Finding Beauty

Chapter 53

~The Beast~

Just before the man squeezes the trigger, I dive to the side. He fires but hits the bare wall behind me. The gunshot rings in my ears as I scramble to get up from the floor. It takes the man a second to recover, it's clear he's never fired a gun before. That's not the only part that doesn't add up. He also looks to be about Belle's age. Why is he doing this?

I take advantage and use the time to run over to the railing of the stairs. "Get out of here!" I shout at Belle. The flames are becoming bigger and this man is armed. The last thing I want is for Belle to get hurt.

"No!" she screams definitely. "I'm not leaving without you!" My heart leaps but my eyes roll. She still cares about me but this is not the time for that.

My ears hear the sound of my attacker approaching me from behind. I allow him to get closer and then swing my leg underneath him, causing him to face plant on the hardwood floor. I pin his arms down and wrestle him for the gun.

This is it, I think. I'll get the gun and get Belle and I out of here.

But my beastly strength doesn't work the way it's suppose to. I find myself struggling against the man. I should be pinning him down easily.

No. No. No.

The man squeezes the trigger again, it narrowly misses my stomach. Finally, I'm able to fling it out of his hands. It slides across the floor a few feet away from us.

The man yells in frustration before punching me square in the face. The pain is greater than it should be and I don't feel my body healing itself. With a gasp, it dawns on me.

I'm slowly losing my powers. It's an affect of the last petal about to fall.

Great timing.

The distraction is all the man needed to knock me off of him. I tumble across the floor and fear crawls its way up my chest. He can't get the gun. If he gets the gun it's over.

The man is about to grab the gun when Belle appears. She shoves him away and picks it up.

Coughing, she backs away. She doesn't point it at the man though. Instead, she just holds it.

Why?

What's even more shocking is the man doesn't make a move to attack Belle either. He just stands there and looks at her, coughing because of all the smoke that has accumulated.

It's an awkward stand still. Do they know each other?

I slowly get up, being careful not to disturb the moment. I wouldn't any sudden movements to startle the man back into action. Although, he isn't even looking at me. He's staring at Belle.

"Grayson," Belle whimpers. "This isn't you and you know it. Why don't we get out of here? Okay? The fire is spreading and so is the smoke. . ."

The man's, or Grayson's, face starts to shift, he's body relaxes. "I want to Belle. All I've ever wanted was to be your hero." He bites his lip as a sob travels up his body. "I know I've screwed up. I don't know how to fix it. I don't know anymore. . ."

Belle's eyes tear up as well. My mind goes back to the time Belle and I were in the library together and she told me about a boy who she was really close to. This is him.

"Did I ever stand a chance?" Grayson asked, looking heart broken. "Did I ever have a chance at being with you?"

A tear escapes Belle's eye. "That's the sad part. You did once."

Fear shifts into guilt. I had contributed to this man's downfall by kidnapping Belle. It's crazy how everything you do finds a way to impact people, even the people you'd least expect.