Hmmm…not that many reviews this time…HA! As if…so, I had what, 68 reviews when I posted this, and now I only have 76? Bummer, man, bummer. LMAO! But it's still totally cool that you guys can get so worked up over ONE GINORMOUS CLIFFHANGER! It's obscene, you guys! I sympathize…I hate reading fics with a juicy cliffy and they don't update soon enough…LIKE MEEE! LOL, sorry! I hope the funny-ness and length makes up for your wait!

I HAVE A NEW NAME! Ya, you will call me….La Femme Fedora from now on! Haven't figured out what my costume will look like, but it's in the works! And I STILL need a weapon of choice…No thanks to Chrissy…:evil glare directed at the foppy Phantom of the Rock-Era

Yeah, you heard me correctly, FOP GIRL: Hysterical laughter:

Ahem.

No, you're not a fop…that's too nice of me to say that. Plus, Raoul is awesome, don't forget!

YA, YOU HEARD ME, RAOUL IS TOTALLY HOT!

But he's not as hot as Erik…DEFINITELY not as hot as Erik. O'course, we already knew that. Well, I don't think there will be much more in Erik's POV, as it IS Christine's story, meaning it revolves around HER! But don't worry your pretty little heads, my darlings, for Erik will indeed play a major role in my precious phic! Well DUH, he IS the Phantom of the Opera, why the heck else would I be writing this if it weren't for HIM? Of course, I could have been writing this because of Raoul….or Piangi…:Sob: YOU DIED, PIANGI! THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO YOU! I kinda feel bad for Mlle. Guidicelli, you know, she DID love him. Remember after Erik and Christine fall into that pit from the bridge, and Carlotta sees Piangi with the rope around his neck, she says 'MI AMORE, MI AMORE, PIANGI!" while sobbing. And I didn't think those were fake tears, either—but our diva is quite the actress…ANYway…I know you've been waiting so patiently :COUGH: for this update, so I'll let you read…as long as you promise to review! Do we have an accord:snicker: I love that line from POTC…Lahve Jack Sparrow…whoops, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow…sorry! OMFG, I WAS WATCHING POTO FOR THE SECOND TIME EVER AS I WROTE THIS, SO, IF CHRISTINE SEEMS A LITTLE…..GIDDY, IT'S ALL MY FAULT! (Oh, and I was watching it in French the second time, which is as good as the English version…well, 'cept for Raoul—his voice wasn't worth beans to a starving man…and that was a really bad metaphor…)

-Alianne

The Haunted Mansion Part Three, and ERIK'S STALKER!

Last time:

The six teenagers were standing across from Christine, who stood alone near one of the wing chairs of the parlor. They froze after hearing Mark's explanation, staring in horror at something beyond the redhead, who was lost in thought. She didn't see the man come up behind her and when he placed a hand on her shoulder she screamed in surprise.

Then the lights went out.

As she listened to Mark talk about the man upstairs, Christine could concentrate on only one thing: Erik. Only one person could fit Mark's description, even if there was no mentioning of a white half mask. So this might be Erik's house…how fitting. The oldest, most haunted building in New Orleans that she knew of had to be inhabited by a former specter, but human nonetheless.

Christine had to stifle a giggle at that thought, but then felt the hand grab her shoulder and whirl her around to face him, and she screamed in shock. The lights went out and everything was cloaked in darkness, except for the pair of golden eyes burning above everyone else's heads.

A few candles in the room suddenly burst into flame, causing shadows to dance across the teenagers' faces, and successfully make Erik seem even more ominous in his white half mask.

It was then that Christine realized how exactly tall her possible friend was. He towered almost half a foot over the tallest of the teenage boys, Mikhail, so, he must have been at least six and a half feet tall. Erik wrapped his other arm around the tiny redhead, pulling her to his chest, where she breathed in deeply and was pleasantly surrounded with the scent of spices and soap. His voice rumbled in his chest, making a pleasant shiver run through the girl, who was listening with rapt attention to his thundering voice.

