Author's Note: I apologize in advance for this train wreck of a chapter. I promise you that everything will make a lot more sense in Chapter 11 and/or 12, so bear with me.

Erik's tired eyes gazed over at the clock.

7:04.

He sighed and stroked Christine's hair, continuing to rock her back and forth. The girl had stopped her screaming around half past five and now sat awake with her eyes wide open. Erik had never seen someone looked so frightened in his life.

Erik knew something was very wrong with Christine. Her mind was not right and she could not process her thoughts. Nadir had been right, but Erik could not take her to a hospital.

At the hospital, they would think of her as a freak. They did not treat the insane right in the hospitals; horrible things could happen if he took her there. Depending on who she got as a doctor, she could be tortured, ridiculed, given experimental drugs, locked up, or even killed. Erik would never bring her to the hospital. She would break from this trance eventually; he just had to figure out how to get her back to normal.

"Madame, how may I help you? Can you speak to me?" he asked gently, brushing hair from her face with his big hand.

Erik could see how badly she wanted to speak, but it was like she was too afraid. He gazed into her eyes, seeing how far away she was. She was lost in her mind, consumed by horrid thoughts. Her face was pale as winter snow and her eyes were dark and lifeless.

"Christine… you must talk to me. If you don't, Nadir will make me take you to a hospital and that's the last thing we want to happen. Please, say something, say anything…" he pleaded, gently touching her cheek.

Christine's eyes slowly drifted up to Erik and her lips quivered. Oh, how she wanted to tell him what was happening! If only he could save her from this madness!

But her voice wasn't there. She couldn't speak, something inside of her was holding her back. Defeated, she fell back into Erik's arms, closing her eyes and letting the silent tears fall from her eyes.

Christine had finally drifted off to sleep at around half past seven. Erik was both relieved and terrified, for he didn't know if she would have another nightmare or not. He watched her carefully, clutching her tightly to his chest.

Christine stirred in her sleep, her mouth moving slowly as she tried to say something. Erik stroked her hair, wishing she could find her voice.

Erik missed how happy Christine had been last night. Just before the damned letter arrived, she had been more joyful than he'd seen her in years. She had looked so radiant, so overjoyed, so beautiful, and now she was ruined.

He gazed down at the girl who had once called him her angel. Her lips quivered slightly as she let out a breath of cold air. Her eyes fluttered slightly and her head tipped back.

Suddenly, Christine shot straight up, her eyes flying open.

"Raoul was there. You and I had married and Raoul was there. We were celebrating our marriage, making love, and he was there! He looked so sad and disappointed, Erik! Disappointed in me, like I had betrayed him!" she said, her words nearly slurring together as one.

Erik's eyes widened a bit as he took in what she had just said. He and Christine had been married? And… and they were… making love?

And Raoul was there?

"He was standing beside the bed. All night, I had horrid thoughts of how I had hurt him, Erik! I couldn't speak, I couldn't do anything but scream and cry!" Christine's eyes filled with tears as she recalled the horrors of the previous night.

"What things to do think of, Christine? What did you see?" Erik asked, gripping her shoulders.

Christine's eyes closed as all of the horrible thoughts returned to her.

"I… saw Raoul weeping. He wept wildly, cursing my name for hurting him. He cursed me for being here, for being with you. I saw images of his dead body in the coffin at his funeral that I never attended. I saw him dying alone, without me, even though he had told me he wanted to die that way. It was horrible, Erik, it was horrible!"

The tears began to flow from her eyes now as she gripped onto his shirt, burying her head in his chest.

Erik did not know what to think. It had been his fault that she was so upset. If she had never found him, if he would have moved farther away, none of this would have ever happened.

It was not at all unusual for Erik to blame himself, but he couldn't help it. In his life, he had been blamed for everything that went wrong. He was used to making everything worse.

He gently stroked the young girl's back. "You must relax, Christine. Stress will only make it worse," he whispered. "Why don't you go take a bath and calm yourself down?"

Christine shook her head rapidly, a single tear resting on her cheek. "N-No! I… I don't want to be alone, Erik… it scares me…"

Erik sighed suddenly feeling as though he should leave. Being in Christine's presence would only make things worse.

"Christine, I think I should leave you…" he said softly. In one swift move, she was out of Erik's lap and on the mattress as he stood beside the bed. He turned his head away from her, not able to look at the sadness in her eyes.

"No, Erik, please!" she begged as she grabbed a hold of his shirt. Her hands pressed into his chest as she clung to him once more. "Please, do not go!"

Erik's heart doubled its speed. After everything she'd said, after telling him what she dreamt of, Erik saw her differently. She wasn't his innocent little housekeeper. He had no idea what she may be thinking when she is alone, or worse, when she was with him!

