Love Is Never Ugly

Chapter 25

It was Husk who had discovered them the next morning. He entered Alastor's room upon seeing that the door was left open and he found his master asleep on the floor with injuries and Charlotte sleeping on top of his chest with her hands pressing the cloth of her nightgown to his face. He had heard the howling last night and correctly deduced that Alastor was having another breakdown but he chose not to interfere because it usually ended with him getting thrown into the nearest wall. Although if he had known Charlotte had been up there while it happened he would have immediately brought her back down. 

"Oh God." He thought when he saw her lying motionless. He bent down and checked her pulse, she was still alive. She had a few scrapes but nothing compared to what Alastor had. "What in the hell happened last night?"

At the sound of a voice so near, Charlotte started to stir. She sat up, yawned, and took a minute for last night's events to come back to her memory. When they did she quickly went to check Alastor's pulse.

"Oh thank God he's still alive." She sighed in relief.

"Lady you must be completely nuts." Husk told her.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you really stay up here all night with him while he was having another on of his fits?"

"Yes I did. I had to. He was bleeding. He could have died. Wait a second, another one of his fits? So this has happened before?"

"Many times."

"What exactly happens during one of his fits? Does he just throw a tantrum and he accidentally hurts himself in the process?"

"It's no accident."

With those words said Charlotte took a moment to turn completely silent as her mind comprehended the horrible conclusion to Alastor's actions.

"You mean." She was afraid to hear the answer but she had to know. "You mean he does this to himself?"

"Yep." Husk replied in a sympathetic tone. 

"Why would he do that?"

Husk hesitated before answering. This was one of Alastor's deepest secrets. Something he wouldn't want anyone apart from the staff to know. But for some reason Husk believed that Charlotte could be trusted with this knowledge.

"I'm going to get him into bed, you find Niffty and tell her that he had another break down. She'll know what to do. Once that's done meet me in the corridor and I'll explain everything."

Charlotte did as she was told and once the housekeeper entered Alastor's room with towels and water, she stood in the corridor with Husk to hear him out.

"Now you didn't hear this from me." He told her. "If he finds out I disclosed this to you he'll probably find some fairy, have her revert me back, and leave me to the mercy of the next hunting party with dogs that passes through here. So not a word. Understand?"

"I understand." She nodded.

"Good." Before he continued he double checked to make sure that the two of them were alone. Once he was certain he spoke. "I don't know if you've figured this out yet but Alastor can't help how he looks and he doesn't like how he looks either. In fact he hates his appearance. Always has. Even as a child. As he grew older he started to develop a terrible self-loathing. One so strong that he would actually hurt himself sometimes. Usually when he's reminded of how ugly he is."

"How terrible. I know appearances can be a have a strong effect on people but I never thought that it was in a way like that."

"You have no idea just how much his looks have effected his life. He wasn't always like this you know. When he was a little boy he was actually very innocent and harmless. He loved music, he loved to read, and he loved to run free in the woods. Really all he wanted to do was play and make everyone around him smile. But then humans saw him for the first time and that's when he realized just how much the world hated him. He typically tried to avoid humans but back then caravans were very frequent and if any of the travelers laid eyes on him it was the same routine. Screams, insults, stones getting thrown at him, gunshots being fired, no mercy, no remorse."