Vadim returned to his manor with power and life flowing in his limbs stronger than ever. He had won this fight, the first that mattered since he lost to a witch who had no idea why he turned her away in his grief. That dark rainy night haunted his every sleep, but now it would change. He could comfort himself in that fact.

The months went by with their single day of humanity. Spring turned into fall and the rosebuds curled up against their vines, refusing to let go even as chill took the air. He brooded long through every day as winter set in, and his nights were filled with anxious runs, claws digging deep runs in dead tree bark. If he howled like something between a fox and a wolf, then there was no one for miles to hear it. By the time spring sprung its first buds, he felt tormented by his very existence. A man, a beast. He was nothing but a lonely soul in agony, no matter which form he wore.

Finally, March, the third month approached. He stood in the vast gardens that his mother once kept, now overgrown in ivy, thorns, and brilliant begonia leaves, he thought about the humans he made a deal with. At first, he'd kept an eye on Belle, watching through the window curtain as before. As winter closed over the world though, he could suffer at his own home, deep snow making it difficult to travel deep into the woods and then down to the valley where rivers and low land turned impassable. The river was long thawed though and so he would make his journey. Pushing past a layer of thistles, he found a branch of roses that managed its way from the road and into the garden. A single hardy grouping of brownish roses lay protected by the thistle, new buds nestled against it. He gathered them each to his chest as he turned eyes to the town. Tomorrow, he would be human again and there was a certain family he needed to pay a visit.