The fairest of them all was what you'd call Esther, with her stunning beauty, her eyes as golden as the morning sun and her hair as brown as the earth's crust. Word of her beauty few throughout the kingdom and far beyond. She had so many suitors coming to her father's mansion everyday, even the prince of their kingdom sought to make Esther his wife but Esther only had eyes for one man, David. David was a small town farmer, he and Esther had known each other since they were little. They met one night when Esther snuck out to watch the swans by the lake and had been inseparable since then.
The day of her wedding was fast approaching, and Esther was busy preparing for the ceremony. She had chosen a stunning white gown and had her hair styled in loose curls. As she descended down the grand staircase of her mansion, she couldn't help but feel like she was living in a dream. The day she waited for so patiently finally came, the day she'd get to marry her childhood sweetheart.
That dream quickly turned to a nightmare as she fell down the stairs, hitting her head hard against the wall. Flashes of a dark room quickly occupied her mind. Her family and guests rushed to her side, and to their relief, she was only left with a few bruises and a sprained ankle.
But Isabella was not so easily comforted. She couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off, what was that dark room she saw. As she examined it closely, she noticed that the stairs seemed to be at odd angles and the patterns on the carpet were distorted. It was all she could think about during and after the ceremony.
Esther's obsession with the staircase grew with each passing day. She couldn't focus on anything else, she knew something was wrong somewhere, her family and David grew increasingly concerned for her well-being. David tried to reassure her that it was just an accident and that the staircase was perfectly fine, but Isabella wouldn't listen.
One day, Esther decided she had enough, she sat on the stairs hoping would happen but nothing did. Too much thinking cause her to trip again. This time she saw herself in the same dark room all tied up. Beside she laid another man but she could not tell who it was.
She was quickly revived by her husband who assured her it was nothing but a bad dream but she wasn't convinced. She pulled herself away from his arms and ran out of the house as fast as she could. She stopped under a tree, while trying to catch her breath, she heard a voice.
"wake up Esther, you have to wake up", said the voice.
She couldn't see anyone, the confusion caused her to blackout. She woke up in the room seeing a man trying to untie her.
"where am I? what is this place", she asked.
"we've been tricked, we were brought here and showed an illusion of our best lives, we have to leave now", he replied.
"I don't understand, what do you mean kidnapped?", she asked.
"I don't know what their plan is but we have to escape, we have to join the others", he replied.
She got up quickly, he held her by the wrist pulling her away from the chaos. People were starting to wake up from their illusions. They made their way through an underground tunnel away from all the madness.
"We'll be safe here", he said as they exited the building. They met some people who drove them away to safety.