by Eva K. More
“Everything okay?” Beast asked through the closed door.
“Yeah… yes, it’s just…” Kat had trailed off, lost in her horrid thoughts. She looked at her breast in dismay, where a deep purple bruise had formed in the shape of a set of teeth.
“You sure you are alright?” He repeated, concern tinting his voice.
“I’m fine.” Strangely, this time she didn’t cry, it felt more like an out of body experience, as if she was somebody else, dissecting the human body of a stranger.
There was a bit of silence on the other side of the door before she heard Beast’s rumbling voice again. “Do you need some salve? Should I take a look?”
“No!” Kat cried at the door. The silence was longer this time, and the space between them was suddenly filled with tension. She held her breath until he finally answered with a simple “Okay,” and she knew that he was no longer standing at the door.
After her long shower, she was met with a dilemma as she didn’t want to wear that dress again. The panties Lina had given her were nothing but a scrap of sheer material, but they were still fresh and offered at least some kind of barrier. She hadn’t worn a bra since changing at the house, and now, she had only one feasible option.
Kat hoped that Beast wouldn’t need his sweater back, because she had now officially declared it her sleeping gear. She would have liked to cover up her legs, but she would rather eat dirt than ask him to take off his pants. Besides, his jeans would have been way too big for her.
When she opened the door, steam rose behind her, vaporizing in the colder room. Beast was lounging in the armchair underneath the window facing the bed. His eyebrows were severely set as he leaned his head on one of his hands, holding his smartphone with the other.
“Is it okay if I’m still wearing your sweatshirt? Because I don’t have anything else to wear,” Kat said shyly, as she didn’t want to bother him and cause an awful reaction.
His eyes rose to her, their expression unreadable. When he kept on staring without saying anything in return, she got nervous and started babbling.
“The dress is ruined and doesn’t really cover much… But don’t worry, I’ll put it back on, I guess you need the-”
“It’s okay.” He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. “It didn’t cross my mind, but you’re right, you need other clothes. Take the sweatshirt; I don’t need it.”
Kat moved to the bed and crawled beneath the covers, hiding her bare legs from his sight. She felt awkward, never in a million years would she have imagined being sitting in a bed with Beast in the room. Admittedly, he also gave her a sense of security, almost like a guard dog.
Exhaustion settled into her bones, and she yawned.
“You should sleep now.” Beast’s deep, metallic growl reached her ears. At the same time, he reached the switch on the wall with his left hand and turned off the light, engulfing the room into darkness.
The moonlight cast an eerie glow on his silver mask and glinting eyes. “I need to deal with some business matters.” The blue light of his phone turned on. “I won’t bother you.”
Too tired to do anything else, Kat lay down and turned her back to him. The moment she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.
***
Sometime during the night, she woke up to find Beast leaning into the chair with his eyes closed. Even asleep, he appeared dangerous with his scary mask, but instead of worrying Kat, it made her relax and lay back down calmly. No matter who came through that door, Beast would likely win the fight.
And he had kept his promise. He didn’t touch her or bother her in any other way. In fact, he had barely even looked at her. Thinking about the mystery behind the mask, she drifted back to sleep.
***
The next time she woke up, it was early morning, and she heard Beast’s phone ringing.
With a grunt, he picked it up and answered. “Yes?”
Kat kept lying on her side but watched Beast curiously stretching his neck and upper body while holding the phone. Surely, sleeping in the chair hadn’t been very comfortable.
“On an errand… Yeah, no phone.” His tone was already losing the tiredness as if he was very used to be on full alert at all times, even at dawn.
Her sleepy eyes met his heavy-lidded ones. He was assessing her during his talk, and she felt compelled to hold his unnerving gaze.
“She what? … When?... Was someone else with her? … Sorry, boss… Yeah, I’m home.”
Quickly, her brain connected the dots. Staring at him felt wicked, as if it was a sin to look at him when his part of the conversation was a complete lie, but even if it felt forbidden, she couldn’t stop.
His eyes drank her in boldly, “I’ll be right there,” and the phone call ended.
“Was... that?” She had to clear her throat as it was still heavy with sleep. “Was that Ivo?”
Beast nodded and sat up straight, towering with his full height above the bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked, surprising her.
Kat had been so concentrated on him and his conversation that she hadn’t noticed her discomfort. Now that his disconcerting eyes looked at her inquiringly, she realized that there was a sharp pain in her chest every time she breathed.
“I hurt all over.” She pushed herself up on her arms in a sitting position and winced slightly. “I remember Anton falling on me, grabbing me, I guess my body took a beating.” She continued saying while slightly touching her ribs, the ache was a mark of her struggle.
Beast clenched his fists and averted his eyes to the door. It wasn’t the first time that Kat sensed a sort of disapproval from him. Was it that he didn’t care much about her feelings but tried to do the right thing in asking and tending to her? Obviously, he wasn’t too interested, though.
“I’ll bring you painkillers and breakfast before I go,” Beast said while standing from the chair and cracking his neck.
