Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 11

Not seeing Erik for days was almost torture to me, and I wondered if Erik knew he was torturing me thought this was what I deserved. Did he not care about how I was feel at all, or just so lost in his own thoughts. I know getting mad at him for not showing up was completely selfish on my part, but I didn't dwell on this to much. That's how I was though, when I wanted something, I wanted it right then and now, I didn't want to have to wait. I can't help how I am, but as the days went by, the angrier I got, then the more guilt ridden I felt for being mad in the first place. I was trying to change, but it wasn't going over very well.

Since I was feeling mad and guilty at the same time, my emotions were all over the place, and the emotion that must have shown more was the guild and sadness about not seeing Erik, and Pearl and Eleanor took it the wrong way, but I should have only guessed.

"Desiree', I know your upset about Lord Montgomery, but you will have fun tonight, besides you have to go to the ball, the managers insist upon it." Pearl said as I actually looked at her, I was wrapped in my own thoughts.

It was hard not to cringe at Kent's name, he did kidnap me after all, but of course Pearl or Eleanor didn't know that, they were still sure he was my suitor and I was depressed about his death.

"I'm not upset about Lord Montgomery's death, and I will have fun tonight, I'm looking forward to the ball." Which was half true. I couldn't imagine Erik not showing up, this was his opera house after all, and what an easy way to show himself in public, this ball was a masquerade, and everyone would be in masks. I wondered why they were holding another masquerade, don't they remember what happened the last time a masquerade was thrown?

Erik showed up and demanded they perform his Opera, and because they did the Opera house burned down, but maybe because things between Erik and the managers were much, well nicer, then maybe they were hoping Erik wouldn't show up and make a scene again, I on the other hand, was hoping he would show up, maybe not make a scene, but show up.

Since my hand had been sliced open and stitched up, I couldn't really do anything with my hair, so the twins were helping me, again, and instead of putting it all up, like they normally do, they only piled half my hair on top of my head. I had been walking around with my hair in these curler like things to help make it curly, most of the girls had the same type of curlers in their hair all day and Pearl and Eleanor were taking them out, my long hair becoming very curly. I had to admit, it looked really good that way.

The red dress that Pearl and Eleanor had made me was already on my body, my hair was the last touch, except the mask of course. It was a red silk mask that covered my face from right above my eyebrows to the top part of my upper lip. There was a string that Eleanor tied around the back of my head and it fit in perfectly with my hair, it looked like they planned it that way.

Pearl and Eleanor were already ready and I stood up up and the twins linked their arms with mine. They both had dates so would be leaving me shortly, which was fine. I kind of wished my dress wasn't so spectacular, I wanted to blend into the shadows so I could finally talk to Erik, but oh well.

The grand entrance hall was where Pearl and Eleanor me for the night, they had been giggling telling me about their dates when Pearl shushed her sister. "Desiree' you could come with us." Pearl said softly looking towards two young gentleman. I gave a smile and nodded my head.

"You two have fun, just be careful okay." I said and raised my eyebrows, I felt protective over those two girls, they were so young! The two girls let go of my arm and walked giggling towards the gentleman who were shuffling their feet.

Letting out a sigh I trudged off towards where I could already hear the soft music. My left hand was bound in a red cloth, to match my dress and I picked up the fluffy skirt around my feet and headed up the stairs until I reached a huge room where tons of people were already dancing and I stood off to the corner not really knowing what to do. I had never been to a party before. The only type of party I had gone to was when I was 17. It was New Years Eve and I had gone with my brother, sister-in-law, and her brother to a friend of theirs, but it wasn't a party, it was just an excuse to get drunk, and I did too, a mistake I would never make again.

I wasn't really sure on where I should go, so I just stood next to the entrance, well more off to the side and watched people dance. With all the masks on I had no idea who anyone was, and people passed me and waved or smile, and I just smiled back having no idea who it was doing the smiling and waving. Slowly migrating to the right I eventually bumped against a table that held refreshments, and I thought I would just get something to drink, that way I would have something in my hands, and moments after I was holding a goblet I heard a whisper in my ear and my heart jumped into my throat.

Turning around quickly I expected to see Erik right behind me, but the man behind me wasn't Erik, I could tell because he wasn't nearly as tall, but the mask he was wearing was still a bit surprising, it was very similar to the mask Erik wore normally except it didn't cover only have his face, it was his whole face.

