Beauty and the Beast Read online

  Gabriel, knowing that the police were on their way, was ready to smother the baby with a pillow, all the while telling him in his maniacal insanity, that he loved him. Vincent had felt the danger, had broken out of the electrified cage he was in, and had raced through the mansion to stop Gabriel. That was when Diana got there, just in time to prevent Vincent from killing Gabriel.

  After she sent Vincent with his rescued baby to Father in the tunnels below the mansion, Diana confronted Gabriel with the gun Father had given her. He proceeded to thank her for rescuing him from Vincent and then informed her that he probably wouldn’t be convicted, and if he was, he could rule his evil empire from prison and would soon have Vincent’s child back under his control again. Diana had calmly said, “Not this time, Gabriel.

  This is Catherine Chandler’s gun.” That was the end of

  Gabriel.

  Diana’s decision to end Gabriel’s miserable existence had not been without psychological consequences. Now, she had a much better understanding of how it hurt Vincent to unleash the avenging Demon within him. What Diana couldn’t have known at that time was that an even greater evil was lurking in the shadows ready to threaten Vincent’s world once again.

  Diana looked over at Vincent, who had fallen sound asleep while she was humming, probably the first good sleep he had experienced in the last nine months—the six months that Catherine was missing, and the three since her death on October 13th. Little Jacob was asleep in her arms as well. Diana laid the baby in his bassinet with a kiss. Then she went to Vincent’s bedside and gently picked his hand up. She carefully opened it, extracted the ceramic rose, and then laid his hand back on his chest. She put the rose back in its pouch and leaned over, giving Vincent a kiss on his forehead, before walking softly out of his chamber to go find Father.

  On the way, she ran into Mary in the passageway. Diana couldn’t help but smile whenever she saw Mary with her light, youthful step belying her age. She was about the same age as Father, but there was nothing matronly about her. Tall and slender, she was a truly beautiful woman with a refined air about her. Her fine features were set off by long, soft, light brown hair,

  carefully wound on top of her head in a very becoming style. She was the community’s head nurse and their midwife, and she took her responsibilities very seriously. “Hello, Mary.” Diana greeted her.

  “Are you leaving us then, Diana?” Mary asked.

  Diana replied. “Not yet. I’m going to see Father. You don’t need to worry right now about Vincent and Little Jacob. They are both sound asleep.”

  “You’re sure Vincent’s asleep?” Mary asked incredulously.

  “He is really asleep!” Diana assured her.

  Mary shook her head in amazement. “Then, you’ve managed to accomplish what none of us have been able to do in the nine months since Catherine first disappeared, get him to relax enough to sleep. He spent six of those months scouring the city looking for Catherine, and then the next more than two months scouring the city looking for his baby. Even though Little Jacob has been safe down here for a couple of weeks now, Vincent still hasn’t relaxed. We were beginning to wonder if he would ever sleep peacefully again.”

  Diana smiled, “I’m glad I could help.”

  “You’ve helped more than you can possibly know. Ill go watch over them, so the baby won’t wake Vincent.” Diana watched Mary disappear around the corner headed for Vincent’s chamber. Then she resumed her trek back to Father’s chamber.

  When Diana finally arrived in Father’s chamber, she found him sitting at his table, just thinking. It was easy for Diana to think of Jacob Wells as “Father.” With his cultured demeanor and his carefully trimmed brown beard and mustache, with just a distinguished touch of silver, he looked very patriarchal. His confidence made people forget his disabling limp, and hardly notice the cane he needed to get around the tunnels. He was the community’s physician, and a brilliant surgeon, as well as the original founder of their world. Between his skill and Mary’s attentive nursing, these people had the very best in medical care.

  He looked up and said, “Do you know that today is January 12th? This is the 35th anniversary of the day that Vincent came into our lives.”

  Diana smiled, “You were blessed that he did.”

