Belle sat in the darkness for what felt like hours. Eventually, she found a spot in the corner, curled up and fell asleep.
“Young lady,” a voice said out of the darkness. “Excuse me, young lady.”
Belle opened her eyes in response. It was no longer as dark as it was. Lit candles lined the small corridor outside her jail cell illuminating a tall, thin, elegantly dressed man.
If Belle had to guess, she would’ve said that he was a manservant. The only thing that made him look unusual was his gold-plated mustache. Belle had never seen that before.
“Young lady, what is your name?”
“Belle,” she told him excited to see another human being.
“Yes, Belle. My name is Mr. Kandel. I’m here to show you to your room.”
“My room?”
“Of course. Did you really expect that we would allow our special guest to stay in here? What are we, English? No, young lady, this is a French royal court. Here, we have manners,” Mr. Kandel said looking as persnickety as anyone could.
Belle rushed to her feet and headed for the door. Mr. Kandel withdrew a key and unlocked it.
“Are you sure it is going to be okay with the monster?” Belle asked the thin man.
Mr. Kandel opened the jail door and then stared at Belle. “The monster?”
“Yes. A monster locked me in here, and my father before me.”
The man looked at her confused. “I’m sure you’re mistaken. Please come this way,” he said ushering her out.
Belle moved hesitantly but happily. She wasn’t sure where she was being taken but she was more than happy to go.
“Remember, it is down the stairs, across the hall, up those stairs and then the fourth door on the right,” the man said.
“You want me to remember that? Why would you want me to remember that?”
“My dear, it is always important to remember where you came from so that you know where you’re going.”
“All right,” Belle conceded.
The two again dropped into silence as they descended the stairs, crossed the hallway, ascended the stairs, and then approached the fourth door on the right.
“And, this will be your room if it’s to your liking,” he said opening the door.
“To my liking? I thought I was a prisoner.”
“A prisoner? What would make you think that?”
“The monster. He said that I had to live out a life sentence here for my father trying to steal a rose.”
“Steal a rose? Picking or stealing of roses is not allowed here. That must be clear,” the man said turning to Belle sternly.
“No,” she replied startled. “I would never dream of it.”
The man smiled. “You would be surprised what you dream about here. But, as I told you before, there are no monsters here. We do however have another guest staying with us.”
“A guest?”
“Yes. Like you, he is here for, how can I say it, and extended stay. But he is no more your jailer than I am,” Mr. Kandel said again redirecting her focus towards her new room.
Belle turned and looked inside. The room took her breath away. Not only was it as big as the house that she shared with her father, but it was decorated with the most exquisite furniture that she had ever seen. The bed could sleep a family of people. The sheets and curtains were made of spun gold. Belle couldn’t believe it.
“Am I to stay here?”
“You are, my dear. This will be your home now. That is, for as long as you choose to stay.”
“You mean that I can leave?”
“Of course you can. But I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“Why?”
“There are dangers in the woods that no one can protect you from. But as long as you stay within the wall, you will be safe.”
Belle thought about the wolves that had chased her there. Was that what the friendly man was referring to? What did that mean about her father? Had he made it through the Dark Forest alive? Belle’s heart sank thinking about it. Could she have sent her father to his death?
“In here you will find a selection of clothes. Our seamstress has a perfect eye so they should all fit you like a glove,” Mr. Kandel explained.
“Fit me? Are you saying that they were made for me?”
“Of course. We couldn’t have our guest stay here without a change of clothes. What have you mistaken us for, the Welsh?”
Belle left the chuckling man and explored the wardrobe. It was filled with beautiful dresses. She didn’t understand how it was possible. She had only been in the castle for a few hours. How could they have made dresses so quickly?
“They’re beautiful,” she said touching the silk ribbons and soft ruffles adorning them.
“Of course,” the comically pretentious man said. “What did you mistake us for…”
“Let me guess,” Belle said cutting him off. “The Scottish?”
