It had been a month since he had sent the Opera house up in flames and brought the chandelier crashing down, shattering it into millions of pieces. A month since he watched as his beloved Christine fought for her beloved Raoul. A month since he had released her, since he lost the battle for her love. But the truth of it all was that it had felt like it had been more like a year ago that this all happened instead of just a few weeks. The days seemed to drag on for eternity.

He had nothing but the clothes on his back and a hooded cape to disguise his face. He had a few francs left, but not enough to even buy him a proper meal. It had been days since he had had a real meal. And most recently, he had to resort to sleeping in the alleys of the streets, or in cellars of abandoned buildings. But never the same place twice.

Everyone was looking for him, everyone. If he didn't gather a plan soon, there was no doubt in his mind that they would eventually catch him. But it seemed like there was a part of him that wanted to be caught that wanted to be thrown in jail. That was the part of him that had replaced the love he had for Christine. The love she had taken with her. In that place where his love for her once dwelled, there was now bitterness, emptiness; a hollow shell. Why? He would constantly ask himself. Why did he keep on living even though there was nothing left inside him? Why live?

"For the music," a woman seemed to answer his internal dilemma. He turned around to find the voices' origin. But once located, his heart sank.

"I thought we could start with a crescendo into a powerful rhythm from the percussion section, and then they would decrescendo to piano, and then the strings would come to life," A woman said to her female friend as they sat together at a small cafe'.

"That does sound interesting; you should write it down, Beatrice!" A small red headed woman smiled and clapped. I must be losing my mind! He thought. He felt his stomach growl. It felt like it was on the verge of eating itself. He suddenly found what the women were eating to be interesting than their conversation. He drooled when he saw the redheaded woman take a bite of her piping hot croissant. His legs became weak when the portly woman opposite the redhead stuffed a cream filled croissant into her mouth, the cream gushing out.

He licked his lips and grasped onto the side of the building to keep from collapsing. He had to look away, he had to! But it looked so delicious, it was so hard to resist! Then something knocked him out of his daydream of food and back to reality. A hard knock on the shoulder, making him stumble.

"Sorry, Monsieur," A young man said over his shoulder and continued walking. Instinctively, Erik's hand went to his pocket. He had kept the engagement ring as a memento in his pocket. But when he felt around, it wasn't there. Where had it gone? Wait...that young man that had bumped into him! He must have picked his pocket and taken the rest of his francs and found the ring. Where was he? Erik looked around him, finally spotting the boy only a few blocks ahead. He was just about to call for help when he remembered he was the most wanted man in Paris right now, making it futile. I guess I'll have to do what I do best. He thought to himself, and slowly disappeared into the shadows.

I hit the jackpot! Lee thought quietly, smiling a wide grin and laughing in delight! But something didn't feel right. There was no way that the rings owner wouldn't pursue this precious trinket. I couldn't let my guard down, Lee told himself. He would have to be cautious, very cautious! He took a quick peak over his shoulder then turned the corner quickly. He hadn't seen anything, but his instincts told him that someone was watching him, following him. Once around the corner he turned into an alleyway were a wooden fence guarded the houses from unexpected and unwanted visitors.

The sound of his own footsteps on the wet stone ground made her realize how deselect it was outside. He had hardly seen anyone today, excluding that poor sap that she pick pocketed. But he couldn't complain. The profit made up for the lack of customers...

Swiftly, he hopped the fence to the other street and quickly made his way around the corner and over another fence, finding himself in the yard of a small Brothel.

"Hey, Lee," a girl smiled and waved as he walked past. He gave her a smile in return.

"Bonjour, Lee," the grounds keeper tipped his hat.

"Morning, Monsieur Delvaux. Is Madame Cornette in yet?" Lee asked.

"Oui, she's in the parlor," the groundskeeper jerked his head towards the house.

"Thanks, Monsieur Delvaux. See you around." Lee smiled again to the elderly man and jogged excitedly into the house. Lee found Madame Cornette in the parlor lounging on the couch, sipping a glass of wine, and counting money. She only looked up for a moment, briefly acknowledging his entrance.

"Bonjour, Lee. And what have you brought to me this gloriously gloomy afternoon?" She took a sip of her wine. Lee stuffed his hand into his pocket and dug for the ring. He held it in his hand and slowly extended it towards her. When she looked up at what he had, Madame Cornette's eyes widened and she nearly dropped her glass.

"Mon Dieu!" She exclaimed. "What poor sap did you farm that off of?" She asked, gently picking up the ring and holding it to the light, inspecting it ever so carefully, lust sparkling in her eyes.

"Just some guy on the street," he said quickly, impatiently waiting to know if it was real or not. Minutes passed without words as she slowly examined the ring. She looked at every stone, every inch of the band, everything. Lee couldn't wait any longer, he had to know.

"Is it real?" His voice piercing the silence greatly startled the woman. She took a quick breath to compose herself before answering.

"Yes, oh yes. It most certainly is real." She stared at the ring, turning it slowly in her hand. It was as if she had become hypnotized by it.

"How much do you think I can get for it?'' The eagerness in his voice rising.

"At least 100 francs I would think," she almost began to drool at the thought. Lee knew that she wanted the ring for herself, but she wasn't going to get it this time, no sir! He was going to get 100 pounds for it.

"Good! Then I'll go and sell it first thing tomorrow and bring your cut the day there after." He snatched the ring and shoved it back into his pocket.

