The Beast Within (The Beast Withon Book 1)

by SL Perrine

  “Hmm…” I shrug, and chuckle to myself, guess I’ll have to settle with being a magical princess.

  After eating a quick lunch, since it was ten O’clock when I woke the second time, I started on my Saturday chores. From the look of the kitchen my father ordered out again last night, Chinese food this time. So there was only two coffee cups to clean. Since mom disappeared our only food has been cold cereal and take-out. I tried cooking a couple times, but neither my brother nor my father would trust me enough to eat it. Cooking is definitely not my forte.

  I look around at the house and notice MR. Clean really has not been here. The dust on the end stands and coffee table make that evident. It’s amazing the things you notice that need cleaning, after the person who’s done it your whole life isn’t there to do it anymore.

  Surprisingly, getting the house in order did not take as much time as I had anticipated. So by mid-afternoon I was able to start over to Ty’s house for my lesson.

  -13-

  Ty’s house was only four blocks from mine. The houses in Cherry Valley were all very similar. There were large Colonials, built shortly after the town was established in the early 1800’s. Most of them were in desperate need of repair, but their owners took well enough care of them so they passed as nice looking. A handful of Victorian’s were around from the early 1900’s. Our street was comprised of the more modern homes from forty or so odd years ago. Nobody was developing here now. This town had reached its maximum capacity it seemed. We rarely have anyone move here that wasn’t born here.

  Chances were if you saw a moving truck come to Cherry Valley it was someone who moved away for college, tried to make it out in a big city, and just came back.

  Unlike the cul-de-sac my house sits in, the house’s on Ty’s street sit back away from the road more. You could pick out his house from a block away though, since it’s the only yard that isn’t neatly sculpted.

  Today however that’s not the case. As I walk up to the fence that separates his yard from the street, I notice the shrubs out front seem to have grown six feet, and are now neat and sculpted to act as a fence against the neighborhood. I enter the yard and expect to find the dead tree limbs, over grown vines and three-foot tall, brown grass. However, what I find is a freshly cut, green lawn and the trees are alive and full of leaves and newly grown buds, as if it were spring. The new green leaves look almost alien like next to the changing October leaves in the neighboring yards.

  I spot Ty in the back of the house manipulating a rose bush. The rose buds are growing from bud to full bloom, and shrinking back to a bud before the pedals have a chance to wither and die.

  “That’s beautiful.” I did not even realize I said that out loud, but Ty turned his head to look at me. He did not look as he usually did. He looked tired and forlorn.

  “Are you feeling ok?” He asked as I approached him. His face was ashen and his eyes looked as though they were sunken in their sockets.

  “I was just going to ask you the same thing. You look like you have not slept in days.”

  “That’s just the magia. It takes a toll on us here.”

  “Well, whatever it is, I feel better than you look.” We both gave a little half laugh have chuckle.

  I knelt down beside him and the rose bush.

  “What do you mean? How is it any easier in Pylira?”

  “In Pylira we have the energy of magia that lives there, and we can draw from it.”

  “What about here?”

  “Here, what we draw from we kill, by stripping it of all its energy.”

  “I’m not killing anyone to do magic.”

  “No… not like that. The energy I’m pulling from is that of nature, plant life and insects mostly. The rest comes from ourselves, that’s why you passed out last night. We forgot to teach you to pull from nature.”

  “So I made myself really tired?” I chuckle a little at the sound of it, but by the scornful look on his face I see he is not happy about it.

  “Why so glum.” I poke at him.

  “Renee, this is very serious stuff. My not teaching you properly could have gotten you killed.” He stood and turned away from me and I see the pedals on the rose bush wither to black and fall to the ground. My fatigue is swiftly gone and I can feel the color rush back to my cheeks.

  “Ty its ok, I’m ok. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” I stand and place a hand on his arm to turn him, but he doesn’t budge.

  “If you had died, then this would all be for nothing.”

  “What would?”

  He turned and faced me. He looked like he was studying me.

  “I came here knowing I would be trapped away from my family. That would all be for nothing if you weren’t here.”

  “I don’t understand. What is it you’re not telling me?”

  He put his head down and turned back to the rose bush. The buds grew from the stems and start to bloom, and stop mid-way. I stare at the colors; they were deep purple, red and even a few white pedals, more vibrant than I’ve ever seen.

  “Ty?”

  “I tried to tell you last night, I almost got it all out before I noticed…” His words trailed off, and I don’t remember moving, but I stood in front of him and lifted my hands to his face so he was looking at me.

  “I’m fine… Just please tell me what’s bothering you.”

