The following morning Bellamy awoke with a gasp and sat up in bed. That dream had felt so real. No. That hadn’t been an ordinary dream. It’d been more of a vision of the past. The bookworm knew deep in his gut that the young heiress from his dream had to be Abigail Snow a.k.a the yeti girl.
In the vision he’d been unable to see her face - it had been shrouded in a kind of mystical mist. Perhaps, Bellamy was unable to see Abigail’s true appearance because of the curse that the sorcerer Agathon had placed her under.
Bellamy had to admit to himself that he understood Abigail a little bit better now, and understood why she felt people’s emotions could be bought and that love wasn’t real. He remembered the stricken expression on Abigail’s face when she’d been turned into a yeti and had called out to her friends for help. They’d all ignored her, and had run away screaming. In the end, those friendships had all been superficial.
As for Abigail’s opinion on love - it would be hard to believe in love if your father decided to poison your mother. A thoughtful frown formed on Bellamy’s face. He wasn’t entirely sure Aspen had tried to poison Holly though. From his perspective it had appeared to be more of an experiment…gone wrong, perhaps. This would mean the poisoning had been unintentional, at least.
It must have been hard on Abigail to first lose her mother, and then so soon after that her father. Everyone assumed it was a suicide, but again Bellamy wasn’t entirely convinced. It was strange how that stone statue had turned up more or less in his place.
That’s right…the statues. Bellamy thought, before leaping out of bed. He was freezing dressed only in pj bottoms, so he threw on a robe that had been provided for him, and put on some slippers before he left the bedroom. He didn’t even want to wonder why Jett had decided to give him fluffy, white bunny slippers.
With purposeful steps Bellamy padded down the hall, heading for the grand staircase that led down into the foyer. As he descended the staircase he spotted the two statues he’d never really bothered to pay too much attention to before, and sucked in a breath. There they are. Mr. and Mrs. Snow.
Bellamy walked over, stood directly in front of the statues, and studied them intently, taking in their exquisite craftsmanship. There was such detail - even Mrs. Snow’s eyelashes had been carved into the blue quartz stone. The statues looked so…lifelike.
But maybe the statues were alive - just like the living statues that the household staff had been turned into by that pompous sorcerer Agathon.
Bellamy cleared his throat and raised his hand in an awkward greeting. “Uh, hi…I’m Bellamy. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Snow.” The bookworm held out his hand for Mrs. Snow to shake. He closed his eyes, and held his breath. Several seconds ticked by and nothing happened.
“What are you doing?” a condescending female voice reached his ears. He may have imagined it but it also sounded slightly amused.
Bellamy glanced up to see Abigail descending the staircase in an oddly graceful manner. She was wearing a sky-blue silk robe that billowed out behind her regally. It made Bellamy smirk. Abigail was ever the heiress, despite her current form.
Feeling bashful by his own silly actions, Bellamy scratched the back of his neck. “Oh, I was just, ah…”
Abigail narrowed her silver eyes at Bellamy keenly. “They won’t speak.” She walked over to stand beside Bellamy, and gazed upon the statues along with him. “They’re not like the rest of the household staff.”
“Are you sure?” Bellamy asked tentatively.
Abigail looked at him strangely. “Yes. That statue there is of my dead mother, Holly. My father, Aspen, carved it out of love, no, guilt.”
“Who carved the statue of your father?” the bookworm questioned.
Abigail’s blue lips dipped into a thoughtful frown. “It just turned up after his… disappearance.”
“I see.” Bellamy stroked his chin with his index finger and thumb. “Interesting.”
“Interesting!” Abigail snapped heatedly, and her furry white eyebrow was twitching with her irritation.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that,” Bellamy quickly amended, raising his hands before him in a surrendering gesture. “I’m sorry for your loss. It’s just…I wonder who carved the statue of your father.”
“Well, someone did,” Abigail huffed, blowing a long strand of white hair out of her eyes. “It’s standing right there, isn’t it?”
“Uh…right,” Bellamy agreed carefully. He still found it to be incredibly suspicious.
Abigail gave him an exasperated look. “Come on, let’s go get some breakfast. It’s freezing in here.” She sauntered off, expecting Bellamy to follow her.
Bellamy barely heard her as he continued to study the statues for a moment longer. Abigail glanced over her furry shoulder and raised an eyebrow at Bellamy. “Coming?” she asked with an impatient edge to her voice.
“Uh…sure.” Bellamy followed Abigail to the dining room obediently. The yeti took her usual seat at the head of the table, and Bellamy sat down to her left.