"Fine," she huffed a little. "But this time I'll require 50 percent of the earnings." Lee stopped in his tracks. He didn't want to have this fight and had wished she wouldn't bring it up. She always wanted more and when he gave into her greed, he would suffer greatly for it. He had people to feed, things that needed to be fixed. He needed to make a living and her greedy tendencies made it a more difficult task than it needed to be.

"No deal," He shook his head. "That's more than you received last time, I will not give you more than 30 percent, same as always. I need to make a living too, Jacqueline. You know that."

"Fine, I want 35 then," she crossed her arms in defiance. This was most certainly her final offer.

"Deal, I'll have the money for you the day after tomorrow," he turned to leave when she cleared her throat. She was not finished.

"I just want to remind you, Lee," she said his name with a bit of disgust. "I helped you through a tough time in your life; I also protect you from the authorities and from living on the streets. So, for now on, show a bit of gratitude!" He said nothing, only bowed and bid her good day.

"Remember, if you don't fulfill your commission, you'll be working for me." He nodded and walked out of the house.

He had entered the house with confidence, but left with panic and despair. I will never work there, never ever! He silently promised himself. The small attempt to calm his fear ended up feeding it and making his heart ache. He leaped over the gate again. The rain began picking up once more, but now adding wind and lightning to the mix. His stomach growled. He hadn't eaten since yesterday. What he wouldn't do for a piece of cheese, some bread, and wine right now?

He raced down the alley and into the street turning left towards the bakers. He passed a couple of fruit stands along the way and snatched an apple or two, without the vender, or anyone else for that matter, noticing. He must have been getting better, that or today was her lucky day. As he entered the bakery, the store's fragrances splashed over his senses. Ah, so fresh. he thought to himself, his stomach growling in agreement.

"One loaf, fresh out of the oven, if you please," he smiled at the baker, who signaled to his employee for the fresh bread.

"Nice to see you, Lee, how are things?" The baker made small conversation while waiting for the loaf.

"Fine, fine, yourself?" He politely responded, though not really caring. He was wrapped up completely in the smells that surrounded him in the bakery. Everything smelled unbelievable, almost magical. Lee's eyes washed over all the baked goods, drooling a little. Golden croissants, round begets, and a few freshly baked pies lined the display. There was enough here to feed an entire theatre!

"Good, here ya go." The baker handed him the bread. "That'll be 2 francs." Lee pulled out the money he had also lifted from the gentlemen, 10 francs, hardly enough for a whole meal.

"Thanks, have a nice day," he exited the bakery and decided it was high time he headed home.

Down two blocks, two lefts, a right, down the alley, over a few fences, and into a decrepit and abandoned hotel. He climbed two flights of stairs and walked down to the very last room in the hallway and knocked on the door.

"Pierre, open up, it's Arie," the door opened a crack first, and then a small boy emerged from behind it, a big grin on his face.

"Arie!" He jumped up and down and clapped. "What have you brought us today?" His grin widened; Lee handed him the loaf of bread and the remaining francs. The boy squealed in delight at what he had been given. A shuffling came from inside the room.

"Heavens above, Pierre, what are you so excited about?" An elderly woman crept to the door and peered out.

"Evening, Sabine," she smiled at Lee and then looked down at what Pierre was holding.

"My!" She exclaimed and held a hand to her heart. "Child, where ever did you find the money for that?" She asked Lee.

"That's not important, just take it, I know that you've been running low on food, and I thought I'd help out." A tear came to the old woman's eye and she embraced him.

"Thank you so much, Lee, you're so good to us, thank the lord!" She let go and chased Pierre back into the room, slowly making her way in as well. Before she closed the door, she turned and gave him another warm smile of gratitude. Lee felt a smile cross him as well.

"No problem," he whispered to himself and continued up the stairs to the top floor. Entering his room. Slowly, Lee pulled off his wet jacket and threw it on the floor, doing the same for his muddy boots.

A giant hole resided in the wall, covered by a sheet. He walked up to it, and pulled the sheet aside to look out over Paris and the increasing darkness of night's approach. For what had seemed like hours, Lee stood there looking out over the giant city and the sky, dreaming of acceptance and a much easier life. Finally, he walked over to his old couch and flopped onto it; pulling out one of the apples he had stolen and taking a large bite. While he chewed, he looked at the ceiling and filtered through his thoughts.

He tried to sleep that night, but something kept him awake, like someone was watching him. At one point in the night he thought he had heard something move, but looked into the shadows and found nothing but darkness, just like his life.

"Ah, shit," he said to himself. "What am I going to do with me?"

I began writing this story last summer as a small attempt at trying my hand at fanfics. I didn't think I would get very far and I thought that I would become bored with it and move on, but once I started I couldn't stop! I realized how much I actually cared about my character's story and how much I really wanted to develop it. I really got the inspiration for this story from reading all the different POTO fan fics about the Phantom and Christine and because I'm a big fan of the movie, book, and musical. I am not, however, a Christine/Phantom fan. I don't really believe that there should be a life for them together outside the Opera house, so I decided to make my own version of Erik's life after Christine has moved on.

This is my first upload and I hope you enjoyed it! I understand if you feel it's a bit slow! I would have to agree. But I've learned that it's better to start off slow and educate your reader rather than start off at fifty miles an hour and expect them to keep up. I promise more in the next chapter! It actually might be posted in the next few days since all I need to do is edit it.

Constructive Criticism is totally welcome and encouraged! I would very much like to know how I can improve my writing. It's greatly appreciated!

Thanks for reading,

Luce, your Surly Mermaid!