"Leave! Go back to your families and never come back, and forget all you've seen, unless you wish to cause your loved ones any harm!" Erik bellowed.

Everyone was silent, until Christine pulled her face away from Erik's dark grey wool sweater and shouted, "Just go you guys! I'll be fine!"

The teens paused for a moment, then whimpered and fled the house through the front door. Constance knocked over another vase in the foyer on her way out. She paused and turned around, but then started running again after she looked back upon the smoldering yellow eyes, who were daring her to pick up the pieces.

The last of the girls exited with a slam of one of the heavy wooden double doors at the mansion's front entrance.

Christine jumped out of Erik's hold and started hunting around the room for a light switch, or at least something to get her out of this blasted half-light. Her knee hit one of the armchairs, but she didn't lose her footing. She ran her hands along the wall, but before she could find a switch, the lights suddenly returned, and Erik was still in the middle of the room where she had left him, and she saw that her hand was resting mere inches from a dimmer dial.

"I'm not even going to ask how you did that," she muttered, standing in place near the dimmer dial, eyeing the man warily.

Erik chuckled and flicked his eyes up to a dangling chain hung from the chandelier by his head.

Christine could only utter a small "Oh" in reply. She could feel her cheeks fizz, and knew she was blushing. The redhead drew herself up to her full height, which was still almost a foot shorter than Erik's towering figure and took a deep breath.

Radiating confidence she felt faltering inside her, she took a step towards Erik, staring at him intently, should he try anything to catch her off guard. He stood where he was, watching the redhead with…was that amusement glinting in his eyes?

It was! Stupid Opera Ghost…thinks it's funny, huh? I'll show him funny…Christine thought as she took a few more steps towards the man.

"Listen," she said, her voice a little shaky at first, but as she went on, it got stronger and she became surer or herself going against the Phantom of the Opera, probably something no one had ever done before and lived. "I know you got into my room somehow on TWO occasions, that's breaking and entering, Erik! You took advantage of me! So what, you helped me get away from those evil guys, big deal! You take that as an invitation to my bedroom? I can't believe you! And you threatened my friends!"

Erik was furious, she could tell by the ticking of his jaw muscles, even if it didn't show on the rest of his face, especially the side covered by his mask. "Is this my thanks for rescuing you? And you, mademoiselle, are the one breaking and entering, or have you forgotten how you got in here?" he said, his voice cold and harsh.

Christine should have known that was coming. Well…can't say that she wasn't expecting that one…

"Of course I thanked you, didn't you hear me that night? And I wasn't breaking and entering; I just followed your cat! How was I supposed to know this house was yours, hmm? It looked totally abandoned, except for the garden, but that's not my point!" she cried, ready to start pulling her hair if he continued to be difficult like this.

The redhead huffed and looked Erik straight in the eyes, where she met burning golden flames almost audibly crackling with emotion.

But all she did was nibble her lower lip nervously, take another deep breath and began to speak once more, this time her voice was imploring, almost desperate. "Erik, I don't know what you want with me…I just don't want any of my friends to get hurt! And my family of course; if it really turns out that I'm the descendant of Chr—the Vicomtess de Chagny, I don't need you coming after them for some stupid revenge scheme! I've got enough to deal with as it is, like finals, keeping you a secret, keeping my music a secret and other school stuff! I don't need an angry former ghost stalking me, too! So just leave. Me. ALONE!" her voice grew louder in her desperation and she realized that she was mere inches away from Erik, whose face was tipped down to look at hers fully.

His eyes reflected just a spark of pain at her words, but was quickly hidden once more, his eyes again blazing with cold fire now.

