~The Beast~

The pair rose with the sun that morning.

Teigan had never been a morning person. He liked the nighttime the best so he'd stay up into the early hours and fall asleep just before the sunlight was peeking through the curtains.

When he was a kid, Saturday's were when he'd sleep in the latest. He had times where he would wake up at three in the afternoon and mess up his sleep schedule for the next week to come. There were special Saturdays, though, where his grandfather would wake him up at the break of dawn with a car loaded with trail mix and bug repellent.

He would take him to a hiking trail a couple of miles from the house. It was remote and lonely, giving them the illusion of being far from any civilization. They'd follow it to the mini waterfall that ran into a brooke and then go to breakfast afterwards. The walk would work up a fierce appetite in Tiegan. He'd down a whole stack of pancakes in record time and wash it down with the diner's famous hot chocolate.

His grandpa would tend to take him on these hiking trips whenever he thought it'd be a good idea to get Teigan out of the house. It was when he knew tensions were high in the home - if his parents were fighting worse than usual or his father was on a stressful case. Teigan had an inkling that his mother would put him up to it half the time. She was saving him in the most indirect and inpermanent manner possible.

Teigan had decided to take Beth on this morning hike because they needed to get out of the house. One of the interested buyers had scheduled to see the house and he couldn't let them find a beast and a missing woman there. The two would go on a lengthy hike while Carina showcased the house for him. Besides, he trusted her charisma and knowledge of the house more than he trusted his own abilities had he been in the right situation to showcase it himself.

The car zoomed by trees and bushes that had grown back their leaves. Flowers dotted the grass fields, delicate little reminders that it was the end of a season and the beginning of a new one. The breeze devoid of the bitter cold served as a warning for him to brace himself. This adventure of his was going to be over soon and he was going to miss it when it was done. This hike they were going on was not only getting them out of the way for the house tour. It was them stealing moments away. The inevitable was quickly approaching.

He was going to miss her when she was gone.

The hiking trail was a lot more weathered than he last remembered it. There were fallen trees in the middle of the pathways and once or twice they questioned whether they were actually following a trail or a streak of dirt. Bethany seemed to find it all the more exciting. She doubled over laughing when he followed what he thought was a path into some shrubbery. He laughed even harder when she walked into a spiderweb but quit laughing when he found the actual spider was on his shoulder.

Bethany was balancing on a fallen tree about a foot above the ground. Tiegan was spotting her though she was showing no signs of losing her balance. She skillfully placed one foot in front of the other with her arms outstretched. She dismounted by jumping into the dirt, straightening herself, and raising her arms in the air like a gymnast salute.

"Now do a backflip!" he teased.

She picked up the backpack she had left on the ground. "I'll have you know I used to do gymnastics . . . When I was five."

"So you got a backflip somewhere in you?"

"Maybe but I'm certainly not going to break any bones to prove it to you."

The two of them walked side by side on the winding path up the hill. If they listened closely they could hear the rush of the waterfall nearby. Teigan watched her for a moment. Her brown hair appeared golden in the direct sunlight. She was quiet but her eyes remained thoughtful. He wondered what was going on in that head of hers.

"You asked me what I wanted to do once I get back out there. What do you plan to do?"

It felt painful to think that Bethany's time with him would be reduced to a tiny blip in her life. The days they spent together would melt away in her head - leaving her only to remember the traumatic experiences that surrounded their time of knowing each other. She would bulldoze it away and build a life busy enough to blot it out until she hardly remembered him. It would feel like a dream - or a nightmare - that was far from her new reality.

He may never hear from her again but he wanted to at least have an idea of what she would be up to. He wanted to know he hadn't ruined her life by hijacking it, that she would be aspiring to accomplish great things. She had the potential to do amazing things. She already had. He could only imagine what a gift she would be to those around her. She'd breathe life back into the people she left behind.

"I was thinking about the study abroad program my school has," Bethany said, tying her hair back as the climb got steeper. "It never was an option for me before because I had always worried about leaving my mother behind but . . . now I think I'd do it."

He smiled. "I hope you do."

They arrived at the waterfall and marveled at its beauty. It was nothing spectacular. It wasn't Niagara Falls or even a fraction of that. It was subtle and discreet, only revealing itself to those who made the hike over to it. One wouldn't even realize it was there had they not gotten close enough. Tiegan doubted it was on any map or advertised anywhere. Rather, it was something that those following trails could stumble upon had they been observant. Despite that, the rushing sounds it made and the mist that rose out of the pool beneath it was something worth beholding. It was something special worth searching for.

