A:N: It seems that this story will be 34 chapters long. I have debated and debated on length as I had two possible ways of writing the ending (same ending just alternative ways of getting there). Some of you, I fear, will be dissatisfied but please remember what I have said all along. This is a story about Erik and Christine, NOT about the mysterious document. Answers will be given but perhaps not in the way many of you would like.
Anyway, thank you VERY much for the reviews and if I do disappoint you, I apologise.
Chapter 28
Daggers.
That's how it felt as he watched her leave the room. It felt like daggers to his heart. Worse still, she did not turn back, she did not take a moment to glance over her shoulder, she simply walked away.
Out of the door, out of the house and out of his life.
He knew he would not see her again and that thought was even more painful than he had imagined all of the times he had allowed himself to think of it.
The silence in the room was broken by a shuffling noise and Erik became acutely aware of Jason's eyes boring into him from across the other side of the room. He thought it strange that the bounty hunter had not spoken to his wife, offered her words of comfort, of reassurance.
What did Erik know anyway, he was hardly the greatest authority on how someone should respond to emotional situations?
Still, that part of the saga was over now.
He turned his attention away from the door and over to Jason, who was standing still and looking rather more pale than was probably healthy.
'Where were you supposed to take her?' Erik asked. His voice sounded peculiar in his own ears, almost strained.
Jason glanced up and then, after a moment's thought, he slumped into the chair near the fireplace. 'Smithfield,' he eventually replied, much to Erik's irritation.
'In the centre of London?'
Jason nodded.
'Why bring her here first?' Erik asked.
'The agreed drop off is tomorrow, I needed somewhere to keep her,' Jason sounded nervous and with good reason. Erik's mind was teetering on the thin wire between livid and pity, it was a bizarre blend of emotion and his discomfort only intensified when he looked at Jason.
'Did they give you an address?' Erik asked, almost through gritted teeth. He was beginning to regret not killing them all when he had the chance, if he had, then at least Christine would still be there, at least she would be with him.
He shook the thoughts away and watched as Jason dug his hand into his pocket revealing a small, yellowing scrap of paper. He passed it to Erik, without a word, and stared at his own hands.
'Skinner street,' Erik read aloud.
Jason simply nodded his head. He looked defeated and Erik found himself becoming increasingly exasperated with the younger man.
'You lied about her being pregnant,' Jason stated, out of nowhere.
Erik didn't say anything, just stared at the crest fallen man before him.
'You're a good liar,'
'I'm an excellent liar,' Erik corrected. 'But some might argue that it isn't one of my better qualities,'
Jason sighed.
'Pull yourself together,' Erik demanded, glaring at him. Jason glanced up, his dark eyes brimming with sorrow as his chest heaved with yet another tedious sigh.
'I'm sorry,' he said. 'I'm worried for my family,'
Erik managed to refrain from rolling his eyes, feeling that if Jason was so worried then perhaps, instead of letting self pity manifest, he might actually do something about it. In his experience, the more a person dwelled on something, the worse the melancholy became.
Jason looked up at him, 'Face to face with the Phantom of the Opera,' he shook his head. 'I almost didn't believe it, when it crossed my mind I almost dismissed it… but I'm right, aren't I?'
Erik shrugged his shoulders, the moniker not one he was particularly proud of anymore. 'You said you were sure earlier, why ask?'
'You were brutal, at the house,' Jason said, babbling on as if Erik cared about anything he had to say. 'I admired your story, in a way, how you evaded capture, extorted money with such ease… how you could kill with no remorse,'
Erik stared at him, verging on incensed, yet somehow controlling it. 'Do you think this is a good time to have this conversation?'
'Yes,' Jason replied with sudden steel. 'If I'm going to trust you, we should air this now,'
'We don't really have time,' Erik said and then sighed. 'But if you insist, then you're absolutely right, I am the one they call the Phantom… but that was a long time ago,'
Jason laughed. 'Barely a few years since you were last spotted in Paris, and a little over a year since you worked your last job for an underworld leader,'
'It seems an eternity,' Erik said softly.
