A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while!! For some reason this chapter took me a long time to write…I have no clue why, lol. Anyway thank you to my reviewers!
This chapter starts out with some pointless little scenes with Erik, Raoul, and Meg so we can catch up with their feelings after Christine's disappearance.
Erik paced around his sitting room in absolute terror. He, Erik, was terrified. He had never felt so afraid, never. Christine had been kidnapped, or so the police said. They had proved to be no help whatsoever. They had searched high and low and found absolutely nothing.
But Erik was terrified because he felt as if there was nothing he could do. Christine could be anywhere…absolutely anywhere. He felt so helpless. Christine, the only woman he had ever loved was in terrible danger, alone and frightened, and he could do nothing.
He had barely been able to control himself these past few days. His anger had been so fierce he had been afraid that he wouldn't be able to handle it. If he had unleashed the anger he felt, all of Paris might have been dead.
Erik stopped pacing abruptly and sat down. But soon he was up again. He was racking his brain, trying to figure out what could be done. He desperately needed a plan. It frustrated him to no end that there was something that he could not figure out. He wouldn't stand for failure, especially not now.
Raoul had also taken to frustrated pacing in the last few days. He felt the same helplessness that Erik did. The police claimed to be doing everything that they could, yet had turned up nothing. People don't just disappear without a trace. Raoul was convinced that there was some clue, something that the police were simply overlooking.
He couldn't stand the ringing silence of the house. The house that had been filled with Christine's beautiful voice, just a short time ago. It had all happened so suddenly. They had moved back to Paris, their lives were getting back to normal, and then suddenly, their world had been turned upside down yet again.
Meg had not attended rehearsal for days. Her mother should have protested, but had not the heart to. Meg had taken Christine's disappearance so hard. She feared for her friend so much. She, like Raoul, was angry with the police. She accused them of not searching hard enough. There must be something!
Her suspicions still lay with the opera ghost. Her mother had told her repeatedly that this had absolutely nothing to do with the phantom. Meg had tried to believe her, but still…she couldn't quite shake the feeling, that maybe, just maybe, she was down there. Surely he wouldn't do something so foolish as to take her again…but what if he had?
It scared her.
Meg went to her mother's office and tapped lightly on the door.
"Come in," she said.
Meg stepped into the room and closed the door lightly behind her.
"Mother, about Christine…" she began. She knew her mother was so touchy about talking about the opera ghost, but she couldn't help it. "Have you plainly asked him? What if he knows where she is? He would tell you wouldn't he?" Meg's eyes looked up pleadingly into her mother's, praying that she would have an answer.
"Meg," Madame Giry said softly. "What you are feeling for Christine right now, is nothing compared to what he is."
Jean rode fast and hard towards Paris, grinning like a maniac.
'Surely this will please him! Who knows what may come of this?' he mused to himself. He imagined himself second in command, and Claude…handing him an enormous sum of money.
He spurred his horse onward. Claude would be thrilled.
Erik wandered distractedly through the passages of the opera. There was no point in doing so really; he just couldn't stand the pacing any longer. At least now he could feel like he was going somewhere.
He stopped to see where he had ended up. He hadn't been paying any attention to which direction he had gone. He was near the grand escalier. He heard an unusual amount of noise and continued towards it.
Erik looked through a small peephole and saw the people. He cursed himself for forgetting; there was a performance tonight! Of course! He watched as the finely dressed people went into the auditorium. They smiled and laughed together. Erik felt like killing the lot of them. Happy! How could they be happy? How can anyone be happy now?
He turned away seething. He had to get control of himself. When he was sure of that control he turned back, but didn't look, just listened.
Jean hurried toward the Paris opera. The man who had answered the door at Claude's home told him that Claude would be there. He should have waited for him as the man suggested, but Jean was impatient to see Claude's reaction.
He arrived not nearly as soon as he would have liked, and pushed through the now thinning crowd. He spotted Claude easily. He stood in a corner, surveying the crowd.
Jean ran up to him with an enormous grin spread across his face. Claude looked at him sharply, "What have you got to be so happy about?" he snapped.
Jean's smile did not falter a bit. "Well why wouldn't I be happy?" Jean asked, feigning innocence and digging for a specific reaction.
"Because!" Claude said, starting to get annoyed. "You know very well that Christine is missing! You know that I wanted…" Claude stopped and clenched his fists.
