Author's Note: Hello! I want to give all those who have reviewed a big thank you! Your reviews really makes my day. I don't have a beta, so it helps me. I'm still somewhat a newbie at fanfiction, so I know I make quite a few mistakes here and there.

Thanks for reading!

Side Note: I'm always trying to improve my writing. So don't be surprised if earlier chapters have some changes in them.


Chapter 4: Stay Single

"Little Lotte, Little Lotte, why are you so strange?"

With the whip of his voice a crowd appeared. They stared at the stage with their cold jeering masks. Little Lotte looked around and was very afraid, but she couldn't back down from the dark grinning man. Before she could speak, the grinning man attacked.

"Little Lotte, Little Lotte, do you want to be alone?"

Little Lotte froze and not a peep could be heard. The air grew stiff and the spotlight became brighter. The audience leaned in like sharks about to attack. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide. But Little Lotte had to answer, or go home and be done.

"No, no, of course I do not! I do not want to be alone, but unfortunately, I cannot..."

The grinning man put a hand next to his ear and tilted his head."Cannot you say? Whatever do you mean? You cannot dance on your head? You cannot go up and fly?"

"I cannot wear a mask."

"What?"

Little Lotte straightened her back and looked into his eyes.

"I cannot be different. I cannot be anyone else. I can only be myself. I can only be strange."

(Page 23, Author: Christine DaaƩ)


Antoinette Giry tapped her cane as she walked along the dark corridors. The sound echoed against the stone walls and danced in the frozen air. Various colored doors with no doorknobs passed her by as she moved. When she got to the white door, she stopped and opened her cane. Inside the cane was an odd device with many letters and numbers embedded on it.

Giry rapidly tapped the device in a series of patterns. The device hummed for a second and shifted. It formed into a doorknob. She placed the doorknob against the surface of the door and a small hole opened up. Something inside scanned the device and the doorknob clicked into place. Giry opened the door and retrieved the device as the door automatically slammed shut behind her.

Inside was a kitchen, two bathrooms, four bedrooms, and an entrainment room. It was an apartment suitable for living. Giry looked about for a moment before a small child ran up and hugged her.

"Mrs. Giry!" exclaimed the young girl. Giry looked down and saw that the child's blonde hair was put into a braid. She smiled.

"Hello Susan! Your hair is very beautiful today. Did your mother help you?" The girl shook her head.

"Nope! I did it all by myself!"

"Really? How amazing!" Giry clasped her hands as an older woman entered the room.

"Susan, who are you talk-" she abruptly paused when she noticed Giry. She walked quickly over to her with a nervous pace. "Antoinette! Long time no see! What is the news?" the mother watched Giry with frantic eyes.

Antoinette observed her with sympathy. It must have been hard for them to live in this apartment for so many weeks, but it wasn't like they had any choice.

They would be dead otherwise.

"I am sorry I couldn't come earlier. My employer has been watching me closely."

The mother froze at the mention of the man. Horror seeped into her face.

"Does he know? Do we have to flee again?!" she started to panic and her daughter frowned.

"Who are you talking about, mommy?"

The woman glanced at her daughter and forced a smile on her face. "Nothing, darling. Why don't you go talk to Mr. Richard for awhile? He must be getting lonely." the young girl watched the two women suspiciously and slowly nodded. Susan left the room and the two women glanced at each other.

"Firmin hasn't woken up yet?" Antoinette inquired.

"No, he is still in a coma."

"What of your husband?"

The woman looked away and sighed. "Andre has been getting better, but his injuries haven't fully recovered." she paused for a moment. "Could you please tell me what is going on?"

"Do not panic. You do not have to flee yet. The Phantom is suspicious, but he still doesn't know that you survived."

The woman took a deep breath.

"Oh, god. I am so scared."

Antoinette patted her back gently. "There, there. You have been very brave so far. Just hang on for awhile longer."

