Pentimento: a dystopian Beauty and the Beast

by Jace, Cameron

  "Zoe," Iris knelt beside her, in tears. "Talk to me."

  "I think we should leave her alone for now," Colton suggested.

  "No. You leave us alone," Iris snapped. "You and your brother!" She didn't think twice about how irrational she was sounding. Colton and Cody would never hurt Zoe. But Iris needed to breathe, and the air in the room wasn't enough to hold her anger. Instead of going to Vera and hurting her, she settled on lashing out on the boy she was falling for. "Please leave, Colton," Iris said, without looking back at him. Iris hoped he understood her pleading. "I can't stand you right now." She couldn't neglect the fact that those who hurt Zoe were his friends, the elite students who never cared for Zoe or Iris, sons and daughters of

  the Council members.

  "I understand," Colton nodded. She turned her head slowly forward. She was thankful he didn't burst back into her face. "I just think Cody should wait for you in the hallway, in case you need anything.” He turned to his brother, “Don't let her do something she'd regret, Cody," he told his brother. "Hurting Vera will only hurt Iris's future. We have to find a reasonable way to solve our problems. Not by killing each other, as if we live in a jungle."

  "Funny you say that," Cody said. "When we're ruled by the Big Bad Beasts in the Sky."

  25

  Iris spent the night by Zoe's bed. Her parents had arrived and waited outside. Zoe's protective mother wanted to stay with her, but she had the flu, and the doctors couldn't risk Zoe catching it and complicating her situation.

  A while later, the night-shift girl entered the room to check on Zoe.

  "Is she going to be alright?" Iris asked.

  "Don't worry. Physically, she is a strong girl," the nurse said. "We're only hoping she won't suffer from any post-traumatic stress. What she's been through wasn't easy. "

  "Poor Zoe. So when will we know that?"

  "I’m not sure, but she’s not going anywhere until she's better. Are you her sister?"

  "I feel like I am," Iris said, "But I’m not. She doesn't have sisters. Her mother is waiting outside, because she has the flu."

  "I see." The nurse nodded. "Do you have any idea who visited her once she arrived? The tall, young and attractive fella?"

  "Tall? No, Cody isn't that tall. And I am glad you find him attractive."

  "I don't think his name was Cody," the nurse said. She was only about two years older than Iris. "While changing shifts, the other nurses kept talking about a boy who came here named Colton. Yeah, I am sure it was Colton, not Cody."

  "Yes. Colton was here. He's Cody's brother, and he arrived before me." Iris was puzzled. "What about him?"

  "Hmm..." The nurse hesitated. "He was the first one to enter Zoe's room after the accident. That’s what I was told by the other shift nurses. They couldn't stop talking about him."

  "He is an attractive boy. He is used to that." Iris's lips twitched.

  "I don't think that was the main reason they gossiped about him." The nurse looked as if she preferred to leave, realizing she was interfering in a matter not concerning her.

  "What do you mean?"

  "Look. This is what I heard. Colton came into Zoe's room, and somehow she hadn't been fully sedated yet. She saw him and screamed. The nurses said it was a hysterical scream, as if he were going to hurt her or something."

  "Colton? No way." Iris defended him, but then wondered why she'd suddenly felt mad at him hours ago.

  "I am sure there is a mistake," the nurse said. "Sorry for bringing it up. I shouldn't have. It sometimes gets lonely on the night shift, and I can't seem to stop talking when I find company." The nurse excused herself and left.

  Iris couldn't shake the thought from her head. Why did Colton arrive before her, and why did Zoe scream when she saw him?

  26

  A little before dawn, Zoe began to moan in her bed. Iris rubbed her weary eyes and sat up alerted next to her, in case she needed assistance or something.

  Zoe's eyelids parted slowly. They were heavy and her eyes showing from underneath were reddened and tired. Her eyes didn't move much. They stood fixed on Iris, as if she didn't recognize her. Iris preferred that Zoe would talk first. She didn't know what to say to her.

  Zoe's weakened and scarred hand, injected with an IV, crawled from under the sheets toward Iris, who stretched her hand out to her. Zoe clasped hers into Iris’s, still staring at her. Her hands were cold, and Iris could sense the fear passing from Zoe's body.

