The Castle of Dreams

Chapter 6 - Books, Books, and More Books

Baylee woke up at a large table in the most magnificent place she had ever seen. Confused but amazed Baylee picked up a book on the floor by her feet. She had never read it before so she set it on the table and walked over to a shelf and ran her hand along the many books. "Am I dreaming?" Baylee thought aloud looking around and seeing more books than she could ever read. Then with a start, Baylee realized she wasn't dreaming. She was in the most amazing library she had ever seen. Baylee almost couldn't believe it. She heard a noise a she jumped but it was only a breeze from the open window. Baylee walked over to the window and poked her head out. The afternoon sun was beating overhead. There was an amazing garden of roses to the left, and a beautiful sparkling lake to the right. But all around them was deep dark woods. There was a knock on the door and Baylee jumped. As she pulled her head back through the window she hit it on the frame, and spun around to face whoever had come in the room. "Ow." She mumbled putting her hand up to her head. But there was no one there. "Hello?" She called. Suddenly, a cart rolled over to her. "Good afternoon dear, would you care for some tea?" An accented voice asked. Baylee gasped. The voice had come from none other than the teapot sitting on the magic cart. "Oh...um..yes please." Baylee replied, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was in a majestic library and the teapot was talking to her. "There you are." Said the teapot. A little teacup bounced over to Baylee careful not to spill the tea. "Thank you." Baylee said sweetly. When she was done, she turned towards the books. "If I may ask, what exactly is this place?" Baylee asked the teapot.
"Why my dear it's a library. I thought you loved libraries." Said the Teapot, whom Baylee was starting to suspect might be Mrs. Potts. Baylee looked back at the cart. " Oh, I do. I just..I'm not sure how I got here. Or where I am." She explained, taking a seat at the table she had woken up at.
"Maybe the answers you are looking for are all around you. You just have to be smart enough to know where to look." Said Mrs. Potts, the teapot, as she rolled out of the room on her cart. "Good luck, Mademoiselle." She called as she disappeared down the hallway. Baylee took what she had said into consideration and thought hard about what she could mean. You just have to be smart enough to know where to look. Hmm. What could that mean? Baylee looked around the room and she realized exactly what it meant. She had to look in a book. Baylee jumped to her feet. But where should she start? By early evening, Baylee hadn't been off to a very good start, finding out anything about where she was or why she was there. But one particular book caught her attention. Baylee hadn't been paying attention to what the book had been titled. Nor had she read the actual words. Normally, this would have bothered Baylee so very much, but this time she was distracted. The pictures that followed along with the book showed her best friend waking up in castle, meeting someone that looked like a prince, a bunch of people appearing and then the two sitting by an apple tree. What stumped her the most was the fact that the book was titled, "Cinderella." Baylee turned the page and she was stunned. It was blank. The book may have been titled, Cinderella, but how did that make sense? The book had nothing about stepsisters or the prince looking for the beautiful maiden who fit the glass slipper. Instead it had pictures of Baylee's best friend that seemed to be Cinderella just like Baylee herself seemed to have become Belle. Baylee quickly scanned the room for where the other stories would be. She rushed over to the B section and found the book she was looking for. Titled, Beauty and the Beast, Baylee opened the storybook and gasped at what she saw. A picture of herself asleep on the table was on the page. Baylee was amazed yet terrified. She was about to rush back to the table when she made a split second decision and grabbed the Boy Who Cried Wolf story off the B shelf and continued on across the shelves until she had found Peter Pan and Little Red Riding Hood as well. Baylee then rushed back to the table and set the books down. Pushing her original stack out of the way Baylee laid the five storybooks in a row across the table. Just as she had opened Peter Pan and saw Peyton fast asleep on a sandy beach, a deep voice appeared from the door. "Ahem, Mademoiselle, you have a visitor" it said. Baylee looked up for a moment. "Tell whoever it is to please come back later, I'm very busy right no-" Baylee cut herself off when she saw a new picture appear in the Cinderella book from the corner of her eye. "Baylee?" Casey called. Baylee looked up again and this time saw Casey and the boy that had been with her in the story, standing in the doorway, looking right at Baylee relieved. "Casey?!" Baylee set down the Peter Pan book and ran over to Casey. The two girls hugged like the hadn't seen each other in years. "I'm so glad I found you! I was terrified I'd never find you or the others." Casey said when they finally stopped hugging. Baylee was still blown away from her discovery but she knew she had to tell Casey. "Casey? This is going to sound ridiculous but where did you wake up this morning?" She asked her friend. Casey looked confused but explained what had happened to her earlier the morning, the scary thing was it matched the book almost word for word. "Baylee? A-are you alright?" Casey asked grabbing Baylee's arm. Baylee nodded and turned to the candlestick and clock servants standing in the doorway. "Thank you I can take it from here." She said politely. As soon as the two of them left and the door swung shut Baylee grabbed Casey and pulled her over to the table, leaving the Prince to either stand right inside the doorway or follow them over. She picked up the Cinderella book and handed it to Casey. "Okay, now explain why this fairytale has nothing it's supposed to have but everything you just told me happened to you" Baylee said. Casey flipped through the book. "H-how is this possible??" Casey asked flipping through the book and landing