Happy Halloween everyone! We're heading into my favorite part of the story! :D

Chapter 12: Bump in the Night

"Do you enjoy bumping into everyone? Or is it just me?" Erik scoffed as he brushed city grime from the sleeve of his black coat.

On the ground, Christine made no answer. Erik reached down to help her up, but it was from a sense of duty rather than a place of compassion.

"You got something on your face," he teased, pointing to the smudged costume makeup streaking down her sweaty cheeks. Raoul's apartment had been hot and stuffy with so many people packed in the tight space.

"I'm a cat," Christine snapped.

"Aren't cats supposed to land on their feet instead of other people?"

"Hah. You think you're so funny." Christine rolled her eyes at the lame joke and folded her arms across her chest. "As much as I would love to stand here and fight with you, I have a train to catch." She turned with her nose in the air and rushed into the big city train station with Erik on her heels.

"You heading back to Gothenburg?" Erik asked.

"Yes."

"Well, when I was getting off my train there was another one pulling in. I think it was going out that way."

Christine pulled her phone out of her pocket as she ran. Public transportation was often late except for the rare occasions when it was right on time. But early! That was impossible! And she'd wasted precious seconds arguing with Erik. Her heart raced when the train was still on the track. She was going to make it!

"I wouldn't get on if I were you," said Erik.

"Why shouldn't I?" Christine responded breathlessly.

"Because at this hour of the night, it's likely an express which means it'll skip over all those small town stations no one gets off at anyway."

Christine stopped short. The screech of metal echoed through the empty station as the train pulled away, leaving her alone with Erik.

"I know what an express train is. Thank you very much," she snapped.

She'd just forgotten they existed, and now she made herself like a stupid country girl who couldn't figure out city public transportation. And to make matters worse, she'd done it in front of Erik. Of all people, it had to be Erik. Christine could imagine herself on a train and her arising panic when they skipped Gothenburg Station, whisking her far away to the end of the line. She shivered at the thought of being alone in a strange town with nowhere to go and no way of getting back to Gothenburg until morning. On top of that, she was still dressed as a cat!

"Need a ride?" Erik was leaning casually against the wall, relishing in Christine's distress.

"Shut up." Christine stormed off in the direction of the exit. She'd go back to Raoul's and admit her mistake. He'd let her crash on the couch for the night and then she'd take the first train back in the morning.

"I'm serious!" Erik ran to catch up with her.

"How are you going to give me a ride home? You said you took a train here."

"Yes, but I have a friend who lives a short walk away. I'm sure he'd let me borrow his car and I could bring you home."

Christine stared blankly at Erik. Why was he being...nice?

"What's the catch?" she asked cynically.

"There is no catch. I'd just hate to see a young woman walking around the city alone at night with nowhere to go, but if you have somewhere you'd rather-"

"Fine. As long as you don't mind." Christine had already embarrassed herself in front of Erik yet again. Might as well save herself from looking like a fool in front of Raoul and all her city friends too.

Christine followed Erik out of the train station. The pair trudged down the desolate streets of Persepolis. There wasn't a single soul besides the two of them, not even some late night pranksters. The deserted urban landscape was eerie in Christine's opinion, but Erik was unbothered. He'd taken late night strolls often enough. His shoulders hunched over his tall frame as he traveled onward, his hands hidden deep in the pockets of his coat. Christine hugged herself to keep out the chill of a brisk autumn night.

"So...what brings you to the city tonight?" Christine finally asked. Erik's reason obviously wasn't important since he was willing to turn around the moment he stepped off a train to drive some woman he barely liked back to Gothenburg.

"Just killing time," Erik replied.

"Oh?"

"Okay, I was escaping the trick-or-treaters," he said solemnly, eliciting a confused frown from Christine. "What about you?" he asked before she could question him further.

"I was just visiting a friend-Raoul de Chagny actually. You said you knew him, right?" Christine asked. Erik just nodded. "Darn. I should've thought to ask if he remembered you. I'm sure he'd love to reconnect." Erik just shrugged. "I'm surprised that you and I never crossed paths in college. It's such a small world."

"Yes well, Persepolis University is a big school," Erik retorted.

"Yeah, I guess...I just mean, since we both would've been in the music department, I'm surprised I never ran into you in 8:00 a.m. music theory class or something!"

"I'm surprised as well, considering you seem to run into me everywhere else."

Christine pursed her lips to stop a rashly rude reply from tumbling out of her lips. She didn't want to start a fight, but wasn't going to attempt polite conversation if Erik was in no mood for talking. She should have known. Erik was never in a mood for talking.