  Her eyes, Iris thought. Oh my, her eyes. What's wrong with them? It's like Zoe had seen a ghost.

  "You have to rest," Iris had to speak, still gripping her hand. "You're going to be okay, Zoe. I won't leave. We're all here for you."

  "I-" Zoe coughed.

  "You don't need to speak now," Iris said. "Just rest."

  Zoe's cold hand tightened around Iris's so hard, she wondered where she got the strength from.

  "I know who the Beasts are." Zoe said. “At least, I know who one of them is.”

  Iris didn't even know what to say. She blinked her eyes once, unsure if Zoe was aware of her situation or where she was.

  "I saw him with my own eyes." Zoe said, her tongue slurring. "He was here, in the room with me."

  "Here? When?" Was this real, or was Zoe just hallucinating?

  "After I arrived in the hospital, a sudden headache struck me." Zoe said. "It was terrible. So terrible, I couldn’t feel the rest of the pain in my body. I told the doctors, but none of them paid any attention to it."

  Iris said nothing again. Zoe must have been hallucinating. First she talked about the Beast, and then the headache.

  "After the doctors left, the headache got worse," Zoe said, "And then the Beast came into my room."

  "Just like that?"

  "He asked if I was okay." Zoe said. "I thought he was someone else at first, but then..."

  "Then?"

  "It was as if I had an epiphany, as if I suddenly could see him for what he really was. I can't explain it, it just happened. He looked so evil. So scary, Iris."

  "I," Iris pondered if she should just calm her down, or try to reason with her.

  "Don't you get it, Iris? The Beasts live among us. That's how they see us and control us." Zoe's eyes looked painful. It was as if she'd wanted to widen them and stare at Iris, but her eyelids were too weak to do it. "I'm telling you, the Beast came in the room, pretending to be him. He was shocked I saw him for what he really is. I screamed and the nurses came in and pulled him out." Zoe craned her head, just a nudge, toward Iris. "They couldn't see him for what he really is." she whispered. "But I did. I bet he still fools you, Iris."

  "Fools me? Who is he?"

  "Colton," Zoe said, a shiver trembling through her body. Iris could feel it in hers too, like electricity. She had never seen someone so afraid before in her life. "Colton Ray is the Beast. You've always said it yourself. Remember when you said you thought he was one of them?"

  27

  The next week went very slowly. Iris spent most of her time at Zoe's house. She'd been released from the hospital after the doctors said she was fine. Zoe had been dramatically getting better after the night she told Iris that Colton was the Beast. Iris considered it a heavy sign that Zoe never mentioned it again, as if it had never happened. She'd seen Colton once after the incident, and she seemed fine with him. She even messed with him and told him Cody was much cuter than he was.

  On top of her worries about Zoe, Iris had to deal with her father calling her every two to three hours. The man was worried they'd catch the red rose girl whom the Council decided to call "the Beauty." Iris was thankful for the concern, but wished her dad wouldn't worry so much. She really needed to get home to him soon. The man seemed a bit lonely without her.

  Zoe wasn't hurt badly, at least not physically. She had proved to be as tough as Iris, if not tougher. Emotionally though, Zoe was devastated--now that the Colton/Beast thing was not an issue for discussion anymore. Zoe told Iris that what truly frustrated her about the night at Vera's ho
use wasn't just the prank. It was that it could have been one of the best days in her life, since she and Cody had kissed briefly, and that she had been enjoying it. Zoe’s attachment to Cody seemed to be too much, too soon. But Iris wouldn't tell her. Anything to help Zoe get over the prank was good.

  And as if your attachment to Colton wasn't so abrupt and insane, Iris. Colton had been calling, messaging, and even throwing pebbles at Zoe's window, until her parents chased him away. Iris didn't even acknowledge him. Zoe meant the world to her and if she couldn't go and kick Vera's ass, at least she had to stay by her friend.

  Cody had visited her twice. He seemed really concerned, and embarrassed he couldn't protect her. After that, Colton ended up sending Iris a text message, complaining about why Cody was welcomed and he wasn't. This was the only text message Iris answered.