"Would you care to dance mademoiselle?" Asked the gentleman and I was slightly taken aback, which I should be, this was a ball after all, people danced and I knew I would end up being asked. Maybe dancing would get my mind off of waiting for Erik to make his grand appearance, so I gave a slight shy smile and set my full glass down on the table, it was up for grabs again and I placed my good hand in his waiting hand and he escorted me out onto the dance floor.

This type of dancing I was good at, you just let the guy lead you and you follow, it's not that hard. So around the dance floor we moved, he was a good dancer actually and he had made me laugh in just the few minutes we danced together. When the music ended he gave me a smile. "I'm Levi Reiley." He said with another smile. He seemed pretty young, probably around my age. I wasn't sure if I had seen him around before, his voice was unfamiliar to me.

"Desiree' Boils." I said and I dropped my arms from his hands, though he seemed reluctant to do so.

"Your Desiree'?" He asked with some skepticism and I furrowed my brow.

"Yes." I said and took a hesitant step back from him.

Seeing that he was frightening me, or whatever he thought he was doing his eyes got wider and he held his hands up in defense. "I meant no harm, I just work here and I've heard your name getting thrown about, your the new seamstress correct?"

Letting out a sigh of relief I feared that he was one of Kent's people, thought I know he was dead, just the very thought of Kent coming after me frightened me. He was harmless, well I didn't know that, but he wasn't one of Kent's people. Why was I a center of topic? New people were employed here all the time, so why was I special?

"Yes, that's right, I'm one of them, what part of the opera house do you work in?" I asked as another song broke out and he opened his arms again and I picked up his hands and he started to dance with me again. This song was a bit faster, and he was gliding me around the dance floor and I had a smile on his face. "You can't turn me in if I tell you." He said with a mysterious smile and I couldn't help but let out a quick laugh.

"Okay I promise." I said and shook my head.

"I'm a backhand." I didn't know why he made a big deal about it, I worked here too. "So why did you make me promise not to tell, I work here too you know."

Shrugging his shoulders he looked around and leaned in closer to me. "Backhands shouldn't be here, were not classy enough." He said and his voice was obvious that he was mocking what he said.

"Well I'm glad your here." I said politely and a smile spread across his whole face. Maybe I had been a bit too polite, I didn't want to give him the wrong sort of impression.

"I seemed to have interrupted you getting something to drink, should I let you get back to it?" He asked and I shook my head, we were still in the middle of the dance, and I was having way to much fun with Levi at the moment.

"I'm good right now, unless your already getting tired of dancing already."

Levi quickly shook his head. "Just thought I would offer a chance for you to get away from me."

"Then let me help you out." A voice rang out and Levi turned his attention from me to someone behind me, but I didn't need to turn, I knew that voice already. Levi's jaw set into a hard line and his eyebrows scrunched together.

"I wasn't asking you!" Levi's voice rang out and I saw Erik's hand reach out and grabbed the hand that was in Levi's.

"I'll still help you out though." Erik said and walked off, carting me behind him like a little child.

We hadn't gotten a few steps away before I saw Levi run in front of Erik cutting him off in his tracks. I felt the hand that was holding mine squeeze tighter, and I was glad it was my right hand instead of my injured one.

If Erik had killed Kent on my behalf then he might kill Levi too, and he hadn't done anything wrong. "Erik! Please no." I whispered and Levi's turned to me. "Levi, it's okay. I'm sorry." I said and gave him a small smile.

Looking up I saw Erik's face set into a sneer and he brushed past Levi, managing to bump into him...men...and trot off. Glancing behind me I saw Levi standing there with a murderous look upon his face.

"Come with me." Erik hissed and I snapped my face around and followed Erik a buzzing noise inside my brain. Damn him for commanding me like that!

Working his way through the crowd of people we finally made it to a less crowded area. "I can't leave you alone for one minute Desiree'!" Erik said rounding on me dropping my hand and my jaw dropped.

"What in the hell are you talking about Erik! I've been looking for you for over a week and you are never around when I call out to you so don't even start Erik." I said and crossed my arms in front of my chest. I was actually really excited to see Erik, a huge part of me wanted to just storm away from him, but another part of me wanted to just give him a big hug. The hug was starting to win though.

"Oh never mind Erik." I said and opened my arms and hugged him and I could feel his body tense up, but I didn't care, I missed him a lot. He was so much taller than me and my arms were wrapped around his back under his arms and I could feel him moving his arms not really knowing what to do with them, he probably hasn't had contact like this in a long time.

