Love Is Never Ugly

Chapter 24

Warning this chapter contains self harm.

Alastor found it hard to sleep that night. He was just so confused about what had taken place at dinner that evening. She had requested that he continue speaking with her at dinner even though she had seen his face and watched him devour a human body. Even more surprising was that she actually wanted him to sit at the same table as her while she dined and speak to him face to face. Why? Why would any human want to give his wretched face a second glance? Didn't just the mere sight of his features make her sick to her stomach?

Eventually sleep did come but it wasn't a peaceful one. It was one where he was alone in the dark forced to listen to awful screams and terrible words that had been directed at him in the past.

"What is that thing?!"

"It's hideous!"

"Revolting!"

"Is it a deer?"

"No deer could be so atrocious!"

"It almost looks like a child!"

"If so it must be a child spawned of Satan!"

"Somebody kill it!"

"Shoot the nasty beast!"

"Go away!"

"Leave us alone!"

"You're a monster!"

The dreadful memories of those unkind words were still fresh in his mind even after he had awakened. He didn't want to be reminded of them again. Not today. He didn't have the strength to deal with it today. So in desperation to block out those damn memories he did something that he had not done in a very long time.

He quietly slipped down into the music room, he recalled the last time he had set foot in here he had been very young and very small. Yet despite his age he proved himself to be a prodigy in playing instruments or at least that's what his mother had told him. God rest her soul. It would be very hard for him to play again with her gone but at this point he would do anything to distract himself from the hate filled words haunting his memory.

He grabbed a music book from the shelf and sat down at the harpsichord. He flipped through the pages and stopped on the one that had the song he wanted. He had chosen to play A La Claire Fontaine. The song his mother had sang to him and then taught him how to play.

His clawed fingers glided over the keys with effortless ease, flawlessly producing a melody that he knew by heart. To his surprise playing an instrument again was not as painful as he had assumed it would be. In fact it made him feel a little better. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed making music. How whenever he did it, it would make him feel less ashamed of his appearance. It reminded him that beauty wasn't always something you could see. Sometimes it was something you could hear and the fact that he could play music well made him feel that he could actually bring beauty into the world.

However he immediately stopped playing and moved to cover his face with his hood when he heard the sound of the door creaking open. There stood Charlotte looking at him but not in disgust or fear. She was looking at him in awe.

This morning after she had finished getting dressed she had heard the most lovely music and wanted very much to see the source of it. How amazed she was when her eyes fell upon the musician who had created the enchanting melody.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to intrude."

"You could never intrude my dear. Not here. You are the mistress of this estate. Remember?"