The Beautiful Beast

The Beast Is Known

Angel was sitting outside the house when she heard mother's voice calling her name.

'Mo…mo...ther!' She answered.

'Where are you?'

'I'm he...re, in… th…th...the p...orch.' She managed to answer.

'Okay, I'm coming!' she heard mother's voice say.

In a short time, Grace walked to the sofa on which her daughter sat. Angel scooched, making some room for Grace to sit.

She instinctively leaned towards Grace and rested her head on her bosom. Grace traced her hair from her scalp to the end, rocking the strands. She is one of the very few people Angel have grown to be free and uninhibited in their presence. She talks to Angel delicately and with such honest care that has made Angel see her bosom as the safest place in the world. Often when John is not with them, the two women cuddle up for prolonged hours.

Grace has observed that Angel exudes a mysterious aura and apart from that, her frequent nightmares are becoming disturbing, she wanted to ask Angel some questions but just didn't know how to go about it without making her feel insecure.

'Poor daughter of mine,' she said silently looking at her face as she reflected on how best to start the conversation.

'Still having those nightmares? Grace asked while tracing the corner of Angel's face with her index and gently pulling back some strands of hair that spread over her face. Angel nodded in affirmation.

'What about sleep paralysis?' Grace asked again and Angel answered with an affirmative nod.

Grace let some moments pass while pressing her gently into her bosom.

'What are those dreams like? Can you tell me a little of the things you dream about?' She implored.

Angel raised her head and began to describe the major and recurrent scenes of her dreams. Although Grace nearly strained her ears listening to her Child describe the scenes, she was patient and compassionate all through. She exudes the love and genuine concern which have made Angel feel at home in her presence and more particularly, in her arms.

Although Grace didn't understand everything she said, she noticed that a few things stood out, for instance, she understood her daughter to say that she finds herself always in a scene of battle and whenever her enemies advanced closer to their army, she feels as though a surge of power runs through her and she transforms into an unknown beast. The particular kind of beast she changes into has the skin of a dragon and the face of a bear and then she'll wake up terrified.

Grace does not know what to make of these scary dreams. She knew that they signify something just that she cannot tell what it actually is.

'My Angel, I know you're going through a lot and I feel so sad that I can't help you out of it. But I'm making a promise that I'll always be there for you. You and I as a team will fight till the end.'

And hugged her tightly as she let those words drown.

'I'll be back.' Grace excused herself and went into the house while her daughter waited.

In a short time, she returned with a pendant in her hand.

'You had this pendant hanging on your neck the day you were found,' Grace began. 'We thought it improper to hand such a weight on a child's neck that was why we took it off.'

Angel remained silent but nodded to all her mother was saying. She closed her eyes as Grace reached forward to wear the pendant to her neck and tied the rope at the back of her neck.

The pendent had an image of a bear with it's skin covered in scales. The picture seemed like it was carved in gold; which was the metal the pendant was made of.

Angel's face brightened up and she won't stop admiring the pendant.

'You like it?' Grace asked.

'Yes,' she answered smiling.

*****

Grace was looking out through the window in the cool early evening. She watched as birds spread their colourful wings, basking in the red sun. They whistled and sang in such a soothing manner that has got Grace addicted to watching them such that she has made a habit of watching them most evenings.

As she watched, she saw a familiar figure approaching from the distance.

'Guess who is on the way to our house?' She turned to Angel who was sitting on a stool admiring the pendant on her neck.

'F...f...father,' She tried to guess.

'Nope'

'Wh...who else w...w...will it b...be?' She asked but wouldn't wait to be told. She ran to the window to see who it was.

'Gr...ace!' She steamed excitedly, 'I... I n...nev...ver th...though..t she'll w...w...want to c...come see m...me anymore,'she added.

'Why? You girls had a quarrel?' Grace asked. To which, Angel wagged her head.

Angel went outside the house and stood on the porch to meet Mary.

They both greeted and exchanged pleasantries and Angel welcomed her into her room.

They walked through the hall, where Grace was sitting. Mary greeted her and she responded lively. The two girls headed for Angel's room where the both bore their hearts in the privacy the small room afforded.

In the room, Angel told her trusted friend about her recent dreams and night paralysis that are beginning to wear her out. Mary also shared her own struggles about how people will never cease to taunt her for choosing to be close friends with a mysterious stutterer. They both assured each other that they will never cease to be there for each other. There they strengthened the bonds of their friendship.

