So sorry about the wait! Here we go guys and as usual thank you so much for the reviews, it really means a lot!

There was a blistering texture against my back. It felt like sand, though it couldn't be. I was nowhere near sand, wasn't I? The tiny grains were coarse and scratchy against my skin, but I could not move. When I opened his eyes, I was immediately blinded by a searing light, making me flinch in pain. What on earth was going on? Why was there such a stifling heat? Why did my legs feel like blocks of concrete? I tried to sit up, but there was a huge weight pressing down on my chest, one that made it feel like my chest was going to cave in any second. It was getting harder to breathe. Once again, I tried to open my eyes and was surprised that the sun had been blocked out by a large figure, who's shadow swathed me in a murky darkness. It took a while for my eyes to adjust but when I figured out who it was, I squirmed in panic. The figure looked down at me and grinned maliciously, a humorous glint in his eye.

"Well, well Erik. We meet again."

"No..." I managed to choke out, my throat dry as the sand beneath me.

"This time, I'm not going to let you go." The figure sneered, looming over me as he blew up to the size of 15-foot giant, pinning me down with one chubby finger. The kohl lined eyes bore down on me and pierced my soul. "I am going to make you suffer, just like you made me."

"NO!" I screamed as the figures came crashing down into mine, the last thing I heard being a hysterical scream of laughter as the horrid jade coloured eyes bore a sudden light and burnt me even more.

Finally, my eyes opened, sweat prickling my skin as I stared up at the oh so familiar grey cavern roof of my abode. I gulped in great swallows of breath, muscles shaking with fear and fatigue, not helping the pain that dully throbbed away across my belly.

"Erik?" A timid voice questioned and my eyes swivelled to see Meg sitting there, her knees tucked up to her chin and she stared at me in slight fear.

"M-Meg…" I choked, before letting out a few wracking coughs that left me groaning in pain. Meg was quick to leave before she returned with a glass of cool water that she aided down my throat.

"Are you ok?" She asked after a while, tucking a strand of her golden hair behind her ear.

"Just… Just a nightmare." I panted, shuddering at the thought of those eyes that had imprinted themselves on my mind. She did not respond. "Where is Christine?"

"Sleeping. She was sitting here for ages until I told her to go to sleep before she collapsed with tiredness. She could barely hold herself up."

"Oh… Ok."

"Would you like me to go wake her up?" Meg questioned, making to move before I stilled her in her movements.

"No… Let her sleep." A sudden surge of pain raced through my stomach and I hissed in pain, shifting slightly so that it lessened.

"Would you like some morphine for that?"

"No… Thank you Meg, but that would be a bad idea."

"Oh… Yes, I remember you mentioning that to Nadir. If… If you don't mind me asking, why are so reluctant to take it? It would lessen your pain considerably." She asked timidly, reaching for a damp cloth to wipe the sweat away from my brow. I flinched at her touch but allowed her to do it. After all, it did feel… nice.

"The scars… I… I took morphine to lessen the pain when I was in Persia. I was constantly in agonising pain because of the wounds that were inflicted on me. I got hooked and it made me even more of a monster than I already am. I don't want to return to that, or the memories. So… I just bite through the pain instead."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's in the past. Anyway, I'm surprised your sitting here willingly when I am without my mask." Meg blanched and looked away in shame.

"I… I must admit it does frighten me. But, I've been here looking at it for a while and it's not so bad." I snorted and shook his head.

"It's ok Meg. I know I am hideous beyond belief; you don't have to be kind about it. The screams are enough to remind me of my place." Meg shrugged, pulling my jacket tighter around her shoulders, her eyes downcast.

"I… About earlier… I am so sorry, Erik. I've caused you so much pain and trouble. It's my fault your mask got knocked off."

"Meg, please. Don't worry about it. I would suffer through worse just to make sure that you wouldn't get hurt. Please… It was my honour." Her eyes sparkled with tears and she quickly rubbed them away with her sleeve.

"I thought you were going to kill him." She half laughed, though there was a seriousness in her eyes, a morbidity that made me think she knew I would have killed him if she hadn't of stopped me.

"I was close to doing so. I have no sense of self control when I am in a rage. It is the way I have been brought up, I suppose. I'm overly protective of the ones I love."

"Is… Is that why you killed Philippe De Chagny?" She probed, before looking away in horror. She couldn't believe she just asked that. My mouth dropped open, how on earth did she know about that? "Forgive me, that was impudent of me."

"How do you know about that?" I asked in a slight urgency, panicked that someone else knew about my despicable crime.

"Christine told me." She whispered sullenly, before adding, "Well she told all of us. Nadir, Mother and I."

"Why…?"

"She had her reasons. It's best if you ask her why, but you have my promise, as well as Nadir and Mother's that we will never tell a soul." I looked at her in surprise.

