AUTHORS NOTE~ Thank you thank you THANK YOU for reviews!!!! It makes me so so happy. In any case, I forget adding disclaimers so I figure I will do this one.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Erik. No one does. I do not own ALW Musical. But I have…::counts pocket change:: 48 cents! And some pocket lint to boot! I will pay for the music! PLEASE?!!!!!!!

He's There, The Phantom of the Opera.

"Carley?!….Carley?!!!!" Erin jumped in. Suddenly a monster of the depths jumped up and its long hair draped over it.

"Come on Erin." Carley said with a laugh, and dragged her under. Erin popped up a second later Her clothes were thoroughly soaked. Erin sputtered angrily.

"Carley! Why…you! I…. GRR! I am soaking wet now!" Carley grinned innocently.

"Oh? I hadn't noticed. Probably because I am soaking too!" Erin looked at Carley and tried to restrain a snicker. She looked awful like something the cat dragged in.

"Well, lets get swimming!" They both waded into the dark mysterious depths and were soon out of site.

@--}-}----

          Erik shifted his weight on the boat, and pulled it up to the shore. A voice echoed through the emptiness and he looked around. He brushed it off and numbly tied the boat to the shore. He laughed bitterly. He wouldn't ever use it again, so what was the point. The mob was coming. His death was inevitable. He may as well sit there and wait for them. He could still hear Christine's sweet voice. She had come along so far. He wished so to hear her once more. To be a normal man… with a normal wife. He would miss her so. Christine… His love. He turned to go to his house on the lake. Goodbye Christine.  He took a step forward and a strange splashing and gasping made him turn.

@--}-}----

The swim was long and exhausting. Carley and Erin finally touched shore. Sputtering and gasping they stumbled on shore. Carley picked  up Erin to a standing  position and they both turned.  Carley held back a cry. Erin stood in astonishment. There stood Erik. Erin's lips moved, but no words came out.

"Mademoiselles, I suggest you get back in the lake and swim back to auditorium. I am almost positive a mob is going to hunt me down and try to kill me. I wish to have my last moments alone. Adieu." Erik slowly turned around and walked to the gate. 

"These won't be your last moments. I will not let that happen. I assure you." Erin's tenacity shocked Erik and he turned to face them.

"Erik…I," Erik's shock doubled. How did they know his name?

"How do you… how do you know my name?"

"Not now. We have to get you out of here." Erin looked around. "The mob is coming and I'm not just going to sit here and watch them have at you."

"There is no way out." Erik sighed. "They will be coming down through the gate and that is the only way out. And why do you care?"

" 'Why do we care?'! Erik! You are…  you have… ARG! Just trust us. Why would we have come all this way to do a job that the mob could easily do?" Carley started to ring out her skirt. Erik opened his mouth to speak but then shut it again. Carley looked at her skirt in her hand and then up at Erik.

"Erin! Erik! I have an idea!" Carley began to pace like a mad man.  Woman. She took her dress in her hands and tore off a piece.

"What are you DOING!?" Erin cried.

Carley ripped a full section from the front of her dress and tied it like a cape around her shoulders then placed the small piece on her face.

"We're going to play masquerade!" Erin's eyes lit up.

"Erik, we can save you!" She said and assisted Carley in dressing up. Erik caught on and said stiffly.

"Mlle's I would advise against it. It could be dangerous. It's not worth it." Carley turned and looked him full in the face.

"Erik. To us, you are worth it." In the dark she looked like a mysterious specter, a phantom of sorts. Erik  did something he never allowed himself to do before. He put his faith in them. Erin smiled and took his hand.

"Lets go."

@--}-}----

Carley carefully covered her entire body with pieces of her dress. "Do I look like the Phantom yet?" She asked.

"Just a little more. Your face isn't covered quite enough. I wish we had a mask." Erin lifted up some of the dress to cover up most of her face. Erik just sat on the dock and thought to himself.

"How did these girls know where I live? How did they know my secret passageways? How did they know my name? I have been so careful as to not let anyone know about my ways, yet these girls knew. They knew everything.'

"So how do I look?" Carley slowly walked out into Erik's view. He gasped. She looked just like him. She pulled back her hair and put it into a tight bun and hid it with a dark piece of fabric. She smiled.

"Now I can lead them away while-" She paused and smiled at him flushing a bit in embarrassment. Erik savored the sincerity of this. He doubted they would survive, but it was a nice thing to see before he was killed.

"I am so sorry but, a quick introduction. I am Carley and this is Erin. In any case. Erin will lead you away from them and I will lead them away from you."

A large crash and murmured voices and arguments grew louder.

"They're coming!" Erin hissed. Erik could feel the hatred in her voice and was astounded once more. He would never stop being astounded by them.

"Quick! To the boat!" Erik helped them both into it. "If we take the long way around I think we can pass them." They both nodded in agreement. Erik pushed off hard on the boat. To even out the boat, Carley sat in the front and Erin sat in the back. Both of them had huddled close to Erik's legs for warmth. He felt them shiver and cursed at himself for not giving them something to keep them warm. He thought about going back to get something for them when he heard a gun shot. He felt Erin jump and Carley tense up. Carley turned to Erik and whispered.

"How long to shore?" Erik glanced ahead.

"You can see it  from here." Erik pointed. Carley could vaguely make out figures from the mob.

"Pull up to the shore way off to the side of them."

Erik steered the boat towards the side of the shoreline. Carley slid out and silently picked up a rock. She threw it over the men's heads and it landed with a splash on the other side. She grinned as the men yelled and pointed and ran with their torches. She looked at Erin an said

"Pitching for baseball."

Erik led them up the twisted labyrinths  and Carley stopped.

"You two go on ahead. It's time for me to have some fun now. Met me back at box five." She disappeared back the way they came.

"Be careful…" Erin called after her. Erik silently agreed, then stopped in mid thought. He surprised himself. He was actually caring for these two. And he had just met them.

"Lets go Erik, let her do her job." Erin tugged at him urgently. Erik led again through the turns and twisted passageways. He thought more and more.

Why had he let them help? Could he trust these two? What happens if they are caught! What a terrific way to die. The guilt of bringing two innocent girls into something they shouldn't on his mind right before he dies.

"What if she got caught?" Erik spoke his mind aloud then immediately realized Erin had heard.

"I wouldn't worry about her. She is a lot tougher than she looks." Erin paused. "We need to get to your box. That's where we'll met back up with Carley."

Erik grabbed her hand and turned a different direction

"Then we'll want to go this way."