Finding Beauty

Chapter 25

~The Beast~

"Gale!" Carina comes running into my room without knocking, which is very unusual. She seems out of breath and alarmed.

Did something happen to Belle?

"They're coming! They're on their way here right now!" she warns in between breaths. She rest her hands on her knees and tries to regulate her breathing.

"What? Who's coming?" I shoot up from my seat next to the window and hurry over to her. My heart quickens with anticipation. Carina is hardly ever worried and right now she looks a second close to having a heart attack. "What are you talking about?"

Her words come out in one strangled cry, "The police!"

My heart skips a beat and my throat goes dry. "They're coming here? Now?" I've never had a close encounter with the police before. I have always been fast enough to get away and never had to worry about it. But now who knows how close they already are? They have the advantage.

"Yes!" she shouts waving her arms to get me to snap out of it. "I don't know if they know about Belle or that you're here but you need to leave and take her with you if you don't want to get caught."

Thoughts get jumbled up in my head as my brain goes into panic mode. One of the thoughts being why Carina is telling me this information. Shouldn't she be glad the police are coming? She didn't agree with me kidnapping Belle so why isn't she letting them take me away? Plus, she's been stuck working for me for almost 2 whole years. Ever since my dad hired her to take care of the house and me so he could hide from me in peace. She should feel as trapped as Belle or even more so.

"Okay...okay." I pick my mask up from the counter and place it in my sweater pocket while rushing downstairs to Belle's room. I don't bother knocking, I just burst in. Belle looks up from her laptop, obviously startled.

"I'm sorry but we have to go now," I say grabbing her arm and dragging her with me. She stumbles, having trouble keeping up.

"Why? What's going on?" she questions, surprisingly not pulling away. Police sirens go off and they sound like they're coming towards us. Only I can hear it because of my beast super hearing. It sends chills up my spine.

Carina comes trotting down the stairs, almost tripping over herself. "Out the backdoor! Go through the backyard!"

"Thanks!" Belle and I rush out into the winter weather in nothing more than sweaters. The cold wind nips at our faces while I direct us towards the edge of the yard. The gates are high and pointy but with my beast abilities I could easily make over. Belle however, won't make it on her own.

As we near the gate I yell back at her,"You're going to have to trust me!" We come to a hault right before crashing into the end of the gate. I link my fingers together and bend down. "Step up and I'll lift you. Try to land on your feet."

"Wait, you're going to launch me over the gate?!" she screeches in horror. Her eyes bounce back between my hands and the gate. She shakes her head."I don't think-"

"Please," I plead. If the police find me, they'll see how I look and send me off to be experimented on or to some circus. Jail I can do, but that I can't.

She closes her eyes for a moment and takes a breath. "On one, two, three!" She steps up and I use all my strength to propel her over the gate. She narrowly misses to spikes and I hear her land on the other side. "You okay?"

"Yea!"

"Alright, back up!" I take a few steps back, charge towards to gate, and jump. I land in a crouching position next to Belle who is brushing some dirt off her shoulders looking a little flustered. "Let's go."

We run side by side to my car that I had thankfully parked at the back after the Ryan Daniels situation. "Get in!" Belle climbs into the passenger side next to me but I'm already driving away before she can buckle up.

For the next few minutes, neither of us say anything because our minds are still trying to catch up with our bodies. Then Belle asks,"What was that all about? Where are we going?"

I don't want to tell her the police might be onto us. That might give her some ideas I don't have time for. That's when I remember what today is and where I have to go.

"Remember that theft group you saw on my laptop?" I looked them up a few days ago and now I might as well go after them since the mansion isn't safe.

"Yes. You're going after them, aren't you?" Taking my eyes off the road for a second, I meet her disappointed look. I try to ignore it even though it forms a pit in my stomach.

"Well, yea. I cracked their code. They're attacking a mall in Brooklyn today and I'm going to stop them. So they won't kill a bunch of innocent people," I add the last part to try to make it sound bettter. I try to feel proud. But it's hard when I know exactly what Belle is thinking.

How can you think you are saving lives when you are taking some in the process?

I shove it aside because I need to focus. Since I'm taking on a group, fighting them is going to be more difficult than usual. While driving I come up with a plan and as we start to make it into the city I tell Belle her part.

"I'm going to go inside but you're going to stay in the car and lie low. Don't get out of the car for anything," I explain. She just nods in response. The rest of the ride is silent and I don't try to make any conversation. It's obvious Belle's disturbed about what I plan to do to the criminals.

About an hour later, I park on an empty block next to an alley with a bunch of smelly dumpsters and cigarette butts. It's a few blocks away from the mall so I'll have to do some walking. Before I can step out of the car, Belle grabs my arm.

"Why did we rush out like that? Was someone coming? Was it the police?" she questions. I don't try to cover it up. Belle's to clever too lie to.

"Yes...it was." The thing that bothers me is that I took Belle with me again. I have already aknowledged it was wrong of me to kidnap her in the first place but yet instead of leaving her at the mansion for the police to find I took her with me. It doesn't make sense. "I would have left you at the mansion...so the police could bring you home but-"

"You were scared," she cuts me off. "A very human thing to feel."

Is she dismissing my decision? Forgiving me? Making an observation? It's hard to tell.

So I leave the car and walk over to the mall feeling like my whole world is spinning out of control. Things aren't black and white anymore. They are drenched in colors my eyes can't read. The lines between right and wrong aren't clear and I feel like I'm lost and no longer understand who I am or who I want to be.

The reason for this shift in my life?

Belle.

And it just might be for the better.

Author's Note - I hope you enjoyed. If you did vote and comment!

Question- What do you think about Belle's character? Is she handeling this situation like you would?

Also, Happy Easter!