Trapped In Celaeia

Prologue

"Rosie, there's a new book in the sensation list. The Cover is so gorgeous, it must be epic."
"Calendar, please check the reviews before buying it. Please?" Last time Cal chose a book for its cover, she ended up chucking it into an incinerator out of frustration and cost us money we could have gotten from selling it as a second hand copy.

"There's none yet. It was just put up."

"That's weird. It should at least have reviews from those who got ARCs."

"And how did it even get into a sensation list without reviews?"

"Don't ask me. I'll just..,oh it's free, We only need to pay for delivery." Cal squeals.

"And?" I ask, with both eyebrows raised to my hairline.
"I promise not to burn anything" She tried to do the puppy eyes at me. Unfortunately her eyes are too tiny.

Satisfied with her answer, I hand over the card. As her hands close over it, I hold on tight.

"Nothing more, Cal. Nothing more. Please" I put on a desperate expression
"Rosie I'm a different person now. I swear I won't end up buying snacks or clothes with the money. Only the book." She says with watery eyes. So fake. Hmph. Before I know it I'm holding on to thin air and she's nowhere in sight.

I sigh disapprovingly and turn back to my computer screen, which is glaring back at me with so many search results on how to earn money without compromising classes and homework time. Sometime while considering an option that seemed doable, I fell asleep.

The doorbell wakes me, and I groggily look at the time. It's 6pm. Cal must have gone for her evening classes. Slowly, I drag myself to the door, and open it. It's a delivery. After signing the receipt, I collect the package and head to the living room. The TV is still on. Typical Cal. I flick through the channels, and finally settle on a news channel that has a baking session going on. I open the package to have a good look at the book. The Cover design really is beautiful. It almost looks real, which it can't be, since it shows all manners of pretty creatures from elves to nine tailed foxes gathered around a doorway of sorts in a magical forest. It kind of reminds me of the beauty of a place untouched by man. I open the first page to find it blank. By the time I flipped three pages in with still blank pages I was livid. What the... Maybe there was a mistake and we got a damaged copy. I'm just hoping we didn't get scammed. I drop the book on th coffee table and attempt to rise from my seated position, make enquiries or report the site, but the moment I press on the empty book page with my Palm, a bright light shines from the contact, blinding me. The last thing I see before losing consciousness is the cook on TV adding the icing on the cake.