Chapter 2

When Christine woke up she found herself laying on a horse with her hands tied behind her back (although she didn't know why). Then she remembered what had happened to her. She looked up into the face of the man that had jumped her. He peered down at her, and gave her a huge toothy grin which was probably the most disgusting thing she had ever seen. Three of his teeth were missing, and the rest of them were all a grotesque yellow.

"Well, it looks like sleeping beauty has woken up"

"Where are we going?" she asked. He smirked at her.

"To camp," he stated. He looked up and smiled. "It looks like we're here, little one." She looked up at the camp site which was mainly a bunch of tents. But what amazed her were the tree houses with rope ladders going from tree to tree. When they got there, the man lifted her off the horse and put her on her feet. Suddenly two more men she had not seen took her by the arms and led her through the camp. There were mostly men there, but a good amount of women around too. Everyone was wearing red scarves. From beside her, Christine could have sworn she heard one of her kidnappers say very quietly,

"I'm so sorry about this, Miss." But she didn't think long on it because she was brought to the center of the tents. Right in the heart of the campground, she saw a chair with a man just sitting there. He was a big bulky man, with very long brown hair. He also had a scarf, but the one he had was black. When they approached, he looked up and smiled at her captors.

Then he looked at Christine and said, "Well, what have you brought for me today, James?"

The man who rode with her bowed low before him and said, "We bring for you, sir, this young girl." He smirked, and then added, "For the right price." The man in the chair scowled.

"Knowing you, James, you would ask for a lot of money for her. And I don't have any use for this girl so-" he was cut off.

"Father, what's going on here?"

Christine looked up and saw someone climb down a rope ladder. It was a boy who had to be no more than a year or two older than her… probably about 18. He was wearing all black; he had a rope (with a noose tied on the end) to his side. He also had a scarf, but like the man in the chair, it was black. But what caught her attention the most was a white mask that covered half of his face. Now this mask caught her attention at once. She couldn't stop staring at it.

'Why does he wear that mask?' she wondered, 'What could he be hiding underneath?'

She was about to think more about it, when the man in the chair turned to the boy and said, "Erik, it's good to see you. And to answer your question, James was just showing me this girl. But I see no reason to keep her." When the boy (Erik) looked at her, she got chills running up and down her spine, and she started to blush. He looked at the men who had a hold on her.

"Well, how much do you want for her?"

"Fifty gold coins." He smiled.

"I'll give you twenty five. Take it or leave it, James." James thought for a moment, and then turned his attention back to Erik.

"Oh, very well." Then picking up Christine, he pulled her to Erik. "She's all yours." Erik took some money out of his pocket, handed it to him, and then turned back to Christine. Reaching around her, he untied her hands from behind her back.

"Come along now,'" he said gently. He offered her his hand. Timidly she took it. He led her over to the Rope ladder, and she climbed up. The room wasn't that big, but it wasn't that small either.

"There's no need to be afraid," he said from behind her. "I won't hurt you. I give you my word." He led her over to a bed which was in a corner. "You can stay here. I'll sleep in the chair."

Christine got into the bed, while Erik went across to the other side of the room, and sat in a big chair. The whole time he watched her. He thought she was very pretty. He noticed that she had been staring at his mask. He was going to have to be careful that she didn't remove it. She can't see what was underneath it. At least, not yet.

Christine was beginning to regret taking that path through the woods.

If I hadn't taken that shortcut, I wouldn't be in this mess, she thought. But it was too late now. When she got into bed, she pulled the covers up to her chin, and closed her eyes, wondering what the next day had in store for her.

Well, that's the 2nd chapter for you. I'd like to thank my reviewers: Twinkle22, Young Grasshoper, Carkeys, Puppetm-ster, TwistedChildreness, and T-T-K13. Thank you very much. I'll try to update as soon as I can. I hoped you enjoyed it!

Phantom's Bride.