'I have killed people, myself, you know?' Jason said, as if it actually mattered.
Erik shrugged, it didn't concern him, made not one jot of difference.
'Killed people, where necessary, but I am not really a killer,' Jason explained. 'But you are different,'
'How do you know that those people I have killed I have not killed out of necessity?' Erik asked him.
'I saw you kill the guard, remember?'
Another shrug, 'It was necessary,'
'I didn't think so,'
'Then the notion of necessity is rather too subjective for us to debate here and now. Your opinion doesn't matter to me and mine should not matter to you either,' Erik said. 'We have more important things to do, if you still want my help that is. I'm becoming tempted to see how you cope on your own… We have an agreement though,' he fixed his eyes on Jason. 'A gentleman's agreement and so we need to prepare,'
'Fine,' Jason said. 'Then what is your plan?'
'The plan is to catch them unawares, as is always my plan,' Erik replied. 'As for how we go about that, well, perhaps you should have at least some input into your son's rescue. We know where he is likely to be, don't we?'
Jason nodded.
'And we know that they are expecting you to deliver Christine to them tomorrow,' Erik continued.
'Yes,'
'Did you specify a time?'
'No,' Jason replied. 'No time,'
'Then I think the sensible approach would be to tackle this tonight,'
'I agree' Jason said, 'But I still think they will be suspecting something, they don't trust me,'
'I should certainly hope so,' Erik said. 'I would be and I am sure you would be, too. So perhaps very early in the morning is best… three or four in the morning, while it is still dark,'
'Hmm,' Jason replied. 'And even if they are expecting something, the guards will undoubtedly be tired,'
'The dark and the hour will be our weapon in this,'
'So we get there for approximately three,' Jason said.
Erik shook his head. 'I need to go before then, I need to see what we're dealing with. How big the house is, how many entrances and exits,'
'I don't think either of us should go there alone,' Jason said.
For once, Erik completely agreed.
'Perhaps neither of us should do it… I know a boy who would be willing to get a good look for a few coins,' Erik suggested, thinking of the stable-hand at the inn, his eagerness to help in exchange for money.
Jason gave a sharp nod of his head. 'Once we know what's there, we can have some idea of how we will seize the opportunity,'
Christine sat in the back of the cart in far more comfort than when she had arrived in it. Peter, her guard, was being helpful, almost thoughtful but this didn't make any difference to her. The road was bumpy and threw her from side to side, but with her hands free she could stop herself from sliding around. She propped herself up and stared at Anne, it was all that she could do to keep her mind from Erik.
Anne sat in silence and Christine was fascinated by the woman's peculiar reaction to leaving her husband. It wasn't as though she seemed pleased that her husband was staying behind but she certainly wasn't any more upset by the fact. Perhaps the truth was that all of her thoughts were occupied by her children. Still, it seemed strange.
'They will be fine,' Christine said to her, although she wasn't totally sure that she believed it herself.
Anne blinked, eye's like a frightened rabbit's.
'Jason will be fine, they will find your son,'
'Jason is a fool,' she said as tears spilled from her eyes. 'A damned fool,'
'I'm sure he didn't do this on purpose,' Christine said, surprised not only that Anne was so critical of her husband but that she herself felt compelled to defend him.
Anne glared at her. 'We've made good money, doing what he has been doing for most of his life,'
Anne fell silent but Christine said nothing, waited for Anne to continue because it was clear that there was more she wanted to say, more that needed to say.
'Not all of what he made his money from was completely legal,' Anne blurted out. 'But I accepted it, you do, don't you? It's something you do… when you have a family to look after, when you have a future to save for,'
She looked at Christine, her eyes imploring her for answers, begging for her agreement, her absolution. Years ago Christine would not have agreed, but things were so different for her now that what was once black and white was now a murky grey. Nothing seemed quite so straightforward anymore.
