Erik's POV

I walked to my room, stripping my shirt to gain access to my wounded shoulder. I went through my luggage, searching for something to stitch my gash up with. Just then, a knock occurred at the door… Who could that be? The theater was closed and I was the only one with a key. Curious, I pressed a towel against my bleeding shoulder and walked to the door, opening it to find Lana standing there. She gasped at first, and I raised my hand to find that my mask was missing. I had others, it wasn't important. Her frightened face soon faded, leaving her with a concerned expression.

"Erik, what happened to you?"

"Why are you here?"

"I saw what happened to you in the alley."

"Glad, now leave me be."

I tried slamming the door in her face, when she blocked it with her foot.

"Erik, please, you need help."

When she looked at me again and hinted no fear within her eyes, I nodded and let her in. Lana entered and slowly closed the door behind her, examining every square inch of my room.

"It's nice…" she mewed, following me to the windowsill. I there, took a seat and continued pressing the cloth against my shoulder. Lana slowly approached me and sat down on the same windowsill, looking my hideous face in the eyes.

"What happened to you?" she asked, her voice a whisper.

"I was born like this, deformed at birth."

I didn't like telling anyone about my business, but this woman was different, she cared, she was kind…No one had ever asked about my face before, usually, they just laughed and had their fun.

"Your eye," Lana brushed her fingers against my left eye, causing me to cringe.

"It will heal."

"I'm so sorry, Erik." She said. "You didn't deserve that."

"There are a lot of things I don't deserve, and a lot that I do. Those men beat me because they saw you speaking with me. You're supposedly their property."

"Robbie thinks that I belong to him, when in reality, I can't stand the man."

"You shouldn't be speaking with me." I said. "What if he sees you."

"No one did."

I lifted the cloth from my shoulder, only to realize that I was still bleeding.

"I'll be right back. Alberetz keeps some medical supplies downstairs."

Lana rose and left the room, returning a few moments later with a handful of stuff. She laid it all out on my bed, coming to my aid with a bottle of whisky.

"Here," she lifted the cloth and poured some of the alcohol on it, before reapplying it to my shoulder. Once more, I cringed, but Lana pressed harder.

"Is that your wife?" she asked, motioning to the framed picture of Christine I had sitting on my night table.

"Yes."

"She's beautiful. I thought your wife would be…"

"What, more like me?" I growled. "Am I not good enough to have someone as beautiful as she is?"

"I didn't say that."

"I know," I said. "It's strange, isn't it?"

She shrugged. "Not at all. Some people see life through someone's heart, not by their features."

"It was hard for her at first."

"You're a kind man, Erik."

"You hardly know me."

"I know you enough to know that you're not a terrible person."

Lana lifted the towel and began threading a needle.

"I'll stitch your wound for you."

She peeled away my shirt, gasping at the thousands of lacerations scattered around my chest.

"You poor man."

"Don't pity me. Now either stitch me up or leave."

Lana nodded and got to it, stitching my shoulder as I stared out the window. It hurt, but I had felt worse.

"Now you know why I refused to go to Coney Island. Such a place is nowhere for me, nowhere for my wife. I want a normal life, and therefore, I will give her one."

"Living up here?"

"Until I make enough money to move us out. It will have to do for now."

Lana finished up stitching my wound, handing me a clean shirt that was laying on my bed.

"Thank you, miss Philips."

"Lana, call me Lana."

"Lana," I rose from the windowsill, and sat on my bed, looking at the picture of Christine.

"You miss her…"

"Indeed," I lifted the photo in my hand, and brushed my finger over her face. "She is my world, and yet, we were forced to marry one another."

"Forced?"

I nodded. "Yes. We were arranged, I guess you could say. Friends as of now, but hopefully we can be more."

"I could never imagine being forced to marry someone I hardly know."

"We were friends for years, before we were married."

"Strange…"

"No, not strange at all. I always wanted to marry her, always wanted to love her, and yet, I have her…But we are still friends and nothing more."

"Have you kissed her yet?"

I nervously nodded.

"And what was her reaction?"

I shrugged. "I guess she liked it."

"You guess?"

"I don't know…I never really know how she feels. She smiles at me, she smiles and yet, I don't know if it's real or not. She's written me, begging for my embrace, and I feel the same."

"She likes you," Lana smiled. "I don't even know the girl and yet, I know she likes you."

I shrugged. "One could only hope."

"You have to be in pain?"

I nodded. "A little."

"Here," Lana handed me the bottle of whisky and I took a swig from it.

"Do you have any glasses?" she asked.

"I'm not sure."

Lana stood up and rummaged through my cabinets, pulling out two dusty glasses.

