Beast (5 page)

I ran down the stairs to catch up with the three of them. When I did, I grabbed on to Leala’s hand. She smiled at me, squeezing my hand. We walked outside, near the barn. While out there, I sat down and picked grass out of the ground. While I was doing this, I looked out to the forest, which made me think of my parents again.

Not long after, it was dinnertime. The sun was about to set, making the sky full of pinks and oranges. Russel picked me up from the grass and brought me into the house.

He carried me into the dining room and set me by the window. Again I looked out the window at the roses. They looked worse; almost all their color had disappeared.

“Have you seen the roses outside today?” I asked Russel.

“No. Why? Is something wrong?” he asked.

“Come look!” I motioned him over to the window.

Russel walked over to me. I pointed to the dingy brown roses. There were shriveled up rose petals around the flower bed.

He looked confused when he saw them. His forehead wrinkled, and his eyes widened. Then he began to shake his head.

“Have they been watered today?” he finally asked.

“Yes. I watched the gardeners while we were outside. In fact, I watered them too. They looked like they needed some love,” I explained. “The roses in my room are more vibrant and full of life than these are. And they are not even in the ground!”

“That is really strange. Leala, Deleena, get in here!” he exclaimed.

They rushed into the dining room and over to the window. They both gasped and asked the same question that Russel had. Nothing made sense. All of us were in shock from the roses.

After talking by the window for a while, we walked over to the table to sit down and eat dinner. As soon as I sat in my chair, my nightmare from the night before came rushing to my mind. Honestly, I had forgotten all about it after catching the beautiful fragrance of the roses. My stomach began to ache; I lost my appetite completely. Once they gave me my plate, all I could do was push my food around.

While staring at my plate, I could feel eyes staring at me. I looked up and saw all three—Russel, Leala, and Deleena—watching me. I shrugged my shoulders, letting out a nervous laugh, and then moved my eyes back to my plate.

“Please just eat something. You were doing so well until now,” Deleena said.

“I know.” I sighed. “But the nightmare came back to my mind.”

Deleena was sitting next to me on my right. Her hand moved from the table to my back. It moved softly in circles on my back, trying to pacify me. I glanced to my left, at the head of the table, where Papa normally sat, and let out a big sigh. They could tell that I was not doing well. I just wanted to go upstairs, go to sleep, and then wake up from this awful day. I wanted it to be only a dream.

“May I be excused?” I did not want to be at the table anymore.

I stood up from my chair and walked to the music room. Once there, I sat down on the piano stool and started to play; it was kind of soothing. Playing the piano was one of those things, like reading, that I could become lost in. I could play for hours and not want to stop.

While I was playing, I heard a knock on the door. I turned in excitement, thinking that maybe Mother was coming to listen to me play. Unfortunately, it was just Deleena. She gave me a big smile. I could give only a smile of disappointment in return. She sat down on the stool next to me, trying to comfort me.

“You are becoming really good at playing the piano, honey,” Deleena said, trying to make me feel better.

“Thanks, Deleena. I really enjoy playing. I cannot wait until Mother, if she ever comes back, allows me to play the piano in the ballroom,” I explained, trying to sound enthusiastic.

“Well, remember how much you love it now, because one day you might not want to play anymore. Keep this conversation in mind!” she said with a smile.

I played her a song that I had made up. It was one that I had been working on for a while, but it still was not finished. I added new things to it every time I practiced.

After I finished, she applauded, telling me that it was coming along beautifully. I smiled. She kissed my forehead before informing me that it was time for me to prepare for bed. I hopped off the stool and made my trek to my bedroom.

While I was walking, staring at the floor, I realized that I was going to be in the presence of those amazing roses again. This thought caused me to smile. Those roses made me forget about the problems of the day. Then I started skipping to my room. Every so often, I turned my head to look back at Deleena; she stood in the doorway of our music room, smiling while shaking her head.

When I was at the bottom of the staircase that led to my room, I paused for a second before walking up. In that moment, I became extremely dizzy, which caused me to sit on one of the steps.

This was very strange; I had never felt like this before. It was as if the castle were moving—not in the way of an earthquake, but as if swaying back and forth. I shut my eyes really tightly and placed my hands on my head. I thought maybe I could stop the dizziness if I held my head still.

When my eyes closed, I saw the moon. It seemed as if I were standing in the middle of the forest, looking up at it. A bat screeched as it flew overhead. At the sound of the bat, my eyes popped open.

I looked around and discovered that I was still sitting on the stairs leading to my room. Then I looked down at my arm; I saw that I had goose bumps. Utterly confused, I sat there for a moment, trying to comprehend why I had seen that vision. It had been so vivid. I shook my head. I could have sworn that I had been in the forest.

Finally, I stood back up and continued up the stairs. Once I was on the second floor, I could see light coming from Leala’s room. So I walked over to knock on the door.

“Good night, Leala,” I whispered through the crack in the door.

“Come on in, darling!” she responded.

I slowly opened the door, which creaked as it opened. She was sitting at her vanity, brushing her long golden hair. Once I was in the room, she turned around in her seat, resting her arms on the top of the chair.

“What is up, sweetie?” she asked.

“Oh, nothing really. I was just on my way to my room and saw your light on through the door.”

“Well, you know you are always welcome here!” she said with a big smile.

“I know,” I said with a grin. “Um, Leala …”

“Yes?”

