✧ 65 | Huff & Puff ✧
Down the long corridor walked the beast. His swagger was different. There was glee in every step he took. He walked like a Viking warrior with bounty in his hand—the maid's uniform.
He whistled.
He stomped.
Every sound was deliberate. Every heavy step, every scrape, every clang echoed through the hallways to intimidate the lonely human trapped in his lair.
He reached the locked door and declared, "Ready or not, here I come."
Beast unlocked the door with a rusty key and walked into his rotten room. His eyes wandered for a moment before he noticed the boy was missing. He looked behind the desks, near the trollies, and in the sheets and blankets. The boy was nowhere to be found.
He sang, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."
The boy's scent was strong with fear. Beast knew he was in the room, but the overpowering stench of decay drowned it out. Rot filled his nostrils, masking the boy's exact location.
"Oh, I see." Beast giggled when the boy hadn't responded. "Playing hard to get. I like it!"
He loved a good game of hide-and-seek.
Suddenly, the scent grew stronger when he walked past the bathroom. Gotcha. A devilish grin spread across his face. He met the bathroom door and turned the knob.
Locked.
Beast scoffed and shook his head. What a weak attempt to hide from him. What a feeble try to escape his games.
Beast pressed his ear to the door. He could almost hear the boy's frantic heartbeat pounding through the wood. He looked through the keyhole and saw the boy curled into himself on the cold bathroom floor, trying to make himself as small as possible.
A grin slowly tugged at Beast's lips until his sharpened fangs came into view.
Just the sight of that fragile little human waiting for him made him itch to begin their next game.
"Well, hello there," Beast spoke, his voice bright with joy. "Ooh, are we playing another game?"
Then he jumped and clapped in excitement.
"Oh! Oh! I know this one. I love this game."
He straightened up and stood in front of the door like a proud actor. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath, his cheeks exaggeratedly puffed.
Then he growled, "Little pig, little pig, let me come in."
Beast was playing the character of the Big Bad Wolf, even mimicking his scratchy voice.
But the only reply he got from the boy was silence.
Beast whispered through the keyhole, "You're supposed to say, no, no—" His voice suddenly climbed into a high, squeaky pitch. "—Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin."
Silence once more.
"Seriously, kid?" Beast sighed as he stood back straight. "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your house in."
A moment passed, then Beast's shoulders slumped.
"This game is boring." He wiggled the doorknob, startling the boy inside. "Come on. Open up, or you'll be pissing and shitting without a door... and I like to peek."
That last part made him smirk. The image of the boy's cheeks flushing with embarrassment as he used the toilet without a door stirred dirty thoughts in Beast's mind. Anything that made the kid miserable filled his black heart with joy.
He was just about to break the door down when he heard a click.
Ilya cracked the door open just enough to leave it slightly ajar, then backed away.
Beast opened the door wide and grinned. Still, the thought of a bathroom without a door lingered in his mind.
Beast threw the maid's uniform at the boy's feet. It was a navy-blue short dress that barely covered the butt, with a ruffled blouse underneath. The outfit had no tights or any type of stockings to make it decent.
It was very revealing... just the way Beast liked it.
"Put this on," Beast demanded.
He waited with arms crossed, an irritating grin never leaving his lips.
Ilya stared at the uniform with teary eyes. Heat crept into his cheeks, burning with embarrassment and humiliation.
His stomach churned.
What did Beast mean by this?
What if this was more than just another one of his twisted games?
What if Beast was planning to do inappropriate things to him; to touch him, to fondle him?
He answered Beast's order with the slightest shake of his head.
"Oh, so that's how you wanna play." A threatening voice replaced Beast's glee tone. "Very well, then." He smiled. "I'll dress you."
Big green eyes locked on yellow, penetrating pair.
"Don't." Ilya's voice quivered as he took a step back. "Don't touch me."
"Oh! Oh!" Beast chirped, his excitement returning at once. "It's like a game of dress-up! I know it's kinda girly, but wouldn't it be fun to dress up a real-life boy?"
His eyes sparkled with childlike excitement. Yet nothing about him felt childlike. The gleeful tone clashed with the deep rumble of his voice, making every word sound twisted, as though he couldn't decide whether he was an innocent child or a hungry predator.
Beast was practically bouncing with joy, while Ilya backed away until his back was one with the wall behind him.
A game.
After game.
After game.
When would this endless string of torture finally end? How much more could Beast possibly take from him before there was nothing left?
Ilya drew a shaky breath, struggling to keep himself together. He could feel another panic attack clawing at the edges of his mind, desperate to burst free. He swallowed hard and forced it back. He couldn't lose control.
Not in front of Beast.
Who knew what twisted idea would bloom inside that monster's mind if he did?