An Enchanted Beast

It's a beautiful day in a small country town. No clouds stifling the blue skies. Only the radiant beams of the glowing sun, bathing the lands with its splendor. Birds sing their songs as they sweep the open air. A breeze gently brushes by those in town. It's a perfect day for a walk, Anabelle thought. She had just moved to the little town on the countryside, and never really took in the quaint lifestyle it offered. It was time to do a little tour of the town and getting the step counter up on her pedometer was a bonus. Ana peered around the corner from the hallway into the living room, and smiled as she looked at her dog, lying in his dog bed. "Maurice," she called out to her companion as his ears perked up, "walk?" The dog sprung up, tail wagging wildly, as he pranced his way to her. Ana grabbed his leash and put it on him, "good boy, Maurice, yeah." The dog danced around her as she put on her shoes, orbiting her like a planet to its star. They made their way out the door to hit the town.

Ana and Maurice walked across town and saw all there was to see. A bakery, bookstore, post office, barber, and a few more shops and services. There wasn't much to this small country town, but the day should not be wasted by just going back now, Ana thought to herself. She decided to go outside of town and maybe do a little hike with Maurice, he would love that. So, out of town they went and wandered. Down paths and up trails. They walked and walked and walked, until the came up to a large iron gate on the side of a trail. Ana was to avoid it, but Maurice had other plans. He stopped in front of the gate and began to bark. "Maurice, let's go," Ana pleaded, gently tugging on his leash. Maurice, however, would not let up. Something was beyond the gate that was of interest to him, something they could not see. Though the weather was beautiful across town and outwards, beyond the gate was filled with a heavy fog. It was peculiar, but it was a mystery Ana had no intention of solving. Suddenly, Ana lost grip of the leash and Maurice lunged forward, through the bars of the gate and into the dense fog. "No! Maurice," Ana cried out as she also tried to squeeze through the gate, but to no avail. She immediately swelled with stress and anxiety as she looked for a way in. The chain holding the gate closed, seemed old and rusted. Perhaps it was brittle enough that she could break it, she thought. Ana shook the gate violently, chipping away at the rusted chain. A few good kicks did the trick as the chain clanged to the ground. Ana pushed the large gate open and ran into the blinding fog. "Maurice," she repeatedly cried out, to no response. She blindly made her way forward, scared yet determined. It was then that the fog seemed to split right in front of her, revealing a looming, large manor that looked as old as time. She paused as she heard Maurice barking somewhere deep inside the manor. She hesitated no further as she rushed in to find her friend.

Ana ran in with only Maurice on her mind. She didn't even think to be worried at what he was barking at anymore. Her only fear now was losing her best friend. As she ran up the foreboding staircase, the barking stopped. She saw a quick flash of light coming from down the corridor and instinctively ran to it. Suddenly, a large beast jumped in front of her. It looked to be part bear and part lion. It had twisted horns like a devil and human hand-like claws. It was draped in a ragged cloth and stood upright. What manner of beast is this, Ana inquired to herself as she fell back and gasped. "What are you doing in here," the beast bellowed. Ana was as astonished as she was frightened, "you can talk? What are you?" "The lord of the manor," the beast answered, "now answer my question!" Ana stood up, "my dog ran in here. I have to get him." "There's nothing you can do now. He's a prisoner of the manor," the beast said mysteriously. "Prisoner," Ana asked the beast. "The fool went into the west wing. No one is to go there. The Enchantress makes prisoners of us all," the beast responded. "I thought you were lord of the manor," Ana questioned. "I am, or was. Now I'm beholden to her and the manor, never to leave. But you can. So go," the beast said with a melancholic expression. Ana's brow furrowed, "I'm not leaving without him!" The beast snarled and took a large stance, "I told you to leave," he inches toward her. "I said I'm not--" Ana says before interrupted ferociously. "Get ooouuuttt," the beast roars as he breaks decorations adorned in the corridor in his fit of selfless rage. Ana turns in terror and runs out. The beast stands there, knowing what he did was right, as hard as it is.

