Beast (3 page)

At this point, the woman opened the door to come out and see what was happening. Once she laid her eyes on the driver, she let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“What happened?” she shrieked in a shaking voice.

“I am not sure,” the gentleman responded.

Then a dense fog began to roll in around them and the carriage.

The woman grabbed the gentleman and pulled him close to her. The earth began to rumble beneath their feet. There was a severe jolt, which caused the man to drop the lantern. Once it hit the cold, hard ground, it shattered, causing the light to go out. The two of them were now alone in the darkness, which seemed to grow darker as the moments passed.

The air turned icy. It blew so hard that it almost knocked the couple off their feet. As the fog became denser, they ran away from the driver’s body to the carriage, still with a tight grip on one another. Once they were there, the fog became so dense that they could not see each other any longer, even though their faces were just inches apart.

“What is going on?” the woman screamed into the air.

After a few minutes, the fog began to dissipate.

A shadowy figure appeared and began to walk toward the couple. It was walking upright on its hind legs, but it did not have the smooth gait of a human being. Every so often it would go down to all fours.

Twigs and branches cracked beneath its feet. The couple looked at one another and then back at the shadowy creature. The woman was shaking as if she were convulsing, while the gentleman had his arms around her, trying to protect her. The forest was still dark because the moon was hidden behind the clouds. As the shadowy figure walked closer, the fog began to vanish.

When the figure was less than one hundred feet away from the couple, they were able to see it more clearly. It was short, about three feet tall; its arms were long and gangly, while its feet were short and stubby. Its head made up half of its body, and it had extremely pale skin. The eyes were big, round, and all black. The creature had no nose. Its mouth was small. As it came closer to the couple, it started chanting something in an unfamiliar language:

Cura somakla dom

quope jov tari

xes wo pola vatria

chan dy ma na

vic tor iya

spen ci er.

As it chanted, the creature’s hands began to glow with a bright white light. The moon broke through the clouds just enough for the couple to see the creature even better. It continued walking closer and closer to them.

“I love you!” the woman said, looking to the man as if anticipating that something bad was about to happen.

“I love you too!” the man replied, and he kissed the woman.

They turned toward one another, and the man put his arms around the woman’s shoulders. She wrapped her delicate arms around the man’s waist. They held tightly to one another.

The creature kept repeating the chant while the glaring white light from its hands became brighter and brighter. Soon it was blinding just to look in its direction. The woman shut her eyes and placed her head on the gentleman’s chest.

Now the creature was about twenty feet away from the couple. It began chanting louder than before. The clouds moved over the moon once again, making the night completely dark aside from the light coming from the creature’s glowing hands.

At ten feet away, still chanting, it raised its hands from its sides and held them out toward the couple. The man continued to stare at the creature; the woman turned her head away from the man’s chest to do the same.

The creature started shouting the chant.

Cura somakla dom

quope jov tari

xes wo pola vatria

chan dy ma na

vic tor iya

spen ci er.

As soon as the creature shouted “spen ci er,” the earth began to rumble; the horses broke loose from the carriage and galloped off. All the animals around the area dispersed in many different directions. The blinding white light from the creature’s hands shot out toward the couple.

They looked at one another with tears in their eyes and whispered, “I love you forever,” before tightening their embrace.

The light started in the palms of the creature’s hands and proceeded to its crooked fingertips. It burst out like lightning at the couple. After the light left the creature’s hands, it struck the man and woman within milliseconds. There was an explosion, which caused the scene to become completely white.

“Mother! Papa!” I screamed in a panic, jolting awake from a horrid nightmare. When I awoke, tears filled my eyes and then streamed down my face; my body was soaked with sweat, along with my pajamas and sheets. My pillow was drenched from my tears.

I was hyperventilating and could barely breathe. I cried harder than I had in a long time. After I started to regain my composure, I asked myself if it was just a dream or if it had really happened.

Buttons jerked awake. As if to make sure I was okay, he stood up, walked over to me, and licked the tears off my face.

Deleena must have heard me scream for my mother and papa, because she opened my door and ran into my bedroom.

“Are you okay, sweetie?” she asked once she was at my bed.

Leala slowly followed Deleena into the room.

They had been sleeping in the guest rooms on the floor below mine.

“I-I,” I stuttered, attempting to work up the courage to talk. “I am not sure.” I continued to cry. “Have they gotten back yet?”

“Not yet, my darling,” Leala answered, sitting on the end of my bed.

“Oh,” I said quietly.

I tried to catch my breath as Deleena rubbed my back. Buttons crawled over to sit in my lap; he was purring and meowing at me.

“Let us change you out of those wet pajamas and change your sheets,” Leala suggested. “Deleena, want to draw him a bath to try to calm him a little while I change his sheets?”

“Does that sound good? Want to take a bath?” Deleena asked.

I nodded.

I made my way out of my bed and walked into the bathroom, still with tears streaming down my face. Buttons followed me.

Deleena started the bath before walking over to me. She put her hands on my face and looked into my eyes.

“Are you okay? It must have been some dream or nightmare if it has worked you up so much.”

“Yes, but I do not want to talk about it,” I mumbled as I dropped my head to stare at the floor.

“You do not have to tell me. But if you ever do, I will always be here for you no matter what. Always!” she said, and she kissed my wet head.

