Finding Beauty in the Beast

Chapter 4

Flashes of memories dance before my eyes. Blood... screams... death... snow... castle... warmth. I bolt up in bed and reach around me as if trying to find something that isn't there. When I finally realize that I am in fact in my room, safely in bed, I relax back onto the mattress and sigh. I didn't have to look to know that I was still covered in grime from the shift. I glanced around the room and noticed the tub already ready in front of the fireplace. Without any hesitation, I leave the bed and sink myself into the warm water, letting it drain me of my soreness and dirt. After awhile, I'm clean, dressed and leaving my room. I notice that the window at the end of the hallway is shattered and frown. But then there's something else. Blood. I feel my eyes widen and I walk immediately to it. There is blood on the door to the left as well and I can feel the pit in my stomach grow as I catch Joseph's scent. I told him to leave and he was stupid for not listening. I wasn't paying attention so the sound of someone clearing his throat makes me jump. I spin around to see Joseph standing at the other end of the hallway near the stairs.

"You sure know how to make an exit." He says with a small smirk.

"What happened?" I ask and walk closer to him.

"Well, I couldn't get up the stairs fast enough and you chased me up here. You-"

"The beast." I say cutting him off. "We are not the same."

"Right...my apologies." He looked slightly regretful. "The beast caught up to me and got me pretty good, but I was able to shut the door and lock it before any mortal damage was done." He lifted up his shirt for me to see claw marks and the dragged, jagged bite mark on his torso. "But I'm fine. It's all almost healed."

"It could have killed you." I scowl at him.

"Listen to me and understand something Valerie." Joseph says stepping closer to me. "I am here of my own free will. I know what you go through now and I've been in the library the last two days. I want to help and nothing you say or do is going to stop me from doing so." He crosses his arms across his chest. "Now, are you going to let me help or are you going to be difficult?"

Before I could say anything, Cora cleared her throat from behind him. He turns to look at her and I walk around him.

"Super is ready Miss." She says watching us.

"Thank you Cora." I say and smile slightly at her.

I follow her down the stairs and Joseph follows me. I can see the claw marks in the stone floor as we walk past the sitting room and I frown. We sit at the table and Cora brings out the food.

"I want to show you something in the library after we eat." Joseph says in between bites.

I bite my cheek to keep myself from snapping at him. I tell myself that he's only here to help and doing so would be wrong. I've read almost every book in that library that has anything to do with this curse so for him to find something new is highly doubtful.

"Alright." I say and give a slight nod.

I can feel him look at me slightly shocked at my answer. He smirks and continues eating while I just roll my eyes. He didn't say anything else during the meal so we ate in silence. After we were both finished I followed him out of the dining room and up the stairs. Once inside the library, he ran to one side of the room where a small pile of books stood next to a chair. He picked a few up and took them to the desk. I let my face remain blank as I recognized the books he had picked up. They weren't very helpful. He skimmed through the top one and then beckoned me over. I let out a small sigh and then walked over to the desk.

"Look, here it's talking about the connection between man and wolf." He starts and glances at me. "There's a way you can connect with-"

"Joseph." I say simply. He stops and looks at me. "We tried already. It doesn't work because the wolf that my ancestor had died when the curse took over. The wolf we have now is a shell...not a conscious being."