  His hand wrapped around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. His gaze still locked on me, he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me, soft and slow. There was a spark of energy that surged between our bodies and ignited a fire in my belly. As he pulled out of the kiss I was left longing. The spark was still there, not like before when our hands touch, this still lingered, but as before there was a longing as he broke the connection between us.

  “What was that?” I asked breathless.

  “I had to see if it was true.”

  “If what was true.”

  “If you’re who I’ve been looking for.”

  We stood there a moment, my hands clasped together around his neck and his around my back.

  A wave of nausea and dizziness hit me and I had to hold tighter.

  “What’s…” I felt faint, and struggled to hold on. He scooped me up in his arms and walked with me to the bench on the gazebo I hadn’t even noticed was there.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Sit here a moment. I’ll get you a drink.”

  “No, don’t leave. I don’t know what this is, but I know you can’t leave right now.”

  “So there it is.” He says and a smile crosses his face. All of the sudden he looks like all his burdens are gone.

  “Did you do something to me?”

  “No, it’s not like that.”

  “I feel drained like last night. Oh my goodness, are you draining me? What...?”

  “Renee it’s going to be ok. If you’ll let me I’d like to tell you everything now. I promise your fine.”

  “I don’t…” I try to speak, try to tell him I feel like I’m going to pass out like last night, but just as I started to the nausea and dizziness went away, and I was left feeling different. I looked over to the tree just inside the yard and notice it had been returned to its former gloomy self. I realized what he was saying, about drawing energy from nature, and understood why the yard looked disheveled before today.

  “Ok?” He looked at me, and I could see the worry in his eyes reflecting back at me.

  “Yes, and I’d like to hear what you have to tell me.”

  “Renee, I’m the Prince of Buio.” I think this was the first time I had seen him smile. He looked like a small child who had just gotten the best gift ever.

  “So, you’re here to find me? That’s why you left. You think us getting married will save your clan, and I’m just supposed to what…?”

  “You said I could tell you everything.”

  “Well, that’s pretty much what it comes down to…right?”

  “No, it’s not just that. I’
m not here because the prophecy says we can end the curse. I’m here because of what the prophecy means.”

  “I don’t understand any of this. I feel like every time I talk to you I have to ask for clarification on some new insight. I want the whole story.” I wave my arms in frustration.

  He sits beside me and tucks a stray hair behind my ear. The energy I felt when we kissed returns with his touch and again I feel dizzy.

  “Do you feel that?” He asks as he rubs his thumb along my cheek. “What does it feel like?”

  “It…feels like an… electric shock.”

  “And when you thought I was going to leave your side, what does that feel like?”

  I thought about it for a moment. The thought of him leaving my side just then made me feel like a rubber band tied us together and it pulled tighter the father he was from me.

  “Why would I feel like this?”

  “What did you feel?”

  “Ty, please just tell me”

  “I need to know, Renee. I’ve felt this since the first moment I saw you. I need to know if it’s real or if someone spelled me.”

  “Spelled you, for what?”

  “To throw me off, distract me from the reasons I’m here.”

  “I felt like my insides were being twisted in knots.”

  “The curse not only made the Buio king, my father, a beast, but it altered our very lives.”

  He began to pace the length of the gazebo.

  “I’m listening.”

  “This may be hard to hear. I only did not tell you before, because I did not know how much you would believe.”

  “Ty spit it out.”

  “Okay.” He stopped and starred off into the yard, making sure not to make eye contact with me. I wondered what could have him so unnerved. This was not the Ty I knew, so calm and self-assured. This Ty was more like a seventeen year old boy than a hundred year old sorcerer.

  “I was engaged before the curse.” He looked down at his hands which were picking at the paint chips of the gazebo.

  “Oh.” Stunned I searched for a better response, but he continued.

  “She was from you’re clan.”

  I sat silent so he would keep going.

  “When my father turned to dark magia, my mother swore to me he would never be able to hurt me or my betrothed. However, when the curse was enacted and all the women of our clan were gone…”

  He stopped for a moment and looked back at me.

  “They were killed by the curse?” I ask.

  “My mother told me they would appear to have been killed, but their souls would one day be reborn in time for the curse to be lifted.” He looked hopeful.

  “Is that how you lost a few women that you cared for?” I asked confused.

  “Yes, one was my mother, and the other my fiancée.”

  “How did your mother know about the curse? Well, she was best friends with the queen of your clan. She warned my mother so she could warn the other women of the Buio clan. They were angry at first, but mother said they knew this was something that had to happen to change things back to the way they were. They also did not have to be around while the men of my clan were at their worst.”

