Excerpt: The Beast

She ripped her head from her arms and snarled at the beast, “What makes you think I want to talk about it? Bloody beast.” She pushed her legs forward and leaned away from the chair, throwing herself in the beast’s stricken face. “You’re probably not even speaking to me, not really, I’m just a crazy woman prancing about an abandoned castle with some huge animal, pretending magic things are popping up to help me out. But they’re not, are they? No, actually, I’m probably still lying on that beach, totally delirious. When am I finally going to die, hmm, can you tell me that? Can you?” Her last words reverberated through the room, far too loud for the silence that had come before, and she cringed at her own echoes. When they finally died down, she sighed heavily and dropped her face into her hands. “No, the worst part is, this is all totally real. I can feel it, I know it’s real. And you’ve been nothing but kind to me, and I just…” With final defeat, she looked up to see the beast’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

He looked back at her, deep sadness to match hers. ‘I…deserved…it.’

“No, no, no! Of course not!” Charlotte’s eyes widened at him, her head lifting some more.

He shook his head slowly, tiredly. ‘I…’ His head went lower, eyes avoiding her.
‘Before. I…tried too hard. Could have…would have hurt you. Had to leave.’ He didn’t give any more explanation.

Charlotte reached forward impulsively, guiding his face gently back to look at her. “But you wouldn’t really hurt me, would you?”

Frustration and defeat glared out at her. ‘Not…me. It…’ She could feel the night trying to push out again for a moment, before he let it go. For a long while, he didn’t speak. Finally, she heard, ‘Forgive…me.’

She held his gaze, silently, at a loss for words. They might have stayed locked like that forever, but finally, her stomach growled and punctuated the silence. She chuckled, looking away.

A glint of a smile twinged his eyes. ‘Will…bring you…back.’ He turned sideways, towards the door, and she stood with him. She rested a hand in his soft fur, playing with it gently. In quiet understanding of each other, they made the trek back to her room.