The Beast of Northwoods

Once upon a time there was a wealthy businessman named Simon. Simon had fallen on hard times. His wife of 25 years died. A fire destroyed his business. He went into bankruptcy. Finally, he had to sell his beautiful mansion, forcing him, his 2 sons and 2 daughters to move to the small town of Northwoods.

They moved into a 3-bedroom cottage. The older 3 children were used to top of the line items and are very much disturbed by the condition they find themselves in. Instead of iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, they were given generic nameless phones when theirs broke. Bella, the youngest, was not bothered by the change and tried to make the best of things. Simon, who used to spend his days barking orders, was reduced to finding a job for himself. He then became the worker who was being barked at. Things had gotten worse when the children are asked to get jobs. Bella was happy to do so. She enjoys helping her father. Anything she could do for him brought her much joy. The older 3 refuses. They wouldn’t lift a finger to save their own life.

One day while working at the local bookstore, Bella happened to catch the eye of Sanballat, the son of Santiago, the richest man in town. Sanballat was the tall, dark, muscular type. The kind of guy that looked great, especially to himself. While almost all the young women in town, and even some of the older ones, would rip out their own heart and freely give it to him, Bella had no interest in him at all. She hated the proud and arrogant and she did not hide it. She cared more about what was in a man’s head. She boldly admitted that Sanballat had nothing to offer her. If you get my point. This cause Sanballat to throw himself at her all the more so. It was as if he had something to prove. Of course, this made Bonnie, her sister, jealous.

Bonnie, who would often bully her little sister anyway, forces Bella into the attic so that she can have a bedroom to herself. She was the oldest and feels she deserved it. The goal was to put her down, but Bella enjoyed her new room. As she looks around, she would find a lot of “treasures” left by previous owners. While the other 3 siblings looked at everything like it was all junk, some of the things were really worth a lot of money.

One day she found the deed to a mansion located on the other side of town. Assuming that it could help the family, she gave it to her father and the 2 of them went online to check it out online. As it turned out, whoever owned the cottage also owned the mansion. Simon dreamed that they could move into the mansion and rent out the house. This would give them a little income coming in.

The next day, Bella headed out to work and Simon pretended that he was headed out to work. In reality, he was going to check out the mansion. He didn’t want to let them know that it even existed so as not to give false hopes. He knew that it would take a few days to fully inspect the property, so he convinced them that he had a new job. In the meantime, Sanballat kept coming by showering Bella with gifts. All of which she rejects. Bonnie continued to throw herself at him and he continued to move out of the way and allow her to fall on the ground. Jamal and Jamel, her brothers, got a kick out of this each time and couldn’t stop laughing. This would start a fight. It was always words only as neither of them are willing to lift a finger to do any work including defending themselves.

Sanballat was very upset. He was tired of constantly being rejected. He prided himself on the fact that every girl in town wanted to be with him. “What’s wrong with this fool”, he said. “Don’t she realize who I am.” At that point he worked up a scheme to force her to marry him.

Simon owed Santiago a lot of money, so he convinced him to threaten the family that he could take their house if payment is not made soon. With her father being away, Bella started to search for things she could sell from the attic. She found a lot of rear coins, first edition books, and other antiques that could fetch a high price if you could find the right buyer. She manages to get half the money that her father owed.

“This is a start.”, Santiago said. “This will buy you a little more time.”

“Bella.”, Sanballat called.

“What do you want.”, Bella responded with plenty of attitude.

“What would you say if I could get my father to cancel the rest of the deb? All you have to do is agree to marry me.”

She didn’t have enough time to give a shocked look. Her phone beeped. It was a text message. She took one look and froze in her tracks. Without giving Sanballat an answer, she took off running into the woods.

There was a legend about the Northwoods that the family hadn’t heard. Apparently, there was a monster that roamed these woods. It stood up like a human, but it had fur like a bear, claws like an eagle and teeth like a lion. It was also strong enough to knock down a tree with its own hand, yet gentle enough to pick a flower. No animals are ever seen at the edge of the woods. It was said that the beast eats them all. Yet some believe that he was the protecter of the woods. Nobody would admit that they believed in the legend but everybody was too afraid to enter the woods.