Throughout breakfast Bellamy was lost in his own thoughts about an evil sorcerer, the Philosopher’s Stone, and a cursed damsel in distress. A mystery was beginning to unfold in this enchanted mansion. Bellamy felt like he’d fallen into a fairytale.
Bellamy tried to recall what he knew about the Philosopher’s Stone. He’d read about it before in one of his books about stones and their healing properties. The Philosopher’s Stone was a legendary alchemical substance capable of turning base metals into gold. It was also known for being an essential ingredient in the elixir of life, which supposedly granted rejuvenation and immortality.
Bellamy’s thoughts went to his vision and how Aspen had created what must have been a ‘fake’ Philosopher’s Stone. Perhaps, Aspen had used one of these fake stones to create the elixir he’d given his wife…but which had ended up poisoning her, instead of curing her.
The sorcerer Agathon had offered Abigail the real Philosopher’s Stone in return for shelter from the rain, but she’d witlessly refused. Where was the stone now? Bellamy wondered. And was true love really the only way to break Abigail’s curse? Was there no other way to activate the power of the Philosopher’s Stone?
Were those statues of Abigail’s parents - really just statues? Bellamy’s attention turned to the stone servants and began to watch them closely. They didn’t appear to be all that different from the statues in the foyer.
Abigail was beginning to grind her teeth. Bellamy hadn’t noticed that he’d been completely silent throughout breakfast, making Abigail suspect that he was still angry with her for last night, and for having offered to pay outrageous sums of money for Bellamy’s love.
Throughout breakfast, she’d tried to start a conversation with Bellamy so that she could apologize for her actions. But he was completely ignoring her! He wouldn’t even look at her. Well, why would he want to look at her? Abigail thought venomously to herself. She was a hideous monster.
The yeti tugged at her hair in frustration, and Bellamy still didn’t notice her inner turmoil. Oh my God, I just don’t get him! Argh! Oh, that’s it! I don’t know what I should do! Abigail abruptly stood up from her seat, her stone chair scraping across the marble floor loudly, and approached Jett. She grabbed Jett’s arm and dragged him over to a corner of the dining room so that they could speak without Bellamy overhearing them.
“Is there something I can help you with, Milady?” Jett arched an eyebrow at her.
“Jett, I’m dying here. What should I do? He’s completely ignoring me now. It’s like I don’t even exist,” Abigail complained.
“First, you should apologize for last night,” Jett advised sagely.
Abigail threw her hands up into the air out of exasperation. “What does it look like I’ve been trying to do for the past hour!”
Jett tilted his head slightly as he regarded her. “Imitate a fish, Milady?”
Abigail’s eyebrow twitched, and she let out a sigh. Jett was right. She needed to speak up already. “Okay, I’ll apologize to him. But then…what should I do to make him fall in love with me?” She lowered her voice conspiratorially. “If he can’t be bought then I don’t know how else to win his affection.”
“Win?” Jett shook his head at Abigail. “You gain a person’s affections by first earning their trust and respect.”
Abigail snorted. “And how do I gain his trust and respect?”
“Why don’t you start with showing him that you’re a good person.” Jett nodded knowingly to himself.
“How?” the yeti asked bluntly.
Jett pondered this for a moment before he spoke. “Why don’t you show him your father’s laboratory? Show him all the hard work you’ve been doing as you try to find a ‘cure’ for us - a way to turn your servants back to their former human selves.”
“The laboratory?” The yeti’s silver eyes widened and she shook her head. “You can’t be serious. He’s going to think I’m crazy. Just like how I used to think my father was crazy…until I met that evil sorcerer Agathon, and he cursed us all. Only then did I come to accept the existence of magic. What will make him accept it?”
Jett’s eyebrows rose. “You don’t think seeing living statues and a yeti are enough to make him a believer in the supernatural?”
“Right…good point,” Abigail allowed and nodded in a chagrined fashion. “Okay. I’m going back over there.” The yeti smoothed her hair with her clawed, blue hands, and licked her chapped lips nervously. “How do I look?” She flashed her fangs at Jett.
“Absolutely hideous,” Jett replied honestly.
A muscle beneath Abigail’s eye ticked in irritation. “That would have been a good time to lie to me, Jett.” The yeti took a deep breath to steel her nerves. “Alright, back in the game, girl!” She slapped her cheeks as she tried to psych herself up.
The yeti gracefully took her seat at the head of the table, and cleared her throat to get Bellamy’s attention. “I’m sorry,” she said though gritted teeth. Bellamy did not respond. Abigail tried again, a little louder this time. “I’m sorry!” Still no response. “I’M SORRY, OKAY!”
