Bella
After what must have been hours later, I awoke in an unfamiliar place. Fog surrounds me as hooded figures chant in a strange language. I try to move but I can't because my arms and legs are tied to a boulder with weird carvings on it. I try to scream but my voice comes out as a mere whisper. Shadows dance on the walls of this desolate cave before the ground begins to shake. The hooded figures fall to their knees and keep their eyes on the trembling ground.
I am going to die. This is how my life ends. An enormous muscular figure rises from the dark rift that formed from the cracks in the ground beside me. His black wings unfurled and sparkled like a black diamond. His chiseled features were borderline cruel, but his eyes…there was something familiar about his steely gray eyes before they glowed red.
I was struck with a mix of emotions, but fear surprisingly wasn't among them. I knew that I was going to die at the hands of The Beast, yet I welcomed it. For reasons that I can't explain, my life suddenly felt meaningless. The Beast roared, "Offering accepted," before his clawed finger slashed my bindings. Before everything went black, all I remember was touching his face with my hand and seeing a heartbreaking sadness in his eyes.
There in the arms of The Beast, I awaited a death that never came. As I let the shadowy darkness comfort me, I said goodbye to my mundane life of slaving away in a stuffy office, of the pain of loneliness, of the heartache of never being enough.
Since that day, I have been his servant in a world full of supernatural beings. I have yet to see another human, so perhaps the legend of him devouring them is true. But if it were, why am I alive? Still weary from a sleep plagued with visions, I stumbled out of my room, my vision slightly blurry as I made my way to the kitchen. Every single day was the same. I woke up, made sure Edward, the Beast, had his meals, and scrubbed his private chambers from top to bottom. I went from being an assistant to a human to being a servant of some demonic god.
He had claimed more offerings than I, making me question why I was still alive. The amount of human remains and odd little critters that I found clinging to the walls of his dining chamber shocked me. Lately, it has become a daily occurrence. Perhaps, he is cursed as I am, and he thinks killing will end the torment? Once I got to the kitchen, I picked up Edward's tray. "Bella!" I flinched when his angry bellow rang through the halls of this labyrinth that he referred to as a castle.
I sighed because I was late, and for that, I would be punished. I cried out when I tripped over an uneven spot on the floor, causing me to fall forward. I watched in horror as Edward's bowl of stew rolled a few feet, leaving a trail of bloody meat in its wake. A hand wrapped around my arm, pulling me to my feet. I quaked in fear as I watched Edward slowly stand up from his dark, twisted-bone throne and stalk across the room to me like I was his prey. I swallowed hard. I hated feeling helpless, but I stood no match against anyone. I am his prey, and it is only a matter of time before he grows tired of toying with me and kills me.
Edward's wings burst from his back as his face contorted to that of The Beast. I lowered my gaze as I prepared myself for whatever punishment I had coming, However, I was pushed behind the guard that pulled me to my feet. "Edward," he said, his voice full of warning. "Have mercy! I aided you, and I want my reward. I want her!"
Edward immediately froze, his eyes flickering between me and the guard before his lips curled up in an angry snarl. "No!"
"When I abdicated my throne to help you get your revenge, you promised me that I could have any servant I wanted, and I want her!" The guard repeated, making me hold my breath as Edward bared his teeth even more.
Edward reached around the guard to grab my wrist before dragging me around him to throw me on the ground. I bit back a whimper, knowing it would be better to lie as still and silent as I could. He kicked my thigh hard, earning a low, threatening growl from the guard. Edward stepped up to the guard. "I said, 'No!'" Edward hissed. "She is my servant! She is mine!"
"You promised me a female! AND I WANT HER!" The guard yelled. The guard was large, but Edward still towered over him. Even the guard's silvery wings resembled twigs compared to Edward's. If the guard chose to fight, I would likely be cleaning up his remains.
Edward's hand shot out, wrapping around the guard's throat as he glared down at me with fury in his eyes. "Get to work," he spat, causing me to scurry away from him as quickly as possible.
I raced through the dimly lit halls to the closet located just a few doors down from his bedroom. Hastily, I gathered the supplies needed to clean his room before sprinting back down the musty corridor to begin my task. Pausing briefly in the bathroom, I dipped my bucket into the stagnant pool of water that Edward never bothered to use for bathing. Sometimes, I found myself wondering how the murky, tepid water would feel as it enveloped my pallid, fragile body.
After carefully mixing the potent cleaning chemicals in the bucket, I diligently scrubbed every inch of the walls before turning my attention to his bed. With bated breath, I rearranged the soft, warm sheets and fluffed the pillows to his liking. Just as I was about to finish, I was violently lifted and thrown onto the bed, inhaling his repugnant scent as a piercing scream escaped my lips. I was forcefully flipped over, a hand wrapping tightly around my throat, cutting off my air supply. In the dim light, I saw Edward looming above me, his eyes filled with madness. His grip tightened as he snarled, "You left your room. You know better."
Frantically shaking my head, I managed to gasp out, "N-no! I swear I didn't!" I had always been obedient, believing that my loyalty to the Beast was my key to survival. But in that moment, as Edward's teeth bared and his saliva dripped onto my face, I realized the true extent of his madness. "You smell like him!" he growled, his voice dripping with malice.
My eyes widened in disbelief as I vigorously shook my head. He had completely misunderstood the situation. I had not left my room. Initially, I had thought it was a hallucination, but it turned out to be the guard who had entered my room. I awoke to find him sitting beside my bed, silently observing me as I slept. There was a malevolent aura about him that felt eerily familiar, sending shivers down my spine and making me want to retreat into the shadows.
I was gripped with fear, paralyzed by the thought of what he might do to me while I lay defenseless in slumber. After he departed, I was unable to close my eyes again, haunted by the dread of his return. "I-I didn't leave, I swear! Please, you have to believe me," I pleaded through tears, my voice trembling with fear and desperation.
His eyes darkened even more, glaring at me. "I don't believe you." He lowered his mouth to my neck, immediately biting into it. I screamed out in pain as he began to drink directly from my throat. I started thrashing again, pushing weakly against his shoulders as I begged him to stop. The longer he fed from me, the weaker I got until my hands dropped away from his body, and my vision began to swim. This is it. This is how I die. I wonder who will have to clean up my remains.