Candy woke up in the middle of the night in sweat. She had a nightmare that her stepmother was strangling her to death and woke up in fright.

"It was just a dream" she quietly muttered to herself as her eyes were wide awake from the shock. But it felt so real that it would be hard to considered it as a mistake as she brought her right hand to her neck to assure there was no pain or mark. But her bed covers and nightgown were soaking wet from the nightmare so it was kind of hard to fall back asleep. She also didn't want to bother her maids who were already fast asleep. So she dragged herself up from her bed and removed the bed covers. Once the covers were off, she went to fetch new blankets in the laundry room which was in the next corridor from her room. She lit up a candle and went out the door. As she was walking, she saw a light in her father's office.

"Oh! Father must be back!" Candy said as she quickly went to her father office but stood outside the front door. As she stood there, she heard not only her father voice but another voice as well. It was her stepmother.

"Argh...I can't stand that little twat! Do you know what she did today while you were out?! She broke my heirloom vase that was in the hallway! But while you were out, I made sure she had her punishment! Since, she broke my precious vase, how are you going to pay me dear?" her stepmother said in an angry voice.

"I knew stepmother would tattle on me. But it really wasn't my fault. Please, father don't believe her" Candy whisper to herself as she brought her ear closer to the door to listen to what her father say.

"Well, what do you want?" her father replied in a tired voice.

"If you kept the little twat locked up, my precious vase wouldn't be broken. Since, you asked, I want my Alicia to get more dresses for her upcoming social debut and more jewelries for myself" her stepmother said in a haughty voice.

"More jewelries! My God! Don't you already have enough?!" Her father yelled in an exasperated tone.

"Why are you yelling at me! Your wife! Anyway, I said what I said! If you don't give me the gold for the dresses and my jewelries, then how are you going to replace my broken vase cause by a child you had an affair with a mere maid! I deserve compensation and you know that!" her stepmother yelled back at her father.

She could hear her father loud sigh outside the door.

"Fine" he said in a angrily tone.

"Good! Make sure you keep that child locked up! Just look at the mess she caused today while you were gone. She must have thought she could roam freely and act as she want" her stepmother said.

"Fine. I'll tell the servants to move her room to the east wing tower."

"Good! Make sure she knows her place! Out of my sight and out of my life! She could never compared to our true daughter!" her stepmother said in a merry tone while laughing to herself.

"The east wing tower!" Candy eyes grew big and she got shivers up her spine. The east wing tower was scary. She only heard that no one goes there since it was far off the main estate. There were rumors that it was haunted and that it was there for storage purposes. She heard her stepmother footsteps coming towards the door, Candy quickly sprinted back to her bedroom. The candle she lit was extinguished by the time she got back to her room. She quickly close her bedroom door and fell to her knees. Forget the blankets! She got a bigger problem to worry about. The east wing tower!

She was trying to catch her breath and once she was calm, she got off of the floor. She put away the candle on the table in her room and went under her bed to grab a box. She opened the box and in it was a necklace. It was the last remaining thing her mother left her. Although, she never really knew her mother, she only heard stories about her.

"Mother. Please give me strength! I'm sorry, it wasn't me who broke the vase! It wasn't my fault!" she cried while holding the necklace up to her chest. After crying for a while, she kiss the necklace and put it back in the box. Tucking the box back under her bed, she went on to her bed and fell asleep.

The next morning, Candy woke up with a banging on her door.

"Young miss! Young miss! You must get up now! I'm coming in!" her head maid said outside the door and the door open with a bang. Candy quickly got up and tried to rub the puffiness out of her swollen eyes. Her hand maids came flushing through the door. Each one of them busy and packing her things up. It was a chaos. Her head maid, came straight towards her and tried to get her ready.

"Your father is coming. We have no ti-" she was cut off short as her father appeared at the entrance of her room. He was big and round with a big mustache that loom over his mouth. He was dress from head to toe in jewels and glamorous silk. He strode across the room in a few quick footstep and slap Candy hard across the face. Candy could feel the swelling on her face and tears forming in her eyes from the pain.

"I heard you were playing around yesterday while I was gone! Your mother told me!" he said in a angry tone while staring at Candy who was still sitting on her bed.

"Father no, you got it wrong. It wasn't my fau-"

SLAP!

Another slap landed on Candy face.