"Why would you protect me? I've killed a man…"

"Yes… I know. Whilst I condone your actions and honestly I think murder is one of the most despicable crimes out there, how can I turn in the man that has saved my life countless times before?"

"Meg…"

"A life for a life. I think that should make us equal now. Besides, Christine would never forgive me if I turned you in. She loves you far too much for that." She smiled slightly, brushing my brow again. I couldn't help but smile at that, my cheeks tinged with a heated blush.

"She… She really does love me, doesn't she? She wasn't joking around…" Meg gave me a stony glare.

"Christine would never joke around with such a serious matter. She's seriously in love with you, Erik. I can see it in her eyes. Besides, she can get so fierce if any one says a bad word about you…" She trailed off, lost in distant thought, perhaps from a sudden memory.

"I… That's good to know." Meg quickly looked at me with such intensity that I started at the fierce passion in her eyes.

"You love her too, right? You aren't messing her around? Because I swear on all things holy Erik, I will hurt you if you mess her around." I had to laugh at her frankness.

"Meg, I swear. I love her more than life itself. She is my heart, my soul. Without her, I am hollow." She nodded curtly and went back to wiping my brow, the only sound that rang around the cavern being the chime of the grandfather clock. It wasn't long before I slipped off in to the realm of sleep.

The feet of two men pounded against the cobbled street, both coiled inside with anger as they journeyed to the nearest tavern they could find. One had dried blood on his hands and shirt. The other was yet to question how it had got there. It wasn't long before they had opened the door of a heaving tavern filled with coarse, pig like men, gawking at the barmaid's breasts as they spilled over the top of her corset. The noise was indescribable, a hundred conversations mingled with the clanging of tankards on rough wooden tables, the great bellows of laughter that rippled through the walls as one old man fell off his chair in a drunken stupor. The bar maids rolled their eyes, bit back their tongue as acid remarks were shot their way. They buckled down to work. It was a job, after all.

"Two, and make it quick." Raoul snapped to a particularly buxom maid who gestured rudely to him once his back was turned. He steered Benoit to a corner where it wasn't so busy and sat him down, hissing to him to clean his hands as well as he possibly could. The bar maid came back over begrudgingly, slamming the tankards down so that their insides slopped over the rim and held out a pudgy, freckled hand as she glared down at him in anger. Raoul pressed some coins into her hand and waved her on her way, not in the mood to deal with creatures of the opposite sex this very moment. Benoit did not even say anything has he dipped a chunk of his cravat into the murky substance before him and rubbed away at the blood stains that speckled his hands.

"What did you do?" Raoul hissed, but Benoit merely shrugged.

"The freak deserved it. He was denying me my little… prize."

"What? I don't understand-"

"That Giry girl," Benoit interrupted nonchalantly flexing his now clean hands, though smears of blood lay here and there. "She was so… Beautiful. I had her in my grip. Then that freak came along and ruined everything." He sneered, gulping down a few swigs of his beer before crashing it down on the table.

"What freak?" Raoul queried, leaning in with interest as his friend glared fiercely into the muddy puddle of his drink.

"Your little Christine's companion. Did you know that under that mask is face that looks like a corpse?"

"Don't joke with me, Benoit. This is a serious matter."

"I am being serious." He jeered, scowling at Raoul, "His face… It was disgusting. His skin was like yellow parchment and had the texture of melting wax… No nose. Hardly any lips. Eyes like great black caverns with two eerie golden eyes that roared like a flame. He was a freak of nature, Raoul. A monster. And I slew him." He said with a satisfied grin, sipping at his drink.

"What did you just say?" Raoul whispered in horror.

"That I slew him?"

"No… About his face… That was the exact description that one of the stage hands gave me when I enquired about the Phantom…" Benoit groaned.

"Oh Raoul, you're still not chasing that old horse, are you?"

"But it makes perfect sense! He's close to Christine, cares for her, taught her to sing and-" Raoul choked out a gasp as it all came flooding together. "Christine introduced the man as her singing tutor… Not only that but he has the exact same face as the Phantom… He's real, God damn it Benoit, he is! I know it's true!"

"I guess when you put it that way… It rings true."

"Are you certain that you killed him?" Raoul asked urgently, startling his friend.

"I… Please Raoul, not so loud…."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, this whole place is crawling with vagabonds and murderers alike. Now tell me, are you certain?"

"I… Well no, he ran off before I could make certain that he was dead."

"Good." Raoul said bluntly, sipping at his drink with a cruel smile on his face.

"Remind me, how is that good?"

"Because, Benoit, I think we have just found our murderer. And I going to make him suffer just like he made my brother suffer." Raoul growled, before swigging back the bitter dregs of his ale and ordered another two. Tonight would be a merry night for them both.

I will try and update sooner, I promise! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, as usual, please leave your comments about what you liked/ disliked, I really appreciate it! Thank you again! I don't own any of the characters apart from Ben and all rights go to Gaston Leroux etc :)

Much love x