"What are you doing out here already?" Jannick spoke in a very loud whisper as I approached the carriage that he brought me here in. "Why are you leaving the ball so soon?"
"My family was coming. I needed to get out of there." Jannick was already hopping down from his seat and opening the door for me.
"Well, I guess that can't be helped. Did you meet the prince at least?" He was looking at me all excited. I knew that he was rooting for me.
"I did. And he said he loves me. I wonder if I have met him somewhere before. Maybe he was in disguise or something. Anyway, the way that he was talking we definitely know each other from somewhere. And I am happy to say that he knows me and wants me to be his bride." I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had followed through with my conditions of the story. I met the prince. He wanted to marry me. And I was heading back in time to not be caught by my evil stepmother and hideous stepsisters. This was actually going according to plan.
"Does he know who you are? Did you give your real name? How will he find you?" Jannick was full of questions as he drove us away from the castle. His words were coming through the front window of the carriage, which had no glass to block the wind and elements at all.
"I had them introduce me as Cinderella. I needed a fake name, so that the others didn't know it was me. But I told the prince my real name." Though somehow, he seemed to know my real 'real' name. He almost called me Alex. I was guessing that it was just a glitch in the story where the keeper messed up or something, but it was odd. That was for sure.
"That was quick thinking on your part. And a good name to hide under." Jannick sounded impressed. And I guess anyone who didn't have advanced knowledge of this story would be.
"It was nothing." I tried to brush off his words and just act normal. It was only natural in my opinion. The name that this story had given me was the weird one in my opinion.
It didn't take too long for us to reach the house. There weren't that many people on the road since they were all at the castle at the moment. This meant that we didn't risk anyone seeing me sneak back into the house.
Before I could go back to my room though, I needed to change back into my old clothes. If Milly found this dress in that attic room with me then she would most likely kill me, or at least she would try to. Thankfully, while I was gone, Elin had washed the clothes and they had even had the time to dry.
"I thought you would appreciate not putting the dirty clothes back on." She smiled at me with her sweet little grin.
"Thank you, Elin. Thank you so much." I hugged her without thinking about it. I had never in my life just hugged people. Even my dad was hugged with caution at times, and I loved him dearly. Of course, I am talking about my real dad in my real non storybook life. I was not a hug person. At least, I never used to be.
"I will help you back to your room, Ash. I want to make sure that you do not fall." Jannick had a ladder with him and was willing to do all that he could to help me.
"Will that ladder work though?" I asked him, not sure. I know that I thanked him for his future help earlier, but would his ladder reach the third floor of the house?
"Worry not, this ladder has attachments." He grinned. "I can make it taller if I need to."
"Oh." Was there anything else for me to say at the moment. That was just not something that I expected from a story. Especially one that was meant for kids. Then again, what part of my life in this world had actually been like a children's story? None of it, that's what.
"Come on, let's go. We saw that you removed part of the wall. We need to fix that too, or they will suspect that you got out somehow." Jannick put a hand on my shoulder and started to walk me out of the house.
"Wait. I have some food for you. It is nothing that is overly special, just fruits, cheeses, and breads. Plus, I have a canteen of water for you. It will help you to get by until you are rescued."
"Thank you, Elin. This will help me immensely."
"Stop thanking me. It's the least that I can do. I would do more for you if I could. And don't worry about the prince. When his people come looking for you, we will tell them where you are. My mission for the foreseeable future is lookout. I am going to look out for you, Ash. I have to."
With that, Jannick left the house with me. He propped the ladder, now more than tall enough, against the side of the house. I went up first while he followed after me. I kind of didn't like that I was wearing a dress and therefore exposed, but I was pretty sure that he wasn't looking at me like that. He was a good guy.
When I climbed slowly and awkwardly onto the roof of the house, outside my window, I saw that Jannick was looking embarrassed and shy. I had a feeling that he wished he had gone up the ladder first.
"Alright, in you go. And take these." He handed me the food and water from Elin.
"Is that you, Ashenella?" I heard Gilly from the ground. "You should have told me you were back. I have been so worried that you were going to abandon me here."
"It is me, Gil. I am sorry, I was in a hurry to get back in the room. I don't want Milly to see me out." I yelled down to him.
"Thank you. I don't want to be punished again." I could hear the shame and pain in his voice.
"I will stop her from hurting you, Gil. I promise." I don't know why I wanted to help him so much. Maybe it was because in this story, he was actually my brother. Well, my half brother but still. He was being punished like I was, just not to the same extent.
"Go on, Ash. Get inside. I will help you stand the boards and the window back so that it blocks the elements and looks like nothing happened. It will not hold against anything strong though, so be careful around this wall."
"Yes. That is understandable."
I climbed back into the house then. I needed to hurry before we were all caught. The food and water were immediately hidden underneath my bed before I went back to the window. It took a while, but Jannick and I managed to stack the boards and the window in place with some effort. It was like playing a real life version of Tetris. Though this version was no at all fun.
I watched Jannick leave then. I didn't see him climbing down the ladder as it was not in my scope of vision, but I did see when he started to run back across the street to his home, the ladder in pieces under his arm.
And I swear that not even a minute after Jannick disappeared behind his house, I saw the carriage that Milly, Jilly and Tilly left in pull up in front of the house. They were back already. That was early in my opinion.
"Heh, I bet that Jake told them that he wasn't interested in them and never would be. That probably deflated their bubbles and made them so embarrassed that they had to leave."
They got out of the carriage and stomped into the house. The moment that they got to the porch, their steps echoed all the way up to my room.
"Damn, she is stomping loudly."
"GILLY!" I heard Milly shout out in a shrill voice. "IS THAT GIRL STILL IN HER ROOM!"
"YES, MOTHER!" Gilly must have been in his room since his voice sounded closer to me. "I DID NOT LET HER OUT AT ALL. AND SHE IS STILL IN THERE." His voice was still raised so that his mother could hear him as she stomped up the stairs.
"For your sake, she better be in there." Her steps came closer and then she yelled up to me. She must think that it is very hard to hear her from inside my room. "ARE YOU IN THERE, YOU LITTLE BITCH!?"
"Yes, Stepmother, I am here." That was all that I responded with.
"Good. At least I know that he didn't pick you either." With that, she stomped away. I was actually happy to hear the self pity in her voice. She was pissed off that her precious and disgusting daughters were not chosen to be the next royal princess. If she did know that I had been there, and that I had been the one that the prince had chosen, she would likely try to murder me and Gilly on the spot. It was actually almost enough to make me laugh.
Now I just needed to wait it out in this room. I knew that she would let me out, eventually. At least I hoped that she would. That is, unless she was planning on killing me. I wouldn't put that past her either.