cleaning something by the stove while Nadine and Papa were sitting by the lit fire.”

As she explained the dream to me, I realized that it was the exact same vision I’d had the other night. Since that was the only vision I’d had of the Rose House since she had arrived, I guessed that I was not seeing everything that she was.

“I wish … I wish that they would know that I am okay.”

“I understand. I am sorry, my beauty.” I grabbed her hand.

I scooted my chair closer to her and wrapped my other arm around her to comfort her. She placed her head on my chest but was not crying, just resting.

Mirabelle took deep breaths to slow her heart rate. Once she took her head off my chest, she looked up at me.

“Beast, while the circumstances were not the best, you have been so pleasant and compassionate. I am so thankful for you!” She smiled.

“Will you marry me, my wondrous beauty?” I asked a little while after.

“I am sorry, Beast.”

I smiled back at her, letting her know that it was okay for her to tell me that and held her close. By now I was sure that she knew I would always feel the same for her no matter what.

After I walked her to her bedroom, she hugged me good night. When I left her, she was not as upset as she had been earlier at dinner.

A few days later, after we made a trip to the library, Mirabelle disappeared again. I assumed that she had gone to take care of the rose bed outside. A few hours passed. I sat in my bedroom with Buttons, looking at the roses.

There was a knock on my door not long after I sat down on my bed. Mirabelle opened the door and walked in. The skirt and blouse she wore had mud on them; there were splotches on her knees and on the sides, where I assumed she had wiped her hands. But the smile on her face was the only thing that kept my attention.

“Good afternoon, Mirabelle,” I said, standing up.

“Good afternoon, Beast,” she echoed.

Her lips were pushed together with purpose, and her jaw was tight. I knew this expression way too well; she was trying to hold back a smile but was failing.

“I have something I want to show you!” she explained as the smile began to appear.

She held her left hand out for me to grab on to.

“Why, what is going on?” I asked with suspicion.

“Just trust me!” she exclaimed.

I had asked her to trust me many times before, and she had always done so without another word, even when she might have been frightened. Now it was my turn to show her that I trusted her just as much.

“I always will,” I said softly as I grabbed on to her fragile hand.

The second my hand touched hers, she whisked me away, running down the stairs. There was so much enthusiasm behind her steps.

“Hurry, Beast!”

Though my strides were longer, she was faster than I was, propelled forward by her excitement to show me whatever it was.

Once we were down the stairs, we went into the foyer and stood by the big wooden doors. Mirabelle turned to me and grabbed my left hand.

“Okay, Beast, I need you to totally trust me!”

“I always do; I always will!”

She looked away, trying to hide the fact that she was blushing.

“Well, I need you to shut your eyes and let me guide you.”

“Like I did with you to show you the library and the roses in my room?” I asked.

“Yes, exactly like that!” She smiled.

So I closed my eyes without hesitation and let her lead me wherever she wanted to take me.

She guided me carefully down the steps of the entryway. I felt as if she were attempting to confuse me so that I would not guess where she was taking me. I used to know the castle inside and out, but since the curse had come over the castle, I had a difficult time finding even my own room.

“Okay, stop,” she stated. “Stay right there!”

“I will not move,” I replied.

She let go of me for a second.

“All right, Beast,
open your eyes!” she squealed with delight.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw stunning red, pink, and white roses in the rose bed, where all the dead roses had been. I knelt down to take a better look at them. They had finally come back to life!

“Mirabelle, these are lovely! Did you do this?” I asked, even though I knew the answer.

“Yes, I did. I have been working so hard on them. I wanted to surprise you because you have done so much for me. And I know that they are important to you.”

She was standing to the side of the bed. I stood up to hug her to thank her, but it felt like not enough.

How did she do this? No matter how hard I attempted to, while human and not, it never made a difference; they were still wilted, drooping, dead.

“You did not need to do this, my love. But it is very lovely to see their color again.”

“It was my pleasure. I enjoyed every moment of it, no matter how dirty I became,” she said with a laugh as she hugged me back.

“Well, I love them,” I stated as I gazed into her beautiful grey-blue eyes, which were sparkling from the bit of sunlight left.

She blushed, and her cheeks became a soft pink color. She looked deep into my eyes with a grin on her lips. She exhaled a deep breath, and her smile widened.

