Author's Note:

I want to thank those of you who have taken time out to read this & reviewed/favorited/followed. As always please read & review. Four more chapters til the epilogue.

Chapter 26 – Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel – Lou Reed

I have a guardian angel/I keep him in my head/And when I'm afraid and alone/I call him to my bed

I have a guardian angel/Who keeps bad things from me/The only way to ruin it would be for me not to trust me/I have a guardian angel/Who's often saved my life

Through malevolent storms and crystal drums/The angel on my right/Has lifted me up and set me down/Always showing me what's right/And if my instinct proved me wrong/The angel set it right

And when I'm having nightmares/He shows me dreams instead/I have a ring/I have a dress/I have an empty shell/By the books below tea cups/I've kept a kind of hell

Panic and anxiety so often in my head/But I had a guardian angel/Who took care of me instead/The champagne cork the nightlight owl/A raven and a duck/The seed of pining parents/And your despairing love

Love and luck both having charmed lives/Can change all things about/I had a guardian angel/That's what this is all about/And when I thought I was alone/He saved my life instead

Guardian Angel

The Buquet men held her but soon they turned into Raoul and his men. Even later they disappeared and a dark shadow formed but she could see no face. Alina turned to the sound behind her. The man who stood before her wore all black almost blending into the shadows of the night but for the white mask gleaming in the moonlight. Her heart swelled at the sight of her husband. Instead of the smile she had hoped for his expression was stoic.

"My sweet Phantom, thank God you found me I do not wish to be here by myself. I thought you would never come. I'm so sorry I left but I only wanted what was best for you and our child. You don't deserve a life in darkness. You are my angel you deserve to be in the light not forced to hide. You and our child should be loved by all despite appearances. I promise to never leave you again. We can be happy here. You will be my guardian against all evil enemies."

Erik's face was like granite unmovable. He didn't say a word to her. When she tried to get closer to him he moved farther back. It didn't even matter when she began to run he was always a step behind. She finally stopped and reached out to him but stepped back into the shadows, even his mask darkened.

"Wait, Erik where are you going? Where did you go? Erik please I can't see you. ERIK?"

Alina awoke in a sweat she held the cape close to herself for a few minutes calming herself down, breathing in his fading scent. She knew she wanted to be with her husband again. She found a small cottage just outside the city it was close enough to the town to purchase anything they needed but just far away enough they could do as they pleased and Erik could walk around without his mask and feel safe from the eyes of others. It was too much for her to afford so she started taking other jobs. She began helping out in the town stables with the horses make sure they were exercised and assisting in the mating and birthing process. She also began giving dance classes in the afternoon to the young girls in town since it was harder and harder for her to dance because of her belly she often sat as she taught the class.

Now people no longer ignored her and began talking to her and treating her as a neighbor instead of a stranger. They began to welcome her into their small community and she knew it was probably thanks to Ella. Since she now had found a safe place to live and a home that she began saving up for she knew soon she would head back and look for Erik and hope that he would come with her this time. She wanted to write him a letter but the words just never seemed good enough to express herself. Plus she worried that he would be too angry with her that he wouldn't want to be with her and she hoped that he understood her reasons. She missed her angel who had saved her life in different ways.

'If I had him near he would banish the nightmares away.' She looked over at her closet where her wedding dress hung and she thought to the day she married Erik it truly was one of the happiest days of her life. She twisted her wedding ring absentmindedly and got up from the bed. She headed to the powder room to freshen up and bumped into her night table and she bent down to pick up an item that fell. It was a champagne cork, one she saved from when Erik proposed to her. She put it back and tried not to cry.

She knew she had a lot to do and lots of works to do if she wanted to save up money to purchase the cottage that needed lots of work and furniture in order to make it a home. It had some that was left over most of it was old and in need of repair. She got dressed and wrapped the cape around her expanding stomach. She placed a hand on her stomach. "Don't worry sweet child of mine soon we will be reunited with your father. I will find him and bring him here and we will live together in happiness. I know he will come to love you and accept your arrival as much as I do."

She was famished and made breakfast for Ella and herself and then headed out early to start her day. She started by going to the stables and tended to the horses. There was one in particular that she came to see was a white genet that had been shipped over from Spain for its owner. She was a beautiful horse much smaller than the working horses she was used to but she had heard that this horse was much more quick and agile. The owner wanted her to look the horse over; she seemed lethargic and did not eat much. As much as she could tell the horse was healthy and strong but something did seem off. She looked into the horse's eyes and saw a familiar far off look the same that she her self had. "You miss your friends and your home don't you girl."

The horse nuzzled her in agreement. "So do I, I miss my beloved this place just isn't a home without him." She suddenly had an idea and went to fetch Ceasére and brought him over to the mare.

"I know he may be a strange horse to you and won't make up for your lost friends but he is a good horse and is a very good listener." The mare eyed Ceasére warily but soon they sniffed at each other and seemed to like one another and Jenny started to gallop with him and seemed to regain her energy to the approval of her owner. She left them to exercise in the pen and went to see one of her clients who wanted a private consultation and reading. She went to her little corner table in the book store where a few more clients were waiting for her. She soon finished up after her last client left. After she was finished she then headed to her dance class.

"Come on girls let us start class." She snapped her fingers at one girl who was daydreaming.

"JOLIE, wake up this is not the time for daydreaming, class is about to begin get in your positions. We will start with light stretching."

She checked each girl to make sure they were stretching correctly and not hurting themselves. Then she started with the basic moves and taught them to count the beats of the music and know the basics. After she taught them to learn to feel the music in their hearts and soul and let the music flow through them. Afterwards she gave them some free time to work on their project, where they had to come up with a choreographed dance on their own of any style they wanted.

"Alright girls I want you to practice every chance you get on your project. After you perform the dances in class we will have a recital and you will do the dance for your friends and families in the town square." The girls squealed with excitement except one girl in the back who just put her head down. After class when the other girls were mostly gone she headed over to the girl in the back of the class.

"What is wrong little Sophie? Why are you not excited as the other girls are?" The little girl looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"What if I'm not good enough and the others laugh at me?" She sniffled.

"You will be good mi petite danseur this is to be your dance and as long as you do your best it will come out splendidly. The others are your friends and they will not laugh at you and you are an amazing dancer you have great potential you remind me of myself when I was your age. I too wondered if I was any good but I learned to let the music move through me and my love for dancing overcame any of my fears."

The young girl looked up at her and smiled. "You think I have potential?"

"Oh yes you have great potential, you just have to keep at it keep performing by letting your heart guide you, and you will do wonderfully."

The girl hugged her tightly and skipped out the door to her awaiting parents. Alina put everything back in order and locked up the classroom. She headed home but she had only gotten a few feet when she swore that someone was behind her. She turned and called out fearfully hoping it could be her beloved. "Erik?" She got no answer except for the cool wind that blew through the trees. She pulled the cape tighter around herself.

She kept telling herself it was just her imagination playing tricks on her but she could feel these eyes on her back watching her. She walked slowly and then quickly turned and saw a retreating shadow of a figure. She now knew that it wasn't her imagination she was in fact being followed. She turned the corner and the figure still followed so she turned the next corner and took a side street, went through a shortcut and ran as quickly as she could to get home.

A/N: So who is following Alina? Any ideas folks? Review and let me know. :-D