Summary: Annette’s life is a mess. Well, her home life at least. She’s got one horrible horrendous stepmother, two ugly stepsisters, and an exceedingly narcissistic stepbrother. Her father and mother and dead and she is treated like a servant in her used-to-be home.

But in school, it’s different. Anne’s got five extraordinary best friends to hang out with, she’s quite popular and the teachers grade her highly for her works.

All Anne wanted was to graduate, go to some kind of university, go away from all those who made her life hell, and get a proper career.

Little did she know that her dreams of escaping her so-called family will come through events she never even thought about, and that maybe a fairy tale ending isn’t that far away…

Prologue

Annette’s P.O.V.

WHY IS LIFE SO HARD?

No, seriously. Just when you thought everything in your life is perfect, along comes something that turns it upside down and inside out. Just when you think you have nothing more to wish for, along comes something that’ll ruin your life. Something or someone.

It’s as if it’s some unwritten law of the universe!

And it’s NOT fair.

Forget the heroine-comes-through-a-miserable-time-and-in-the-end-goes-away-with-the-man-of-her-dreams plot, because my life certainly can’t be anything like that.

I know, I know… That’s a mouthful. But, whatever. I just really want to complain right now. Who wouldn’t? I practically live with monsters, I tell you. I mean, I do know that there are people who are living in much more distressful conditions than mine--- like those poor beggars in Crepinlard and those poor farmers in Valdesionne--- but really, under the circumstances I exist in, anyone would’ve cracked up a long time ago. It is just so very hard having to live with the monstrosities that basically destroyed your life. Not that I don’t consider myself not having a LIFE. Excuse me, but I definitely do have a life. But a home life? No. I used to. But not now.

A perfect metaphor for my home life is a joke. And a terrible one, I might add. It’s fundamentally a living nightmare.

Let me tell you how it began…

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It all started after my 10th birthday. My papa and I used to live graciously in Redstone Mansion with a couple of suitable servants. I was like any normal kid in the Five Kingdoms: I had one happy, caring father, really supportive friends, a nice school… Everything was just bliss. I didn’t know that I was cursed to live the rest of life, after that, in pure misery.

Papa was a wine seller. The day after my birthday, he was on the way to do business with a rich man in Cherloase′, riding an especially fast carriage when the driver suddenly shouted, someone screamed, the horses pounded their hoofs and the vehicle jiggled to an abrupt halt.

Well, you could’ve guessed what happened. The person who was hit was Valerie Stugbrent and my father, aside from sending her to the hospital and taking care of the expenses, visited her often and wished for her well-being.

It’s a pity… Maybe if dad knew what was in store for me in the future, he wouldn’t’ve done that.

Papa fell in love with her (but for what reason, I will never figure out)… And they married.

I was, to a certain extent, shocked, to tell the truth. You see, Laura, my mum, died while giving birth to me due to a large amount of blood loss. Papa loved her very much and continuously mourned for her loss. But I helped him get over that. I said to him that my life is perfect and that I don’t need a mother when I’ve got him…

But he seemed to think differently.

With Valerie came Connie and Cynthia--- two moronic idiots (who were identical twins, by the way). And as if those pain-in-the-ass creatures weren’t enough, I also had Blaine (a.k.a., The Most Narcissistic Fool in the Whole World).

And I still managed to have much of a good time. Papa was still there for me--- and that was all that mattered.

Often, my stepmother would pick on me when Papa was out and she was having tea with her friends in the garden, but I constantly disregarded it.

And in came the day that changed my life--- forever.

It was a very beautiful Sunday. The sun was shining, clouds were in the sky, birds were singing… You get the picture. During breakfast then, Cynthia accused me of tearing her Nathalie dolls down to mere chunks of solid. I said no to her accusations because I avoided her, Connie’s and Blaine’s rooms as much as possible. What chance did it present that I’ve even made a single step inside her room? I most definitely didn’t--- and besides, I don’t do that stuff to people. Everyone knows that.

After that, in a fit of another of her tantrums, Cynthia started throwing everything in the kitchen within her reach to… well, everywhere.

Papa tried to stop her, but as he shouted, “Stop it!” and started to rise from his chair to discontinue Cynthia’s attempt to demolish the dining room, a frying pan, without prior notice, hit his face with such strong impact.

And the next thing I knew, he was on the floor, shaking and clutching his heart while I cried for help.

The healers arrived ten minutes later. We were quite far from the city, where the closest hospital resided. They drew him to an Emergency Transport Vehicle and off… into Mizuno Healing Center. He slipped into a coma and passed away a few weeks later.

During that time, I remembered feeling a huge wave of mixed emotions. It was all a blur…

And from that day on, since Papa left no will, Valerie became the legal owner of Redstone Mansion. She took away my room and sent me to an old forlorn servants’ quarters, which is near the basement. In there, there was me--- and only me.

She sent the maids in the new servants’ quarters near the gardens, which was connected to the mansion by an underground passage. Their rooms were much better than mine, actually, and I frequently wondered why she didn’t send me there instead; the new servant’s quarters was huge and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t that crowded.

Then, she took away every picture of Papa and me in the house and every beautiful dress I owned… She even took away all the books I’ve had and my lyre.

That was just the beginning of my inferno.

And, imagine, it happened right there at the house I grew up in--- the place I once thought of as my sanctuary.

Additionally, those fairy tales I remembered Papa to tell me before bedtime became mere fantasies, never to cross its borderlines and become reality.

At least, I thought it was. Maybe there was still some fairy tales in the harsh truth that surrounded people, including me.

Someone just had to discover it.

---

A/N: Goodness… That was so moody. I never thought I could ever write something like that. The plot will later be introduced, I promise. I’m in the middle of chapter one now and I’m trying to shake off this gloominess over me. I have to write a movie review about Wicker Park for English (it’s our project) and on January 10, schools gonna be in session gain for us students.

So, you know what to do. Please R & R!

Keep on writing and reach for the stars!

-witchhazel19-