Chapter 6

"Now, my dear, everything is ready. All that's left to do is-"

"I'm hungry!" Christine interrupted. She yelled the words in an attempt to distract Erik from where his attention lay...on marrying him. "I'm starving!"

Erik had finished locking the front door and was immediately distracted from his plan by her words. The absolute last thing he wanted was for his Christine to be hungry. It was true, he had yet to feed her.. She had to be verge of fainting from lack of energy! He focused his eyes on his love prepared to start apologizing profusely, but he was briefly taken aback by her appearance. She looked to be a bundle of nerves. She truly does not wish to marry me.. But still, her appetite would come first. "Come, follow me," he said and began walking away.

Christine was relieved by the fact that her hunger had distracted him. She really was starving, too, it wasn't a lie. She hadn't eaten since a snack she'd had at home... before her life became such a mess. The thought made her wish to cry. I want to go home.. Oh, how she wished she were there instead of being stuck with this psycho. Well, at least he refrained from blindfolding her. This way, she was able to walk freely and see everything in his house. She turned her head to look at the locked front door one last time before deciding it would be best to follow him.

They reached a kitchen, and Christine looked around. Everything looked expensive. The appliances were stainless steel, there was a nice island in the middle, and a beautiful chandelier hung above a table on the right side of the room. How does he have all this money? Two houses and a kitchen that looks like this? And he's only a voice teacher? Something's not adding up.. Christine didn't have time to analyze it further, because Erik began speaking.

"Please sit at the table. Would you like a cheese omelet?" Erik smiled in a doting way when she looked at him. He only wished she could be comfortable in the home that was now hers.

"Sure," she replied with a shrug before sitting at the table. Eating his food wasn't something she was thrilled about doing. If she didn't, though, he would continue with his plan- marriage. The very thought was literally making her feel sick, but that also could have been due to her hunger. Christine watched as he removed eggs and cheese from the refrigerator. He got a small bowl and a frying pan from a cabinet. Her attention wasn't really focused on what he was doing, though. Instead, she was thinking about the nightmare, which was her life.

He told me that he loves me.. That's the whole reason he's doing this. But- "How can you claim to love me?" she abruptly asked. "You don't even know me."

Erik stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her. "I do know you, Christine. It is through knowing you that I fell in love with you."

That wasn't satisfying. There was still too much that didn't make sense. "I looked around the room you locked me in. How is it that you know my favorite color? And my favorite books? And my clothing size?" Part of her was wanting answers to her questions, but another part was scared of what he would say.

"It wasn't hard to figure out your favorite color. Your music folder is light blue, and you often wear clothes consisting of that color. Honestly, your clothing size was a guess. I suppose I have a good eye," he said, chuckling a little.

His nonchalant answers aggravated her so much! "What about my favorite books? You couldn't have known them by only seeing me during voice lessons." Now he was cornered.

Erik studied her from his distance. The answers would frighten her, he knew. She really did deserve to know the truth, though. He'd been keeping so many things from her for so long now. "I suppose I will be honest with you. I know various things about you because I took the liberty of visiting your house on more than one occasion. I visited your bedroom, specifically, and that is where I gained my knowledge." Perhaps a compliment would help calm her down, as he could see that his words had indeed scared her. "You are such a fascinating young woman."

"You broke into my house? You spied on me?"

"Yes, Christine, I did both of those things," Erik said truthfully.

Christine could feel herself becoming incredibly angry. Calm down and focus.. "There were never any signs. All of the voice lessons we had.. You never showed any signs of loving me."

"Didn't I?" he asked while cooking.

"No, not once."

Letting the omelet simmer some, Erik turned to face her. "But there were signs. There were a number of signs, Christine. You just didn't acknowledge them."

She glared. "Name one. Explain a time when I should have known."

He put the omelet on a plate and walked towards the table while thinking. "In June," he began, laying the plate in front of her. "You were late for a lesson. When you arrived, I noticed something was wrong. I asked if something was troubling you, but you said it was nothing. We proceeded to have our lesson, but your voice was not up to par. I gave you a glass of water and asked if you would sit down to drink it. I then told you that you could open up to me. You could tell me anything. I told you that I would always listen and try to help."

Christine actually did remember that day. She and Robert had been fighting, something that didn't happen often. Her voice had been off because of it, and she remembered Erik giving her the water and wanting her to sit down. She remembered very vividly what he had told her, because it was out of the ordinary for him to talk to her without a business-like voice. That wasn't a sign, though! It was him being nice. If he calls that a sign, then he's seriously got issues. "You call that a sign?" He only stared at her, which she assumed to be his creepy way of saying 'yes'. "I thought that was just you being friendly, not some romantic gesture."

"Yes, well, I suppose I did keep my feelings hidden," Erik admitted. He noticed she wasn't eating. "Please eat. Would you like toast?"

Reluctantly, she nodded. An omelet isn't enough to fill me.

"Allow me to get you some milk, too."

She watched him walk away from the table before looking down at her omelet. It looked and smelled good. Taking a first bite, she realized that it was really good and scarfed it down quickly. By the time he returned, she was finished.

Erik's eyes widened. "My, you were hungry," he said in wonder. He placed her toast and milk on the table and sat in a seat across from her.

"Aren't you hungry?" Christine asked awkwardly. Not that she really cared... But it was weird.

He was surprised that she would consider his appetite. She cares? Looking at her adoringly, he shook his head. "No, angel, I'm not."

