La Bella y la Bestia

chapter 3

As the group continued on into the forest, the sun had set and nightfall came. Félix kept checking his map frequently, trying to see if they were getting anywhere closer to the fair, but it seemed that the deeper they went into woods, the harder it became for him to navigate the way to his destination.

"We should've been there hours ago," he muttered. "Must've missed a turn. Should've taken a–" he stopped as he noticed something ahead. He took a lantern and lifted it up, shining light on a crossroad up ahead. "Felipe, Chief, mira!" There were two paths, with the right one being a dark, overgrown path while the left was a more inviting route. "¡Venga, Felipe! The right one is the shortcut."

The horse obeyed, albeit hesitantly. Chief, on the other hand, knew better. He began barking as they went down the path on the right, pointing his nose in the left direction.

"Chief, ¡cállate!" Félix hissed. "It's a shortcut. We'll be there soon."

The dog's blue eyes narrowed. He tried grabbing the man's pants with his teeth, attempting to steer him on the right path as they continued into the dark.

"Stop that!" Félix nearly shouted, pulling away from the dog. He looked ahead, noticing that they were nowhere near the fair and were surrounded by fog. "Maldita sea, Felipe," he cursed the horse's name. "This can't be right... where have you even taken us?"

Chief resisted the urge to roll his blue orbs at how clueless his owner could be, instead barking and pointing his head back.

"Maybe you're right," Félix murmured, looking back. "We should turn around, and–"

He was cut off by a silhouette racing by one tree to the next. "What on earth?"

Chief began to growl at something in the distance, near a log and bushes. "Something the matter, boy?" Félix asked, noticing the dog's sudden change in behavior. The oceanic sport hound kept snarling, baring his teeth. Then, there was a loud howl, followed by two more. Félix looked ahead and squinted his eyes, seeing multiple yellow orbs glowing through the dark fog and mist.

"Felipe, go!" he cried out, urging the horse to run. "¡Ándale, ándale!"

As soon as the horse did, a pack of wolves ran out from the shadows, growling and barking. Félix steered the wagon left and right, while Chief barked fiercely at the wolves on their tail.

The creatures kept up their pace, massing to overrun them. Félix tried to keep steering the wagon, only for Felipe to get startled as a wolf tried to leap onto the cart, bucking both his owner and Chief off in the process before running away in fright.

This left Félix and Chief stumbling down a hill, towards two iron gates. Félix grabbed the gates and tried shaking them open. "Is someone there?" He dared looking over his shoulder, seeing the wolves advance while Chief still kept barking at them. "Help!"

The gate suddenly opened, leaving him to stumble in. Once Chief was on the other side with him, he slammed it shut, in the faces of the wolves. The wolves tried sticking their heads through the gates, only to flinch as Chief nearly bit one of their muzzles. The leader of the pack let out a growl, before the pack accepted that they wouldn't be feasting tonight, and so they disappeared into the forest.

Félix watched as they left, before turning to look behind him. There, a large mansion came into view, followed by a flash of lightning. It was looked so miserable and grey, like it had lost its light a long time ago. Rain poured all around, adding to the gloomy atmosphere.

It looked abandoned, yet there could be someone there. Perhaps, the owner would be kind enough to let him stay for the night.

He walked up the front steps, lifting up his hand to knock on the door. With a light tap, the two doors open with a creak. "How strange," he murmured as he stepped inside the castle, followed by his dog, who was sniffing around cautiously. He placed his hat on a coat rack, not noticing that it was actually three boxes stacked, each reading "Fish", "Shoe" and "Jelly." Arms came out of two of the boxes, grabbing at the hat while the third waved at the old man's form.