A/N: LE GASPETH! Another update you ask? Hell ya! Because I love every single one of you like I love Aidan Turner (and hot DAMN do I love him, word of advice, go see The Hobbit if you already haven't) and I decided to give you another chapter. Thank you to my reviewers, you guys are fabulous! Today's disclaimer state-er is the amazingly beautiful Gollum, all the way from the Lord of the Rings fandom, courteously loaned to me by a shady hobo with a pickaxe.

Gollum: The Incredible Namelessssss Wonder doessssn't own the Phantom of the Opera, doessss it, Preciousss? No, it doesssn't….

Me: Leave me, I find you unattractive. To my readers; ENJOY!


Chapter Twelve: When a Prison's not a Prison

Oh shit.

Was my initial reaction.

I didn't think, for if I stopped to, Sixty or Goblin might've talked me out of it. Instead, I turned on my heel as fast as I could and sprinted out of the room, turning this way and that; frantically looking for the Phantom.

Why did he leave? Goblin asked me in my head and I smacked my forehead, jostling him out of my brain and making him leave me alone.

Not right now! I have to think! I exclaimed, pausing for the briefest of moments to assess just where I was. I was right in front of the organ, my note still sitting on the top, untouched. I grabbed it off of the large keys before Erik would ever have a chance to see it and I tucked it into my pocket for later disposal.

"Why do you care so much?" I screamed out loud and jumped six feet in the air when Shock rose from the lake, her black, torn opera dress wet, but her hair still perfect.

"Not now, Shock, I need to figure out where he's gone!" I cried and she lifted an eyebrow.

"Again, why?" I shook my head, if I let myself think about why; I'd run from the lair screaming and never look back, leaving the man who saved me to die.

"Shove off." I told her and she faked offence.

"That's a nice way to talk to someone who has an idea of where your little friend ran off to!" She exclaimed and I looked to her in surprise.

"You do?" I asked and she nodded, not saying anything more. "Well, where's he at then?!" I asked frustrated and she shrugged.

"Not here, obviously." I growled at her as she laughed at her own bad joke. She threw out her arms after saying this and allowed herself to fall back into the water; disappearing from view and fading away. I grit my teeth as I thought about where I could go to search for him when something clicked.

"Secret passageways." I thought allowed before my eyes widened. "Yes! Of course, secret passageways!" I began immediately, searching for some little crevice that would tell me just where Erik had run off to.

I ran my hands over the walls, feeling for an out-of-place something for what felt like forever. I was just about to give up when I walked past the miniature model of the theater that was set into the wall. I was dragging my hand along behind me and I gasped when a section of the wall; a brick made to look like all the others, moved in.

Slowly and silently, the wall moved away, revealing a secret passage. I didn't know if it was the right one, as Erik might've had dozens in his little world, but it would have to do. I grabbed a candle from the many on the desk and turned back to the tunnel, taking a deep breath before closing my eyes and stepping forward into the dark.

The ugly hole as it were was slimy with neglect and covered in spider's webs, most of which were still occupied, making me gag. I crept along the tunnel, watching out for any rats or ugly things and at the same time I tried not to lose my footing on the uneven cobblestones that made up the rough, thrown-together floor.

It was obvious that Erik didn't use this passageway very much, and I considered turning around when I heard it. The sound of two people talking I hushed voices. I crept around the corner slowly and found myself looking into my old room through a key-hole, with my body being shielded by a large wall.

That's how the Phantom got to my room. I thought to myself as I surveyed just who was in my old room and what they were talking about.

"And you have no idea where she could've gone, Mme. Giry?" I knew that voice! It was M. Andre!

"No Monsieur, she disappeared short after Miss Daae." I grew curious, this conversation was about me!

"Well, where could she have scampered off to?" M. Andre asked and I noticed that he had something in his hand. I craned my neck, the lamplight in the room making it hard to see as I squinted.

"Open the note, Monsieur; I am quite certain that it will tell you exactly where she has gone off to." It was then that the light reflected just enough to illuminate the sealed envelope edged in black with a red wax skull emblem holding it closed shut.

"I've received three notes in the past day, Mme. Giry. You open it; I can't stand to hear more from our resident ghost!" I heard the aging French woman sigh as she snatched the note from the grizzly manager, whose clothing quality was just as shabby, even though he was making truckloads of francs.

"Very well, Monsieur." She inhaled and began to read, actually, she began to sing.

"Dear Andre,

Miss Walters is mine now. I've rid you of that sickly loon. Keep your mourning to a low, I hear all you know? Something else, it's better to forget her or I tell you that your death will be quite soon!

-O.G"

I was slightly hurt by what Erik had to say about me, as I was not a sickly loon, and I most certainly was not his by any means or standards. I shook myself from my thoughts and concentrated on what they were saying in case it had anything to do with me and I noticed Mme. Giry looked shocked when she finished while M. Andre seemed relieved at the very best.

"Thank Heaven that we don't have to worry about that amnesia-ridden child anymore." He said with a relieved laugh while Mme. Giry glared pointy, fiery daggers at him.