The sun was beginning to set as we walked back to the wooden doors. We had a wonderful meal, as always; she had asked me to join her for dinner that night.

She had not mentioned the dreams again, so I hoped that they had stopped. She seemed happier and more joyful. Our conversation that night was one of the best. But still, when I asked her to marry me, her answer was “I am sorry, Beast.”

A few days later, when we walked into the library, she seemed more excited than usual to read that day. While she always enjoyed her time in the library, it seemed as if that day were extra special.

I grabbed a book and sat in my chair. Mirabelle walked around, carefully studying the books. She was on the left side of the room, where I used to study; this spot was also near the painting of the Rose House.

I began reading my book, expecting her to overlook the picture, as she always had before. But the closer she inched to the painting, the more I began to panic. I watched her as she took steps, one by one, toward the edge of the bookshelf, inching toward the painting.

What is she going to think if she does see it this time? How do I explain something like this? Will this push her away completely?

Not long after I looked back at the words on the page, I heard Mirabelle gasp and drop two books on the floor.

“Oh my goodness! What is this?” she asked with confusion.

“What is it, my darling?”

I jumped off of my seat and ran to her.

“This painting! It-it-it is my house! Everything about it is the same as I remember it. How is this here? Why have I never seen this before? Why do you have this?”

She was moving her hands all around while mumbling to herself. I could not understand anything except the occasional
huh
,
what
, or
why
.

My stomach churned while I tried to find the words to explain.

“This painting has been here on this wall for as long as I can remember,” I began, hoping that she would not become frightened.

“What do you mean, Beast?”

She turned toward me with an eyebrow raised, eyes almost popping out of the sockets; she looked at me as if I were completely insane.

“This painting has always been in the library. When I was younger, I would grab a chair to stand on so that I could gaze at it,” I told her.

It was difficult to explain to her without seeming strange. But I did the best I could. I even told her about how much I adored the house and said that I wanted to find it one day.

However, I did not tell her about the visions—at least not at that moment. I wanted to focus on one unbelievable, far-fetched explanation at a time.

The rest of that day, she seemed a little calmer. Although she did not seem frightened by the fact that there was a painting of her house in the castle, she acted a little distant. Around dinnertime, she finally behaved like herself, teasing me and showing affection.

While we were walking to her door after dinner, she brought the painting back up.

“It is really strange that the painting is of my house,” she started. “I just do not understand how it could have been painted. As far as I know, our house did not exist two hundred years ago. Oh, I have a headache from trying to sort this all out.” She sighed with fatigue.

She looked around the hall as we walked.

“I know, Mirabelle. I do not understand it either,” I began. “I am sorry that it startled you; I should have told you about it as soon as you arrived!”

“It is just difficult to process,” she said while looking down at the patterns on the carpet, shaking her head.

We finally arrived at the door to her bedroom.

“Good night, Beast,” she said sweetly.

“Mirabelle, will you marry me?” I asked, as I did every night.

“I am sorry, Beast,” she said quickly.

Before walking into her room, she wrapped her arms around my body as much as she could to hug me.

As she hugged me, I was filled with agony. Based on her actions since her birthday, she seemed to be falling in love with me, but she would not agree to marry me.

I wanted to tear out my fur in frustration, but I counseled myself to be patient. In the back of my mind, I wondered if she was just trying to manipulate me to let her leave.

Chapter 16

A
fter dinner a few nights later, I walked Mirabelle to her bedroom. Buttons was sleeping in her arms.

After I left her, I decided to go up to the roof. Once I was up there, I became dizzy and fell to the ground.

When my body hit the ground, a vision came into my mind’s eye. In this vision, the scenery was different from any vision I’d had before. Every other vision had involved a forest, but this time there was no forest; instead, I saw a city, one that I did not recognize.

Around me there were many houses and what seemed to be shops. I was standing on a pebble road. It was maybe noon, and the sun was shining overhead; many people were walking around, talking and laughing. From what I saw, everyone was busy going into shops, selling things on the side of the road, or talking to others.

As I stood in the middle of all the chaos, people passed by without any regard for me standing there; I realized that they could not see me. I walked slowly around the area. As I walked, I felt as if I were being led toward a certain place.