Let's get a hand shall we folks? I have updated again! Besides the continuing writers block on my part I have been mulling over what courses I should do next year. What do you think? French or Advanced Home Economics? I'm not quite sure yet. It's hard to choose. Anyway, I'm not sure how long it has been since Christine's last singing lesson so I made a rough estimate. This is why I don't agree with Mr Forsyth. Christine would have been showing in Masquerade at least if she was pregnant. *spoilers ahead* Of course, it's not like Erik would rape Christine in the first place! He just wouldn't! *spoilers end* This chapter is dedicated to Reagan as always, without her I would be nowhere. This story would be updated maybe...once a year? Anyway, give her a round of applause ladies and gentlemen.

Anyway, I don't own anything sadly...

Chapter 11 (Erik)

Damn that boy! How could he have gotten down here? After the incident with that man I had reinstalled all my old traps and designed new ones. I did not want a repeat of that experience.

Christine was still pale and looked like she was about to talk. I then realized that she had not heard the boy yet! With my acute hearing I had heard him before she had! Oh-this was the perfect opportunity!

I grabbed her wrist and lead her down the hall. I was quite shocked when she did not try to resist. I looked at her and hated what I saw in her eyes. It was utter defeat. Like she was resigned to whatever fate I had in store for her. Should I choose to take her prisoner-or God forbid hurt her, I think she would have expected it and not complain.

This tore at my heart. I could never hurt her. If she so chose to leave I would have let her, I would never imprison her-not again, not after last time.

Still, I would not let her go with that boy. He had hurt her once before and if he did so again I believe it would be the death of her. This was for her and only her. It was not my fault it benefited me as well.

I closed her room door when I guided her into it. I stood looking at the door for a moment.

Should I lock the door to keep her from coming out? Or should I leave it unlocked and allow the possibility of her coming out and seeing the boy?

The choice was killing me. I was so unsure. I knew that if I locked the door I had a chance of losing her forever. But if she came out the boy might convince her to leave with him and make her forgive him. Then she would never come back. It was confusing and quite frightening!

I must have stood at the door for a good two minutes before I made my decision. I quickly stepped away from the door before I could change my decision.

I knew that I would rather have Christine leave me because of the boy than because of me.

I blended into the shadows and stalked the boy in my own home. He kept glancing over his shoulder to see if I would approach him from behind. Did he not know? If I wanted to kill him he would be dead. Besides, I saw no reason to harm him. He had not taken Christine away, and thus far he had not wronged me besides wandering into my house.

But as he ventured further into my house I could not help but will him to wander into the torture chamber. Surely Christine could forgive one more death if it was not directly my fault? The boy would wander there on his own! That would be suicide. I would not be at fault for his foolishness.

I grinned in anticipation as the boy stood at the door to my torture chamber. I silently willed him to enter. He must have stood there for a good minute before shuddering and walking away. I cursed under my breath. I should have known that would happen. The room leaked murderous intent. So many had died in that room. Any good, sane person should have sensed it. But I still could not help but feel disappointed.

I then realized with a start that he was getting closer to Christine's room! If he got too near she might hear him and come out to see what was happening! No, I would not tolerate that.

I stepped out of the shadows and grabbed the boy. I then shoved him into the nearest room which happened to be my study. When I shoved him he fell and I towered over him. This was my preferred method of intimidating someone. When you were smaller than a person it made you feel quite frightened when they wanted to hurt you. I was very large in size and often used this to my advantage.

But the foolish boy sat there glaring up at me. Me! He was obviously not about his wits. No wonder Christine had left him! He was mad!

I very briefly contemplated taking off my mask to make him fear me. This would surely do the trick. After all, it was a monster under the mask. When I had it on I could be a perfect gentleman because no one knew about the hidden monster. I quickly discarded this thought. What if Christine wandered out of her room when I took it off? I would not subject her to that torture, not again. She was in innocent beauty who I had twisted to fit my own personality. It was sick and cruel, what I was doing to that girl. But now we had both tread the path of no return. We were irrevocably devoted to another now.

Getting back to the boy, he stood there glaring at me as I towered over him. My shadow was cloaking him in darkness. It did not look natural. This man did not belong under the cover of night, avoiding people who would laugh and ridicule him. He was meant for the day. And I hated him for it. He could give Christine all that she asked for in the light, I could not.