Bethany found flowers in the surrounding area and gathered them up. For an hour, she sat beside the waterfall weaving them together to make a flower crown while Tiegan tried to draw a sketch of scenery. When she was done, she placed it on her head with a grin. "How do I look?"

The blue and white flowers were a little smushed from all the handling, making him chuckle. Still, his reply was honest. "Like a princess."

Teigan wished he could have been the knight in her story but he had casted himself as the villain from the beginning. Someone else would have to fill that place - someone that wasn't him.

~The Hunter~

"Would you like some latte art, sir?"

Grayson was absently gazing out the coffee shops windows, scanning the people walking down the blocks for the faces of Noah and Rachel. He had spent the night before their scheduled meeting writing lines for himself like he was in a play. He rehearsed in front of his mirror. He tried to convince himself that the twisted story he was telling was true.

In a sense, it was an act. He was playing the part of a young man with something weighing heavy on his conscience. He happened to talk to a man around his age who said something off putting about his mother. Later on he saw a missing poster for a woman named Monica Brendan, the name of the man's mother. This character was solely motivated by the goodness of his heart and his concern for the grieving. He was a lover of justice. He may have faced the obstacle of being turned away by the police but he was determined to help somehow. This was what led him to be standing in that very coffee shop.

The barista blinked at Grayson, holding up the mug to him with a polite smile that was wearing thin. "Do you want latte art on your drink?"

"Sure."

He gazed back outside. The whole cityscape looked as if it was tinted with gray as the sky was especially gloomy. Fog blurred the buildings on the other side of the street. The air was sticky, making the fabric of his letterman jacket cling to his skin. Finally, a burst of wind broke through the stiffness of the day. The glass doors of the cafe swung open, sending a plastic bar stool seat next to the entrance sliding across the ground. An employee who had been sweeping the floor jumped at the sudden sound. She chased after the chair as a customer sighed at the wad of napkins that had been scattered across the cafe like confetti.

It was the prelude of a storm.

Grayson took his latte and sat in a booth in the corner. He scoffed at what image the barista made on it. It was a rose.

He waited for the couple to arrive with his eyes fixed on the entrance and legs bouncing underneath the table. The photos they had of themselves on their website were imprinted in his memory. He glanced down at his watch.

There was the resounding crack of a whip that announced the torrential downpour that followed. The amount of rain was profuse. It was a waterfall flowing from the sky.

Everyone's cell phones started going off in the cafe. Grayson pulled out his own to see a flash flood warning. He pressed the mobile against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut.

This could derail his plans for the day. If the Janssen's didn't show up as a result of the storm, it would take him even longer to locate Bethany and he hated to think it but her time could be running out. She was already defying the statistics by being alive and seen at the masquerade ball. The veins in his head throbbed - yes, with anger but underneath that, with fear.

Everything came back to the fear of losing her.

The chimes on the cafe's door jingled, alerting Grayson to someone's arrival. He crossed his fingers it was the Janssen's but was let down. It was a young woman with green bell bottoms and curled blonde hair. She looked around the cafe expectantly, a satisfied grin appearing on her face when she found Grayson. She strutted over to his booth and all he could think was: That is not Rachel Janssen.

"You better follow me," she said, standing over his seat. Up close he noticed she had on glittery eyeshadow and butterfly clips in her hair. "The Janssen's have changed the location of this meeting and they sent me to come escort you there."

He took a slow sip of his latte. "Why didn't they email me about the change?"

"It was last minute." She crossed her arms. "Are you planning on coming or what?"

The Janseen's ought to hire an assistant with more patience, he thought.

Though he had been itching for his meeting with the couple to begin he couldn't help but feel like something was off with this woman. Her gaze kept darting to the entrance like she was trying to outrun something. Aside from that, she was familiar in the most odd sense. He didn't think he had ever seen her face before - he would definitely have remembered it - but like he knew her before.

"Fine," he said. She gave a triumphant smile and looped her arm through his without the slightest hint of a question or hesitance. She pulled him through the cafe quickly, only slowing down their stride to pick up an umbrella from the bin near the door. She hadn't come in with an umbrella.

"Stealing umbrellas, are we?"

"Observant, are we?" She opened it as they set out in the rain, carrying it over the two of them as they walked.

