Beauty and The Beast

Chapter 6

"Courage, dear heart." – C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of theDawn Treader 

***

The whole place was as impressive as it was on the inside as it was on the outside. There were tall frames that hung on the walls and inside each one of them was a portrait of different people. Some would just have men in suits standing alone and others would have a couple standing there dressed in their best clothes. 

Gleaming golden ornaments decorated the shelves on the walls and there was a large glass chandelier hanging in the front lobby, I felt anxious to walk underneath it as if it would fall onto me and crush my body. 

Walking in from the front entrance was like walking into a castle. Right in front of me was a grand staircase that was covered in red carpet and had oak looking handle rails on either side. It was like stepping into a fairy tale. 

Vance started to walk up the staircase and I followed behind him, basking in the grandeur of it all. Not a word was exchanged between us and the air felt thick even though the mansion's interior was stone cold. 

He finally stopped outside a set of tall, wooden double doors and if I hadn't turned around from staring at everything then I would have bumped into his back. He opened one of the doors and held it open for me so I walked through and was amazed at what I saw. 

It was obviously a study of some sorts by the number of books and binders that littered the shelves which covered the walls. There was one big desk at the far end of the room and on it was a brass desk lamp and notebooks which were scattered around it but in an almost organised fashion. 

"Here, take a seat." Vance pulled out an expensive looking desk chair and offered it to me.

After I was seated he took a seat opposite me on the other side of the desk. 

"Tea? Coffee? Hot chocolate?" He offered me a range of hot drinks, perhaps it was just a way of trying to make me feel comfortable. 

"A coffee would be nice thank you." I tried to be as polite as possible, I didn't want to set him off in any way. 

Vance pressed a little button on the desk and spoke into a microphone and asked for two coffees. He must have been talking to his butler guy that didn't want to let me in. Well I did show him didn't I?

Moments later the door was knocked on and a man with a balding head and a little grey beard walked in with two cups of coffee on a silver platter. After placing them on the table he gave a little bow aimed towards Vance, then walked back out. 

"So Isobel. What would you like to talk to me about?" Vance asked me, leaning back in his chair looking completely relaxed. 

"It isn't actually anything of much importance. You see we could have just talked at the door and it would have taken about five seconds." I started to ramble on. "I only came to ask you on behalf of Nicholas to stop giving him "death glares" as he calls it, every time you pass him in the corridor. It wasn't much of a big deal and it's over now so-"

I was interrupted mid ramble by Vance bringing his fist down upon the table, spilling the cups of coffee as he did so. He had a look of complete rage on his face and I knew that I had immediately over stepped and now he's gotten angry at me. 

"Don't you dare ask me to stop giving him a hard time. Don't you dare ask me that Isobel. Not after what he did right in front of my eyes." Vance spat out, his eyes started to turn black as his anger grew. "People like him don't deserve that sort of kindness."

I shied away from him the more that his anger and fury showed. If i was honest I am kind of getting scared, being in an enclosed room with this furious boy who was known to beat people to a pulp. I tried to escape inwardly by pressing myself to the chair as far as I could and turned my head away.

 It looked like he wasn't calming down as he started to really yell and he grabbed his head in his hands and created fists in his hair. I had no idea what to do apart from a gut feeling that I should run for the hills. However this time I didn't follow my gut and instead got up from my seat and walked around to the other side of the desk where Vance sat hunched over.

"Vance. Look at me. Vance." I tried to call out to him as I reached him, trying to distract him from thinking about Nicholas and probably ripping his head off. 

I reached out a hand hesitantly and touched his shoulder and I felt his muscles tense up beneath my touch. He still didn't remove his hands from his head or move from the position he was in but he didn't ask me to remove my hand either so I took that as a positive and started to rub his back to comfort him. 

It was like it had a soothing effect on him because I could feel the atmosphere in the room begin to settle and his breathing went from ragged to shallow breathing and then after a few minutes his breathing was finally back to normal. 

Who would have thought that one tiny thing could have set him off like that. Caution had to be taken with this kid.

I stopped rubbing his back and stood up straight. "I think I should just go." I said while turning around and walking to the door. 

A rough hand wrapped around my wrist stopped me from going further than a few feet away from Vance.  I turned around and was met with a pair of stormy eyes. A pair of eyes that held sadness in them, it was hidden well, masked by all of the rage and anger but deep down I could see it. 

"Please don't leave Isobel." His voice was void of all previous anger and in its place was sorrow.

It was those four words that broke my heart. I was a very empathetic person and right now, this guy in front of me, he was pulling on all of the right heart strings. 

"I'm tired of being alone." 

It was like he no longer cared about maintaining an image of being a bad boy or the fact that he had only met me for the first time the other day. What mattered was right now and right now I was looking at a boy who has hidden behind a persona for most of his life and has never had the pleasure of having real company before. 

I threw all caution to the wind and pulled him into a hug. It was probably the last thing he was expecting me to do and I definitely hadn't planned on doing it yet here I was. Standing in Vance's house/mansion and hugging the big bad wolf. 

It took him a few minutes to respond but I jumped at his touch. He had wrapped his own arms around my small frame, practically engulfing me due to his tall figure. We stood like that for a few more minutes until I felt like it was getting a little too weird and started to pull away from the close contact that we had. 

It seemed that Vance had lost all of his energy, I have no idea how this happened since a moment ago he seemed fine, I guess all that anger really tires him out. 

"Come Vance, let's get you to your room." I talked to him slowly and ushered him out of the room and down the corridor. 

I only hoped that his room was actually on this floor and that he was conscious enough to take himself there but it seemed like his body was just on autopilot because he didn't respond. I kept walking down the corridor, checking each room that we passed by. 

It wasn't until we had got to the very last door at the end of the corridor did I finally find his room, or at least I think that it was his because it was coloured in dark blue from the walls to the bed spread. It was a king sized bed with a canopy top. I was getting tired from partially holding him up so the faster that I got him to his bed and left to get to mine the better. 

I got him onto his bed and pulled a blanket over him. Things will probably be different again tomorrow. He'll probably go back to being his usual self and I'll go back to being anonymous to all but Katrina. 

I was just about to leave the room and close the door when I heard Vance speak again. 

"Thanks Bell."