I trudged my way down the stairs to the sound of my storybook stepmother's voice. You know what, seeing this and listening to her now, I was really glad that my dad never got remarried. He dated once or twice, but never more than a couple of dates each time. After a while, it was like he just gave up on ever having someone else.
I often wondered if it was my fault that he stayed single, but seeing how this woman was and how she treated me, I was very grateful for my dad, the real one, not the storybook one. He loved me and put me first. The man here, the one that was Ashenella's father, was not a nice man at all. He seemed to know that his wife and other children treated his daughter poorly. And even though he knew, he just didn't care about it at all.
Finally, I managed to make it to Milly's room. She was standing at her door and glaring at me while I made my way toward her. She had even called out to me, or rather screamed at me, after she saw me and knew that I was more than aware of her need to demand something else of me.
"ASHENELLA!" She was such a raging bitch. I didn't even know her and yet I hated her to her core. She was just so over the top and stupid. And let's not forget her horrible choice in names. She was so stupid about them that it just made me laugh. Or rather, it made me want to laugh while I just ridiculed her inside of my head.
"Yes, Stepmother? What can I do for you?" I gave her such a blatantly fake smile that I knew she was put off by it.
"You did not finish your chores. How dare you be inside of my house right now."
"I am afraid that I do not know what you mean, Stepmother." I emphasized the role that she played in my life as I spoke in a sugary sweet tone of voice. "I did everything that you asked of me."
"LIAR!" She screamed the word right into my face. She was so close that I felt the flecks of saliva splatter my cheeks. I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to fucking hit her. And I wanted to wipe my face clean. I was only able to do one of those though, otherwise I would risk messing up the story.
"I am not lying. I made lunch and dinner to your specifications. I scrubbed the floors, the windows, and the furniture. I did the laundry. Everything was done as you demanded of me. As I said, Stepmother, I did not lie. I did everything and therefore will sleep in my room tonight."
"You didn't wash the linens." She spoke so coldly that I literally felt ice forming on my spine when she looked at me. "You didn't do your chores properly."
"Forgive me, Stepmother, but you did not ask for the linens to be washed."
"EXCUSE ME!?" She screamed at me again. And once again her saliva sprayed into my face.
"I said that you did not ask for me to wash the linens, Stepmother." I wiped my face again as I answered her.
"Shut up, you stupid girl." She barked the order at me and I obeyed. I didn't need to say anything else just then. If I did, I would ruin my part of this story. "Everyone knows that the linens are to be washed when rooms are cleaned. That is just common sense. How stupid could you be? You're a useless little bitch, you know that. You need to do your work, or I swear I will sell you to a brute. You will have an abusive husband that treats you worse than you or I could ever imagine. He will force himself on you and make you wait on him hand and foot. Is that what you want?" You know something, I had a feeling that she was telling the truth. Even if it meant making her husband hire a maid, she would rather be rid of her stepchild more than anything else.
"Hmm. I don't know. You are pretty mean yourself, Stepmother." I couldn't hold that back. I have been trying really hard to stay mellow right now. That was the key to finishing this story, I knew that it was, but I failed. I let her know that I was angry with her and I didn't care what she did in response. She was clearly looking for a reason to punish me.
"What did you say?" She glared at me. "What did you just say to me?"
"I said that you are already mean to me, Stepmother. What difference would it make if I were to become someone else's slave?"
"You, little bitch." She struck out at me. Or well, she intended to strike me. I moved quicker than she expected and stepped out of her way. Her hand ended up hitting the wall and I heard her scream as if she were dying. "Ow! Ow! OW! OW! You hit me."
"I did no such thing, Stepmother. You hit the wall in an attempt to hit me." I returned the glare that she had been giving me.
"You still caused this injury of mine." She snapped at me. "Get out of my house. You will be sleeping in the barn from now on. Even when your father returns. That is, if I haven't found your new master before then. You are only allowed to come into this house to do your chores. If you are not cleaning my home or cooking my meals, do not step foot inside of this house. Do you understand me? I don't want to see you or hear you any more than I absolutely have to. If you cause any more problems for me at all, I will have you killed. I don't care what your father says or does about it. I will kill him and take his fortune if he opposes me. Now get the rags that you call clothes and get out of my home." She started to turn away then stopped herself. "And make sure these linens are cleaned first thing tomorrow." She went into her room and slammed the door shut behind her.
"Stupid bitch." I whispered under my breath but I heard something that I didn't expect.
"That was very stupid of you." That was Gilly's voice.
"I will be telling mother what you said." One of the sisters said, I didn't know which one, but when I turned around they were both staring at me with Gilly. All three of them were looking like they hated me.
"You will be in so much trouble." The other sister said with a sneer in her voice.
"Like I fucking care." I rolled my eyes at them and went back up to my room. "I hate all of you anyway."
"Mother is going to kill you for that." One of the girls jeered at me.
"I'd love to see her try. I really would." I might have stopped trying to be the good little girl for the time being. Maybe tomorrow I would get back on track but, for now, I was too pissed off for it. I just went up to my room and gathered my clothes, pillow, and pathetic excuses of blankets. After that, I took them all down to the barn and found an empty stall.
The barn wasn't so bad. I mean, except for smelling like horse and cow shit, it wasn't that bad. It was surprisingly warm, and the smell wasn't overwhelming. Thankfully, it wasn't winter in this world either, so it wasn't snowing or windy or anything like that. It actually felt like it was late spring or early summer. Nice nights and days, but not overly hot yet. That would make sleeping out here a lot more bearable.
My new life in this world started the next morning. I did the chores that I was expected to do, but nothing more. They couldn't withhold anything from me now since I was already in the barn. Milly had told me that I wasn't allowed to eat 'her food', but that was expected. I snuck some anyway but more often than not, I foraged. I also ended up eating some of the oats that were for the horses. I mixed them with some hot water and some berries from the forest. The result was an actual edible oatmeal. It helped to get me through the days at least.
Oh, and as the days went on, I had pretty much cemented my conviction that I was in the Cinderella story. There just weren't any others that seemed like they would be a good fit for the way this was all going. I just hoped that something happened to move the story along soon. This was getting old really quick.