Chapter Thirteen


The room looked much like the ones Erik had seen in Persia. Ancient forms of torture lined the walls and into the main part of the room. Nothing creative, the Phantom noted, and that within itself said that the shah's twisted mother had found no one else to create her entertainment.

"Hello, Erik." Speak of the devil herself.

Erik shifted his eyes to where the little sultana stood, her head held high and her dark eyes sparkling with some sort of sadistic pleasure in what was about to happen. "All that time," she drawled, walking closer, "you created the deaths for me. All that time you entertained me."

"Not a moment in life I reflect on fondly."

She slapped him. It didn't even have enough force behind it to make his head snap to one side and a small smile crossed his lips. Irritation radiated from her. "You will keep that hideous mouth of yours closed!"

"Or what?" he mocked. "You already plan to beat me. What else might you do? I assure you, Madame, that any beating you've given me can not amount to what I have suffered in the past."

"We shall see. I learned quite a bit from my Angel of Doom."

"I'd advise you to put it all out of mind. They were from the twisted mind of a boy hurt beyond his years."

"And now?"

"Everyone grows up," Erik responded with a shrug.

"Yes…" the little sultana muttered. "Christine Daaè. My son is absolutely infatuated with her. Even more so when he discovered that you love her."

At the sound of Christine's pure name leaving the other woman's very impure lips, Erik struggled against his captors, rage filling his eyes and the small woman before him laughed.

"Yes yes! I've struck a chord there, have I not?" She smiled. "By the next time she sees you, you'll be well on your way to a very entertaining death."


The doors to the room that held the cage swung open and Christine looked up. She felt Raoul, long since freed of his bonds, stand behind her. Even after all that had happened, he stood ready to protect her.

The diva let out a gasp when she saw who they dragged in behind them. Erik was limp in their grasp, his long, thin legs dragging against the ground. "Oh my- Erik! What have you done to him?" she cried, standing against the bars and reaching out to him. "Erik! Erik, look at me! Please!

The man that held the Phantom laughed. "The most feared man in Persia!" he mocked, face twisted into an evil smirk. "They failed to realize he is only human."

The cage door swung open and Erik was tossed in. He hit the floor hard and let out a soft moan. The door clanged shut and he flinched, eyes opening to little slits. Christine was the first figure to come into his line of vision, her worried eyes meeting his.

"What have they done to you, my love?" she whispered, touching his unmarred cheek gently. Her hand traveled slowly down to his bare shoulders, hovering over and yet not touching the angry welts that a whip had left against his pale skin. Those very welts snaked down from his shoulders, mixing with old scars,to his back and around to his chest. His captors hadn't even had the decency to give him back his shirt, leaving him to freeze in the chilled air. Burned marks, as if someone had taken a lit cigarette to his exposed skin, were scattered between the welts and bruises were starting to form along his rib cage. Christine let out a choked sob. "How could they?"

"The way everyone always has," Erik's voice, usually so strong was now reduced to a mere whisper, sounded in her ear.

Christine ran a shaky finger along his jaw line, trying to hold back another sob. "I can't even hold you… without feeling like I'm… hurting you!" she cried.

Erik took a deep breath, grasping her hand and holding it to his lips. "The pain is nothing," he assured her. "I've long since learned to put it away in the back of my mind."

"What do they get from it?" Raoul asked from behind Christine. "Perhaps… if you knew something they wanted, but do they find entertainment in causing you pain?"

"Yes," Erik answered, pulling himself up into a sitting position. "The sultana does."

"That's sick," Madeleine gasped. "Twisted and sick."

"And what would you say," Erik began, tilting his head back so as to get a good look at her face, "to know that your son participated in it all when he lived in Persia?"

Madeleine went white. "Surely-"

"Oh yes, surely I did. The shah's mother wanted entertaining deaths and I had a warped mind for coming up with ways for them to come about. I was quite useful to the kingdom, apparently." Erik's voice was filled with self-loathing and mockery. He shook his head slowly, putting his hands to his face. They had not returned his mask when they'd finished with him. He was sure that the men that had beat him had been spurred on by the sight of hi face.

"Please don't say any more, Erik," Madeleine sobbed quietly. "Don't speak of such things."

"Why?" the Phantom demanded, eyes suddenly blazing. "Why shouldn't I? Should you not know what a monster your own son turned out to be? What a creature? Why not, dearest mother? Because, perhaps – just perhaps! - you will remember the times you treated me no different than the dog! The days when I was nothing but an animal under your roof! An unwanted stray at that!"

Christine lay a gently hand on his shoulder, silencing his fury. He trembled under her light touch, his breath coming in gasps. She wrapped her arms around him and herself against his back, whispering calming words into his ear. "Please, love."

Silence reigned through the holding cell. Marie had backed away instinctively from the fuming man. If she hadn't been frightened of him before, she was now. Fear shown brightly in her wide eyes and was proven in every motion as she clutched her hands over her heart, as if begging it to be silent so that he wouldn't hear it and know of her fear. Madeleine sat sobbing quietly at his words.

Raoul glared at Erik. "Such cruel words to your own mother! How might I trust that you won't be equally as cruel to Christine when she crosses you?"

"Please, Raoul…" Christine begged.

"You didn't live under her roof!" Erik snapped. "You would never understand! Never could!"

"I'm sorry!" Madeleine burst out. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It will never be enough and should never be enough, but… I was going to make it right, if that's any consolation at all to your tattered soul."