  "Remember when you said you needed time to get over Eva? I respected that. Now, I need time to feel comfortable with you. I know it wasn't your fault, but I can't help feeling this way. Please understand."

  Colton hadn’t replied since.

  "You should be going to school," Zoe said, sitting up on her bed. Most of her wounds had healed. It was only her enthusiastic smile that was missing.

  "I don't care, Zoe," Iris said. "Since when did I? We'll go together. Doctor said you could be back to school the day after tomorrow. That's not far away."

  "So you only go to school because of me?" Zoe smiled.

  "Actually, yes. I can't think of another reason. It's not like I am fond of learning."

  "And Colton?" Zoe said. "Wouldn't you want to go to see him?"

  The question rather shocked Iris. Even though she'd seen her joke with Colton the day she left the hospital, his name never came up again. Iris stared into Zoe's eyes. Did she really not remember what happened? Had she been hallucinating? Iris hadn't asked Colton about the incident. It sounded absurd, and wouldn't have helped their relationship at the moment. After being harsh on him, she wasn't going to accuse him of being a Beast. "He's been amazing, Zoe." Iris hid her concerns. In a rare moment, she lied to her friend. "I mean, really. He is someone so different than the personality he portrays in school. It's just that I feel like I am cheating when I am with him. He is one of them."

  "That's ridiculous," Zoe said. "The boy has changed since he met you."

  You honestly don't remember claiming he was the Beast, Zoe?

  "I know, but do you think he won't be friends with his elite bunch of friends anymore? Do you expect him not to talk to them when we go back to school? I guess I am expecting him to do something that makes me know for sure he resents the likes of Vera."

  "I think that's not what this is about," Zoe said. "I think this is about him still being somehow attached to Eva."

  "Could be," Iris nodded. "But how long will he be like that? I mean, he wants to know what really happened to her. We might never know what happened to the Brides, or who the Beasts are."

  "Which reminds me. Who do you think this 'Beauty' is?" Zoe asked. "Did you see the red roses she gave the parents? They’re beautiful. I wonder where she got those."

  "Glad you think they’re beautiful," Iris said. "I mean, I haven't heard anyone say that." Iris had never told her rose secret to Zoe, nor had Zoe seen the Ruins with her own eyes to connect the dots.

  "Everyone thinks the roses are beautiful," Zoe ached a little. "They're just like me a couple of days ago, when I denied being curious and wanting to know the truth."

  "And now you want to know the truth?" Iris leaned forward.

  Zoe nodded silently. "I guess I'm going to act like you. I'll be another Iris outcast, rebelling against the rules that don't make sense, asking who the Beasts are, without giving a damn about the first commandment."

  "And may I ask what changed your mind?" Iris was curious. Like always, she wanted to understand, to find a pattern that explained why and how people changed.

  "Promise you won't laugh?" Zoe said, her old smile with the dimples in her cheeks had returned.

  "I can't promise that. You know I can't lie."

  "I'll tell you anyhow," Zoe lowered her eyes. "It's Cody."

  "Oh?" Iris grinned.

  "I can't explain it, but after we kissed at the birthday party, and after we had such a good time together, I felt so at ease with him. He isn't my knight in shining armor, not a chance. But I realized I don't want a knight in shining armor. I want someone like me, someone who talking to feels like going back home. Someone who likes me for who I am."

  "Those are too many statements for a girl that went on a single date with him." Iris said.

  "As if you and Colton took your time with liking each other?" Zoe frowned. "You see, there is some kind of a clicking machine that makes the chemistry work. It either happens, or it doesn't. You don’t need long to figure it out."

  "I agree," Iris said, thinking about Colton. "So Cody is the reason why you decided not to care about rules and do what you want?"

  "Yes. Because being with him made me feel like I deserve to know what this world really is. I feel like I have the right to know, because I realized I am going to share this world with someone else someday. I guess being alone makes one passive and not care about things."

