Beauty and the Beasts

A Mysterious Helper

Jasmine watched the mess of shattered glass and the wood around her room. Her hand balanced on her forehead, her lips parted in slight exasperation. Why did it seem like the bad luck of the world was descended on her?

It hadn't even been a month since she had had to move from her old home because of the incessant attacks, especially at night. She had long given up on sleep, and the last time she saw peace was a memory she had forgotten.

Every night was the same story. Once it was twelve, the knocks on her door would start, jolting her from whatever she was doing, be it lying around or trying to work on something.

She never did open up, and she honestly wondered what would happen if she someday did. Her curiosity was never great enough to get her to do it, though.

They would start knocking on every window of the house, creating a rhythm that haunted her even in broad daylight, while others rapidly tried to open the door knob at insane speed.

Like last night. The window just above her head had suddenly broken through, and in the full moon, she had caught a glimpse of a face. Suddenly, they all ran, and there was no one there anymore. They had made a mess of her windows, and everything that was close to it.

Slowly, she went to her knees and started to tidy up. She still had to make it to school, and then to the club where she worked part time. Her rather great need for different places to stay only raked up her debt, and she needed to pay them.

Being the best student in school didn't matter much, at least not now.

She cleaned up, then went to the small shower. She had stripped and lathered, before to her dismay, the water suddenly went off. Just like that.

Hell.

She pressed on the buttons hard, trying to get something out, but it only gave a rather annoying sound, and nothing else.

With a large sigh, she pushed her feet outside, her hand stretching towards the small fridge. She maneuvered for a bottle of water, and she used it to wash her face. She wrapped her still soapy body with a towel, and made her way around the house. She stared at the pipes, wondering what could have gone wrong.

"Excuse me."

She froze, her eyes widening. She was in nothing but a towel, and her body was still lathered. She hadn't expected to be seen, and had thrown caution to the wind in her desperation.

Slowly, she turned to the person that had spoken, and her voice hitched. He was tall, around 6ft2, and had an extremely dazzling smile.

He was holding a school bag, and seemed to be around the same age as her. His warm brown eyes looked almost red in the reflection of the sunlight, while his black hair, fell in beautiful short curls.

He looked like the type of guy girls like her would do anything for, the kind of guys her mum would have asked her to stay away from.

She blinked, then took a step back, her lips parting, but no word leaving it.

"I am sorry, did I catch you at a a bad time?" he said again, his beautiful voice convincing her about how embarrassing she must look to him right now.

She took another step away, and in her lack of coordination, missed her step. She gave a small yelp as she dangerously fell back, her head aiming for a large stone that sat on the floor beneath.

She closed her eyes and awaited the impact, but it never came. She felt a soft palm holding her head, and her back balanced on something.

She opened her eyes slowly, and her eyes met the boy's. He still had the same beautiful smile, and he was looking at her like she was the most amusing thing in the world.

She immediately looked down at herself, remembering she was still only in a towel. He laughed and pulled her up to him, causing her to move towards him, distance less than an inch separating them.

She looked up to him, her lips parted in surprise.

"I..."

"It seems your towel has a lot more stamina than you." He let his eyes move to her open upper chest, where her mother's pendant rested, and he smirked again.

She immediately brought her hands in an attempt to cover up, and it just made him smile.

He brought his hand to her, and adjusted his bag. "My name is Andrew. I am new here, and I think I got lost trying to navigate. I am sorry I met you like this."

She looked down at his hand. He wore a single ring on the knuckle of his middle finger, and she noticed he also wore a single earring on his right ear. The typical bad boy. He even looked like one, complete with the hoodie and joggers combo, and a trendy sneakers.

"Where were you going?" she asked rather meanly, not taking his hand.

He gave a small laugh. "How about I help you first? You seemed like you were having some trouble."

She turned to the pipes, then back to him. "Well...I guess it..."

"It's clogged, huh?" he said, then swiftly removed his bag and gave it to her.

She reluctantly held it in her fingers, not willing to rub lather on it. She watched as he went around checking, before suddenly emerging.

"It was turned off. I mean, you might have mistakenly turned it off from here. I hope you have a great shower now." He didn't look down, but she scowled, and gave him his bag.

"Thank you," she murmured, and without waiting for him to say anything, she ran into the house, closing the door behind her.

"My directions!" he called after her, but she didn't wait. She ran straight to the shower and locked herself in, like she was expecting him to come in.

She heard him give a small amused snicker, and then heard his footsteps fade away into the distance.

"Andrew?" she said, tilting her head slightly. She shook her head, and turned on the shower.