The Beast (Harry Styles)

Chapter Twenty-One: Part Three

After getting the frightening news,
To the castle Adeline was en route.
But there were bumps to encounter on the trip,
An unpleasant surprise felt like a punch to the lip. . .

~.~

If there had been a force in nature that created predetermined events of one's life, Adeline had somehow upset this force.

It was like the world had closed in on Adeline, and she wasn't sure how to escape the quickly tightening walls of life. The feeling was similar to the way she felt when John had seemingly suffocated her.

But now that didn't matter; it didn't matter that she had the urge to throw up; it didn't matter that she wanted to sit down and cry.

What mattered was that her heart was thumping and her blood raced through her veins in anticipation and fear of what the castle held.

As she sat in the carriage with her leg bouncing up and down, Adeline bit her lip.

God, she thought, aren't I just the luckiest girl in the world?

She sighed aloud at the sarcasm in her thinking. Adeline was alone in the coach, and the lack of a human acquaintance deepened her worries. She was allowed to think in a situation such as these, and her thoughts often wondered into the darkest and deepest depths of the ocean. The only problem? Adeline wasn't the strongest swimmer.

If she could, she would have slept; but Adeline was too jittery and too anxious to even think about sleep.

Letting out a sigh, Adeline tried to focus her attention on the forest.

It had gotten late as she rode on towards the castle--towards Harry-- and the trees seemed to bend down even lower, grabbing at the carriage. Animals creaked and whined in the near distance, making the onyx night all the more eerie.

The setting reminded her of when she set out to find William. Instinctively, Adeline reached for a string around her neck. She had forgotten to give William the necklace back, and right now, it was fitting to give her the luck it once gave her brother.

With the charm clutched in both of her hands, Adeline looked up to the rook of the carriage, closed her eyes, and took a breath in. She exhaled without opening her eyes and without released the charm, the sound shaky as her body began to tremble. Adeline couldn't fit it anymore: she let the tears come.

Her tears were never solely her own, for they wept for the world around her: they were for the children who couldn't find their place among their classmates; they were for the elderly who begged for just one piece of bread; they were for the poor bastards whose skills presented themselves elsewhere than a classroom.

And right now, her tears were for one man who never learned to love himself.

The clicking of the horses' horseshoes on the dirt calmed Adeline. So she sat there, listening to that and the turning of the wooden wheels until all the noises ceased completely.

But there was something off about the setting they had stopped in, and Adeline noticed that before she even opened her eyes.

Crickets playing in the grasses of the forest could still be heard loud and clear, along with the owls who nestled into tree trunks. Adeline was nervous look around, yet when she heard the coachman curse, she knew she had to.

She opened her eyes and stepped out of the compartment, her heart dropping to find a flustered coachman and the two horses standing, unable to move.

"Is there a problem?" Though it was quite obvious there was a problem, it reassured Adeline to ask the question.

The coachman sighed. "Unfortunately, yes." He shook his head. "Both Bullet and Tornado are too tired to go any further." His look was apologetic. "I'm sorry, we can't go on tonight."