The text message was from her father.

“I don’t know when I’ll be coming home sweetheart. I was walking through the woods where I came upon a mansion. I don’t think it is the right one. I went inside to find it old and abandoned but still had plenty of nice things. I tried to see what I could take and sell. That’s when a hideous beast came bursting through the door. He looked like a cross between a man and a bear. He grabbed me and tossed me in a locked room. He called me a thief and swore to lock me away forever. Do what you can to save the house. Santiago might come and try to claim it as his own.”

Bella followed the path that she believed her father would have taken. In the distance, she was able to see a building. With the help of GPS, she knew that she was getting close to her father’s last known location, but since his phone was dead, she couldn’t be sure he was still there. She continued toward the building.

When she reached the mansion, she rang the doorbell but did not get any response. She knocked. Nothing. She walked away and found a large rock and started to bang on the door.

The beast came and forcefully swung the door open. He stood almost 9 feet tall. He bent down, got in her face, and screamed, “What Do You Want?” His voice was strong and powerful. She could feel the bass in her chest.

Very much intimidated, she wanted to turn around and run away but she needed to save her father. She screamed back, “I Want My Father.”

He grabbed her and threw her into the same room.

“Father”, she screamed. “Are you OK?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to save you.” She stood up and stared the beast in the face. “What gives you the right to lock up an old man like this.”

“Because he’s an old thief.”, the beast answers.

“He’s not a thief; he was just looking around what looks like an abandoned mansion.”

They went back and forth but got nowhere. He then threw a bag of things her father was taking. She calmed down and offered to stay if he let her father go.

“You would do that?”, the beast said with a softer voice.

“NO!” her father shouted.

The beast wants to teach him a lesson, so he kicks him out of the mansion. He grabbed Simon and had one of his staff put him on a truck and drive him near town, but not close enough to be seen. As he was leaving, Bella told him to check the attic.

The beast appears a little nicer after Simon left. He promises to release Bella in one week. Over the course of the week, she learned a lot about the beast’s history. He used to be a handsome man. Because he had such a nasty attitude, his personal nurse infected him with the Nebuchadrezzar virus. She promised that he would never get the cure until he learned to love someone besides himself. “And animals don’t count.”

At first, the beast would give Bella just enough food to keep her alive. The food was nutritious, but not great tasting. He would do all he could to continue to intimidate her and she would still come back just as strong. He enjoyed it.

Soon he would allow her to eat at his table but lock her back up after she eats. She asked the staff why they didn’t leave. Most did. Only the driver, chief, maid, and butler remained. They turned out to be carriers of the disease and didn’t want to spread it. They told her that the beast had a good heart. This could be seen by how he protects the animals.

She recalled seeing a figure feeding the animals before she arrived. She assumed that it must have been him.

The next day, he invites her outside to eat with him while the animals are there. He starts to invite her to do more things with him.

Back home, Sanballat came demanding to see Bella. Her siblings admitted that they hadn’t seen her in a few days. They really didn’t care where she was. Her sister says, “Why do you want her when I’m here.” She tried to lean on him, but he stepped out of the way, and she fell on the floor again. He tried to get her father to come and kick them out of the house, but he said that he was unable to do it. He didn’t explain.

Bella checked her text messages and asked the beast if she could leave. It appeared as if her family was in trouble. She promises to come back. He allows her to leave. When she arrived back home, she learned that her father had found the mansion and while it did need work, they were able to move in.

Sanballat saw Bella coming and put an eviction notice on the door. Thinking that she was too late, Bella started to run away. Her father came running out of the house with troubling news, for Sanballat. Not only did the owner of the house own the mansion but also half of Santiago’s business. This meant that Bella’s father owed nothing.

Bella returns to the beast with a surprise for him. In the attic, she found the cure for his disease. His personal nurse was the former owner of their cottage. As time go by, he returns to the handsome man he once was. His staff all returned, including the nurse.

Ammon, or the beast, proposed to Bella, and she accepted. She moved into his mansion. Her father moves into the new mansion with his sons. Her sister married Sanballat and moved into the cottage. Simon still owned the cottage and charged him over market value rent. Most of them lived happily ever after.