“Okay, thanks,” she answered as she looked to the bed covers, a little bit ashamed of needing him for this kind of errand. Then something occurred to her, and she quickly raised her head to look at his eyes. “You’re going back to the house now? What should I do? Where am I going?” Panic was setting in again. Would she have to return to that nightmarish place?
“You’ll stay here,” was his short answer.
“What?” His calm voice gave her a creepy feeling, and boldened by her sudden panic, she moved to stand on her knees over the bed. “What do you mean I’m staying here?”
Without an answer, Beast started walking across the room, entered the bathroom, and closed the door.
She couldn’t believe him! He hadn’t even acknowledged her question with a look, and that made her panic rise even more. What if Ivo found her here, alone, without her beastly, fallen angel? Would he torture her until she caved and told him about her Baba and Dedo? Would he murder her first and then go after her grandparents? Or would he bring them here, killing them in front of her eyes to kill her right after?
Once he emerged, she signaled him with a finger in hopes of keeping him focused on her. “Hey! What am I going to do here?” Kat repeated her question; her eyes were unfocused, and she was hyperventilating.
“Wait until I come back.”
“That’s … that’s ridiculous! Why don’t you just drive me back into the city? I could stay with some friends.”
He sighed while looking at his phone. That damned thing kept almost all his attention while she was left deprived of anything else but his mere presence.
“I told you yesterday, I can’t do that yet,” he said, still not looking at her.
“What’s your plan then? You can’t leave me here on my own, please… Please don’t leave me alone,” Kat said. She had been afraid of him the first time she glimpsed at his frightening face, and she was still wary of his motives, but he was her savior and the only person she could rely on at the moment.
In a gesture so unlike the stoic man, he rubbed his forehead exasperatedly. “I haven’t been sleeping a lot the past f
ew days, and that chair gave me cramps. Could you please shut the fuck up for a moment and be thankful that you are alive and your virtue is intact?”
Kat gaped at him. “You son of-” Her words were cut off when he stomped over to her and gripped her chin tightly. That was the exact moment when she could feel the tears that had escaped her eyes. He leaned down and was so close she could hear his heavy breathing through the mask.
“You better not finish that sentence, little bird. Why are you crying?” Beast said, his voice soft and menacing at the same time. “Here’s the deal. I need to run back to Ivo and be compliant enough, so he doesn’t suspect I had anything to do with your vanishing. Then I need to make sure our next hide is ready and take some things from my home before coming back for you. In the meanwhile, you can watch TV, bath and do whatever the hell you want to do and pretend your life is not on the precipice of disaster.”
His stormy eyes bore down on her with a rare mix of rage, concern, and regret, but his grip on her face wasn’t too hard; it felt almost gentle. Any other day, Kat might have admired his ability to transmit so much with only his eyes, but the panic was still blinding her.
“Please, I’m begging you, take me to one of my friends’ houses, don’t leave me alone here,” she said between small sobs. “I’ll be extra careful; I’m aware of the situation I’m in.”
“Are you?” he asked. “It’s your naivety that brought you here in the first place, and now you’re letting your fear take control of your rationality, and you want to put a friend in risk, too. I’m sorry that this place isn’t more accommodating, and that I can’t stay with you, but I need to leave to avoid suspicion… You shouldn’t have wandered down the streets in the middle of the night.” His words were like a whip.
Kat felt scolded by his heated words. She couldn’t understand his sudden anger and straightened her shoulders against it, but unfortunately, she had nothing to say to that. He was telling the truth, after all, so, with much difficulty, she tried to control her panic, put on her big girl panties, and go with his plan.
“I’ll be back,” he said and let go of her face. “And go back to sleep, it’s still very early. I’ll bring you some clothes so we can move on tonight.”
Before he went out, she cried after him in an attempt to keep her dignity. “And it’s not really my fault! You shot a man on the street for all to see.” Even to her, the words sounded childish, so she bit her lips and quickly looked down.
The door closed behind him with a loud bang.
***
He came back half an hour later but only to bring her a bag full of food. Then he was gone for good, leaving her with nothing much but a TV and a disconnected phone. For good measure, he had also locked the door from the outside.
Kat felt like a prisoner, but if she were honest with herself, his words rang loudly in her head. He had been right in telling her that the previous night could have ended worse than it did. He had saved her from probably unbearable pain, and for that, he deserved her trust and cooperation.
Still, being alone for hours with nothing much to do made her gloomy, a mood she couldn’t shake off even when looking at the contents of the bag. Unbeknownst to him, Beast had bought her favorite stuff from the supermarket, chicken sandwiches with a side salad, and for dessert, chocolates filled with caramel.
Kat only wished for a phone call to tell her Baba that she was alright and alive. Maybe Beast would have a heart and let her call. She snorted at that thought. Beast’s heart was there all right; if it hadn’t been there, he wouldn’t have helped her. But he was adamant in keeping her isolated.
She thought about her friends and what they would think when she didn’t answer their calls and messages. What would happen to her missed courses at college? For that matter, would she ever be able to finish her degree? Thought after depressing thought spiraled in her head.
