I was sure that I could wake up like this forever. I loved the man beside me more than I had ever loved anyone. Even though it made me feel guilty, I often thought I loved him more than my father, my only living relative. I hated that I didn’t get to see him much, but I was finally happy with Adam. That is why I got the dreadful pulling in my stomach every time I thought about how I left him at night and kept my secret from him.

If I had ever told him what I was really doing at night he would have been furious. I would leave at night claiming insomnia, but I had never had any trouble sleeping. Adam always asked me to stay with him, but I feigned absolute restlessness.

“Belle, my love, won’t you stay with me? Maybe if you lay down sleep would find you.”

“Adam, I won’t hear of it. I need to stretch my legs. When I lay down I feel as if my skin is crawling. In a few hours time I will return to you exhausted from my walking. After I return you can take comfort in my presence.”

“Alright, dear.”

With that I would crawl out from underneath the covers of our king size bed, and walk to the other side of the room. Adam could hear me push open the heavy wooden door that would lead into the secluded corridor in our wing of the castle. He knew he would probably not see me again for several hours, so he rolled over onto his side, and waited for sleep to overcome him.

I always had this gut wrenching feeling when I left the bedroom at night. The good part was that I knew Adam would not follow me. He had never been able to stay up late at night, but I didn’t mind. He would lie in bed, and that was very reassuring to me. It made me feel as if he would be safe from the Beast.

The Beast. It was the only creature on this earth that I hated. I despised its very existence and I wanted it dead. I had often heard the saying “If you want something done you have to do it yourself.” That was exactly what I was trying to do. After the Beast had ravaged my village in France, my life was changed forever. That monster had killed my three brothers and two sisters. Besides me, my father was the only survivor. He had gone mad with grief shortly after the attack, however, and I could no longer care for him. He was taken away from me and thrown into an asylum where they believed they could heal his pain. After my family had been ripped from me, I swore I would seek vengeance against this terrible creature.

I worked my way into the part of the castle that Adam had deemed mine. When I arrived there I went into the closet to get the equipment that I needed. I methodically put on my hunting clothes, my brown boots, and my black velvet cloak. From there I strapped on the sheath that held my long sword with a jeweled hilt decorated with rubies of the brightest red and emeralds of the clearest green. After I put that on I strapped my fully stocked, leather quiver onto my back and grabbed my bow.

I shut the cabinet door and locked it up with the rusted old key. I opened the door to that enclosed and unadorned wing of the castle. After Adam’s parents had died it fell out of use because it had belonged to his mother. When I moved in, however, I asked him for a small piece of this large place to have just for my own and he gave me this wing. My thoughts went to him briefly thinking of him, sleeping as peacefully as an angel while I stalked around like a demon in the night.

Just as briefly my thoughts returned to what I needed to do. I started strutting fiercely to the stable, where the caretaker was waiting for me. When I got to the entranceway of the castle I grabbed a spare lantern from the hook and made my way out of the door. I stomped across the soft green grass that was already becoming moist with the dew.

The stable hand, Dorian, was waiting for me. He was the only one who knew my secret and I trusted him completely. He was my best friend in my village and when I came to marry Adam, I convinced him to come and work at the castle.

“Would you like the usual horse, Madame?

“Dorian, must I remind you that I have asked you repeatedly to refer to me as Belle. You are my best friend after all.”

“Of course, Belle. Would you like Philippe to be your horse this evening?”

“I think I would, Dorian. Thank you.” I heard the whinnying sound of my most favored horse being led out of his stall. Dorian stopped him directly in front of me and gave me the reins of my white horse with one of his tanned hands.

“Do be careful my sweet, Belle.”

“I will.” He held his hands out to steady me as I saddled the horse. The worn leather saddle underneath me felt comfortable and familiar. From my raised position on my steed I stole one final glance at Dorian. He met my eyes with his dark brown ones. We smiled at each other one last time and it was time to carry on.

He opened the stable door and I urged Philippe onward. He let a loud neigh as we started at a run. I bobbed up and down as my horse pounded down the dirt path that would take me to wherever I needed to go.

There had been sightings of the beast in the nearby villages and some of the people were getting nervous. I assured them that I would set out the next evening to provide any assistance that I could. Since I made this promise I was on my way. I heard a howl in the distance and thought of the coyotes in these woods. As I drew near to the village, however, I noticed that something was wrong. There seemed to be absolute silence in the woods, but it was the kind that only arrived after there has been quite a large amount of noise.

