The Secret Diary of Belle (Grimmoire Series)

Entry Fifty Two

Well, Belle on the outside, at least. To all who have known me, I would appear to be the same girl I was before. But oh! There is truly no comparison.

It came as quite the shock to me. Waking up, finding myself back in my room and not passed on to wherever we all pass on to.

Despite being in my bedroom, the surroundings were not quite as familiar as they should have been. I noticed it immediately since I actually woke up, naked, on a pile of balled up clothes, which was handy since the bed had been destroyed beyond repair. The room was in a complete state of disarray, as if a tornado had raged through.

If you told me a horde of villagers had taken axes to it - I would have believed that. It looked like a pile of fire wood, expensive fire wood, but still just an unceremonious mess. The mattress and duvet had been positively shredded and the fluffy down was all over the floor, up the walls and even some was stuck to the ceiling. The mirror was shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces - such a shame. The chair, the wardrobe - everything was completely ruined.

I will spare the details about the state of the commode.

It was at that point I realised why Geroux would chain himself up during his transformations.

The trail of destruction continued into the adjoining tiny study with the small library. No book had been spared the wrath of my transformation. Each book was reduced to confetti.

Of course at that point I began to panic - my diary! Where had I left it? I searched high and low and could not find it. I suddenly remembered last writing in it with Geroux by my side, whilst in bed.

The entire time I spent looking at this destruction, there was the strangest, strongest smell. Initially I thought it was the commode but it was something else entirely. It had a strange, metallic quality that I initially dismissed as a some potent, unique floral combination.

During my rebirth I was one with all of my senses - all of which are now heightened. The indescribable scent of the garden outside permeated every part of my sensory world. I could smell firewood burnt days ago in the air. It would appear that in human form, my senses are still enhanced, but take a little longer to engage.

As my inhuman sense of smell awakened, I knew there was something unique about this particular scent profile, something deeply familiar.

It was then I noticed that my back had been to the bedroom door since I awoke and that is precisely where I found the source of the smell.

Blood.

Blood on the floor and up the door.

I quickly checked all over my body for wounds, but my alabaster skin remained in pristine condition.

And all at once I was filled with a sickening realisation. The reason it smelled so familiar.

The blood was Geroux's.

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