"What do you want from me?" The boy's voice broke my thoughts. I gave a small, menacing laugh. How dare he ask me that?

"What would you like monsieur? Need I remind you that you have wandered into Erik's house? Did you know that he does not take lightly to intruders? You are lucky to still have your life. Though that could change if you would like..."

The boy paled and looked down, breaking our gaze.

"I have just come to fetch my fiancée." He whispered. I felt my throat constrict and my heart harden at the words he uttered.

"What fiancée monsieur? I believe that you are no longer engaged!" I shot back with contempt.

"Give her back!" Was his only defence. I smirked, he thought that he could take her away from me? He was sorely mistaken!

"I'm sorry monsieur, I do not have her." What was one more lie when Christine was concerned? It certainly not the worst sin I had committed.

"Yes you do! How could you have known that she broke off our engagement if she was not down here?" He snarled, obviously trying to sound menacing but ended up sounding like a little dog.

"Well, monsieur. Besides the obvious fact that you are wearing her ring on a chain on your neck, there are many other details which I will choose not to answer." I replied. His hand automatically went to his neck and felt the chain that held Christine's former ring.

He looked at me once again.

"Well, if she's not with you who would she be with?" He asked, half desperate, half accusing. Had it not been him I would have felt pity for the man. But since it was this spoiled boy who thought he could take Christine away I felt no mercy, pity or any other emotion for him except hatred.

"Why should I know? I am not her jailer nor her lover. I do believe you know that quite well." I retorted.

"But you are her stalker. So why should I think that you do not know where she is?"

I hissed in fury. How dare this boy accuse me of stalking Christine? I had never stalk her! Never! I loved her, but I did not love her so much that I would watch her change, or any inappropriate things like that! I only watched her as she slept. She was so beautiful and innocent when she slept. All the pain, loneliness and fear disappeared when she slept.

"I do not stalk people sir. But, if you would like I could hunt you down and make sure you die a very painful death. Would you like that? No? Then I suggest you get out of my house before I am forced to remove you. And that may, or may not entail you being alive at the time." I threatened. He turned even paler and stood up. He did not turn his back to me, I suppose in fear that I would go against my warning and kill him anyhow.

I walked just behind him to make sure he exited my house properly. I made sure that he was all the way out of the opera house, and a good distance away before I returned to Christine.

She had not moved from the room. She sat on her bed, staring blankly at the walls. When I entered her gaze shifted to me and I saw emotions that I did not want to see in those eyes. Anyone else I would have enjoyed it, but with her it made my heart ache. She was afraid of something, most likely me.

"That was Raoul, wasn't it Erik?" She asked, looking at me, life returning to those blue eyes that I adored.

"Yes, it was. He wanted you to go back with him." I admitted feeling frightened. What if she wanted to go back to him? Why did I tell her that he had come?

Her eyes were overcome by fury.

"Doesn't he know when to give up? I left him. He was being an inconsiderate jerk! He would not even let me sing!" She shouted. I was stunned. He would not let her sing? Why on earth would he not let her do that? It was her God given talent! How could he deny her the thing she desired most in the world? Oh yes-I would kill him for that.

"He would not let you sing? Why?" I questioned.

"He said that I belonged to him! I knew that women were expected to please their husbands when they were married, but I cannot stand the thought of Raoul touching me like that!" She cried. I was confused. Did she not remember my confession just an hour earlier? She seemed frightened then! But I would not remind her of that.

The thing that made my blood boil was the fact that the boy claimed her as his. She was not, she was mine! In all ways except body. I claimed her mind, I claimed her soul as well as her voice.

I hesitantly ran my hands through her hair, trying to calm her down. I savoured the sensation of those silky strands running through my fingers.

"It's okay my Angel. He will not harm you. I will make sure of that." I whispered. She looked up at me with those trusting eyes that made my heart melt.

"I do believe it is time for your music lesson my dear." I said standing up abruptly trying to organize my thoughts into an appropriate manner.

She stood up as well, I took her hand and led her into the music room. I sat down at the piano and began to play the scales. She looked surprised from the sudden start but caught up quickly.

We spent two hours with the lessons, It helped us both forget our troubles. I could tell by the tone in Christine's voice that she was happy. I believe that she was remembering the time before the boy came back into her life. When I was known only was the Angel of Music.

