The Beast's Bride

six : seis

Chapter 6

Unfortunately, I was drinking a cocktail when he says this and I nearly choke when it goes down the wrong pipe. 

“You alright there?” He asks shyly, offering a tissue. 

I gratefully take it and wipe my lips. “I never knew.”

“I tried to tell you the day you were leaving for the city but I chickened out.” He explains quietly. 

Perfect timing, the waiter comes and refills our drinks again. I take this opportunity to down my entire glass in one go. The day I left was mostly spent in the woods. Adrian came over and stayed for about a minute before running off. 

“I just thought you should know since we're older now.” He continues making me want to vanish. 

I hear the rain pour even harder now. It’s like the sky is mad. The strong winds kept flickering our light from the lantern. 

Thankfully, my phone decides to ring. Giving another opportunity to stall my reply to what Adrian was saying. I eagerly look down at my phone.

It’s my grandpa. 

Without hesitating, I answer the phone and shoot Adrian a not so apologetic look. “Pa?” 

“Little one, the weather is getting worse. It’s best you get home as soon as possible. I’ve sent Ron to come pick you up.” The call is choppy and staticky but I’m able to understand it well enough.

I hold my phone closer in hopes he can hear me clearly. “Okay. I’m at El Diablo.” 

“Ron is already on his way.” Grandpa assures before ending the call. I couldn’t blame him for being worried. It’s a full on typhoon at this point. It isn’t safe to be out. 

I put down the phone and face my old friend. “I’m so sorry, Adrian. My grandpa wants me home. The weather is getting out of hand.” 

He doesn’t take it badly and nods in agreement. “It is. This storm is getting stronger. I’ll drive you home now.” 

“It’s okay. Ron is coming to get me.” I see Adrian’s defeated expression and I lift my hands up to calm him. “It’s safer. You wouldn’t have to go out of your way to take me home and we’ll both get back faster.” 

He didn’t look convinced.

I reach for his hand this time and squeeze it reassuringly. “Hey, this has nothing to do with what you said earlier. We can talk about it again when the storm decides to leave town. My treat this time.”

Adrian smiles warmly and squeezes my hand back. “Deal.” 

He pays for our dinner and we wait by the entrance of the restaurant for Ron. I look back at the grotto and yet again appreciate how detailed and beautiful it is. The rough stone walls created such a good effect especially when under the light from the torch. 

“That’s him.” Adrian points to the parking lot where a car is driving in. 

The fog and rain didn’t give me a good visibility of it but I trust in Adrian’s judgement. The car parks right in front of us under the shelter. Adrian opens the door for me and sure enough Ron peeks out grinning widely.

“Hey.” He greets cheekily waving at Adrian.

“Don’t look too happy, Ron.” I scold, sliding into the car. “I’ve never seen you smile this big before.” 

The grin on Ron’s face never wavers as he says a taunting goodbye at Adrian. Rolling my eyes, I roll down my window to say goodbye to my old friend.

“Thank you for tonight. You made my dream come true by going here.” I tell him genuinely.  

Adrian leans down to be eye level with me. “It’s my pleasure. I’ll see you soon, alright?”

I don’t get to reply because Ron closed the window before I can say more. 

“You know I could have taken you to El Diablo if you asked.” He says offhandedly driving out of the parking lot.

“I didn’t go out with Adrian for El Diablo.” I laugh giving him the side eye. “It was for grandpa. He wants me to go out.” 

Ron pouts like a little boy.

I roll my eyes at him and show off the El Diablo take away bag that we used to get from grandpa. “I’m assuming you don’t want this?”

As predicted, he lights up instantly. “I do! I do!” 

We laugh and talk about how beautiful the restaurant is. He comments religiously on how dumb it is that I went out with Adrian for countless minutes. The moment we leave the main town and drive up to the outskirts, the rain immediately stops. Not a single drop of rain falls. 

I put down the window and stick my hand out to the empty street. There weren’t any other cars so it was safe to put my hand out. Nothing. Not a drop. The rain stopped like it was a closed faucet. 

A strong smell of tobacco fills the air again and I smack Ron at the back of his head. 

“What’s that for?” He demands grasping his head with his free hand. 

I cross my arms. “Do you smoke?”

“I don’t! Why would you hit me? What did I do?” He groans dramatically. 

I take my time to smell the air and there’s no doubt about it. It smells strongly of smoke. “I keep smelling tobacco. It’s so weird.” 

Ron stiffens at my words. “What?” 

“I feel like someone keeps smoking around me.” I complain, closing my window and leaning back on my chair.

The spooked look on Ron’s face doesn’t leave until we get home. Did he know something I didn’t? 

I lay in bed that night facing the ceiling. Adrian’s confession came as a big surprise for me. We were teased a lot growing up but I never thought anything of it. I also can’t seem to shake off that expression on Ron’s face when I mentioned the smoke to him. He looked genuinely scared and almost ran to his room so fast when we got home.

Suddenly, I hear a series of loud barks from downstairs. Strange, since we don’t have dogs in the area and we have a gate that keeps the strays away. My grandpa is allergic to them so we’ve never had pets. 

The barking gets louder and louder. Curious, I stand from my bed and peer out my window. A single black dog is staring right at me despite being at the third floor of the house. The lights in my room are closed too so what could have possibly gotten his attention? He continues to bark incessantly, eyes never leaving mine. 

I feel the hairs on my arms stand up as a chill goes down my spine. 

Not knowing what else to do, I shoo him away. The dog just continues to bark and stare at me. I moved around my window to see if his eyes would follow me and it does. Annoyed, I grab a spare clothes hanger and throw it at the wild black dog. 

It falls a few inches away from him but he doesn’t flinch or jump away. It stops him from barking though. I start to feel a little scared when the dog just stares at me with watchful black eyes. 

Way creeped out than I should be, I take a step back into my room only to hear loud barking... coming from inside my room. 

I turn around flipping open my lights and the barking instantly stops. No wild dog insight. Surely, I was imagining that? I walk to where I thought I heard it and see muddy paw prints on my floor. 

Terrified, I jump to my bed and go under my blankets. Every single noise or shadow made me want to run to my grandpa’s room but I couldn’t disturb him for my wild imagination.

It’s just my imagination. Yes, my imagination. That’s all it is. The muddy paw prints on my room floor aren't real. It can’t be. 

My thoughts go back to my grandma who would tuck me in bed and tell me stories about ghosts that eat misbehaving children. Ghosts that can shape shift into black demon dogs or a monster with bat wings and a severed upper torso. I wasn’t a misbehaving child anymore. I’m a grown ass woman that ghosts can’t eat with elongated sharp tongues. 

I close my eyes tightly and bury myself deeper into the covers of my bed. The strong smell of tobacco in my room goes completely unnoticed.