***JAKE'S POV***
Well, I have been living in this world for a little while now. It wasn't that bad for me. I mean, I didn't have a cellphone or a computer. There was no TV. No modern technology at all. There was also no fast food. I was desperately missing out on my cheeseburgers, French fries, milkshakes, and so much more. Hell, it wasn't just these foods that I was missing out on. It was all the home cooked meals that I was longing for. Or restaurant foods. There was no pasta, no casseroles, no ethnic food. It was all some old fashioned style German storybook food. Or something totally stuck up. I didn't know how best to classify it. It wasn't to my liking though, that was for sure.
I guess it was meant to be bad though. I mean, according to that 'keeper of the tales' that pulled me in here, I was being punished for my crimes against fairy tales. Whatever those crimes against fairytales might have been. I mean, I didn't like them, but was that really a crime? Was it something that I needed to be kidnapped and trapped in a book for?
Other than the horrible food and, you know, being trapped, I was doing OK in here. I was a prince in this world, so it wasn't that much of a punishment. I just didn't know how long I would be here until I got to go home.
According to the keeper of the tales, I would remain in the book until I satisfied enough stories. And to satisfy the stories, I needed to find the female lead of each story and make her fall in love with me.
The stories weren't normal though. And the differences about them would change depending on the story we were in. There could be big or little changes. But I wouldn't know what the changes were until I managed to figure out the story that I was in. And at the moment, I was still lost.
I had tried to think about it calmly. I mean, I was a prince. And they were literally calling me that and nothing else. The servants called me 'Prince' or 'Your Highness'. My storybook father called me 'son'. You see, I was a fatherless child growing up, so I was not used to having a dad in my life. Anyway, this father called me 'Son' and nothing else. Well, I guess that wasn't right. He would occasionally call me 'My Boy' and 'Lad'.
All in all, this was not going to be easy for me to figure it all out. I knew that in some versions of the fairytales, the princes were named. In the animated versions they had names and all that, but I had a feeling that the 'most magical place on earth' had absolutely nothing to do with this storybook from hell.
Based on the prince character that was trapped in a castle like this, I could make a few assumptions. I wasn't in the woods on a horse, ever, so I was most likely not in Snow White. If I wasn't allowed to leave the castle, I couldn't find a mysterious lady in the woods that needed me to kiss her.
Also, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel required me to be able to move freely about the lands. I was literally trapped inside of this castle with nowhere to go. It was, in a way, truly hell for me.
I used to be so free in my life. Between my years at school, I had traveled to play soccer for the US. I made it on national teams, I was preparing to go to the Olympics, I was literally making plans to play in the FIFA World Cup. I had plans. I had dreams. And I was a man that had his whole life and career ahead of him.
That is, until I got hurt. If it hadn't been for my knee injury, I would never have come back to school. I would have given it all up for my fame and my career. I know that I would have. And that is why I was so thankful that my career came crashing down. I was getting conceited. I was stupid. I wasn't thinking. In truth, I was stupid and needed to learn more from life and school.
And when I was almost done with school, I went and got kidnapped by a book. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair. I mean, come on, let me finish school. It was all that I wanted. Well, finish school and get a certain girl to notice me. Since that girl was so closed off, I had a feeling that it was never going to happen.
"Hahh. Wouldn't it be nice if my female lead was her. Well, not her really, but someone that looks like her. That would be nice. Then I would know that this book doesn't outright hate me." I spoke out loud because I was the only one in the room. Or rather, I had been the only one in the room. Now though, I could see my father and his lackey, I mean steward, coming into the room with me.
"My boy, there you are." He grinned and came right over to me. This storybook dad was short and looked nothing like me. Then again, I had kept my appearance from before I came in here. Well, most of my appearance. There were just a few differences. Even my birthmark was still there, on my left wrist. I had to hide it with my sleeves here, since there was no watch for me to wear now.
"Hello, Father." I called out to him formally. He didn't seem to have a name either. At least not one that I knew.
"I have come to inform you that we shall be holding a ball. There you will meet with all the eligible young ladies in the kingdom. I want you to find a wife, Son. It's time that you married and started preparing to become king." I knew what he was saying. Most storybook king fathers would say this. Right? I mean, it sounds familiar to me at least.
"Of course, Father. I will try to find the most beautiful and worthy bride that there is." That's what a prince would respond with, I think.
"Just find the woman best suited for you, My boy. I want you to be happy." He really was an oddity in my mind. "And to make things more fair, I have declared that this ball will be a masquerade ball. Your identity is a little harder to hide, but the ladies cannot reveal who they are until you have decided that they are the one for you. How does that sound?" He seemed so proud of himself as he said this. And he should be too. He had just confirmed to me which story I was in.
If I wasn't mistaken, and I doubted that I was, this had to be the Cinderella story. A ball to find a bride. Identities hidden. Yeah, that sounded like the one. There weren't that many fairy tales that could fill those shoes. Well, at least I knew which one I was in. Now it was just time for me to find the Cinderella of this story and make her mine. Then I can get out of here. Or at the very least, move on to another story.
After my storybook father and his lackey left the room, I looked up at the ceiling and spoke to the keeper of the tales.
"I know what the tale is now. That will make it easier for me to get out of here."
"Good. I am glad that you know the tale now. You just need to look for the girl that I have chosen for you. I wonder if you will approve of her or not." The keeper had a strange voice. It was like there were several people talking all at the same time. Only the voice sort of wavered and moved like it was changing between the people that were speaking. It was odd, that was for sure. And it made me unsure if the keeper was male or female. I guess, since it was a book, it wasn't either.
"It makes no difference if I approve of her or not. It's the princess from the story and that means that I have to accept her no matter what. I am sure that you would not cater to me in any way. I am nothing but a prisoner here, right?" There was anger and resentment in my voice as I responded to that strange voice.
"Oh pooh, you're no fun either. How come no one is ever nice to me? I just want to play with my readers and characters a little, but all of you are always so mean."
With that, I felt a sort of popping noise inside of my head. It was weird, feeling a noise, but I did. I guess I just associated the feeling that was there with the popping noise, but I swear I heard it too. Anyway, after the popping, the keeper was no longer in my head. I didn't always know when they came to me or when they left, but this time I did.
"Maybe if you didn't kidnap people then you would get nicer characters." I snapped at the voice even though it was gone.
I had nothing else to do for now, so I went back to my room. I wanted to forget about all of this for now. Hey, at least I knew that this part of the nightmarish journey was almost over. Then I could see which hell the next story was.