Authors note:
Sorry for any kind of mistakes you may run into this is still a rough draft but I hope you enjoy until I go back and polish each chapter.

Btw, Chapter 8- A New Dawn was originally going to be longer but I haven't released a new chapter for you guys in a while and I know you're probably getting a bit impatient so I split it down a little into 2 or 3 parts. Sorry for the wait guys. Enjoy.

👑CHAPTER EIGHT👑
•A New Dawn•

Rochester, New York; Home🗽

2:30 p.m.

-Saturday; afternoon-

-Jack-

"Jack... Hellooooo. Wake up... Are you dead?"

"Shut up, Simon! Ah!" I kept my eyes shut as I swatted at the air, attempting to hit him in the face, desperately wanting him to get away. My head was pounding like a drum, giving me the worst headache I've ever felt. I could hear the curtains being pulled apart and then the bright rays of the sun struck my eyelids. I quickly threw the blankets over my head, hiding from the light, like a vampire.

"Rise and shine, sir."

"What the...Simon?! What's the deal?"

"You've been asleep for quite a while, sir. I grew rather worried when you didn't ring for breakfast; you never miss a meal."

"Well, I'm alive. You can go now."

"But what about your lunch; aren't you hungry?"

"I'll eat later... I need sleep."

I felt his presence still lingering in my room. He hadn't moved a muscle. The room was quiet but the sound of shoes clicking against the tiled floor grew repetitive.

"Simon..." No answer but the sound continued. "Stop it..." The noise didn't stop, but suddenly started to grow even louder. "I mean it, Simon. Stop!" The 'clicking' continued; each shoe hitting harder, each 'click' getting louder, my headache worsening, and now my temper quickly starting to rise.

"Fine...fine...fine!"

I removed the blankets and slowly opened my eyes, nearly on the verge of hiding again as the blinding light consumes me. The throbbing migraine only added to my torturing.

"Ugh. What happened last night?"

"You mean, you don't remember?"

"No...not at all."

"Well, let me try and shake your memory a bit." He sat down on the bed, next to me. "First we took a trip to Albany to attend Prince Sebastian's royal masquerade. And then--"

"Wait, you took me to a party?"

"Of course, and you're welcome by the way."

"For what?"

"If we hadn't of gone last night, you might have never met those two beautiful women. Might I add they were very easy on the eyes."

"Simon, go get some rest because your clearly delusional. Two beautiful women? Your joking..."

"Oh am I? Try explaining these then."

He reached into his inner suit pocket and took out several items then handed them all to me. They were square-shaped pieces of paper with nothing showing.

"The other side..."

I turned them over and discovered they were a series of photographs of me talking to two mysterious women. I studied them for a while; the longer I stared, the more they began to look familiar, especially the girl in the sparkly, lavender dress.

Socializing. Something I haven't done in quite a while. I was even dancing; you couldn't pay me any amount of money to do it again.

"Are these all the photos?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I would have taken more, but there was an incident at the party and we had to leave all of a sudden. I would explain what happened but you never got around to sharing the details with me."

I tried thinking back to the moments leading up to the party. It wasn't easy. It felt almost like there was a lock on my memories.

"You okay, Jack?"

"Yeah...I'm fine. Just give me a minute to think. I remembered the time-consuming trip, the masquerades amazing music; even the bounty Prince Sebastian put on my head. Jerk... He kept me paranoid the entire night, but then I ran into her.

"Violet," I said, aloud.

"I beg your pardon."

"The girl in the lavender dress, her name is Violet and the other one is Lisa."

"Looks like you're getting your memory back, that's great."

"Bit by bit... I remember seeing Cinderella; she was being harassed by some guy. I didn't like it and I quickly rushed over to help her. In the end, the only thing I managed to do was get beat down, and then..."

I was suddenly having a terrible flashback of my mask being ripped off, my face exposed, out in the open for everyone to see. I was scared. I didn't know what else to do but run.

"I blew my chances, didn't I?"

"I wouldn't necessarily say that. After the incident they both made separate visits to come check on you, but you were still out taking care of things."

I started to smile a bit, trying my best not to make it too obvious.

"S-so, what happened after we left the party."

He took a seat on the edge of the bed and lowered his head as he spoke.

"Once we got away from the drama, we went to see the Mother of Magic. We went, hoping to find a solution to your problem, but instead we came up short and Gwendolyn..she, uhm...she--"

"Wait, wait... Gwendolyn? She collapsed; she's better now, right?"

Simon sat quietly just shaking his head from side to side.

"They did all they could but it just wasn't enough. I guess it was just her time to go." I could see that he was fighting the urge not to cry. I gave him a hug and gently patted him on the back.

"Thanks, sir. I needed that."

"No problem. You're family, Simon. You've had my back more times than I can remember."

He managed to crack a smile through his frown.

"You were a pretty nice kid in your younger years, you know, but you sure had your moments."

"Well, I was constantly around some old geezer who just loved to be a bad influence." I punched him in the shoulder, playfully. I suddenly heard a rumble from underneath my shirt.

"Forgive me, sir. You must be starving. I'll go fetch your breakfast right away."

He hopped up and headed for the door.

"Simon?"

"Yes, sir."

"Earlier you mentioned I was "taking care of things"; what was I doing, exactly?"

"After the incident, you went to visit a man named Ronald. You were out rather later, so I drove over to check how things were going. He let me in and I found you passed out on his couch. We carried you out to the car, I brought you home, and now here we are. Just before I left he mentioned that you two had made a deal and you signed one of his contracts."

"A contract? What for?"

Simon smiled. "To be handsome."

"To be handsome...?"

Handsome - the word, alone, has brought me so much pain over the years. It serves as a continuous reminder that I am far from the title.

"Wait, so you're saying I signed a contract that made me handsome; really? Did it work?"

Before he could respond, I quickly jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. I avoided looking at my image right away, and quickly ducked down. I took a deep breath and slowly started to rise upward until I could see my reflection staring back at me.

I froze at the sight of my appearance. My eyes first wandered to the top of my head. My hair as black as ink. I slowly ran my fingers through, satisfied with how smooth it was to the touch.

My hands fell, gracefully, downward to my face, skin as clear as water and as smooth as a babies butt. There was a light stuble upon my chin, broad shoulders...

"Is everything okay in there, sir?"

I whispered lightly as I peeked my head around the corner of the doorway. "He did it." My voice grew louder, the more the thought rushed around in my head. "He did it, he really did it! Simon, we gotta go."

"Go where, sir?"

I ignored him, darted into my walk-in closet and rustled through all my new, unworn attire. My eyes locked onto a blue and black pladed shirt; I snatched a pair of black jeans from a hanger and quickly got dressed.

I took another amazed glance in the mirror as I brushed my teeth, admiring the sparkle of my pearly whites. I brush, spit, rinse and I rush out the bathroom. Simon stood in front of me with a concerning look on his face.

"So, how do I look?"

"Young, stylish, energetic, and confident, sir. Maybe a little too confident."

"Ah, come on. I feel better now, than I have in years. Today's a new day, Simon. Today is the day I get my life back on track. With the help of magic, I'm finally normal. I'm no longer an outcast."

Simon took a long look at me and sighed. "I'll bring the car around. Shall I bring the good car?"

I nodded with a light smirk. I grabbed a pair of black shades from off the dresser and slid them onto my face. "It's time the people saw their long lost prince."

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