The mother began to sob. "How could that monster do this? Why?" she turned to Antoinette in fury. "How could you even serve him?!"

Giry flinched at her anger. She really couldn't blame the other woman for screaming at her. Part of their situation was her fault after all. The woman was right. How could she work for someone with such a black heart? Antoinette thought back to her earlier years. The time before she joined Corvidae. She was a social worker back then. Although she saw many tragic stories play out in front of her, there was only one that she stayed for.

A little boy locked in an animal's cage. Half starved and almost naked. He looked at her with these terrible eyes. Eyes that have seen the worst of humanity and survived. Eyes that were far too wise.

How could you even serve him?

"I thought he could be different."


Meg yawned as she read over her chemistry book.

"Why did I take this class again?" she questioned herself. It wasn't even a required course. Her friend lying on the bed across from her answered.

"Because you like pain?"

Meg frowned and glanced at Christine."Why are you here anyway? I thought you finished your literature homework an hour ago."

"I have nothing to do."

"You should go out and have some fun. Make some more friends."

Christine ignored he advice and continued to stare blankly at the wall.

"Hey, whatever happened with Jammes?"

Meg paused. "What do you mean?"

The brunette sat up on her bed and watched the ballerina.

"I thought you were friends? Now I see you avoid her all the time. What happened?"

Meg continued to read her chemistry textbook. "I found out that she wasn't the type of person who I wanted to be friends with."

"Oh, okay." she didn't go any further.

Meg knew she wanted to ask more, but the good thing about Christine was she knew when people didn't want to talk about certain subjects.

"So, is Ethan your boyfriend now?"

Or perhaps not.

Meg sighed and closed her book. She wasn't going to get any more studying done today.

"Maybe. I'm not sure. Do you think he's a decent guy?"

"I didn't talk to him much, but he seems alright." Christine paused for a moment. "You've been on three dates with him so far. This is the longest I've seen you with someone since..." she drifted off.

Meg closed her eyes in pain. Rick. He was her boyfriend during high school. She broke up with him due to...differences.

"Meg? I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned him." Christine said worriedly as she shook the ballerina's shoulder.

Meg opened her eyes and looked up at Christine. "It's alright. I'm fine. It happened a long time ago. I'm over it." she sighed. "I'm just not sure about Ethan right now."

Silence filled the room and the ballerina desperately wanted to talk about something else.

"So, Christine, is there anyone you're interested in?"

The brunette coughed and stammered. "What?'

Meg gave her the Cheshire grin. "You know what I mean. Any man that you want to jump in bed with?"

"No!" Christine turned to a bright red.

The ballerina glanced at her curiously as she realized something. "How about ever? Was there anyone you ever had a crush on?"

Meg was genuinely curious about this. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen Christine be romantic. Hell, she's never even heard her comment about someone being attractive.

A strange expression flashed across the brunette's face. Before Meg could find out what it was, the brunette answered. "No, not exactly."

"Not even girls?" Meg wanted to be sure.

"No. I've just never really met anyone else that I wanted to be with."

Meg frowned in contemplation. "Hmm...how about in the future?"

Christine froze. "What do you mean?"

"Do you want to have a special someone later down the road?"

The brunette looked away. "I am not sure...The idea of having someone loving me like that is nice, but that's all that it is. An idea. I can't..." Christine sighed. "My most likely bet is to become a cat lady."

Meg raised an eyebrow. "No social life?"

"Oh! Of course I'll visit you time to time. Maybe if you ever decide to have kids, I could babysit them for you or something."

"I guess you could." Meg carefully replied. She had meant a social life that included more than two people, but the brunette missed the point.

As the ballerina observed Christine, she couldn't help but think how lonely her dream sounded.

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That could have gone better.

Antoinette thought as her car entered the garage. Mrs. Moncharmin was hysterical and furious for a good portion of the time. Fortunately, she managed to calm her down towards the end of her visit.

God, I have a headache.

