Elle and the Mysterious Beast (One Direction)

Chapter 11 - On The Run

I follow him out the back door, observing that he’s got a large backpack tightly slung over one of his large arms.

“What’s in there?” I ask curiously as we make our way through the thick forest, not using a trail. We’re going in the direction almost exactly opposite my village.

“Clothing, food, water, hair brush and an extra pair of shoes.”

I want to say something but I’m a little lost for words. Sure he’s just doing it so I don’t die but the gesture is so kind and thoughtful, even a hairbrush! That’s not something most guys would think of for a girl.

The more I think about it though, this doesn’t surprise me. The beast always seems to be in a kind mindset I guess you could say, he’s just a genuinely nice guy. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve known a lot of nice guys in my lifetime but something about the way the beast does things, I don’t know, it’s different. Like Shane is a nice guy, very nice, he even visited me in jail. And he would take me to a safe place, sure, but would he think to pack me a bag of stuff I may need? Probably not. I didn’t even think about it.

“So…” I say, “What do you think you’ll do when you get back?”

“Same thing I always did before you came around.” I’m not positive, but it seems like there’s a sadness in his tone he’s trying to hide.

“Which is…?” What DO ‘beasts’ do in their free time?

He shrugs. “Hunt, play the piano, check in with all the local villages, not so they see me of course, but so I know what’s going on. Walk faster.”

I can’t help but feel that part of the reason, (though I’m not sure he even realizes it) he visits villages is to have a form of human contact. Nobody, not even people who LIKE being alone, can go that long without seeing another person at all. It’s so clear how lonely he is, why won’t he let me stay? Right. So he doesn’t “ruin” my life too. Except I’m about to join a village of people whom I don’t know, I’ll have no one, nowhere to sleep, no one to feed me, does he really expect me to just mix right in? I mean I know he’s been a bit separated from social areas but for real.

“You can’t really expect this to work, can you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You expect to just drop me off with a village I’m unaware about with people I don’t know and everything just work out simply?”

“I told you, they take strays often. They’ll take care of you. I wouldn’t be bringing you here if they didn’t.”

Oh yeah that’s right, he did tell me that. Damn. But wait, “Oh, so now I’m a stray?”

“They’ll consider you one.”

“I feel like a dog.” I regret it immediately, especially when he doesn’t say anything. No, he’s not a dog, at all, but I also know he feels like one. And he basically is a stray. “You take care of me.”

He glances at me quickly and frowns confusedly. “What do you mean?” he says slowly. Nervously.

“The clothing, the bed, the shower, the food, the backpack. This village can care for me no more than you can.”

“They can provide something more important than I can.”

“What, human contact?”

“Yes.”

“You’re human.”

“Only on the inside.”

“That’s all that’s important.”