Tales as Old as Time: chapter 10

The next morning Gabrielle woke up feeling quite a bit better. Mrs. Potts came around, waking everyone up.

"Maman, Papa, wake up!" Felicity's voice rang from behind the music room doors.

"Your daughter is awake..." Cherry murmured as she sat in a chair next to the fire, away from the organ.

"Before sunrise she is your daughter..." Forte drawled back, amused.

Gabrielle woke up and slid out of bed. Chip woke up. Fife woke up, a little worried about Gabrielle and hearing what had happened to her. He would've helped protect her from Gaston as well, but he was very frail and weak, he  was worried that he wouldn't be able to take the man on. Gabrielle made her way to his room, slowly. She wanted to apologize to him.

Fife was surprised to see the girl. "Oh, hello Gabrielle..."

"Bonjour, Fife." Gabrielle says softly and went up to him and hugged him.

Fife blinked from her sudden strength and hugged, but smiled fondly down at her. "You seem better than what I heard."

"Yes, I feel so much better," she says softly. "I'm so sorry..." she then whispers.

"Oh, for what?" Fife asked, enjoying the hug and was glad she was all well.

"For upsetting you." Gabrielle says softly.

"Oh, it's okay... Don't worry about it..." Fife soothed.

Gabrielle smiled gently up at him.

"Do you still want my blanket?" Fife asked gently.

Gabrielle held it gently. As he had given them earlier. She gave a soft smile.

"You can keep it as long as you would like." Fife offered, it was special to him, but he wanted her   to be soothed during anymore night terrors she would have.

Gabrielle passed it to him gently. "It's too special to you." she says softly.

"Really, you can keep it," Fife allowed. "Until your nightmares stop."

Gabrielle reached up to kiss his cheek. Fife smiled sheepishly, blushing from the kiss and had a squeaky laugh. Gabrielle blinked as his cheeks turned red, the blood visible underneath.

"Well, I better run along now, breakfast should be cooking." Fife said nervously, then santured down the hall.

Gabrielle watched him go, licking her lips absently. Adam felt a lot better when he woke up out of bed this morning, feeling able to do anything now. Gabrielle shrugged and came to wake her parents. Adam sat up on his bed and looked down at Belle as she still slept. Belle looked peaceful in her sleep.

"Maman, papa?" Gabrielle calls.

Adam yawned, trying not to wake Belle since he was already up and so was Gabrielle apparently. Belle shifted but didn't wake. Gabrielle came in quietly. Adam smiled at his daughter. She seemed to be a lot better than she did last night. Gabrielle came up to her father and reached up so he could pick her up.

Adam saw this and picked her up, smiling. "You're really growing to look as beautiful as your mother..."

"Really, Papa?" She asks softly.
"Really, really." Adam smiled fondly.

Gabrielle hugged him tightly. There was something not quite normal but still human about him.

"I'm surprised how much better I feel, I didn't think I'd feel good again until like another week." Adam smiled in the hug.

Gabrielle smiled. "I feel better already too." she says.

"Maybe it was a miracle..." Adam wondered as he looked back at her.

Gabrielle smiled, but it was a little mysterious. "Yes, it was." she says softly.

Adam smiled at her.

Gabrielle looked at Belle. "Is maman okay?" she asks.

"I'm sure she's fine... Belle, wake up..." Adam called in a hushed tone, shaking his wife awake.

Gabrielle watched. Belle shifted and woke up looking surprised to see Gabi.

"Wake up, darling..." Adam nearly sang.

Gabrielle giggled. Belle sat up and hugged them both.

"You okay?" Adam asked, dearly.

"Yes... what are you doing out of bed?!" Belle then scolds Gabrielle.

"I'm better, Maman." she replied.

"She says she's feeling a lot better." Adam tried to settle Belle.

Belle went to check on the wound. Gabrielle giggled slightly, her mother's hands tickled. Adam saw the wound was barely even there anymore. Belle looked surprised. Gabrielle smiled softly. She could smell her mother's blood flowing under the skin. Adam shrugged, he was showing he was also surprised and wasn't sure how she could've healed so quickly. Belle blinked. Gabrielle started to lean forwards a little.

"Come on, let's get to breakfast." Adam picked Gabrielle up from their bed.

Gabrielle squeaked as she was lifted, totally distracted as she was. Belle got up yawning gently.

"Excuse us, Gabi." Adam placed his daughter on her feet.

Gabrielle left the room.

Felicity walked down the hall to find Gabrielle. "Oh, bon  matin, mon frere."

Gabrielle smiled at Felicity. "Bon Matin." she says.

"You are in the good mood." Felicity smiled at Gabrielle's attitude.

"Oui, I am feeling so much better." she says.

"Oh, good... That is surprising..." Felicity was glad to hear that, but surprised how quick it took her to heal.

