Beauty & the Beast [Narry]

Chapter 4

This is going to be a short chapter. I'm sorry. The next one will be longer, I promise.

*

Niall wasn't there for people to smile at the next morning. He wasn't anywhere, in fact. Why? People wondered. Where could he be?

Niall, though unaware of it, was quite well-known in his town. In fact, the only person who didn't notice him was his father, who was drunk all of the time, eyes flooded with regret (I never meant to hurt her. I was just so angry. I just wanted to see my son). His father never noticed anything.

Everyone wondered, now, where the blonde boy with the golden retriever was. He always walked all over town, every day with a coffee in his hand, a book under his arm, and a dog on his heels. Sometimes he sang to himself, maybe whistled, or talked to his dog.

He was a strange boy, yet so memorable. It was different without his kindness and carefreeness around. Everything seemed off.

*

Beth tapped her fingers on the counter, hardly acknowledging the customer in front of her, who was trying to figure out exactly what he wanted. She was looking back and forth between the door and the clock, anxiously waiting for her best friend to come walking through that door.

"Ma'am?" The man didn't seem upset that Beth hadn't heard his order, just concerned. "Are you alright? Is something troubling you?"

"Yeah, just . . ." She trailed off for a moment, sighing. "I have a friend called Niall, and he promised to come in today, but he hasn't, and . . . I'm sorry, sir, what would you like?"

"An expresso, please." He said, laying the money on the counter. Beth took it, placing it in the register. "I'm sorry about your friend, by the way. I'm sure he'll be around soon."

Somehow, Beth doubted that. Beth decided, as she was making the man's expresso, that she'd go by Niall's house after work to see what happened. She was scared of what she might discover.

*

Mrs. Knight sat in the soft, blue chair at her desk, a warm coffee in her hands. She had a headache from thinking so much; mostly about the fact that it was noon and she hadn't seen Niall once yet. Sure, maybe Niall wasn't finished with Yellow Breaks, but he always came in to visit, at least.

She was worried- really worried, but she decided to assume Niall was sick. She made plans to go straight to the bakery after work and buy Niall some cookies. She would take them to him as soon as she could.

In the meantime, she busied herself with work, checking out books for customers and placing new books on the shelves they belonged in.

The two books she'd gotten from Niall were both adventure books, of course. That boy was all for adventure. She wondered if Niall liked romance books. Niall was always looking for something to read, and she had lots of romance series to offer.

She decided to ask him tonight.

*

Nathan was surrounded by girls, who were hanging on to his every word as he told the legend of the beast that lived in the forest. When he finally finished the story, when the girls were clapping and swooning over him, he remembered Niall.

Niall. The blonde boy had run into the forest after his stupid dog. It was Nathan's fault, really. Frisy wouldn't have run off if he hadn't kicked it, but of course he didn't blame himself.

"Why do you have a book, Nathan?" A girl with long, wavy brown hair asked, batting her eyelashes at the red-haired boy. Nathan had forgotten he was carrying that book around; the one Niall had dropped.

"I am going to return it for a friend," Nathan lied, turning the book over in his hands. "He's not feeling well today."

"You're so sweet, Nathan!" A blonde girl said, smiling brightly and smacking her gum. Nathan smiled back.

"Well, I'll be off," He stood up from his spot on the bench, which many girls tried to steal. "Goodbye, girls."

"Bye Nathan!" The all said at once, waving at him as he walked down the street. He heard some of them giggle and squeal. Oh, girls.

*

Frisy came bounding out of the woods, barking loudly at the people outside, as if begging for help. 'Help, help, my master's gone!'

He ran straight past Nathan, who gaped at the golden retriever, his eyes blown wide. Wait. Why wasn't Niall with it? Was Niall gone? People were staring at him in confusion, but he didn't notice.

Why did he care about Niall, though? He already knew Niall wasn't coming back. Why does he care? Those thoughts didn't seem to meet Nathan's mind.

Nathan's head began pounding as he thought of Niall, these ones taking over his entire body, seemingly. What if he was hurt? What if he had died? No, Niall couldn't be dead. He couldn't . . . no.

The world around Nathan began to spin. He heard voices in the distance, but he didn't know what they were saying. He didn't even know if they were directed towards him.

His vision turned blurry, then black, and he fell back onto the hard gravel, Yellow Breaks still held tightly in his hand.