Thank you to my two reviewers, I really enjoyed reading your comments and they made me very happy! J I don't get offended easily, so please, any helpful criticism is greatly appreciated.

I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 2

Erik spent most of his thirty-six - oh, now thirty-five - minutes thinking about all the things he would consider to be his personal hell. Obviously dying and going to Hell would be hell. Living another two hundred years upon this wretched planet where fifty was enough to drive him insane - would be hell. Enduring the stares, the pointing, the fear, the ignorance... Where would he go? What would he do with himself? Indeed, what would he do for two hundred years? His vast riches would not last him, therefore he would have to find some means of sustaining himself.

Suddenly, a disturbing thought struck him: Christine would die and he wouldn't even age a day. Oh, his beloved Christine. That would be hell.

His concentration was suddenly broken by the sharp sound of wood falling on wood. He looked up into the apologetic eyes of Nadir, who quietly picked up the wooden hairbrush from the dressing table, and continued to slowly examine it, holding the brush tenderly - in both hands this time.

Erik did not want to live a life without Christine. She was his only love, the true keeper of his heart. It did not matter whether he lived two hundred or even a thousand years, the fact remained the same: he would love her for as long as he existed, and nothing would change that. This "second chance" offered to him was nothing of the kind. It was just a way of prolonging the inevitable.

Erik slowly and hesitantly moved his legs to the side of the bed, and like an old man, he carefully stood, letting the thin, soft fabric of the sheets fall behind him. He quickly realized that he needn't have taken such care, for he physically felt absolutely wonderful, like he was young again.

Nadir placed the brush back onto the table and turned towards Erik, not saying anything, but clearly expecting something to be said to him. Erik turned toward him and simply enquired, "Tea?"

Nadir blinked. He then blinked again. And then: "No, I don't want tea! Have you lost your mind? Should you not be - "

"Nadir, I've already come to my decision."

There was a pause. "You have already decided. Very well, and what is your choice?"

"I've decided to die." With that, Erik donned his dressing gown, turned around, and swiftly walked out of the room.

Nadir followed. "Erik, I do not claim to be a man of wisdom, or even of any great intelligence, but even I can see that you have been offered a rare and unique gift."

Erik rounded on Nadir, his eyes flashing dangerously. "A gift?" he sneered. He then let out a completely humourless laugh. "Just as my life up to this point has been a gift?"

"Erik -"

"What am I to be thankful for? What am I to consider a gift? This face? Hmm? The repulsion? The screams of terror?"

"No, of course not."

"My voice, perhaps?" Erik stated sarcastically.

"Erik, it's another chance! Don't tell me that there are no instances in your life that you wish you had done differently. I know that there are! I have seen you in remorse. The cruelty that the world has shown you is inexcusable, but perhaps in future, the world may be kinder."

"The world is never… kind," Erik spat.

Both men fell into a thoughtful silence.

"Would you truly rather choose an eternity of damnation?"

Erik took a deep breath and let it out noisily through his nostrils. "My life is already damned."

"I would at least think that you would be curious as to what the future may hold," Nadir stated.

"Stop."

"That - man - said that procedures would be available to repair your face. Does that not suggest an impressive advance in medicine and science?"

"An impressive advance, if you'd be so good as to remember, I cannot take advantage of."

"But think of what you can learn!" Nadir murmured, "Your face isn't everything, Erik."

Any retort - and undoubtedly it would have been an extremely angry one - that Erik might have given was interrupted by the arrival of the "Angel", who this time had the decency of rapping his knuckles sharply against the door frame before striding into Erik's main living room from the bedroom where their acquaintance was first made. Nadir looked into the bedroom and warily set his eyes on the hairbrush before turning his attention to the stranger.

"Your time is almost at an end, Erik. Have you made your decision?" the 'Angel' enquired.

Erik glanced at the tiny clock over his mantle.

11:57pm.

"I have," stated Erik. As soon as he uttered those words, an old and familiar feeling entered his heart. Almost his entire life was spent absorbed with this feeling. It presented itself when he needed it most. It lingered always at the back of his mind, at the tips of his nerve endings, waiting for the signal to begin. To act.

This feeling was to live. To… survive.

He always fought for his life. He refused to be at the mercy of any man. That detestable, abhorrent will to live, to fight and claw in order to endure, to get away, to start again… That was why he never took his life into his own hands. But is that all?

What is the root? What is the root to that will to be unscathed? To struggle, but to come out stronger. To persevere…

11:58pm.

"And what say you?" the 'Angel' asked.

Why, why, why? Why did he do this? Why did he live the life he did? Why did he put himself through so much suffering, so much pain? Was it really just that - this urge, animalistic instinct, this need to survive?

"No," Erik whispered.

Nadir gave a violent start. "Erik, you cannot possibly mean -"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Nadir, but we are kind of running out of time here," the 'Angel' quickly stated, not taking his eyes off of Erik. "Is that your answer, Erik?"

It was strange, but in that moment, Erik felt something important happening. In a flash of perfect clarity, Erik realized what was deep down, in the most guarded reassesses of his heart: hope.

Ah. That's why.

11:59pm.

"Now or never, Erik," the 'Angel' remarked.

Greatly surprised and a little shaken at his own revelation, Erik took a calming breath. Before he changed his mind, he stated in a clear voice: "I accept the choice of living again."

The 'Angel' smiled. "I thought you might."

The small clock on the mantle chimed.

Please excuse the cheesy dramatic timing. I'm a sucker for it!