Belle Stone

Part 7

The man took the little girl out of the room and brought her towards the other kids. As soon as one of the other staff members noticed this, they freaked out.
"Are you out of your mind?!!"
"Are you even aware of what you did?!!"
"How could you?!!"
Angrily pronounced questions were flying through the air, targeting the new guy. Although anger towards the guy was immense, nothing could surpass the fear of having the little girl in the same room as them. They tried so hard not to look at her or even acknowledge her existence. Unknowingly they all took a small step back. Just a reflex reaction. In their minds, it was easier for them to stay calm if they weren't looking at her.

The effect of the little girl was still too strong. Even without all of that screaming, without the dark look on her face, she managed to send a chill down their spine just by standing there, just by breathing the same air as they do.

The man stood there confused. He didn't know what was going on. Aren't they supposed to take care of children, make them smile, make them feel better? Why are they mad at him? Did he do something wrong? How can it be wrong to take the little girl out of her room? What are they even talking about? He kept wondering all of those things while he was bombarded with this wave of negativity.

Finally, he got the time to speak.
"What? Why? What did I do?"
One of the members of the staff spoke. He replied on behalf of all of them when he said.
"You let that little monster out. That is what you did."
Reluctance and fear wedged themselves in between his words.
"What monster? This"
He pointed at the little girl standing next to him, her face still a little bit wet from the tears as she looked up at him, and sweetly smiled. This essence of innocence that stood next to him, a monster? She cried curled up in her sheets just a second ago. She was their monster? Aren't they supposed to take care of these children? Aren't they supposed to make them feel loved?. Not treat them like this.

“Only if you consider angels as monsters."
“You don't understand it. She is the devil if anything."
His voice is shaky, eyes avoiding the little child.
"How can you say that? I mean, look at her."
The new guy couldn't believe it. He wasn't expecting this kind of reaction, this kind of treatment.
"Don't get fooled by her looks boy. She is evil, l tell you, evil."
"You people are crazy."

He grabs Belle's hand and takes her to her room again. While walking he throws a few glances down at her thinking about what the others have said. He searched for a smidge of evil, a crumb of creepy, a dash of bad on her face but he found nothing like that. Sweet, innocent, pure, beautiful... Those were the traits he found. If that is what the consider evil he hates to see what they consider as good.

When they got to her room he got down to his knees. Big googly eyes looked at him. A furrowing brows showing her confusion. He spoke softly.
"Look. l am sorry kiddo. We can't play with others today but I can give you this."
Her expression remained the same which was a little strange to him. Those people were insulting her in her presents. She should be upset but he quickly disregarded the thought. She was still a little girl. Maybe she doesn't get it. He reached up to his pocket retrieving something out of it. Belle curiously followed his every move. It was a phone. He gave it to her with cartoons already searched up and ready to play.
"Is that okay?"

Belle looked carefully at him while he spoke. Unintentionally she slightly tilted her head to the side. Now she was actually trying to learn how to speak. It couldn't fix the damage, it was too late for that, but better now than never.

She tried to copy the guy but it didn't quite work.
"Oh...ay."
That strange sound resembling a word was the result of her copying.
It wasn't quite the same but to her, it was good enough.

She was happy she is even able to sound remotely similar to him in any way. Hesitantly she reached for the unfamiliar device. The shine of the screen illuminating her satisfied face.
She giggled at the thought of her attempt of speaking just cause she can and just cause she loved that she can.
To be continued...