on the last page, which now had a picture of the two of them standing there over the books. Baylee shook her head and showed Casey the Beauty and the Beast story. "I don't know. But it's not good, Casey, I mean look at these books! There's almost nothing from the original fairy tales. That means we changed the stories!!" Baylee exclaimed. Casey set the Cinderella book down and picked up the Boy who cried wolf. Inside it showed Beckett with a bunch of sheep and then a young girl talking to him. "I wonder if this is what happened to Beckett this morning." Casey asked. Baylee shook her head and touched the picture of Peyton on the beach in the Peter Pan book. "It makes sense that it probably is, but why are in these books? Why are we not at home in Rebecca's bedroom like we should be? It just doesn't make any sense to me." Baylee said. Casey shook her head and laid the book down on the table next to 'Cinderella.' Then Casey picked up the Little Red Riding Hood story and opened it to the first page. Casey and Baylee both leaned close to the book to see the pictures. At first they only saw Wiley, well a half Wiley half Wolf, looking around the woods until he found Rebecca, at first Rebecca was terrified of him but then she realized it was Wiley and the two of them set off in search of the others. "This is so weird. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever." Casey said laying this book down next to the others. Baylee sat down in one of the chairs around the table and put her head in her hands. "We have to find the others, whether we change the stories or not. maybe we have to find each other for the stories and us to go back to normal." Casey said. Baylee looked up from her hands. "CASEY!! That's a great idea! We have to find the others and see what happens when we're all together!" Baylee said standing up. Casey looked away from the books and up at her friend. "Should we take the books with us?" Casey asked. Baylee nodded and grabbed a backpack that was leaning against the wall. Baylee dumped the contents of the backpack on the table and handed it to Casey who stuffed the five storybooks inside. That's when Casey remembered, she hadn't come here alone. "Oh! Baylee, this is Zackary. He..well I guess you've seen kind of what's happened to him." Casey explained. Baylee nodded, and smiling at Zack. "It's nice to meet you, Zackary." She said shaking his hand. Zack shook his head, with a small smirk. "Please, just call me Zack." He said. Baylee giggled. "So, are you going to come with us?" Baylee asked after a moment. Zack thought for a moment. "I would, but maybe it would be better if I go back to my castle and see if anything different has gone on there." He said. Baylee shrugged her shoulders, Threw the backpack across her back and turned to Zack and Casey. "Well, then let's get going." She said leading the way out the door. They reached the big front doors and discovered it had gotten very dark. Still, Zackary said his goodbyes and best wishes and he was on his way. Baylee and Casey got caught before they could leave. "Mademoiselles!! Where are you going? Especially at this hour!" Cogsworth the clock asked rushing over to Baylee and Casey, with Lumiere, the candelabra, and Mrs. Pots behind him. "We...uh..we.." Casey stuttered looking over at Baylee for help. Baylee jumped to the rescue. "We were just going to take a midnight stroll in the garden." She said swiftly. The appliances did not look convinced. "With a backpack?" Lumiere asked. Baylee looked at the ground, she had no answer, no one takes a midnight stroll with a backpack. "Please, come back inside and enjoy the books and tea." Mrs. Potts said. Baylee nodded. "Okay, come on Casey." Baylee said as she led Casey back to the library while Mrs. Potts went to make more tea for them. As soon as the girls were back in the library alone Casey had to ask. "What are you doing? We have to be outside!!" She exclaimed. Baylee totally ignored her and ran over to the window. Thankfully the ground was only a few feet below. "Casey, come on quick!" Baylee said pulling open the window and jumping through. When she landed on the ground Baylee realized the fall was further than she had originally thought it she stood up nevertheless, wincing at a small pain in her ankle. "Baylee?!?! Are you alright?" Casey called down from the window.
"Yeah, I'm fine!!" Baylee lied, "You have to jump! Just don't try to land on your feet!!" Baylee could hear Casey stand in the window and jump out. In less than a few seconds Casey had rolled to a stop and stood up and dusted off her skirt. "That was absolutely crazy" She said walking over to Baylee. Baylee laughed. "Hey, it worked didn't it?" Baylee said leading Casey away from the castle limping slightly. Casey caught up to her. "Hey. Are you sure you're alright?" Casey asked. Baylee nodded. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine I promise but which way is it to the woods?!" Baylee asked. Casey looked around in the dark. "Uh, I'm not sure. This way maybe?" Casey walking a few feet in front of Baylee and a little to the right. A split second too late Baylee heard the rock fall. "CASEY, STOP!!!" She yelled right as Casey slipped and fell over the side of the cliff that had appeared out of nowhere. Baylee ran over as fast as she could and sighed with relief that Casey was right there hanging on for dear life. "Quick, grab my hand!!" She yelled. Casey reached up and grabbed her hand and then quickly her other hand. Baylee began pulling with all of her strength but the rock under her began to crack. "BAYLEE! You have to let me go!!" Casey yelled. Baylee shook her head tears brimming her eyes. "NO! I can't do that. If you fall, I fall!" Baylee called down to her friend still trying to pull her up, the ground cracking more under her everytime she moved. The ball gown didn't help either. "Baylee, please!! Please please please!!" Casey pleaded tears in her eyes as well. "I can't do it, Casey. I can't pull you up but I won't let you go, I swear it!" Baylee cried gripping Casey's hands as tightly as she could. The ground cracked and crumbled throwing Baylee off of the cliff as well, and together the two girls fell to the bottom screaming for their lives.