14. How Could You Forget?

Margaret was purposefully silent as Raoul and Christine led her back to her suite. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth she would spill all of the terrible secrets she had been holding inside for so long.

"Here you are," Raoul said as he opened the door to her room.

"Thank you," Margaret said quietly as she stepped inside.

Before Raoul closed the door, he turned to Christine. "Shall we retire?" he asked.

"I will join you in a moment," Christine replied. "I would like a few minutes to visit with Margaret."

"Suit yourself," Raoul said as Christine stepped inside.

After Raoul had shut the door, Christine waited a moment or two to make sure he would not overhear what she had to say.

"Margaret, I need to talk to you," Christine said quietly.

"I do not wish to speak about him," Margaret said rather sharply.

"You don't understand, Margaret… There's more that you don't know…"

"Isn't what I already know enough heartache for a lifetime? The man I love abandoned me and now he's a wanted criminal. What else do you intend to tell me about him? What other terrible secrets do I not know about? What else has he done to break my heart?"

"Erik didn't abandon you, Margaret! Not of his own will! These crimes he has committed… they are not entirely his fault!"

"There is no excuse for what he did! I don't care if he didn't want to leave… the fact is, he did! He broke his promise! He left me alone! Everything he told me was a lie! If he loved me as much as he said he did, he would never have put me through all of this!"

Christine could not contain it anymore.

"Erik doesn't remember you!"

All speech left Margaret. "I… what do you mean? How could he not remember me?"

Christine grabbed hold of Margaret's shoulders. "When Madame Giry found him, he was injured… Madame mentioned a head wound… Erik was hurt, and his injury somehow robbed him of his memories…"

Margaret sat down on her bed before her knees gave out. "You mean… he has amnesia?"

"Yes, Margaret. You see? He didn't turn his back on you! This wasn't his choice! I know he must still love you! He just can't remember!"

Margaret looked as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Then… he doesn't hate me? He still loves me?"

Christine knelt before her sister-in-law. "He still loves you… He must…"

Margaret felt tears of relief well into her eyes. "He still loves me…" Margaret raised her head. "The night of the Masquerade Ball… The man who danced with me… He had Erik's voice and Erik's eyes! He kept me away from Monsieur LaForte!"

Christine nodded, relieved to see that Margaret finally understood the truth.

"And then the night he saved me from LaForte… He held me and sang to me… He comforted me! And then… then the Phantom wrote a note to me… He told me that he wanted to protect me!"

"You see?" Christine smiled. "Some small part of him still remembers you… Deep down, he knows that he wants to take care of you… Just like he always did!"

"My Erik is alive," Margaret whispered. "He's not a bad man… And he's alive… I… I just can't believe he's forgotten me…"

Christine took her hands. "He will remember… No matter what it takes… We'll find him, and you'll help him remember…"

XxXxX

"Margaret…"

Echoes from someplace inside the Phantom's broken mind kept whispering in his ear.

"Love me…"

He didn't even try to understand anymore…

"No one but you…"

He was so tired of fighting these visions that now haunted his sleep… and even his consciousness…

"Take me…"

As he sat perched on Apollo's lyre, overlooking the city below him, he closed his eyes and breathed deep. The night air was always so refreshing.

"Erik…"

He didn't know what to do anymore… Reveal himself to Margaret, confront the source of his frustrations, and somehow force himself to not feel anything… or just leave the girl alone…

"I fear I have come too far to turn my back now," the Phantom thought. "I never wanted to feel anything for another person ever again… But now… I need her… I need to know that another person can look at me and see a man instead of a monster… I need to know how it feels to be needed… to be wanted… I need someone to love, and love me in return… And I have never been so close…"

A strange sight disturbed the Phantom from his thoughts. A carriage was pulling up to the Populaire. Strange… it was late, and there were no operas showing. Who would come at such an hour?

The Phantom's heart nearly stopped cold when he saw the figure that emerged from the carriage. He wore a police officer's uniform… but the Phantom could not mistake the proud manner in which he walked, as though he owned the world…

"LaForte… Why have you come back?"

He was after Margaret again… he had to be!

The Phantom leapt from his perch and ran back inside. He had to tell Madame Giry about this. She would alert the Vicomte and the police would get rid of that man for good!

XxXxX

The Phantom arrived on the catwalks. Below him, Madame Giry was apparently searching the auditorium for something. Whatever it was, she certainly looked worried.

The Phantom was about to call to her when another voice suddenly filled the room.

