Come with us
“Would it be okay if I drove myself?
I need my car.
It’s important to me.”
Not to mention, it was the only place she’d have to live once she graduated…
The thought of moving back into her car again cracked something deep inside her soul.
“It will be picked up and placed in the campus garage with the others.
Is there anything you need from inside it?” the man in the suit asked.
He sounded much less aggressive than the other man.
“Thank you.
That’s good.
And yes, please, I do.
I’d like to retrieve them before we leave, if that’s okay?”
“Yes.”
Ria nodded and slid into the back seat of the SUV.
It had been so long since she’d seen something so new.
She looked around the vehicle, taking in the clean seats, polished surfaces, and unfamiliar technology.
What did the rest of the world look like?
Outside her little village?
It had been years since she’d left home.
She couldn’t help wondering how much the world had changed while she’d been stuck in her tiny corner of it.
They drove around to the back of the community center, where her car was parked.
The regal-looking man glanced at the beat-up vehicle.
“That…
that’s the car you want to bring?”
His tone carried a hint of mockery.
“Yes.”
Ria looked at her old car fondly.
“It’s my dad’s.
It’s very special to me.
I think I’ll keep it even after it becomes undrivable.”
She ignored the man’s tone, though it didn’t escape her.
He detested her.
She could feel it.
And she couldn’t figure out why.
She swore she’d never met him before.
“Go.
We don’t have long,” he scoffed, unlocking the door.
Ria jumped out and rushed over to her car.
She quickly opened the door and started gathering her things.
“What’s taking so long?” he yelled.
“I’m almost done, sorry!”
She shoved the few outfits she owned into a bag, along with her toiletries, a photo album, a small jewelry box, and all her books.
Everything she owned could fit inside a suitcase and a duffle bag.
That thought made her pause for a moment.
Everything she owned…
It wasn’t much.
But it was hers.
She carried both bags back toward the SUV.
“Would it be okay if I put them in the trunk?”
The man stared at the bags.
“Why is all of that in your car?
Are you living in it or something?”
“Uh…”
Ria didn’t want to sound pathetic.
“Heh…
something like that.”
There was a sudden clicking sound.
Ria jumped backward.
The door of the SUV’s trunk began lifting on its own.
She stared at it in shock.
She had never seen anything like that before.
For a second, she genuinely thought something bad was about to happen.
Then the door stopped.
An enormous, empty trunk was revealed.
Ria blinked.
Oh wow.
That’s a lot of space.
She carefully placed her suitcase and duffle bag inside.
“I have just a few more things to grab, if that’s okay.
I’ll be right back.”
The man in the regal clothing simply glared at her.
Then he nodded in the direction of her car, signaling that she had permission.
Ria smiled and hurried back.
She practically had a pep in her step.
Both men looked at each other.
Neither said anything.
But their expressions clearly questioned the girl’s sanity.
A moment later, Ria returned carrying two instruments.
A violin.
And a flute.
She brought those with her into the backseat instead of putting them in the trunk.
The violin case rested carefully across her lap.
Ria hugged it tightly against her chest.
“I’m going to a school that will help me grow as a violinist, Ba,” she whispered.
Her fingers gently traced the worn case.
“I’ll play for you one day.
I promise.”
A soft, lonely smile rested on her face as she curled inward, wrapping her body around the case.
“That box looks like the real reason you wanted to come back to the car,” the suited man said.
His tone was genuinely curious.
Ria smiled.
She opened the case slightly.
“It’s my most precious possession.
My violin.”
Her eyes softened.
“He bought it for me after working extra shifts in the fields.
And then he carved my name in our ancestral language.”
She touched the carving.
“I don’t know what it means.
But it’s beautiful.”
She pulled the violin carefully from its case and showed it to them.
Something about the instrument in her hands gave her an overwhelming sense of peace.
Wholeness.
Like everything inside her had finally found its proper place.
“Mind if I play you something?”
She sounded a little nervous.
“If you can actually play well, go ahead.
I don’t care,” the regal man said.
“Hmmh.”
Ria hummed softly, smiling.
She positioned the violin beneath her chin.
She adjusted her grip on the bow.
Then took a deep breath.
She decided to play a sad song.
The bow glided across the strings with smooth, practiced grace…
something that could only come from years of dedication.
The first note filled the car.
Then another.
And another.
The sound changed the atmosphere almost immediately.
Both men’s hearts seemed to grow heavier, as though gravity itself had suddenly become stronger.
Their hearts pounded.
