The Beast and Me by D. S. Wrights Page B

you.”
    These words were so cryptic, but I didn’t waste time trying to give them any sense: “I don’t trust you either.”
    “Ouch”, he smiled radiantly and I could feel it in my stomach. “Well, I can understand that, but it still hurts.”
    Yes, you are so funny, Peter, and you are far too nice and too likable. Do they believe I’m that naïve?
    “So what about my door knob?” I changed the topic and made him laugh again.
    Honestly, I’m not sure if I asked him that just to get that reaction. It’s not like I am used to someone regarding me as funny or charming. This makes me seesaw between doubting myself and doubting them including Peter.
    Can it be that I really am like this and that I never realized before because I never had the self-assurance to talk like this? And now I only am this way because, hell, I don’t have anything to lose. Yet, I still doubt, I still think that they told him to be as sweet and likable as possible.
    I’m paranoid, but can one blame me, really?
    “Well, can’t happen”, he said what I already knew in a way like he had really asked, and I still wondered if he had, or not, because he continued: “At least not now. Maybe when you’re with us a bit longer? That’s what he said: ‘White’.” He quoted me and chuckled again. “You should eat. Would be a pity if it gets cold”, he pointed at the dish and turned around, ready to leave.
    “I just... I just need some fresh air. A little outside, you know. A different surrounding”, I told him, even though I knew that it wouldn’t happen, maybe, because I knew that he would stop and turn around again.
    “You’re not the only one”, he looked at me smiling slightly and his brown eyes were somehow sad.
    Peter has brown eyes and almost black hair, which is the only reason why his eyes don’t look black as well. And he’s quite tall: six-something, maybe an inch or two? I’m not good at telling heights. I’d say that my Beast is taller though, just a little bit, like six-three, or six-four? Peter is slender, athletic, but not like an elf, if you know what I mean. Why am I even describing him?
    But well, thank you, White, for giving me some company I do not want.
    I should appreciate the distraction, at least it’s a change, and even if he was told to be nice, I can pretend and play along. This means they are investing in me. It’s a good thing, that they are treating me more like a human, right?
     
    I got to see him, finally.
    On the way there and back again, I memorized everything. There are cameras in the corridors, these little bulbs that can turn 360 degrees. There’s no way sneaking to him, but it’s really not that far.
    Actually, they seem to lead me around one big room, maybe two, although there is a door, maybe a short corridor they could take me through. Maybe they want to make me believe that the way is longer, that this complex seems larger than it really is. I have to check if I can get the mesh from the air system off of my bathroom wall. There will definitely be no cameras. And even if this is a stupid idea, it keeps my head occupied. Imagine me crawling through the venting system like a spy...
     
    Meeting him was such a relief at first. Even though it was not like I had expected. They didn’t ask me to take off my clothes. They didn’t remove the gate. I knew he was there, but he didn’t show himself, but stayed away from the light cones, in the shadows, out of sight. He doesn’t want me to see him. Is he ashamed? Or is he afraid of my reaction. Somehow I think it’s both.
    Still, it was driving me mad rather than making me sad. Why, I cannot really explain. I got to the gate and placed my hands around the bars trying to get a glimpse of him. How I wished at that moment that I could say something without them hearing me. But I knew that would never happen. So I did what they obviously wanted: I begged.
    “Remove it”, I turned my head towards the window, and my tone came out much more