  "So it's this little thing called love that moves the world after all." Iris remembered how her father still looked at her mother's empty chair, as if she were still with him. Before her mother died, she'd seen them fight and argue on a daily basis. It looked like they couldn't stand each other sometimes. But it wasn't like that. They were deeply in love, and part of it was making each other's lives hell sometimes. It was just how the heart worked. The human heart, Iris reminded herself, wondering if the Beasts knew anything about it.

  "By the way, I forgot to tell you something," Zoe said. "I actually discovered this talking to a couple of girls in Vera's party, right before they asked me to cut the cake. Cody was in the bathroom."

  "I told you not to go, Zoe," Iris said.

  "That's not the point. I learned my lesson," Zoe said. "It's something important. Remember when I told you Elia Wilson was about to become a master tennis player?"

  Iris nodded.

  "While talking to the girls at Vera's birthday party, I discovered that Eva was about to become one of the best photographers in The Second."

  "That’s not something so special," Iris said. "A lot of girls are good photographers."

  "That's true, but the girls told me that she was truly amazing. And that the Council was waiting to see how good she was going to do in college, to make a star of her. Eva took photographs of the Council members repeatedly. Something that no seventeen-year-old did before."

  "So?"

  "So the Brides, Elia and Eva, aren't shallow and rich beauties," Zoe said. "I know how we feel about Eva. She definitely deserved to be punished for treating us the way she did. But to be honest, they were special girls."

  "I can't believe you're calling them special, with all the bullying they did."

  "Here is where you need to be honest with yourself, Iris," Zoe said. "Eva wasn't a good person, but Elia never hurt us. Vera is batshit. What I mean is, we can't generalize ideas. Not all beautiful girls are airheads or snobs. What I’m saying is that the Beasts seem to choose intelligent women, morals aside."

  "Saying that these girls are intelligent really bothers me, Zoe."

  "I'm not saying this to make you feel bad about yourself. I know you don't like them, and I know none of them bothered attending your mother's funeral. But it's not like you just don't like them. You don’t like their kind; the rich, spoiled, sons and daughters of Council members. That why you snapped at Colton. Deep inside, you don't like where he comes from, and you need to fix that, Iris."

  "Are you saying I am the bad person now?"

  "Of course not. I love you, and I know how special you are. We all have our quirks, our little unjust feelings toward a certain kind of people because of something that happened to us in the past. We are human. We like to generalize things, inst
ead of treating each individual on their own." Zoe inhaled deeply. It was a long speech. "It's okay."

  "So, why are you telling me this?"

  "Because Vera was friends with both girls. The Beasts took the two girls and didn't take Vera," Zoe said. "Eva and Elia were artists. Vera is shallow, has no hobbies, and loves to hurt others."

  "Are you saying there is actually a basis the Beasts choose girls upon?" Iris wished Zoe had experienced her change of heart long ago.

  "I can't put my hands on it." Zoe said. "But I have been trying to remember the girls taken last year. I knew a couple of them. They were also special. Gemma Underwood… remember her? She was taken about two months ago. She was one of the best upcoming painters in The Second, and guess what? She came from the same class as ours."

  "I remember Gemma," Iris said. "She was really talented, and she wasn't that beautiful actually," she rested her head on her hands.

  "Also Tina Remington. She was taken three months ago," Zoe said. "Tina was..."

  "One of The Second's best swimmers," Iris interrupted her. "I remember her. But she was a real beauty and she had a great body."

  "The point is… most of the girls weren't airheads," Zoe said. "The Beasts aren't choosing their Brides for beauty."

  "That's some remark," Iris said. "So what does it mean? The Beasts pick girls with good genes? Not necessarily beauty genes, but talented girls who might produce smart and talented kiddos?"

  "We don't know that the Beasts have children with them," Zoe said. "See? That's what I’m talking about. In order to figure out their secrets, you need to have an open heart and be fair in your assumption. You can't assume the girls are for breeding purposes. Maybe they are for something else."

  "Maybe the Beasts are cannibals." Iris said.

  "I am not going to keep assuming," Zoe said. "Let's start with what we know. They choose special girls and they have designed a wall of illusion to separate us from the Ruins, like you told me."

  "That's not much."

  "Actually, I think it is." Zoe said. "It's been more than a week and the next call might be tomorrow, or later. If the next girl is as special, this is an important fact."