Christine was then hit by what she said, and the thought of never seeing Erik again, and she tried to amend it. "Oh, gosh Erik, I didn't mean it like that…I just…I DON'T KNOW! I don't know what to do, okay? There! I said it! Do you need anymore? I had hoped that we could be friends, but…"

She sighed, exasperatedly. "I don't know whether to call the cops on you, or what, Erik. Well, I can't really do that anyway, they'd never believe I had a hundred and fifty year-old Phantom of the Opera stalking me…" She stopped as an idea hit her full force. "Erik? How about we do become friends?" she asked.

Erik, who had been silently seething the whole time the young girl spoke, stared down at Christine in complete confusion, whose face was only inches from his, her breath sending wisps of warm air across his face. She wanted to be friends? After all she's said? She practically accused me of trying to…rape her! And she wants to be friends? But, I understand about the room part, she was almost raped that first time we met. If I hadn't been there…who knows what would have happened.

She seemed to sense his bewilderment at her request and clarified. "Well, if we were friends, which I hope we can be, you would have someone to talk to, share your secrets with, like a confidante, and I would have the same, too. It would be nice for us to just talk with each other, right? I can't really talk to anyone else about lots of things, and since we're in this together, why not be friends and make it a lot easier on ourselves? Believe me Erik; you could have had it worse, especially if Anna was in my position instead…" Christine trailed off and started to giggle. She turned away from him and sat in one of the many armchairs in the parlor.

Erik studied the girl intently as she stared up at him, her face hopeful, her expressive green eyes bright. He sighed inaudibly and took a seat in a dark green armchair across from Christine.

He could see that she was still nervous around him, though; the way she kept nibbling her lower lip, and crossing and re-crossing her ankles were testament to that fact. He stared at her unblinkingly, like he was trying to discover all her secrets with his eyes by looking into her very soul…And it was making Christine quite self-conscious. She straightened her light green polo shirt, and fiddled with her hands until he spoke again.

"Now, what exactly would this friendship entail?" he asked, studying her features intently still.

Yes! Her mind cried triumphantly. She had to hold back the small grin threatening to overtake her. "Well, I do want to be your friend, isn't that enough?" She asked.

"Quit dancing around the subject, you're acting more of a snake than a lioness. Now what are your true motives?" he asked back, still staring at her.

She dropped her head with a dramatic sigh. "Gosh, Erik, no wonder you don't have any friends! You keep acting like this! Haven't you had any friends before?" The redhead realized her mistake right before he stood up abruptly from his chair and disappeared before her very eyes.

Christine groaned and exclaimed, "ERIK! COME BACK HERE!" But all she saw was an empty parlor around her. "DOES NADIR COUNT? SO THAT'S ONE! Oh fine then, ignore me! It's not like I care! Well, I do, but, GEEZ! I'm sorry, Erik! I didn't mean it like THAT! I just wanted to be called your friend! Is that too much to ask?"

Still there was no answer.

Christine could feel irritation swelling inside her. "I guess it is then, if you're acting like a petulant CHILD about it!" She yelled loudly. She didn't see Erik appear from behind her until it was too late, and he grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him.

And instead of the anger she was expecting to see, there was that same glint of amusement from before!

Erik took his hands away from her shoulders, but stayed where he was. "I've decided to take you up on your offer of friendship, mademoiselle," he said.

Christine didn't reply; she couldn't! So, the Phantom of the Opera actually wanted to be her friend? She didn't think he would actually do that, but she had hoped he would, somehow. So she just stared at him with a suspicious look in her eyes.

She could tell that he was resisting the urge to roll his eyes before he said any more. "Yes, you have hear me correctly, little lioness. We shall be friends…" and with that he stuck out his hand towards the freshman girl.

The redhead quirked an eyebrow at this, and reached for it after a moment's contemplation, but Erik pulled it away abruptly and turned around.

"Under one condition," he said, standing by the mantelpiece of the fireplace.

Christine didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed. "And what would that be, Monsieur Fantóme?" she asked, taking a few steps towards one of the two armchairs sitting by the hearth.

