Chapter 2

Masked Stranger

For 17 year old Rachel Anderson practice was tiring. Instead of following her mother's footsteps in singing, she decided to be a ballet dancer. Ever since her mother left 10 years ago, Rachel had been kind of quiet. The only person who she would open up to was Meg Giry. Meg was the only person who was actually nice enough to listen. Meg's other friend Christine hated Rachel with a passion. Christine thought Rachel would be good for cleaning the boxes after the operas were over.

Now that practice was over, Rachel thought turning in early would be a good idea. When she entered her room and got into her nightgown she noticed an envelope lying on her bed. She picked it up and noticed the unusual skull seal on the back. She opened it up and read the first sentence:

I know where your mother is.

'How can this person know where my mother is?' She thought to herself 'This person doesn't even know her. She read the rest:

Meet my by the mirror at 9:00.

O.G.

Rachel looked at the clock. It was already 9:00. He would be there in one minuet! Suddenly she heard the mirror roll back. Her heart was pounding in her chest.

"Follow me."

She turned around and noticed nobody was standing there. Now she was beginning to think she was going crazy.

"I can't see you."

"Come behind the mirror and you will."

She took a deep breath and walked slowly towards the mirror. Once she reached the mirror it slowly began to roll back. She stepped behind it and closed it so nobody would follow her. She turned around and saw the masked figure. He was the tallest man she had ever seen. He wore all black and had a white mask on the right side of his face.

"Come with me. I have something I need to discuss with you."

'Discuss with me? Ha!' She thought 'he probably doesn't know where she is!' She continued to follow him through the long hallways. When they reached the boat, he tried to help her into the boat and she snatched her hand away. The entire trip was very quiet. Rachel was starting to get nervous about following him. He was a stranger after all. When they arrived at his home he pulled out a chair at the table and gave her some tea.

"In the letter you sent me, it said you knew where my mother was. Is this true?"

After getting himself some tea he sat down. "It's true. When they were discussing where to send your mother I overheard them," he said calmly "They rented a house for her in Marseille."

"Why would they do that? They were accusing her of stealing money."

"They wanted to get her as far away as possible.

"Why would you care anyway?"

He took another sip of his tea. "I thought what they did was wrong. That's all." Rachel sat the cup back down on the saucer. "How will I be able to find her?"

"I will take you there myself."

"Alright," She replied "I suppose I'll have to give you some kind of award after we find her." Rachel let out a big yawn. "Maybe you should stay here for the night," he suggested "You really worked hard at today's practice." Rachel nodded and he led her to the swan bed.

"I never asked you what your name was."

"It's Erik."

"That's a nice name. Mine is Rachel."

"Pleasure to meet you," He said as he walked out of the room. 'I really hope he knows where my mother is.'