AN: I'm back! Sorry, it's taken so long. Thanks for everyone who has stuck with me. This chapter is in the Beast's point of view. Enjoy!

Chapter Four

Beast by day… Man by night?

She was here! I couldn't believe she was actually here. When I saw her in the woods, shouting at the sky I was a little worried but now… now I was ready to get to know her better. I had already begun to think of her as "Issie" and not Isabelle. She was different from anyone I'd ever met and I just knew it was her. Issie was going to break the curse. She was kind but witty, polite yet fierce. Most of all she was brave. She was everything I could ask for and more. It was just an added blessing that she was beautiful although she didn't seem to believe it. I'd have to work on that.

At around midnight, I heard violin music fill the air. Issie was playing and I smiled slightly. I could get used to this. Then I remembered that it was almost midnight. I rushed toward her room and opened the door just in time to see her fall onto the bed, violin in hand. She started to mumble in her sleep and I slipped into the room, cursing myself for not saying anything. I gently took the violin from her hands and placed in the case. Then I lifted her back into the bed. I will be forever grateful for fingers and hands. She looked so beautiful with her dark hair splayed across the white pillow, her lips curled up slightly. I desperately wanted to know what she was dreaming about. The only way to do that was to go to the lake. I all but sprinted there and quickly removed my shoes. Then I hopped in. So many dreams floated in the lake but I was looking for one in particular. There it was! I quickly latched onto it and concentrated on entering the dream.

There was Issie, dancing happily around a little meadow that was speckled with daisies. She continued to spin, even when I was sure she had seen me. I just watched her prance around to the music in her mind. Her chocolate curls spun with her and I was mesmerized.

"Are you just going to stand there?" she asked suddenly, still spinning. "Come dance with me."

"Are you always this friendly to strangers?" I asked her as she grabbed my hands and forced me to twirl with her.

"Only in my dreams," she answered with a smile. "So who are you?"

"It's your dream," I shrugged. She stopped spinning and looked at me curiously, head cocked to the side.

"You look like a Adam," she told me. "I'm going to call you Adam."

"Alright," I choked out through my suddenly tight throat. Of all the names she could have chosen, she chose mine. She didn't know—couldn't know—that. Issie had simply guessed the one name that could possibly set me free but it wasn't enough. Not yet.

"So, Adam," she said, "since you are my dream, what should we do? You are a dream, aren't you?" She looked almost frightened. I couldn't lie to her even if I wanted to.

"I'm not entirely imaginary," I said, skirting around the topic.

"I should have known," she muttered. "An enchanted castle, invisible servants and magic dreams. This is not what I had in mind for adventure."

"What did you expect out of an adventure?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I've always lived in my books and I hoped that my adventure would be like that but it's not. It's terrifying."

"I'm sure that it was terrifying for the characters as well," I said. "Just think of all the heroes that were just ordinary people with big hearts. If I had to save the world with just my brains and some lucky circumstances, I would be terrified too." She laughed and I was reminded of the wind blowing across the grass, inviting you to join it.

"I guess you're right," she said. "And look at me! Getting enjoyment from other people's hardships." I laughed with her then.

"You do realize they're fictional characters," I informed her.

"A person's a person no matter how small," she quoted with an easy smile.

"Is that your philosophy for everything?" I inquired. "Or just small people?" It was a legitimate question thinly veiled with a joke but she didn't know that yet.

"Everything," she smirked. "I don't judge other people by appearances. Only actions."

"I see," I said. "So then why judge your adventure by appearances? Why not what it does to your life?"

"I know it exactly what it did to my life," she sighed. "It took me away from my family, my home, and everything I've ever known. Right now, the future doesn't seem too bright."

"Try looking at it from another perspective," I suggested, trying my hardest to stay calm. "You have to chance to do things that you never could have done before."

"Like what?" she questioned, sitting down in her meadow.

"In your wildest dreams, could you imagine living in an enchanted palace that's shrouded in mystery?"

"No," she admitted. "I'm not even sure why I'm here. I can't tell whether the Beast is just lonely or whether he has nefarious purposes."

I laughed quietly. "He's just lonely I promise."

"How do you know?" she asked, suspicious.

"Let's just say that I've been here for a long time," I said vaguely, the curse stopping me from saying more.

