(A/N: I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I know I left the last chapter on a bit of a cliffhanger haha. I've changed the rating of the story because I realised that I'm going to be sticking to some themes in the Leroux version but possibly turning it a bit darker. Not to worry though – I won't ever write explicit things; it might be implied but that'll be the extent of it. Just wanted to be safe with the ratings! Anyways, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Make sure to follow the story and review if you want!)

Meg had to forcefully drag Raoul away from the stage that night. He was a sobbing mess, so the first thing Meg did after getting Raoul away from the stage was call Philippe, Raoul's brother. She didn't know how to help Raoul and was, frankly, just as distraught; but she kept thinking about what her best friend was going through and just got angry. Philippe agreed to drive up and collect Raoul that night, but the police had different plans.

Clearly, Raoul had not taken Christine nor had he killed Joseph Buquet. But as Christine's boyfriend, the police wanted to keep an eye on Raoul as a potential suspect. The police were questioning everybody who had seen Joseph Buquet or Christine Daae before the performance. The poor headmistress of the school had to talk to the press and explain that yes, a student had been murdered, and yes, another student had been abducted. Meanwhile, Raoul was pulled into a questioning room with the chief of police and a detective. Raoul was still softly crying.

"When did you last see Ms. Daae?" the detective began.

"Right before she disappeared," Raoul answered, choking slightly. Why hadn't he been able to save her? Why hadn't he gone down that trapdoor and stopped that bastard Erik in his tracks?

"So you were in the audience?"

"No, I was backstage. She wanted me to be there."

"What is the nature of your relationship with Ms. Daae?"

"She's my girlfriend."

"How long has she been your girlfriend?"

Raoul sighed. "It's complicated."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, we sort of dated when we were 13. But then she moved away, and we lost touch. And we started dating again last night when we saw each other again."

The chief of police rolled his eyes. "Would you consider yourself close to Ms. Daae?"

"Of course," Raoul said indignantly. "I'm her boyfriend."

"Then are you aware of another man whose relationship to her is unknown?"

Raoul frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked suspiciously.

"Are you aware that there is another man whom Christine has told her friend Meg Giry about, whose name is Erik?"

"He's the one!" Raoul shouted angrily. "He's been stalking Christine for years and he's the one who killed Joseph Buquet and he's the one who's been sending me death threats and he's the one who kidnapped Christine!" He buried his face in his hands. "And I didn't do anything to stop him. And I promised her." He started to cry again.

"Sir, please, calm down," the detective said in a bored voice. "We need to know everything you know about Erik."

Raoul took a deep, shaky breath, but his body kept going into spasms that he couldn't control. "He apparently started stalking Christine about two years ago," he began, attempting to swallow his fear and sadness. But this was all too much, too soon, and he just wanted Christine here. "She reported it to the police and apparently the police did nothing." The chief of police fidgeted uncomfortably. "Erik always wore a mask. Christine started seeing him everywhere she went, and soon he started sending death threats to her then-boyfriend. Her boyfriend broke up with her because" because he didn't care about her enough to protect her from this lunatic psycho "it became too much for him. And then he continued to stalk her and – and then he sent me a death threat last night. Christine was so scared that she wouldn't let me out of her sight, not even at night, not even in her own freaking room. She was so scared of Erik and she's with him right now and he could be doing anything to her-"

Raoul stopped short. He hadn't really wanted to think about what had befallen Christine since Erik had abducted her. His mind immediately jumped to the worst. She certainly wasn't dead – Raoul wasn't worried about that. But there were much, much worse fates…

"Sir, is that all you know?" the chief of police prompted Raoul, pulling him out of his nightmare. But his life had quickly turned into a nightmare; Christine was gone once again, and Raoul had no way of knowing where she was or how to get her back.

"I don't know any more about Erik," Raoul said dully. "I'm sorry." He looked at the men questioning him, truly looked at them for the first time, and saw that they were both eyeing him suspiciously. "I didn't kidnap her," he said angrily. "I would never do such a thing. I am a Vicomte." Suddenly feeling the wrath against Erik, the police, and the world rising in his chest, Raoul stood up and crossed his arms. He easily towered over the short chief of police and, although the detective was tall, he was thin and wouldn't have stood a chance against Raoul. "I am a Vicomte of Chagny," Raoul repeated. "Erik is the man who has stalked my girlfriend for two years. Christine Daae is the love of my life. And, unlike the blessed police, I will do everything in my power to find her."

With that, Raoul marched out of the questioning room. The chief of police and the detective seemed too shocked to say anything to stop him.

"Raoul!"

Philippe had arrived and was sitting in the waiting room of the police station. He was practically the mirror image of Raoul, except for his hair, which was light brown. He looked very pale and worried. "Raoul, what happened?"

"The police think I did it," Raoul fumed. "After ignoring Christine's fucking stalker – and they think I did it!"

