Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 17--Do I, Don't I?

I opened my eyelids slowly, telling myself that they weren't as heavy as they felt. I squinted, being blinded by the bright light that shone on me. My right hand rested on my stomach, while the other one laid on the bed I was in.

My bed.

A noise from the corner made me look up. I glanced around, looking at the broken glass and scratched wallpaper that hadn't been there when I left. Then my eyes landed on him. The Beast. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he was leaning against the door in a carefree manner.

He looked at me with uncaring eyes. "I take it you are awake."

Everything about that sentence told me to get away as fast as possible. It sounded like claws on a windowpane.

I met his eyes. "Apparently I am." My voice was rough and cracked. I cleared my throat, then repeated my sentence louder.

He uncrossed his arms and stood straight. "Good."

We looked at each other a few more seconds.

"I--" he starts.

"What--" I began at the same time. We both stopped, then he continued like I never spoke.

"I believe that I told you to come in before sunset."

I bit my lip, wary of the answer I should give. "You did," I agreed slowly.

"Obviously, you didn't listen."

I raised my eyebrows and sat up carefully. "I did listen. The sun hadn't set yet when I was outside."

"No!"

My hand bolted behind me. I was in the crawl-away-backwards-quickly position.

The Beast paced back and forth. I noticed his cane was gone.

"You disobeyed two of my direct orders. Two of them!"

I stared at him in disbelief. "What did I disobey? I was doing exactly what you told me."

He growled. The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up.

"You were not. You were outside past sundown. You also ventured outside of the castle grounds!"

"When did I go outside the castle grounds? I was near the it at all times."

"When you entered the water, that's when."

My mouth dropped open. How dare he?

"I didn't enter the water on my own free will! What, you think I like drowning? Maybe you should try it sometime. Does wonders for your life expectancy!"

Sarcasm dripped off every single one of my words. The Beast froze momentarily, surprised at my outburst, then growled louder.

"You should know better than to speak to those who you believe to be 'rescuing' you." When he spat out 'rescuing' he made air quotes with his fingers. "No one is coming for you! You are stuck here for however long I wish."

Something inside me snapped. I felt rage boil up, feeling like it was suffocating me.

"Maybe I just wanted to see the only family that I don't hate again," I whispered. A tear traced down my cheek, which I quickly wiped away.

"Tough. You won't. You made that decision when you decided to stay. I couldn't care less about your family. Or you for that matter," he added as an afterthought.

I just shook my head. I was strangely calm after his hurtful words. He turned to leave, but I spoke up, unable to not have the last word.

"If someone you love shows up after you know that you will never see them again, what would you do?"