Chapter Twenty: The Search
"Listen! Wolves! We must be close to the haunted castle!"
Sitting in the back of his carriage, Raoul was startled by Gustave's shout.
The two men had been making their way through the forest for quite some time, and while it wasn't exactly picturesque, it wasn't nearly as menacing as Gustave's wild tavern tale had led Raoul to believe.
"Monsieur Daaé, really enough is enough!" Raoul insisted, turning to look at the older man.
The carriage ride had made his already-windblown white hair look even more disheveled and his eyes were whipping back and forth as he gazed around at the forest desperately.
"We have to turn back," Raoul added, not sure that Gustave had even heard a word he'd said.
But apparently he had, because he quickly shook his head.
"No, look!" Gustave pointed up ahead.
Following the old man's finger, Raoul saw a tree on the side of the road.
It was withered, its branches bent at odd angles and its trunk smooth with age.
Over the course of their journey, Gustave had been telling him all about how he had first found the enchanted castle.
He had mentioned something about a tree that looked like a cane and a fork in the road...
Cocking his head to the side, Raoul narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
It sort of looked cane-like, but there was definitely no fork behind it.
Just a bunch of overgrown brambles.
"This is the tree!" Gustave exclaimed, as if sensing Raoul's doubt.
"I'm sure of it! Of course, it was downed by lightning at the time, but now it's been restored to an upright position.
By magic, it seems..."
Raoul rolled his eyes in exasperation.
'Do I really want to marry into this family?' he mused internally.
He had had quite enough of this nonsense.
He had let Gustave lead him out there with the sole intention of blackmailing him into giving Raoul Christine's hand in marriage, but if they couldn't find her, what was the point?
"I'm done playing this game of yours!" Raoul snapped, stopping the carriage.
"Where is Christine?"
"The monster took her!" Gustave insisted yet again.
Raoul's eyes narrowed.
He was trying very hard not to lose his temper, but the old man was making it exceedingly difficult.
"There are no such things as magic or monsters or talking teacups or...or...whatever!
But there are wolves, frostbite and starvation!"
"You think I've made all of this up?" Gustave asked indignantly, seemingly unaware of just how close Raoul was to breaking.
He looked up at the younger man in confusion.
"Well if you didn't believe me, then why did you offer to help?"
"Because I want to marry your daughter!" Raoul burst out in frustration, making no further attempts to hide his plan.
"I already told you! She's not at home, she's with the..."
Rage flooded over Raoul and he erupted.
"If you say 'monster' one more time, I will feed you to the wolves!" he screamed, all composure gone.
He stalked over to Gustave and raised his fists.
But Gustave stood firm.
"You will never marry my daughter..." he vowed firmly.
That was the last straw.
Raoul pulled back and hit Gustave, hard.
The old man instantly sagged to the ground, unconscious.
A/N: Please review to unlock Chapter Twenty-One...