They Call Him Beast

8. Remember

  "How was it she recognized him immediately? His features were already too deeply impressed on her mind and perhaps, in her heart."

- Beauty and the Beast

I should've let him go.

Having just confessed that he was somebody I should stay away from, I should've taken his advice and stayed away. And yet there was something about him that drew me in. That made me ignore all common sense and rational thought as I struggled to connect him to the blank holes in my memory.

The stranger opened his car door and slid into the seat, but before he could turn the key in the ignition, I was beside his door knocking on the window, startling him. Painfully slow he let down the window, but everything I had prepared to say lodged in my throat when his eyes bore into mine.

Almost like being hit with an electrical current his gaze conjured a reel of warped memories in my mind... I found myself caught up into a haze as I eagerly began to kiss him back. In a matter of mere seconds, I forgot all about who it was I was kissing as my arms wound up over his shoulders and his hands gripped my waist pulling me impossibly closer towards him...

"What?!"

He snapped abruptly and I realized I'd zoned out with the image of him and me. I pushed aside the thought and searched the handsome features of his face.

"Have I... did we... do I know you?"

His teeth clenched, a muscle ticked ever so slightly along his sharp jawline, as he looked away from me out into the dark, open road.

"No. You don't know me."

I opened my mouth to argue against it, but he was right. He was just a stranger I didn't know him, or at least I didn't remember him. Accusing him of lying wouldn't do much if I couldn't prove it.

"Try to stay out of trouble," he mumbled under his breath and flicked a button to raise the window between us. But just as before, an incredibly senseless part of me wouldn't accept that he wanted to leave I hurriedly placed my fingers on top of the window.

Thankfully he stopped its ascent before my fingers were sliced off and I knew that later on, I'd be cursing my brash stupidity.

The window came back down, and he stared impassively, waiting.

"At least let me thank you for what you did."

I offered, and he shook his head 'no' almost immediately.

"There's no need."

"Please."

I pleaded, and his eyes turned to mine that current of recollection burning through me. I couldn't let him get away, not without knowing who he was. More specifically, who he was to me.

He hesitated, reluctant to accept my offer.

"There's a diner not far from here," I rambled quickly, not wanting to give him an opportunity to say no, "At the very least let me buy you a drink or something, five minutes."

His grip tightened on the steering wheel, "Five minutes."

I nodded with a smile, and he sighed deep inclining his head to the passenger seat, "Get in."

I wasted no time in going around to the other side of the vehicle and only spared a brief moment of uncertainty. I pulled open the door and slid in beside him. I pulled my seatbelt across, and he shifted the gears to drive, and the engine thrummed powerfully as he sped away.

"Didn't your parents warn you about getting into a stranger's cars?"

A cold, motionless sensation came over me, but even though his words made me nervous from fear I struggled to believe the sincerity of them.