hello! i finally got chapter two typed! wow it's so late at night and i have school tomorrow! christmas vacation is over TT-TT too bad! i still need more sleep! but anyway I hope you enjoy this next chapter! remember to review at the end!

Cast: (I'll show it at the end to not give everything away)

Chapter 2: Upon A Castle

Philippe, while Esther, who wore a brown hooded cloak, rode on his back, trotted through a forest as the sun began to set, making the woods grow darker and darker as mist began to form in the woods. Esther pulled on Philippe's reigns to make him stop in front of a wooden pole with signs on it. She held her oil lantern closer to the sign as she squinted to read it. However, the words on it had faded and no one could read it. The arrows on the pole pointed north and south, east and west, and some places in the middle of north, south, east, and west. Esther sighed as she closed her eyes. She looked at the dark path closest to her. She dug her heels in to the sides of Philippe to make him move down the path. And so like a good horse, Philippe obeyed and trotted down the path.

The woods grew darker as night began to set in. The full moon was over them in a slightly clouded sky as the wind gently blew a couple of red leaves from the branch and into the air. Owls hooted and birds chirped as squirrels and rabbits hustled about. But suddenly, in the darkness a bigger animal sneaked slyly. Philippe backed up alarmed as a howling sound echoed throughout the woods. "Philippe? What is it?" Esther asked as she tightened her gripped his reigns. The distant howling became louder as Philippe continued to back up. "Whoa, steady, Philippe!" Esther said. Philippe continued to back up right into a tree, waking up all the bats that lived inside. The bats screeched and flew out, circling both Esther and the horse. This only caused Philippe to become more scared and he stood up on his back hooves as he whinnied to scare the bats away. This didn't help. It only made the bats screech louder. So Philippe darted blindly down the forest. "Whoa, boy!" She told him as she positioned herself on his saddle to canter. The clouds in the night sky began to grow thicker and darker. As some clouds met, thunder crashed and lighting flashed.

She and Philippe could hear the snarling, growling, and howling of wolves as they chased them. She looked over her shoulder and saw a few as they bounded after them. However, the howling came just up ahead of her. She looked ahead and saw some more: the alpha of the pack was howling as he stood in the center. She quickly jerked Philippe's reigns to the left and he followed his master's wishes. He cantered through the narrow path jumping and leaping over fallen trees and big rocks. Still, the wolves followed them. Philippe came to a small dirt cliff and the dirt under his weight shifted. He, with Esther riding, slid down the dirt. But still, Esther fell off of him. He bounded away from her out of fright. "Philippe!" She called but he was too scared to obey and ran out into the dark. She heard the growls behind her and looked back. She saw the wolves as they came nearer. Thunder clashed and rain poured down on her. She looked ahead and saw a menacing looking, giant iron gate and stonewalls. She scrambled to her feet and ran to the gate. She grabbed the iron bars and shook it with fear. "Help!" She cried. "Somebody, please, help me!"

She looked over her shoulder to see the wolves coming closer as they snarled and barked. She pushed the gate forward and it magically opened a bit; she tumbled onto a cold, wet stone walkway. The wolves jumped and dove at her, but she managed to close the gate with her brown, high-heeled, boot-like shoe. They hit the gate. Rain dipped down her hair as she scared wide-eyed up at them and she turned her head to see what lay ahead. But then a wolf managed to bit her brown, boot-like shoe. She was pulled back a bit, but she pulled her shoe and foot out of the wolf's bite. She screamed and scrambled up onto her feet. She finally looked ahead of her and saw what lay ahead.

It was castle: an enormous, dark-looking castle. Gargoyles seemed to be the theme for they're where lots of them. "Who would have thought that there was a castle hidden in these woods?" She whispered. Thunder crashed and she ran toward the big wooden doors. She looked back and then, banged on the doors. And these too, seemed to open magically. She took a step inside. "Hello? Is anyone here?" She called, but received no answer. She followed the red long rug from the door to a flight of grand, white-marble stairs. "Hello?" She climbed the flight stairs, but then, they split into two different flights of stairs and she walked up the right side. "Hello? Is anyone here? It started raining and I was chased by the wolves!" But her words seemed to just echo around the abandoned castle.

A young boy, who had blonde hair and red eyes and looked around 9 or 10, came into a room, where a woman, who had spirally blonde hair, blue eyes, had a monocle on her right eye, and wore nanny or governess's outfit, sat at a desk. A maid, who had blonde hair and bluish-green eyes, stood next to her. "Miss Catrina!" The boy called. "There's a girl in the castle!"

Catrina narrowed her eyes at the young boy. "Ion, there are four girls in the castle: Kate, here, Noelle, Princess Seth, and myself. Now, did you take your bath yet, Ion?" She asked him coolly.

"No, I haven't, but, really, Miss Catrina, there's another girl in the castle!"

"Enough," Kate broke in, "Ion! You need to take a bath right now!" She rushed to him and took him by the arm. "Now, let's get you to the tub!"

"But really, Miss Catrina, Kate, there's a girl here!"

"Ion, stop making up such wild stories!" Kate snapped.

"But––"

Suddenly, the door opened up to the room and a little girl, around the same age as Ion and had blue hair and green eyes, came inside. "Catrina! Kate! There's a girl in the castle!"

"Princess Seth!" Kate and Catrina gasped. "Is this true?"

Princess Seth nodded. "Yes! I saw her wandering around the stairs earlier!"

"See, I told you!" Ion said as he crossed his arms.