"Where are we going?"

She escorted them - no, dragged him - across the street. The woman continued to glance over her shoulder every now and then which only disturbed him more. They stopped at an opening between two stores - an alleyway. If Grayson wasn't such a big guy, he would have feared she had brought him there to beat him up.

"Listen," she began, fidgeting with the string on the umbrella's handle. "I had to lie about who I was to get you out of there."

Grayson blinked at her. "What?"

He could be missing his opportunity to gain insight on the Beast's whereabouts. He could be letting Bethany down again - this time could be the last time. His nostrils flared.

"I also lied about who I was to get you closer to finding Beth and then to stop you from finding her and then to help you again." She pressed her lips together, bracing herself for Grayson's reaction.

He wasn't following. "How do you know about Beth?"

"The cousin who randomly shows up wanting to help with the investigation and then suddenly leaves, mysterious invitation to a masquerade, the lady with the magic shop . . ." She rolled her wrist in front of her, speaking like she was addressing a child. "Ring any bells?"

All at once, it clicked. The backstage curtains were dropped and the puppeteer was revealed.

He thought of all the hope and comfort Maris brought him. He finally had someone who cared for Bethany like he did, someone in his corner who didn't think his efforts were wasted or unhealthy. With her help, they were finally getting somewhere and then as suddenly as she appeared, she disappeared. She told him to get over it - as if it were that simple. Then, there was the invitation to the masquerade that allowed him to taste victory only for him to throw it back up like vomit. He hit rock bottom only to be led to the Janssen's. Now, here she was once more ripping his shred of progress to dust.

She was toying with him. She would give him a bone only to take it away. How much of this did she think he would be able to take? Was it her goal to see how long he could last until he was completely ruined?

"You." The word held all the venom of a scorpion's stinger. He stepped back, not caring that the rain was pelting him. " I don't even want to know how you do it! I don't care if you're magic or a witch or a freak science experiment. Just tell me why! Why send me on this sadistic scavenger hunt?"

"I've always wanted Beth to be returned home. What I didn't want was for you to fall apart in the process." She frowned. The little display of pity made his stomach turn. "I didn't know how capable you were so I guess I would change my mind and then change it again. You keep surprising me with your strength!"

"So what now? You think I can't handle talking to the Janssen's?"

"No, that's not it at all." She took a step towards him, trying to cover him with the umbrella. When he refused, she closed it and casted it off to the side. "The circumstances have changed. Bethany is going to be returned home without any intervention. If you try anything it could mess things up."

"How? Whose side are you even on?"

"No ones! I'm not out for the Beast's blood. I only want Beth to return home."

It didn't make sense why she would want to protect such an evil person. He started to wonder if she had her own connection to the Beast.

"That's it? And the Beast never has to pay for what he has done?"

"He hasn't done anything to Beth. She's fine!" The woman paused. It felt as if her stare was cutting into his soul. "You're talking about what he has done to you."

Grayson swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't let his thoughts wander to the last few months of his life. It hurt too much to think of all the things he lost, all the things that were ruined, all the things he could never get back.

"Bethany will be home in a matter of days." He didn't shrug away when the woman placed a hand on his arm. "You'll both be fine."

She crouched down and picked up the umbrella she had discarded to the side. She held it out to him, eyes hopeful.

When he took it, he felt as if he was signing a peace agreement. It would be in vain. There hadn't been any peace since Beth was taken and he was beginning to realize that having her back wouldn't be enough to restore it. What the Beast did was shatter the foundations of his life. Losing Bethany had taken precedence over every aspect of his life and how could she not? He was in love with her and her life was on the line. By taking her and dangling her in front of him like a finish line just out of his reach, the Beast had driven him to unravel everything he had accomplished. It undid his football scholarship, it undid his relationship with his family, it undid his mental clarity, it undid who he was as a person. Gone were the days where he could make light hearted jokes and genuinely laugh despite his circumstances. Gone was the young man who was excited about what life had in store for him.

The Beast showed him what life had in store for Grayson: disappointment. If he didn't cling onto what he loved, it would be taken away from him.

Grayson was digging his heels into the ground. He was holding onto this one goal with all of his strength, squeezing it until his knuckles went white and his joints ached. He was clinging onto the chance to seek justice, to pay wrong for wrong.

He was clinging onto his fantasy of getting revenge on the Beast.