Into the Story's World

The Beginning

Dakota Wellington propped herself in a comfortable position as she snuggled into her warm blankets. She scooted closer to the edge of the bed, hoping for some light from her lamp to shed on the freshly inked pages of her book. An open window let in a cool midnight breeze, sending shivers down her spine. Her eyes ran through the pages while her mind was getting lost into the story's world, as it ventures deeper and deeper. However, she was too engulfed in the book to notice a tall dark figure softly placing a book, page-marked by an unusual plant on her windowsill.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Under the mass of blankets and pillows, Dakota stirred, her freckled hand slithered out of the covers to end the nefarious cries of the clock. She groaned as she lifted her head, parting the strawberry blonde hair out of her face. Her golden eyes, bleary from sleep, squinted at the time but were quickly widened once they saw how late she was. The scarlet pendant jingled around her neck as she shot out of bed. Snatching her pink glasses, Dakota hurried over to her bathroom, prepping for the day.

"Dakota!" her mother yelled urgently from downstairs. "You're late for school! And you better hurry, or else you'll miss the bus!"

"I'm coming!" Dakota yelled back. Dakota was almost out the door when she noticed a strange object sitting on her windowsill. How odd, she thought, I've never seen a book like this! Her eyebrows furrowed together, feeling anxious if its presence. The thing is, she thought deeply, is who could've reached the second story and place a book here?

Dakota cautiously took the book and closely examined it. The thick leather bound book seemed a bit beaten up, but the cover had an elegant design of gold and silver streaks. She gingerly opened the book to plant marked page as look of surprise came over her. Words written in graceful cursive showed a dark message: "God save us from the Queen!" She fiddled with her pendant as her anxiety increased with every turn of another page, revealing nothing else. Suddenly, furious winds whipped around her and the pages of the book flipped themselves at an abnormal rate, turning everything to chaos.

What in the wor- but Dakota was cut off in mid-thought taking another glance at the plant-marked page. The graceful cursive was now replaced by crude, sloppy handwriting that warned: "Beware of the queen! Hide your jewels! Save yourselves!" Dakota frowned and grasped her crimson pendant tightly, as if the book could snatch it off her neck. The winds continued and Dakota felt her body getting sucked into the book. Literally. Before she could even scream, everything went black.