He shook the thoughts from his head. This was not about him, this was about Christine. He needed to help her, this was no time to be selfish! Erik sighed and wrapped his arms around her hesitantly.

Christine responded by welcoming his embrace, resting her head of soft curls against his neck. "I'm sorry, Erik… I just… I'm not in the right place… I can't think straight, and if I'm alone…"

"No need to apologize, Christine. I will make sure you are taken care of. I think, if you are feeling up to it later, we should discuss things. I have a lot of new questions for you."

Erik removed his arms from around the young girl, locking them both behind his back. Christine slowly slumped down onto his bed once more, looking up at him like a lost puppy.

"If you have questions, it is my duty to answer them. I must rest first, though. My head is still hurting me and… I must think of ways to find closure for myself," she mumbled quietly, looking down at her lap.

Erik nodded, gently taking her hand momentarily. "I think it would be best if you took time to relax, Christine. Come, I will run you a bath. If it makes you more comfortable, I will stay outside the bathroom so you do not feel alone," he said softly.

The young girl nodded, slowly getting up. She didn't say anything, but thoughts of Raoul and his family began to fill her mind again.

Christine sat in the bath, her eyes locked on her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes looked hollow, dark, and cold. In her mind, her nightmare was playing over and over.

Why had she had such a vivid dream? Why had she been married to Erik, and why had they been acting in such vulgar ways? Most importantly, why was Raoul there?

The fact that her questions would go forever unanswered hurt Christine. As she stared at her frightening reflection, she felt as though she was truly insane. Maybe Nadir was right, maybe she wasn't alright.

But she knew Erik would never let her go to a hospital.

Christine continued to stare into the mirror, frowning at her reflection. She furrowed her brows, feeling as though something was different.

Another image began to appear in the mirror.

His pained-filled eyes stared right into hers. A sad, pitiful smile barely appeared on his lips.

Raoul.

Christine screamed, her eyes widening as much as they could. She pointed at Raoul, her hand shaking violently as she acknowledged the image.

The bathroom door burst open suddenly. Erik stood in the doorway, his eyes nearly as wide as Christine's. He looked at her frightened form, then followed her hand to the mirror.

All he could see was Christine's reflection.

The young girl began to cry again, salty tears running down her pale cheeks. The image of her deceased husband remained in the mirror, frozen as it stared at her.

"He's there! He's there!" she screamed, her whole body shaking now. Erik looked back at the mirror, still only seeing Christine's reflection.

"Christine, it's alright, it's just your imagination," he said quickly, going and kneeling besides the bath.

"No, he's there! He's watching me, Erik! He's upset, I've upset him!"

Erik had no choice but to get her out of the room. He couldn't let her scream and cry anymore, for if Nadir heard her from his office, he would force her to go to the hospital. Erik quickly pulled her out of the bath, not caring that she was stark naked. He carried her in his arms and rushed out of the bathroom, bringing her quickly to her own bedchamber.

Christine continued to scream and cry, her chest heaving as she gasped for air. Her mind raced nearly as fast as her heart as she pictured Raoul's face in the mirror. He had looked different this time, almost not as sad. He looked almost… happy.

The thought scared her. First he was sad, now he was happy. Next time, would he be angry? Would he even show expression at all?

She lay limp on her bed, letting Erik quickly pull a nightgown over her head. He was saying something to her, but she couldn't hear him. All she could hear were her own sobs and screams, and she could not control them anymore.

In that moment, Christine was gone. Guilt and horror had taken over, transforming the angel into the demon.

…

Erik tried everything he could to quiet her. He dressed her quickly, then tried tucking her into bed, yet she continued to fight and scream. She continued to point towards the bathroom as she would scream, hot tears cascading down her white face.

He quickly wiped her tears, trying to calm her. "Christine, do not scream like this! It's alright, I'm here, nothing's going to harm you!" he pleaded, gripping her shoulders and trying to shake her from the trance.

Nothing worked. He tried everything he could think of, but she could not calm herself down. She was petrified, frozen in an unknown fear for who knows how long.

Erik heard loud footsteps coming down the hallway and knew fate had made its decision.

Nadir appeared in the doorway, his eyes wide. He looked over at Erik, locking eyes with the masked man.

The Persian sighed and shook his head. "I tried to warn you, Erik," he said, barely loud enough for Erik to hear.

Erik had to do something. Christine's fate was in his hands now.

As he glanced at Christine's shaken form, he realized he didn't have much time to think. By now, Nadir could have already sent for a doctor or a carriage to take Christine to the hospital. He had to do something, he had to save her!

Erik buried his head in the hem of Christine's nightgown, begging God to help him bring mercy upon the poor girl.