Beauty And The Beast: The Story Untold

Chapter 4: Bitter Remarks

Gaston stared across the tavern, slumped in his chair. Lefou was standing next to him, holding his beer out for him.

"I can't believe it. Who does he think he is!" Gaston roared, his arms flailing in all direction s before he slumped back down and rested his head gloomily on his hand.

"Who?" Lefou asked. Gaston ripped his beer out of Lefou's hands and drank it down.

"Lefou, were you even paying attention? The man! The man that had all the girls in town swooning over him!" Gaston bellowed, dropping his beer mug hard ontop of Lefou's head. Ever since that dreadful day in town, Gaston has been moping around, angry that there was someone around that was more handsome than he. How would he ever win Belle over if there was someone better than him?

"How dare he even show his face in my town!" Gaston went on, finally deciding to stand up. He couldn't take sitting down any longer. He had to take action.

"Uh, Gaston, what are you doing?" Lefou asked.

Gaston stood, his strong arms posed on his hips. "I'm going to find him. If I eliminate him, then Belle will have no choice but to marry me!"

__________________________________________________________________

The master stood silently in his room, looking out across the balcony. Outside the sky had clouded over and it was starting to rain. The weather matched his mood perfectly.

He didn't know why he locked up the old man. It's because you're a monster, he reminded himself. The thought made him growl and he swung out and threw the nearest chair across the room. It was no use though, it was already broken from one of his earlier thrashings.

He couldn't stand to be in the room anymore. Too many memories started swirling at the edge of his mind and he wanted to keep them down. Now was not the time.

He flung his door open and strode down the hallway. It wasn't until he was at the end of the West Wing when he heard something. Footsteps. Another intruder. He willed himself to stay calm but he couldn't stop the rising anger he felt. He didn't want people in his castle or to even know of his castle. The more people that found out about him, the more he was at risk. The people of the village wouldn't stand to have a monster lurking in their woods. That's what they would think of him. A monster.

He followed the sound of the footsteps, but made sure to stay behind so they didn't know he was following them. "Hello? Father?"

It suddenly made sense. The man he had locked away upstairs must be her father and she was here to save him. Wait, her?

She jogged up the steps with haste and down the hallway. He heard the click of the door and knew she had gone up the steps and to the tower. He gave her enough time to get up the stairs before he followed pursuit.

He silently made his way into the top of the tower. The girl kneeled in front of her father. "I won't leave you!"

He grabbed her cloak and whipped her around to face him. Stepping back into the comfort of the shadows, he felt his heart stop. She was beautiful, by far the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and she was still in servants clothes! This was going to be harder than he thought.

"What are you doing here," he growled.

She answered him defiantly and he thought back to when he was royalty. Technically he still was...but he would never have stood for such a rude act. He was to be treated with respect. His eyes soon became slits. She wanted her father out of the cell, so much that she offered to be his prisoner instead.

"You," he declared, shocked she would offer such a thing. Suddenly it all mapped out in his mind. All those years of the curse he had never once had a girl, or anyone, arrive at the castle. He didn't have much time left, but she was his only hope, if there was any. "You would take his place?" he asked surprised.

"If I did, would you let him go?" she asked. He watched her eyes carefully and noticed she was looking back and forth in the shadows. She was still trying to see him. He pressed himself further into the shadows. If she saw him, she would take back her offer and he would remain the beast that he was forever.

"Yes, but you must promise to stay here forever." Her father started to protest but he ignored his cries. Everything would be well in the end, hopefully. The master had no intention of hurting the man's daughter. In fact, his intention was quite the opposite that is if things would really work out between them. They could turn out to hate each other. Only time would tell.

The girl said those words that he never wanted to hear. "Come into the light." Her eyebrows were quirked in curiousity and he felt his heart drop. He would never be able to prove himself to her, so why bother? But he did as she said.

Slowly but surely, he stepped into the small beam of light. Once he was fully illuminated, he looked down upon her and saw her eyes widen in horror. She whisked around to her father quickly. It felt like he had just been stabbed. He has had that reaction too many times, but coming from her made it all that much worse. She was his only chance to being a human once more.

The girl and her father shared a few more words while the Master looked down. All he wanted to do was go hide away in the West Wing, but he had to be sure that she was going to stay here before he could do anything else. And though he'd never admit it, it was nice having human company.

The girl suddenly stood and stepped up to face him; however, she kept her eyes closed. He watched her carefully. He took in her long eye lashes, and how smooth her brown hair looked. She had a cute little nose and soft lips. He couldn't help but be moved by her beauty. He assumed the rest of the village felt the same way. They would eventually go looking for the beauty and find him and slay him for keeping her locked up. The master cringed at the thought but it was what he deserved. He was nothing but a monster.