  Father went on, “We should be preparing for our Winter Fest celebration about now. We usually have it the first week in February, and it takes some time to get ready for it. No one is in the mood to celebrate, though, with Vincent in mourning, and without Catherine with us.” Diana was intrigued. “Winter Fest?”

  Father explained, “We celebrate all of the holidays you do in the world above down here, but Winter Fest is our own. It is a special holiday we created to celebrate the beginning of our world here, bringing light into this labyrinth of dark tunnels, and making it our home. Our newest candle maker, who has been Rebecca for a couple of years now, makes lovely long yellow-orange tapered candles with white tips. We then send the children above with these candles, to give one to each of our Helpers.

  This celebration is as much to honor them for the light they bring to our world, as it is to celebrate the creation of our world. They are then led down here, and we all travel to one of our lower caverns, which we call the Great Hall.

  It is hung with beautiful tapestries, and is furnished with candle chandeliers, very large banquet tables, and smaller tables around the outer walls, along with plenty of chairs. We then have a ceremony which begins in total darkness to symbolize the way the tunnels were once dark. I light my candle and then light the candles of those on either side of me. Then everyone lights each other’s candles as well as the chandeliers, and the whole room is then full of light. After that, we enjoy the feast that William loves preparing for us, and there is dancing to music played by our talented musicians. We finish by playing games and just having a lot of fun socializing with one another.”

  Diana was fascinated. “What a lovely holiday! Ill help you pray it is only postponed, not completely missed this year.” She then changed the subject. “I wish Vincent had been my big brother too, as he is to all of the children here. I can’t help but love him like they do.”

  Father studied her thoughtfully for a moment, “If you really feel that way about my son, then there is something I think you need to know in order to assist us in helping him. It is a secret about Catherine, and he mustn’t know yet.”

  Diana was filled with concern. “Tell me, Father!”

  Father got up from the table and walked toward his sleeping chamber. “Let me show you something which Vincent still doesn’t remember.” He walked to a drawer in his bedroom chamber and took out a piece of paper and a gold ring, studded all around with tiny heart shaped crystals, and showed them to Diana.

  Diana took the paper from him and examined it.

  “They were married! This is a legal document. How is this possible?”

  Father explained, “We have Helpers in many places, including the Department of Vital Statistics. They help us with marriage and death certificates, even Social Security numbers for those of our children who grow up and decide to leave our world here for college or work in the world above.”

  Diana was struggling to wrap her mind around what Father was telling her. “Was there a marriage ceremony for Vincent and Catherine?”

  Father smiled softly, “Yes, it was a lovely ceremony, performed by our Chinese helper, Kevin Chin, who has performed all of the marriages in our world. They were married more than a year ago, the last Saturday in September.”

  Diana took the ring from him. “This ring is beautiful, Father! It is way too big to be Catherine’s. Is it Vincent’s?”

  Father answered, “Yes. Catherine’s rings are on her.”

  Diana pursed her lips. “I see. You buried her with them.”

  Father tipped his head sideways and raised his eyebrows, “No, but she is wearing them.” Diana looked at Father in stunned silence, as the meaning of his words began to sink in. Father continued, “Cath
erine is alive!” Diana’s jaw dropped. “And Vincent doesn’t know? Father, he is in such pain!”

  Father said very emphatically, “He mustn’t know! The entire community knows and is shielding Vincent. When we found that she was still alive, her condition was precarious, and we were not sure we could save her. Losing her again would probably have destroyed him. The other problem I worried about was the fact that his empathic links were just beginning to be repaired. While Vincent was in his self-imposed exile, trying to protect us from Gabriel, I gathered everyone together. They had all been coming to me individually, finding out like close communities always do, that Catherine was not dead. I sat them all down, while Vincent was gone, and explained why it was imperative to keep this secret from him. I told them that they mustn’t tell Vincent about Catherine, no matter how hard that became, or heartbreaking it seemed. I explained to them that if he knew before he was fully well, with his empathic link to her reestablished, his desperation to save her would surely impair the complete restoration of that link.”