"They haven't arrested you, though, have they?" Philippe asked worriedly, grabbing his brother's shoulders. "I've called our family lawyer and he'll be here in an hour so you don't have to talk to the police without him."

"Too late," Raoul said. "They pulled me in for questioning already."

Philippe groaned. "What did they ask you?" he demanded. "Did they release you? Have they actually arrested you?"

"They haven't arrested me," Raoul replied. "I'm fine, so far. But they're definitely suspicious of my story." He stomped angrily on the ground, unable to take out his frustration in any other way. "But Meg can back up everything I say."

"Raoul, you're not answering all of my questions," Philippe said in a panicked voice. "Did they release you from questioning?"

When Raoul did not immediately respond, Philippe slammed a hand to his forehead. "Let me guess," he said. "You did something really stupid."

"I am Christine's boyfriend!" Raoul exclaimed hotly. "I care about her more than anyone else in the world! I wouldn't hurt her, ever. Hell, she pulled me into her dressing room so Erik wouldn't abduct her and I turned my back so she wouldn't have me gawking at her while she changed!"

"Oh my God," Philippe exhaled, looking far more stressed. "You marched out because you got annoyed with the police, didn't you? Raoul. Raoul, are you hearing me? Yes, it's wrong that they had you in there for questioning without a lawyer but if you're considered a suspect then you should do everything in your power to not anger the police."

"Why should I help them?" Raoul exclaimed. "They did jack shit when Christine needed them to protect her!"

"And if you keep up that attitude, you are going to be arrested," Philippe replied. "Raoul, this is serious! I know this is hard for you but you can't be arrested! Oxford could kick you out!"

Raoul took a deep breath. "I don't care," he declared. "I'd do anything for Christine."

Philippe looked like he had held in about three very frustrated screams; instead, his hands started balling into fists. "Raoul," he said, his voice shaking. "I know how much you care about Christine – I really do. But you need to think logically. How much help will you be to her if you're in jail? What if she needs you to help find her, and the police have arrested you because you've annoyed them?"

Raoul glared at the ground. He really didn't want Philippe to be right. The problem was, Philippe usually was right. But Raoul did not want to help the police. It was really their fault that they hadn't arrested Erik a long time ago for stalking a young teenage girl. And what if Christine appeared dead in the streets, raped and beaten and naked? Would the police care then? Would they feel just slightly guilty then, if they had known that they had spent all their time chasing her teenage boyfriend instead of chasing the real culprit? Would they know that they could have stopped the real culprit if they'd just listened?

But Philippe really was right. Raoul was no use to Christine if he was in jail. After all, he planned to go and find her that night. And if he was in jail, he wouldn't be able to save her. He hadn't been able to stop Erik from kidnapping her; but he could sure as hell make sure that Erik didn't hurt her.

"Raoul!" Philippe shouted. "Raoul, are you listening to anything I'm saying?"

Raoul gulped. "Yeah," he said in a very small voice. "You're – you're right, Philippe." Tears started welling at the corners of his eyes. "I'm just so scared of what he'll do to her."

Philippe sighed and shook his head. "Raoul, there's nothing you can do about that," he said. "You need to be more concerned about yourself."

"I'll be fine," Raoul insisted, hastily wiping away his tears. "They can do whatever they want to me but just – if I know that Erik has even touched her-"

"Look," Philippe said in a fake, cheery voice, "if this guy was planning on killing Christine, he probably would have already done it. So there's nothing for you to prevent at this point."

"What?" Raoul screeched, his heart plummeting to his stomach. "Why the fuck would you say that? You thought that would help?"

And Raoul collapsed to the ground, sobbing hysterically. All he could picture was Erik forcing Christine into bed and ripping off her clothes and –

No. He couldn't torment himself like this. He had to think outside the box. He had to help Christine in whatever way he could.

"Lord Raoul de Chagny?"

Raoul looked up. He wasn't used to being addressed as 'lord'. "Er – yes?"

It was the chief of police. "We would like to formally apologise," he said, slightly abashed. "We checked the records, and Christine Daae did report a stalker. We did not look into it because the most description she had was a 'masked man', so we assumed she was making it up for attention."

Philippe elbowed Raoul in his ribs to prevent him from saying how utterly ridiculous and sexist the police had acted. Instead, Raoul swallowed his feminist anger and said simply, "I was telling the truth."

"We should like to add that you are not a suspect any longer," the chief of police added. "You are free to go, sir."

Philippe sighed in relief and put his arm around Raoul. "Let's go home," he said gently.

"No," Raoul protested. "I want to stay and look for her."

"Raoul, I am about two seconds away from strangling you," Philippe said calmly. "We're going home."

Raoul kicked and screamed all the way home, but Philippe was used to dealing with Raoul whenever he was determined to do something; so Raoul did eventually get dragged back to London. But Raoul had done something that he hadn't even told Philippe.

He had Christine's phone, and he wasn't sure how, but he was going to use it to find Erik and get Christine back.