"So this de Chagny fellow…" Erik began offhandedly, "is he like...a boyfriend of yours or something?"

Christine was taken aback. What had given him that idea?

"Well, he's a boy...and he's my friend." She looked at Erik suspiciously from the corner of her eye. If Erik knew Raoul from college, perhaps he'd heard about her as well. She hoped he hadn't heard anything unflattering or untruthful. Christine chose her next words carefully. "Oh, well," she continued, "actually, we did date a little bit. Nothing serious. We're old friends. Childhood sweethearts one might say, but mostly just friends."

"Childhood sweethearts, eh?" Erik spoke as though the words left a bad taste in his mouth. He smirked before changing the subject. "So, Christine, why'd you move away from Persepolis?"

"I believe I told you already. Gothenburg's my hometown." Christine had forgotten about their previous conversation in the theater lobby, but the reminder resurfaced old resentments.

"Yeah, but why'd you return to your old hometown? Did you dislike the city?"

"What do you want me to say?" she snapped. "That I was just a little small town girl who couldn't tough it out in the big city? Because that's not what happened."

"No? I was just curious...jeez."

"I don't see why you care all of the sudden."

"You're right. I don't know why I care either."

Erik refocused on the sidewalk, staring at his boots as they plodded toward their destination. As they walked in silence, Christine felt an annoying pang of guilt. She shouldn't have lost her temper, especially when Erik was going above and beyond to do her a favour.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't very nice of me," she said quietly. It was such a stupid apology.

"Eh, it's fine."

"So...I take it you're not a fan of Halloween?" Christine asked. Erik had taken a several hour train ride to escape a bunch of children in costumes. The kids were asleep by now anyway. Killing time, he'd said. More like wasting time.

"Oh, I don't know." Erik shrugged. "I never really went trick-or-treating as a kid, but sometimes I did the whole Mischief Night thing. It was fun, but now I'm an adult with my own house, and I realize how annoying Halloween is. Children running around and screaming and banging on your door. And to make matters worse I forgot about the whole thing and didn't buy candy to satiate the little monsters!" Erik threw his hands in the air at the end of his rant.

Christine was about to fire back some choice words, but when she turned to face him, Erik was grinning ear to ear. His golden eyes caught the light of the streetlamps and glowed behind his mask like a flickering candle inside a jack-o-lantern, to use a Halloween-esque simile. He'd only been joking. Well, Christine could play along.

"Oh, you're about to lose your popularity with the kids big time," she teased.

"Whatever shall I do?"

Erik shook his head, chuckling. Christine smiled back at him. They'd actually exchanged a few sentences, and neither ended up angry or embarrassed. What a novel concept.

"This is the place," Erik said abruptly as he stopped in front of a brick apartment building. He took a ring of keys from his pocket, flipped through them until he found the correct one, and placed it in the lock.

"You have the key to your friend's apartment building?" Christine asked, narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"Yeah, I was crashing on his couch for a bit. I used to have the key to the apartment too, but he made me give it back," Erik grumbled. "He forgot to ask for this one though!" he added triumphantly.

"Shouldn't you...return it?"

"Nah. He knows I have it...I think." Erik shrugged. He pushed the door and held it open for Christine. She muttered a thanks and stepped inside, the warmth of the building a welcome relief from the cold night.

Erik led Christine up a staircase and down a hallway. The building was ordinary enough, but it seemed like a decent place to live if you were an honest, hard working person. The clean hallways and fresh white walls indicated it was well maintained, and the singular burnt out light in the hall was an anomaly.

Erik's friend lived at the end of the corridor on the second floor. Rather than remove his hands from his pockets, Erik lifted his foot and gave the door three hard kicks. Christine was intrigued to learn what sort of person considered Erik their friend.

"Heheh. Trick or treat!" Erik said with a wide grin when the door opened. Christine hung behind Erik, peeking around his tall frame to examine the dark skinned Middle Eastern man who'd answered the door.

"I should have known it was you making a racket out here," Nadir said in exasperation. "I thought it was actual trick-or-treaters, but I don't get many in this building." Nadir pulled a heaping bowl of candy from a table beside the doorway and offered it to Erik. "Here. Take as much as you want. No one else is coming," he wailed in disappointment.

Erik had been the first person to knock on Nadir's door all night. At this hour, the children were bound to be in bed if they weren't still excitedly counting their haul. Every year Nadir overbought candy, and every year there was too much left over.

"Don't mind if I do. Want some, Christine?" Erik stepped aside, revealing a small woman dressed as a cat. Nadir raised his eyebrows in surprise. Had Erik gone to a costume party?