"I don't want to hear no excuses! I guess you don't know your place! The east wing tower is where you will stay from now on! Maids! I want this place clear! No breakfast for her!" he yelled angrily with a huff and a puff as he stormed out of the room. As soon as her father went out the door, Candy started to cry really hard as much as the pain was inflicted on her. She didn't know if it was from the pain or from the fear of going to the east wing tower. Her head maid started to cry too.

"Oh my sweet dear! We know it wasn't your fault. Look at your face! It's all red. Triss go fetch me some medicine!" her head maid said as she tried to calm the crying Candy. Triss ran out the door and the other maids went on busily packing her things up. Candy got up from her head maid embrace and went under her bed. She took the box and clutch it tightly to her chest.

"Mom, it's time" she whispered to herself as she was then rushed outside of her bedroom and onwards to the east wing tower.

The tower was quite far from the main estate. Even the pathway to the tower was not easy. On her way to the tower, Candy stepsister Alicia was there to greet her out the estate.

"My dear little sister! I see you are finally moving out!" Alicia said laughing while covering her mouth with her hand.

"Please get out of my way. Unless you want to come with me!" Candy said with gritted teeth.

"Haha! Me come with you. I, Alicia Crosshearts rightfully belong here. You are the outsider! Even a piece of trash knows where it belongs! Rightfully, in the trash! I'm just here to say farewell. Mother said it will be quite a long while before you can ever come out" Alicia said while giggling.

"Let's go!" Candy yell for her maids to continue on to the east wing tower. As soon as she walked past Alicia, Candy felt a grab on her arm that yank her hard that she almost fell.

"Wait a moment, dear sister! I wasn't done talking!" Alicia said now angry.

"Let go of my arm before I drag you and lock you in the tower with me" Candy said while trying to get her arm out of her stepsister hold.

"How rude! It amazes me how you are even my sister. Oh! What's this? A box! You must have stole my jewelry! Open it up!" Alicia yell and went to grab the box in Candy hand.

"No! It's mine! Let go!" Candy yell while trying to hold on tightly to the box.

"Give it to me!" Alicia yell back.

The girls continue to fight over the box until Candy lost hold of it and Alicia fell hard onto the ground.

"Ow! You did that on purpose!" She cried out while still on the floor. She got up and push Candy on the floor. Candy fell on the ground hard. Then she felt a smack on her face.

"You can keep your filthy box! As it will be my last time to see you!" Alicia said while dusting the dirt off her skirt and then she storm off.

"Young miss, are you alright?" her head maid said as she try to get Candy up from the ground.

"Let's just hurry" Candy said with a deep sigh and picked up the box off the ground.

The tower was tall, taller than Candy expected. The tower was surrounded by tall trees on all sides and the road was paved with overgrown weeds as a warning sign to keep out. But Candy was moving there. The knights on guard did their best to remove the weeds to make path for Candy and her maids.

At the entrance of the tower, there was a huge iron door. The door must have been heavy to open as it took two knights. Candy swallow hard to keep her nerves down. But she continue on into the tower. The place was quite dusty but it was huge. It was definitely a place where storage was kept as boxes were located all around. But Candy room was at the top of the tower and to get to it, she had to climb a long stairway up. Halfway up, she could hear her maids groans of pain and some stopping to catch their breath. It was hard she admit. But Candy didn't stop, she wanted to see her new room as quickly as possible. Not because she was excited to see it but more out of fear to see it. As she reach the top of the stairs, she saw a huge door filled with a heavy chain and lock. Candy nervously step towards the door and open it. As soon as she open the door, she felt a gust of dust fill her nose. She sneeze and cough heavily. As her head maid heard Candy loud cough, she sprinted up to see Candy bend over coughing.

"Young miss, are you alright!" She yell exasperated.

"Cough...cough...I'm fine. It's just the dust." Candy said still coughing. But she wanted to see the room and open the door wider. She gasped at what she saw. The room was huge but scary. There was spider webs on the walls and dust on every inch of the room. There was a fireplace, a huge barred window, and a bed! A bed in this tower!

"I guess someone really did live here" she muttered to herself as she look around the room.

"Oh my! Cough! Cough! Don't worry young miss! We will do our best to clean this room for you! It'll be like you never even move!" her head maid said while coughing.

Her head maid was right. Although, it did took quite a few hours and the help of most of the servants and knights to fix the room right up. But the room did look much better than before and most of the dust was cleared out. Candy finally laid on her new bed and looked at the ceiling. She was finally alone. All her maids went back to the main estate. They will only comeback to serve her in the daytime. She was scared but as long as she had her mother's necklace, she felt safe.