Erik's eyes flashed again. "By sending me away!" His eyes danced with a look that neared to the same as that of the night of Don Juan Triumphant. "By sending me to an asylum? Yes! Yes, of course! That would make it all better, wouldn't it! Better for you and your lover!"

"I wasn't!"

He stood, unstable and with Christine helping him, but he was up, towering over everyone in the cage. "You were!" he screamed, voice echoing through the room. Any weakness that had been in it earlier was gone, replaced by an inhuman fury. Hispowerful voice filled the cage, pushed outward to the room and beyond. Itrang off the walls and filled everyone."I heard you! I was not deaf! You and he talked of it. You and he..." Erik sank to his knees, shaking with exhaustion and pain. He coughed wretchedly for some time before a drop of blood fell from his mouth, followed by another. He felt as if he might pass out until Christine wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close until his head rested in the crook of her neck. She rocked him gently, whispering to him that it was all right. To please be silent and rest then.

Madeleine sobbed into her hands. "If… if I were going to send you away and run away with him – that's what you think, isn't it? – then why would I not be married to him now?"

Erik forced his head up so that he met her eyes. "You're not?"

"No."

The Phantom lay his head on his love's shoulder once more, not having the strength to stay up. His mind raced horribly, trying to process what he had learned. "It was all for nothing then," he managed at last. He chuckled at that. "The story of my life."

"Still?" Christine teased softly, trying to lighten his mood.

Erik smiled up at her, running a hand through her curls. "No, love. You changed all that. And for that, I thank you."


"The story of my life

is very plain to read.

It starts the day you came,

and ends the day you leave.

The story of my life begins and ends with you.

The names are still the same and the story is still the truth.

I was alone.

You found me waiting

and made me your own.

I was afraid

that somehow I never could be

the man that you wanted of me.

You're the story of my life

And every word is true

Each chapter sings your name

Each page begins with you

Stay with me here

Share with me

Care with me

Stay with me near

And when it began

I'd lie awake every night

Just knowing somewhere deep inside

That our love affair just might write

The story of my life

So very plain to read

It starts the day you came

And ends the day you leave"

"Story of My Life" by Neil Daimond

(bonus points to those that can guess whose "Favorite Love Songs" album I got it off of!)


A/N: I love that song that I ended the chapter with. I was listening to (you get bonus if you guess it!) 's CD and I thought that the line said sarcastically would fit Erik so well, but then if Christine were to kindly remind him that his lonely life is behind him, the lyrics would totally fit them:being a hopeless romantic as she is, Saiko wanders off to indulge in more sappy love songs:

Lost Schizophrenic : Good heavens! You're a fast reader! I'm glad you've gotten to the point where it tells what she really did, so that I didn't ruin it for you. I would have felt rather horrible about doing so. Giovanni was great. Poor man… Father Mansart could have tried harder. I mean, c'mon, you just DON'T tell a little kid "you'll never see your pet in heaven." Trust me, people tried to tell me that when I was little and I plugged my ears singing "lalalala! I can't hear you!" lol.

Brittany: I'm glad you like that idea. I've mentioned it before that I really struggled with if I should bring her into this story or give her one of her own (a oneshot) and finally I decided that she would bring more depth the story, so in she went! Lol

Allegratree: It's funny you should mention the dinner party. I'm not just ecstatic about how it came out, though it might not be so far-fetched if you look at it this way: Madeleine didn't hate her son and after so many years of just assuming he'd gone off and died somewhere ( I mean, c'mon, he was 9 when he ran away) she is overcome with joy for seeing him and grief over her actions in the past. Christine sees all this and sees a bit of Erik's heartbroken self in her and therefore asks that he give her a chance. Erik goes to her only b/c Christine asks him to. :shrugs: It may still seem far fetched, but to me I could see it happening. Though saying that, I do agree about the music. I almost did the scene that way and now can't figure out for the life of me why I didn't do so. I had it all worked out in my mind that Marie was going to see him first and that she was going to be off looking for Madeleine to tell her the great news, Erik and Christine were going to start singing together, Madeleine was going to hear the lovely music, follow her ears and see them. Erik was going to throw a fit, and, like he does in his room in the story how it unfolded, scream at her not to touch him. Seeing as she would never let him touch her, he now says it to her. Why I didn't do it that way, I really don't know. I must admit, the only musical I've ever been blessed to see is Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. I've only recently become interested in them and plan to go see PotO this summer while it's on tour. Considering I'm absolutely in love with the soundtrack, I can't see how I won't love the play, but that's me. The music just lifts me off and takes me away. Music, lyrics, all of it. Now, I'm going to just ignore the fact that you said the title song was stupid, because that and "Music of the Night" are two of my very favorite songs ever. Lol. Haha, and it's okay to be opinionated. I'm rather that way too. I have a couple people at my school just about ready to ring my neck b/c of my political views and loud opinions lol. Thank you for your kind compliments and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well :)

Golden Lyre: Haha! I'm glad you don't like him! I'm always pleased to hear my villains are despicable creatures. Makes my day. Haha, I get the biggest kick out of it when people call Raoul "the fop." I'm fairly new to Phantom, and so that's a new one for me, but it truly does describe him! I must admit, very quietly mind you, that I liked Raoul the first time I saw the movie. Then I read the book. Stupid stupid fool he is! Fop is such a lovely word for him. Oh, and don't worry, Nadir is around. He just didn't follow Erik into the room with Christine so he was spared the abduction.