  “I guess that makes sense. I just don’t know how my family could have killed off all the women of yours.” I stand to walk to him, but he steps away. “Is that why there are only men from your clan here, because Buio women do not exist right now?” I tried wrapping my head around the fact that my family cursed an entire group of women and young girls to death.

  “You need a clear head to hear this.” HE said as I attempt to walk towards him again, and I know he means our touch will make me dizzy again so I sit

  “There is just so much you need to know. I want to make sure I don’t leave anything important out.”

  He turns back to face the yard.

  “When the women died, my betrothed died.”

  “What? Why? You weren’t even married yet.” Suddenly angry I stand and go to his side to console him. As I lay a hand on his shoulder I’m taken back to my dream.

  “Renella, you must choose!!”

  Oh, no,no…

  “This cannot be happening.” I have to get out of here. I run off the gazebo and to the front gate. I hear his footsteps behind me this time, but more than that I feel him running behind me.

  He catches up to me as I hesitate at the fence. His hand on my shoulder pulls me back. When I turn I don’t see him.

  The woman I’m looking at is taller than me. Her curly blonde hair trails down to her thighs. She’s wearing a navy blue, floor length dress, which enhance the blue of her eyes. Her skin has the look of porcelain. She is beautiful.

  “Renella, are you ok?” She spoke to me. Wait, is she speaking to me?

  I test my dream and answer her back, “Yes, just a bit dizzy for a moment.” Yes, it was me she was speaking to. How is this happening?

  “Where is Ty?” I hadn’t realized I had spoken out loud.

  “Tyson is with his father. I told you, he already knows of this. We must go, you have to choose now. Will you be with your family, or will you be with this family?”

  “I don’t want to leave him.” As I answer I taste the salty tears flowing down my cheeks.

  “I know dear, I don’t either. He’s my baby boy. But you have a choice. I don’t.”

  “What kind of choice is this? Leave him now for who knows how long, and that’s even if we get what’s been promised. How do we know we will come back, as we are now? Will I really remember my love for him?”

  “You could stay, child.”

  “And never be with him. I would still have to leave him.” The tears are streaming now more violently.

  “Your mother has promised, we will return in time for the curse to be lifted.” She holds me in her arms now, for what feels like an eternity.

  “Reneella…”

  “Renee! Wake up!” I hear him; he’s holding me in his lap sitting in the grass. “Where did you go?”

  I open my eyes and he is there. Those same blue eyes I was just looking at in my dream are the same blue eyes that I noticed the first day he came to me a year ago.

  “I’m here.” Is all I can say.

  -14-

  Ty had asked me what happened when I passed out. I did not really know what to tell him. I still don’t know what it is. I thought maybe it was just a manifestation of his story into a dream.

  I spent the rest of the weekend thinking about it at great length. After I woke up in his lap, Ty decided he could finish the story at another time. The important part he wanted to tell me was that he is the prince of Buio. The rest he said could wait. As much as I wanted to know the rest, I was glad for an intermission on the subject.

  He did however spend the rest of the afternoon showing me how to use the energy of the grass to make the roses bloom, although I only managed white roses.

  I had managed well for a little while, until I started using my own energy, at which point we called it a day. We don’t know how many days until the rest of his clan arrive, if that’s indeed what is going on. But I did not want to hurt myself, and what’s more, Ty refused to allow me to.

  Sunday I decided was a “me” day. I spent the day hiding away in my room. I had a lot of questions, but a day of sweats and a few good movies was exactly what I needed.

  Now, I stand studying the mirror, and started working on my best apology face for Robin. After Friday night’s protection spell, I completely forgot about the homecoming game Saturday afternoon. Now, after all that has happened I wish I had gone.

  I left my hair down, curls and ringlets gone wild. The usual school uniforms plaid green skirt, and tan shirt worked well with my red hair. I liked not having to fuss over my daily attire. That was the only plus about school uniforms, they made dressing in the morning uncomplicated. I like uncomplicated.

  The walk to school was just like any other day. I stubbed my toe twice while trying to maneuver the curb just outside my house. I dropp
ed my bag clear off my back by the time I got to the corner. One would think being a princess of any kind would make me graceful by default, but I guess not.

  As I turned the corner from the cul-de-sac and headed down the street leading to the school I noticed a few faces I have never seen. That could only mean more buio were in town. I soon start to wish that I had studied with Ty on Sunday too. I can fight a mietitore, but magia buio I cannot.

  Before they get a glimpse of me I duck behind a fence. I couldn’t hear what they were saying from that distance, but I could see they appear to be a group of free spirited teen boys, just like the rest. The sudden increase of boys vs. girls is bound to be noticed at some point. I sit in the grass behind the fence and try to think of a way to get around them.