Ana runs out of the manor, but she's not leaving Maurice behind. She just has to find another way in, preferably directly into the west wing. She heads west of the manor and finds vines going up the length of it, leading to a balcony. Hopefully it leads straight into the west wing, she thought to herself. Ana tugs on the vines to see if they can support her weight. They can, as they have seemingly grown for a long time. She carefully scales the side of the manor and onto the balcony. She makes sure not to make noise, but stops when she sees the beast talking to a beautiful woman. That must be the Enchantress he spoke of, she thought. She hid as she spied on them, waiting to make a move. The woman leaves after striking the beast across the face. He clutches his face and looks to find Ana on the balcony. She tries to withdraw from his sight, but it's too late. The beast opens the balcony doors and heads toward her, whispering, "I thought I told you never to come here." "I'm getting my dog," Ana says shaking. "Do you realize what could happen to you," the beast asks. "No actually, I don't. You haven't told me anything," she pushes past him. "Quiet, you foolish girl," the beast orders quietly as he follows her. He wants to just pick her up and throw her out, but he's too soft hearted, so she marches on. She comes across a glass dog figurine that has the exact markings and look of Maurice. "You found him, now get out before it's too late," the beast says almost empathetically. Ana can't believe it. All of this is just too crazy for her. A beast, an enchantress, now her dog being turned to this? What is going on here is something that completely eludes here, "what? Why? How," she cries, "turn him back!" The beast becomes flustered with her noisy outburst, "please, be silent. I can't turn him back." "Then get her to turn him back, I'm not leaving without him," Ana commands. Before they can hear her coming, the Enchantress is right by them. She lets out a howl as her mouth opens wide. The beast grabs the Enchantress and looks back to Ana, "get out now!" Ana starts running with the transformed Maurice in hand. The Enchantress throws the beast into a table, knocking over a marigold in a glass enclosure. He looks to it as he sees it crushed. He had been told that the marigold had his life essence. If it wilted and died, so would he. However, it was clearly a lie for the Enchantress to get what she wanted out of him. "You lied to me. Made me think I was a prisoner. Made me do terrible things," he looks to his shaking hands, pounds them on the ground and roars, "not anymore!" She had been following Ana, so the beast charges after her and pounces, clawing at her. Ana runs out of the manor, and the fog has fortunately cleared. She hears otherworldly noises coming from the manor, as she sees the beast charging out, "run! Run," he yells to her. Just then a large praying mantis looking abomination crashes through the manor doors and chases them. The beast catches up to Ana and puts her on his back. He runs like a mighty steed, through the forest, with the monster crunching through the forest, being impaled by tree branches, yet she cares not. The monster is fixated on them. They run out into the open, onto a road, with the monster right on their tail. Suddenly a large postal van drives right into the monster, killing it. The driver was flabbergasted, she didn't know what she hit. Ana looked to her, "Allie?" The driver looked to her, "Ana, what the hell is--," she looks at the monster and then to the beast, "friend of yours?" "Yeah," Ana sighed, "can we get a lift?" "Usually I would say no to whatever the hell he is, but I've seen weird things today myself. Get in." Ana and the beast get in the back, and Allie drives the beaten up van down the road. "A number of things in the manor were people or creatures. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you before," the beast apologizes. "How," Ana asked. "The Enchantress is a monster that can change any living being into whatever she pleased. She turned me into this, and turned your dog into that," he points to the figurine she still clutches, "she turned many into many things. And she's not the only one. There's more of them." "I ran into one too," Allie chimes in. Both Ana and the beast look to her. "So now what do we do," Allie continues. "We find the others. Kill them and break the enchantments somehow," the beast answers, "how we do the last part, I don't know." Ana sighs, "okay, let's start with names. I'm Anabelle, that's Allie." Allie waves back at him. The beast smiles, "The name is Adam." "Nice to meet you, Adam," Ana says as they drive off to begin their mysterious mission.