Beast

chapter 1: Aiden

Their house above

It had been a month since we moved to the small village of obscurité, France, my father and I. My father was a genius that traveled for a living, selling his products and such. We were seen as strange outsiders in the small village where most folks spoke fluent French and knew everyone like the backs of their hands. My father was seen as crazy for his inventions while I was seen as strange due to my love of books. I had just turned 18 three months before our move and still felt no difference from the life I am forced to live every day, the strange looks from people I pass is normal for me for it had happened in every other town, city and village I've lived in for the past 10 years since the day my mother died. Soon after my mother's death my father became a workaholic and became consumed in his contraptions that I used to believe he forgot about me sometimes. Now I'm used to it, sometimes I go days without speaking to my father because he is in his "laboratory" for hours at a time.

As I walk out of our farmhouse and down the long dirt trail to the village I know today will be one of those days, I could see the light on in the large shack that was his newest workspace. He usually made new things to make life easier, like kitchen utensils and bathroom products. He just wanted to make life easier, I believed. I held my latest read in my arms, most of the books here were translated in French but I was lucky to find a small section in the small library that held books written in English. I looked down at the cover, To Kill a Mockingbird was written nicely on the cover. I had read the book many times but still there wasn't many books to chose from and I never minded re-reading a book.

"Bonjour Rosalinda, comment ça va?" The librarian, whose name was Marie, asked as I walked inside the small library.

"d'accord, remerciement" I only knew a small amount of French, unlike my father who is able to have full-length conversations with the other villagers.

I handed her the book and walked to the edge of the room before skimming over the titles. I picked up Alice's Adventures in Wonderland before going to sign the clipboard to sign it out.

"Au revoir Marie." I said while waving to the small woman who was stacking books.

"Au revoir Rosalinda!" I walked out of the door, only to run into the most annoying man in town. Adrien was your modern day Gaston, cocky, rude, and overbearing. He saw himself as a god, and he was treated as such. The women loved him and the men envied him. While I hated him. He never knows when to leave people alone and he is just so darn stubborn. He had black hair that fell to his shoulders and dark murky brown eyes. He had muscle but to me it looked strange on him, it looked fake. I tried moving out of his way but he blocked my path.

"Hello my beautiful Rose, how are you?" He also just so happened to speak fluent English.

"Hello Adrien, to what do I deserve this honor?" I asked sarcastically before pushing past him, holding my skirt to walk over a mud puddle. The stores around here only sold clothing like that, skirts, dresses, and blouses. I didn't mind though, I liked the dresses they made here. They didn't look slutty, like most of the ones sold in America, they were beautiful yet casual. I looked up at the sky, the sun was shining and the summer air was warm and inviting, I couldn't wait to get home and read on my back porch.

"Well, beautiful, I want you. So I am going to take you out tonight." I internally gagged, Adrien always tried to get me to be with him but I kept rejecting his offers.

"No thank you, I'm busy."

"Well then tomorrow."

"Sorry but I'm busy everyday for the rest of my life." I say before walking through the village, passing the boutique, and then the butcher. He just irks me to my core, I can't stand him! He is so ignorant and arrogant, thinking that I would bow down to him just like every other woman around here.

"Wh-" I picked up my skirts and ran before he could finish his sentence. I heard him curse in French and call my name before I turned onto the road that led to my house. I looked behind me to find that he left me alone for once. I started giggling as I walked passed my father's shed, listening to him belt out the words to a song that was playing on his radio. I didn't understand what he was saying but it still was funny to listen to him. I walked into the house and kicked off my flats before clicking my tongue. I heard the patter of paws on the hardwood before my hound came running down the hall.

"Hey May!" I said while crouching down to pet her head. She licked my hand as I stood up and walked into the kitchen. I poured some dog food into her metal bowl before setting it down and yelling,

"Get it!" I watched as she darted to the bowl and chowed down. I opened the back door and sat on the back porch, with my book in hand. This was how I spent every single day for ten years straight, taking care of myself.

French words-

Bonjour Rosalinda, comment ça va?- Hello Rosalinda, how are you?

d'accord, remerciement- Okay, thank you

Au revoir- Goodbye

Hey people! I know it's kind of short but it's just an intro of the story it will pick up soon I promise, but anyways how is everyone? I haven't updated much on my other stories but that's going to change soon enough and I'm actually working on another two unpublished stories so I hope to be updating more and soon!

-M