"How long will I be here? Will father lock me here forever?" Candy said while crying and realizing the reality that truly hit her.

As the dark night finally approach, Candy was getting ready to spend her first night in the tower. It would be a first time for her to get ready to sleep without the help of her maids. It was hard but she did it. All by herself in the tall tower, she was quite scared. She felt like she could hear voices in the tower talking to her and she cover her ears trying to sound them out. She went under her bed covers and tried to sleep. She clutch her mother's necklace close to her to comfort her.

"It'll be ok. Everything is ok" She kept mumbling to herself. Repeating those words constantly. Then she heard scratching sound and got up immediately.

"Wha..what was that?" she said while trying to see in the dark. She fumble to the table next to her bed for a candle and lit it up nervously. As she lit the candle up, a loom of light flicker in the dark room. She moved the candle left and right trying to see what was making that sound. Then she saw it! It was a group of rats scrawling across her new bedroom! She screamed loudly until her voice was hoarse!

"Help! Help!" She scream but realize no one was going to come. Then she started to cry.

"Somebody! Mary! Anybody!" She still cried out. Her tears filled her eyes making it hard to see. But she was too afraid to moved or get off from her bed. After crying for a while and the rats still moving around in her room, she grew tired of trying to stay awake. It was a rough day and her body needed rest. She put the candle back on the table without blowing it out and pull her bed covers over her. She clutch her mother's necklace close to her and somehow drifted off to sleep.

Candy woke up with the bright sun light shining on her. Her head maid, Mary had already open the curtains to the huge window that was in the room. Candy realizing it was morning got up from her bed and went to hug Mary.

"Oh Mary! I was so scared last night. Why must I be punished?!" Candy cried out.

"It's ok dear. What happened?" Mary said while trying to calm down Candy.

"It was horrible! There were rats! Not just one! Hundreds of them! They wouldn't stop making noises all night long!" Candy said while crying hard.

"Oh dear! That is a problem. I'll tell them to set up traps and maybe we can get some cats to help with the rat problem. I do agree young miss. It's horrible how your father made you move to the tower." Mary said in a soothing voice.

"Mary! I'm too scare to stay another night. Will you sleep with me tonight?" Candy said with her eyes pleading.

"I'll try to see what I can do. I would need your father permission though" Mary said with a perplexed look on her face.

Candy stop crying as her stomach made a loud growl. She was hungry and quickly went to sit down for her breakfast that the other maids have already set up on the table in her room. It was a simple meal but it was a much better meal than what the servants were given. She gulp down the porridge.

"I'll tell the chef to give you extra portions for your lunch today" Mary said while tidying Candy bed. Candy just nodded her head and stuff a piece of bread in her mouth.

After finishing her breakfast, it was time for Candy to get ready for the day. Mary brushed Candy hair and tied it into braids. After getting dresses up, Candy was now looking at the view outside the window.

"I didn't get to check the view from here but you can see the entire estate! Being so high up, it does seem kind of scary." Candy said while looking down.

"I do fear your father is adamant on making you live here for quite a while" Mary said in a worrisome voice.

"Sigh...I just wonder how long?" Candy said with a downcasted voice.

"Cheer up young miss! I have an idea. Although, I might get in trouble for this. But I just hate to see you like this!" Mary said.

"Oh Mary it's ok. It is what it is. We can't do much about what's already happen. Anyway, look at the bright side. I don't have to see my stepmother or stepsister face!" Candy said with a grin.

"No. It's not ok! Let's escape! Escape and enjoy the fresh air. It's such a beautiful day today!" Mary said.

"ESCAPE! But ho...how?" Candy said excited at the thought.

"We can only be gone for a few hours and we must come back. I'll have you dressed up as one of the maids" Mary said in a whisper.

"Oh Mary! Thank you! Thank you! I can't wait! When can we leave?"

"After you had your lunch. But we must return before dinner"

"Yes!"

"But we must try our best to not get caught or it will be trouble for me and you! So don't try to cause any sort of trouble" Mary said in a worry tone.

"Of course! I will be my upmost best! It's once in a lifetime! I won't let it go to waste. Who knows how long I will be locked up in this tower?" Candy said while jumping up and down in excitement.

Soon after lunch, Candy was already dressed up and ready to go.

"Where should we go, Mary?"

"Sadly, we can only stay within the estate"

"That's fine with me. With this disguise on, it will be hard for anyone to recognize me!" Candy said with a smile as she gallop along towards the main estate.

