Blood and Snow

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Mason walked through the corridors holding a wet towel in one hand and a stack of books in the other. The towel was folded and the books were held together by a white ribbon that was neatly tied around them. 'Why am I doing this?' He asked himself again. As he reached Belle's room, he stopped to make sure that everything looked nice and orderly.

He somewhat awkwardly opened the door, stepped inside, then pushed the door close behind him. Belle's face lit up when she saw the books that Mason was carrying. Mason sat down in front of her and set the books beside her. He held up the towel and offered her his hand. "Let me see your hand."

Belle nodded and extended her arm out to him. He gently held her wrist and put the towel over her hand. He had soaked it with hot water before wringing it out, so it was still warm. He then used both of his hands and helped her get the blood off. A minute later, he removed the towel and revealed her now clean hand. Belle smiled at him, "Thank you."

Mason smiled back. "You're welcome," he said with a wink, "I have lots of practice."

Belle let out a startled giggle which made his smile grow wider. "You like dark comedy?" He asked out of curiosity, "Or am I just that good?"

Belle smiled at him again, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "I think that you're just that good. I mean- when you're not terrifying, of course!" Belle scolded herself, 'Nice save, Belle! What the hell was that?'

Mason chuckled at her and gestured to the books. "Those are for you." He told her, "Did I pick good ones, or would you like something else"

"They're perfect." Belle said with a smile. She untied the ribbon and picked up one of the books. "Good God," she said, "I haven't read this one since I was in elementary school!"

"Really?" Mason asked. Belle nodded. She thought of something, making her smile slowly fade. Mason's smile dropped into a face of worry, "What's wrong?"

"... Why are you being so nice?" Belle asked. Mason glanced at the wall beside them, debating on whether or not to tell her. On one hand, he doesn't think she's ready to hear his story. On the other hand, if he didn't tell her, she might think that this is a trick of some sort and will probably start panicking. There's also option three, which is just saying "I don't know". Making up his mind, Mason chose the first option. "I... wasn't planning on it..." he started slowly, hoping that she won't realize what he was originally here for. "But when you told me everything- about Lefte and your parents- I just... couldn't help myself."

Belle's eyes softened. 'Oh no...' she thought before asking, "... Did you...?"

"Yes." Mason said, nodding his head once. "It happened to me, too." He said. The man hesitated, then continued. "My mother died in a car accident when I was eight. My father was never very terrific and became an even worse deadbeat drunk than he already was... Being neglected and physically abused can do a lot to a kid..."

Belle felt sorry for him. That explains why he can get so violent so quickly. Mason couldn't stop himself from telling everything. It had been so long since he buried it, and he never told anyone the full story. "After I turned twelve," he continued, "My father would go out at night. He'd be gone for hours, and I never wanted to think about where he went. When I turned sixteen, I figured out where he would go..."

He clenched his fists in anger, "He would hurt people, Belle. That bastard did unspeakable things to women, and I couldn't do anything to stop him!"

Mason took a moment then gave her that malicious grin he had whenever he talked about someone dying. "So when I turned nineteen, when I was finally able to make him pay for what he did, I killed him." Mason finished. "I chopped his corpse to pieces and fed them to the fish! He can never hurt anyone again. I made sure of that."

A single tear slipped from his eye. He put his face in one of his hands and whimpered, "I killed my own father..."

Belle had never, ever thought that she would see Mason like this. He was so emotional on the inside. He was a human, too. He had a heart and a soul. He could feel emotions. And right now, he was hurt.

Belle set the books aside and moved closer to him. When she was close enough to him, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. Her shoulder was not happy with her, but she didn't care about that at the moment. Mason froze for a second, then hugged her back just as tightly as he quietly cried on her shoulder.