***
It got dark outside, and the TV kept her from becoming insane. When it got later, she started biting her lip in worry. What would happen if Ivo found out about Beast? What if Beast died on a job, like the man he had so callously killed in that alley?
When the clock struck 11 p.m., she paced around the room.
Then she heard a key turning on the other side of the door. Kat held her breath in anxious anticipation, and her knees buckled when she saw a silver skull.
“Oh god!” she breathed in elation. Who would have thought that she would feel so grateful when seeing Beast’s gruesome mask?
“I’m sorry, little bird. I had a lot to do.” He closed the door behind him and put a big duffle bag on the bed. There was a strange sense of comfort that assaulted her senses when she had seen him enter the room.
Despite his aloofness, he had been cautious with her the previous day and had kept true to his word. Beast was as ominous a figure as the Grim Reaper, appearance-wise, yet she felt no danger omitting from him to her. It was like a shield was protecting her from his more vicious side.
“Oh my!” She rushed forward then, completely ignoring the fact that barely a day ago, she would have shied from his closeness, and gripped his arm tightly. “You’re hurt!”
For a moment, Beast just stood still, before his startled eyes followed her trail of vision to his chest area where a big stain and something that appeared to be a drop of dried blood tarnished his shirt.
It took Kat a moment to realize that the big man didn’t move and kept staring at her. When she lifted her gaze to his electric one, she was baffled when she saw amusement flashing in them.
“That…” he started saying slowly, “is ketchup.”
Shocked that he had sounded like he would start laughing any moment now, Kat barely registered his words at first. When they finally penetrated her mind, she felt a blush creeping up her cheeks.
Given his occupation and her worries, it had been a reasonable assumption that he might have been hurt. Still, she probably shouldn’t have overreacted like that. Rushing up to him and – oh god!
Only then did she realize that – in the attempt to check the severity of his presumed injuries – she burst what personal space should have been between them, put her hand on his chest, and pressed her face close to his body.
Beast still didn’t move as he watched the changing emotions in her face, but she saw the amusement in his eyes fade away and get replaced by a sort of hungry expression. And, only for a split second, did she feel the air between them sizzle and spark. There was a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Beast put his hands on her shoulders, but instead of pushing her away, he kept her in place. In stark comparison to their previous encounter this morning, he looked at her with underlying affection rather than contempt.
Within a blink of her eyes, the soft emotion left his face, and she wondered if she had only imagined it. Then she took a step backward while he let her go.
“I’m sorry… for a moment I thought it was blood. I’m not good at being cooped up in a small space for a long time,” Kat said, somehow apologizing for her brash behavior. It wasn’t like she had offended him, but she felt like she had broken a barrier that should have remained closed. She could not even look him in the eye anymore.
“Don’t worry, I get it, my business took longer than I expected,” He answered and then motioned with his chin to a bag. “I’ve brought clothes. Let’s get ready and leave this place.”
Kat automatically went to the bag, which was full of surprisingly accurate sizes of new jeans and shirts that still had the tags on. She was curious to know if he had bought the clothes himself.
Fumbling with the contents of the bag, Kat touched a soft, familiar material. She pulled out a black sweatshirt resembling the one she was wearing; the same one Beast had pulled on.
“Thought you might want another one to keep you warm.” He nonchalantly shrugged while watching her. If this was his way of apologizing for talking to her so rudely this morning, then he was forgiven.
It wasn’t typical for Kat to forgive quickly
, but the thoughtful gesture warmed her heart. For someone so aloof and distant, Beast managed to surprise her with his kind behavior.
Maybe his heart was more prominent than she had first thought, and perhaps he was more empathetic towards her situation than he let on.
Only a few minutes later, Kat was dressed and ready to leave her temporary cell.
To where? Well, only Beast knew.
he previous night, she had been much too preoccupied with the horrible situation she was in to actually notice Beast’s car. Today she marveled at the sleek convertible—the matte black BMW X6 with the soft beige leather interior.
Kat whistled. “That’s a nice car.”
Beast popped the trunk and put the duffle bag in it, then he took his seat next to Kat and started the motor. He shrugged. “Guess so.”
“It’s quite expensive…” she probed to see if she could make him talk a little bit more about himself.
“Business is thriving.” The man answered without looking at her.
The business of prostitution, weapons, and money laundering, which, in her mind, was not a very pleasant occupation.
But in retrospect, she had been told that Kapov was not into human trafficking. Where did the money come from then? Needing to double-check whether it was true, and at the same time satisfying her curiosity, she couldn’t help but ask. “What exactly does Kapov do to earn his money?”
Beast kept silent for a moment, no doubt contemplating telling her the truth. It was probably her slowly panicking expression that made him finally sigh. “Except for Ivo’s house brothel, we are mostly into gas, petrol, oil. Fossil fuels. You see, we don’t normally interact with innocent girls.” Was that a slight teasing note she detected?
Scrunching her nose, Kat thought that this sounded oddly dry. In-transparent, of course, because she could not imagine how the mob worked with fossil fuels. But, to be honest, she had expected something a lot uglier and crueler, and trying to maintain the strange peace, she decided to let the subject rest for now.