Finding Beauty (Rewrite)

Chapter 42

~Beauty~

Nothing could fill up the vast space that was forming in between them.

Most of the house was striped bare. Teigan was moving into an apartment - Bethany knew that much. Therefore, he would have no use for most of the furniture in the house. The couch was much too huge to take with him. He didn't need multiple beds or five different lamps. It's new owners had no use for it either so it was all being sold online by Carina.

Overall, the house was simply fragments of what it used to be. It was broken down into pieces, lacking personality, no longer capable of telling the story of everything that had happened inside of it. It was unsettling to stand in.

Beth pulled her flannel closer to her. It was the same outfit she had on the day this whole thing started. It would be hard to explain to the police why she was coming back with brand new clothes so she kissed them all goodbye. She needed to keep her explanation of what happened as simple as possible in order to protect Tiegan and Carina.

She was locked in a room and fed consistently. She only ever left the room when the Beast went after Ryan Daniels and then at the masquerade ball. She doesn't know why he took her. He hardly spoke to her. She never saw him without a mask on. He was the only one she dealt with. He randomly took her out on a drive blindfolded today and let her go in the middle of nowhere. She flagged down a car driving on the road and a nice woman named Carina picked her up. She drove her to the police station.

It was the only story that could protect them. Trying to explain away what Teigan or the Beast did would only raise more questions, possibly supporting the strange theory that it was all planned.

Not even the man who reported he was saved from a mugging by the Beast could do anything to save the Beast's reputation. Whoever thought he was a dangerous, murderous vigilante still thought so and the people who thought he was a hero remained firm on their opinion. She had to stay out of it as much as possible. She could never share the truth about what happened with anyone - which she knew would prove to feel isolating. To think that she would have to keep what happened to her to herself, to have no one to unpack it with, to share it with, was maddening.

She secretly hoped that she could share it with Grayson. If anyone was going to listen to her without judgement it was him. He had always believed in her. He wouldn't dismiss her claims as trauma or sickness. She was sure of it.

Also, she didn't have to lose Carina. There were plenty of reasons for Bethany to keep contact with a woman who drove her to safety. She would have her to call and talk to. She would maybe be able to hear about Teigan through her, she could let her know if he was doing okay.

Bethany sat on the couch, hugging herself. Carina would be arriving any minute. She was wrapping up an interview for a new job and then she'd pick her up to drive to a police station in the city.

Beth hadn't seen Teigan all morning. She woke up and he had gone off somewhere without a word of warning. The night prior they spent like any other night: listening to music and playing board games. There was nothing off about it except the lingering tension in the quiet moments. It was to be expected. She didn't see why he was hiding from her now.

She checked the clock. It was the only remaining decoration on the wall.

Carina would arrive soon.

Was he not going to say goodbye?

There was far too much hanging in the air between them for him not to. She had too much she wanted to say. She accidentally began to care. She accidentally started to be curious about him, to root for him, find comfort in him, admire him, care for him. She wanted her normal life back but she wanted him in it.