When I knew that if we continued any longer her voice would be strained, thus causing her to lose it I stopped playing and she looked at me in confusion.

"My dear, it has been two hours. I do believe that we should stop before you strain your voice." I said.

She looked at me with shocked eyes, like she could not believe it had been that long. I became nervous as we stood in silence for a few minutes. Then I knew I had speak.

"What would you like to do mon ange?" I asked. She contemplated this for several minutes. The she spoke decisively.

"Erik...will you sing for me?" She asked. I was shocked. She had not asked me to sing for a very long time. It had been almost 6 months. (A/N Just going on a rough estimate there. I'm going from the last time they had their lessons.)

"Of course love, anything you wish." I replied. She looked eager to hear my voice and settled on a chair I had placed in the room for her.

I remembered a requiem I had composed when I was around seven and began to sing. It was fairly long and it took me a while to finish. When I looked up I was surprised to see Christine asleep in the chair. I smiled. She had been through so much in the past three weeks that she needed a good night of sleep. Without worry, without fear.

I walked over and picked her up to carry her back to the bedroom. She stirred in my arms and huddled closer to my warmth. I walked down to her room, then set her on the bed. I looked down and thought about her for a moment.

After staring at her for a moment I leaned down and set a light kiss on her forehead. She stirred and I froze. I should not have done that! She would run now, if she realized what had just happened. But she did not wake up. She just smiled and switched sides.

It was still early when Christine fell asleep so I decided to do something productive. I went to see what M. Le Vicomte was doing.

I had no doubt that he would come back to Christine. He loved her just as much as I did. And if I were him and she picked me I would do anything to get her back.

I locked all the doors that led into dangerous parts of the house. I did not want Christine injured because of my foolish mistake.

I did not know where the boy would be. I heard Christine mention something about an inn. There were many inns in Paris and I did not know where to start.

I thought about it for a moment. Would it not make sense for them to stay by the closest family that they both had? That would mean Philippe de Chagny. I had no grudge against the man personally. But if he was a part of that family then he was no doubt a complete idiot. Allowing that boy to court Christine! Ridiculous! Noble families do not marry those of humble origins. He should have stopped the ridiculous relationship from the start!

There were very few inns around the de Chagny manner. And of course the Vicomte would only take the best. So that only left one. It's name was Le inn de nuit. I found that quite ironic, He dared wander not only in my home but in an inn that held my domain's name. The inn of the night, quite ironic is it not?

It was quite easy to see what room was the boy's. It took a few rooms to get the right one but once I did I had found him, along with the chief of police. I slipped in through the shadows and listened to the conversation. It started with the chief asking questions.

"You say that he was in the room before you went out. This is correct?"

"Oui"

"How do you know he did not simply go out for a walk?"

"It was very hard for him to walk, he did not do it unless necessary."

"I see, when did you meet this man?"

"I met him two weeks ago."

"Do you know his last name, or if he had any surviving relatives?"

"He had three daughters but I do not know the surname."

"That does complicate things does it not?"

"oui."

"Do you have any suspects?"

"Yes, his name is Erik."

Now this is getting interesting...

"Does this man have a surname?"

"No."

"Where does he live?"

"Underneath the Academy de Musique."

"Underneath the Paris Opera House? I'm sorry monsieur but I find that quite doubtful."

"It's true, you might know him under a different name. He was called The Opera Ghost."

"Yes...I do believe I've heard of him. When was the last time you saw a doctor monsieur?"

"About four months ago perhaps...why?"

"I suggest you go see that one again. In psychiatrics perhaps?"

"Why would you suggest that? I have no need for that monsieur. I am quite in my right mind."

"Of course M. Le Vicomte. But you must admit, this is an unbelievable story."

"Yes, I know."

"Well then, I must be going. If there is any news I shall alert you immediately."

"Yes, thank you."

"Au revoir monsieur. Bien jour.

"Bien jour."

The man left and I stepped out of the shadows. M le Vicomte gasped as he saw me.

"Y-you." He stammered. I grinned at him. He tuned pale. It was amusing to now that I had that sort of effect on him.

"Hello, monsieur. I do believe it is time we had a chat..."

French translations-

Bien-good

jour-day

oui, yes

Au revoir-good bye

nuit-night

There's my horrible french once again, maybe I should stay in it and learn the conjugations...