Beauty and The Beasley

Chapter 8

Bree's scream could be heard all the way to Brazil.

The monster was five times faster than a normal animal despite its size and would often leap over her head, landing a few feet in front of her. It would smash its large paws against the ground in such a way that cracks formed on the earth from the impact.

It took all of Bree's willpower to keep from passing out. Her legs were wobbly as she ran helter skelter, avoiding the monster's huge form only by a small chance. It roared angrily and bared its teeth, large drool spit spilling out of its mouth. The contents of her bag went everywhere as she ran so there was no way she could reach her phone and dial for help.

The police could not really do much about a goat-grizzly-monster-tiger, could they?

"Ahh!" Her high-pitched scream came again as the monster tried to follow her all the way up onto the catwalk.

It smashed one and sent the others above into a massive quake making Bree drop to her face. She sat up and scuffled backwards as the monster's arm advanced dangerously close to her legs. She stood up and climbed up into the next catwalk but the monster's arm came again and smashed right into it, breaking it in two. The walks were thankfully higher than its face but its arms could reach them. Bree desperately tiptoed about on the half broken catwalk to avoid physical contact with the monster. Her breath hitched and her heart pounded in her ears as she watched it earnestly pat across the plank trying to feel for any part of her. She clutched her keys tighter to avoid making any noises whilst the monstrous creature growled and continued to search for her with its arm.

Angered by not being able to reach the tiny figurine it smashed the catwalk again and this time, Bree came crashing down with the rubble in a loud bloodcurdling scream. Heavy dust rose from the wreckage and Bree took that as a chance to slip away unseen. The monster fiercely waved its arm about in an attempt to dissipate the dusty mist. When the dust settled, Bree was no longer in sight. It roared and went berserk, smashing and ripping everything in sight.

Meanwhile, Bree had found a small drawer underneath one of the stairs and had smushed herself into it. It was incredibly tight but she fit perfectly, save for her legs cramping against the wall. She shook tremendously yet tried to remain as calm as possible.

"It's going to go away." She tried to convince herself.

A giant sniffling sound made her recoil even more - the monster was following her scent. Bree felt tears sting the corner of her eyes and waited for the worst.

SMASH!

The stairs came crashing down but it was not the one she hid under. The monster roared loudly and smashed down another stairs. It seemed to grow angrier whenever it did not spot its human target. Soon, it huffed loudly and gave up, heading toward the main entrance.

Bree waited a long while before finally squeezing out of her hiding place. Her clothes were dirty and a large patch of material was gone from her jeans. She looked around frantically for a way out but there was none. The only possible way out of the building was through the entrance which meant encountering the monster and it definitely was not in the mood to let her leave. Her gaze landed on an object a few feet away buried halfway in sand.

She went over and picked it up.

It was her Beauty and The Beast storybook.

She closed the pages and began to search around for any item that might have also fallen out of her bag. The search made her feel sane. She felt that she was losing her mind; muttering incoherent phrases and jumping at the slightest movement.

She could still hear the angry growls that came from the entrance and the sound of crashing and wood snapping in two. Her trembled shook even as she walked and her hair went over her body like a cave woman. As she emerged from the room, she spotted another item; hanging from the edge of a broken plank was her other book. She hurriedly picked it up. Subsequently, she spotted her empty bag and Lego bean bag as well. A few moments later she found her smartphone - smashed to pieces. She covered her mouth to prevent a fearful gasp and peered about. It was already past midnight and staying out any longer would mean that even if she did escape the monster, there would be no more cabs available to take her home.