Gabrielle smiled, secretive.

"How is your father?" Felicity asked, remember how sick Adam had gotten.

"He is better too." she smiles.

"Any sneezing or coughing?" Felicity asked, walking with her.

"Non." Gabrielle says.

"Excellent!" Felicity cheered for her. "You also seem to be in a better mood right now, Gabi, yourself..."

"I feel so giddy." she says with a shrug.

"Oh, you have a happiness." Felicity beamed.

Gabrielle smiled. Felicity climbed down the stairs with her friend to start their morning. Gabrielle sniffed gently. She smiled licking her lips.

Felicity looked back at Gabrielle. "Oh, you must be famished!"

"A little.... Oui." she says.

"Let us hope that Chip's maman made enough food." Felicity piped.


Gabrielle gave a tiny nod. Felicity smiled and continued to make way for her meal for the morning. Gabrielle stiffened once they got into the room where most of the others were. Mrs. Potts was serving tea.

Felicity walked in with her friend and smiled at the others. "Morning, everyone!"

Gabrielle looked around biting her lip a little.

"Morning." Chip greets.

"Someone's cheerful this morning." Lumiere observed the court composer's daughter.

Felicity nodded, giggling. Gabrielle kept on looking between everyone, the ones who kept attracting her attention.  Lumiere passed the sausage links to the children. Felicity took the bowl and put a few links  onto her plate and handed the bowl to Gabrielle. Gabrielle took the bowl and sniffed but passed it on. Felicity took out her knife and was attempting to cut up her food on her own.

Cogsworth did the same, but then winced. "Oh, devil..." he muttered to himself as he looked at his finger to see he had accidentally cut himself, his blood dropping from his finger to his plate.

Gabrielle's eyes fixated on him and his finger. She coiled in the chair and lunged at him. 'Blood...' is what she thought.

"What on Earth!?" Cogsworth blinked in surprise.

"GABI!" Felicity was shocked.

Gabrielle tried to snap at his finger so she could feed on the blood. Cogsworth was shocked and applied pressure to his cut.

"Come on, let us get you out of here!" Babette took his arms and led him out of the dining room.

"What is going on here now?" Felicity looked agape at her friend.

Cherry saw this happen from the top floor and glared back at the West Wing as she heard her husband's organ music. "I'm going to   kill that man..."
Gabrielle looked around at everyone. Her eyes widened and she ran out of the room. Felicity looked concerned and maybe should talk with Gabrielle.

Cherry ran into Gabrielle as she was running. "My husband or daughter bit you, didn't they?"

Gabrielle looked up at her. "Oui..." she whispers. She didn't want them to get into trouble though.

Cherry sighed, putting her thin fingers against her forehead with her other arm over the one arm. "Pretty sure I know who it was since Flick's fangs haven't grown in yet... Here, you better have some before you startle anyone who doesn't know." she gestured for the girl to follow her as she went to the castle dungeon which in one part was also Felicity's bedroom. It was cold and dark down there almost all the time, but Felicity with having Cherry and Maestro Forte for parents, she didn't seem to mind it most of the time like it was normal room temperature.

Gabrielle shivered, not really used to it that cold. She however looked at her  Tante Cherry.

Cherry kept leading the way and came to a painted portrait of the family, tilting it to the side and showing a wall that opened up. She then grabbed a candlelit torch and continued to lead the way to show a hidden room with some things she had collected from her many adventures and went to   a collection of topped glass bottles filled with crimson liquid. Cherry took one, bit the top off, and handed it to Gabrielle. "Here, this'll hold you until you properly learn to feed."

Gabrielle took it gently. She quickly drank it to get rid of the thirst.

"That'll hold you off for the day." Cherry advised, watching her guzzle down the juice everyone needed to live.

Gabrielle finished and hugged her. Cherry's arms flailed out from the hug, but she looked softly down at the girl.

"Thank you, Tante Cherry," Gabrielle whispers. "What is going to happen?" She then asks softly.

"It affects everyone differently... You'll be a lot more active at night and dark atmospheres, it's more common." Cherry explained to her 'niece'.

Gabrielle nodded. "But everyone saw me lunging at Monsieur Cogsworth..." she whispers.

"Must be a more extreme case for you..." Cherry tried to guess, wondering if Adam's past had anything to do with it with her sudden aggressive nature.

"Did I... expose us?" She asks.

"Did you actually drink Cogsworth's blood?" Cherry answered her question with another question.

Gabrielle shook her head "I tried to bite his finger and lunged at him..." she says softly.

"You seem to have a stronger predator side in you," Cherry assumed. "Probably get that from your father."

"What?" She asks, not knowing about it.