The hair on their arms stood up.
Goosebumps spread across their skin.
Ria barely noticed.
She was somewhere else now.
The violin was an extension of herself.
Her face remained relaxed, but her brows narrowed with concentration.
Every movement was deliberate.
Every note carried emotion.
Passion poured from her.
She moved with the kind of grace a saint might have, completely lost in the music.
There was something about her.
Something neither man could explain.
She almost looked like she was glowing.
And both men could feel it.
As they watched her play, they couldn’t help but notice the ethereal beauty surrounding her.
The sound of the violin.
The expression on her face.
The way the music made them feel.
Something was happening.
Something neither of them understood.
The man in regal clothing closed his eyes.
Deep inside him, his beast shifted.
His bear, normally restless and angry, slowly lowered itself.
Then it lay down.
And purred.
The man stiffened.
His bear had never done that.
Not in years.
Ever since his forest had been destroyed during the war, his beast had changed.
The destruction had broken something inside him.
His bear became aggressive.
Constantly angry.
Constantly raging inside his mind.
It was always there…
A low, simmering fury.
But now?
For the first time in years, there was silence.
The violin saddened his heart.
Yet somehow…
It calmed his beast.
His shoulders relaxed.
The tension he’d been carrying in his body began to disappear.
He didn’t feel on edge.
He didn’t feel angry.
He didn’t feel like he needed to be ready for a fight.
He hadn’t even realized he was still parked beside her car.
He was simply sitting there…
Listening.
Watching.
Feeling.
Then the final note faded.
Ria gently lowered the violin into her lap.
She looked up.
Both men were staring at her.
Their jaws hung slightly open.
There were tears in their eyes.
“I’ve never heard anything like that,” the man in the suit said quietly.
The man in regal clothing remained silent.
Finally, he spoke.
“You…”
His voice caught.
“You…
you calmed my beast.”
He had actually stuttered.
Both Ria and the man in the suit looked at him in surprise.
“How?”
He stared at her.
“How did you do that?”
His expression was almost accusing now.
“I sense no beast in you.
You’re just an ordinary mortal.
So how did that song calm him?”
Ria’s heart began pounding.
His beast?
He was a beast man?
Oh, my Gods.
I’m in a car with a beast man…
And I just played the violin for him.
The peace her music had brought her disappeared.
She didn’t know how to answer.
It was just music.
Whenever she played or sang, people said it made them feel good.
But that was what music did…
Right?
Surely it wasn’t more than that.
“Music has a way of soothing the soul and healing broken hearts,” she said softly.
She glanced at him.
“Maybe the right song helped with your…
um…
beast?”
Her voice became shy.
She was much more nervous now.
“You’re my first beast man.
I’ve never met any before.”
She looked down.
“As such, I don’t really know much about beasts.
I’m so sorry.
Please forgive me.
I don’t want to say anything stupid or insulting.”
She kept her eyes lowered.
His short answers told her he liked to control the conversation.
And she could sense he wasn’t someone who liked prolonged eye contact.
He took it as a challenge.
Yet he hadn’t stopped looking at her.
Really looking at her.
She looked frail.
And beautiful.
Like a cherry blossom.
Her long brown hair fell in soft waves over her back and shoulders, with a few loose strands framing her face.
She dressed like a country girl.
The girl-next-door type of country girl.
She was a flower in human form.
Like a fairy from the old stories.
There were old tales about fairies that could do things like this.
His eyes slowly scanned her face.
She looks like she could be a beast.
Her features resembled theirs.
Yet she didn’t smell like them.
Could she have diluted fairy blood?
He didn’t know.
But something about her didn’t add up.
“I’m Sir Gerald,” he finally said.
“I’m in charge of the security team at the school.”
Ria lifted her face.
“Sir Gerald, very nice to meet you.”
She gave him a small, friendly smile.
He was taken aback by her tenderness.
For some strange reason, his face heated.
He quickly looked away.
Then turned the car on and put it into gear.
“I’m Mr.
James.
Pleasure to meet you, Miss Sima.”
He turned to face the road.
Ria settled into the backseat, her violin safely beside her.
She gazed out the window.
Her village slowly disappeared behind them.
The familiar streets.
The old buildings.
The community center.
Her school.
Everything she’d ever known.
It all grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
She watched until she couldn’t see it anymore.
A new life awaited her.
A place to call home.
A chance to become something more.
A chance to finally belong somewhere.
Ria smiled to herself.
This was going to be great!
Enemies to lovers Cinderella style.