Young Writers Society

This is my own version of Beauty and the Beast with vampires incorporated into it. It is only the second time I have entered a contest but here is my shot at it. =]

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Who knew that the heart of a monster could be broken as easily as that of a human being? That was my first thought when I had seen him lying on the terrace’s stone surface in the hands of Death itself. I never should have stayed that extra day with father and my sisters.

But they had begged me to stay, having missed me for so long and having the insatiable desire to hear the stories I could tell of the Beast’s castle and its contents. I was moved by the fervor with which they had urged me to stay and granted their request. How devastating the consequences had been and how guilty I now felt for having broken my promise.

I had been gone from my family for a long time, having willingly taken my father’s place as the Beast’s prisoner, and in that time I had grown to love him. His appearance had not been as I might have expected a monster’s to be; rather than being ugly and hideous, he was tall and handsome with dark hair and steely grey eyes. But I wasn’t the type to be dazzled by ethereal being. I stayed sensible and, because of the trouble he had caused, did not like him, though he had treated me with the utmost respect, hospitality and affection.

He had given me opulent gowns, extravagant meals, though he did not eat food, as well as ornate living quarters. He treated me like a welcomed guest, though I would not have had to come in my father’s stay if not for him and I was resentful for that. He had taken me away from everything I’d known and then tried to make me feel more content by giving me the luxuries I’d never had.

Before I go on, I must tell you what made this striking young man a Beast by reputation. Though he was handsome and good by appearance and personality, he had another side of him that was unholy and dangerous. He was what the citizens of my village called “Buveur de Sang”, or blood drinker. We all knew what he was since he had agreed before I was even born to never feed from the humans and that he would only kill animals for his survival.

It had been a treaty of sorts and ever since, the villagers would find animal carcasses in the forests surrounding our town. He could not be killed by any natural means and by most unnatural methods. And though I had heard the stories and the tales of how the blood-drinker came to be what a vicious hunter he was before I was even thought of by my parents, I was no more scared to go there than I was to do anything else. But I digress and must go on with my tale.

So as time went by, turning weeks into months, I grew to see the civilized, kind side of him that I had never expected. He never spoke a harsh word to me; actually he was more flattering and complimenting than I had assumed he would be. I could tell by the advances he made, the invitations to dine with him and the interest he took in who I was as Jacqueline rather than who I was as a beautiful young woman.

And after years of the latter occurring more times than not, I was taken aback by the equal and genuine treatment I was receiving. I became quite fond of him, though I was utterly homesick. I wanted so much to be able to see my family but I could not leave the castle, as was the agreement between the Beast and my father. So when my morale was noticeably lower, causing me to sink deep into unhappiness, the Beast grew concerned.

“My dear Jacqueline, why do you seem so morose and discontented lately? Have I done something wrong to make you feel so miserable in these past few weeks?” the Beast asked me, eyes pleading and lips curved in a worrisome way.

He was now dearer to me than many people I had ever cared about and I loved him, though I had never said those words for fear that I might be rejected by him. After all I was pretty with my dark curls and light blue eyes but the Beast, he was something different. The beauty he possessed was beyond anything else and it made me look positively ordinary if not plain. He was more like a god than a being on the Earth. It is hard to explain the stunning quality of his looks in words for there is no word that properly described him so I might as well give up. But the point is, I felt unworthy and undeserving of being the guest of such a being.

I looked at him and sighed, smiling wanly.

“You have done nothing but take care of me like no one else has ever done. It is not you that is making me seem so dour. I just…” I couldn’t bring myself to even say it but he guessed what I was going to say on the mark.

“You miss your family don’t you?” he murmured, his face closer to mine than it ever had been.

All I could do was nod my head as the tears came rushing out at the thought of my sisters, Marguerite and Estelle, and my beloved father. Taking my hands in his own icy ones, he looked at me earnestly and bowed his head as he spoke.

“If you miss your family so much that it is affecting your demeanor as I see it is, then you must go to them,” he concluded smiling.

“Really? You will let me leave the castle to see them?”

He nodded his head. “Yes but under one condition,” he began as I tuned my attention to the circumstances.

