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Chapter 13

3 weeks later…

Midnight

"Damian," I whispered wrapping my arms around Damian's neck. "It's after midnight! Come on, give the code a rest. You need your sleep."

Damian shook his head.

"No," he replied. "I'm not going to bed until I can figure this message out! I have to! "

"I understand," I said. "But you haven't slept or ate for three weeks! You have to take a break sooner or later."

Damian once again disinclined to my request. "Angel," he told me. "I'll be fine…I promise."

I sighed and nodded.

"Is Damian still shut up in the library?" Raoul asked the next morning.

"I'm afraid he is," I answered. "I'm worried about him Raoul. He hasn't slept nor ate in days! Do you think he'll be alright?"

Raoul placed a loving hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry Angelique." He assured me. "He'll be fine. I promise."

Just then, almost on cue, Damian came running into the room. His brown hair was in a mess, his clothes were wrinkled and his eyes were blood-shot.

"Well it's about time!" Raoul exclaimed.

"Damian!" I exclaimed "You're out of the room! What's the matter?"

"I finally figured out the note!" he cried. "After three weeks I found out what Erik wrote! He wrote in Arabic! That's why it took me some time. But I de-coded every word!" He waved the note in his hand.

"Oh Damian! I exclaimed "That's wonderful!"

"What does it say?" Raoul asked.

Damian handed me the note.

I began to read the note aloud:

If anyone can de-code this message, which I highly doubt anyone will, I have gone back to the mother wolf and twins.

O.G.

"Wolf?" I asked. "Twins? What in the world is that supposed to mean?"

Damian shrugged.

"I'm not quite sure." he replied.

"May I look?" Raoul asked.

I nodded and handed him the note. His eyes skimmed the note, but stopped when he came across something.

"Twins," he said to himself. "Wolf…wait a minute! Romulus and Remus!"

"What?" I asked confused.

"Roman mythology has it that these two were raised by wolves. And later…"

I caught on.

"Founded Rome!" I exclaimed "I remember that story! Father used to tell it to us all the time!"

"So Erik is in Rome then?" Damian asked.

I nodded.

"That's exactly were he is!" Raoul replied.

"Rome!" Damian exclaimed and turned to me. "Come Angel, we have to pack!"

"Hold on there Monsieur Destler!" I laughed. "What about the wedding? We can't leave! You're the best man!"

Damian jolted to a stop on the stairs.

"Oh…" he said rather embarrassed. "I guess we could wait after the wedding."

"Oh Christine!" I sighed seeing my friend in her wedding dress. "You look beautiful!"

Christine smiled and spun in a circle. The white fabric twirled around her. She looked like an angel.

"Merci Angel." She replied. "Thank you. You look beautiful as well."

I blushed slightly.

"Merci." I answered looking at my reflection in the mirror of my room. I did look pretty. My long ebony hair was fixed at my hair with a few ringlets left hanging down my neck. My light blue dress went perfect with my eyes. I slowly walked over to my dresser and placed the pearl necklace I had received from my brother around my neck. I let out a sigh. Both Christine and myself were ready. And nothing, not even the Phantom himself, was going to ruin her wedding.

Four days after the wedding Damian and I stood in a train station in Rome. With us were Madame Giry and Meg. Deprived of their home, they had accompanied us for propriety's sake. We had just stepped off the fast moving train that had carried us from Paris to the capital of Italy. It was a beautiful city with a history spanning over two thousand years. Even now as we gazed out of the station we could see ancient walls rising up in front of us.

Damian laughed as I stared open eyed at the huge structures.

"They are so big!" I cried. "We have nothing like them in Paris."

"We soon will," He informed me as he signaled a carriage. "I hear the commissioners of the city are planning to erect a huge tower for the World's Fair. It will be fair higher than any of these walls."

I glanced up at the ancient brick fortifications. "That is going to be a very tall tower. It will be a great designer indeed who can plan such a thing."

We were both quiet. I knew that Damian was thinking the same thoughts as me. A designer like Erik.

"All right," said Damian after a moment. "Let's get to work."

However it was not quite that simple. After three weeks of searching we had not unearthed a single clue. We visited every prominent place in Rome, any building that Erik might find worthy of his presence. The Coliseum, St. Peters, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, Hadrian's Tomb, and the ruins of the Roman Forum. But there was no sign of our elusive phantom. Madame Giry and Meg enjoyed the holiday, taking in the famous sites with great delight. But Damian and I were exhausted from peering into corners and getting permission to enter the roped off areas.

Besides, Damian was also terrified for my safety. And I'm not just talking about the busy traffic and the narrow streets. He would always be turning around, looking for that masked face. He feared that Erik would take revenge on me for my brother's "crime." More than once I saw his hand go to the concealed pistol in his jacket. Truly he kept both our nerves on edge.

One Sunday afternoon, after attending a service in St. Peter's (and searching there once again for Erik) Damian and I collapsed wearily in the Piazza Navonna. It was a warm day, so we allowed ourselves the luxury of some cool Italian gelato. It rivaled any ice cream I had ever tasted in Paris. As we reclined in the shade of a canopied table, we looked over a map of Rome.

"So," I sighed. "Where do we go now?"

Damian shook his head. "I don't know, Angel. We've gone every place I know."

I dipped my spoon back into the smooth gelato. "Could he have left Rome so soon?"

"I doubt it," Damian sighed. "More likely he is located someplace outside the city walls."

"Outside the city walls?" A little old man interrupted from behind us. Damian jumped slighted in his chair. I smiled and laid my hand on his arm to steady him. The man continued. "Are you sightseers, sir? I happen to know all the places worth seeing, in Rome and out!"

I raised my eyes and looked at my companion. "Anything in particular?" I asked.

"Ah, now," The man saw he had our interest. "My information has it's price on it, you know!"

Damian frowned. "Tell us what you know and then I will see if it is worth paying for. I know this city very well myself."

"Ah, do you, sir? Even what lies beyond the city limits?"

"Well I do not," I put in, impatient of Damian's delay. "Is there anything worth seeing?" I pulled a gold coin from my purse and held it in front of him, yet still out of his reach.

His eyes fastened on the glittering piece. "There are the cemeteries, miss. But it's no place for a lady like yourself. But signor here might find it interesting."

"The catacombs, eh?" Damian nodded. I could see this advice had jostled his memory of something. "Thank you." He took the coin from me and gave it to the man. "You have your money, now go."

The stranger's face fell. I could tell he hadn't accomplished all he had meant to. But he saw the look in my protector's eyes and quickly scrabbled off. Damian finally let his arm relax. "Check your purse."

"What?" I looked at him blankly.

"Do it."

I bent down and pulled out my bag.

"Is everything in it?"

I checked the contents carefully. "Yes, everything."

He sighed in relief. "You can't be too careful. Rome abounds with pickpockets."

Ah ha, I thought. So it hasn't just been the phantom you've kept an eye out for, Monsieur Destler!

"And you think that man was one?"

"He was a gypsy, and they are the most common kinds," Damian rose from the table. Then he extended his hand to help me up. "Nonetheless he has given me some important information."

I looked up at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"You know my brother's fondness for underground caverns. Where the light of day cannot expose his hideous face."

"You mean…"

"I mean the catacombs might be the very place to find him, Angel dear.

Ooooh...the catacombs! Sounds creepy!! Leave a review!