Chapter 24

"Damn it Erik!" I cursed after he took his hand away from my mouth. Even in the complete darkness I could tell how close he was to me. I had to use all my power not to say what my mind was really thinking then. "What the hell was that for?!"

"How did you know it was me?" Erik asked surprised trying to tease. Before I could say a snappy comeback he put his hand up to cut me off. "I know, you don't need to insult me."

I was still ticked off that he didn't let me speak so I snapped "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I should thank you for defending me back there." He said simply. "It is the least I could do."

"I wasn't doing you any favors."

"I know."

"So you don't have to thank me. There was no reason than to see me face to face. You know, you could have just put it in a note like you usually do and be done with it."

"But I wanted to see you." He whispered gently.

My heart started to flip-flop wildly in my chest. His voice was so sweet and so close that if I leaned just a little more I could touch him. "Quit holding my arm already freak." Oh, how I wanted to bite off my tongue that very moment for scoffing at him.

He let go but I heard him slammed his hand against the wall near my head. "What did you just say to me?"

His tone had changed to the one that he had been using recently. It was like a beeper to warn me that I am stepping over enemy's lines and I should stop before I get shot. But I couldn't stop. My head was telling me to be cautious but my mouth thought otherwise.

"You heard me!"

"Why do you have to be so difficult?"

"I could ask the same to you!" The places where he touched me still burned like hot coals were pressed on them.

I waited for him to counterattack but he never did. Instead I heard a sigh. In the darkness I heard him move around and then there was light. I looked at him holding the candle in one hand. Then I moved from his long fingers to his arm that followed his shoulder. From the middle of his chest I started to look up d toward his face. It seemed as if he hadn't seen the light of day in ages. He looked tired and worn through. There were bags under his eyes that made his normal half of his face's eye sink into his skull. He was unusually pale and thin that I could see his cheek bone. The spark in his eyes had dimmed to the point that they almost looked like they were glass.

Not only how his physical features were tired and worn out but his clothes also reflected his face. The usual formal wear that he wore was replaced by a simple dress shirt and black slacks. His white dress shirt was wrinkled and torn at the hem that made me wonder where he had been locked up to look such a state.

As I thought about that I looked behind Erik alarmed at what I saw. Walking past Erik I realized I had never seen this room before. I looked at him. "What is this place?"

He stayed silent standing in the corner of the room watching me as I wandered around.

It was a miniature library. The actual room was no larger than a small bedroom that was over flowing with books. There were three bookshelves that lined the walls of the room except for the entrance which left it looking bare and boring. All of the shelves surrounded a desk in the middle of the room like a ritual. On the desk itself it had required its own stack of books. Looking at the titles of the books most were in other languages that I couldn't read and the ones that were in English made no sense because it had the titles such as "Time and Space" or about time jumping. They looked to be research papers and theories of the space time continuum. Touching the desk I began to try and put together the puzzle pieces but I had a hard time.

"What is this place?" I asked.

My heart raced as I felt him brushed my arm accidently. I nearly jumped away but he didn't advance or seem to notice. So I tried not to act like I didn't notice. "It is where I keep all my records of research and copies of my Opera. In a way it is where someone would go to find out if I ever existed."

On the corner of the desk I noticed a quill and an ink well waiting to be picked up and used. I no began to read a page on the desk that someone had been writing just recently. Like usual it was French that was unreadable until it turned magically into English for me to read. Yet it still sounded like nonsense so I looked to Erik for an explanation.

"Why show me this?"

"To show if you ever go back home that if you find this place still looking as does right at this moment, then you will know that I was real. That all of this is not in your head." He smoothed his hair back and touched the mask as if to make sure it was there. Then he shook his head like he was correcting himself. "That is not the only reason why I am showing you this."

Then he looked at his notes one more time and nodded. Taking in a deep breath he began his explanation. "Ever since you have arrived I have been researching the idea of time travel and the different theories surrounding it; except there aren't too many. So mostly I have been making my own theories as I searched. There are at least two theories that I have heard of. One is called the Grandfather Paradox. This means there are multiple timelines interweaving at once. So if let's say you killed one of your ancestors in this timeline then you will still exist because there are two different timelines. Seeing that Christine, the brat and I do not exist in your timeline it must mean that we are from a different one since judging by your Phone your time has come to a standstill as ours keeps moving forward.

The second one is that I have thought of that consists of the space-time continuum where you are merely time jumping. So when the world is at the exactly the opposite place in space from a specific time in history then if you are to go to a place where a small let's say wormhole has formed then you travel back to the same wormhole that was formed in the exact same place in a different time. When one goes through this wormhole or portal than that person travels back into time. To travel back to their time then they must go through the same portal at the right moment when it will travel back to your time. Or it might be at the right moment and bring you back to your time a few minutes before or after you first traveled. It will feel as if a lot of time has elapsed but in the time you come from it was only minutes. For this one the reason why we are fictional is because someone covered up our very existent to be no more than characters in a book. Are you getting any of this?"