"Yes, please!" Christine said sweetly as her dainty hand plucked a piece of candy from the bowl. She gave a polite thanks to Nadir before unwrapping her treat and popping it into her mouth.

"Erik, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Nadir asked, clearly amused. Christine's presence had caught him very off guard.

"Christine, this is Nadir. Nadir, Christine." Erik pointed his thumb to them as he made the rushed introductions.

"Well, come on in," Nadir said, realizing they were standing in the hallway, chatting around a bowl of candy. He looked around the corner of the doorway. Thankfully, no angry neighbors emerged from their apartments to scold him.

Nadir led the couple into his living room where a late night crime documentary was playing on the television. He set the candy bowl on his coffee table, and Erik eagerly reached for more before Nadir had time to release his hands from the dish.

"So what brings you to my place at this time of night?" Nadir inquired.

"Can I borrow your car?" Erik mumbled through a mouthful of chocolate.

"Uh...I guess." Nadir took his keys from a side table and threw them to Erik. The masked man caught them in one hand and cached them in his pocket. He pulled his candy wrappers out and extended his hand out to Christine. She stared blankly at him. Why was he offering her trash?

Erik pointed to the wrapper in her hand.

"Oh...thanks," she muttered as she handed him her wrapper. Erik walked into the kitchen to dispose of the trash.

"Thanks, Nadir," he called from the other room. "I'll bring it back first thing in the morning. What time do you leave for work?"

"6:30 in the morning."

"Ok cool." Erik calculated the time in his head. He should be able to swing it if he sped like a madman on the way back from Gothenburg.

"Erik," Christine broke in. "You'll have to leave too early in the morning, and it's already so late."

Where was this concern for Erik coming from? No, it wasn't concern. Just common sense. Erik couldn't drive all the way out to Gothenburg and turn right back around to return Nadir's car. Why didn't she just go back to Raoul's place?

"Eh, who needs sleep anyway?" Erik waved off Christine's concerns.

Nadir looked curiously at the two people in front of him. Beneath her cat makeup, Christine had an expression of worried annoyance, while Erik exuded his usual aura of nonchalance. What was Erik doing in the city at this time of night? And with a woman no less…

"You can have the car for an extra day," said Nadir.

"What!" Erik squawked. Nadir had given him the keys without complaint, now this?

"I'll take the bus to work tomorrow. Go home, get some sleep and then you can bring the car back the day after tomorrow." Nadir glanced at his watch. It was already well past midnight. "Well, I guess technically tomorrow."

"Huh...Suit yourself." Erik shrugged. "Thanks. Ready to go, Christine?"

"Yeah, I'm ready. Nice to meet you, Nadir! Thanks for the candy!" Christine offered a sweet smile. Nadir was a nice enough guy, completely unlike his friend.

"No problem. Nice to meet you as well, Christine. Please make sure Erik doesn't total my car for me, will you?"

"Of course." She giggled before joining Erik who was waiting in the doorway. He'd already opened the door and was halfway out before he realized Christine was still chatting with his friend.

"After you," Erik said as he held the door open for her. "Goodnight, Nadir." Erik glared at his friend before shutting the door behind him with a firm slam. Nadir smirked.

Don't worry, Erik. I'm not out to steal your woman.

Christine followed Erik back to the entrance of the apartment building. She paused at the door before going out. Her phone was buzzing inside her purse. Raoul was trying to call her, but she'd just missed it. She also had several texts from him.

RAOUL: CHRISTINE! DON'T GET ON THE TRAIN IT'S AN EXPRESS

Christine smirked as she sent off a reply:

CHRISTINE: Oh no too late…

Raoul's reply was instantaneous:

RAOUL: Christine no! Don't worry I'm on the way!

CHRISTINE: Hahaha I'm only joking! I ran into a guy I know and he's giving me a ride home.

RAOUL: Thank god! Don't mess with me like that!

"What's so funny?" asked Erik.

Christine looked up from her phone. "Oh it's just Raoul. He was worried I got on the train and I'm just messing with him." Christine chuckled to herself as she replaced her phone in her purse and walked out the door Erik was holding open for her.

It was a short walk down the street to the parking garage where Nadir kept his car. Erik easily found the familiar vehicle and took a seat behind the wheel while Christine slid into the passenger side. She smiled at her phone as she responded to another text from Raoul. Erik was quiet as he backed out of the parking space and sped off into the night.

I actually can't wait for the next chapter even though I already know what's going to happen haha :D I hope you all are enjoying the story! Thank you all so much for your support!