Beauty and the Beast: After the Curse (Modern Version)

Chapter 2

"What?!" Everyone yells.

We look around and see everyone's close enough to hear.

Lefou smiles slightly and waves his hand.

"Sit."

People start sliding their chairs over to make a semi circle around us, and another one behind the first one.

After everyone's seated, Lefou starts telling the story.

"Yeah, it's true," he says. "Gaston somehow found Adam's castle. He'd heard rumors about an enchanted castle guarded by a horrible beast. He just wanted to see if it was true."

I tense slightly.

"So, he went in. Little did he know, the Beast was real. But he didn't want to hurt anyone. They ended up becoming friends. Until Gaston went to fight in the French Revolution. He never went back to the castle."

I growl under my breath.

Belle entwines our fingers.

"Until he came to murder me," I snarl through clenched teeth, glaring.

Belle leans over and kisses me.

"It's okay. He's gone now. Oh, and now we get to burn all his crap."

Everyone cheers, and I laugh.

"Hell yeah!"

I give Lefou a high five.

"So, that's how Gaston knew where the castle was," Belle says.

I nod.

"Yep. Oh, Lefou, you better be coming to dinner tonight."

He laughs.

"Absolutely."

I smile and hug him.

"We're going to see Maurice," I say as I get up.

I hold out my hand to Belle and she grabs it, jumping off the stool.

"Finally," she says.

I laugh and wave to Lefou as we leave.

Belle unties Philippe, and I get on Midnight.

I wait until Belle's on before kicking Midnight's sides with my heels.

He goes into a trot and Belle gets beside me before we go to her father's cottage near the edge of the village.

We stop the horses and take them to Philippe's old pen.

I make sure they have enough oats and water before following Belle to the basement doors.

I hear wheels squeaking behind us and smile.

"Hey, Belle, turn around."

She does, and gasps.

"You didn't!"

I laugh.

"Yeah, I got him a brand new cart," I say.

"And this one was made especially for him, with shelves and everything, so a wreck like the one he had a few months ago will never happen again."

I hear music coming from the basement and smile.

"Let's go see him."

She nods and opens the doors, going down the stairs.

I follow her, closing the doors behind us.

"Papa?" Belle asks as we walk into the workshop.

My eyes widen as I look around.