"My Once-Upon-A-Time Prince Charming"

Chapter 1

I had never met anyone like him before we met.

As a matter of fact, the little voice inside of me screamed that I will never meet anyone like him ever again.

Oh sure, that's comforting.

I had a good night's sleep.

It surprised me and put me into a good mood almost right away.

I never expected sleeping in a rumored haunted house could be that pleasant. I went to bed early last night-afraid to explore Gothsbury when I knew it was getting dark. Cee drove as fast as she could and Tanya and I ran to the backseats as soon as we loaded everything in the baggage trunk. It was still not enough to get us to the house before dinner time. The housekeeper, Ms. Broom, was not the nicest lady but she prepared a wonderful dinner for us and we helped ourselves despite her stabbing stares. The gardener, Mr. Petes, on the other hand, was a very warm host to us. He chatted with us casually and asked us what we wanted to know about the house. It was beautiful-the interior and exterior designs were very intricate. It was beautiful but it was also eerie-creepy. I was confused when I saw the glimmer in Mr. Petes' eyes when he told us about the house's history as if it meant home to him.

Today would be a great day to start the assignment.

Cee, Tanya, and I were exclusive guests to this very private home of the once-prominent Grenhelm household. It now stood as a renaissance monument and only a few people were allowed to gain access. Lucky for us, Boss Beau did everything he could to get us in. Gothsbury was the main feature of the special October issue in the paper. It is the section which skyrockets the sales of our paper every single year. Boy, Boss Beau sure is taking a leap of faith for handing this assignment to a bunch of brave 22-year-olds who were the only fools in the office to accept such heavy and risky assignment. Taking on a Haunted House.

I was psyched.

Even behind my still-heavy lids, I saw the sunlight streaming from the moth-bitten curtains of the huge bedroom I occupied.

I tried so hard to open my eyes but it kept on shutting back. I always had this morning blue. There's got to be some remedy to this.

I realized that I couldn't fight with my lids so I kept them close and stretched on my bed lazily.

I rolled to the other side of the bed which must be cooler since I didn't expel my body heat into it the whole night. And then...

Bump!

Something rolled over and groaned.

It most certainly was not a ghost.

Without a moment’s hesitation, my eyes fluttered wide open.

The good news was, I found my remedy.

The bad news was, I could have kept my eyes shut a little longer. I could have awakened from this nightmare.

Next to me was a man.

It drove me mad.

So many questions in my head.

Who was this man?

How did I end up sleeping with him?

... Next to him, rather.

Did something even happen last night?

I gasped and tried to cover my mouth and put my eyeballs back to their sockets.

This can't be happening!