Thank You StrawberrStoleYourCookie for the fabulous entry! :) More will be added soon!

Fear clouded my vision as he began to pull me along, unnoticed by the other guests. I glanced around fearfully. Where was Dominic? Had I been dancing with this man the whole time? Was Dominic going to save me?

My wrist was aching like mad. I couldn't think through it. I gave a small pull, trying to make him let go of me but it intensified the pain. My other hand reached to cover his, trying to make him release me. He led me from the ballroom where there were no other people and removed my mask. His eyes traveled over my face, scrutinizing me.

I wanted desperately to make a sound, to make him let me go, but I couldn't. I pulled again but to no avail. I shook my head at him and glanced back at the ballroom, willing Dominic to come to me.

He did, though not from the ballroom. He wore a simple black dress suit, and no mask. I had been dancing with this monster the whole time!

"Erik, stop," he told the man holding me captive, but he did not release me.

"Dominic…She looks exactly like my Christine." There was sorrow filled in his voice, but I couldn't feel pity for him. The pain in my wrist was pulsing up my arm now.

"I'm sure, but that gives you no right-"

"Right?" the man called Erik snarled, and his grip tightened on my wrist, the pain nearly making my knees buckle.

"Let go of her, Erik!" Dominic cried out, putting his hands on my waist, trying to support me.

"You cannot tell me what I have the right to do. I can do anything I wish and you cannot stop me."

"You sound like a spoiled child. If she looks exactly like your Christine, then why do you wish to see her in such pain?"

I saw his face contort into an evil grin, and he spun me into his arms, away from Dominic. I couldn't struggle against him, for his arms held me fast. He
had pulled me into a caress that was far gentler than I had expected but despite the gentle hold, I could not escape. I looked into Dominic's eyes fearfully. What was this man going to do to me?

Dominic put up his hands. "Calm down, Erik. Don't hurt her."

"Why doesn't she speak, Dominic?" he asked mockingly. "Go on, say something, une belle," he told me.

I winced at what he called me. My mouth opened but no sound came out. Fear filled my heart and I knew I would not remain strong in his grasp for long.

"Tell me your name, une belle," he hissed in my ear. Beautiful one…

"Her name is Ryder," Dominic answered for me. "And I told you, she is a mute. Don't ridicule her like this."

I saw the man smile unkindly, and, holding me close to him, he tapped something on the floor with his foot. I remember falling with him but nothing
else. I passed out.

I awoke in strange surroundings. My body felt like it was floating on air, or reclining on a cloud. I turned my head slowly to the left, then to the right, and noticed the beautiful satin sheets enveloping my. I gently sit up, and see a canopy of black cloth obsuring my sight beyong the edge of the bed. I wriggle free of the sheets, and I find that I'm still in my ball gown. Where am I? I then noticed the bandage around the wrist my captor had abused. Who had fixed me up? I decided to investigate.

I rose from the bed, gaping in wonder at my surroundings. I found myself in an ornately decorated cavern, lit majestically with dozens of candleabras. My eyes ate up the darkness, and they travelled across the misty lake, to the gondola on the lake, and the man playing the nearby organ.

Dominic? I thought, creeping towards the familiar figure. I reached him, but the figure must have heard me, for he turned around, and I found it was not my friend.

It was the masked man who kidnapped me. He still wore a mask, the same one that he wore when I first heard him sing. A smile danced around his eyes, but there was no mirth or madness behind them. Simply a courteous smile.

"Hello, Rhyder." His voice was magically...well, magic. It was a hypnosis that lulled me into a sense of security. "I must say, I am sorry about the injury I had given you."

Was I confused? Yes, very much so.

He held his hand out to me, and I took it. The stranger lead me to a passage way, similar to the one I'd found a few weeks previously. "You and I are alike, my dear." His voice carressed me through and through. We ascended, and he continued to speak. "We both have scars we wish to hide, and think we are alone in the world of men." Even though there was an intense darkness surrounding us, I could hear...Kindness? Sincerity? Were these emotions really coming from my captor?

Further we climbed, and the man continued to speak. "I wish to...know you better, child. Perhaps we shall meet again." We reached the top of the stairs, where there was a two way mirror that lead into a marvelous room. "Farewell, Dear Rhyder." To my astonishment, he slid the mirror open, and ushered my into the room. I turn back around, but the door was already closed, and I caught the man's mask as he stepped back into the gloom.

I stood, gaping at the mirror. Had that just happened? It must have. What did the stranger mean about 'getting to know me better'? I shuddered at the thought. Slowly, without my eyes leaving the mirror, I backed out of the room and left to find Dominic. I needed answers, and he smeed to know the masked man. Little did I know, I'd regret wanting to find the truth, because the truth was more terrible that fiction.

Hooray! Wow, that took a while! But I've only just begun! Please, stay around and continue following my madness. :)

-Iz