Chapter 7

Christine's POV

Christine spent the whole day in bed, slipping in and out of dreams. But most of them weren't dreams. They were nightmares.

Christine awoke with a cry after a particularly nasty nightmare, she was crying, she realised. Christine tried to remember what happened in the dream that caused her to cry, she knew it had something to do with Raoul getting hurt though, that was all she could remember about it. The dream was slipping through out of her memory very fast, like sand slipping through fingers.

The sky was dark outside, Christine noticed, and the room she was in was filled with shadows, giving it an eerie, almost frightening quality.

Christine didn't like it at all. She reached over to the nightstand, and clumsily lit the gas lamp.

Light flooded the room and Christine had to rub her eyes lazily in an attempt to adjust her eyes to the splash of colour this room offered.

The floors were a simple dark wood and the walls were white, rather like her bedroom in Erik's home. The armoire, vanity, side tables and bed were all dark wood as well. And the bed had purple satin bedclothes, along with the cushions and chaise lounge perched in the corner of the room.

This wasn't just a normal guest room, Christine thought, it looks as though Erik had made this room for her. Rather like Erik's home beneath the Opera, this room drastically stood out from all the others. Not that Christine had seen many rooms in this house yet, but it looked as though Erik had put special attention to this room in comparison the sitting room for example.

Christine slipped out of bed and lit a candle, carrying it with her as she opened the door that was opposite the bed. It was a bathroom, she realised, taking notice of the bathtub that sat in the middle of the room. She sat the candle down on the bench.

Christine looked at it longingly, as she raked her hand through her tangled mess of a hair. She felt groggy and covered in dirt, a bath definitely would help.

Christine took the abandoned candle and lit the sconces that lined the walls and set it down again on the bench. Now with the access of better light, she noticed that the tub had taps, which means Erik must have installed running water in this house. That is amazing since it was rare that homes even had this, she had only read about it in newspapers before.

Christine turned the taps and gaped in amazement as the tub started to fill with water. She turned off the taps as the tub was about three quarters full, and pulled off her nightgown before climbing into the warm water.

During her bath, Christine took special care to wash her face and hair; she then picked up a comb from the bench and worked at her tangled curls.

After she was finished, Christine climbed out of the tub and dried herself off with a towel before draining the now cold water from the tub.

Christine hung up her wet towel and threw on a white silk robe that hanging on a hook by the door, before going into the other room to dress.

Christine pulled out a simple pink gown and some undergarments from the armoire and changed before going down stairs for breakfast.

"We will be leaving in ten minutes to go meet with an old acquaintance of mine." Erik said passing her a plate of toast when she seated herself at the kitchen table.

Erik must have gone out during the night to get it, knowing she would be asleep, and therefore, wouldn't have the chance to escape. How sneaky! She thought, looking down at her hands in anger. She then looked at her plate distastefully.

"I'm not hungry." She said plainly, pushing the plate away in protest. But her stomach grumbled in protest to that protest.

Erik shook his head at her, "your stomach seems to say otherwise, and you would have to eat something now, otherwise you won't get to for hours."

Christine looked at him, annoyed, then down at her breakfast. Christine gave in and ate the dry toast in defeat. A hunger strike wasn't going to solve anything, she realised, and she would rather be alive when Raoul finds her anyway…

After she finished, Erik offered her his arm to escort her, but Christine didn't take it. She walked beside him like an obedient servant though, with her head hung low for the whole walk.

Eventually, they came across a small cottage that was surrounded by many wildflowers, a small vegetable patch and many shrubs and bushes.

Erik knocked on the door hard and in short moment, a short, middle aged man with dark hair answered the door.

"Erik?" He asked, clearly caught off guard by their presence.

"Nice to see you too, Jerome." Erik answered back coolly, crossing his arms, "now would you care to invite us in, or are you going to stand there?"

Jerome stood aside gaping as Erik and Christine walked into his home, which was clearly not in a state for visitors. Perhaps that would be expected from living out in the woods, Christine decided.

"Well please sit down then, and tell my why how you came to be here once more." Jerome asked, clearly puzzled why a girl like Christine was with Erik. They sat down, ignoring his puzzled looks.

"Well my Fiancée and I are staying in the house not too far from here…" Christine was about to object wildly to the whole 'Fiancée thing' but Erik shot her a threatening look that pretty much made her keep her mouth shut, a look that Jerome didn't notice. "So I just wanted come and say hello to an old friend."

