Here's Chapter 13! So so sorry about the wait! I have from this chapter to chapter 17 done but I just keep forgetting to upload, again really sorry about the wait! Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it! Nothing else except *Disclaimer* all characters are owned by ALW & Gaston Leroux. The OC is mine.

Annabelle and Erik used the passage that they used earlier in the morning. They quickly slipped in and they party was in full swing. Annabelle stared in amazement, there were hundreds of people in colorful costumes eating, drinking, dancing, and singing. She had never seen a sight like the one she was appearing before her. Meanwhile Erik began scanning the room for Christine, but it appeared that she wasn't there yet. Erik paid his attention back to Annabelle while she was still looking around the ballroom. Erik nudged Annabelle with his shoulder and she looked at Erik. Erik then held out his arm with a smirk on his face.

"Shall we?" He asked.

"We shall." Annabelle responded.

She took Erik's open arm and the two began walking into the ballroom. As they walked in, almost everyone in the room stopped and looked at Annabelle. This didn't get by unnoticed by Erik and Annabelle. Annabelle looked around to see what they were actually looking at.

"Erik, what are they looking at?" Annabelle asked.

"They would be looking at you mon belle." Erik replied.

"What why? I'm just another person that's come to dance." Annabelle said.

"Well, everyone here has somewhat of a clue who everyone is, but you. No one knows who you are." Erik simply stated.

"Well I don't like the attention, it freaks me out."

"I guess we will have to dance to blend in then." He said with a smirk

He then held out his hand for Annabelle to take, which she did. The two walked into the crowd on the dance floor and started dancing to the music being played. Soon enough, everyone turned his or her attention back to dancing, eating, and drinking.

"Thank you." Annabelle said looking into Erik's eye's as they danced.

"What are you thanking me for?" Erik asked.

"For everything. Taking me in, protecting me on some cases, the clothes you've given me, and for letting me come here. It means a lot." Annabelle said.

"Everything a man should do when a mysterious woman magically appears in his home. But, you're welcome." Erik replied.

The two continued to dance until 9 o clock when Erik noticed Christine and Raoul walk in. He tensed up on instinct and Annabelle noticed. Annabelle not knowing what had happened began searching the ballroom but couldn't find what he was looking at.

"Erik? What's wrong?" Annabelle asked, turning Erik's attention towards her.

"She's here." Erik said, nodding his head in the direction where Christine was.

Annabelle turned her head around and sure enough saw Christine and Raoul hand in hand staring at the party before them.

"I'm going to leave now Annabelle. If she sees me, she will recognize me. Enjoy yourself, I'll be watching and remember to meet where we said we would at 10 o clock." Erik said.

"But Erik-" Annabelle started, but Erik had already torn out of her grasp and disappeared. Annabelle was left alone on the middle of the dance floor. She quickly made her way to the refreshments table to get out of sight. But Erik's absence had been noticeable to several men; little did she know that she caught the attention of one man she didn't like.

Erik watched in the shadows as several men tried to push through the crowd to get to Annabelle. Something was burning deep inside him. Jealousy? Sadness? Anxiousness? Confusion? The list went on and on as he thought about the men who would try and woo their way into Annabelle's heart.

What do these feelings mean? He wondered.

But he did feel a little better about the current situation when he remembered what Annabelle had told him that first night she was with him.

Love is for fools. I don't need a man to take care of me. I'm too independent for that.

But when he saw the face one of the men trying to make their way to her, he felt a strong sense of rage building up inside him.

Annabelle had simply gone over to get refreshment but as she was getting her drink, when she felt several pairs of eyes on her. She turned around and saw 2-3 men making their way to her, pushing several people out of the way in the process.

"Oh hell no." Annabelle said to herself.

She quickly put down her drink and made her way around the ballroom to get out of sight. But she only got halfway across the room when she felt someone lightly grab her arm. She turned around and saw a man had grabbed her. The man had dark hair with grey hairs in several places, a thick mustache that was same color as his hair, he was around the same height as her, and he had dark blue eyes. He looked to be in his early 40's late 30's. She looked at him and then his hand that was wrapped around her arm. She felt a sense of recognition but she couldn't put her finger on a name.

"Monsieur, if you would so kindly let go of my arm, that would be wonderful. I would hate to break a man's fingers at a Masquerade." Annabelle said, staring daggers into his eyes.

The man laughed; ignoring her requests he still held on to her arm.

"Mademoiselle, I come only to ask for a dance." The man said, flashing a perfect white smile.

Annabelle twisted her arm out of his grasp and then grabbed his arm and put it in a painful hold behind his back. He gasped and was soon cowering under her. She bent down and whispered into his ear.

"Monsieur, one thing you should know about me, is that I don't like to be grabbed. Another thing you should know, I'm more than capable of killing a man who doesn't listen. Grab me again and I will punch you so hard that your perfect little face and white teeth will be damaged beyond repair." She sneered

She then let go of his arm and fixed her dress. The man stood up straight again and shook his arm to regain feeling in it.

"Please, only one dance and I will leave you alone the rest of the night." The man pleaded.

Annabelle rolled her eyes and groaned loudly. She looked around and saw the other men staring at the pair.

"Fine, but only one dance. Hopefully these other men will get the message." She said.