*****

As she lay to sleep, she began to think of her conversation with Mary days ago. Mary had told her that she knows that there's a peculiarity of hers that she is yet to discover.

'Why am I so hated?' she asked herself as her thoughts slowly shifted to how she has been rejected by almost everyone.

'Nobody loves me' continued to day in her mind until she began to feel a surge just like the previous one she had felt, slowly growing in intensity wanting to take hold of her. She remembered Mary's advice. She had advised Angel to not resist the force.

Angel tried to not resist and soon discovered that the pain was far lesser than how it used to be. She began to feel her body giving way to a bizarre transformation.

She robbed her arm but it didn't feel like an arm anymore. She opened her eyes and looked at her hands only to find them covered in fur. Her palms gave way for paws and her fingernails grew into paws. Her chest and belly regions were hard as a stone while her back was covered with thick scales.

'This must be the peculiarity Mary had talked about' she thought to herself. Her parents were supposed to be sleeping at such hour of the night but what didn't know and perhaps, will never know is that Grace had seen everything, she was peeping through a breach between the door post and the door

*****

Under the covers of the starless, dark sky, the masked marauders attacked again but this time, not in their usual guerilla style attacks. They marched like a wild army throwing down whatever stood against them.

As usual, the local vilante exhausted their tactics but it still wasn't enough. They hid in tree tops and clefts shooting arrows at the raiders. They succeeded in killing a few of them but the rest marched along shooting and maiming and breaking into houses.

The vigilante leader blew his whistle and all his men stood ready for a face to face fight with their enemies. Their glittering swords were drawn and their shield set. They were already marching towards the enemies when they heard noises.

First was a loud roar, like that of a lion and the next was that of people running and screaming. They followed slowly, after the noises only to find corpses of their enemies littered all over the place.

The bodies do not look like those killed by arrow wounds, rather, they appear like we're torn by a wild animal, probably a lion.

The roar of the mysterious animal pursuing hard after their enemies remained audible but ceased when it began to dawn.

*****

Angel climbed down from the mountains and began to walk the way to the house.

The sun rose and people gathered in various circles. She watched as the vigilante members narrated to the people what had transpired the previous night.

They all wondered at such a miracle, that beast can appear just at the right time to save the community.

She didn't bother to join the crowd and wished that she would remain unnoticed. Her wish was nearly fulfilled until Bruce raised his head and saw her coming.

'Hello people, the dump girl is here!' He announced.

People turned when he said that and started to stare at Angel.

A few others walked to her and started to taunt her. She was so provoked by their mockery of her that she wished she could just tear them in pieces right there.

They tried to make her talk but she knew that they just wanted to be entertained by her stammering.

'She has on thing in common with the beast,' Elvis teased 'showing up when least expected.'

'She even looks like the beast,' another added.

The rest of the people giggled. The women were whispering to each other in a way that made it obvious that they were talking about her.

She wished that Mary was there at least she would have Said a thing or two in her favour. She let her tears flow uncontrollably and covered her ears with her palm. She ran and didn't stop nor looked back until she got home. Once at home, she threw herself into Grace's open arms and narrated all that happened.

John could not help but feel so displeased by the way the people were treating his daughter so badly. He had confronted some of them but they were bent on mocking her. Could it be because they are jealous of her beauty or because of some other reasons better known to them?

'My warnings and threats could not get the people to stop mocking his daughter, what else would?' he reasoned within himself.

*****

The people of the community have been able to identify the marauders. They came from a distant land and they aim for expansionism.

It is clear that the battle line is drawn and the Mountain-side community happens to be on the defensive.

Their enemies appear to only attack in the dead of the night. They probably choose night over day because at that time of the day, people generally will be less prepared. But the Mountain-side people have learnt to be on their guards both day and night.

John and his wife have woken up to the sound of the cracking walls. Someone was trying to break into the house and it was no one else but the Marauders.

John quickly thought of how best to handle the situation but couldn't arrive at any point. Grace rushed to Angel's room only to find her sleeping soundly.

'We are in trouble!' She cried to Angel, waking her up.

'Only you can save us now.' She Said to Angel.

Angel, as soon as she realised what was going on, looked Grace in the eye as though to seek permission to transform. Grace nodded and in a short time, the Beautiful girl has transformed into a huge beast. She dashed into the room where John was standing with his sword in his hand, she hit the wall and it came down and through the breach, she dashed into battle. She tore and threw bodies of the marauders in different directions.