I shrugged. "Kind of." It really sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me.

Erik sighed. "In short option one has multiple timelines that follow the same path and if someone crosses to the other past and changes something then it won't affect their timeline at all. The other is simply you being in the right place at one time and traveling back to a certain time. To get back you have to again be at the right place at the right time. Now do you get it?"

"Yep, now that you dumbed it down to normal people talk." I said cheerfully. Erik rolled his eyes. He began to walk toward the door to leave. "But the one thing I don't get is how I am in Christine's body. Do you have a theory for that one yet?"

I waited patiently for Erik to answer. There was a pause after the mention of Christine's name. His hand rested on the door knob as if it was also waiting for something to happen. "I haven't gotten to that yet." The tone in his voice changed. It sounded weak and helpless. Or it was as if it didn't matter enough. "However I can no longer talk to you on such matters because there are other things that I have to get ready for the performance, my sweet. So if you could kindly leave so that everything can be perfect for the finale I would be most gracious."

Opening the door he gestured for me to take my leave. At first I was hesitant. I didn't know whether I could still trust him. When I looked into his eyes it gave me a small sliver of hope that he would stay that way. I walked over and past the frame of the door and heard him whisper. "Oh and Roxanne," I turned around and received a kiss on the cheek before he disappeared behind the door. "Goodbye."

Then where there was once a door there was none. It melted into the wall as if it was never there in the first place. I stood, with my hand on the cheek where his lips touched, there a long while staring at the wall in a daze. The wood matched so perfectly that it looked to be one continuous wall down to the next room. There wasn't even a whisper of it when I touched it. Not even a secret lever to open it.

"What are you doing Christine?"

Startled I jumped to see who owned the voice. "Marco, it's you. You are appear out of nowhere like a thief of the night."

Sometimes I noticed that characteristics of him being once a thief showed through in how he acted and appeared without any warning. Even when he talked sometimes he used this sort of accent where he sounded like he was still in the slums of Saint Michele. Marco put his hands on his hips defensively. "Are you calling me a thief?"

"No."

"Because if you are then you got it all wrong. I don't steal anymore since I got myself a job."

"It is an expression." I nodded understandingly. "You just remind me of someone."

"Who do I remind you of?"

Mentally I was checking the date the book was published and was lucky that I remembered it was published in 1862 so it was alright to mention this. "A boy from a book called Les Misérables. He was an orphan who lived on the streets and joined the June Rebellion, which was part of the French Revolution. He died in the end after trying to salvage more gunpowder off the bodies of dead soldiers. He was the bravest of all the Characters."

"What's his name?"

"Gavroche."

"And what was the book called again?"

"Les Misérables by Victor Hugo."

Marco was quiet for a minute as if trying to look through a catalogue of books in his mind. He looked like he was trying to find something that he had once lost. It wasn't until a minute of him thinking that he finally spoke with an ecstatic expression that illuminated his face. "It was part of one of my lessons. I think he read it to me once. He insisted on reading it even when I started to complain and told me that I could learn a lot from it. But that was a long time ago."

"Maybe you will read it soon yourself."

"Maybe." He seemed to relax and stuff his hands into his pockets. "So what were you doing in his study?"

"Do you know how to get in?"

"Of course I do. I am the only other person besides him to know."

"Can you show me?"

"No."

"Oh." I looked at the wall anxious to return to that little room on the opposite side of it.

"Besides you, I was the only one he trusted enough to show." Marco pouted. "Now everything that was supposed to be between the two of us is public I guess."

Marco really respects Erik like a Father. Right now I was the person who had took the secrets that the two of them shared. "I'm sorry."

"What for? If he wants to tell you all his secrets it is his choice. Actually I don't mind that is you he told. But it is nice to have at least one thing that is kept between me and him. "

"Marco can you promise me one thing then?"

"Yeah sure."

"Make sure he doesn't go on a giant killing spree any time soon."

Marco looked down. "That maybe kind of hard."

"Why?"

"Well." He started finally looking up at me breaking the bad news to me. "You see, the mood that he has been in lately has not been a pleasant one. I swear that if he hadn't been busying himself with the Opera and stuff that there might have been a corpse everyday. That's why I am thankful the managers have decided to put on the performance. Now he has been working nonstop to finish something because he has been in the basement a lot with a ton of gun powder. I sometimes think he is just goin' to blow up the place. He won't eat at all and he rarely ever sleeps now."

