Chapter 55: Days in the Sun Will Come Shining Through

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The arrow digs into her chest slicing her skin and sending droplets of blood spraying everywhere

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The arrow digs into her chest slicing her skin and sending droplets of blood spraying everywhere. The bright red dots decorate her shirt and pale skin and a strangled gasp flew past her lips. The room that was so silent a few moments prior transformed into a chaotic mess. The witnesses scramble toward their wounded friend, and the unexpected saviour rushes toward the attacker who is stumbling backwards after dropping his bow. The victim collapses but never has a chance to hit the ground quickly being caught by the horrified beast.

"Valerie, stay with us!" Henry cries. Gently placing the bleeding and panting Valerie onto the floor he strokes the long strands of her unruly hair out of her face. His heart aches and tears start to pool in his eyes when he feels how cold her skin is becoming. "Valerie, please tell me you're still here," he begs as he shakes her shoulders.

"Don't move her too much. You might make her wound larger," Miss Potts says through a choked sob and with tears clouding her eyes.

"What... what should I do?" he stutters. Looking down at her face noting her eyes squeezed shut from the pure pain she was in he thought back to the days he spent looking at his mother in a similar situation. Hours and hours spent in that old wooden chair looking at the woman he loved beyond anything even himself watching as she grew paler and paler, a lesser version of herself until the day she took her last breath. He wouldn't let that happen again. He couldn't let it happen again. His heart would not be able to handle the pain. People thought strength came with age but now at the old age of one hundred and nine years old, he was coming to the gut-wrenching realization that if he lost this woman who had only been in his life for barely a quarter of a year it would destroy him more than anything ever could.

"Put pressure on the wound but don't remove that arrow. I'll go find something I can use to close it up before she bleeds to death." Casting one last glance at her friend who could very much die while she was away. A rebellious young woman who not only horrified her but also made her twitch with annoyance at simply unladylike she was. But as time went on, that rebellious spark drove her to love her like the daughter she never had. And she couldn't lose her, not when they were so close to winning. So, allowing her feet to push her as quickly as they could she rushed from the room and into the dimly lit castle.

Henry slips his paw just under her shirt, now soaked with blood, pushing down on her wound carefully so as not to disturb the arrow protruding from her flesh.

"Please don't leave me," he whispers, hoping some divine creature might hear him too.

Across the room, Gaston, who was waiting for the Beast or Henry as Valerie had called him to attack Adrien, was trying to pull Adrien out of the room and back toward the village. But Adrien who was filled with shock and regret stood firmly in place unwilling to move until he saw which fate his friend would be dealt.

"Adrien, please we have to leave. There is nothing we can do for her now. What's done is done and we need to go before there is a third body on this floor," Gaston whispers to him while giving his arm a good tug.

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