The thin man twisted his gold-plated mustache in shock. “No, my dear. And I would have you keep such prejudices to yourself. We value everyone’s differences here. There is no room for such bigotry.”
“Bigotry? No,” Belle retorted embarrassed. “It was just that you had said the English and then the Welsh. I just thought that you would next say the Scottish.”
“My dear young lady, I’m sure that I have no idea what you’re talking about. But we are going to look past such ugly speech on your part and show you where you will be dining.”
Belle turned a bright red, embarrassed. She said nothing else as Mr. Kandel led her away.
Crossing the hallway and descending the opposite stairs, the two poured out into another hall. Across that was a dining room. In the middle was a long table. And covering every inch of it was the most magnificent spread of food that Belle had ever seen. There were succulently roasted pigs and turkeys along with endless side dishes and a plethora of pastries. The smells made Belle’s nose tingle with delight.
When was the last time that she ate? She didn’t know. Whenever it was she couldn’t wait to sample the first morsel. Her mouth watered in anticipation.
It was as Belle moved her eyes from dish to dish that she finally saw him. There was a man at the far end of the table. He was unlike anyone Belle had ever seen before. His face was refined yet rugged. His hair was nearly shoulder length and perfect. And he was dressed in the finest clothes that Belle could ever imagine. The sight of him took her breath away.
“Who is that?” She asked unable to breathe.
The skinny man suddenly put himself between Belle and the gorgeous man.
“He is no one you need to be concerned with.”
“But you brought me here to eat, did you not? Won’t I be sharing a table with him? Shouldn’t I know who I will be eating with?” She asked desperate to find out more about him.
“No. There is nothing you need to know about him. If you please, Belle, can you look the other way?”
Belle looked up at the thin man’s face confused. “You want me to look the other way?”
“Yes.”
It was with those words that Belle suddenly woke up. Her eyes popped open and she was shocked to find out where she was. She was still in her jail cell. It was cold and dark but yet not quite as dark as it once was. There was a lit candle on the opposite side of the room and there seemed to be more lining the tower’s spiral stairs.
“Hello?” Belle asked unsure of what was going on.
Belle worked her way to her feet and then approached the jail door. Resting her hands on the bars, it was barely a push that opened it.
“What’s going on?” She asked herself. “Hello?” She repeated, this time a little louder.
Standing in the doorway of her cell, Belle searched her mind. “Down the stairs, across the hall, up the stairs, and the fourth door on the right,” she told herself. “What’s going on?”
Knowing that there was only one way to find out, Belle followed the path told to her in her dream. The way was lit. Each time she made a turn, there was a flicker of light in front of her and a light flickering out behind her. She felt like she was being led like she was when she found her father. She didn’t know what to think of it, but she wasn’t about to stop following it until she figured it out.
“The fourth door on the right,” she repeated to herself.
Finding it, she stared at it. It looked just like the one in her dream. What was going on? Pushing her hand on the knob expecting to find it locked, it wasn’t. Swinging it open, inside she didn’t find darkness. The place was lit.
The furniture looked like it did in her dream. As did the gold sheets and curtains. How could this be?
Entering, Belle ran over to the wardrobe. Pulling open the doors she found dresses. Pulling one out, she held it up against her. It was her size. They were all her size. This couldn’t be happening. There was no way that this was all by chance.
Looking around dumbfounded, Belle remembered something else about her dream. There had been a man seated at the dining room table. It was someone that the persnickety man hadn’t wanted Belle to see. Would he be there now? Would the food be there as well?
Placing her hand on her empty stomach, Belle wasn’t sure which she would be more excited to find. No, she did know. The man she had seen was practically out of her dreams. Well, technically speaking, he literally was. And now without anyone to stop her, she was going to meet the beautiful man at the end of the table.
Running out of the room and towards the opposite set of stairs, she descended into the hallway before running to the dining hall. It was with gusto that she threw open the doors. Breathless at what she would find, her heart sank when the image before her registered in her brain. There was no banquet and no handsome stranger. In its place were a few plates of food and they were all within arm’s reach of the monster.