  Diana nodded as understanding dawned on her, “I can

  see that. Please don’t worry, Father. ’Need to know’ is a part of my job description. Vincent won’t find out from me.

  Father told Diana about the struggles he had been having with Vincent, especially before he found his child, trying to keep him from taking reckless chances. He told her that he had been compelled to tell him, when he went after Gabriel’s murderous assassin, Snow, “You won’t find Catherine again by embracing death!” Diana agreed that she had also been having similar conversations with him, when she was trying to convince him to let her help him.

  Father continued, with pain in his voice, “I can’t tell you how hard it was, in that moment, not to tell him that Catherine was still alive. I knew, though, that it would destroy what we were trying to accomplish in helping him to heal his link, and the distraction of that knowledge would probably have gotten him killed in going after Snow. Vincent certainly wasn’t going to allow Snow to continue his killing rampage down here. Before Vincent could get to Snow, he killed two of our community members. One of his victims was just a teenage boy.”

  Diana told Father about one of her first conversations with Vincent, after she found him on Catherine’s grave, badly wounded. “While Vincent was recovering those three days in my loft, after Gabriel blew up the Compass Rose with Vincent and Elliott Burch on it, he told me about his connection to Catherine and how it had been broken. I told him I was sure that ability would return to

  him. It had already begun to be mended when he felt Little Jacob’s heartbeat as Catherine was bearing him. That was how he found her after Gabriel stole her child.” Diana shook her head slowly. “So, you are all just watching and waiting for his empathic link with her to be completely healed. I sure wouldn’t want to be in his way when that happens!”

  Father quickly added, “That is why Pascal has established a new code on the pipes specifically for letting all of us know where Vincent is at all times. His sadness over Catherine and his preoccupation with Little Jacob have kept him distracted, so he hasn’t even noticed.” Diana finally asked, “Where is Catherine?”

  Father answered, “Actually, she is being cared for by the very doctor who helped bring her into this world, and is now doing his best to keep her in it, Dr. Peter Wellington.”

  Diana was surprised. “I’ve heard of him. Isn’t he a very well known gynecologist?” Father nodded, and Diana continued, “I’m amazed by the number of people in high places who are Helpers to your world.”

  “We truly are blessed by association with some of your world’s finest people,” Father smiled.

  “I feel like I already know Catherine, because I studied her life so intensely. It would make me really happy to actually see her alive. Would you take me there?” Diana pleaded.

  Father assured her, “That is exactly what I intended to

  do. I was hoping that was what you wanted.” He took Vincent’s wedding ring and the marriage certificate, and put them back in his dresser drawer.

  As they left Father’s chamber together, Diana turned to him and said, “Before you take me to Catherine, let me take you to my loft. There is something there you need to see.”

  As they walked down the passageway, they ran into Jamie. If she had been born with wings and pointed ears, one would expect to see her sprinkling fairy dust everywhere. Her petite stature and lovely delicate features, framed by long silky-brown hair, made her look pixie-like. However, contrary to her dainty appearance, nineteen-year-old Jamie was a fierce warrior in the protection of her community. A skilled archer, she was adept with both a traditional bow and arrows and crossbow weapons. When she wasn’t on sentry duty, she was often exploring the lower caves, where she could safely hone her targeting skills. As usual, she had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung over her shoulder. She asked them, “Have you seen Mouse?”

  Diana shook her head, and Father answered, “No, not for several hours now. I’m taking Diana back topside. If we run into him, we will tell him you are looking for him.” “Thanks, Father,” Jamie said as she hurried on in the other direction.

  Father looked at Diana and chuckled. He offered her his arm. “Well, shall we continue?”

  Diana took his proffered arm and smiled back, “Certainly!”

