Finding Beauty (Rewrite)

Chapter 53

~The Hunter~

Killing him was the right thing to do.

The young man sat out in the yard with his legs folded in front of him. His fingers tugged at the grass beneath him until he made patches in the lawn. With every piece of grass he plucked out, he debated whether any of this was his fault. His pride never let him admit it but that was exactly what he was doing. He was finding reasons to justify shooting the Beast dead those weeks ago.

It wasn't like he killed an actual person, right? He was a monster. There couldn't be more to the story. Bethany, the friend he had trusted for years, couldn't have actually had a valid reason to care about him in the manner she did.

He heard the report of all the Beast's criminals turning up in his rose garden minus the roses. The story was everywhere. It was a conspiracy theory festival. It didn't bring him satisfaction to be one of the only people who had the true answer to what actually happened.

The only thing that made him question whether he held responsibility for the mess his life was in was being threatened with jail time. It was Bethany's cooperation with the history of what happened on the roof that saved him: Bethany showed up to the scene on impulse and then decided if she distracted the Beast the police would have more time to capture him. The Beast was going to harm Beth and Teigan stopped him by shooting him. First in the leg as a warning and then fatally.

Bethany's kindness towards Grayson after he killed someone she claimed to be in love with didn't affirm that he did the right thing. It had the opposite effect of making him feel guilty. She sent him a letter wishing him the best. She paid him her part of the rent for the next three months despite having moved out immediately. He had expected her to hate him or be apathetic but instead, she remained friendly - distant, very distant - but friendly.

He heard his family setting up for dinner inside. Jason's youth filled giggles and Kyle's bragging about the job he landed two months before he even graduated. His father was cooking his famous macaroni and cheese that Grandma hated because of its simplicity. His family was moving on with or without him. He thought getting rid of the Beast would allow him to join them in the kitchen with a genuine smile but it hadn't.

Grass wrinkled and crumbled under the shoe of another.

She had arrived.

He knew he hadn't seen the last of her. Not after what he did on that roof.

To his surprise, she didn't raise her hands to cast a curse upon him or taunt him, or chastise him. She walked up to him and placed herself beside him on the grass.

He waited for her to say something but she remained silent. She stared out into the evening sky just as he did.

"Why are you here?"

She reached into the grass and pulled out a daisy. It's white petals were bright in the dimming daylight. She held it out to him, a shy smile on her lips.

"They symbolize new beginnings."

He grasped its stem and gazed upon the delicate plant. It was a much better flower than the accursed rose.

He tried his best to smile. He didn't quite get there but it was closer than he usually did.

Holding the daisy up to his nose, he added, "And hope."