Deleena helped me undress and get into the bath. I sat there for a few minutes just staring into the water, trying to comprehend the dream. Buttons sat by the bathtub, resting his paws on the ledge, looking at me. He meowed, so I kissed his forehead. Then he lowered his paws and jumped on the counter, where he waited for me to finish.

“Almost done, sweetheart? It has been about a half an hour,” Deleena said.

“I guess,” I moaned.

Leala came in with dry pajamas for me and set them on the counter. She helped me out of the bathtub and dried me off. I was still crying a little, but she wiped the tears off of my face. The two of them helped me get dressed and then walked me to my bed. I turned my head to look behind me and saw that Buttons was following.

I climbed into my bed, and Deleena put the covers over me. Buttons jumped onto the bed and walked to my pillow to lie down.

“Are you going to be okay to go back to sleep?” Leala asked.

“I think,” I replied.

Then a whiff from the roses sitting on my nightstand filled my lungs. They were the only things that could calm me down. I shut my eyes. In my mind, I could hear my mother singing the song to me.

Deleena and Leala kissed my head and then walked out of my room.

I turned toward the window and looked up at the sky.
There is no way that dream was real!
I thought. The moon was full, shining brightly. The stars were twinkling; it seemed that they were more visible than I had seen in a while. Before I closed my eyes again, I kissed Buttons’s head, which made him perk up. I started to pet him, and he began to purr. I tried not to think about the dream, but I could not stop.
Are Mother and Papa okay? What was that thing saying? Did I see the death of my parents?

With my left hand on Buttons, I turned away from the window and stared at the ceiling. The room seemed to grow darker; the mood in my room had changed since Mother put me to bed.
How can I go back to sleep after that?
I sat up, grabbed my cup, and brought the glass to my lips. I took a little sip of water, hoping that it would help me to calm down.

As I set the cup back on the table, the roses caught my eye. They looked almost as if they were glowing. Their perfume filled the room as soon as I looked at them. I felt as if I were in a trance for some time, and then I began to feel comforted. The fear of my dream seemed to disappear. Mother’s voice filled my head with the song she had sung to me.

I lay back down with my head on my pillow, took a deep breath, and closed my eyes. Buttons stood up, stretched, and came closer to my face to lie down. His purring vibrated my pillow. I could feel his tail moving back and forth; it tickled my face. I turned my body toward him and wrapped my arms around him. After that, he put his head on my right arm. I yawned and started thinking of the roses again.

The next thing I knew, it was morning. I could hear birds chirping in the big tree outside my window. With Buttons still asleep on my pillow, I sprung out of bed to use the bathroom.

After using the bathroom and brushing my teeth, I fed Buttons. As soon as he heard the food hit the silver dish, he woke up and ran to it. While I filled up his water, he rubbed up against my legs. I turned around and saw the roses sitting on my nightstand.

“Mother and Papa!” I shouted.

When I realized that it was the next day and they had not come to wake me up, my heart dropped.

I tried opening my door, but it would not open. It took me three or four times to finally get it open. The feeling I’d had the night before—the feeling that something was wrong—rushed back.

I ran out of my room and across the hallway to my parents’ room. I knocked. There was no response, so I knocked louder, shouting, “Mother, Papa!” But I still got no response. Then I started pounding on the door. Tears rolled down my face as I screamed for my parents. My breaths were fast and shallow again.

One of our male servants I was close with, Russel, heard me from the foyer. Russel was as tall as Papa but was not as slim. His hair was red, while his eyes were hazel. He came running up the stairs to me.

“What is wrong?” he asked.

“Wh-where are my parents?” I cried.

“I have not seen them this morning. Let us go look.”

We walked down the stairs to the second floor, where Leala and Deleena had stayed the night before. Their doors were open, but neither of them were in their rooms, so we continued down the stairs, toward the ballroom.

Russel held my hand while I sobbed. No matter how hard I tried, I could not stop the tears. Last night the roses had been able to calm me down, but they were in my room. I kept sniffling, trying to relax.

“How are you holding up, buddy?” Russel asked.

All I could do was shrug my shoulders while leaning my head toward the ground.

“Come on. We will find out if anyone has seen them,” he assured me.

Russel decided to take me to find Deleena and Leala. So we walked to the kitchen, where the head chef, Barnard, was making breakfast.

“Morning, Barnard! Have you seen the mister and missus today?” Russel hollered.

“No, cannot say that I have. See if Deleena has,” Barnard responded.

We walked through the kitchen and into the hallway that led to the dining room. There we found Deleena and Leala setting the table.

The windows were open, and the sun was shining in. The smell of roses filled the room. But the scent was not as vibrant as it had been the day prior.
Maybe it is because of how early it is
, I thought.

“Hey there, sweetie!” Deleena said.

“Did you sleep better after we put you back to bed?” asked Leala.

I looked down to the ground and took a deep breath. I shook my head while trying to hold back the tears.

“Have his parents come home yet?” Russel asked Deleena and Leala.

“No, not that we have seen,” they answered in unison.

As soon as I heard the letter
n
come out of their mouths, I could not hold back my tears any longer. I cried harder than I had the night before. I fell to the ground, sobbing and gasping for air.

Deleena, Leala, and Russel came to me and sat down near me.

“Let us take him to the window; maybe it will help,” Leala suggested.

She picked me up and took me to the windowsill, where there was a place to sit. Deleena opened the window wider to let in more fresh air. Russel ran to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I was crying so hard that it was difficult to catch my breath. Even when I sat right next to the window, the roses did not smell as sweet or fragrant as they normally did.