The ugly thing snapped his head up locking his eyes on Belle. Belle froze. She didn’t know what it would think. Would the monster say that she had escaped? She hadn’t, though. It was like someone had let her out.
Belle’s heart thumped as she waited for the monster’s next move. She felt hot and ready to flee. Would this thing jump onto the table, sprint across the room and eat her? Belle was ready to put up a fight if he tried. The monster would find that Belle wasn’t as helpless as its other victims if it had any. At her heart, Belle was a fighter and she wasn’t about to give up so easily.
With her heart still racing, Belle watched as the monster stared at her and then slowly rose from his seat. There was nothing frantic or scary about his movements. They were all calm and measured.
Picking up one of the many plates of food, it walked it to the end of the table nearest Belle. Setting it down, the monster returned to his seat and continued to eat. Again Belle was confused about what was going on.
Belle, taking it as an invitation to eat, sat down. On the plate in front of her was roast pork and cabbage. It was no banquet but it was still the meal of a wealthy man. Not being provided utensils, she picked at it with her fingers and popped a chunk of meat into her mouth. It practically melted on her tongue.
“Mmmm,” she moaned.
As she did, the monster whipped up his head and stared at her. No longer as afraid of him and she once was, she explained her response.
“The food, it’s very good.”
The monster grunted and then returned to eating.
As Belle stared at him, she remembered one other thing from her dream. The funny man with the gold mustache had said that she wasn’t being held prisoner. He had told her that the only other person in the castle was also a guest and that neither of them could leave because of the surrounding forest. Was the man saying that the monster was as trapped as she was? Was the monster someone that she should be afraid of?
Belle’s heart thundered as she decided what she would do next. Her mouth was dry as it opened. She clutched her fingers together trying to stop them as they shook.
“Excuse me,” she said suddenly grabbing the monster’s attention. A lump developed in her throat as she fought the urge to cry in terror. “My name is Belle. What’s yours?”
The monster’s long furry ears twitched. After staring at her, he returned his attention to his food. “I have no name,” he said with a mouthful of meat.
“Everyone has a name,” Belle said gaining confidence from his reply.
“Not me.”
Belle thought for a moment. “Then, what would you like me to call you?”
“Call me?” The monster looked up at Belle again. He was confused for only a moment. “If you must call me something, then call me Beast.”
“Beast?”
The Beast looked up at Belle annoyed.
“Beast it is,” she said with a conciliatory smile. “So, Beast, how long have you been here?”
With soup dripping off the fur around his mouth, he replied, “I’ve been here from the beginning.”
“From the beginning? Beginning of what?”
“The beginning of the beginning,” he said with no more explanation.
Belle thought for a moment and then spoke again. “Are you trapped here like me?”
“Like you?” He asked gruffly. “You are here as my prisoner. I am not trapped here like you.”
So the thin man was wrong, Belle thought. She was his prisoner. In this case, however, the whole castle was her jail cell.
“Oh,” Belle responded disappointed.
The two fell silent as they continued to eat. Belle, thinking about everything that had happened, looked back up at the slurping beast.
“If you are not a prisoner, then why are you here?”
The Beast looked at Belle surprised. “Why am I here?”
“If you are not a prisoner, then why is it that you choose to live here, by yourself. Certainly, there must be others like you. You had to have had a mother or a father.”
“There is no one else like me,” the Beast said before returning to his soup.
“How is that possible? Certainly, you couldn’t have popped out of thin air. Horses have mothers and fathers. Deers have mothers and fathers. Even fish have mothers and fathers. You must have come from somewhere. Everyone comes from somewhere.”
The Beast, who was gritting his teeth as Belle spoke, clinched his fist in boiling anger. Unable to contain himself any longer, he swept his arm across the table sending the dishes flying. Sending his chair tumbling behind him, he stood up and roared as Belle.
