"Oh, Ashen, I was just about to check on you. Breakfast isn't usually this late. I was worried that something had happened to you." The man lifted his head from the work that he had been doing and smiled at me. "I am so blessed to have a daughter that takes such good care of our family. What would we do without you?" He was giving me a look like he truly believed that I, or rather this character, did the work that she did willingly. Did he not know how that boy treated me? I mean her. Dammit! I didn't know how I was supposed to refer to myself and the character that I was right now. Was she me? I mean, was I her? Or should I refer to this character in the third person? I am not really Ashenella, whoever she was. However, I was currently living her life, so that must mean that I was her. At least for the time being.
Oh man. I needed to pay attention to what I was doing. I was leaving this man hanging without answering him. I needed to play my part. I needed to be Ashenella. I needed to advance the story for the time being. If I didn't, then I would be stuck here forever.
"Of course. I can't let my family down. I need to take care of them." I smiled back at him as sweetly as I could. But oh man, that felt so gross. Why did I have to pretend to be so sweet and nice? It was making me feel disgusted. This was not me. Not by a long shot.
"Well, thank you, sweetheart. I am glad that you help out so much. With you around, I save so much more money. I don't know what I will do when you get married and leave us." At that comment from my supposed father, the woman next to him started to laugh.
"Oh, darling, you know that she had no desire to get married. She had said so time and again." She was giving me a look that basically told me that I better not think about objecting to what she had just said. She was obviously intent on me not marrying and leaving the house. And that right there told me that I was basically a servant to her.
If it weren't for the fact that there was a father and brother in this story, I would think that I was in Cinderella. I mean, my name was Ashenella. It ended with Ella and the Ashen part made me think of ashes which were also cinders. So, with that information I felt like that was the story that I was in. However, wasn't Cinderella supposed to be an orphan that lived with her stepmother and stepsisters? I needed more information before I was able to make my final decision. I didn't want to just go ahead and start making assumptions here. That would just get me into trouble.
"She is right. I have no desire to get married. I mean, I would have to find just the right man that would end up making me want to get married. I don't see that happening at all, Father." I basically agreed with her without saying the words completely. I thought that it was a good way of saying it, but she apparently didn't see it that way. Not based on the look she was giving me right now.
"I think that your brother needs his food now, Ashenella. Please see to it he gets it immediately."
"Of course." I nodded and left that room as quickly as I could. I needed to make sure that I followed the rules of this place until I was able to get out. For the time being, I needed to be the good little Ashenella that these people were apparently used to. I hated it, but I had no choice.
I took the plate and the other items off of the cart that I had been using and carried them up the stairs. I needed to find out which room the brother of mine was in. And was he really my brother, or was he a stepbrother?
Well, the doors upstairs were all labeled. I came across the first door and saw that it said Milly and Billy. I guess that was a thing with this family. I am so glad that I wasn't part of that horrible naming scheme.
The next door said Jilly and Tilly. That was obviously the sisters' room. And I was assuming that the first one was for the mother and father. There was only one more door in the hall before the stairs. This door was labeled Gilly. Alright, a single name door. That must be the brother's door. Who else could it belong to?
I knocked on the door and waited for an answer.
"Just bring me my food already." He called out, not bothering to open the door for me.
"I am sorry, Gilly, but my hands are full. Can you open it for me?"
I heard him get to his feet and stomp across the room. A second later the door whipped open and all of a sudden, he was staring at me with angry eyes.
"Don't ever call me that. I hate that name. You call me Gil and nothing else. This is the last time that I will be warning you. Also never, and I do mean never, ask me to do anything for you again. You may be my half-sister, but to me you're nothing more than trash." With that, he took the plate and other items from my hands and kicked the door shut behind him.
Well then. If he was my half-brother, that would mean that one of his parents was a stepparent. And judging by that, I could guess that I was older than him, most likely closer to twenty at the least. And those two sisters were likely my stepsisters. This was all shaping up to be very clearly the Cinderella story.
I couldn't be sure yet though. There was a father in the picture and that was not common in the story that I had heard in my class. So, I guess this could be another story that I just wasn't familiar with.
I needed to think. I needed to be alone. And I needed to take a damn break. I was already exhausted. At least mentally exhausted anyway. Though, where should I rest? There was no bedroom for Ashenella up here. Then again, there were those stairs at the end of the hall. Could my room be up there?
I decided to give it a shot. I walked over to the stairs and looked for a sign. There wasn't one. Alright, that didn't mean anything, there was no door after all. Maybe the door and the sign were up the stairs.
I walked to the top of the stairs to investigate what I found there. There was no door to this place, it just led into a very clean bedroom. The room had very little in the way of stuff. Just a bed, one dresser, and a smaller table with a single chair. The bed was covered in a cacophony of colors. It was like the person that slept here had to take spare linens from the other people in the house but never got new ones for herself. The table looked worn out and as if it had been repaired several times. It was definitely not the room of someone that was well cared for. Though the things in here looked like the person who lived in here took care of their things.
"Yup, this is my room alright. And I am being led more and more to believe that this is the Cinderella tale. Even though it is different from what I remember."
"Remember, Alex, I told you the stories were not following their original scripts. They can be changed by you and any other influences that might be present around the story."
"So, am I right?" I asked the Keeper as they so rudely interrupted me.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that for you." I heard the arrogance in its voice and just wanted to smack them. They were truly getting on my nerves.
"Well, what can you tell me then? What are you doing here?" I was angry. I wanted to come up here to relax, not to have this voice pestering me again.
"Well, I thought I would come with a hint as to how to find your counterpart in the story." There was laughter to its voice now. What was it even getting at?
"What do you mean my counterpart?" I was so confused right now.
"The male lead of the story, silly. All fairytales have a female lead and a male lead. I wanted to tell you how to spot the one that is meant for you." It was laughing at me, but why? Why would it do that?
"OK, tell me then." I spoke angrily to the voice that seemed to be coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
"You have a birthmark, correct? One that you were born with in the world you are from."
"Yes, I do." I knew what it was talking about. The birthmark in question was in the shape of a cherry, complete with a stem. And it was on the very top of my left breast. It was never seen unless I wanted it to be seen.
"Well, your counterpart will have an identical mark on him somewhere. That is how you will know that you have met the right man."
"Wait a minute. Where on his body is that mark?" I didn't like what this voice was telling me now.
"You have to find that out for yourself. Happy hunting." And with a very audible laugh, the voice left as quickly as it had arrived.
"Fuck you, Keeper! Fuck you and your damn riddles. I just want to go home already." There was no voice that responded to me though, unfortunately. I was all alone now, just me and this strange bedroom of mine.