Chapter Six

 " The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love." –Bailey

            Erik leaned against the smooth glass of the mirror and watched as recognition dawned on Christine's face. He flicked away the smoldering cigarette and crush the burning ember under the heal of his boot. She watched him in terror; for fear that he would do the same to her. With her flushed cheeks, and trembling lips, he had to admit to himself, he found her more beautiful when she was frightened.

"Surprised to see me Christine? You shouldn't be." He teased her, in his rich melodiously voice.

She dropped her music and put her hands over her ears as if to block him out. "No, it can't be. You're dead! You have to be!"

Erik turned his head and gave a small cruel chuckle. She ran at him, pounding her tiny fists on his chest in an effort to wound him.

"I killed you! Why do you still live?" she cried. He clamped her wrists in his with one fluid movement and pulled her against him. He relished in being so close to her again, feeling her pulse drum against his figures, and taking in the scent of the rose perfume she always wore.

"It would take more than a little knife wound and ripping up a copy of my music to destroy me." He said tightening his grip trying to frighten her. When she was scared, he was in control. He leaned over to her ear, strands of her hair brushing against his face. "My music lives inside me. It also lives inside you, no matter if you want to accept that or not. And that something you can never kill, my dear." He pulled away, letting his brow and nose traced down her neck and across her shoulder before looking into her eyes again. He released his grip but she did not run away. Instead she grabbed at the folds of his coat and sobbed against his shoulder.

"Why Erik? Why can't you just let me be? What have I done to deserve this?" she begged.

Her words almost moved him to tears. What have you done? He threw his arms around her and pulled hem further into the shadow out of sight, determine not to let go of her. "Christine, you have captured my heart. As long as you have that, I can never let you go, ever. You are always with me Christine, and you always will be. Your voice haunts me at night. You are in my soul, part of my being. You have my heart and because of that, I will always be with you, forever." He buried his face in her hair, feeling her shudder. "But there is something else of mine you have."

Christine looked over her shoulder to see Erik focusing on the fleeting figure of Desiree on stage and she gasped.

"No Erik, it not possible. It's not true." She said quickly

"You're lying Christine."

She looked up at him with the fear of a small child. "I don't remember. I don't know. We never..."

His eyes flashed with anger. "I remember Christine! I remember it very clearly!"

She brought her hand to her mouth. "No."

He snatched her arm and drew it next to his body. "Perhaps in your brief glimpse of your former life you forgot to recall that moment. But it happened, and from the moment I saw that girl, I knew there was something about her and once I found out that you were her mother, well it was all to easy after that. She the one who brought you to me, Christine."

She glared at him defiantly. "You will leave her out of this! Don't you dare hurt her!" she hissed.

"Hurt her? I wouldn't dream of it. In fact Christine, I believe that you are the one who hurt her the most. Giving her up for adoption so you could save your precious career, not even caring the kind of home she was raised in, not bother to tell her about her father. You're a real loving mother Christine aren't you?" he mocked

"It wasn't like that."

"Oh it wasn't. Perhaps you gave her up because you couldn't stand to raise her, knowing she was mine. You've always known that. To see her grow up and to see me again in her. It was because of all the pain it would cause you."

Christine let her head fall down; knowing what he said was true. He stilled loved her, but could not forgive the fact that she hid his daughter from him. His own daughter! The one person, who if she had known him as a child, could have loved him. A person to love that wouldn't be repulsed by him. He pulled her along side him as they walked towards the stage.

Now it was time for the truth to be known.

        Desiree scurried up the stairs to a catwalk with two other workers. They had been assigned to raised up one of the backdrops and store it back in the rafters. The backdrops were on a pulley system and it should take only a few tug of the rope to raise it off stage. She wondered how her mother's audition went. She hadn't seen Mr. Foster anywhere in the theater and guessed he must have been backstage listening. She was sure he would have signed Christine on anyway, no matter what her performance. He was so anxious to have her come to the theater; he had bugged Dessy about it every day. He seemed almost infatuated with her mom.

From her high viewpoint she looked down on the stage and saw Christine and Foster walking across stage. They must be going off to look at contracts she thought. Then Tom, one of the workers yelled at her.

"Hey Destler, quick looking around and let's get this thing done. Maybe Spangler will let us go to lunch early."

She turned and grabbed hold of her rope. "Not likely" she remarked

"Well it's to bad Foster is busy with that singer lady, otherwise we could have you talk him into letting leave, oh boss's pet." Tom jeered.

Dessy flipped him the figure and set to work.

"All right everybody! On the count of three pull!" Tom instructed.

He counted down and Dessy tugged at her rope and it almost slipped out of her hand. That rope was far too heavy. She rocked back and pulled with all her might, but moved it only a few inches. She tired again, watching the others who almost had their sides of the backdrop fully up.

"What's the matter Dess?" Tom called

"I think it stuck on something. I keep pulling but nothing coming up."

"Hold on, let me finish tying down mine and me and Lamar will come fix it."

Dessy continued to pull at the rope until she saw a glimpse of something handing on the side of the backdrop by another rope. She pulled again with all her might to see what it was, and almost dropped the rope when it came into view.

It was a corpse. Still dripping with blood all over its body hanging by the neck. Veins and vessels popped through the skin and Dessy gasped when she saw that the person's skin had been removed. She held fast to the rope, frozen in fear. She anted to cry out but her mouth felt like it was full of vomit.

Then the corpse snapped open it eyes and pointed a bloody figure at her. It hissed in the most awful sickening sound she had ever heard. "Deeeessssstttllleeerrrr.. You did this to me. You."

Dessy felt her breath fly out of her as if she had been struck in the chest. She felt dizzy and she stumbled backwards. In the distance she could her Tom's faint screaming "Dessy, look out!" as the blood rang in her ears. She lost her footing on the catwalk, dropped the rope and fell backward, down to the stage below.

Erik marched Christine across the stage intent on finding Desiree immediately. He kept her locked in his grip. "It's over now Christine." He whispered in her ear. "Just keep walking as if nothing is happening."

Suddenly he heard a scream from above and he and Christine glanced up. Erik could see a body falling toward the stage. He recognized instantly the gray sweatpants, the white tank top and the flowing brown hair.

It was Desiree.

He flew from Christine's side and ran toward Desiree's falling form. If she hit the stage at the speed she was plummeting at, would kill her instantly and he knew it. He stood under her, his supernatural speed allowed him to reach her before gravity would. Christine rushed beside him, and screamed seeing her daughter. Erik raised his arms to catch her. Dessy's body shifted in the air and then slammed into him. He held her body tightly against him. This child was the only salvation he could ever have. The force of the fall made him, shudder and lose his footing. The backdrop above them came thundering down, crashing about the stage, and missing Christine by centimeters. Erik stumbled backwards into the mirror. Christine rushed to grab his coat and pulling up, knowing all to well what would happen if they hit the mirrors. But it was too late and was dragged along with them.

Erik holding Desiree, and Christine trying to reach them shattered, the glass and sent them hurdling backwards in time.