The sides of his full lips tugged upwards as he said, "No more bringing your friends into abandoned mansions- they could get…damaged."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed, and she frowned. "Damaged? No, I don't think I want to risk them falling through trap doors and being tied to portcullises. You probably have those in here, too, don't you!" she said making a face. "Well then, I have a few conditions of my own, just to be fair," she added with an almost evil grin.

Erik raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Interesting…

"First off, no kidnapping sopranos like me, or anyone, for that matter. No strangling, no croaking stuff, well…maybe for Constance….yes, the toad thing works here…Oh! And no falling sets or light fixtures! But only on Constance! And…that's it…oh wait, no coming into my room unless I say you can!" she finished, grinning triumphantly at the man standing by the grate.

He glanced at the girl sideways, his profile parallel with the mantle. "I think that's a bit unbalanced, don't you think?" he asked, amusement showing clearly on the left side of his face.

"Nope, not a bit!" Christine replied. "In fact, I think it's perfectly reasonable!"

Erik smirked and turned to face the girl fully. "Then do we have an accord?" he questioned, offering his hand to her. The redhead was overcome with a fit of giggles and she managed to gasp out, "Oh my gosh, you sounded just like Jack! I mean, Captain Jack Sparrow!" and she took his hand and shook it decisively.

"So it's settled, then," he said after they both sat down in the armchairs by the fireplace. "But who is this Jack Sparrow?"

Christine laughed again, and Erik realized that this was something this girl would be doing a lot of in the future. But he wasn't truly irritated by it like the way he loathed the twittering ballet brats at the Opera House, it sounded almost musical when she laughed, so it was fine by him.

She was about to tell him about the Pirates of the Caribbean movie when they heard the ring of a doorbell coming from the wooden double doors in the foyer. Erik looked at Christine wildly. "Would you mind getting that? I don't really answer the door but for some special occasions, as this house is supposed to be haunted," he said, his eyes darting to the front door and back to Christine again. He looked almost….nervous? Afraid?

She nodded and fixed Erik with a concerned eye before walking to the huge mahogany doors. She pulled one open slightly and saw a rather tiny Asian girl about her age who sported golden eyes with silver rims around them. She seemed rather wolfish, and her hair was a long and silky black with random multi-colored braids in bright greens, purples, and reds. She wore some ragged jeans with holes in them in different places, converse tennis shoes, a black t-shirt with the Phantom's tell-tale half mask and crimson rose on it, a black suit jacket, and on top of it all, a black leather cape around her shoulders.

"Where is he," she ordered, rather than questioned, peering into the foyer from the crack in the door, and tried to push her way into the mansion. Christine held the door firmly, backing the girl up back onto the front porch.

"I'm fine, thank you. The name's Christine, what's yours?" the redhead asked, just a tad annoyed with this girl.

"Christina," the other girl answered tersely. She seemed ready to break the redhead's neck when she heard her name. "Now where is he?" she asked again, still trying to get a good look at the inside of the house.

Christine decided to play dumb about it. "Who are you talking about, Christina?" she asked, pretending to not have a clue who she was talking about.

"Don't play dumb with me Christine, and don't call me Christina, it makes me think of that twit from the play how chose the fop. Call me Chris, mmk?" the other girl snapped.

"Okay, Christina, what is it you want with me here? I just came up to check on the house while the owners are umm…out of town. They won't be back for a while, so, yeah," Christine replied, putting emphasis on the other girl's name.

The two glared at each other, and then Chris suddenly broke out into a grin. "Good form, Chrissy dear, good form!"

The ice being broken, they both giggled for a moment, and when they stopped, Christine asked, "Why are you here, anyway?"

"Oh, I like to follow Erik around sometimes, it's really quite fun, you know," Chris answered.

"Really? Oh wow, that's really hard to do! He just disappears some times! How do you do it?" the redhead asked.

