Finding Beauty in the Beast

Chapter 6

Joseph walked into the village and ignored the weary glances from the villagers. He walked to the tavern and went inside. He walked to the back to find Felix looking over maps at a table. There was another man sitting across from him. Joseph stared at him and watched him leave the table before he reached it. Felix put the maps away and smirked at Joseph who sat down still watching the other man leave the tavern.

"Who was that?" He asks.

"Just a traveler. He was showing me a better way to get home from here instead of going through the mountains." He said shrugging. "There is a village about a days ride from here next to the river and we can take a boat almost all the way home."

"Right." He said shaking his head. "I have to go back to the castle for a day or two and then we can leave."

"Jo...this is getting ridiculous. We need to go home."

Joseph ignored him and waved at the woman carrying drinks. "And we will...I just need a few more days...I promise."

"Why do I not believe you then?" Felix frowns. "I promised your mother that I would bring you back...I don't intend on breaking that promise."

"And you won't." Joseph says sincerely as the woman drops off two pints of beer. He shoves one at Felix. "Two more days and then we go."

"Promise?" He asks eyeing him.

"You have my word." Joseph says patting his friend on the shoulder.

A few hours later, Joseph is helping Felix up the stairs. Joseph had only had one beer while Felix had had many.

"You....you really should..." He hiccupped. "Stay...here tonight."

"I'll be fine Felix. I know the way back." Joseph says kicking open the door to his friends room.

"That...that's not what I mean Jo..." He says slurring his words. "That man...he...he was...is...a hunter..."

"What?" Joseph drops his friend on his bed and stares at him. "What are you saying?"

"It's not natural...a curse...a wolf..." Felix sighs as his eyelids begin to droop. "I told him...about..." He hiccupped again, "about...the castle..."

Joseph grabs Felix by his shirt and holds him up. "You did what?" He asks angrily.

Felix's eyes widen by the sudden change in Joseph. "The hunter...went to the castle..."

Joseph drops him and rushes to leave the room. Felix grabs his arm and falls to the floor.

"Stop Jo...it's none of our business."

Joseph shoves him off and watches him stumble back onto the bad. "You better hope she's still alive because if she isn't, you won't be going home alive."

With that said, he runs out of the room and out of the tavern. Felix puts his head in his hands and lays back on the bed. Joseph runs through the streets of the town and onto the main road that leads into the woods. Once he's out of sight of the village, he shifts. He can only hope that he makes it there in time.

Valerie:

I had been sitting in the window of the library all day. I hadn't seen Joseph leave but I knew he was in the village. Cora and Elias were somewhere else in the castle, trying to avoid my presence for a while. This curse was more complex than any of us had ever thought. Maybe my father and brother had known...maybe they just forgot to tell me. It had started to rain not long after Joseph had left. In the faint moonlight, I could see a man on a horse riding up the road. I sighed and left the window. Why couldn't people just leave me alone? I made it to the stairs within a few minutes and heard a resounding knock on the front door. I walked down the stairs and beat Cora to the door. I opened it. There was a tall man standing in the rain. He was soaked from head to toe. He had a scruffy beard and his clothes were worn.