When I emerged from the dark canopy of the forest I saw that my worst fear had come true. Even though Philippe was the fastest horse in France he had not been quick enough to beat that horrible Beast. Houses were obliterated into desolate heaps of rubble.The village was in ruins and only a few had survived. The few that remained were congregated in the center of what was once the town square. Most were sobbing while the rest remained absolutely still from shock.

Many had petrified expressions on their faces as I rode into the area. It took all of my will to keep the bile, which was rising up, in my throat down. The scene was all too familiar from the destruction that the Beast had wrought upon my village such a short time ago.

I walked up to the small throng of people that had huddled themselves together. All of them seemed nervous when I approached. I tried a few times to coax them out of their stupor as they stared at me, but it took me several tries. When I finally convinced someone to tell me what had happened, the only one to speak was an old woman who sat with her bow at the ready.

“What has happened here?”

“The Beast came. It snuck up on us while we were all preparing for your arrival. It came as silently as a thief in the night. It struck the first house down before anyone had noticed its presence. After that the screaming began and some tried to run. Others attempted to defend their homes, but there was no stopping its terrible outrage. Its howl was so loud that it was deafening to those of us with even the worst hearing.”

I nodded and that is when it dawned on me. The cry that I had heard was not that of a coyote at all, but that of the Beast. I immediately felt guilty for not realizing this when I was approaching the village. If I had noticed before I might have been there to catch him, and end this war once and for all. I had failed in my task.

“I’m sorry for this. I feel personally responsible for not being here to take care of that monstrosity myself.”

“Don’t blame yourself, Belle. There is only so much that you can do. Surely you will catch him, and avenge us all that have been lost here.”

I was appreciative of her comforting words, but nonetheless my conviction had become stronger. This vicious killing spree had gone on for far too long. The villagers were still terrified, and I checked the surrounding woods to put their minds at ease.

As I finished sweeping the area I noticed the sky. It was starting to lighten with the dawn and I panicked. If I didn’t make it home Adam would become suspicious. I jumped onto Philippe’s back and we took off at a lightning fast gallop. There was no time to spare and I barely had time to shout a goodbye as we went on our way.

I arrived back at the stable just as the sun was starting to peek into the sky. I yelled to Dorian and jumped off of my horse. He took hold of Philippe’s reins. I ran as fast as I could through the grass towards the castle. I made no perceptible noise I charged up the path way to the doors. The doors opened silently on their hinges. I continued running, this time through castle, where my footsteps pounded on the gray, stone floor.

I hoped that Adam wouldn’t be woken up by the amount of sound that I was creating. He was usually a heavy sleeper, and I hoped that tonight would be the same. When I got into my secret corner of the castle I threw off my hunting gear as fast as I could. I quickly locked away all of my weapons in the chest without bothering to put them where they belonged, and slipped into my night dress.

My bare feet slapped against the floor as I dashed towards my bedroom in the West Wing. It was a long run, and I had to make my way up the red carpeted, spiral staircase in the foyer to get there. I was out of breath when I finally pushed open our door.

Adam was curled up under the deep blue covers of our bed. I could see his golden, shoulder length hair fanned out against the white pillow. His face was so relaxed, and he was the picture of innocence. I felt a pang in my heart as I lay down next to him. I wished that I could be there by his side at night, but I had a job to do. When the monster that haunted me was dead we could finally rest together. I crawled in next to him with stealth so I didn’t wake him up from whatever dreamland he had gone to escape the harsh reality of the world around us.

I lay my head against the pillow and allowed myself to finally relax. I knew I wouldn’t have long before Adam would wake from his slumber, so I tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible. I was so exhausted from the night, however, that sleep overwhelmed me in minutes.

My dreams were disjointed and frightening. I found myself in a dreamland devoid of life and completely barren. It had a foul odor that had the rank smell of decay. The color had been completely drained, and everything existed in shades of black and white. The grass was dead and the flowers wilted. The stems were so dead that they were bending in half. The sky was a pale shade of grey and there were no signs of the sun coming up.

I was whipping around frantically when I heard it. There was a slow snarl surrounding me. I couldn’t pinpoint the location of the guttural noise, but it frightened me. I had never seen anything like it before. There had never been such a terrible noise in all the world and I soon became concerned for my life. I tried to scream, but the sound died in my throat. I knew I was trapped and there was nothing I could do to get out of this suffocating nightmare.

I began to run and the landscape turned into a giant maze. There was no way to escape. I turned in every direction looking for something as small as a hole that I could squeeze through and break free, but there was nothing. I was surrounded by solid, gray stone. I could hear the pounding steps of whatever monster was chasing me. He was gaining on me with each stride and I knew the end was near. He jumped me from behind and just as he was about to rip my throat out the dream ended.