Although Giry could understand Mrs. Moncharmin's feelings, it still did not make dealing with the woman's emotions any easier. Antoinette was looking forward to taking some Advil and sleeping. She entered her kitchen to enact her first part of her plan.

"Hello, Madame Giry." a melodious voice drawled.

Never mind. She might need some alcohol instead. Giry forced herself to relax and turned to face her employer. He leaned against the counter with a smirk on his lips. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Hello, Erik. What a surprise. You could have told me you were coming, you know."

The masked man chuckled. "And missed seeing your terrified face? Of course not!"

Antoinette inwardly flinched. Does he know?

"Ha. Very funny Erik. So, what brings you to my humble home tonight?" she spoke with a suspicious edge to her tone.

"Why, Madame Giry, I feel so offended! Can I not come by and see how an old friend is doing?"

No. Not you.

"I suppose you can." she said carefully.

He continued to smirk as he walked closer to her. His amber eyes glowed in the darkness. "I am glad you think that way. And how are you doing, friend?" his voice turned into ice on the last word.

Antoinette managed to keep her serene facade, but inside her heart was pounding.

"Always busy as ever." she neutrally replied.

"Hmm...is that so?"

Giry stood tall. "Yes, it is."

"And where exactly were you being busy at?"

Antoinette almost flinched at the question. Relax, she told herself. He is just suspicious. Nothing more. She inwardly sighed. "I was just doing my routine check up on my daughter. She may be a college student now, but I still do get worried about her."

Which was all very true. Even the part about checking up on her daughter, though she hasn't been able to do much of it lately. Of course, Meg had no idea that she has been checking on her. Her daughter hated being babied. Which, Antoinette was not doing, but knew her daughter would view her protectiveness as such.

"Ah, is that so? Then tell me what she was doing couple of hours ago."

"Why should I? What my daughter is doing is none of your business." she haughtily replied. That, and she couldn't actually answer him.

"Maybe so. But, the truth of the matter is that you can't answer me."

Antoinette stood there in utter silence. Everything was going wrong. Her mind was in horrible pain right now. She couldn't think clearly. Giry needed time to rest and regroup. If not, Erik could very well get the information from her. Antoinette knew what she needed to do.

She had to make him angry. Make him reckless. And she knew exactly how to do it.

"No, I could answer you. But, I don't want to talk to a pathetic ugly thing like you about my daughter. I don't want you corroding Meg. Your mother couldn't even stand the sight of you. What was it she said? Oh, that's right! You-" she was interrupted as the masked man slammed his hand against the cabinet next to her head.

"Silence!" he struggled to keep himself calm. Shadows of the past were painfully reflected in his eyes. "Drop the charade! I know you are keeping secrets, Madame!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." she kept her face stern, but inwardly relaxed. She was winning. He was losing control of himself.

A scowl appeared on his face. "Let's not be children here. I am not someone to be taken for a fool. You will stop with your lies or I'm afraid that you are going to find yourself in a disaster beyond your imagination." Giry glared back into his hellish eyes with her own ferocity.

"Don't you dare threaten me, Erik! We both know that you cannot afford to have me killed! And, I am sure you can assume what might happen if you touch my daughter."

The masked man simply laughed.

"Why Madame, it's almost endearing that you think I can't hurt you in other ways!"

What does he mean by that?

Erik smiled coldly. "I hope you make the right choice, Madame Giry." he walked past her and out the door.

Antoinette could still feel her heart thump frantically against her chest. She stood there alone in the darkness for a very long time.

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Christine watched as the bright moon rose high in the sky. The cold air caressed her skin and the darkness hid her away from prying eyes. She sighed contentedly as she took her nighttime walk. She thought back to her earlier conversation with Meg.

"Was there anyone you ever had a crush on?"

She...technically didn't lie. Sure, she did think about marrying Raoul a few times when she was a kid, but a lot of girls thought about marrying princes back then. Raoul was her prince, but he was also her dearest friend. Surely that did not count?