“I am alone. There is no one else on earth like me. I am a beast. A beast!”
The Beast stared across the table as the little girl shook. His chest heaved wildly. His rage boiled in his eyes. He could have ripped the little girl apart. He didn’t, though. In fact, he caught himself. He had terrified the delicate girl in front of him. He hadn’t meant to. He had simply lost control.
Slowly calming himself, the Beast stepped away from the table and exited. Belle trembled watching him leave. She hadn’t meant to upset him. She had thought that they had been getting along. She could now see her error in behavior, though. She shouldn’t have pushed him. Belle understood how much it hurt to feel alone.
Remaining seated, Belle gathered herself. The Beast was truly terrifying. His outburst had made her want to run away and hide. She wasn’t going to do that, though. She wasn’t going to back down even to someone as threatening as the Beast.
When Belle stopped shaking, she looked around the room. It was a mess. She wasn’t sure what there was to do in this prison of a castle, but there was something that she could do. If the Beast was truly alone, then he would be the only one cleaning up. She had crossed the line with him. She would make it up to him by cleaning up the mess he made.
No longer hungry, Belle pushed her plate aside. Getting up, she crossed to the food and dishes sprawled across the floor. Some of the plates were broken but not all.
First, she collected the unbroken plates and then she gathered the shards. Stacking each, she decided to deal with the unbroken dishes first. There had to be a kitchen close by.
Collecting the dishes in her arms, she went in search of the kitchen. Finding a door that led to the server’s pantry, she followed the hallway towards a lit room with a partially open door. There was a noise coming from within. It sounded like there was someone inside.
Belle’s heart beat excitedly. Perhaps she wasn’t alone with the Beast after all. Perhaps there was someone else there she could talk to. Perhaps there was someone with whom she could become friends.
“Hello?” Belle said approaching the door.
When she didn’t hear a reply, she looked within. A cold chill ripped through her. The room was haunted. Dishes flew through the air from one side of the room to the other. In the sink were bubbles. Half of the dishes seemed to go there first before going to an enchanted cloth that wiped it and then sent it on its way.
This had to be some sort of evil magic, Belle decided. She had to get out of there.
Forgetting why she had come, she released her arms. Immediately remembering, she waited for the crash as the dishes hit the ground. It didn’t come. Instead, one by one they floated away.
Belle stumbled backward in horror. She had to get away before the evil magic grabbed her. The hallways were dark but in the distance, she saw a light. She ran towards it finding another hallway. Running into that one, she followed the path of lit candles until she poured out into what looked like a library.
Belle slowed to a stop amazed by what she saw. She had never seen so many books in her life. There were ten books in the church library in her village. She had read each of those books 10 times. Belle couldn’t read all the books in this library if she had a lifetime. She hadn’t imagined that there were so many books in the entire world.
Belle began to calm and look around. She ran to a shelf and retrieved one. The title was in another language but she could read the author’s name. The book was by Aristotle.
She quickly pulled out another book and then another. Rapidly her arms filled with books. Excitedly reaching for another but unable to let go of the ones she had, she stretched her fingertips. The book she was reaching for seemed to move to her instead. Belle screamed.
The book left the shelf and floated in front of her. If that was all that happened, Belle might have been able to deal with that. But a second book followed. Quickly after that was a third and then a fourth. Soon the entire shelf of books was floating around the room surrounding her.
Terrified, Belle let go of the books in her arms. They joined the swirling mass in front of her.
Belle’s heart thundered in fear. A wave of heat washed over her and a painful lump developed in her throat. She had to get out of there. She had to get out of the castle. Her father was right. The castle was haunted. Who knew what would happen next? Who knew what the ghosts would do to her?
This time as Belle ran through the halls, the candles didn’t ignite. Belle was stumbling through the darkness. Eventually finding herself back in the entrance hall, she was glad to see a little light through the windows. The windows were twenty-feet tall and through them poured the light of the glowing moon – or was it the sun.