"Madame Giry?"

Madame Giry turned as the Vicomte approached her.

"Vicomte! Have you found Margaret yet?"

The Phantom immediately began to panic. "She's missing? No! That can't be! That pitiful excuse for a man will try to take her again!"

"It's alright," Raoul said. "She's in her room with Christine now…"

The Phantom and Madame Giry simultaneously sighed in relief.

"Did Christine happen to tell you what had Margaret so upset?" Raoul asked.

"Leave, you damned fool!" the Phantom thought at him. "I can't let you see me! Damn it, go! Time is of the essence! If I don't tell her to warn you soon, your precious sister will be in great peril!"

Madame Giry looked uncomfortable. "She had another nightmare about Erik Destler… I guess this one was really bad…"

Raoul sighed. "I thought she was beginning to get over that man…"

The Phantom left the pair to their conversation, feeling very frustrated. There was no time for him to waste! He would just have to stop LaForte himself…

XxXxX

Dominique LaForte had been planning this night ever since he nearly had his way with Margaret all those nights ago. It was quite helpful having a friend on the police force who was just about his own size. He had invited his friend to the hotel where he was staying and got him very drunk. He was now passed on the floor of LaForte's room and probably would not wake for several more hours.

When he was out cold, LaForte stripped him of his uniform and put it on. Now he could pass through the theatre without rousing suspicion. The other guards would assume he was one of theirs.

He planned to enter the theatre and hide somewhere until everyone else had gone to bed. He would go to Margaret's room and tell the guard there that he was relieving him. The sleepy guard would no doubt be too grateful to ask any questions. When the other guard had left, he would enter Margaret's room and sedate her with a rag soaked in chloroform, which he had brought with him. When she was out, he would sneak out with her through one of the rear exits of the theatre, which led into an alley. No one would see him take her to his carriage and put her inside. He would be long gone before the Vicomte realized what had happened. He would take her to Italy with him and force her to marry him. Eventually she would learn to obey him, or suffer his wrath. When that day came, they would sail to America, far from where the Vicomte could find her. She would not put up a fuss or alert anyone to his presence, and then he would have her for himself.

The plan was flawless, yet LaForte had one nagging concern…

He still did not know the identity of the man who had attacked him that night in Margaret's room. He was too big to be the Vicomte… too strong for Andre or Firmin or Reyer… As it was, he wasn't even sure how the stranger had entered the room, for he had shut the door after he entered and was certain that no one had opened it while he was otherwise occupied with the beauty on the bed.

Had Margaret gotten some kind of guardian? Someone to watch her at all times and ensure that no harm came to her?

Whoever he was, he would not trick Dominique LaForte again. This time he would be on his toes. He wouldn't be caught off guard. No one was going to stop him… Not now, not ever…

XxXxX

A few hours later…

Margaret had easily passed the dozing gendarme by her door to enter the auditorium of the theatre. She glanced around to make sure no one else was around and then climbed up onto the stage.

She felt bad for breaking her promise to Raoul. She knew she should have told him where she was going, but she needed to go somewhere where there would be no chance of someone interrupting her.

She just needed to think…

She had to find Erik… She had to find him soon… She was dying from being apart from him…

"You don't remember me, but I remember you… I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you, but who can decide what they dream? And dream I do…"

When she finally found him, she'd do whatever it took to help him remember her…

"I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you. I have to be with you to live, to breathe. You're taking over me…"

She knew some part of him still remembered… He cared about her, though perhaps he did not know why. After everything he'd done for her since she arrived at the Populaire, she knew that his love for her had not died.

"Have you forgotten all I know and all we had? You saw me mourning my love for you and touched my hand. I knew you loved me then…"

She just couldn't believe he had forgotten…

"I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you. I have to be with you to live, to breathe. You're taking over me."

He had forgotten their love and pursued Christine… Perhaps he had let her go because deep down he knew his heart already belonged to someone else…

"I look in the mirror and see your face if I look deep enough. So many things inside that are just like you are taking over…"

He was not an evil person… He was the same man who had loved her and wanted to marry her… She would help him see… She would help him look inside and remember who he truly was…

"I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you. I have to be with you to live, to breathe. You're taking over me."

There was no one else for her in this world… She could not just sit still and allow him to continue the way he was… She had to try…

"You're taking over me… Taking over me…"

"Oh, Erik…" she whispered. "How could you forget?"

She froze when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind… She felt hot breath on the back of her neck…