Love song for a beast {M/M}

Chapter One: What lies beneath

When he opened his eyes, he did not understand where he was or what was happening. He could not understand the position he was in or why he happened to be in it. The whole body ached as if all the bones were broken. He tried to move but something was restricting his movements. He blinked with an unseeing gaze. With great difficulty his head shot up in the air to see what was holding his hands, it took a couple of minutes to realize that his hands were tied above his head and he was practically hanging. His feet could barely touch the floor. He opened and closed his mouth trying to let out a sound yet nothing, but a blur escaped his lips.

*Where am I?*

*What happened to me?*

*Why am I hanging in the air?*

*Why are my arms tied?*

Questions one after the other popped in his mind but thinking gave him a headache. He made another attempt to clear his gaze by shutting his eyes tight and opening them again. His vision was still blurry, but he could distinguish between object more clearly. Firstly, he looked down at his body; to his horror he realized that he was naked. His pale skin was dirty and bruised; severe cuts were covering his legs from knees to feet. It seemed as if he was running away through woods barefoot.

The prisoner groaned when a sudden pain pierced his head. He could not understand what it was. The pain was blurring his sight and stinging his eyes. Tears escaped his eyes for it was too hard to bear the hurting. *Why am I suffering like this? What did I do to deserve...this pain?* but there was no one there to answer. His body weakened even more and the only thing he could do was pointlessly look around the room he was in. It looked like a basement. Light and warmth of the candles made the room less dim and warmer. He could distinguish a large metal cage, the type of cage that was used for dangerous wild animals to be kept as pets. Only an extraordinarily rich person could afford such luxury. The prisoner was very aware of that fact, for his own father had such a disturbing and disgusting hobby. The prisoner shivered when the memories flowed back. A picture of a large, beautiful room, decorated according to the latest fashion, filled with men and women half drunk who were laughing and yelling for the 'show' to begin.

That time he was just a boy and was not allowed to participate in such events, so he hid himself in one of the rich wardrobes that was rarely used and watched. The black cloth was pulled off the cage to reveal something he had never laid his eyes upon before. It was an animal. No! It was a beast: a beast of which no one dared to speak in public. A beast that was not mentioned in any references, in any artefacts or books. It was too much to handle for a boy of the age of nine. As much as he wanted to look away, he could not. His eyes were wide open as he watched the beast move.

The light in the room made the beast's thick black fur shine. The beast looked like a wolf or a dog, but it was too big and...it could stand on its back paws. Black eyes glared with fury and hatred at the people gathered around to see the 'show'. Those eyes, even as a boy, he could tell just by looking into them that the beast could understand everything that was happening around him; those eyes were human, but they belonged to an animal. The beast growled and roared as one of the drunken men approached the cage. It jumped towards the man showing all its sharp teeth; he howled and tried to attack but the cage was restricting him. The man cussed under his breath and grabbed a bottle of wine from the table. He threw it at the cage. The bottle broke and pieces of glass landed at the beast. He shook them off and took some steps backwards. The man laughed maniacally and grabbed another bottle from the table. He was about to throw it, but someone caught his arm and took the bottle away.

"Mr Shreds, if you will not behave, I am afraid we will have to kindly ask you to leave." said the boy's father.

"Tsk..." the drunken man hissed under his breath but calmed down, not wanting to be kicked out. What they were about to see was phenomenal. He was not going to miss out on the opportunity.

"Lord Angelo, shall we begin?" asked the butler Robinson. Lord Angelo nodded with a smirk. In the next instant servants approached the cage with long thick iron sticks. The metal was preheated and burning hot.

"You can start." Said Lord Angelo.

Following the command, servants stuck the hot iron sticks into the cage. The beast roared and tried to escape touching hot metal but when it would move away from one side, it was struck from the other. It howled in agony while everybody cheered on. The boy trembled with fear and sorrow; the horror show that took place in the room was appalling.

"Now turn into a human! Lowly beast!" yelled Lord Angelo. "TRANSFORM!" and another iron stick pierced the beast's skin making it howl even louder. The boy covered his mouth with his hand in shock. Why was his father doing such a cruel thing to this animal? Why were these people all cheering on? Why? Why were they all so cruel? Unwilling tears started flowing out of his eyes and running down his pale cheeks. He could not explain the sorrow he was feeling, but he wanted them to stop. He wanted to save that beast.

"STOP IT!" the boy yelled jumping out of the wardrobe. "Stop it father please. Why are you doing this father?" the boy cried. Lord Angelo was taken aback not understanding how his one and only child managed to get into the room without being noticed.

"Robinson take him out of here at once!" he barked.

"NO FATHER! PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM!"

Among all the commotion, gasps and yells a pair black eyes were watching the boy intently as if trying to memorise the whole of him. Those demonic eyes remembered every detail of the child they would never forget.

The prisoner coughed with blood. He wondered if it was because some of his ribs were broken or he had an incurable disease. But he figured that in his situation it did not matter. He looked back at the cage cringing at the memories that flooded his mind and made his headache worse. *I wonder what happened to him...* he thought. It was not the first time he thought of it. After witnessing the existence of the beast, he could not get it out of his head. Beautiful long fur, shimmering in the light or black wild eyes filled with hatred – he could not forget them. Or he thought he could not...Another dark gap in his memories appeared. *What happened?* he wanted to scream, but couldn't bring himself to do so. Once again, he tried to recall the events that happened, but nothing was coming to mind. He groaned helplessly and closed his eyes defeated when the door suddenly swung open and a tall shadow entered the room. Prisoner's eyes shot up trying to see the person who entered, but he was blinded by the bright light coming from the opened door.

While his eyes were just adjusting, the stranger took slow steps towards him. He stepped even closer, only inches away from the naked body of the prisoner. The stranger scanned his face and then his figure as if confirming that he was the right person. The prisoner focused his gaze on the stranger. He was finally able to see his face. It was a man in his mid-thirties. His skin was slightly tanned and facial features reflecting a strong-willed character. He looked manly and beautiful. Though, it was wrong to call a man beautiful. And yet, not his long black hair caught the prisoner's eyes, and not his handsome features or graceful posture, but his eyes. Those eyes which had the colour of starless night. The eyes he saw when he was nine years old and could not forget for the past ten years. The prisoner's eyes widened in shock and disbelief.

Those were the eyes of the beast.