Belle didn’t know where the light came from, she was just grateful that it was there. Running towards the front door, the massive drapes covering the tall windows, closed. Belle was sure that the ghosts were trying to stop her from getting out. Belle wouldn’t be deterred.
Remembering where the door was, Belle continued to run through the darkness. Reaching the wall, she felt what had to be a painting. Moving to her left instead, she felt wood and then a lock. Shifting her attention to that, she unlocked it. She hadn’t expected it to be so easy but she was grateful that it was.
Pulling open the door, the frigid air hit Belle. It was so cold that her skin prickled and hurt. Knowing that she wouldn’t last in such temperatures for long, Belle looked back around the room. She needed something to wrap around her. The only things she found were the twenty-foot tall drapes.
Sprinting to the closest one, she grabbed hold of it and pulled. The cloth didn’t release itself at first but when Belle lowered her full weight on it, something above snapped free. The cloth came tumbling down towards her.
Buried under the thick, gold satin, Belle fought her way out and stretched the drape out behind her. Quickly gathering it and wrapping it around her shoulders, she again headed towards the door and out into the darkness.
Descending the stairs Belle followed the long road towards the gate. Her shoes didn’t have much traction on the snow but she moved her legs as quickly as she could. Not thinking about anything but how she would get out, she was halfway to the gate when from behind her she heard a chilling roar.
Belle looked back knowing what it was. There was only one lit window in the castle and in it stood the Beast. Belle didn’t stop moving and as she did, she watched the Beast catapult himself out of the third-story window onto the earth below.
The Beast was after her now. She had to get away. Digging deeper, she picked up her pace. The Beast was closing the gap quickly. Belle looked up as she approached the gate. She was going to make it. If she could open it, she was going to get out.
Reaching the wrought iron, Belle pulled on it and it swung open. Taking a moment to close it back, Belle continued her run into the forest. The glow from the moon didn’t offer much light. She could see where she was going but barely. She kept running, though, and eventually she felt lost amongst the trees.
It was as Belle heard a growl that she eventually slowed down. The noise didn’t sound like it was coming from the Beast. It was higher pitched and smaller.
What was that noise? She thought.
When she figured it out, the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Wolves, she thought spinning around in terror.
Quickly there was a second growl and then a third. There was a whole pack of them. They were surrounding her and slowly they were revealing themselves from behind the trees.
Belle’s heavy breaths echoed in her ears. She could barely suck in enough air. In that moment she thought of Trudeau. This had to have been what it was like for him. Belle was about to die in the same way that her first love had. She wasn’t ready to give up, though. So when the first wolf lunged at her, she closed her eyes and swung her fist at it.
As she swung, the wolf yelped. Had she hit it? Belle wondered. She hadn’t. Then what had happened?
Belle opened her eyes and got her answer. Before her was the Beast. It had one of its paw-like hands around the wolf’s throat. The animal below the Beast struggled snapping at the Beast wildly.
Soon the entire pack of wolves turned its attention away from Belle focusing instead on the Beast. One by one they launched themselves at him. Swiping them off as they attacked, the Beast bellowed as the first one sunk its teeth into him. Letting go the wolf underneath him, the Beast turned his attention to survival.
Getting the attacking wolf to let go, the Beast swung his claw at another. The pack was relentless. The Beast fell onto his knees and then onto his ass as he fought them off.
With all the strength he had, the Beast fought until the very end. Although he had succeeded almost entirely, there was still one wolf that wouldn’t be deterred. Bloody and beaten, the Beast did everything he could to fight it off. It was clear to Belle that he would lose.
Belle watched moved. The Beast had protected her. If he hadn’t chased her, she would already be dead. Instead, he was the one about to die.
Suddenly, Belle decided that she couldn’t let that happen. Looking around, Belle scoured the dark ground for something she could wield. Under a tree, she found it, a fallen branch.