The brunette sighed as she recalled how Meg reacted to her questioning of a boyfriend. Christine knew Meg still had issues with relationships of the romantic nature. She really hoped that she was getting better. If Meg could stay with Ethan, then hopefully she would be free from Rick's shadow. Christine clenched her hands as she thought of how terrible shape Meg was in when they met for the second time.

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Three Years Earlier (Location: Webber High School)

Christine headed towards the cafeteria. Classrooms passed her by as she walked through the hallways of her school. But, to her, she wasn't doing something so mundane. In her mind she was watching characters fight each other to save the world and the emotional turmoils they must have had along the way. Eventually she forced herself back into the real world as she neared the cafeteria.

She frowned as she heard the whispers of reality all around her. Or to be more exact, high school students. Not a very good comparison to be sure. Either way, it seemed like something had happened. Not that anyone seemed to know exactly what this event was. Apparently it had something to do with some popular kids. A football player and a dancer? Well, whatever. It wasn't like she gave a carp about the social hierarchy.

Christine ignored the gossiping hens and scanned the lunchroom for an empty table. She spotted one near the stage. She walked over and sat down. She brought out her brown lunch bag and started eating her tuna sandwich. The brunette quickly switched back into dream mode.

After about ten minutes, Christine felt someone tap on her shoulder. She turned around and looked. A beautiful young woman with long blonde hair and light blue eyes watched her back. If Christine didn't know any better, she would think that the girl was some sort of barbie doll that came to life. Yet, upon seeing her, the brunette could tell something was wrong. There were shadows under her eyes and her stance was closed off. It was as if she was afraid that someone was going to hurt her. Christine could tell she was very nervous by the way she kept biting her lip.

"Yo-your lips will bleed if you keep doing that." the brunette stated. She inwardly sighed. She had stuttered again. The brunette always stuttered whenever she spoke to someone she didn't know. It was a habit she was trying to break, but she never could quite rid of herself of it.

"Oh." she stopped biting her lip, but she was still fidgeting. "Um, could I sit with you?"

Christine raised an eyebrow. Why would this chick want to sit with her? From her appearances, the social hierarchy should be loving her.

"Sure."

The woman sat down two chairs away from her and starting eating her lunch. As the brunette observed her out of the corner of her eyes, she couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. There was a wary air that this new girl gave off. Something had happened to her recently, Christine was sure of it. As the silence between them grew denser, Christine reached out first.

"H-hello. My name is Christine." she timidly asked. The blonde girl gave her a quizzical stare.

"I know that already. We've met each other before. My name is Meg Giry."

Christine thought for a moment before a memory of falling books and taunting jeers flashed in her mind.

Oh, she was that chick. Wow, her appearance since then has changed quite a bit. And her boyfriend was Rick. Christine almost winced. She was starting to see the whole picture now...The brunette was surprised when she realized that she still wanted to talk to this other girl. Try to comfort her at least. The only problem was she didn't know how. The last time she had a friend was years ago. She didn't even know how to start a conversation with her.

"S-so. How have you been?" she stammered. Christine inwardly berated herself. Of course she hasn't been doing well!

Meg glanced up at her with tired eyes. "Just peachy."

They sat in silence for the rest of lunch.

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Yes, it took them awhile before they became friends. And, in a horrible way, Rick was the reason for it. However, that did not mean that she wasn't going to beat her ex-neighbor up if she ever saw him again.

Yep. I am definitely going to stay single.

Christine turned around to walk back to her dorm and was met with opposition. She slammed into someone and fell against the concrete sidewalk.

"Sorry!" she apologized and stopped as she glanced up at the person's face.

"Christine?"

"Raoul?!"


A cliff hanger! Muhahaha! Oh, and on just a side note, I did not misspell the word "crap" during the flashback. Christine back then was very sheltered and used "carp" instead. Anyway, please review! If you see any big mistakes I did, feel free to point out.