The vigilante, now turned army, ceased to attack as soon as they saw the beast appear again. They followed after the beast, maintaining a distance between them and the beast.

The marauders are brave men and wouldn't cower even at the face of death. They fought the beast with all they had. It seems they came prepared specifically for the beast. They howled great stones, arrows and other projectiles at the beast but they didn't seem to hurt it. It tore into their midst, yanking and tearing them in various parts. It stood inches above the tallest of the men and growled with such a noise that shook the earth.

The vigilante followed behind the best in a mop up exercise.

The beast fought the enemies all the way to the outskirts of the community until they had no choice but to retreat for the second time. But by that time, they had left serious injuries on the beast.

It began to make its way to the mountains, climbing to the top probably to rest or to heal. The men stealthily followed from behind. They were curious to know where it came from.

They had climbed the mountain at the first time but they found no trace of the beast anywhere on the mountains except Angel who they met at the foot of the hill, and who could bear to imagine that such a beautiful girl could transform into a beast and even if that were possible, she'ld rather avenge herself on them for their unending mockery of her disability than fight their enemies.

On getting close to the top of the mountain, following the trail of blood the wounded beast had left behind, the vigilante army began to hear the growling of the beast. It was so loud that it made the mountains shake

The sun had begun to rise and the day was getting brighter. The growling also was beginning to die down, and the men continued climbing until they came to the top surface where they supposed the growl was coming from. They were expecting to find the beast there but much to their dismay they found the bloodied body of a young girl lying on the cold rocky surface.

They drew close to observe the girl properly. Her eyes were closed while she breathed heavily. She had fresh wounds all over her body through which blood leaked out.

'She resembles Angel, the stammerer,' one of the men said.

'It could be her,' said another.

'Could she be the beast?' Asked another.

'The girl needs to help you stone heads,' another of them said and rushed to where she lay.

He wrapped her with his coat and carried her on his shoulder.

'What are you going to do with her?' one of the men asked him.

'Firstly, carry down the mountain and if need be, to her parents.

His colleagues lent a hand in carrying the girl down the mountain, and there was Grace waiting for her daughter.

The men did not allow anyone to mock the girl because they were beginning to be convinced that she was the beast that had saved them all from death and plunder.

Grace weeped ceaselessly as she saw how her daughter was covered in blood stains. John tried hard to play the man but tears betrayed his resolve on many occasions.

The men carried her home in the company of many curious others who probably wanted to know why the vigilante would suddenly turn to be nice to Angel of all people.

*****

Grace sat beside her daughter who was recuperating from her wounds. She felt sad and happy at the same time.

She was happy because the community has come to acknowledge her daughter as a true hero who used her gifts to the benefit of people who never showed any love and kindness to her. Even Bruce, her arch-bully, has come to be ashamed of himself. He confided to one of his fellows that he can't believe he spent most part of his life bullying the saviour of the community. But she felt sad because Angel's body was so lacerated. It hurts the poor girl and she cries often.

Mary, her friend, has been there with some other girls to keep her company. The love and care was so overwhelming that Angel sometimes forgot her wounds.

John also was not left out in the reception of love. First, he noticed that the people of the community no longer refers to him as the father of the dumb girl, and also, they flood the house with presents day after day. Every girl now wants to be his daughter's friend and so do the boys.

Parents taught their children to be as selfless as Angel and often stopped him on the way to ask about Angel and to know how she was doing.

The community has come to accept the fact that she is the Beautiful beast and that they owe their safety to her.

*****

Angel gazed at the rays of light making their way into the room through small breaches on the doors and windows. She stretched her feet and stood up, happy to be on her feet for the first time after a long time in bed. She still feels pain all over her body but they have greatly reduced intensity so that she can now walk and do some minor activities that any young woman could do.

Pleased with herself, she tried to walk to the window where she had always stayed in the past when people shamed and bullied her.

It feels good to be loved, she whispered to herself, limping to the spot. Mother had warned her to not stress her body or attempt to walk until she's feeling better but she wouldn't heed to such warnings. To think of it, who would lay bedridden when they know that they can stand and even limp? Mum may be concerned but that doesn't matter to Angel. She lay on a mat beside the bed.

She's been sleeping there since Angel was sick. She gave up her bed so she could stay close to Angel and cater for her should she need help in the night. She slept soundly unaware that her daughter had disobeyed her warning.