Scrambling towards it, she picked it up and charged the attacking wolf. It didn’t see Belle coming. Belle struck the thick branch across the wolf’s head catching it by surprise.
That didn’t stop the wolf, though. When the wolf rolled off of the Beast, Belle went after it continuing her attack. Already hurt by the Beast’s claw, the wolf had no defense. Belle was ready to pummel the animal to death. She didn’t have to. In a brief respite where the wolf was able to gather its bearing, it fought its way to its feet and whimpered off. Belle chased it for only a few feet and then let it go.
Running back to her fallen protector she kneeled down beside him. “Beast, are you all right?”
The Beast opened its softened eyes and looked at Belle sardonically. “No,” he said as if hers were the stupidest question the world.
“You’re right. You were just attacked by wolves protecting me. Of course you’re not all right. I’m sorry.”
The Beast’s eyes rolled as if he couldn’t believe her need to state the obvious. The look would’ve made Belle laugh any other time. She restrained herself, though. This was serious. The Beast was bleeding profusely. If she didn’t do something fast, he would die on the ground in front of her.
“Go,” the Beast said preparing to die.
“No. You need help.”
“There is nothing a little girl like you can do. Don’t you see that you’re free? Go back to your father and your village.”
Belle thought about her father. The Beast was right. She could return to him. She then thought about her village. What would she be returning to?
Quickly, Belle decided that none of that mattered. She couldn’t leave the Beast there to die. He had saved her and it was now only right that she save him.
“I am going to help you,” Belle declared.
“No, let me die.”
“No, I won’t. And what’s more, you are going to help me save you.”
“I won’t,” the Beast protested.
“You will,” Belle said sternly staring the Beast in the eyes.
Knowing that Belle wasn’t giving him a choice, the Beast sighed. “Very well.”
Scanning the ground around her, Belle got an idea. She had discarded the curtain a little ways back. She ran over and got it. Stretching it out beside the Beast, she went to the far side of the hulking creature and knelt down to push.
“Roll over with me, Beast,” she said.
With that, the Beast did his best to roll. With Belle’s help, he landed face up on the long drape. She was going to use it like a sled. Next gathering the loose end in her hands, she twisted the cloth, rested it on her shoulder and pulled. The Beast had to weigh over 200 pounds. He wasn’t budging.
Belle wouldn’t give up. With all of her might, she leaned against the Beast’s weight fighting to get it to move. It wouldn’t.
Still Belle wouldn’t give up, though. And as she strained and fought tirelessly to get the drape to slide even an inch, a strange thing happened. There seemed to be a crack in the endlessly clouded night and the Beast jutted forward.
Belle didn’t know what had changed but she didn’t think much about it. All she knew was that she was doing it. Through force of will, she was pulling the Beast forward. If she had given it a second thought she might have realized that there was no way that she could be pulling the Beast alone. She didn’t, though. And with all of her energy focused on dragging the Beast to safety, she began the long trek back towards the gates and then towards the Beast’s castle prison.
For Belle, it could have taken the entire days as easily as an hour. She didn’t allow herself to think about it. She didn’t think about how she was able to drag the Beast up the snow-covered stairs once she got there. She didn’t think about how she was able to drag the heavy Beast across the stone floor of the castle. All she thought about was getting the Beast back to his bedroom. Once she was there, she helped the Beast onto his feet and into bed.
Retrieving water and shredding some clothes into rags, Belle cleaned the Beast off and patched him up. The wolves had done terrible things to him but now that he was in the warmth under her watchful eye, she figured that he would survive.
Standing next to the bed, Belle looked down at the creature. As unusual as he was, he wasn’t that hideous. There was something noble about him that Belle couldn’t put her finger on. There was also a gentleness to him that was now very clear.
After doing everything she could for him all day, Belle found a chair and reclined. She didn’t plan to fall asleep. She only wanted to shut her eyes for a moment. It turned out that a moment was all she got.