"Wait, repeat the last part." I told him. Then when he opened his mouth I stopped him. "Sorry I meant the part about the gun powder.'

"Like I said before, he has been bringing large crates of gunpowder to put underneath the Opera house. He was constantly moving them down there in a fury. All the while he was holding on to this key and was muttering to himself 'Roxanne… this is all for you, my Roxanne…. We'll be together soon….'…. I'm sorry but I didn't want to tell you because I thought you would be depressed and all that. You know because you like him and stuff. Hey! Why're you blushin'?"

I touched my cheeks and felt that they were on fire. It was embarrassing to think that Erik said that. I felt happier until I remembered the explosives below my feet "No reason. But Marco, make sure that during the performance you take Meg as far away as possible, do you understand me?"

"Ok I will." Marco dug into his pocket a silver pocket watched and his eyes grew wide. "Sorry but I have to run. I got to meet up with Meg. Oh, Raoul wanted to talk to you he is at the entrance waiting for you to join him for dinner."

Then the little boy left, running down the hall and around the corner. So when I was all alone again I turned to visit Raoul.

…

"You made it!" "Of course, I am sorry that I was late. I had to change my clothes into a more suitable dress for dinner. Do you like it?"

I spun around for him to see all of the dress. I had hoped that he would like the gown that I had picked out. It was a midnight blue Victorian style dress that was tight around the torso but followed just before the ground at the waist. The hairpiece that Erik had given me was arranged in my hair to help keep it out of my face so I could see everything without golden hair flying into my face..

"You look wonderful." He complimented offering his arm. I smiled and received a gentle kiss on the cheek from him.

I blushed happily taking his arm. I felt so happy.

Then when we reached the bottom of the stone steps Raoul stepped away from me. With a bow he said "Your carriage awaits you milady."

"Why thank you, good Monsieur." I giggled. It felt so nice to be able to go to dinner with him again. As he helped me get into the carriage I almost tripped on the coach's step. I heard the Driver laugh at me. I blushed, feeling humiliated. Oh, how much I hated my clumsiness and that rude driver then. When I finally got in Raoul followed like a puppy and close the door the driver drove off.

"It is a wonderful evening, is it not?" Raoul asked as he looked up at the stars.

"Yes it is." I sighed. "Too bad it can't last forever."

Raoul sensed the sadness in my voice and said softly. "I'm here, nothing will ever harm you."

I smiled and looked out at the crescent moon. For the rest of the evening my last night of freedom was spectacular. We had dinner at this extremely fancy restaurant. I had to pass on the snails that were apparently a treat by saying I have ate too many snails this past week. But when the main course came around I tried to remember my manners and eat like a lady even though I was ravenous. Between sips of wine and bites of food we talked on and on. It was luckily about mostly what I knew about France in general prior to 1890's. So we talked mostly about the revolutions that happened in the last hundred years in France. I was surprised to hear that Raoul agreed with the revolutionaries at the time and said that if he were to go back in time that he would join full heartedly along with those men. It made me like him even more.

Raoul was so much more than he seemed to be

I was content and laughing at most of his jokes as we walked to where the carriage was waiting. Then we rode back and the rude driver helped me out of the carriage after Raoul. I whispered softly to myself as I got out "This was the best date ever."

I heard the driver chuckle. I stopped and looked at his face. I was unable to see his expression because of the dark driving cap he wore that he shielded his face from. I whispered under my breath so the driver could only hear again "Erik." The driver only stared off into space unfazed by the name. Only he got back on to his seat and drove the carriage off into the night leaving Raoul and I alone.

I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself in another time. I wondered what it would have been like if the same thing happened but if the story was instead Les Misérables. It would have been another day another destiny…. A different battle to be won…. One day more….

Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom of the Opera or Les Miserables. (Since this chapter/part of last chapter was Les Mis theme then the songe will also be Les Mis. Also I don't have a favorite in Les Mis because I love it all.)

'Ow do you do? My name's (insert what you think my name should be, preferably the chosen one).
These are my stories. Here's my patch.
Not much to look at, nothing posh
Nothing that you'd call up to scratch.
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Here in the suburbs of USA
We live on crumbs of humble piety
Tough on the teeth, but what the hell!
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Sorry, had to do it. But thanks for reading this chapter. We are getting towards the end. I wanted to ask since this is Les mis theme, What is your favorite Les Mis song? And Phantom song? I also wanted to ask you what do you think might happen because I love reading what you think might be the next twist (PS you can PM me if you want to). Or who is your Favorite Character. Or you could just be boring and not review but to warn you if you don't the next chapter might take longer. I know I am sounding like I have written the best thing since (Insert amazing book title here) but I am overjoyed I have some Phans that review every single Chapter. So I love you and write to you soon.