That was what Jean had wanted to hear. "What would you say…if I told you that I knew the exact location of Miss Christine Daae?"
Claude looked at him incredulously, "What are you talking about?"
Erik's senses pricked at the mention of Christine's name. These men were talking about her! He leaned forward and pressed his ear against the wall; so eager was he to hear more.
"What would you say…if I told you that I knew the exact location of Miss Christine Daae?"
Erik's heart skipped a beat. He was trembling now, willing the man to continue. But just as the other man began to speak and crowd of people walked passed, drowning out their voices. Erik pounded his fist against the wall in anger. But regained control. There was no point in causing a stir when there was more of the conversation to be heard.
"Fool!" he heard one of the men shout. This one seemed to be much more finely dressed. He had probably come to enjoy the opera.
The ragged man looked rather distressed at this. "I would have thought you'd be pleased Claude."
'So this man has a name,' Erik thought vaguely. But he had no time to dwell on that. They could very well reveal Christine's location at any moment.
"Pleased? You expect me to be pleased? How could you do something so foolish? And without my authorization!"
"We thought you would be thrilled about this Claude! You've been raving about that girl for over a month! Now you have her!"
Claude sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Well I guess it's too late to do anything now. What have you done with her?" Suddenly his eyes flashed and he grabbed the other man's shirt, pulling him close to his face. "Please Jean…you had better tell me she is not in Paris! The police are looking for her everywhere, you know that don't you?"
Jean carefully removed himself from Claude's grasp. "You may think me a fool Claude, but even I couldn't be that stupid," he said coldly.
"Where Jean?" Claude repeated.
"Lower Normandy, a place called Cernay."
Claude reflected on this. "Whom did you leave her with?" he demanded suddenly.
"Philippe," Jean answered promptly.
Claude seemed to let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God you left her with someone trustworthy! I was afraid you would say you had left her with Richard and you know how he is…"
Claude thought for a moment. "We're leaving. Let's go," and he started to the door with Jean in tow.
Erik stared in disbelief at their retreating backs. Christine had been kidnapped and her kidnappers were walking out the door untouched. This wasn't right. Erik felt so weak all of a sudden. He leaned against the wall and took several deep breaths to steady himself.
Then he hurried to find Madame Giry.
She was backstage watching, as he knew she would be. He walked past her and dropped a note in her hands. It was addressed to the Vicomte de Chagny. Madame Giry stared at the note then hurried towards the door to deliver the message.
Raoul started at the knock on the door of his study.
"What is it?" he asked irritably.
The butler entered cautiously. "A thousand pardons Monsieur, but there is a woman at the door. She says that is urgent she speak with you."
Raoul sighed; he was in no mood to see anyone. "Send her in."
He stood to receive his guest. He did his best to smile as Madame Giry entered the room, but before he could greet her properly she spoke. "I was asked to give this to you Monsieur," she said and handed him the noted.
Raoul stared at it for a moment in recognition, then tore it open. He read quickly.
Monsieur-I know where she is. Madame Giry will bring you to me.
"We'll leave at once," he said, not thinking about why this Erik would be requesting his assistance. He did not think about that. He could only think of Christine, and the fact that she could be safe fairly soon.
"My carriage is waiting outside," Madame Giry said and started towards the door. Soon they were speeding towards the opera house.
Erik was waiting for them in Christine's dressing room. It was set away from everything so they would have privacy. Erik was oddly calm. He walked slowly around the room, quietly fingering Christine's possessions.
But he didn't think about the significance of them. He was empty of emotion, he concentrated on one thing and one thing only, and that was rescuing Christine. No doubt there would be a death before this was accomplished. And that was exactly why he had to remain completely in control and empty of feelings. If he let rage carry him through this he could end up hurting innocent people as well, he could end up hurting Christine.
So he had emptied himself and set his mind on the task at hand. He had asked the vicomte to come with him. It really was only right to do so. The young man loved her and had the right to know what was going on. What would he say if Erik just delivered Christine to his doorstep? No doubt there would be a conflict. Besides…the vicomte could prove useful. Erik could easily handle it alone of course… Erik sighed. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea; it had seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But what was done, was done. He sat down on the small divan and waited for Raoul to make an appearance.
A/N: Haha, I'm forcing them to work together, lol. Please review!!! Thank you!!! :)