Beast to your Beauty

CHAPTER 23

 Hannah buttoned a black cardigan sweater over her dark blue dress. She looked at her reflection in the mirror and suddenly felt like she needed to sit. She turned and sat on the large bed. For the past couple of nights Hannah had taken Julian's advice and started sleeping in the bigger bedroom he originally reserved for her when he threw the Thanksgiving dinner party for her and her father. The room in the servants' quarters had become too little for her all of a sudden, making her feel extreme anxiety and claustrophobia. She felt guilty for leaving Erma down there by herself but she assured Hannah that it was okay. Julian appeared by the open doorway and noticed Hannah looking rather frail.

"What's the matter?" he asks with worry, startling her. Hannah jumps and looks up.

"Dizzy," she tells him, bringing a hand up to her head.

"Again?" Julian frowned. "You've been getting a lot of dizzy spells lately."

"Tell me about it," She muttered, "I get so dizzy it makes me want to throw up. I'm pretty sure it's that hit I received to the head when Logan ... when he attacked me back at the apartment."

"Most definitely," Julian nodded his head. "We should have the doctor check you out, run some scans just to make sure everything's fine."

"Everything is clearly not fine," Hannah sighed, "These are some serious side effects I'm experiencing."

Julian kissed her hands, "I'll have Erma call us a cab while I call the doctor and see if he could see us immediately."

Hannah nods and watches as Julian wheels his chair out of her room. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she let herself gently fall back onto her bed.

Motel

"I'm so glad to see you," Logan says and kisses Astrid on the lips. She smiled at him afterwards and hugged him.

"I love hearing you speak like that," she says softly. Astrid noticed Logan's eyes were shining with excitement. She looked at him curiously. "You seem in a very good mood. Something happen?"

Logan shrugged, "I think so. I think it's time we finally stop prolonging things and we finally start to build our life together."

"You do?" Astrid asked, her heart swelling with happiness.

"Yes," Logan said. "But before we can do that ... there's one thing we have to take care of. And by we, I mean you."

"Me?" Astrid says, now feeling confused. She saw a smirk appear on Logan's face. He walks over to his bed and pulls out the gun from underneath the mattress. Astrid stepped back, scared. "Logan... that's a gun."

"It is," Logan nodded. "This is the gun that you're going to use to put an end to Hannah and Julian's life."

It was like someone had thrown an icy bucket of water over Astrid. An unsettling chill grabbed her heart as a feeling of dread burst in her chest. Was Logan serious? Astrid's eyes moved to the gun in his hand.

"I ... I can't," she stammered. "I'm not a murderer, Logan. I can't do it."

"Yes, you are. You are a murderer," Logan tells her.

"I'm not!" Astrid exclaimed, starting to cry. Logan grabbed her by shoulders firmly and quickly reminded himself not to lose his patience.

"Hey," he says forcing his voice to sound soothingly, "It's ok! Remember, I'm one too. I killed Alfred. You shouldn't worry about me judging you."

"I'm not, I just don't want to be a murderer," she moaned through her tears. Logan's face grew serious and he put the gun in Astrid's hands, forcing her to hold it.