Locked and Loaded (Fairy Twisted Tale II) (Previously: Beware Of The Beast)

Chapter twenty-three - The Beast Is Out

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"The demon within is you. Until you set it free, then you will realize it was never really you at all."

- Athenatos

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Danielle went to get herself cleaned up. She stood in the shower and washed the blood from her body and soaked the bloodied clothes in the bathtub. When she emerged from out of the hot water, she felt alive and clean again. The brown-haired beauty had pushed the thought of Gianna's lifeless body to the back of mind, in one of the dusty corners.

When she stepped out of the bedroom, she heard things crashing down. Glass shattering.

Danielle ran to where she heard the noise come from and stopped when she saw the scene that was unfolded in front of her. William's hands were bleeding -pieces of glass sticking from his bloodied knuckles- and the crystal coffee table was broken. His eyes stood dark and his breathing was ragged.

William hated what he had done. He hated that he had let someone steal into his heart. He was paying the consequences now, he thought. But the pain was worth it. He saw how Danielle looked at his wounds and came closer to take care of his wounds -just like the first time-. It put his Beast at ease.

Danielle fluttered around his hands, searching for something to use. She remembered the towel she had wrapped around her hair and quickly removed it, pushing it against the wounds.

"Old habits never die," she whispered as she tried to stitch it with the supplies of the first aid kit Théière had brought, "You should be more careful."

"I should," he replied, "But what's the point of living when you're always careful."

Danielle hummed in approval as she placed the final stitch in one of his knuckles. She started to gauze both of his hands up until they were two big balls of white fabric.

"You can't move them for a couple of days or else the stitches will come loose," she told him as she stood up and brushed off the shards that were crusted onto her trousers.

"Don't leave," William whispered, "He will come back if you don't."

Danielle turned back around and gave him a smile, "I won't. You don't have to worry about me leaving."

"Remember Christmas?" he suddenly said. William wanted to change the subject to something else. He was preparing himself to confess to her.

She hummed, "That was the first year there was actually snow on Christmas Eve."

He inhaled deeply.

Here goes nothing, William thought.