"Here," she took the bottle from my hand and poured the liquid into the glasses. "I'm a little thirsty myself."

"Have you been in love again since you left your husband?"

She shook her head. "I'm too afraid to get involved. What if it happened again? What if the next man abuses me just as much as my husband? I still get scared at night, scared that he'll find me."

Silence overtook us, Lana pulling something small out of her purse.

"Here, I want you to have this. You need it more than I do."

Something cold was placed into my hand, and when she moved away, I was left holding a small pistol.

"Use it for your protection, Erik." She warned. "Don't think twice about firing it. Those men do not feel any remorse for what they do, and you shouldn't have to feel threatened."

I placed the weapon on my night table and nodded. With that, Lana stood and grabbed her things.

"You're not a monster, Erik and you shouldn't have to live like one."

I stood to walk her out, approaching the door and opening it to let her out.

"I'll see you on the stage in the morning." She said.

"Thank you, for everything."

"No need to thank me, Erik. We're friends."

As she began walking down the staircase, she looked back one final time, mentioning that she would lock the theater on her way out. I approached my bed and laid down on top of the covers, staring at the ceiling as my shoulder throbbed. How much longer would I be alone? When would my angel join me? When would my life be complete again? I wasn't sure, but my spirits were instantly lifted the following morning when I woke and found a stamped letter laying on the floor. I had been dressing myself in the mirror, noticing the white envelope from out of the corner of my eye. Curious, I continued adjusting my cravat and approached the letter, picking it up to realize that this was a letter from Christine! I smiled, excited as a child as I peeled back the flap and pulled out the folded parchment.

She missed me! My angel of music missed me! Oh, how I missed her too. She was already on her way here. It would be at least another two weeks before she arrived, but I couldn't help but feel as though those two weeks would be the slowest two weeks of my life. But I wanted to do something nice for her, something that expressed my love for her. What could I do? I stood there thinking about ideas, deciding to continue thinking while I worked. I placed the letter down beside my angel's picture, knowing that I would soon read the letter ten times again before I went to bed.

I looked at myself one final time, placing my mask over my horrid face, taking notice to my black eye on my flawless side. It was sore, but what could I do? The only thing to do was let it heal on its own. I would be receiving my first pay today, and from that pay I knew I would need to go into town and purchase some food along with soap and other needed supplies. Before leaving my apartment, I placed the small pistol into the back of my trousers, feeling safer already. I went to work, walking to the tool closet that was located in the back of the theater, pulling out a hammer, nails, and a hacksaw. Mr. Alberetz explained to me that he wanted the auditorium doors fixed, and therefore, I would spend the day repairing and painting them.

Those three horrible men were already coming onstage with the rest of the actors as I approached the auditorium doors. I paid no mind to them, and thankfully, they paid no mind to me as I began working on repairing what needed to be repaired. While I was beginning to tighten the screws that were holding the door together on the left door, I heard my name being called, only to look up and see Lana coming through the right door. She was carrying a steaming cup along with a wrapped pastry.

"Morning, Erik."

My eyes moved towards the stage where Robbie and his gang of two were already looking my way.

"I realized last night when I was in your room that you didn't have anything to eat."

She placed down the two items beside where I was working.

"A cup of tea and a cheese biscuit."

"Thank you, Miss Phillips." I said in a nervous tone.

"Are you going to stand there all day and talk to that monster, Lana, or are you going to get your ass up on this stage?" Robbie shouted.

"Stick it up your ass, Robbie."

I couldn't help but smirk as Lana yelled at Robbie. This didn't solve the problem, for Robbie jumped off stage and hurried up the aisle.

"Alberetz isn't paying you to stand here and talk to the likes of him."

Robbie grabbed onto Lana's wrist tightly, causing her to yelp.

"Let me go, Robbie!"

Feeling the strength of ten men, I stood from where I was kneeling and stuck my hand around to the back of my trousers to where the small pistol was placed.

"Let her go." I growled.

"Oh, has that black eye of yours given you some confidence?"

"Let her go, boy!"

Before I had time to pull out the gun, Mr. Alberetz showed up and pulled Robbie away from the two of us.

"Get back on that stage, boy!" he growled, turning to Lana. "And as for you Miss Phillips, I suggest that you get up there as well."

Lana looked at me one last time before walking away and leaving Mr. Alberetz and I alone.

"Erik, I want to speak with you in my office."

"Yes, sir."

I followed him to his small office, where we entered and he had me sit down across from his desk.

"Erik, you've been doing a great deal of work for me these past few days. I know I can't forbid you from speaking with anyone, and I understand that, but I need to warn you about Robbie and his little gang he walks around with."