Esther opened a slight opened door as it creaked. She flinched at it and went inside. "Hello? Is anybody here?" She looked to see that the room was a den like place. There was a fireplace, with a nice fire going, and a chair, followed by nick-knacks and painting on the walls. She cautiously walked into the room. "Well, someone must be here. There's a fire going." She whispered to herself. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Well, hello, little lady! Of coarse you're welcome here!" A voice, which sounded highly educated, said.

"I don't think that this is a good idea, Professor." Another voice, which seemed slightly annoyed, said right after.

Esther jumped slightly as she turned around. There, standing in front of her, were two men. One had a smart look around him as he held a pipe up to his lips. The other was gruffy looking and had black, slightly curly, hair that touched his shoulders; he had an annoyed expression on his face.

"The Master won't like this." The annoyed one said.

"Come, come, Leon! Have a heart! Here's a young lady dripping wet and lost!" The smarted one said.

"Um, excuse me, sirs, but am I welcome to stay in your place for the night?" Esther asked timidly.

"Of coarse you are, dear!" The smart one spoke again as he lead her to the chair. "Come, sit by the fire and warm up."

"William, we shouldn't do this. You know what the Master will do if he finds out that we have someone here." The annoyed one said again as he followed the smart one.

"Pish-posh! That's absurd! Even you wouldn't turn down a damsel in distress!"

"But, I'm afraid of what the Master would do if he found out." The annoyed one mumbled.

The smart one looked down at Esther, who now sat comfortably on the chair, and asked, "So, what is your name, young lady?"

Esther looked up at him. "Oh––um–it's Esther. Esther Blanchette."

"That's a pretty name." The man held his pipe to his lips again. "I am Professor William Walter Wordsworth, but you may 'Professor' or 'William' if you like." William pointed toward the other man and said, "That's Leon Garcia de Asturias."

"Leon will do just fine." Leon said bitterly.

"And I'm Kate Scott." Esther turned her head to look toward her right to see a woman holding a tray that had on it: a fancy looking teapot, a matching cup, and a sugar bowl. "Kate would be fine and would you like one lump or two lumps of sugar in your tea?"

"Oh, thank you. "Three would be splendid!" Esther said.

"Told you that she was pretty, Miss Catrina, didn't I?" Esther heard someone say. She looked over at the fireplace and saw another woman and a young boy stood by it.

"All right, Ion, that will do." The other woman said to the boy and then, she walked over to Esther. "I'm Miss Catrina Sforza and this here is Ion."

"I'm Seth!" A girl on the other side other the fireplace said. "Just Seth!" She smiled cutely at Esther. "Esther, you're gonna stay here awhile right?"

"Well, I don't know about that––" She started but, she was cut off by the bursting in of the door as a wind blew through the room and made the fire blow out. Black feathers followed the gust of wind. Esther jumped slightly in the chair as the other people looked at the door frightened.

"There's a stranger here." A scratchy voice growled.

"Master," William began, fright lingered in his voice, "allow me to explain. The young woman was lost in the woods. She was cold and wet…."

"Who said that she could come in?!!!" He roared at William.

Esther looked to her right to see if she could see who was talking, but she saw no one. She looked to her left and there her sapphire eyes met glowing red, eyes (which you could see a blue iris behind the red rage). Her eyes grew wide as she gasped to see face-to-face a monster. A monster that had a halo of long silvery hair, long, dark claws as fingernails, sharp pointy fangs, glowing red eyes, and black-feather wings.

"Why have you come here?" He asked.

"I need a place to stay." She answered timidly.

"You are not welcome here! However, since you have trespassed on my propriety, you have to for fill a punishment!"

Esther was now shaking in fear. "What is this punishment?"

He circled the chair she was in a few times. "Death! …Or you must stay here as my prisoner…."

"How long?"

"FOREVER!" He barked as he turned and looked at her.

"Forever? But, I can't I have to––"

"Which is it? Death or my prisoner?"

"I-I will be your prisoner." She answered softly as she looked away helplessly.

"Good choice." He looked away from her and walked over to the door. He seemed somewhat sad at her.

Leon walked over to his master and whisper. "Master?"

"What?" He barked, a bit softer then normal.

"Since, Esther, is going to be with us for quite some time, I was thinking that you should give her a comfortable room to stay in."

He growled at him and turned back to Esther.

"Then again, maybe not." Leon said as he straightened his posture out of fright.

The Master stood in front of Esther now. "Come. Follow me. I will bring you to your room."

Esther, who looked like she was about to cry, nodded and stood up. She followed him out of the room and down a hallway.

They had been walking for quite a while. Esther had been looking down and when she looked up, she finally noticed the scary gargoyles looking at her. She gasped and looked at the Master's back. She noticed something different about him: his wings were gone. And if she had seen his face, she would have noticed that his red-raged filled eyes had turned peaceful and like normal glacier-blue eyes.

"I–uh–hope you like it here." He said: his voice was still scratchy.

She knew he was trying to be nice, but she still looked at the floor as they walked.

"The castle is your home now. You may go any where you like, except the west wing."

"What's in the west wing?" She asked.

"It's forbidden!" He snapped.

"Oh." She whispered. They continued for a bit. "May I ask your name?" She timidly asked him.

He hesitated for a moment; then answered, "Abel. Abel Nightroad."

cast:

Belle: Esther

Beast: Abel Nightroad

Lumiere: Professor William Walter Wordsworth

Cogsworth: Leon Garcia de Asturias

Mrs. Potts: Catrina Sforza

Chip: Ion

Maid: Kate Scott

My random character: Seth Nightroad (she's not mine but her role is)

well i hoped you liked it! remember to review! i love to hear your thoughts!