You decide to go to bed eventually, undressing slowly, taking off each item of clothing as if with slight precision then throwing them to the other side of the room as if they were suddenly undesirable. You took a large yawn, stretching your arms in the air and arching your back. Then, you pull your pyjamas from under your pillow and put them on equally slowly to when you took of your clothes - sighing as you suddenly feel a lot more comfortable. You crawled under your quilt, pulling it up to your neck and nuzzling the pillow gently - seeking a comfortable position to fall asleep in. The quilt was cool as opposed to the warm sun that had been shining that day. You felt contempt under the quilt, feeling your eyes getting heavy, your mind clearing, the sleep like state beginning to take over you.
The room fades to black and you've fallen into a deep, deep sleep.
Upon waking from your sleep, you feel very dazed and confused. The view you awaken to see is not in fact the comfort of your own bedroom. You wake in front of a large, white mansion with an ascending lawn approaching it. You push yourself up into a sitting position on the grass, looking directly ahead at the fascinating home. You raise your eyebrows and marvel at it for a while before you come into proper terms with the fact that you're not really where you should be. Your raised brows furrow into a slight frown as you contemplate what on earth you're doing here. Your only conclusion is that you're dreaming and that this is all completely fake - though you think to yourself how wonderful it would be for this place to be real and how you'd love to stay there forever. The lawn has 3 sets of concrete steps leading to each higher stretch of grass and the last set of steps lead to a patio in front of the double door that would take you into the house itself. Either side of each set of steps are tall, concrete flower pots with elaborate patterns on them - they each hold a bouquet of beautiful pink flowers that seem to be illuminated from the beaming sun atop the house. The grass looks like it has been recently mowed with not a single weed in sight: it's all neatly trimmed and kept. On either side of the sets of steps is two more stretches of lawn. The grass is kept the same as the ascending path before you and it also has 3 small square areas of bushes and assorted flowers. You stand up slowly and turn 360 degrees to see your full surroundings and you can't help but gawk and everything and it's beauty.
You walk at a steady pace across the first stretch of grass and then up the first set of concrete steps. As you walk, you look to either side of you and smile at the small lay outs of flowers and bushes. It's all so beautiful to you and you wish you could honestly stay there. You question why it has to be a dream but obviously you know this could never be a reality for you so you vow to yourself to take everything from this place into your memory and always remember it. As you advance across the next stretch of grass and set of steps, you take a closer look at the concrete flower pots and pay attention to the pattern they have on them. The pattern is shaped to look like beautifully flowing silk in bunches which circles around the whole flower pot. The pattern is very elaborate and detailed - you wonder how long it must have taken. You walk across the final two stretchs of grass and up the final two sets of steps and reach the patio outside the double door. Lining the whole patio are four sets of huge concrete pillars which look as if they are holding up the third floor of the mansion. You feel slightly eager to explore to place as soon as possible. You look down at the bottom of the door and see a piece of paper selotaped to it. You kneel down and remove the paper, reading what had been written on it.
"Alright, Princess? I think you'll want to step inside - I've got a little trail for you to follow. I want you to read my little message for you I've put in there: just as a little hello. -JM x"
You question your own mind at this point - why on earth are you dreaming this? Though it is an interesting dream, you begin to really question whether this could end up as a nightmare. Despite your doubts, you push open the large door and enter the mansion.
You step inside the mansion and let the door close itself behind you. You look all around the main hall you find yourself in. The floor is checkered black and white and polished within an inch of its life. There is a blue patterned mat in the direct centre of the room just in front of your feet - but you daren't step on it for fear of getting it dirty and ruining it in some way. The wall in front of you is twice the size of a regular house's wall. It's astounding. There are four archways: the two in the middle lead to each side of a large stairwell and the outer two archways lead to two different hallways that would lead you to different areas of the first floor. The walls are lined with different decorations such as a large grandfather clock between the two arches to the far left. There are various chairs and loveseats, large lamps and a selection of paintings dotted around. In the corner of your eye, next to your feet, you notice some dirt. You look down at it and realise that it is a trail of breadcrumbs.
