Cruel Beauty

Chapter 2

Like most times, you don’t always get what you pray for. My eyes were wide open, and I could see clearly. I came crashing back to earth in time to hear someone talking about the cursed King.

“He’s ugly, I tell you.” The man spoke.

“Have you ever seen him?” Another question.

“With my own two eyes. He is a beast, I tell you. A real ugly beast.” The man boasts, puffing out his chest.

“That’s impossible.” A woman in the cell beside mine says calmly.

“And how would you know that?” The man frowned, upset that the woman was making him out to be a liar.

“Because you’re still alive.” A deadly silence hung over the room after her words.

“Are you calling me a liar?” The man raged, pressing his body against the metal bars of his cell with one hand sticking out, thrashing wildly. His face was turning a deep shade of red from anger.

“Yes.” Her voice remained calm, completely unaffected by the man’s futile attempt at getting to her. “That’s exactly what you are… A liar.”

“You-you-you-you-” the man stammered, pulling against the metal bars wildly.

Whispers erupt among the other prisoners as the man pushes violently against the metal bars, baring his canines.

My eyes move on their own accord as I peer over at her in her cell. The cells were just bars of metals separating each cell, so you could easily see each other. There was no privacy, not even when you were going to the loo—which was just a pan in one corner of the cell. It had a rank smell that assaulted the nose.

She was leaning against the wall with her eyes closed. Her pin-straight hair was midnight black that stopped at her shoulders. Her face was dirty, yet she still looked beautiful with long lashes that fanned against her cheeks, thick eyebrows, button-nose, and pouty lips. She had a weird scent, one that I wasn’t familiar with.

“You’re staring.” She says this without opening her eyes. I look away, heat creeping up my neck in embarrassment. “What’s your name?” She asks a moment later, while I was busy dying of embarrassment, having gotten caught staring at her.

It was a simple question, yet it felt like I didn’t know the answer. I thought about her question, wondering whether I should ignore her or answer. No one has ever asked me that question before. Prisoners usually ignore me and gossip behind my back, even though I can hear them.

“Aurora.” My voice came out hoarse and scratchy.

“It’s nice to meet you, Aurora. I’m Riley.” Her eyes snap open to reveal mesmerizing hues of blue. She offers a small smile.

It seemed like a genuine smile, one that I was unaccustomed to. The last person to offer me a genuine smile was my mother. That was twelve years ago.

Hesitantly, my cracked lips pulled up to form a smile of my own, which only made her grin even wider, showing off her pearly whites. I haven’t smiled in years. Being trapped here didn’t really give a person much to smile about unless you were a psychopath.

“Where are we?”

“A dungeon?”

“No silly. Which territory is this?”

“Oh, oh, oh.” My mouth formed an ‘o’ shape as realization dawned on me. “The Blue Moon Pack.”

I watch as she allows the information to sink in. With furrowed brows, she stared straight ahead at the next cell over. She twirls strands of hair around her finger, lost in thought.

I watched her in silence, analyzing her every move. I make a mental note of how she scrunches up her nose now and then, her lips forming a pout, the occasional sigh, the way her hands fidget when she’s thinking, or the way her eyes seem to narrow ever so slightly. Finally, I see the quirk on her lips as her eyebrows rise in amusement, then she chuckles to herself.

Was she crazy? The thought crossed my mind. Thinking back to our previous conversation and the fact that she said something to me first, I think she might be crazy after all.

A sudden gust of wind blew through the small barred window, carrying the unfamiliar scent along with it. Her scent was strange and slightly addictive. It was so distracting that I couldn’t think clearly.

“Why do you smell like that?” I blurted out before I could stop myself. Her scent was unfamiliar, and I was having a hard time placing it. “I didn’t mean-” I tried to explain. I didn’t want to seem rude, but she cut me off before I could explain.

“It’s fine. I get that a lot.” She chuckles, shaking her head with a smile. “I’m human.” She says.

Human.

My eyes widened in shock. I was always curious about what humans looked like, but I’ve never seen one in person until now. She looked normal, like one of us, but she wasn’t one of us.

“You look normal.” I frowned, my eyes raking over her body, trying to find something that could tell her apart from us. She didn’t look like a monster or anything. Growing up, we were told that humans were ugly monsters, but she didn’t look like a monster—quite the complete opposite.

“Is that a bad thing?”

“No. It’s just… You’re the first human I’ve ever seen.” I confess. She c***s her head to the side in thought.

“How long have you been here?”

Do I lie or tell her the truth? She was the first person to show even an ounce of interest in me, so I probably should be honest. I should tell her the truth. Because the truth was, one day she’ll leave here, and I’ll be left behind like I’ve always been. It was nice having someone to talk to, even for a short while.

“Twelve years.” My voice came out small and timid. I’ve never said it out loud. I’ve thought about it, but hearing it out loud was different—like reality was finally settling in.

They have locked me up for a crime I didn’t commit for twelve years. For twelve long years, I’ve had to endure a never-ending cycle of pain and torture. To what end? My death perhaps.

At that, she sat up straight, pushing herself up against the bars of metal, trying to gauge my expression. She probably couldn’t see as well as I could in the dimly lit space. My face was a blank canvas. She eyes me, unsure of what to make of my confession. “H-h-how? Why?” Her voice cracks, eyes shining in the dimly lit cell.

Is that—Is that tears? It was strange seeing a complete stranger getting teary-eyed because of me. Strange, but comforting. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

I’ve never told anybody what happened. In the past, whenever I tried to, they’d always cut me off. No one believed me. No one believes me still.

Will she believe me?

Is it worth the pain and heartache that dredging up the past will bring?

She seemed like a decent person. I’ve always wanted to tell my side of the story to whoever would listen, and here she was, willing and ready.

So, I told her. Not everything, but enough for her to understand. In short, I told her that my mother was murdered, and I was blamed for her murder. I told her that I was innocent, that I was paying the price for a crime I didn’t commit.

I don’t tell her that I know who actually killed my mother. I don’t tell her about the scars on my back and how they got there.

By the end, she looked about ready to murder somebody, which made me want to laugh. She was a human, surrounded by werewolves. She’d be eaten alive before she even got a chance to raise her finger.

“You don’t deserve to be treated like this!” she railed, staring at the ground as if it had offended her. “Don’t worry Aurora. I’ll get you out of here.” Her voice was firm with a determined look on her face—a promise of sorts.

I want to believe her. I wanted to believe that she could get me out of her, but I knew better. She was merely a human, so what could she possibly do?

“I’ll be taking this one.” An authoritative feminine voice ordered from the hallway.

I didn’t even hear when anyone came in, too caught up in my own thoughts.

“Babe!” Riley grinned, standing to her full height. “We have a problem.”

I tilted my head so I could see who it was, just in time to see purple eyes already staring at me, eyebrows drawn together with a frown.