Whatever. Christine ate her toast and drank her milk silently while thinking about what was soon to happen. I can't let it happen.. I can't marry him. It would be... There just weren't words to describe how truly awful it would be. Maybe I should just let him know what I'm feeling. "Erik, I can't marry you."

His heart skipped a beat. She spoke his name! It seemed he would never grow accustomed to hearing it. "But angel, you already promised. You wish to take back your promise?"

Christine slammed her fist against the table. "I didn't promise you anything! You hypnotized me! You tricked me!"

Erik closed his eyes for a moment and sighed tiredly before opening them and saying very seriously, "Christine, it has been decided. You will marry me. Today. There is no choice."

"I don't want to marry you, don't you get it? I just want to go home! How can you want to marry somebody who wants nothing to do with you?" It was mind boggling.

He stood and moved to her side of the table. "I want to marry you because I love you. Now stand. It's time to get ready."

Tears were coming to Christine's eyes and she stubbornly shouted, "No! You can't make me!"

Why can she not cooperate? It was time to settle this once and for all. "Christine, if you do not marry me, you will regret it. If you do not marry me, I will become angry."

So he is the stereotypical kidnapper, after all! "What, you're going to hurt me?"

"No," he answered immediately. "Of course not. I would never hurt you. I would hurt others, though. I would have no problem doing that."

Christine shrank back in fear. "You what?"

Now he had her attention. "You heard me, Christine."

"If you lay a hand on anybody I love, I'll-"

"I never said I would hurt your loved ones, Christine. I couldn't do that, for that would hurt you. No, they will remain untouched. Other innocent people could suffer, though, and it would be all your fault." He spoke the words slowly, making sure she understood.

Her face paled dramatically. He wasn't kidding around. No, the man was insane. He wasn't against hurting or even killing others. She could only stare at him speechless.

Erik held out his hand so that she would take it and stand. "I believe we are on the same page now. Let's go see your wedding dress."

Christine stood without taking his offered hand and crossed her arms. "I don't want you to involve anyone else in this, so I guess I have to marry you." She felt like she was going to cry, but at the same time, tears weren't going to help. They would just make things worse.

He was delighted. "I'm so glad you see as I see." He led her out of the room and to the left until they reached a closed door. After a dramatic pause, Erik opened the door and they walked inside. He then waited anxiously for her to speak.

She stared in horror at a mannequin in the middle of the room wearing what was to be her wedding dress. Everything just seemed so unreal- the kidnapping, the dress, the wedding.. Is this actually happening? Although she tried not to think about it, Christine had to admit that it was a beautiful dress. She refused to look at it for too long, though. No way would she let him know that she thought it was gorgeous. "Ok, now what?" she finally asked.

"What do you think of it, my dear?" Erik was truly curious. He'd spent so much time making sure it was perfect. He wanted to know her thoughts.

Christine shrugged. "Does it really matter what I think? My thoughts haven't mattered so far."

"Your thoughts always matter," he corrected.

Yeah right.. "The dress is fine. Let's just get this over with." She began to walk forward in order to remove it from the mannequin, but Erik stopped her.

"What are you doing, angel?"

"Getting the dress so that I can go into a bathroom and put it on." Duh..

He chuckled. "There's no need to do that yet."

What? We're not doing this after all? If only she could be so lucky.

"We have to drive to the chapel first. Then, you will wear it."

Christine gasped. "You mean, we're leaving this house?" Oh, my god... This can be my way out!

Erik didn't approve of the way she was acting. Of course she was only thinking of an escape. "Allow me to explain a few things. Do you see that box beside the dress?" He pointed to a box on the floor and watched her nod. "Well, that box contains a mask. Your mask." He could tell she was confused. "You will put it on before we leave, and you will wear it until we return."

"Y-you mean.. You're trying to make sure nobody can identify me?"

"Precisely."

She shuddered. This was just too much. "You can't honestly expect us to wear masks during our w-wedding?"

His plans were flawless, and nothing would change them. "I will have it no other way. You'll find, Christine, that this chapel is a little different than other churches you have seen. This chapel is designed for couples wishing to elope." Feeling that she still didn't understand, he explained, "Think of chapels you hear about in places like Las Vegas. Anything is accepted there, right? Couples can dress however they'd like. The weddings can have various themes. It doesn't matter. Therefore, our theme will be a masquerade." Erik actually winked at her. "Clever, yes?"

Christine could only stand staring at the man before her in shock. He was insane, completely insane. But, he was also a damn genius.

His plans were going to be a success, she knew. Why? One, she would basically go without being seen, so no one would know she was a 'missing person'. Two, she had to obey, because Erik would kill other people if she didn't. And three, his plans were going to be a success because she was powerless to stop them. Erik was in full control.

Erik suddenly became worried while watching her. "You look tired, sweet angel. Perhaps you should take a nap before we leave. Yes, I believe you will feel better once you get some sleep."

Christine followed him as if in a dream as he led her to her bedroom. Then, he reached out to touch her cheek for a moment before leaving the room, closing and locking the door on his way out. Slowly, Christine moved towards the bed. Her mind seemed so sluggish. Maybe Erik was right. Once she slept some, she would be able to devise a plan.


There, I uploaded all of HungrySoprano's chapters. I just figured, why delay it? From here on out, the chapters will be written by me.

Thank you so much for reading! Please review :)

-Lauren