The Beast Inside

How could it have come to this, Heart worried in something amiss? What could Belle's father have been thinking, To go out in weather like this? Anxious, alone she ponders. "Is he safe or hurt I wonder? Is he on his way home as I wait, Or in the soft snow frozen under?" Fear growing and worry rising, Belle decides to go a riding. "Father must be found by morning, Or else I find him cold and dying." Onward she rides in the cold, Heart weekend but Spirit bold. "How could he survive a night like this? Where could he be, a man so old?" In the distance glows a faint light. A small yellow against vast white. "Could that be father," Belle questions, "Who else would be out this night?" She rides closer to find a castle looming. It's dark exterior cold and gloomy. A single light glows inside, And gargoyles gaze down cruelly. No other shelter to be found, Belle decides to turn around. She moves but a few steps away For she heard a most dreadful sound. A scream from the highest tower, Followed by a roar of power. The voice of one heard many times before. Cries of agony growing louder and louder. Impulsively Belle storms through the open gates, Completely unaware of what awaits. "If he is in there I have to save him. I'll get him out no matter what it takes." Through dark rooms and staircases winding, Belle starts to think she'll never stop climbing. Growing weary with every step, She follows the sounds of crying. Heart racing she bursts into an immense hall. Unlit candles in their sconces line every wall. She freezes in terror, not daring to move. From behind she hears a terrifying wrawl. A door closes suddenly. A voice unknown speaks harshly. "Another intrudes in my dwelling this night?!" The voice from the shadows says acidly. "Show yourself and I will leave. My only request is to retrieve My father who has been missing. He cannot stay, he is too weak." "The old man you speak of chose to depart. But did not think that him I'd out smart. I tasted his terror when I tore into his flesh, And savored his agony when I devoured his heart." Too stunned to speak or move, Belle cried out in that dark room. The creature stepped into the dim light, With a face more lonely than the moon. Eyes of fire and a lion's mane. Two horns, twisted and bloodstained. A face more beast than man, And an expression of pure disdain. Before she can speak, Belle is knocked to the floor. She tries to move away, and make for the door. But she is stopped by the beast, And Belle is torn apart by the viscous carnivore. Long ago a curse was placed, On a haughty prince who was a disgrace. A curse without end, without hope. To live in solitude with a beasts face. He loses control of his humanity, Consuming those who seek his hospitality. He then awakens covered in blood. Alone and forsaken in immortality. The creature looks at his hands horrified, Centuries of loneliness and terror in his eyes. He lays beneath a moonlit window, Weeping for the beast inside.