"Speaking of your Fiancée…" Jerome trailed looking to Christine, and then hesitated. "Oh, where are my manners! It is a pleasure to meet you mademoiselle…"

"Christine." Christine said, before Erik could say anything else. "Christine Daae."

"Daae, you say?" Jerome asked, interested, "how peculiar."

Christine felt Erik stiffen beside her. Christine desperately hoped Jerome would recognise her and possibly call the authorities.

"Foreign sounding name…" Jerome said instead, "Is it perhaps…" he trailed, calculating.

"It's Swedish." Christine answered with a hint of disappointment in her voice, disappointed that he didn't recognise her. It was a long shot anyway, Christine thought bitterly, living out in the woods means you probably wouldn't get out too much.

"So how did you two meet?" Christine asked, changing the subject.

Jerome smiled while Erik sunk back in his seat, looking worried that Jerome was going spill something about his past he would rather Christine not know.

"Well I was a sailor transporting goods from Paris to Persia some years ago," Jerome started, looking reminiscent, "And on the ship's course to return to Paris, about a week into the journey, I was sent down to the storage unit to collect some food for the chefs to cook supper with. Suddenly, I felt someone grab me and throw me to the floor…"

Christine stared at Jerome; she thinks she knows where this story is going.

"Well it turned out it was Erik." Jerome started again, looking at Erik who was looking somewhat uncomfortable with this story. "And he was seeking the key for the storage room to get some food. And so he made a deal with me. If I provide him with food and not tell the other crew members about his existence, he will spare my life."

Christine looked at Erik for a moment. At some point in his life he went to Persia… how interesting.

"And I accepted. And when we finally got to Paris, I helped smuggle Erik off of the ship and helped him repair the house near here. Then he just disappeared for a couple of years and here he is now." Jerome finished, leaning back in his chair and observing them both. But then, someone burst through the front door.

"Papa, I'm back!" a warm voice called from the doorway. It was a woman, Christine noticed, looking around her age with dark hair and pale skin, wearing a simple yellow dress.

"You will never guess type of flower I found!" She continued, looking through her basket of flowers.

"Juliette." Jerome said stiffly, "We have guests."

Juliette looked up in surprise, gasped as she looked at Christine and Erik. "Oh…" she started, clearly embarrassed, "hello then."

Christine could tell this girl hadn't had many other people in her home before. She could tell in the way she looked around the messy room, as if wondering what to do.

"Well as you could probably tell," Juliette stated awkwardly, "My name is Juliette; it's nice to meet you both."

Christine stood up and walked over to Juliette. "My name's Christine, and this Erik." She said gesturing to each of them. "It's nice to meet you also."

"Juliette." Jerome said, looking at his daughter. "Why don't you show Christine the garden? Erik and I would like to talk alone."

Juliette nodded. "Ok then," she said, glancing at Christine, "Let's go Christine."

Erik's POV

Erik watched Christine and Juliette go out into the garden, and then turned to Jerome.

"What are your intentions with this girl, Erik?" Jerome demanded, "She seems much too young to be your fiancée-"

"Love knows no age, Jerome." Erik cut off swiftly. "And I don't think that's quite your business." Erik leaned back in his chair swiftly, taking in Jerome's unamused expression.

Erik began again, "I've actually come to ask of a favour of you." Erik stopped, looked to make sure Christine wasn't listening, and continued on.

"You see, Jerome, my fiancée has… problems…" Jerome looked at him oddly.

"Problems?"

"Yes, problems!" Erik snapped, looking at Jerome again. "I am quite worried about her actually. She has been… harming herself." Erik said, trying his best to sound sad.

Jerome looked at Erik wide-eyed. "That's why I would like you too watch over her for me when I am not at home."

Erik looked at Jerome, who looked as though he was trying comprehend the new information, "Just to make sure she doesn't harm herself."

Jerome looked at Erik, his green eyes boring into Erik's one blue, and one brown eye.

"Of course, Erik, if that's the case, I would like to help in any way I can to your… um… situation."

"And also, Jerome," Erik started again, "I wouldn't confront her about it, she is in a strong phase or self-denial right now and I'm afraid it would make her upset to talk about it."

Jerome nodded, "Of course, Erik, no problem."

Erik nodded back. He must admit he did feel bad lying about Christine, but he knew that he would have to go out sometimes to purchase more goods and even find a priest to conduct their wedding ceremony. He knew deep down that Christine would run from him at any chance she had.

And he just couldn't allow that to happen.