Belle Of The Gays

The Switch

Belle deftly reached for her phone when she heard it ringing, accidentally ignoring the call as it was her habit. She got too many spam calls in a day that it was second nature, not even realizing it had been her Dad until she caught his name in the corner of her eye.

She shot straight up and waited to see if he was going to leave a voice mail like he always did. When enough time passed for him to do so without her receiving one, she called him back and eagerly waited for him to pick up. A thousand terrible thoughts raced through her mind once she remembered he was still supposed to be on the road, and it didn't help at all when he never picked up.

"That's it, I'm going." She slipped her phone in her pocket and grabbed the keys to the car she was supposed to be taking, almost forgetting to take the dinner she had made just in case nothing was wrong.

Knowing he was going to take the back roads, she took the same route, driving ever so slightly faster than the speed limit in order to catch up to him. She wished she had taken her usual car since the antique one road differently and she had to drive stick, but that wasn't the biggest of her problems at the moment.

She arrived at the fallen tree, taking the other road and hoping it would still get her to wherever she needed to be. It was no longer raining as she drove, so the castle didn't appear to be as gloomy as when her Dad first approached it. She would've spent awhile just to admire the architecture and beauty of the place, but that was all forgotten when she noticed her Dad's car parked in front of her.

"Dad!" She ran out of the car she had taken and ran to his, searching around inside for him. His red phone case stood out on the ground, catching her eye. She picked it up, trying to brush some of the mud off of it as she walked towards the castle.

"Dad? Dad!" Belle called out, entering the castle and standing by the door with a stick she had picked up on her way in.

"Another human?"

"Really? I thought they were a gazelle?"

"Is someone there?" She asked in return to the sarcastic voice, but there was no one in sight.

Movement from upstairs caught her attention and she sprinted up the grand staircase, trying to follow the sound throughout the castle. She ended up down a dimly light hallway void of color, unlike the other areas she had been to, and a familiar voice propelled her further.

"Belle?"

"Dad!" She rushed forward, clutching onto the iron bars that kept her from him. He looked so much older than he normally did, still cold and wet from the rain he had been in.

"Who did this to you?"

"It doesn't matter. You have to leave, now. This castle is not how it seems."

"I'm not leaving without you. Do you know where he put the key?" Belle started searching the area for something, bumping into someone as she did.

"What are you doing here?" The voice growled, but it was too dark for her to see.

"I'm here to free my Dad. I'm pretty sure this is against the law, and I am one phone call away from getting the police here. So state your full name, your business with my Dad. If you don't let him go, I'll be forced to involve the law."

"What are they talking about?"

"Are they that high up in society that she can contact the king?"

"Mama! She's wearing pants!"

Belle ignored the voices behind her, focusing only on the man in front of her she still couldn't see.

"The 'law' refuses to acknowledge we exist. I don't know what power you think you have in my castle, but I suggest you leave." Belle gasped, stepping back a bit and moving closer to Maurice who was still trying to tell her to run.

"What did my Dad even do?"

"They are the enchantress that chained us in this castle in another form. They have come to torture us further in our final days." The voice growled, and Belle was able to pick out his form as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting.

"He's a mechanic, not a magician. If you want someone to imprison, take me."

"Mechanic? Is that what they call them now?"

"How do we know you're not the enchantress coming to torture us further?" The voice growled, causing Belle to roll her eyes at his logic.

"Then isn't it me you want and not my Dad?"

"They have a point, and they're wearing pants, Adam."

"Are you willing to trade your life for your Dad's?" The voice asked, earning immediate protests from Maurice.

"Yes. I'm the enchantress you wanted anyways." Belle answered with certainty, playing along with what they were saying just so her Dad could be free. The cell already looked a lot more exciting than the town she came from anyways.

"Very well then." The man opened the cell using a switch on the side, and Belle rushed in to hug her Dad.

"Please don't do this. This place isn't what you think it is."

"I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself." She hugged him tightly, discretely turning around so he was closer to the door of the cell.

"Time's up." The man announced, and she pushed him out of the cell as the door shut. Trapping her inside.

Maurice screamed in protest, but the man came out from the shadows and hoisted him up, dragging him out of the castle. Except it wasn't a man.

Belle was now in the cell of a beast.