The man held out his hand and she took it. He took her to the middle of the dance floor and the two began dancing.

"Mademoiselle, I don't think I've seen you before. I would surely remember a beautiful face as yours." He asked, flashing another smile.

"Let's just say I'm new in Paris." She said.

"Where do you come from?"

"America."

"That's where the accent comes from."

"Everyone always says that! Is it that noticeable?" She said.

The man simply laughed in return.

"I'm afraid it is." He said.

The two said nothing more until the dance was over. When the dance had ended, the man bowed and took her hand and then kissed it, his lips lingering on her hand longer than they should have been.

"Thank you for the dance Monsieur-" Annabelle started.

"De Chagny. Phillip Comte de Chagny." He interrupted her with a smug smile on his lips.

Her eyes tripled in size. She just danced with the Comte de Chagny, the man she absolutely hated in the book. No wonder he looked familiar to her, he looked exactly like the description from the book.

"Mademoiselle? May I get your name? Phillip asked.

"That is for me to know and for you to never find out." Annabelle said.

She then quickly walked away from him. She started heading to where Erik said they'd meet. Surely he saw what just happened? He would be there? Right? Annabelle looked over her shoulder several times and saw that indeed Phillip was following her. She then busted into a full on sprint. Once she got to their meeting place, Erik was nowhere to be found.

"Erik?" Annabelle whispered.

She turned her head and saw him still following her.

"Erik! Help! Where are you?" Annabelle whispered louder.

She turned her full body around to see Phillip getting closer. Suddenly, the secret passage door opened and Erik grabbed her and pulled her in. He then closed the door and put his hand over her mouth. He looked through a peephole to see Philip run up right outside the door looking for Annabelle. Soon when he couldn't find her, he went back to the party looking confused. Erik removed his hand from her mouth and backed away from her.

"Thank you. Again." Annabelle said bent over trying to catch her breath.

"Why were you dancing with the Comte?" Erik asked, raising his voice a little bit.

"I didn't know he was the Comte! I figured if I just danced with a random man, it would send the others away. Especially after I nearly broke his arm." She said, laughing at the end.

"I would have killed him if Christine wasn't there." Erik said, fuming.

"Don't worry, I wanted to. But I would prefer not to be a wanted woman in the 1800's." She replied.

The two took a minute to catch their breaths and calm down.

"Good job on the hold by the way. You were terrifying." Erik said with a proud smile.

"Thank you. I was pretty proud of myself. The look on his face was priceless. " Annabelle said.

"Are you ready to head back down?" Erik asked.

"Yeah sure, I need a fucking drink after tonight's events." Annabelle said.

The pair then started to head down to lair talking about that night's events. Once they arrived, Annabelle went straight to the kitchen to get a glass of whiskey. Meanwhile, Erik went to go change into his Red Death costume. Annabelle took her glass of whiskey into her room and went ahead and changed into a nightgown Erik had. She put her dress and shoes back into it's designated bag and put it in the closet. She then slipped on the nightgown. She then went to a mirror in the room and took out the braids in her hair.

"Did I bring a hair tie when I landed here?" Annabelle wondered.

She then went to looking around the room for a hair tie that she may or may not have brought down with her. She was just about to give up until she looked under the bed and found one.

"Ha ha, found you! You little fucker." Annabelle laughed.

She then got back up and proceeded to put her hair up into a messy bun to get her hair out of her face. Annabelle went to the bathroom and washed the makeup off of her face, which took a solid 15 minutes since she put so much on. Once she felt comfortable enough, she grabbed her whiskey and made her way to the library. She sat herself down on the couch grabbed a book.

Meanwhile, Erik was in his room putting on his Red Death costume. He carefully put on everything, as he was anxious of his arrival to the party. Once everything was in place, he went off to find Annabelle to tell her that he was leaving. He went to her room and found that she wasn't there, so he moved to the kitchen and found that she wasn't there either. He then moved on to the library and when he saw her, his breath hitched in his throat. He didn't know how she could've been more beautiful than she was at the ball. Her legs were tucked underneath her and she had her arm leaning against the arm of the couch as she was supporting her head. She had her hair bundled up on top of her head and her natural beauty was once again uncovered by makeup. She was so enthralled into her book, it almost seemed as if she could transfer into the book's world.

Annabelle soon looked up and saw Erik by the doorway.

"Hey Erik. You headed off?" She asked, talking slowly and quietly. Signaling she was tired.

"Ah yes. I should be back soon as it will only take a few minutes. I suggest that you go to bed; it's been a long day. For both of us." He said.

"Yeah yeah, I'll finish up this chapter and my whiskey and head to bed." She replied.

Erik simply nodded his head, turned around, and left the room to go make his surprise appearance at the ball.

Not long after Erik had left, Annabelle had finished her whiskey and her chapter and was about to get up to go to bed but she heard footsteps coming from the organ room. Annabelle sat back down and waited for the unexpected visitor. She had thought it was Nadir coming down to talk to both she and Erik, but someone else completely walked into the library.

"Who are you?!" The person screamed.

And that is going to end Chapter 13! I'm sure most of you probably know who this person is but don't ruin it for the people that don't! Anyway the next chapter will go into who this person is, Erik's appearance, Erik's return, and rehearsals! See you in the next one!

-S