Beast

Chains

"I-I—I can't let you do any more harm to my people." Pierre had been arguing for hours with the man that caused all of the destruction to his town. The man who sat across from him wore dark clothes and had black eyes. He sat with his arms crossed on his chest, a bored expression on his face. He had blood on his hands and hate in his eyes. No negotiations were working so far.

"I don't give a damn about your people. My job is to destroy this place-"

"But why? Why destroy a city that has done nothing to you?" Pierre cried.

"Uh, because I woke up a few months ago and decided that you and your people needed a fucking wake up call. You can't be on your own! You're either with us or you're against us, and the fact that you've isolated yourself from the Leaders forever proves that you're against us. This is war Bonfils, and war fucking sucks." The man had stood up at that point. He had introduced himself as Callahan. That of course was not his real name but what the mayor didn't know wouldn't hurt him. At least, not yet.

"What will persuade you to call a truce?" Pierre knew very little about war. He had no guns, he had no army. He needed to peacefully end this now before anyone else got hurt. "Please, we will give you anything you want, just call off your men and leave the city. Too much blood has been shed today."

Callahan raised his brow. Anything I want... His mind reeled with the possibilities. Of course, he already knew what he would ask for. He knew of it before he even stepped foot in this mayor's office. And at the look of things, this man would be desperate enough to give Callahan anything his little heart desired.

"Alright, Bonfils. Let's make a deal." Callahan smirked as the mayor looked up at him with hope filled eyes. "I will pack up my men, my dynamite, my weapons, and rebuild your wall if you send me home with something I have had my eye on."

Pierre's forehead creased, "Wh-what did you have in mind?" the nervous man stuttered. The economy in Piana was only well enough to keep the city itself running. It could not stand long enough to pay off this man's negotiations if money was what he desired.

Callahan pressed a small button on his wristwatch and held his wrist to his mouth, "Bring her in."

Seconds later, the mayor's door burst open, Maxwell entering with a clanking sound of chains following him. He pulled at the long chain in his hand until a struggling girl with auburn hair fell into the room. Gagged and bound, Belle was tied like a slave.

xx

"Have you seen Belle?" A solemn woman shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself and looking back at the ground. Every citizen was gathered in the town square. Huddled together in the cool air of a spring night, cries rang up from the depressed citizens. Mayor Bonfils had not yet made an appearance which gave no more faith than the hole in the wall. Gaston looked to the next person he saw, the local policeman named Jorge. "Have you seen Belle, please Jorge?"

"I'm sorry son, I'm afraid I haven't seen her since this morning, Gaston. Have you checked the shop?" Jorge scratched his orange beard and looked around. There were guards at every exit of the square.

"That's the first place I looked. The door was locked."

"Well maybe she locked herself in, you know to hide from all of this?" Gaston sighed, letting some steam go free.

"But Jorge, there was blood on the knob." This brought Jorge into full attention. This was the kind of work policemen did in the books Belle sold. This was part of legend long forgotten: the policeman who actually had to enforce the law.

"Was it fresh?"

"Well it wasn't dried up so yes, I would say so." Gaston ran his hand through his hair. Could she really be inside and he hadn't thought to break down the door?

"There is a chance that was just from one of them trying to get in. Gaston, she could still be in there." But before he finished what he wanted to say, Gaston was sprinting down the street, dodging the arms of the outsiders trying to restrain him from leaving the square.

"Belle?" Gaston stood on top of the door that held the bookstore shut tight. He had broken it down with more force he knew he had. Normally in movies when a hero breaks down the door, dust flies around it in a dramatic way. But Belle had kept the shop constantly perfect. Not a crumb was left after her lunch. No book was out of order. No bookmark bent. On the table in the center of the room sat a lonely, open book. A glass was left next to it still full of water. The bookshelves that outlined the store held colorful hard backs stacked neatly in alphabetical order. Gaston had been here more time than he could count but he never noticed the little items in the room that scream Belle owns this store! The paints in the corner for when she got bored of reading. The two plates and two cups she had next to the sink for her and her father's lunch on shifts. The entire shop smelled just like her. Gaston shook off the eerie feeling that surrounded him when he entered and started to search through the big cupboards and the restroom. When Belle was nowhere to be found, he stood before the back room. If she was not in here, Gaston would not know what to do. He wouldn't know who to go to, what to say happened. He had searched the entire city for a girl he grew up with, but he came up with nothing. No one had seen her, no one had even heard her. No sign of Belle was around all of Piana. So if she was not in this back room, Gaston would be for the first time truly lost.

He mustered up the strength he had left, although little, and used it to push open the door to the back room. Shouting her name, Gaston scanned the small back room for the girl he knew and loved so well. But the only thing in the room, was a single rose.

xx

Pierre was, to say the least, infuriated. The very idea of this outsider taking one of his citizens. But this girl, this Belle, was not any citizen. She sat crumpled on the floor, still in the position she was in when Maxwell had dragged her in. The black gag was made out of a neck tie, simple enough for Pierre to understand. But the bands that held her hands were not rope or twine. They were a black blinking metal that shone in the light. There was no knot or keyhole. This was a type of technology Pierre knew nothing of.

"Belle!" Pierre stared at the girl who cried out for help. Belle grumbled in return but nothing understandable came out. Pierre squared up his enemy, the outsider, Callahan. "No." He stood firm in his shoes.

Callahan laughed, "What's funny is, you think you have a fucking choice! You don't agree and your entire city is blown to bits. Don't believe me?" The man's dark eyes shone like he had just told a joke.

"You can't take her! Not this girl." Pierre's voice shook in intimidation. He could not hold his front for long under Callahan's glare.

"You, old man, don't get to tell me what to do. I'm offering you a very fair deal. This girl for your city. Your people's safety, for this 100-pound girl. Does that not seem fair enough?" Belle's objecting screams were muffled slightly through the gag, but Pierre heard them loud and clear. He loved Belle. He knew her well. His son was in love with her. But he had thousands of people to protect.

"Take the girl, and you are not to return." Pierre dismissed them and sulked as the sound of struggled chains were pulled down the hall.

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Last update till New year's. This is your early present! Merry Christmas!!!

love,

DANI xoxo