Finding Beauty

Chapter 20

~Beauty~

The next two days, I asked to be left alone by both Gale and Carina. I didn't want to talk to them or see them, not even for meals. So whenever I grew starving, I snuck to the kitchen and grabbed whatever food I could find. But I didn't eat much anyways. I constantly felt sick.

Surprisingly, Gale and Carina respected that and it confused me even more. Why? Lately they've been treating me like guest or old friend! I really don't understand what's up with these people but I do know I can consider myself one of the luckiest kidnapping victims.

I tried to charge my laptop once Carina left and when I did I went straight to the Mirror Mirror app. My heart sank like an anchor at the bottom of an ocean.

The red pixelated words read: This cite is currently under maintenance. The cite should be back up and running in 2-3 weeks. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for your understanding.

It crushed me so much, I didn't want to do anything anymore. I was so sick of this stupid game. Gale's mood swings, life threatening situations, the quiet moments when I had no idea what to think about any of this! I was so done.

But then, this morning, I woke up to a big white blanket of hope. Snow flakes grazed the bedroom window and then gracefully floated away in the light breeze.

I had left my window open and so there's a puddle of water on the rugged floor and little flakes melted onto my body.

"Snow..."

The little girl in me awakens and runs over to the window. "It's snowing!" I rest my hands on the rim and see that the green tree's are now flecked with white and about 2 feet of snow has accumulated.

In New York, there'd have to be a big snow storm in order to have enough snow to play in and even then you'd have to find a park. The snow was always shoveled off the street so that business could presume as usual for that day. But here, I could just step outside and have this winter wonderland all to myself.

I want to go outside.

Without thinking it through, I dig through the draws of the wardrobe and throw on a pair of leggings topped with jeans and a sweater. I jog out the room and down the stairs to find Gale and Carina sitting at the table with mugs in their hands.

I stop at the stairs and feel a wave of hesitation. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Gale turns and spots me with wide eyes. He practically runs over to me.

Too late to turn back now...

"You haven't been out or eating for days," his voice is sharp and fast. "I thought you were starving yourself or maybe you hurt yourself. I didn't know whether to break down the door to see if you were okay or respect your space-" he realizes he's rambling and stops. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Thanks for the concern..." I mumble a little dazed. Maybe he doesn't hate me. Maybe he doesn't want to hurt me, like Carina. "I came here to ask...no. I came here to tell you something."

"Go ahead," he says, looking giddy with relief.

"I want to play in the snow," I state. I wait for his response but he just stands there. Carina clears her throat from the table and leaves the room with a tiny "Excuse me."

"You want what?"

"To go out in the snow," I repeat. He places his mug down and nods.

"Okay... But I have to go with you. We can go out to the backyard." He starts towards the back of the castle and grabs a big jacket hanging on the rack near the door. "Here."

I take it and put it on. It fits okay so it must belong to Carina. Gale, however, steps out into the snow without a jacket, just his sweatshirt and jogging pants. I follow him and the sunlight greets my skin with a warm tingly feeling. My chest rises and falls, happily breathing in the fresh air.

Holding in a squeal, I run ahead. The snow has stopped falling but there's enough snow on the ground to last days.

Being out here is relieving and makes me realize that I need a break from all this serious and dangerous stuff. I need some light hearted fun or I'll just break down even further.

Gale stands awkwardly holding his arm. Feeling a little mischievous, I scoop up a bunch of snow and pack it down.

"Hey!" I yell at him.

His eyes brows crease and he looks behind him like I might be talking to someone else. "Yea...?"

"You got some snow on your face!" I launch the snowball at his face and laugh as he scrambles away, caught off guard.

"Um...I don't really wanna-"

I cut him off my throwing another snowball at him. This time it hits him right in the chest.

Gale's eyebrows lift as a smile slowly creeps onto his face. "Okay... I see how it is." He bends down, collects a chunk of snow, and squishes it in his hands. "You better run while you still can."

I stick my tongue out at him. "Bring it on!" The snowball hits me in the back as I jog out further to put some more space in between us. We both hurry to form snowballs before the other and blindly throw it laughing all the while.

One of his snowballs misses me by just a few inches and hits a tree. "Come on! I thought you said you use to play football? You can't throw any better than that?!"

"Oh, talking trash now are we?" Gale makes a big show of positioning himself to throw it and when he does it hits me right in the chest hard enough to knock me backwards into the snow.

"Belle?" Gale calls while rushing over. "Are you okay?"

Slowly opening my eyes, I mutter, "I've been shot...Tell my family that I loved them." With that, I dramatically fake my death.

I hear Gale sigh in relief and then chuckle. He collapses next to me, sending a wave of snow onto me.

"Hey!" I complain, brushing the snow off.

Gale won't stop laughing. "You look like an old lady with a beard!"

I join the laughter and feel completely calm for the first time in a while.

When the laughter subsides, Gale turns his head to me to ask a question. "Why are you doing this? Playing in the snow with me?"

I shrug, unsure of the reason myself. "I just figure sitting around being miserable won't help and I'm not getting out of here anytime soon. Plus you haven't killed me yet so...why not?"

Gale's eyebrows furrow and he sits up, leaning on his elbow. "I'm not going to kill you. I was never planning on it."

I sit up to and cross my arms. His statement makes another question surface. "Speaking of killing, what did you do to all those missing criminals? Did you really kill them? And what about Ryan Daniels?"

Gale turns away and shakes his head but doesn't answer.

"Tell me, " I push. "You said I should get comfortable here because this is my home. So you might as well tell me," I say trying to convince him. I really want to know what he's doing with those criminals. Perhaps out of curiosity or maybe for comfort this guy's isn't so bad after all. All I know is that he didn't kill Ryan Daniels. Ryan Daniels was no were in sight, only that rose.

"Tommorow...But not today," he finally says ending the silence.

Gale certainly has a temper and a weird look on life. But, I don't think he's murdered anyone. He's not simply cruel or murderous. His father abandoned him and he kidnapped me because he was lonely. Maybe he's broken, confused. As shown by when he saved me from Ryan Daniels, he is capable of doing good...

"Okay... tomorrow."