“You may stay with your family for seven days but you must return by sunset of the seventh day,” he said, his face serious as if my breaking the conditions would cause something terrible to happen.

“I promise I will be back by the seventh day,” I assured him, delighted at the prospect of seeing my sisters and widowed father again after almost a year in the castle.

And so, I went home the next day, taking the Beasts carriage, and arriving at my home by noon.

I told my family everything. I described the castle in detail and talked of how it was not that bad to live with the Beast. I divulged everything to them with the exception of my undying love for my captor, not wanting to open a can of worms as they say. And it seemed like the seven days went by as if going at a hundred miles an hour. So when my sisters begged me to stay one more night, I agreed, believing that nothing would happen to the Beast if I stayed just an additional day. How wrong and foolish I had been to think that.

If only I had known then that my beloved Beast would be near dying from a heart so broken it might not have been able to heal. So when I returned to see my dearly loved companion dying of malnourishment from having not had the will to hunt and feed during my absence, I ran to him, nearly tripping as I crossed the terrace in my blue gown and dark cloak. I collapsed to the floor beside him, already feeling tears welling in my eyes from the grief I was beginning to feel. He was so weak; he could barely smile when he saw me, though he managed it anyways and I smiled back, running the back of my hand along his cheek as I traced the line of his jaw affectionately.

“Hello, Jacqueline,” he said, smiling weakly as he lifted his hand, with difficulty, to touch my face and caress my now tear-soaked cheek. I tried to smile back but it didn’t completely conceal my true thoughts or emotions.

“Hello,” I managed to say, though I continued to cry at seeing him in his weak state. “I’m so sorry I didn’t return sooner. I’m so, so sorry. Can you forgive me?”

“You are forgiven,” he murmured. “But I can’t hold on much longer. I haven’t fed in he days since you left. I missed you too much. I’m sorry but there is nothing you can do.”

“What do you mean there is nothing I can do?” I pleaded, feeling willing to do whatever it might take in order to save his life. “Please, there must be somethi—“

An idea struck me. If he couldn’t go into the forests to feed, then maybe I could let him drink from my veins. Without even asking him, I began to roll up my sleeve and took a jagged rock to my wrist so that a wound opened up. The blood ran down my hand and fell in little droplets onto his lips. He flinched before trying to push my wrist away but then, after he could smell my blood’s scent, took my wrist to his mouth and began to drink.

It didn’t hurt but, instead, felt gloriously pleasurable. It is hard to explain the sensation but just know that it was like the Beast and I were one in the same for that moment that he fed from my open forearm.

When he was done, I felt light headed and weak and almost hit my head as I stumbled to stand up. But it appeared to have been no use as he was just as weak as he previously had been, only now he had red stained lips. And so, as I realized I could not save him, I cried. Within moments of my tears, his eyes had gone glassy and his body stopped moving. He no longer breathed, the rising and falling of his chest having completely gone still.

Leaning over his body, I kissed his cold lips tenderly, my tears falling onto his face.

“I love you, my dear. For always and forever without end,” I murmured into his deaf ears, knowing he could not possible hear me.

Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past me and I looked in the direction that it had originated from to see the figure of a woman, wearing a long, tunic-like, green dress with glowing green eyes. And as I saw the woman, the Beast awakened. I hear him gasp for breath and the woman spoke when I looked from him to her.

“Your curse has been broken. You have earned the love of this girl and you no longer deserve the life you have been relieved of your burden,” the woman said as the pale green light that surrounded her, consumed her body and disappeared.

I looked at the Beast stunned but already, I could detect a difference. He was no long pallid and there were no dark circles beneath his eyes. He was not as beautiful as he had been but I didn’t care. He was alive and no longer a monster. I took his face in my hands and kissed him passionately before he spoke.

“So you do love me,” he said as more of a conclusion than an inquiry.

I smiled and looked into his deep grey eyes.

“Yes. I do love you. For always and forever without end,” I replied as he held me tight to his body, my head leaning on his chest. And the blood-drinking monster he had been was no more. It was only he and I. And we were happy.