'We saved money,' Anne continued. 'And then things changed and I started to worry. It should never have affected our family. Never… never,' she shook her head, rubbed her eyes hard with her knuckles, almost as if she actually wanted it to hurt. 'I told him wanted him to stop and then this job came up, one that would mean he didn't have to do it again. I agreed he should do it,'
Christine assumed that the job she was referring to was her own capture.
'What does that make me?' she asked. Blinked another tear away. 'And then… he changed his mind. One night he came home and told me he had realised that it was just too dangerous. The job,'
'Finding me?' Christine asked.
Anne nodded solemnly. 'I think he told them, the people hiring him, that it was too much. That the man… the one with the mask…'
'Erik,'
'Yes,' she nodded. 'Jason told them that he was too much of a risk,'
'They didn't like that?' Christine asked, knowing it was stupid question… she already knew the answer.
Shaking her head she said, 'They took my son. Just showed up, one night, a group of them… and took him away.'
'Why didn't they come for me themselves?' Christine asked.
'Jason said it was because there was too much exposure to them,' Anne replied. 'And they aren't as good as he is anyway, he found you didn't he?'
Christine said nothing.
'He didn't want to,' she said. 'You must believe that. Jason is a strong man, tough, but he is terrified of your Erik,'
Christine raised her eyebrows, 'And that is the only reason he did not want to do the job?'
Anne looked hurt by the comment but ploughed on anyway. 'And any man that Jason is afraid of is most certainly a man to be feared...' Anne stared at her curiously. 'And yet you spend your time with him, feel no fear of him,' she shook her head.
'I used to fear him,' Christine conceded.
'He is vicious,' Anne spat, her anger now centred at Erik rather than her own husband.
Christine wanted to defend him but she knew that it was the truth. Indeed, Erik could be vicious, he could be violent and hot tempered, angry and forceful… and yet…
'He will kill Jason,' Anne said nearly frantically. 'He told his friend to kill my daughter,'
Christine stared at her in disbelief. 'You're hysterical. He won't kill Jason and we're on our way to get your daughter. Don't blame Erik for your husband's failings, he might very well be vicious but at least he is competent,'
The words were out before she could think about what she was saying and she immediately regretted them. Anne's face was a picture of pure astonishment, her jaw hung and she stared at Christine with shock etched on her face.
'We shouldn't argue with each other,' Christine said, more hastily than she would have liked. 'Paris is a long way and we are stuck with each other,'
Anne frowned. 'How can you defend him?'
Christine felt anger in the pit of her stomach, a deep anger she had never felt before. She urged it back to where it came from and said, calmly, 'You defend your husband,'
'That'd different,' Anne said. 'He is my husband, he has provided for me,'
'And yet look what has happened,' Christine snapped. 'Your husband, who provides for you, has endangered your life, lost your son and almost cost your daughter her life. Yes, he's perfect, I can see why you would want to defend him. Such a valiant man, a valiant husband,'
'What of Erik then?' Anne asked, anger in her eyes. 'You, too, were taken,'
'I am safe now,' Christine said, her confidence in that sentiment not quite all it should be, but still she continued. 'But your son is not,'
Anne's eyes were cold with rage but she contained herself, something in Christine's own expression must have told her to suppress whatever was inside her. After the horrendous things that Christine had been through, she felt stronger and tougher than ever before, Anne could throw nothing at her that she could not handle. She was convinced of that
'You two belong together,' Anne said, eyes still fixed on Christine's face.
Christine's heart thumped and Erik's face entered her mind, clear and sharp, an image that would forever remain in her memory, if not her life.
Anne shook her head in what seemed to be disapproval. 'You deserve each other,'
Christine smiled sadly. 'No, we don't,' she said, heart heavy. 'I have done nothing at all to deserve him,'