"Gabrielle, your father is a very strong being," Cherry explained. "He sometimes frightened a lot of people because of his bad temper... If it wasn't for your mother, he wouldn't be this warm, kind, and gentle as he would prove  to be overtime. He was surrounded by servants, but he was alone."

Gabrielle listened looking intently at her.

"He didn't even want Christmas to be celebrated in the castle for a while until we showed up..." Cherry continued to explain. "Though, I didn't have much of an impact on him... I wasn't given a lot of attention since everyone was trying to get Belle and your father together... Well, almost everyone..."

Gabrielle blinked.

"Oh, but you don't want to hear this from me..." Cherry half-smirked, looking down at the green-dressed girl.

"Who should I ask then, Tante?" She asks.

"Well, maybe I could tell you when it's closer to Christmas..." Cherry hinted, never forgetting her first official Christmas away from home, even if she was just a child at the time.

Gabi nodded softly. She still looked ashamed and worried about what she did.

"Don't feel bad, it's probably stronger in you," Cherry soothed. "Just let me or Maestro know if you have these urges."

Gabrielle nodded, squeezing her gently before letting go.

Cherry looked back at her calendar, seeing that Christmas was really sneaking up on her. When she was a child, it seemed to take forever, but now as a forever 19-year-old, it seemed to come quicker every year she would pass without aging a day. She wondered if Belle and Adam would even invite them to the Christmas celebration in the castle, even villagers were invited to come.

Gabrielle looked down at the floor thinking.

Cherry looked back at her. "We better get back to the higher levels before everyone wonders where we are." She looked nostalgic over some things in her collection, even a golden ticket that was locked up, then she bowed her head. "Katie..." she muttered, slowly shutting her eyes.

Gabrielle took her hand gently.

Cherry looked back down at her and smiled softly, she never smiled totally big anymore. "Come on, let's get you upstairs..." she said in her cold tone, putting the stoic frown back and led Gabrielle back up and let the wall close behind her. She then shuddered to see that even the music room was decorated beautifully for the upcoming holiday. "ANGELIQUE!"

Gabrielle blinked slowly. "It... sparkles..." she mutters.

Cherry muttered, putting her face in her hands. "Charles is going to have a cow and  the whole barn..."

Gabrielle looked at it. Cherry saw the gold, silver, and red shining balls. She grabbed one and squeezed it in her hand, not harming her hand or breaking it, but it turned pitch black somehow, making the dark young adult woman smile. Gabrielle blinked in awe.

"Don't worry, Gabrielle, I would never hurt you as sadistic as I  may be..." Cherry looked down softly at the girl, to show they were on good terms.

"That was cool Tante Cherry..." Gabrielle says.

Cherry smirked down at her. "There's a lot people don't know about me..." she then g ulped and put her hand down on her stomach as she felt a swift kick in her stomach.

Gabrielle looked and put a hand on the bump. She blinked.

"I think he senses the sudden cheerfulness..." Cherry muttered, feeling in a lot of pain.

Gabrielle pushed her gently out of the room to the more tame corridor. Cherry put the torch back and started to walk along with her. Forte was walking along the halls, feeling lost.

Cherry went to the cabinet in the room, took out a wine glass and poured inky black wine into it and drank it fondly. "It tastes like burning..." she droned to herself.

Forte looked around, then saw the girl. "Young Mistress Gabrielle..."

Gabrielle looked happy, nervous and ashamed a little as she looked at him.

"Where have you been?" Forte asked, friendly smiling at her.

Gabrielle took a small breath. She then explained what had happened at breakfast and after until this point.

"I see... I'm sorry to hear that... Especially for you to be ravenous for blood like that..." Forte told her, then muttered under his breath. "Perhaps you got that from your father..."

"You know too? Why will no one tell me?" Gabrielle huffs, crossing her arms.

Forte bit his lip, worried she heard that. "Erm... Tell you what, child?"

"About how I got it 'from my father'." she says.

Forte rubbed his arm a little sheepishly. "Well.... I could tell you, but I don't want you to get scared..."

Gabrielle tried her best pleading face.

"Okay... I told Cerise when she was a guest here, you might as well know too..." Forte took her hand and went to take her into the castle study which was turned into an art studio for Cherry when she was younger and it hadn't changed since in case she would ever come back for visits.

Gabrielle followed. When they got in there she waited quietly.

"Okay... So, you're wondering about your father and his past..." Forte  sighed sharply, leaning in the chair with her on his lap, being like the surrogate father he had been to her since he and Cherry heard about her birth.

"Oui, Maestro..." Gabrielle says quietly, to interrupt as little as possible. She looked up at him.

"Believe it or not, Gabrielle, your father wasn't as kind, warm, and gentle as he once was..." Forte tried to break this to her gently. "He used   to be rather spoiled, selfish and unkind..."

Gabrielle blinked but stayed quiet, listening. She put a hand gently on his arm.