Chapter 1: What in a world...
1096 Words
Gasp!
Aleah’s eyes snapped open. Her eyes are unfocused and her arms flail as she scuffles reaching for something invisible.
The teen gasped violently, her heart nearly jumping out of her chest. Tears stream down her cheeks as she wore a blank expression. She tried to grasp the remaining fragment of her dreams but failed to do so as it faded.
That's when Aleah blinks her eyes into focus.
Haaa… ha…
She looked down at her trembling thin hands, she felt her body was heavy and sore like someone beat her up.
“…what happened…?”
She looked around and scan the clean room.
Her eyes paused at the huge portrait, across the canopy bed she was lying onto. It was a portrait of a sickly-looking teen. She had long golden hair, almost brown, and stunning green eyes. She looked unhealthy with her pale skin but overall a very beautiful kid.
It looks like a painting of someone from the 19th century, with a touch of the creepiness of a dead young girl with a lurking ghost inside an abandoned mansion. But everything in this room is clean, too clean for a scary movie.
Now that she thought about it, the whole place looked like a set in a movie.
The whole room screams in a luxurious European style. Ornate detailing with classic colors that exude old-world charm. All look expensive and shiny, if damaged pay with your soul.
She belatedly realized this was not the usual. Usually, when you woke up, it is either in your room or in a hospital. But obviously, this is neither.
"Where…?"
Suddenly, she noticed a light from the corner of her eye. She paused, there was a portion of pale blond hair that fell off her head. This... wasn't this the same blond hair from that portrait!?
Please don't be a ghost (╥﹏╥)
It's coming from above her head!
I-if I look up there would be no ghost above me right? Right?
It's too bright for a ghost! It’s morning!
She suddenly felt goosebumps all over her as if there was a cold pale hand wrapping around her nape! Wasn't this the situation right before something happened in a scary movie?
There's no way a ghost could have blond hair! It has always been black or dark brown! Never did I see a blonde ghost roaming around, at least not in broad daylight!
She's not scared of ghosts. No, she's not. She swears. But she prays.
But even so, she felt nervous. She knew that there will be a jump scare but was still curious and wants to confirm that it was all just a hoax and then she could breathe in relief that it was just an imagination! This is how people died in scary movies. There is optimism that everything will be alright! right?
Ale who's 'not scared' can't even look up, instead, she grabs the portion of blond hair and yanks it hard.
Ale nearly dived to the floor when she did that.
It hurts! Why...
"What is this … ?!"
Without thinking, she grasps her blond hair. "What the…? Since when did she become a blonde!?"
Then she noticed her hands they looked so beautiful. It was plum and pale white that is almost translucent. Her fingernails are trimmed to perfection and her hands have a soft glowing texture, like in the commercials.
She never realized she had those hands until now. Wait. She never had something like this. Ale worked early in her teens. She's an orphan and needed to earn money for her daily necessities and studies. It was calloused and rough. She doesn't have the luxury to even buy lotions for her hands less to have perfectly manicured nails that looked beautiful and femme.
Her body…
'…is this a dream?'
She leaps in the air and hurriedly runs towards the full-length mirror leaning on the wall.
There.
A beautiful young girl stands before her.
She stands gracefully, despite her thin frame.
The hair wasn’t blond. It looked like one, because the hair is light brown. It was so pale that when it was touched by sunlight it almost looked blond.
Long, wavy brown locks and well-groomed hair left to hang freely around her frame. Her green emerald eyes shine with aloof luster. And the dimples on her cheeks are enough to add another charm to her beauty.
Her skin is clear and smooth, making her seem glowing.
There's something about her eyes that ruined the whole image. It was swollen red and underneath was dark eye bags, it looked like she cried all night and slept on it. Nevertheless, she looked the same in that huge portrait, only she looked a bit older.
With just one glance, Ale is certain.
Who the heck is she!?
Ale is confident in her looks but she had to admit it wasn’t the same like this ethereal beauty. Her hair is dark, not pale brown and she's definitely not this young. That girl in the mirror is obviously not her.
Or has she somehow slept in years and plastic surgery is this advance?
And for some odd reason, an image flashed on her mind. It was a book cover from the first volume of the Royal Romance.
On the cover, there were two people, half face on each side. Both look fairly similar but you can see who was the female lead and the copycat.
One was named Annora, a beautiful pale blond girl with a pair of stunning purple eyes—the female lead. While the other was a girl with pale brown almost blond hair and a pair of green emerald eyes—that was clearly the copycat.
The copycat on the cover is the same reflection she's seeing in front of her.
Then she remembers the name: Aleah Caisys Raolet— the villainess in the novel Royal Romance that she dropped reading. She's also called Aleah but less of the fancy names, She’s just Aleah, shortened: Ale.
And now when she opened her eyes again, she's the Aleah, that villainess from the novel!
Ale's face paled as she identified the person in her reflection.
"A-Aleah...?"
Ale stared at the young girl as if she was an illusion.
"How is that... possible...?"
What was worst, she read on the spoiler that she died helplessly at the hands of the male lead!
She was so shocked that her legs wobbled under her, she had to stagger to grab the full-length mirror. Suddenly she had an incredible headache.
Ale pressed both temples with her fingers.
F.
- Writer