Bellamy was snapped out of his inner thoughts by Abigail’s yelling. “What?”
Abigail flushed. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? About last night…when I tried to buy your love.” She twirled a strand of white hair around her index finger nervously.
Bellamy just gave Abigail a blank stare.
It made Abigail even jitterier. “I-I didn’t mean it in a sexual way if that’s what you thought.” Her cheeks were turning a strange magenta color as she blushed.
The corner of Bellamy’s lip twitched and he had to hold back a smile. Yeti girl was acting surprisingly…cute. He decided to remain silent a little while longer, just to see what she’d say.
“I mean, why would you think I’d want to sleep with you anyways,” Abigail blazed on. “You’re just a nerd!”
Nerd? Bellamy reached up and touched the round glasses on his face. He kept forgetting that Abigail hadn’t seen him without his glasses. Thank God. He wanted to keep it that way. He didn’t like the idea of a monster girl chasing after him like a tigress in heat. He shuddered at the thought.
Bellamy pushed his glasses up his nose smartly with his index finger. “You’re right. I am a nerd, and a total bookworm.”
Nice segue. “Ohhh you like books?” Abigail began in what she hoped was a nonchalant tone. “Well, I happen to have a lot of them downstairs in my-”
“Torture chamber? Dungeon?” Bellamy helpfully supplied in a wry tone.
“No!” Abigail snapped, her eyes flashing. “My laboratory, okay?”
Laboratory? She must mean her father’s. Bellamy realized with growing interest. “Really?” His look turned hopeful. “I’d like to see…the books.”
“Great.” Abigail stood up from the table. “Let’s go.”
“In our pajamas?” Bellamy arched an eyebrow at the yeti girl.
Abigail flushed, her cheeks turning magenta again. “I don’t really wear clothes. Now that I have all this horrible fur - nothing will fit,” she muttered darkly to herself. “But, um, you should probably go get dressed first or else you’ll end up getting another fever and I’ll be forced to nurse you back to health again.”
A deep scowl formed on Bellamy’s face. “You want me to put on one of those penguin suits, don’t you?”
Abigail blinked. “You don’t like them? They were incredibly expensive.”
Bellamy shrugged. “I’m not used to being so…dressed up.” He waved his hand through the air.
“Well, what kind of clothes do you prefer?” The yeti found herself asking.
Bellamy lifted his shoulders into another shrug. “I dunno. Normal clothes - jeans, T-shirts, sweaters, boots and sneakers.”
Abigail snapped her fingers imperiously, and Jett was at her side in an instant. “You heard the man, Jett. Please find Bellamy some clothes he will feel more comfortable in.”
Jett bowed. “As you wish, Milady.”
After Jett managed to find Bellamy some normal clothes the bookworm met up with Abigail in the foyer. Abigail tried not to scrunch her nose up at the sight of Bellamy dressed in a navy blue sweater, black jeans, and lace-up boots. So not handsome. She pouted mentally. Those are…pauper clothes. Ugh, I can’t believe I have to fall in love with him. Boring!
“Come on, follow me.” Abigail led the way to the door, which opened upon a staircase leading down to the laboratory. The duo descended the steep, narrow steps, and when they reached the bottom of the stairs Abigail flipped on a light switch, which flooded the laboratory with light from the overhead fluorescent lights.
Abigail had kept her father’s laboratory pretty much the same. There were still worktables piled with chemistry sets, small bubbling cauldrons, and beakers and test tubes filled with glowing, neon-colored substances. The yeti knew that Bellamy would be impressed, and puffed up her chest with pride as she waved her hand to encompass the whole lab. “This is it. My laboratory. Pretty impressive, huh?”
But Bellamy barely spared the lab a second glance. What had immediately captured Bellamy’s full attention were the enormous wooden bookcases standing against the back wall of the lab filled with hundreds of books. “Are those the books you mentioned?” A starry-eyed expression formed on his face as Bellamy strode over to one of the bookcases and began to peruse the shelves excitedly. “Ooo, these are all First Editions! This one is really rare! These must have cost a fortune!”
Abigail sighed, and walked over to stand beside Bellamy. She’d never seen someone get so excited over a bunch of old, dusty books before. In fact, she didn’t think any of her past boyfriends had even known how to read. I can’t believe I’m letting this peasant touch my First Editions. Argh. “You really like books, don’t you? Then…they’re yours.” Abigail declared generously while her stomach was tying itself up into knots. “Feel free to come down here and read whenever you’d like.”
Bellamy’s head snapped in Abigail’s direction and he gawked at her in wide-eyed astonishment. “You’re really giving these to me?”
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