For the first time since being in his office, Mr. Alberetz looked up at me, his jaw slightly dropping when he noticed my black eye.

"Erik, did he do that to you?"

"It's nothing." I assured, covering my eye with my hand. "I had an accident is all."

"Erik, you're a good man and I'd hate to see you crumble at that bastard's feet. Stay away from him, Erik… Miss Phillips is a good woman, and I know she means well, but for your own safety, continue working here and save your money. The sooner you get your own place, the sooner you'll be safe."

"He has no right treating a woman in such a way, as if she belongs to him."

"Believe me, Erik, I've tried to help her out as much as possible, but the woman can't seem to stay away from that man. It's best to stay out of other's business around here. Mind your own, that's the way to stay safe."

"Mr. Alberetz," I looked up at the man. "I know I've only been working here a few days, but is there any chance that I could have a raise?"

"A raise?" he questioned. "Erik, I…"

I held up my hand in protest.

"Monsieur, please. Your theater is already looking ten times better than it had three days ago. I want to be able to move my wife and I someplace better. Not that the room that you've given me is not enough, because it's wonderful and very kind of you. A few cents more, that's all I'm asking. She's going to be arriving here in two weeks and I wish to do something nice for her to let her know how much I care for her."

Mr. Alberetz nodded. "You have been doing a damn good job here, Erik. I'll give you a forty cent raise"

Satisfied, I rose from where I was sitting.

"Thank you, sir. You won't regret this."

"Good, and heed my warning, Erik. If you want to keep both eyes of yours, stay away from Robbie."

I was already to the door, when Mr. Alberetz called for me again.

"Oh, Erik," I spun around to see him holding an envelope. "Here's your pay."

I took the envelope from his hands and smiled.

"Thank you, sir."

Today was going to be a good day…

Christine's POV

A few days after sending Erik his letter, Nadir escorted me to Calais where I boarded the vessel that would take me across the sea. As the ship left the port, all I could think about was finally being free from Raoul. The man had gone insane, posting flyers in every town, demanding that I be returned to him. I was not his property, and therefore, I refused to be treated in such a way. It didn't matter now, for Erik and I were married. Perhaps there wasn't any legal documentation stating our unity, but God knew what we had done, he had seen it…I would not disobey him, or betray Erik. I would live out the rest of my days as his wife, no matter if I liked it or not. But even as I laid in the small bed of my cabin, I missed him. And if I missed Erik, then surely deep down inside, I loved him.

What would New York be like? What would our new home look like? Would there be gardens and fields? Would there be buildings and lots of people? What would it smell like? Those were just a few of the many questions that pondered my mind during my long journey to New York. I hated being alone. I had asked Nadir to join me, but he refused, stating that his only home would be in Paris until he died. On the second night of my journey, the ship was met with a horrible storm, one that swayed the ship violently back and forth. Oh, I was sure the ship would capsize, but it managed to stay afloat, and after a bought with seasickness, everything was fine again.

Oh, I was never so happy to see the sun after that storm. As the ship fought through it, all I could do was lay in bed, curled up within the blankets with my eyes pressed closed and wishing that Erik was here beside me. If he was, he would have held me close and told me that everything would be ok. Most days were boring, filled with nothing but the four walls of my cabin. Yes, I could have spent hours writing Erik letters, but there was no way to get them sent out. I was stranded on this ship until we docked on Ellis Island, and only then, would my search for Erik begin. At least I had an address, but Nadir assured me that Erik would meet me at the docks. He assured me that he would know when my ship was docking. I could only hope he was right…

Erik's POV

That evening, when the theater closed, I decided to go into town and purchase some much needed food and supplies. Along with a bottle of milk, I bought a loaf of bread, a jar of grape jam and also, some medicated wash for my deformed face. Besides food, I needed to purchase a new shirt, since one of the only three that I owned had been destroyed when I was stabbed in the shoulder. I was walking home, when I passed the window of a nearby jewelry shop. I paused when I noticed a beautiful shimmer coming from one of the diamond rings. There, in the window, was a beautiful pink and silver ring, much like the one she had been wearing for Raoul back in Paris, only this one was ten times more beautiful. It screamed Christine all over, and that's when the wonderful idea came into mind. I would purchase this ring and give it to my angel to wear when she arrived in New York…Yes! I would surprise her, make her feel loved, let her know that she was everything to me, and then, after giving her the ring, our life together would begin.

So, I decided to update today becuase I had so many reviews for my last chapter. Thanks again everyone! Plus, if you are interested, please check out my first published book's facebook page. Another week to go before it's available. Check it out. Go to facebook and in the search bar, search "The Escapades of Augie Atwell." See you there!