Pentimento: a dystopian Beauty and the Beast (23 page)

“Thanks bro,” Colton said, and walked toward the center.

Suddenly, a guard showed up in front of him. The police had left a human behind.

Colton didn’t hesitate. He punched him in the face instantly. The man was strong though, and punched back.

“You should really leave,” Colton told him. “The energy I got in my heart is much stronger than anything you have seen.”

The policeman grinned at the young boy’s foolishness. Sadly, it was his last grin in a long time. Colton punched him again, drawing out a tooth. Then he followed with another punch that knocked the man down.

“That’s my bro!” Cody clapped on the phone.

Colton walked to the middle of the rooftop and took a deep breath.

“Ready, Colton?” Cody said.

“I am.” He pulled out the red rose he’d finally picked up from the Ruins, and watched it with eager eyes. He smelled it for a moment with closed eyes.

“It’s time.” Cody said.

“You need anything from up there, bro?” Colton joked, disguising his fears.

“How about you bring Zoe back with Iris,” Cody said. “You know I’d have joined you, if I hadn’t had that awful cold all week.”

Colton laughed. “Anything else?” he said, staring at the stars in the sky, those glittering stars separating him from Iris.

“Don’t forget to write,” Cody said.

“I won’t need to,” Colton said. “I’ll be back soon. It’s only stars separating me from Zoe and Iris. How bad could it be?” Colton gazed at the stars again. "Damn, Iris. Now I literally have to go to the moon and back to be with you." He raised the red rose, defying the Beasts’ sovereign, in the air. If they took the challenge, he’d be the first boy to ever be taken by the Beasts, willingly or not.

Miles and miles away from Colton, up in space, Iris sat cross-legged on the glass floor above the stars. She had requested an old painting to practice her Pentimento hobby. Prince Andre was kind enough to grant her this wish. She'd been here for seven days, doing nothing but sitting here and working with the paintings.

Iris knew the Beasts were watching her; those ugly Beasts trying to persuade her that her whole world was a lie, and asking her to look at the stars.

Even Zoe visited her a couple of times, talking in codes and riddles, hinting at things. Zoe said she loved Iris so much, she'd die for her. It was true. And Iris would have done the same. Hell, she'd already done it by defying the Beasts for her.

Still, Iris told Zoe that all she could see were the beautiful stars.

Iris, now alone in her chamber, pushed the painting aside and stood up. She lowered her head and gazed down at the glass floor, pulling the hem of her wedding dress slightly up. She did it as if she were about to dance. Somewhere far below was the place she came from; where she met Colton Ray.

She had no idea that at this very moment, Colton was holding a red rose up and defying the Beasts, only to be with her. But somehow, in a rare and exclusively human emotion, she could feel Colton's presence, as if he were near without even
seeing
him.

She didn't need much explanation or knowledge to analyze her feelings. They were just there, and looking down at the galaxy made her feel a star or two closer to him.
How many light years were those?

Even if her attraction to Andre was unearthly, her heart belonged to Colton. He was the one she had always wanted. Her first kiss. The only one she'd dreamed of growing old with. And maybe have kids. And ironically die with, and be buried next to.

True, they might give birth to deformed kids, as ugly looking as she and Colton really were. But it didn't matter. She didn't need an alien race to tell her how to deal with her human problems. As ugly as they were, she and Colton could work it out. They had to work it out. It's what their humanity was all about.

The first time she'd realized what she really was while on the ship was shocking. But then she comprehended it had never been about the looks. The strength humans can show and the stars humans can cross were in themselves unearthly traits. If the beautiful aliens wanted to judge them, they should try living on Earth first, get on their knees and see a plant, feed a dog, or raise kids. Then we'd see how long they'd survive.

Iris knelt to the floor again with her bare feet. She stretched an arm out to touch the glass, looking at the gray skies and the burned stars with a broad smile on her face. It wasn’t a beautiful sight at first, but it did hold a beautiful dream at the end of her gaze: Colton. She could feel him down there somewhere, waiting for her.

And in this precise moment, Iris had an epiphany, that Colton at the end of her gaze, beyond the burned stratosphere, was her Pentimento.

Hold on, Colton.
She thought.
I’m coming for you. If I keep insisting that I still see the stars, they'll want to get rid of me and send me back to The Second. Stay strong.

The END…

Just visit:
www.Cameronjace.com
and enter your email. You’ll get personal updates from me. I promise you’ll be the first to know when Book Two is released! But here is the thing; my lovely beta readers had different opinions on this ending. Some thought, like me, that the story ends here with an open ended scene. And some encouraged me to continue it and write book 2, which should be called Stars Beneath Her Feet. I will leave that up to you to decide. So if you think there should be a second book, don’t miss out:
www.cameronjace.com

Entering your email will also notify you of any other books I write when they come out. Plus you can check facts like the Fragonard paiting and real life Pentimentos in my emails.

Thank you so much for reading.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays,

Cameron Jace

When you turn the page, Kindle will give you the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter automatically. If you enjoyed my book, would you take a second to click that button and let your friends know about it? If they get something out of the book, they’ll be grateful to you. As I will!

Wish you the best of holidays and a fantabulous new year,

Cameron