Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera or any of the characters in it. Gaston Leroux does.

Time Goes By

Chapter 2- Erik

A/N: Just so you know when words are in italics it is either a flashback or a song. In this chapter it is a flashback. Enjoy!

"Come on papa, we don't want to be late!" said an eight year old Christine Daáe. She and her father, Gustave Daáe, go to the traveling circus that comes to their town for only half of the year every three years. Christine had faintly remembered going to this fair when she was five but looked forward to seeing all the attractions once more.

Who wouldn't look forward to seeing the lions and tigers and bears? Or the clowns and gypsies with their unexplainable ways of enchanting the human mind? But then there was the monster boy… the devil's child, or so he was called. With a colorful banner and a man at the entrance of the tent with the most peculiar look on his face, any eight year old would be drawn to its abnormality. Right?

"Papa let's go see what this is" As Christine was pulling Gustave's hand toward the tent, Gustave thought, "I hope it isn't as bad as it sounds." But the second that Christine walked into the tent, a ghastly look spread upon her face. And like any eight year old would handle stress, she broke down crying.

"Look at him papa…" she choked out hysterically crying "It's not fair…" "No one deserves to be treated like that…"

Because Gustave had never seen his daughter get this upset before, so he calmly rubbed her back and said,

"It's okay Christine. You must be strong."

"Ok……" sniffled Christine.

Because Gustave had already bought the ticket for the show, they had no choice but to take their seats at the back of the room. Then a man that had been bizarrely, standing in front of the room the whole time, suddenly burst out and said,

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages! I am Javert and this is my main attraction.

The site was horrific. The boy was covered in slimy, red infectious cuts. His body was covered in dirt and had black and blue bruises all over him. Christine's father deliberately made sure that Christine didn't see this because he didn't want her to be exposed to such a thing at such a young age. the second the show was over the boy slipped his brown paper bag over his head to cover the distortion of which was his face.

At the end of the show, everyone was clapping loudly and screaming, but Christine and Gustave just stood up. As people started to file out of the tent, Christine asked her father if she could try to talk to the boy that was locked in the cage. Making sure that Javert was too distracted to notice, she darted over to the cage and began to talk,

"Hi my name is Christine Daáe and I want to be your friend." a smile swelled upon her face

"A friend? Not even my own mother wanted to be my friend." thought Erik.

"Is this some kind of trick?" he finally said.

"No, I just want to be your friend. Can you please tell me your name?"

Pondering the thought for a moment Erik thought,

"Oh I might as well, besides? Do I have anything else to live for?"

"Erik." he forced the words out of his mouth

"Thank you…Erik!" said Christine joyfully.

She had managed to fit her arms through the bars of the cage and gave Erik a hug. She then picked herself up and said,

"Well good bye then."

"Wait will I see you again?"

"But of course!" and she smiled again. Oh how Erik loved that smile.

And at that Christine rushed out the front of the tent to go home with her father. Christine may have not known this; Christine had made Erik smile for the first time in a long time.