"That must be what the note meant..." You mutter to yourself and follow it off to the archway that leads to the stairwell on the right without a second thought crossing your mind.
You follow the trail up the stairs that is sprinkled across the neatly fitted blue carpet. The staircase is almost 4 times as big as you, making you feel incredibly small compared to it. There are large tapestries lining the walls as you ascend the stairs and also busts of greek philosephers in small alcoves on the turning point of the staircase. In the direct middle of the ceiling is a very lowly hung chandelier - sculpted to look as if it is a water fountain flowing gently into a huge stone bowl. You walk around the turning point and ascend the stairs again, still following the breadcrumbs which now lead you immedietely to the left.
As you turn left, you walk through a short hallway with the same checkered black and white flooring as on the ground floor before the staircase. It doesn't take you long to walk through as you pass, on the left, two sets of fancy modeled chairs with very comfy looking cushions on them in a red and orange colour. To the right of you, there are two dark brown wooden tables with elaborate patterns crafted into them that hold photo frames of people from the past and also big, blue vases with golden bases. Between each are doors that lead into what you assume to be bedrooms - though you don't stop to take a look into them. Above you are similar chandeliers to what you saw on the staircase, except they are higher and have added pieces dangling from the bottom. The hallway has lots of paintings of historical people that look very beautifully dressed and presented. You wonder how on earth someone would come to own so many paintings of different people but then you remembered that many of the rich back in times like victorian days and georgian days knew many different people and that the families were very large. So it then came upon you how all the paintings probably came to be. You reach the other end of the small hallway and notice that the breadcrumbs turn right into one of the doors next to the wooden crafted table on the end. You follow the breadcrumbs through the door and see yourself in a large bathroom.
You see to the left of you a large white bathtub, a small toilet in the corner with golden detail and then a large patterned sink placed next to it. The floor remains checkered black and white and is scattered with the breadcrumbs leading you straight ahead. You really pay no attention to the bathroom - wanting to reach the next room in hope that maybe you'd find a clue or a big note that would explain something or give you at least some information. You run through the bathroom into the room in front of you and arrive in a grand main bedroom of the house.
The room is wallpapered with a deep green patterned wallpaper with swirls and blobs in rows and rows going across the whole room. It's very striking to look at and seems to really stand out against the whole place. There's a large fireplace opposite you with a clock on the mantlepiece and various vases and decorations. The carpet in the room is beige and brown and stretches across the whole floor. The bed in the room is a king sized bed with a thick duvet and large, fancy pillows to make it look perfect. You notice that the trail of breadcrumbs lead from the floor and then are scattered on the bed in a neat circle with an envelope placed on top of them. You see that the envelope had a red wax stamp on it with the signature of the sender engraved into it. You pick up the envelope gently and open it with caution. Inside is a piece of writing paper with a message neatly written out onto it,
"(y/n),
I'm glad you chose to follow my path to this. You've made me happy to know that you're willing to play along. How did you like the house? Gorgeous, isn't it? I wouldn't mind coming here again - if you would come with me... We'll have to see if you would play along again. You see, I've been playing games with boring human beings for so long now and I think that maybe a pretty little princess who's willing to go along with the game might just be the thing for me. I hope you don't mind. My mind's made up on this, really. So, Princess, I'll be seeing you shortly. There's no stopping me now - by the way... Everything is all set. I'm what you'd probably call your 'Prince Not-So Charming' or maybe I'll just be the good old fashioned Villain to you. We'll see.
Until then, Princess. -JM x"
In the moment you finish reading the note, a chill passes down your spine and you feel shock surge through you. You can only wait, now. You feel a hand on your shoulder when you shudder which causes you to spin around almost instantly. Except, when you turn around - you wake up in your bed. At home - in your plain old bedroom. You sigh and look around you recapping what had just happened and what in hell it could possibly mean. All you seem to know is that you need to prepare for the worst.