For My Derelict Favorite- American Romance Style

Prologue: No World Without Him

He's dead. Caelus is dead. The all-encompassing object of my heart, mind, soul- my only reason to live in this world is gone. Where did it go so wrong? Why did he have to die? Why did the author deny him his happy ending?

What do I do now?

I'm trapped in a book. I have no reason to live anymore. I don't know how I got here, or how to go back. I've tried and failed and failed but... I'm trapped here. With no electricity!

It hasn't been all bad- at first it all seemed like a dream. A beautiful fangirl fantasy painting my reality. I had fallen asleep reading my favorite book, which I have done dozens of times, but when I woke up the next day I found myself someplace completely new- but also kind of familiar?

I had recognized nothing at first. The ceiling above me was completely foreign. Where there should have been a flat, white painted apartment ceiling there was instead wooden beams and cream-colored plaster. Light streamed through the slats of a shuttered window to illuminate a completely foreign bedroom. The style of everything was different from what I was used to. Everything was smaller and looked handmade. The bed I was in felt comfortable though, with the clean covers and a surprising number of pillows stacked around me. The air smelled strongly of wood smoke, which I figured came from the small fireplace in the room. It was a surprisingly nice room. It could have been a cute B&B in the countryside. But how in the world did I get here?

I will be honest- I panicked. Who wouldn't when they suddenly wake up in a strange place, with no memory of how they got there? It's not like I'd been out drinking the night before or done anything to explain it. I frantically fumbled around the bed and side table but couldn't find any trace of my phone, which honestly just made me panic even more. Where was I? I slid out tf the bed and ran to the window, throwing open the shutters. They slammed against a plaster facade and noise assaulted my ears as I was faced with my new reality.

Everything was unknown and familiar all at once. It took me a while to sort through what I was seeing, but when the incredulity had passed and reality kept passing on below me, I was calm. The window looked onto a narrow street that led to a square absolutely bursting with people. I was near the end of the street and had a good view of most of the square. Donkeys brayed as they pulled carts of vegetables up the street as men and women shouted. Dirty children ran past bald men and wrinkled women as their parents shoved through crowds to get to the stores and stalls offering their goods. It was noisy, smelly, and should have been completely foreign. But I knew it all. I'd read about it.

This couldn't be farther from my real life in a modern city, but I had seen art with that style of clothing. I knew that square with the market stalls and bakeries around the edge- I even recognized the smell of sewage and sun-warmed stone blowing past my window. I instantly knew that I had- somehow- been transported into the world of my obsession, the world I fell asleep reading about. I was in my favorite novel! I laughed out loud, all anxiety and panic gone.

It was amazing! Everything was just as the author described! It couldn't be farther from actual reality, but here it was! It felt like I was in the highest-quality VR rig, but with more than they could ever replicate. It feels so real! I backed into the bedroom with my hands over my mouth. I started giggling uncontrollably. I just couldn't believe it. It was absurd! I'd read other cheesy stories where people got dumped into their favorite novels or shows but here I was, waking up in a story ready for me to experience! It was unbelievable. It was incredible. A thought stopped my giggles- who was I in this world? A main character?

I rushed to the vanity and stopped when I saw my reflection in the curved mirror. Not only was I in a new world, but I had been given a new face! Thankfully, I didn't recognize the face in the mirror, so I had not been reborn as a main character. Or even a side one! The woman in the mirror and my real self were both female and had dark hair, but that's where our similarities ended.