Eliza sighed as she lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Her father had stumbled upon an abandoned castle so she ran to save him, managing to get herself trapped in the process. The inhabitant was a beast, covered in brown fur and her temper short and firey. She promised to stay with her in return for her father's guaranteed safety. And here she was, locked in a bedroom with no hope of escape and a terrifying monster just beneath her. They'd just had a big argument and now she was scared for her life. That was until her eyes wandered over to the open window.

A beam of hope in her heart, she sprang to her feet and ran over, pushing it further open and staring out. Her heart stopped for a moment as she realised how far down it was, way too far to jump. But she wasn't giving up hope, not just yet. She was determined to escape and see her father again. She darted over to the wardrobe and pulled out as many clothes as she could see, skillfully knotting them together to make a rope. When all the clothes had been tied together,  she stripped the bed and used the sheets. She stepped back for a moment, grinning at her handy work. Neatly tying her loose hair into a ponytail, she tied the handmade rope to a nearby hook and threw it down before skillfully sliding down, landing gracefully on her feet.

Glancing behind her to see if no one else was behind her, she made a run for it, sprinting as fast as she could. Snow was rising to her knees but she didn't care; all she cared about was getting out of there. The moon shone brightly as the trees rustled. She tried not to pay attention but couldn't ignore the faint howling. Her heart beat faster and faster as her legs were unable to keep up. 

All of a sudden, a pack of wolves emerged from behind the trees. She let out a small squeal as one of them grabbed onto her dress and ripped a peice of it. Another jumed at her and she quickly closed her eyes in fear, anticipating the worst. Yet she didn't feel a thing. Slowly opening her eyes, she noticed a big, brown figure infront of her. She blinked and realised it was the beast here to save her. Eliza watched in awe as the beast clawed off all of the wolves, scaring them off one by one until eventually they had all gone, though not without a fight. The beast glanced at Eliza for a moment, a faint smile crossing her face before she let out a grunt and fell to her feet. Eliza gasped and ran over to her, noticing blood pouring out from the wounds. "You...you saved me" she mumbled as she carefully lifted the beast up. She was a lot bigger than Eliza but Eliza was stronger than she seemed and she hadn't managed to get far so she was just about able to carry her back to the sofa and gently place her on the sofa, kneeling beside the fire as the beast groaned.

Eliza sighed as she ran to the kitchen to grab a piece of cloth and some antisceptic. She poured it onto the cloth and ran back to the sofa where the beast was curled up pitifully. Smiling softly, she knelt behind her. She had started to lick her wounds and Eliza raised her eyebrows "Don't do that. Now hold still" her voice was soft and soothing as she rubbed one of the wounds with the cloth. The beast let out a roar of pain as she flinched, moving away. Eliza huffed

"It hurts" the beast's voice was gruff and deep.

"Well if you kept still it wouldn't hurt so much" Eliza frowned.

"If you hadn't have run away, this wouldn't have happened!" The beast raised her voice as she raised her anger.

Eliza threw down the cloth, annoyed. "Well if you hadn't frightened me, I wouldn't have run away!"

The beast opened her mouth to say something but promptly shut it. Eliza was right. If she wanted the spell to break, she had to be softer and more gentle with her. 

Eliza sighed, picking the cloth back up. "Now hold still" The beast pouted as she held out her arm for Eliza. She gently dabbed it with the cloth as the beast couldn't help but let out a small yelp of pain. "Thank you for saving my life by the way" her voice returned to being more calm and genuine.

The beast gave her a small, gentle smile, the first one she'd seen. "You're welcome"

There was an awkward silence between the two, neither looking at eachother and staring at the wall. The beast decided to break it. "Would you maybe like to have dinner with me later tonight? There's no pressure to if you don't want to"

Eliza gave her a small, reassuring smile as she gently nodded. "I'd like that"