Book- Beauty and the beast paradox by Amy Beach

chapter 2- First date

He collects me from work at 4pm and he takes me to a vintage cinema out of town. They only have one old movie showing and its Silence of the Lambs. I find it quite scary and not my sort of movie but Len seems to love it and laughs at bits that make me cringe, It's so creepy and a bit too gory for me but is supper cute the way he holds my hand, I can't help think he did this on purpose so i’d have to hold on to him and he could play the big strong man.

Len (Lennox told me to call him) then takes me to dinner in a cute fast food diner. It's super cute, with silver chrome accents, old tin hubcaps and framed posters on the walls and fluorescent lighting to accent the white and red leather boots. We ate burgers, fries and delouse chocolate shakes, I was so full after and he drove me home. I start feeling woozy and everything goes black.

I woke up the next morning with pain in my back and neck and I felt dizzy and queezie. It's hard to open my eyes or lift my head, I'm feeling cold and unwell, after a while of laying still I started to feel a bit more with it. I realised I didnt know where I was, I was gloomy, dirty and cold.

Just then I heard footsteps, thump, thump, thump and as they got closer I tried to sit up and even though the room is spinning but I manage it, as I did I realise there's a clicking noise. I look around and the room spins but I realise I’m changed to something. Then the thumping boots sounds get closer now, a door opens, a bright light floods the gloomy space and I can’t see a thing and a gruff voice says “Good your up” and he thumbs down some steps I hadn't noticed. As the person got closer to me, I managed to focus my eyes and I realised it was a very grumpy looking Lennex.

I scream from shock and shuffle back out of shock, but I can’t go too far because of the short chain Attached to my ankle and locked to an old cold furnace. Lennex growled “why are you shuffling away?” I couldn't answer and just sobbed and shook my head. “You my girl, you should not be scared” I just screams and cry, so he thumbs down a plate and bottle of water and pounds back out the short wooden steps and slams the door, I then hear bolts and latches being used, So

I lay back down on the cold hard floor and pass back out.

Later, I come too and I'm still feeling headachy and stiff but not as bad as before, I take a proper look around and Im in an old unfinished basement, there is birth slit windows only itches bid along on wall, a basic wooden set of about 6 steps leading up to a thick wooden door and not much else apart from the cold, furnace that i'm chained too. I also see the sandwich he left me on a plate and the bottle of water, The sandwich is looking a little curly but in hungary so I start eating it but my throat is dry so I open the water bottle and take a drink. It’s good, I sit puzzling about what to do, I’m so scared and confused about what happened to me. I hear a distant door slam and foot steps, then the latches and bots of the basement door open and Lennex comes thundering down the steps. He stops at the bottom and watches me.

After a beat he walks slowly towards me and says “ Hello, beautiful” I look up at him. He replies “you feeling a little better?” I nodded and he said “I brought you a gift?” and produce a writing set from behind his back. He put it in my lap and took a step away and said ”I thought you might like to write to your family and tell them about our love and adventures. Maybe you can tell them about our plans for the wedding?” he smiled happily and said “Okay, i'll leave you to it” and he started to walk away. I found my voice and crooked “wait, i'm cold” and looked at me “please can I have some blankets or something, please?” “Okay” he grunted and left me.

I opened the writing set, I was a pink zippered binder with a cute set of flowed paper, plain lined paper, some envelopes and 2 pens (one blue and one black.) as I was packing it back in the binder Lennex came back down with a sleeping bag, blankets and a couple of pillows. I looked up at him feeling a little less scared and managed a “Thank you” he smiled and said “ This should make you a little less uncomfortable.” he said unrolling the sleeping bag and laying the pillows out on it and then wrapping one of the blankets around me. He then left me too. I sat down on the sleeping bag feeling quite confused.

I opened the writing set and started writing…..