I woke up in Adam’s warm embrace with sweat beaded on my forehead. Being in his strong grip gave me a comfort that I wasn’t exactly used to. I tried to turn, but his hold was too tight. As I continued to struggle, he rustled and let a loud yawn escape from his lips.

“When did you come into bed my dearest, Belle?”

“Just shortly after I went for my walk. It couldn’t have been more than an hour or two.”

“Alright. I am glad you are here with me.”

“As am I, darling.”

He then threw off the fluffy blue covers and rose from bed. He seemed to be awake and ready to start the day. I realized that I should join him, even though I was exhausted. I started to crawl my way off of the large mattress.

“Stay in bed a little longer. I will check on you shortly.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. You seem to have put in a rough night.”

With that he left the room. The curtains were still closed which made the room extremely dark. I quickly fell back into a dreamless sleep. When I awoke again, however, the sun was high in the sky.

I worked my way out of bed, all the while wishing I could just stay there. I padded silently through the castle until I made my way to my favorite room in the house, the library. It was lined with books of all different genres. The shelves began at the floor and reached so high that they touched the ceiling. I read the adventure novels the most. The way that they transport me into another world is unlike anything that I have ever felt before.

“Belle!” I jumped from surprise at the sound of a deep voice behind me. Adam had a look of concern across his face and I realized that he had been calling my name for quite some time.

“I’m sorry my dear. I was so focused on my story that I didn’t even noticed that you walked in.”

“That’s why I love you my dear, Belle. You always have your nose in a book.” he laughed a deep, throaty laugh. His smile stretched across his face, and it made me fall even deeper in love with him than I had ever been.

He had come in to ask me if I would join him for dinner. I set my book down on the small wooden table beside my large pink chair. I put my feet, covered by soft, brown slippers, onto the tiled floor and followed him out of the library. He shut the door silently behind me and we proceeded to the lavish dining room.

We sat across from each other at the large, oak table that could seat twelve. Adam and I couldn’t wait until the day that we filled it up with our children. As we sat there we talked of so many exciting plans that Adam had made for our wedding day. We were to be married in two months time and I could hardly wait.

After we had finished eating one of the servants began playing the piano. Adam rose from his chair and extended his hand towards me, a request to dance. I put my palm inside his larger one and stood from my chair. In an instant we were twirling all over the room in a wonderful dance. He was the perfect dancing partner for me. He was the perfect height and I never felt scared to lose my footing when he had me in his arms. We carried on this way for what seemed like such a short time when we broke apart.

“Oh, Adam, do we have to stop?”

“Yes, I’m afraid that we do. I am tired and must go to bed. I have a big day tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”

“To make more preparations for our wedding. I must make sure that it is perfect.”

“Alright.”

“Belle, if you aren’t tired yet you don’t have to come bed.”

“I will be in soon, my love.”

He nodded at me and walked towards our room. I noticed that he turned back a few times to smile at me. I loved the way that he looked at me when he did that. I could see all of his love for me in his eyes. I hoped he could see my love for him in mine.

I didn’t have time to check and make sure that he was comfortable. I ran into my wing of the house and prepared for the fight of my life. I thought that if I set out earlier I would catch this monster and end the battle once and for all. I quickly dressed in my gear and strapped on my weapons. I had an idea of where I thought the creature was going to be, and I was going to kill him that night.

I ran out the stable as fast I could, not even really trying to be quiet. I knew that I needed to track this monster before he could bring any more damage to the villages. When I got the stable Dorian appeared surprised.

“Isn’t it a bit early for you to be out here?”

“Adam went to bed already. I think I know where the Beast is going to be tonight, Dorian. It’s time for it to die.”

“Of course.”

He saddled Philippe in record time. Before I knew it all of his buckles were secure and it was time to set out. I knew I might never see this castle again so I looked at it one final time, whispered a good bye to Adam, and kicked my heels into Philippe’s sides.

There was no turning back now so I turned and faced towards my destination. We pounded onward in the direction of what could be the final moments of my life. I knew the Beast was unnaturally fast and stronger than ten men. He could easily rip me into pieces, but I was going to make him fight for it first.

As we made our way through the woods I started to feel my nerves fade away from me. The closer I got to my destination the more it dissipated. An icy determination had overtaken me, and I knew what I had to do.

When I got to the village where the Beast was likely to be the villagers looked nervous. The all seemed to be cowering in the doorways of their humble, stone houses.