Letting out a sigh I pulled away from Erik to really look at him. He was wearing a very nice forest green suit that felt almost like velvet, but it wasn't and his mask matched and had black etched around the edges. It looked like the same type of mask I was wearing and I wondered if that was a coincidence since a lot of masks looked alike, but nothing with Erik was coincidence. Just because Erik didn't show himself to me doesn't mean he wasn't watching me. He couldn't have made a better entrance than what he had, what a perfect line for him to step in. "How long have you been watching me? And why didn't you come out when I called you?" I asked, and tried not to make it sound like an accusation. "And what do you mean you can't leave me alone for a minute? Are you referring to Levi?"

So many questions had come streaming out of my mouth, I couldn't stop them, I was just glad Erik had decided to make his presence known again.

Holding up his hands to slow down my questions he took a deep breath. "Who said I've been watching you, and I didn't come out when you called because I didn't hear you call out to me, I've been busy, you aren't my only priority, and I mean you are always getting into trouble, don't you know who Levi Reiley is?" Erik asked his face turning hard again and he looked over my head into the crowd, I thought he might be looking for Levi.

Of course I didn't know who Levi was, we had just met. "No Erik I don't, please enlighten me." I said with sarcasm in my voice. Erik had picked up on it he turned his eyes down to mine and scowled.

"Your friend has been convicted though never charged of several rapes. Mostly the ballet rats, I believe he's even had a run in with the twins you hang around with so much." Erik spat out. "And you go and dance with him. Honestly woman." He said shaking his head. "This is why I can't leave you for a moment.

My eyes were as big as saucers. Levi had seemed so nice, but why would Erik lie? That was one thing I just couldn't stand, a rapist. I didn't really know what to say. I felt sick to my stomach that I had been so nice to Levi now, but would I judge him based off what Erik had told me? I shouldn't doubt him, it still bothered me to jump to conclusions though.

"You had better be thankful that you have me around, you could have been his next victim."

Speaking of victim's I wanted...no I needed to talk to Erik about Kent still. "Erik what happened to Kent, I heard about his murder." I said my arms crossing again. "I said I didn't want you to kill him, he didn't deserve to die on my behalf." I spit out.

Keeping a cool head he just continued to look at me and when he spoke it was in the same coolness it had been moments ago. "Murder, I believe it was deemed as a suicide."

I let out a sigh. "Erik I have a right to know if someone was killed because of me."

"Death is a frightful thing and woman don't need to know about such things, especially someone as delicate as you. Besides, only you say it was murder."

Erik was right about one thing, death is a frightful thing. "Erik you have no idea about the death I've seen." I spat getting angry all over again.

The tone of my voice obviously took Erik off guard because his face changed from his cool stance to confusion. "You've seen death?"

I scowled at Erik. "Yes, my daughter passed away when she was two months old."

Sorrow was the new look on his face and he bowed his head. "I didn't murder Lord Montgomery, it was just an unfortunate incident. There was a note with the body if that helped, it said he killed himself because his fiancee was taken from him and he no longer wished to live."

So either way it seemed that Kent's death was falling on my shoulders. I couldn't tell if Erik was being truthful about his death or not, I couldn't see his eyes for he was looking down. "Please Erik, I should get to know the truth."

Erik tilted his head up and opened his mouth like he was going to talk, but nothing came out.

"Desiree'!" I heard a girl call out and I turned to see Pearl, I could tell because of the color dress, and Eleanor right behind her with their dates. "Oh you have a date. Sorry." Pearl said and grinned. Taking a step forward I got closer to Pearl and Eleanor. Had one of them really been raped by Levi? I grabbed Pearl around the neck and hugged her, and moved quickly to Eleanor, and they both seemed at a loss for words.

"I should probably get back." I said and turned back to Erik with tears in my eyes. "Please don't leave me alone, I don't want to get asked by another guy to dance."

"Does that include me?" Erik asked and my eyebrows shot up.

Exciting times! You can tell me how evil I am if you think I should haven't left off on that note, but I love being evil so :P haha. Thank you to everyone who did review my last chapter, I hope you like this one better, and if you have questions feel free to ask them I'll answer them as best as I can, without giving to much away, that wouldn't be fun now would it? I'm still debating on where to go for the next chapter, but either idea is really good, which is why I'm having so many issues deciding on which way to go. Please review and let me know what you think so far!

Desiree'