Curse of the Beast

Blessed silence at last. Jacqueline came back, clothes in hand as well as the med kit. He said nothing to his servant, but went straight to work on the girl. Maybe she would get to leave. Maybe she would be the one to leave well enough alone and be released.

He reset the bone and applied the paste he had created many years ago. It would hold the bone together and given several hours, combine with it to heal the break. Silently, he hoped that she would sleep through those hours. Jacqueline moved around, setting the food tray and placing the tea tray beside that, making sure he did not need her help. She was a good assistant.

"Master, will you be needing me again?" she asked quietly. "Or would you have me watch the girl?" Her face remained passive as she spoke, but her voice was full of trepidation. The sound made him lose his focus in the familiar haze of his temper. He breathed hard and deep, attempting to regain control.

"...a beast you shall be..."

No. He could hold it.

"I will not need you, Jacqueline," he replied. "Come finish this. I must go to tend to the castle now that a guest has arrived."

She bowed his way as he left. From the infirmary, he swept downstairs to the entrance hall. The gargoyle was fast at work, repairing the chandelier parts before swooping down to begin sweeping the floor. A young man worked with the creature. Though at first glance he appeared ethereal and colored like fire, he was very much able to clean and help put things back into their places.

"She will be staying, no?" the man asked. He didn't look back at his master.

"There is no choice in the matter," Beast informed curtly. "Of course she will be staying. Send Cogs my way once you are done here, Lumie. I will be at the gates." The young man, Lumie, nodded and continued his work for the time being. His master swept forth from the hall and outside to the garden. The shambles he had created of it had grown even worse. It made him smile though it came out more snarl-esque. It eased him to see the memories destroyed. If he could, he would just leave it as such, but it didn't work that way. He learned that when Jacqueline had arrived many years ago.

She could have helped him out of this curse. Jacqueline had come close to breaking this new version of the curse only to have it backfire. It had been his fault. He hadn't been able to control the beast inside him and now, even though the others called him the master of the castle, he was nothing more than a servant to the power within it. The magic he had possessed could no longer threaten anyone except perhaps himself. It now served the explicit purpose of cleaning the castle and ensuring its beauty to anyone who became trapped. A remorseful groan reverberated in his chest as he felt the course of power inside him. He willed it through until a red glow surrounded his hands as he knelt and pressed his palms to the ground. The pathetically chained memory of magic surged from him and shot out in a wave across the estate, perfecting the scenery in an instant. Once again the fountain gurgled, cherubs smiled, and the roses glistened with a magical aura.

A loud, obnoxious ticking sound brought him back to reality. Beside him stood a man made of clock workings. Gears and cogs ground together to make him move in ways deemed impossible by normal standards. In the center of his chest was a glossy clock with no numbers. Neither the hour hand nor the minute hand moved from the twelve o'clock position despite the second hand ticking steadily away. Two gold orbs made the eyes, they swiveled in the center of two turning gears, and a round copper wire, pulled and secured by small pulleys, created the eerily smiling mouth.

"You called, Master?" he asked. His voice was the only thing human about him. It made him all the more unsettling.

"Close off the library and the wings," he commanded softly. "I don't want this one becoming a part of this nightmare."

"Are you sure? Lumie and I would most certainly protect her." Worry flitted across Cogs's face.

"I am certain."

With a quick, smart bow, Cogs turned back to the castle to do as bidded. A small secretive smile wound its way onto his face, however. Had he questioned his master before when this had all started, no doubt would he have agitated the anger within. Even in recent time until now could that have caused him to snap and threaten to break the gear made man.

Grinning fully, he went about his work. Outside, the beast stood, dreading when his new arrival would awaken.

*

Dria awoke in the middle of the night. Only a single lantern glowed in the infirmary she lay in.

She jolted up to sitting. Night? Where were her friends? Why was she still in this frightening castle? On instinct, she went to swing her legs off the cot only to remember how she had broken her leg so many hours ago. Moving the sheets back, she observes where her leg had curved sickeningly. Oddly, though, it appears well. The area that had been torn open was stitched, but there was no pain in the bone.

"What kind of..." she muttered, losing the thought as quickly as it came. The stitches were just there. Poking around she could see that the gaping wound wasn't even there. Glancing around the small room to ensure she was alone, she stood carefully from the bed. Her leg was tender, but it supported her. She limped carefully to the door and peered out. The smell of dust choked her, causing her to cough and sneeze. Eventually, she regained control over her bodily functions enough to examine the hall. It was the same short walk that the man had carried her down. With her mind now lucid, she began to think logically. That could not have been a real beast carrying her. This place was some sort of lunatic's mock up. He must have hired that woman to dress as a statue. Dria admitted to herself that the make-up job was spot on.

Despite being half naked, she eased out of the room and tiptoed off to the stairs. If anything, she could always run out of the castle and back down the road, calling for help. Someone would find her surely? She might even run into Kim and Jenny.

"The wings are closed off, sir," trailed a voice from downstairs.

Dria froze. A small flickering light appeared several feet away from her.

"Good. I am sure by now she is awake," grumbled another voice. She recognized this one instantly as the man who had carried her.

"Master, are you sure? What if it is her this time?"

"Even more reason for those wings to be closed off!" he barked. There was a deep sigh. "Forgive me, Lumie. I did not intend to shout."

There was a long silence.

"Jacqueline has gone then?" the first voice asked. The man gave a harsh grunt. "That is disheartening. I saw how faded she appeared. I..." He laughed without humor. "It is our curse though, I suppose. Only right that she passes on."

The light began to move once more until they reached the stairs where Dria had nowhere to run or hide. Her wide eyes met their surprised faces as she saw the wolf-like creature as well as an ethereal, glowing man. Her knees buckled as she fell onto her rump, still gaping at the impossible sight before her.

"See?" said the wolf with the voice she recognized. "I knew she would be awake."

The other man had a hopeful light in his eyes as he stared at Dria. "Of course, master..."