I stood in the boat, struggling against his tight grip over my shoulder. It was so tight that tears were welling up in my eyes. He kept telling me that I would never go back, That I would never see that 'thing' again. I tearfully told him that the 'thing' had a name, but he just laughed and said,

"That monster has no name. It is not human, just another thing that you don't need in your life," He jumped out of the boat and dragged me to his carriage, black and large, drawn by four white horses. He threw me into the carriage and came in and sat down next to me, pulling me closer with his grip. Than he inhaled deeply and said to me,

"Now dear," he said, emphasizing dear, "I must explain the rules of the house. Rule number 1: NO singing. Should on note escape your lips you will regret it," he tightened his grip. I gathered my courage and said as bravely as I could,

"I should have stayed with Er-" but I did not finish that sentence, for I was cut off by the sting of his palm striking my right cheek. The impact sent me flying into the window, my arm and head shattering is with a sickening crack. I could feel warm blood oozing out of my left temple and shoulder, and I started to cry. Tears of hate, fear, hurt, and remorse. I should have thought before I chose him, should of thought that he would do this to me. Then Raoul continued, not caring that I was bleeding.

" Now, rule number two: Never, EVER mention that name in my presence again. You do, you will be sorry," He said forcefully. After 5 minutes of silence except for my pained sniffles, he said,

"Welcome, Vicomtesse, to the De Chagny manor. He took me tightly by the hand and dragged me inside. There was a line of people standing there and smiling. Raoul said brilliantly,

"Christine, meet the staff. These two, Naiomi and Jaclyn are your personal maids," Naiomi seemed to be older than Jaclyn. Naiomi had strawberry blonde waves of hair cascading down her back, and she was at least a head taller than Jaclyn. Jaclyn had chestnut brown ringlets falling to her shoulders, most of them pinned back, but a few were encircling her face. She could not have been over 15 years old.

"Next are George and Gayle, the Chefs. They shall cook anything you want within reason," He continued. George looked about thirty with striking red hair, and Gayle looked about 17 with light blonde waves around her face.

"This is Claire, The seamstress," Claire looked about 25 with black hair pinned up into a tight bun.

"Here is William, my servant, Sean the stableboy, and Anton the driver," He said, nodding at each in procession. "Dismissed. Naiomi, Jaclyn, can you take the vicomtesse to her room?" he asked. Naiomi and Jaclyn nodded and each one took me by one hand gently and helped me to my room. The blood from my cuts was no longer flowing, but the deep wounds were still visible. Jaclyn and Naiomi helped me into a nightdress and wrapped the cuts. Then the sat down on the floor with me, forming a circle. Then Jaclyn spoke up.

"If we are going to serve you, miss," she said shyly, "We must know a little about you. Like how you want to be addressed, things like that," So I took a deep breath and said,

"My Name is Christine. I am 18 years old. You don't have to address me as anything, Just Christine. Also, I have to know more about you two. All I know is your names," So Naiomi said tenderly,

"I am Naiomi, as you know, I am 20 years old and I have worked for the de Chagny's all my life, as my mother before me,"

"My name is Jaclyn, I am 14 years old and I was just hired to work for the Chagny's. I can Read, unlike Naiomi, because I was sent to school, until now," she said sadly.

"Well, Naiomi, Jaclyn, we are going to be good friends," I said. Then the grand clock struck 9:30.

"Time for bed, Christine," said Jaclyn. They helped me into bed and exited quietly. But as I fell asleep, I couldn't help thinking, 'did I make the right choice?'