For the next few hours, Candy got to explore new areas of the estate that she was never allowed in. Suddenly, a maid came rushing towards them.

"Mary, we need your help" said the maid trying to catch her breath.

"Candy, I have to go for a while. Will you be ok by yourself?" Mary said with a concern look on her face.

"Of course! Go on Mary! I'll be fine on my own."

"I don't know. I'm still worried. Remember what I said earlier. You must not get caught."

"I'll be fine, Mary. Hurry go on!"

"Ok then. Remember to go back before dinner time!" Mary said as she shuffled away with the other maid.

With such freedom now, Candy felt free like a bird. No one to tell her no or what to do!

"Hmm...Where should I go? Oh! The library!" Candy yell in excitement as she walk to the library room.

The library was a big room fill with shelves and shelves of books. Candy was never allowed into the library room but now she could finally see it.

"Wow! So many books!" Candy exclaim as she went towards the bookshelf and grab a book. She flip through the pages but sadly she couldn't read it as she was never taught how to read.

"I wonder what it says?" Candy mutter fo herself as she flip through the pages.

Candy was in a the library room for almost an hour just flipping through the books. Some books had pictures in them and some books were just filled with words. She jump at the sound of the library door opening and quickly drop her book and hid behind the table in the room. In came through the door was her stepsister and Ivy who was one of her stepsister friend.

"Argh...I hate that teacher. I told mother I wanted a new one. She's too strict making me study!" Alicia yelled while slamming the library door.

"Oh no!" Candy started to panic. If she got caught, it will be over for her. She must think of an escape but how when her stepsister and her friend were blocking the only exit to the room.

"Father did a good job locking that trash in the tower! I don't have to see her and it makes me feel so that much better!" Alicia said while giggling.

"Yes, I can't believe you have a trash as your sister!" Ivy said while also giggling.

"Ugh...Don't remind me. Her mother is a slut who bore a trash. Now that her mother is gone, we just have to get rid of the little trash she left behind. Obviously, father is not that cruel to kill her. He might have just dump her off at the orphanage instead of taking her in."

"You know, it she was born a boy, things might not look so pretty for you. If she was a boy, despite being younger than you, she would hold a higher status and more power than you."

"Argh...shut up Ivy! You don't think I know! But luckily, things end up in my favor. Anyway, mother got me new dresses. All thanks to the trash!"

"Is it because you put the blame on Candy for breaking your mother vase?"

"Shh...Be quiet! Will you!"

"What? It's not like anyone is here beside you and me?" Ivy said annoyed.

"I knew it! It wasn't me!" Candy quietly mutter to herself angrily. But she had to escape before she gets found out.

"Think Candy! Come on, think!" she hit her head with her fist to come up with an escape plan. Then she saw the book on the floor that she previously dropped. She grab it and threw it over the table without looking and quickly duck her head back under the table.

"OW!" Alicia scream. The book hit her hard on the head.

"Wha...What was that? Who threw that?! Come out!" Ivy yell while checking Alicia bruised head.

"COME OUT NOW!" Alicia yell with anger.

But Candy was too scared to come out. But she could see and hear them approaching her. She had to escape now! As soon as they were close to the table, Candy grab another book and hit them in the face with it while covering her face with her other hand. She shove them and was able to open the library door and quickly escape.

"OW! Guards! Someone! Help! HELP! Catch that that person who just escape the library!" Alicia yell while trying to gain back her composure.

With Alicia yelling, almost all the servants and knights were out to see what was all the commotion was about. Candy ran and ran, she ran all the way to the tower. Despite being tired, she didn't stop at all or look back. At the front of the tower were two knights guarding the entrance. She calm herself down and went up to one of the guards.

"Please open up, the young miss ask me to wash her before dinner" Candy said while keeping her head down so the guards couldn't look at her face.

"Is that so?" The knight said with a quimmiscal tone trying to decide if he should open up the door.

"Ye..Yes! Please hurry or else the young miss will be angry and I will put the blame on you for not opening the door!" Candy said quickly trying to rush the knight to open up the door

"Fine, fine. Come on!" The knight said to the other knight to help him open up the door.

Once inside the tower, Candy drop to her knees and sigh.

"I almost got caught!" Candy breath heavily. But smile to herself seeing her stepsister bruised face. She quickly got up from the ground and went up the long stairway to her room to change back to her clothes.

"Today was fun! I can't wait to tell Mary what happened!" Candy said so happily while sitting on her bed. But little did she know, Mary never came back to the tower.