“Go inside and lock all of your doors.” They quickly ran in and slammed the doors behind them. I could hear the latches being pushed down as they hurried to distance themselves from the Beast. I smiled at one of the boys peeking out of his dimly lit window when I heard it. It was the howl of the Beast.

I whipped my sword out of its sheath, and held it out in front of me. I was ready to end this fight with the monster. I heard the brief rustling of leaves as he ran by me, and I realized just how fast he actually was.

In the next instant he was across the square from me. I looked into his deep red eyes and felt fierceness that I had never known growing inside of me. It stared back into my brown eyes with bloodlust written clearly across his face. It let a snarl escape from his clenched fangs. They could easily kill me, but I no longer cared.

“You die today, Beast.” I lunged for it, but I hit empty air. In the next instant I turned and lifted my sword in front of my face. There was a terrible scraping sound as it connected with its claws that had been about to hit me. It snarled in frustration and ran into the woods.

I jumped onto Philippe and pursued it. I pulled out my bow and arrow and tried to hit it. None of my arrows seemed to hit their mark. I heard it growl from the trees only once and shot at it. I was again unlucky, however, and had to keep chasing it.

It had started to rain, and I could hear the deep roll of the thunder. Occasionally the sky was lit by the bright flashes of lighting that nearly touched the ground. It wasn’t until one of those streaks darted through the sky that I realized where the Beast was going. He was charging toward the precious castle where my Adam was sleeping. I suddenly wanted to kill that monster more than I ever had before. I would not let him destroy the love of my life.

I saw the Beast as I was emerging from the woods. I shot my last arrow at the creature, but it was in vain. He was scaling his way up to the top of the castle, and I knew I didn’t have long. I ran through the castle as fast as I could, going up four flights of stairs to reach the door that led to the top. I could hear the monster howling in the night, and I was filled with a new stab of hatred each time.

I pushed the door open and saw him standing there. I knew this was to be our final meeting. It was going to be a fight to the death, and the last one standing would be the victor of an age-old war.

We circled each other slowly, neither wanting to be the first to attack. The wind and the rain continually pelted against my skin like cold daggers. The Beast was unaffected because he was covered in mangy, brown fur. I was determined, however, not to show any weakness, and held in the shivers that were trying to overtake me.

In a sudden flash the Beast was coming towards me. I had let myself be caught off guard, and put my sword out in front of me. There was a spark as his vicious claws connected with the metal. I tried to swing at it, but it swiftly dodged my advance. It came at me again, and this time I was too slow. It ran his claws down my arm leaving a large scratch. I cried out in pain as the blood started pouring out of the wound.

It thought that it had beaten me. It turned away from me and prepared to leave the roof. I managed to lift my arm, however, and took a swing. The blade of my sword connected with its soft flesh. It let out a fierce howl as it felt the sting of my sword in his back.

It turned back to me, and our fight resumed. There were several times that the monster nearly ripped my throat out, but I refused to give in. I would not let it beat me. We went on for some time exchanging fearsome strikes. It seemed as if it was never going to end. There seemed to be no break in the attacks when the pale light of the sun rose into the sky.

What I witnessed then I knew I would never see again. The Beast pulled away from me and started to let out a guttural screech. It fell to the ground, writhing in pain. The red retracted from his eyes until pupils were all that was left. The figure contorted into an unnatural position and the fur started to dissipate. When the transformation was over all that was left was a man. He looked up at me with sadness in his eyes and I nearly fell from the shock of the face looking at me.

“Adam?”

“Yes, Belle, I am the Beast.”

“How could this be? You go to bed every night, and you are always there when I get back.”

“You hunt me, yet you are there when I awaken. Isn’t that the same thing?”

“I suppose, but why didn’t you tell me.”

“How could I? I didn’t know what you would do, or if you would understand. Now that you know, we can stop this. You can help me prevent my reign of terror.”

“Adam, I don’t understand anything.” I noticed for the first time since his change that I still had the sword in my hand. I walked up to him, and knew what I had to do. He must have realized what I was going to do as well because the pain in his eyes was clear.

“Belle, wait!”

I stood over him and plunged the sword into his heart. The red, shiny blood gushed out of his chest. When I looked down the pained expression was visible in his eyes. The agony of the sword in his chest was becoming too much for him to bear, and his face contorted into several different looks.

“How could you, Belle?”

“Adam, I’m sorry.”

With one final look of despair he let out a pained howl. It was the last sound I would ever hear him make. As the howl slowly faded away, he closed his eyes. He drew in one last rasping breath, and the war was over. The rain had slowed, and the droplets began to fall like the petals of a rose. At that moment I realized that I was free. The Beast was finally dead.