Beauty Within The Beast

Okay, take a deep breathe and down the memory lane we go. As far as I’m told, I just woke up from a terrible accident that occur months ago that I have no idea- as a matter of fact, I don’t have any recollection of my life before waking up. There are three things that I’m certain: first is that the ‘accident’ has something to do with flight. I know what I saw. It was a giant pair of wings. Secondly, a guy whose face I can’t seem to recall but for some reason is all I can think about. And lastly, I know these two things intersect with one another and the for the reason why and how? I’m not sure. And as I begin to collect the broken fragments of him in my memory, I also begin to collect my missing pieces. Whether its for the better or the worse is what I'm about to find out. Okay, let’s do this again, shall we? Take a deep breathe and down the memory lang we go.

My roommate won first prize in the national lottery, a full 100 million dollars. She quit her job on the spot, blocked her boss, and said to me, "Amanda, from now on, we'll live in Luxuria Heights, eating the best food and living it up." We went on shopping sprees at Hermès and treated Michelin restaurants like our daily canteen. On moving day, she told me to go ahead to the top-floor luxury apartment and wait for her. She said she needed to pick up a package. Excited, I entered the password she had given me. "Beep. Incorrect password." I was just about to try again. Then, the door opened. The person who came out was not my roommate but a stranger in a suit. He looked at me and frowned. "Who are you? Why do you have the password to my home?" I was stunned. "This is Lydia Zaydn's apartment. Who are you?" The man's expression turned strange. "Lydia Zaydn? I've lived here for five years. I've never heard of that name."

I crave excitement in my life. To do that, I send my deskmate a video of me pleasing myself with a toy. Bit by bit, it awakens his desires…

This is the biography of a 21-year-old young woman, Victoria Carlson. To her, her stepfather's massive manhood is her best coming-of-age present. "Vicky, Daddy just wants to give you a surprise," my stepfather, Charlie Kramer, says as he rips my dress off me roughly.

They take girls and women in the depth of the night, when the moon is as high and powerful in the sky. They sit back only ready to hunt at their time crawling through the streets of our tiny town, the people all quiver in fear doing all sorts of spiritual and religion tailsman like marking their doors with the cross symbols to stay safe from the beasts... But that dosen't scare away the beast but no one wants to be the next girl or woman people pity over being mauled by the beast. No one wants to be the next girl who was found dead in the woods last week with her body parts missing. Garbage trash and sewage and many others is the next best remedy to use to hide their smell since they noticed the beast rely on their sense of smell. No one wants to be the mother, or father or sister that wakes up in an empty bed to the loved ones... The humans just want to be safe from the beasts, if only their ancestors hadn't signed some kind of treaty that made them reign over the humans now.. They once underestimated the beast but now no one wants to take the risk, everyone is advised to stay in their house under their covers to protect themselves from the beast...

As the male lead, Henry Johnston, forces himself on me, a row of comments suddenly appears before my eyes. "Henry is about to misunderstand and think Aria drugged him! The angst is about to begin!" "I'm thrilled just thinking about Henry regretting dearly after Aria dies!" "Keep up the act, Henry. After she dies, you'll be hugging her corpse and crying every day." That is when I realize that I am the tragic female lead in a story where I am destined to be tormented until I die. The readers treat my death as a highlight to push the plot forward. They are counting down to my death. As I look at Henry, who is panting on top of me, anger courses through me. I grab a table lamp and smash it into him, killing him on the spot. Who says that the one who dies in a toxic romance story must always be the female lead?

After being sent back in time to relive my life, I stopped standing up for the popular girl who got caught stealing. When she returned to college for classes, I dropped out. When she came to my house looking for me, I moved. I did everything I could to cut off all contact with her. Before I died in my last life, I knew she married me only for my family’s money, yet I still handed her my heart like a fool. The jewelry I gave her was “tacky.” Trying to get close to her was “annoying.” I held on to a cold, empty marriage, thinking that as long as I waited, she would eventually turn back to me. However, for more than twenty years, all I got was her indifference. I didn’t even dare touch the doorknob to her room. Then came the fire, and I risked my life to push her out the window to safety. Right before I died, I saw my wife, completely unharmed, run straight into the arms of our college valedictorian. Crying, she said she was finally free from the marriage that had made her miserable for decades. If life could start over, she said, she hoped to walk hand in hand with the person she truly loved. In that moment, my heart went dead. I let the fire swallow whatever remained of my life. When I opened my eyes again, I was back at the bar where the popular girl was working part-time and stealing money from a customer. This time, I chose to call the police.

During an elective class, the campus belle, Jemima Ford, who is our senior, describes her ideal type with everyone egging her on. She says, "My future husband has to be at least six feet two inches tall. His parents must be college professors, and his grades should be top three in his major…" The room buzzes with teasing chatter and gossip. At the same time, I snap up my head in surprise. Why does Jemima's description of her ideal type sound like my boyfriend, Elijah Sanders? The next second, the professor standing by the podium smiles obsequiously and says, "Very well said. If Eli hears this, he'll definitely be very happy! Later, the two of you can meet. That way, he won't get tricked by some naive girl into going abroad." Amid the burst of laughter from the class, I lower my eyes and look at the message my parents sent me. It reads, "Sweetheart, are you really going abroad with your boyfriend? There'll be no one left to inherit our company with you gone."

The day we submitted our college applications, the school beauty, Hayley Law, suggested we all go rafting to unwind. Every single person in class raised their hand in agreement. In my previous life, as the class monitor, I did everything I could to stop them. Wild rafting was far too dangerous. Without any safety measures in place, accidents could easily happen. In the end, everyone made it back safely and got into the colleges they wanted. But before the semester even started, news came that Hayley had gone rafting alone, slipped into the water, and drowned. When Terry Vargas, my boyfriend and the most popular guy in school, heard what happened, he took the lead in organizing a memorial at sea. Then, when the waves were at their worst, he shoved me into the ocean. Later, when the police questioned them, they all told the same story as if they had planned it. "Katrina insisted on a sea burial for Hayley. During the storm, she got swept away by the waves and disappeared." They even produced fake evidence to clear Terry's name. My parents were shattered. They went to Terry again and again, desperate for the truth, but he had them set up and locked away in a mental institution, where they were tormented to death. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day Hayley first suggested the rafting trip. I stood there quietly, watching my classmates pile into the bus she had rented, heading off to that same reckless trip. This time, I would just look out for myself.

Delilah was an Omega with a unique scent. Her stepmother took advantage of it and wanted to sell her to different men. After losing all the way to save herself from the conspiracy of her step-parents, she went to the forest to find a way to live.  But a dangerous beast was living there for years. People were frightened just to think about him and never dared to go inside the forest. It was like his own kingdom. What if she collided with the beast? Will he hunt her or let her stay alive?