Natalie pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as she sobbed uncontrollably. Her stomach was clenched, nearly making her throw up. The pain between her legs was unbearable. Until now, no man had ever touched her except for Erik, but her husband would never have done so against her will.

"No!" she screamed as his fingers twisted in her hair and he dragged her to her feet. "Please! No more!" She managed to tear herself from his grip but he hit her, sending her crashing to the ground. He kicked her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. "Please," she gasped. "Stop! Let me go!" Another blow struck her chin, so Natalie attempted to protect her face by wrapping her arms around her head. "Erik, help me!"

"He's not coming for you," came the reply. "He doesn't care. You'll never see him again." He hauled her back up, pulled her against him, and pressed the knife to her throat, the pressure enough for her to feel a thin line of blood appear on her neck. "Tell me you were wrong to leave me," he hissed. "Now that you've been with a real man, tell me that was the greatest thing you've ever experienced."

"Please don't make me," she begged. "I love Erik." He immediately roared in anger before he backhanded her across her face. As her head slammed into the ground, the last thing she saw was those cruel, steel gray eyes before everything went black.

Natalie buried her face in the pillow in an attempt to muffle the sound of her screams. She hadn't had a flashback or at least one that vivid, for a very, very long time. After a moment, her screams became heavy sobs. All she could see was that sick, satisfied smirk as the words 'He's not coming for you. He doesn't care. You'll never see him again,' played over and over again in her mind.


"You have a visitor."

The cold, grey eyes swiveled from their reflection in the mirror to glance at the guard outside his cell. "For me?" he asked. When the guard nodded, he chuckled dryly. "Well I suppose there's a first time for everything."

When he was led to the visitor's area, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw who was waiting for him. "Hello Craig," she said coolly as he sat down.

"Shelby," he replied with a curt nod. "I must say, you were the last person I expected to be here."

"I need you to answer some questions for me."

Craig leaned back in his chair. "Let me save you some time. I'm not telling you where, when, how, or why I killed Natalie and I won't tell you where her body is, which probably eliminates everything you could ever want to know from me."

"Actually I wasn't going to ask you any of that."

"Then why are you here?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because last night, a man showed up at my house. He claims to know you and Natalie. He says he knows she's still alive." She took a deep breath. "I have to know. Did you or did you not kill her?"

"Who's this man?" Craig demanded. "What's his name?"

"Did you kill her?" Shelby shouted.

"No," he replied, his gaze drifting down to the table between them. "There's a reason I never told anyone where she's buried or what the murder weapon was, no matter how much they asked. I never told anyone because there wasn't one. But no one believed me." His attention snapped back up to her. "Whoever it is, they're the key to me getting out of this hellhole! What is his name?"

"Well, see that's the problem." Shelby's voice dropped down to a whisper. "He's not quite exactly real."

"Not real." His voice became flat and emotionless as he tried to hide his disappointment. "So you're telling me the key to proving my innocence isn't real."

"Well, not exactly. He shouldn't be real. There's no reason he should exist, but he does. Are you familiar with the musical The Phantom of the Opera?"

"I've heard the name. Why on earth does that matter?"

"Because the main character, the Phantom, is the man I'm referring to."

Craig rolled his eyes. "I think you need to consider psychiatric help."

"You don't think I haven't considered it? Erik is driving me out of my mind."

"Erik?!" Craig hissed. That name made his blood boil and his jaw clenched. "Dark hair, white mask, face screwed up like hell?"

Shelby sighed. "That would be the Phantom of the Opera, also known as Erik."

"He's here?!" Craig screamed. "How?!"

"So you do know him?"

He crossed his arms. "Of course I know him. That whore Natalie ran off and married the freak. Last I saw, she was pregnant with that thing's…that thing's child, if you can call it that." Her hand flew up to her mouth. "Oh, he didn't mention that bit?" Craig asked with a smirk.

She shoved her chair backwards before fleeing the room. "Nice to see you too!" he shouted at her retreated figure as the guard pulled him out of his chair and handcuffing him.

As he was marched back to his cell, he could feel a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. If Erik was here, then he wasn't there. And Craig had some unfinished business back there. After all, if you're going to do the time, you may as well do the crime.


Erik's fingers skillfully wove the knot he had made so many times in his life. He glanced down at the Punjab lasso in his hands, unsure if it would accomplish what he wanted it to. After searching the entire house, Erik had been unable to find the thick, sturdy rope he was used to, so this particular noose was made out of a thinner, but similar material he had found rolled up into a ball in a box of tools.

The door swung open, so Erik shoved the lasso into his pocket and grabbed the ball. "Whatcha doing with that twine?" Shelby asked before he could hide it.

"Nothing," he lied with a nonchalant shrug. "I found it."

"What were you doing in the tools?"

"I was bored."

She saw the wreckage of the loud box he had accidentally smashed earlier. "You broke my radio. I told you not to break anything. Why did you break my radio?"

"It was an accident. I accidentally turned it on, and it fell when I tried to turn it off," he explained.

She sighed. "Okay, note to self: Don't let Ghost Boy get bored. Bad things happen."

"Are you going to leave again?" he asked.

"Well I have to go to work tomorrow. I can't skip again."

Erik looked at her curiously. "I thought that's where you were today."

"Honestly, I didn't go. I went to visit an old friend of yours."

His face darkened. "Craig."

"Yes. He confirmed your story, but he told me something you haven't mentioned."

"And what was that?" Erik asked.

"He said that the last time he saw you, Natalie was pregnant. Is…is she a mom? Is she the mother of your child?"

Erik shook his head. "No. Not child. Children."

"What?!"

"Plural."