“Have you ever felt like you were somewhere where you were not?”

“I do not know if I understand what you mean.”

“Well …” I paused, trying to decide whether I should tell her what had just happened. “Well, on my way up the stairs, I became dizzy, so I sat down on one of the steps. Then, when I shut my eyes, I saw the moon as if I were outside staring at it. I discovered that I was in a forest, looking up at the moon. And it really felt as if I were there. Suddenly I saw a bat fly in front of the moon. I actually heard the bat screech as if it were directly above me.”

“Wow, I do not think that I have ever had that happen to me. Maybe you are just tired, so when you closed your eyes, you began dreaming.”

“I guess that could explain it. But it felt real!”

“Sometimes dreams can trick us.”

“Oh. Well, I am going to go prepare for bed.”

“Okay. Deleena and I will be up in a little to tuck you in.”

I walked out of her room and shut the door behind me.
Was I really just dreaming of the moon?
I was so confused.

When I was at the top of the stairs, I looked at my parents’ door, hoping to see light shining through the cracks. But I did not see any. Other than the light on the wall, that side of the hallway seemed darker than usual.

I turned toward my room and walked in that direction. As I approached, I started to smell those roses.
How am I going to sleep with those roses in my room distracting me?

I opened the door to my room, and Buttons followed me in. Like always, he was meowing and purring. Once he was close enough, he jumped onto my bed and attempted to find a place to lie on my pillow. He did not seem affected by the roses.

Sometime later, both Leala and Deleena came into my room. Leala walked over to sit on the end of my bed. Deleena brought a chair over from my desk, which was in the corner next to the door. She sat by my nightstand after she put a new glass of water on it by the roses.

“Well, are you all comfy?” Leala said with her hand on my feet.

“Yes, ma’am,” I told her.

They both kissed my forehead and told me good night. The roses caught their attention before they left the room. Finally, after standing in front of the roses for a while, they walked out of my room and closed the door behind them. I sat up, took a sip of my water, and then lay back down.

I shut my eyes, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not fall asleep. I tossed and turned. Buttons knew that I was having a difficult time, because he stood up, moved closer to me, and then began trying to console me by licking my face.

When I started to fall asleep, images of my parents’ bodies lying on the ground by the carriage came to my mind.
Is this just a continuation of my dream from last night?

I looked to the roses to try to find the comfort I had found earlier that day. The second I looked at them, I was happy again. They caused me to start thinking of my mother. The song that she sang came rushing into my head. I started singing.

Little rose, my little rose,

Grow up big and strong.

Let your beauty shine,

Let your love ring

Until the end of time.

Little rose, my little rose,

Be all you can be.

You are my little rose,

And I love you so!

That night, there were clouds in the sky; the stars were hiding behind them. Once I started singing the song, I looked out the window and saw the clouds begin to dissipate. I was able to see some of the stars now. There was something special about my roses.

I started to think about the day, and I realized that it was all a blur. Nothing really seemed to matter except finding out about my parents.
Where are they?
I hoped that they were okay and safe. While these things were running through my mind, I managed to finally become tired. So I shut my eyes, and after only a second, I was out.

Chapter 3
 

T
he next few days were strange; they seemed to lag with haziness. We had not heard anything about my parents at all. I continued to see images of the forest and of my parents’ bodies. Nothing could get my mind off of my parents, though the roses did make a difference.

One day, early in the morning, there was a knock on the door. Our butler, Jeanluc, a tall, slender man in his late forties or early fifties, walked to the door. I was upstairs in the library, doing schoolwork. Once I heard the knock, I ran from the library to the top of the stairs to see who was at the door. It was a gentleman in some sort of uniform. He handed Jeanluc something, touched his shoulder, and looked down.

Then I saw Russel and Leala approaching from the hallway with all the paintings. Jeanluc turned around and held out whatever he had been given. They rushed over to the door where the gentleman in the uniform was, and he spoke to all three of them.

As they were talking, I saw Leala glance up at me. When our eyes made contact, she let out a big sigh and then looked back to the gentleman. I saw sadness in the depths of her eyes. This look made my stomach ache, and I felt the lump in my throat return.

I was dying to know what they were talking about.
Is it about my parents? Did my parents send this gentleman in the uniform to give us a letter or word from them, saying that they decided to leave for the business trip before coming home?
Oh, how I hoped that it was from them. But if it was, why did Leala look like that?
Maybe Buttons found a way out and the man is returning him,
I thought.

As I thought this, I felt something on my leg. There was Buttons, rubbing against me. So I picked him up and held him close to my chest. He seemed to know what was going on, because he too acted differently. He was not purring; he was very calm, keeping an eye on me at all times.

After standing at the door and talking with the gentleman, Jeanluc, Russel, and Leala nodded to him, said good-bye, and closed the door. They stood by the door, still talking for a while.

When Deleena came into the room, they motioned for her to come over. As they talked to her, I started sneaking down the steps, trying to hear what they were saying.

“Why do we not take this into another room?” Leala said. I figured she saw me coming down the stairs.

When they walked out of that room and toward the ballroom, I hurried down the stairs, attempting to follow them. After what seemed to be a wild-goose chase, I gave up and started out the door to the garden. As I was opening the door, I heard something. It was them; I had accidently found them!

“How are we going to bring this up? He has not been okay at all since he had that dream,” I overheard Leala say.