"She vanished right after Miss Christine Daae. Meg said that her black pointe ballet shoes were missing, Monsieur, and the costume for Ill Muto is gone as well, as for her mirror well…" She trailed off, realizing she was rambling and that her clues didn't match up.

"Forget her, Mme Giry, she is good as dead if the Ghost has got his hands on her." M. Andre told her and she nodded, allowing herself to be led from the room. The door closed and I moved on, not wanting to be heard or discovered. I didn't want to turn back now; I wanted to see if this passage led to Erik, as he might've stopped to deliver the note.

I reached a set of stone steps, hewn right from the very cement that formed the roof of the Opera house. I briefly wondered if Erik carved them, and if he did; how long it took him and what tools he used. I didn't dwell on those kinds of thoughts for too long, as I was interrupted by another pair of voices speaking in hushed voices.

I scampered up the steps even faster, wanting to hear what was being said and I soon found it getting much, much colder. I shivered and hugged myself, making a mental note to obtain a jacket sometime soon, as my white, puffy shirt that was more than a little dirty was thinner than cheap, dollar-store paper and I was quite frozen by the time I reached the source of the two whispering voices.

One was high; musical and feminine while the other was also feminine, just not very musical.

It absolutely must be KotF and Christine. Goblin said and I giggled at out nickname for Raoul lightly. I pulled myself together and continued on until I finally came to a dead end. I didn't see how that worked and I looked all around, trying to find a pulley or wall or something that would lead me onwards. I spent six minutes looking until I saw the beam of light coming from a small, round hole right above me. Cold air poured though this little circle and I was able to make out a faint outline of a trapdoor in the candle-lit darkness.

"Ah-ha!" I exclaimed ever so quietly, standing on my tippy-toes in the low corridor to press the palms of my hands to the plank of wood and push it up. I poked my head out of the square-shaped hole that I made really, really quietly and peered out into the frozen night. It was beautiful out; lamps from the bustling street full of French people were bright enough to shine all the way up here and make the icy water-crystals that were a small part of the drifts of snow sparkle like a zillion diamonds and standing in the middle of the soft snow-fall was none other than the romantic hero we knew nothing about and the silly little girl.

By all rights, I was the same age a Christine, but I was almost seventeen, she was barely sixteen. Either way, we were close in age and although I knew even then that teenagers' were supposed to be fucking idiots no matter what time period, she was absolutely ridiculous, she was my friend, but she was ridiculous! She'd fall for the first pretty thing that fell into her lap and sang her a dumb childhood song and completely ignore those who needed to be seen; it was infuriating!

"Raoul, he will find me, he'll never stop looking!" She sounded desperate and he held onto her hands tightly, even though it was obvious that she wanted to get away.

"Christine, there is no man of which you speak!" Raoul exclaimed again for the umpteenth time and I rolled my eyes.

So much for a relationship based on mutual trust. Sixty whispered in my mind and I smirked. It was then that I looked away from the man in the tux and the little girl in the white dress and red hood. I let my eyes look all the way up to right near me and it was then that I noticed the spot of black against the dark of a stone Pegasus.

"Erik." I didn't know I'd whispered his name until he turned to look at me. I ducked down and his keen eyes failed to see me, maybe because they were glazed with unshed tears. The sight of him broke my heart a tiny bit and I found myself hard to be annoyed with him for sneaking off.

"We must go, Raoul." Christine said and it was then that I realized that Erik's cape was flapping in the light wind; making a noise she could hear.

"I shall order my carriage; we shall be free of this place." He told her in a voice that I would've fallen for if I had half a brain. Christine took the KotF's hand and led him towards the door that lead them down to the Opera house below and they were soon gone.

A splash of red against the snow caught my eye and I realized that it was a rose, a dark red rose that Erik seemed very sad she had left behind. He stepped down from the statue and knelt down beside the flower, muttering things under his breath as he crushed the poor rose in his black-gloved fist.

I pulled myself up out of the trapdoor, knowing that he'd allow himself to freeze to death out here if I let him and took a tentative step towards him. He was rocking back and forth, murmuring things, his voice cracking, he was a mess. I took another few steps and he winced, clutching his abdomen.

I was just a foot away from him when I knelt down, touching him shoulder lightly so as not to scare him. He whipped around, looking at me with anguish-filled eyes. The good half of his face was wet with his tears that had begun to turn to ice and he seemed to upset to be angry with anybody but the KotF.

"Erik will kill him, Erik will make him pay." He said to me and I nodded, humoring him. I took him by the elbow and stood him up slowly, letting him lean on my shoulder.

"Hey, Erik?" I asked when we reached the trapdoor and he looked to me silently. "When you decide to kill him, tell me okay? I want to help." And with that, I helped him into the passageway and let it slam shut behind us as I retreated back to my prison that was beginning to feel like anything but.


The song for the note is sung to the standard tune sung during the song; Notes in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, I'm sur eyou're all familiar with it.