CHAPTER EIGHT—
Erik paced up and down the small platform in his lair.
"Christine shouldn't have gone," Erik muttered to himself. He hadn't had a word from her, and it had been a week since she left. "Where are you, Christine?" Erik asked into the darkness.
Suddenly, there were footsteps, "Erik," Madame Giry said fervently.
Erik stared darkly at her, "Do you need something?"
"I've received a letter from Meg. Christine is coming home tomorrow, I'd thought you would want to know."
Erik nodded, "Thank you."
Madame Giry's eyes were penetrating, "So, you've re-united with Christine, have you?"
"Yes."
"Why? All she did was come in, break you heart, leave, and come back again."
"I'd rather not have this discussion with you, so if I don't mind-"
"Erik. You're making a mistake."
Erik jumped up; he went up to Madame Giry, not saying a word. His expression was threatening, but at the same time it showed a twinge of fear. His eyes gleamed with a sort of toneless hatred that couldn't be spoken with any words. "Listen to me," He said in a dry, flat tone, "I do not need your help to tell me what to do. Let's not forget what happened a short two years ago."
Madame Giry raised her hands indignantly, "You don't need my help? Remember when I was seventeen in ballet school, and you only six? I could have left you to the police, after you murdering that man."
"It's been twenty-one years," Erik snickered. "I doubt they're still hunting me down for that."
"Yes, maybe they're not. But they would be if they happened to find out you will still alive, after all, you killed Joseph Bouquet."
"Are you threatening me?"
"Of course not," Madame Giry frowned, "I wouldn't be so foolish."
"Then maybe you should leave."
Madame Giry nodded and she started to walk away. Then, she turned and went over to the piano, "Maybe you should read this." She put some parchment down on the top of the piano. "It'll explain a lot." She turned and walked out under the gate, and soon enough she was out of sight.
Erik went over to the piano and picked up the paper. He started to read it, but put it down. It was a letter from Meg to Madame Giry.
"They had a fight," He said.
He went sat down on the piano, and began to play. His playing was soft, but it was that of a true genius. The melody was slow and it was perfect in everyway. He slowed down the tune, and tried to think. He took a piece of parchment and wrote down the music. When he was finished with that, he started to right lyrics. It ended up, that Erik stayed up until four o'clock in the morning.
When Erik woke up, he immediately went over to the piano. He picked up Meg's letter that Madame Giry had given him the night before.
He read until he came to a specific part:
But there's something that I specifically wrote to tell you about, mother. It's about Christine. I know something about her, it happened two years ago, on December 28th. She's talked me out of telling anybody, but reflecting upon it, I need to tell somebody. Two years ago, she went to the la-
The rest of the page was torn.
But on the page after that, lay words that made Erik's blood chill:
After that night, I realized one thing. Christine's been acting innocent, but from what I found then… she deceived us all.
