Hiding From Light: A Beauty and the Beast Genderbend

Chapter 6

"Be our guest!" -Lumiere, Be Our Guest, Beauty and the Beast

Brandon stood stock still in the hallway, a feeling of intense shock keeping him in place.

What the Hell?!

That had to have been one of the strangest interactions he'd ever had with a person. And given that someone named Genevieve Carlson lived nearby him, that was saying something.

"Sorry about that." A male voice said from the shadows slightly off to his left. "I think she's just as rattled as you."

Brandon pivoted abruptly to face the new voice. "What is with everyone and hiding out of sight?!"

"Well, I could show myself but I'm not so sure you'd necessarily like that."

Brandon forced himself to exhale and remain calm. He would not get worked up about this.

But he did want true interaction.

"I think I can handle-"

He would have finished his sentence if a hallway door hadn't opened. A man a few years older than him, with auburn hair and brown eyes, stood in the gap between the doors, breathing hard and struggling to regain his composure.

Brandon cautiously held out his hand. The other man straightened and smiled at him, shaking his hand enthusiastically.

"Nice to meet someone new! I'm Oliver."

"Brandon." He replied, finally glad to have a proper meeting with someone. But he wasn't completely distracted.

He turned back toward the shadows by the door. "I still haven't forgotten you."

Oliver laughed slightly, narrowing his brown eyes at the door. "Ah. That's Timothy."

"Ollie why?" A whine sounded from somewhere by the door. "Do you really want to go on scaring the poor man before he's even moved past the entranceway?"

Oliver rolled his eyes before motioning for Brandon to follow him.

Reluctantly, Brandon moved away from the door, still clutching his bag and the rose tightly in his hand.

"Is everyone here like this?" He asked Oliver as they wandered through the hallways. "Does everyone try to hide in the shadows?"

"Yes. But only around travelers or newcomers." Oliver answered. "Only the mistress of the castle never ever shows herself."

"I guess that explains why all of the hallways are so dark. You can barely see where you're going."

It was true. Brandon noticed that as he followed Oliver with a touch of hesitation, darkness lingered everywhere.

Even the lights only cast a dim yellow glow, managing to throw further shadows on every single hallway. The light should have been described as warm, but Brandon could only describe the current atmosphere as very very cold.

Shivers crawled up his spine as he passed hallway after hallway in companionable silence with Oliver. He suspected Timothy, and other eyes, were following him as he walked. But they lingered in the shadows so well, that he didn't even catch a single flutter of movement.

He was so distracted in trying to find the prying eyes that he knew were around him, that he didn't register Oliver stopping in front of him.

He collided with Oliver with a slight yelp and somehow managed to not fall over. Oliver looked similarly surprised, but he shook it off quickly.

"According to Haylie, this is where you should be staying." Oliver gestured to the closed door he'd stopped in front of. "I'm down that hallway, three doors to the left."