  Chapter II

  Lost and Found

  When they arrived at Diana’s building by way of the manhole in the alley behind her building, which was the route Vincent had shown her, Diana guided Father into the back door of the ground floor. After they stepped out of the freight elevator into her loft, Diana seated Father on her sofa, and then she showed him Catherine’s rosebush in the large pot at the end of the sofa. “When I was in Catherine’s apartment, studying her things and profiling her, I found this rosebush on her balcony. It looked completely dead, but somehow, I could feel that it still had life in it. I brought it here and spent weeks trying to resurrect the poor thing.

  All of the hard work finally paid off. I couldn’t believe it when it bloomed with both red and white roses! I found

  out from my florist that this is a very rare graft. In the language of flowers the red rose symbolizes love, and the white rose symbolizes eternity, which is perfect symbolism for Vincent’s and Catherine’s relationship. I need to take this to Catherine since she is alive.”

  Father smiled softly, “It is really interesting that you found her rosebush looking like it was deadjust like we found her. You were able to resurrect the rosebush. Let’s pray we have the same result with Catherine. You know, if you take this bush out of here now, and Vincent should come to visit you, he will surely wonder where it is.”

  Diana widened her eyes in realization, “You’re right of course, Father! I hadn’t thought of that. It just seems wrong for me to have it when Catherine is still alive, but you’re right. It must wait until Vincent is reconnected to her and finds her. Father, I have an uneasy feeling that the danger to Cathy and Vincent is not yet over.”

  Father frowned, “What makes you say that, Diana? Gabriel is dead.”

  Diana paused for a moment and pursed her lips before answering. “I’m not really sure. There are just a lot of unanswered questions in my mind. I really want to get back into Gabriel’s mansion. I want to know why he was so obsessed with Vincent’s child. It seems to me that it was more than just an accident that he happened to kidnap the mother of Vincent’s baby. His obvious reason was that she had information about his organization in the small notebook she recovered and refused to turn over

  to him, but I think there was a lot more to it than that. I need to find out what else was going on in his head, just to ease my mind if nothing else. Perhaps Gabriel was just a madman, but there truly is a fine line between madness and genius, and I don’t think Gabriel could have been as powerful as he was if he didn’t have some of both. It’s as if he knew about Vincent’s existence before he ever got his hands on Cathy.”

  Father studied the worry on
her face. “I really hope you are wrong, Diana, but it would be far better to know than to be caught unaware of the danger.”

  Diana responded, “I hope I’m wrong, too, Father.”

  After they left Diana’s loft and went back into the tunnels through her manhole, Father began the tale of what had occurred on the morning of October 14th, after Vincent found Catherine poisoned with an overdose of morphine following the birth of Little Jacob on the night of the 13th. He continued the story as they walked through passageways Diana had never seen before on their way to Dr. Peter Wellington’s home.

  Three months earlier, on October 14th....

  When Tony Ramos ran into Father’s chamber

  completely out of breath and very obviously distressed with a note in his hand, Father caught the thirteen-year-old in his arms and asked, “Tony, whatever is the matter?” It took Tony a few minutes to catch his breath before he could answer. “Father, it’s about Catherine! I was told by Dr. Marx to give this note only to you, and to be sure that you understood not to say anything to Vincent about what he’s asking you to bring to her building. I don’t know why. I guess it’s in the note. Everyone at Catherine’s building is saying that she’s dead. I’ve got to go back there!” With that, he ran out of Father’s chamber before Father could even express his shock over what Tony had said.

  Father opened the note in his hand and tried to comprehend what he was reading. It didn’t make any sense. It read, “Vincent found Catherine and called me to come to her apartment and collect her body. Bring your medical bag with epinephrine and penicillin, and bring a thermal blanket. Don’t tell Vincent what you are bringing! Meet me at the coroner’s van in back of her building, and wear your doctor’s lab coat. David Marx.”

  Only moments ago another child had brought a note from one of the sentries telling Father that Vincent had been seen in great distress on the Catwalk Bridge over the Whispering Gallery. That was where he had started to go before Tony ran in with this note from Dr. Marx. Father quickly collected the requested items and laid out street clothes and his lab coat with his name badge on it. Then