A/N: Another chapter!!

Basically, Meg's explanation to Christine, and my attempt to try stay ON-track rather than veer OFF-track again.

Enjoy, and review if you feel like it!


Chapter 7 – Explanations and a Warning

I woke slowly, to the sound of sobbing.

Forcing my heavy eyelids to open, I saw that I was on a large, white-sheeted bed. I sat up groggily, the soft satin material brushing against my skin in a silken caress. Confused, I looked around the large room – to see Meg hunched over on a large wooden chair, shaking with the force of her crying. Instinctively I reached out, opening my mouth to say something comforting.

And then closed it again, memories rushing back to me.

She betrayed me…!

I looked around the unfamiliar room, its elegant vastness intimidating, and bit my lip. If there had been any doubt in my mind that she'd had a hand in my most probable kidnap, her presence here was enough to dispel it.

Warned by some inert instinct, I quickly lie back down and shut my eyes just as Meg's head whipped around.

"Christine...? Are you awake...?"

I didn't answer, trying to breathe evenly. I heard her sigh.

"If only you were...then I could tell you how sorry I am...!" She started to sob again, and I was about to sit up, but I heard her whispering.

"Oh, I hope you hear me in your dreams – then I won't have broken his rules. Did you know I'm not meant to speak to you, Christine? If you were awake, then I would have had to have left without saying anything to you at all. I don't think he's ever going to let me see you again! I'm so sorry, Christine!" By this point, her sobbing had become so violent I could barely hear her words.

I heard her heavy breathing, before she seemed to manage to calm herself down. After a few deep breaths, she started speaking again.

"You must be wondering – if you can even hear me, that is – why I'm even helping him. I really am a bad best friend, aren't I?" She laughed bitterly, and I tried not to think about how much I agreed with her.

"See...remember how my mum had cancer? And Dad was dead, so we couldn't afford the surgery?"

I definitely remembered that. In fact, it was the reason that I now detested hospitals. The artificial cool of the air conditioning, the cold, clinical air of the doctors, the crisp uncaringly tidy beds and the stark white of the walls...the fact that people died in them, that people suffered for months in such an inhumane environment frightened me.

"But," sounded Meg's voice, cutting through my reflection, "remember how one day I called to tell you we'd got the money for the surgery?"

She had called to tell me, and I had asked how she'd found enough money – considering the cost of surgery in those days, it was a fair enough question. There had been a pause, before she said that it was an anonymous benefactor. I had taken her at her word, and we started talking about uni work she'd missed.

There had been one odd thing about that conversation though – the reason that it still stuck in my memory.

"Christine?"

"Hmm?" I asked sleepily, clambering into bed.

"I'm so sorry, Christine..."

I blinked.

"Huh?"

Meg sighed.

"Don't worry – anyway, you should go to sleep; you sound like you haven't slept for a century."

She hung up before I could say anything more. Frowning, I looked at the phone for a while, before putting it away, the memory sinking to the bottom of my mind.

"The person who gave me the money – he didn't want it repaid or anything. He just made me promise that...well...I do anything he ask me to do – as long as it didn't mean another person being physically harmed...oh, I had to, Christine!" she burst out, responding to some inner criticism. "I tried leaving the country, moving so he couldn't find me - but every time I tried, he'd just find me again!"

Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. Hadn't she ever heard of the police?

"You probably wouldn't understand," Meg told my "sleeping" form, "since he would never threaten you – but if he wants something, he gets it."

She sighed, seeming to calm down again.

"You'll probably try to escape, and I can understand that. Just know – oh God, why am I speaking to a sleeping person, I must be insane – just know, if you do, your only hope is to get out of the country. And then, run. As fast as you can, as far as you can."

I had been about to treat this with the same scepticism as before, but something in her tone...she seemed so genuinely terrified of this guy – whoever he was – that it was almost frightening me.

Unexpectedly, I felt the sheets move, and her mouth near my ear.

"Please say you hear this," she whispered, her warm breath tickling my neck, "if none of this got into your dreams, if you heard nothing else, I pray to God you hear this."

Meg stopped for a breath, and, lying on my side, I bit my lip.

"Whatever you do – nothing else matters, but, whatever you do..."

She stopped again as her voice became hoarse, and she cleared her throat.

"Whatever you do...

"Don't take off the mask."

The door burst open, and I felt her weight leave the bed and her feet hitting the floor.

"I'm sorry..." I heard her whisper softly.

"You may leave, Miss Giry."

"Yes, of course...!" The door slammed, and I heard hurried footsteps, growing softer and softer.

The chair moved closer, and someone's hand brushed my hair. Panicked, I tried to even out my breathing.

There was a sigh – a sigh so familiar, though I had only heard it twice before.

"You may stop pretending to be asleep, Miss Daaé."

I froze, my muscles tensing up automatically in sudden fear. When I didn't move for a few moments, the person spoke again.

"Really, Christine, while I have the utmost admiration for your fortitude, I must insist that you sit up now." The impatient tone in the strange man's voice reminded me of what Meg had said.

Slowly, I sat up, and opened my eyes as I turned to see, for the first time, the face of my kidnapper.


I hope you enjoyed it - sorry for the cut-off point, but I thought it was a good point to end this chapter.

Again, review if you please, and I hope you liked it!