"So you're somewhere in the castle?" she inquired excitedly.

"Not exactly," I replied. It wasn't a lie. At the moment, I wasn't in the castle and she would never see this me in the castle.

"What do you mean?" Now she was confused.

"I'm not allowed to tell you," I answered honestly, "but if you'd like me back, I'll see you here whenever I can manage it."

"I would like that," she smiled. "As much as I like Jackie and Mrs. White, I'd like to have someone at least semi-normal to talk to."

I laughed. "I promise that I'm not normal but neither are you."

"You're right," she confessed. "Everyone always told me I was strange and it's all completely true."

"I like strange," I told her and she smiled.

"Good," she said. "Because if we're going to be friends, you'll have to get used to it."

"Friends?" I echoed.

"Yes, friends," she replied. "I've never had a lot of them but the ones I do have, I treasure."

"I would like nothing more than to be you're friend, Miss Isabelle Hessiton," I smiled.

"How do you know my name?" she inquired. "And for that matter, why are you here?"

"You learn things when you've been here as long as I have," I answered vaguely.

"You're very easy to talk to," Issie told me. "I wonder whether that's just a consequence of me being asleep."

I chuckled. "Somehow, I doubt it. I imagine you're very straightforward in whatever you do."

"I imagine you would be correct," she laughed, leaving back. I could feel the sun about to rise above the lake and I knew my time was up.

"I must go, Issie," I said sadly. "I shall see you tonight. Goodbye."

"Wait!" she called as I turned to go. "Why did you call me that? My name is Isabelle."

"Issie suits you," I smiled, hoping she'd realize it was me but knowing she wouldn't.

"It's just…the Beast calls me that," she said. "I was wondering where you picked it up."

"Like I said, I've been here a long time," I said. "I know the Beast better than anyone." Once again, not a lie.

"Goodbye, Adam," she said faintly as I drifted towards the surface of the lake. I grinned like an idiot and crawled up onto the lake shore to face an angry Mrs. White.

"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. "You were out until dawn. You're just lucky there was a cloud over those accursed roses."

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I simply lost track of the time."

"So is she the one?" Mrs. White asked and I smiled brightly even as I felt the fur grow over my skin and my hands turn back to paws.

"She knew my name," I told the elderly housekeeper. "On the first guess, she knew my name."

"What do you mean 'guess'?" she inquired. She knew the rules as well as I did. I couldn't help Issie or the roses would have a new victim.

"I just told her that because it was her dream, she'd have to name me," I assured Mrs. White. "She told me I look like a Adam. If that isn't a sign, I don't know what is."

"Master, I like this one," Mrs. White said. "I don't wish her to meet the same fate as the others. Please do not do anything stupid."

"Just the usual routine with a few twists perhaps," I informed her. "I'm going to go find the perfect book in the library and warn Adriana about Issie. You know how she is about strangers in her library." Mrs. White chuckled at that and made her way back to the castle. I lingered behind, not wanting to return to my gilded cage. With a final mournful glance at the brightening horizon, I headed toward the library.

"Welcome back," Adriana greeted me when I entered the large room. Her dark hair hung down her back and her ebony eyes stared up at me. She really was beautiful and looked out of place among the books that filled the walls from floor to ceiling. Issie seemed so at home when I imagined her here. I could just picture her, brown eyes twinkling in delight as she devoured the books quickly, passionately.

"Adriana, I need a book on roses and their meanings," I told her. "There's another girl and I'm going to bringing her in here today but I need the book right away. She can't know just yet."

"Sir, another girl?" Adriana asked. "I thought you had given up."

"I did but then Jacob Hessiton wandered here. I'm positive it's her," I said. "I can feel it."

"This one can actually?" Adriana inquired skeptically.

I chuckled. "Yes. Quite well, actually."

"Is she like the others?"

"No," I shook my head. "Not at all. Adriana, she guessed my name. Of course, she didn't know that was me but it's hope and that's all I've got left."

"I've been with you for a long time," Adriana said. "I don't want to see you hurt again. Are you sure you love her?"

"It's too soon to say," I admitted, "but I've never felt this way with any of the other girls."

"Then I support you, Adam," Adriana smiled. "Let's find you that book. We obviously can't let this one get away."

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