"So, he does live here, doesn't he? I guess he's safe, for now," the Asian girl said, grinning evilly. "I have my ways," she replied mysteriously.

"Oooh, tell me more! Tell me more!" Christine implored. The other girl grinned again, and she began to recount her adventures in Singapore. The two girls sat down on the porch swing together.

"Well, I had been with my family on vacation there a few years ago, and I saw this guy walking down the street with a white half-mask, and my parents really didn't care what I did, as long as I was at the hotel at the end of the day, so I decided to follow him. He went back to a mansion on the outskirts of the city, and I've been following him ever since. Oh, and once, I hid in his piano!" she said, grinning smugly.

"Whoa, really? Ha, I wonder how well he took that one!" the redhead said, laughing.

"Pretty good, I think. He only threw a couple books at me that time. Sometimes, he throws huge candelabras, and those hurt a little bit…But anyway, as I was saying, I hid in his piano, and when he started to play, the stupid little hammer things hit me in the stomach, and those hurt, by the way. So, I jumped out of it, and I was wearing this exact same cape, and some boxers with his name on them," Chris said. "And a shirt of course," she added as an afterthought. They both started laughing.

"Oh, did the boxers have Punjab lassos on them? That would have been hilarious!" Christine cried, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Oh my giddy Aunt, how did you know?" Chris replied, clutching her side from all the laughing they were doing. "Hehe, I'm kind of obsessed with the Phantom of the Opera…" Chris trailed off, grinning sheepishly.

"Oh my gosh, you have to meet my friend, Anna! She's totally hooked on it, too! So am I, but, under the circumstances, I can't really do much with it—my family hates music, AND anything Phantom related! It's so unfair sometimes! But, I'm seeing it tonight, anyway," Christine said with a giggle.

"So am I! It's the one at the Amphitheatre at 8, right?"

"Yes! Wow, I hope we get seats near each other!" Christine cried.

"Oh, me too! This is going to be so awesome, Chrissy!" the other girl hugged Christine and then looked at her watch on a gloved wrist. "Oh my gosh, we have to start getting ready! It's already 6:09!"

Christine yelped and looked at her blue wristwatch. "Okay, but don't try anything with Erik tonight, alright?" she asked her new friend pleadingly.

Chris pondered for a moment, then said, "All right, Chrissy, I'll try not to glomp him, but, that'll be kinda hard to do…Haven't you gotten that urge to huggle him? I mean, you know him personally."

Christine looked bewildered and a blush crept across her cheeks. "Umm…I can't say that I have…"

"Liar!" Chris laughed. "You know you wanna glomp him, so do it already!"

"Christina! I already have a boyfriend!" Christine hissed, her eyes darting to the mansion windows looking out at the porch to see if Erik was watching. She couldn't see him, but she knew he was there by the swishing of one of the heavy scarlet velvet curtains.

"Oh…can I have him then?" the other girl asked, her face brightening.

"No! I mean, sure, whatever! But he's practically scared stiff of you, you know," said Christine.

"I know; that's how I like it!" Chris giggled. "Well, I gotta go home now Chris, I just moved in a few hours ago, ha!" She ran down the steps leading from the porch to the sidewalk.

"Where do you live?" Christine called.

"Just a few streets over! Wait a sec, lemme come up there again!" the Filipino girl ran back up the porch steps and took a piece of paper and a pen out from a pocket in her suit jacket. "Here, my phone number! What's yours?" Christine gave her new friend her cell number and got Chris' in return. "Byeee!" Chris shouted as she ran back down the street.

"Bye!" Christine waved and waited for the other girl to turn a corner and vanish from sight before going back into the house. Erik was standing in the foyer, his arms crossed, and his eyes were still focused on the door, as if expecting Chris to come running back into the house.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Oh, umm…it was some sales guy. He was selling…peanut butter. For umm…the senior citizen people in the community," she replied, stumbling for an answer, but prided herself on thinking of such an ingenious fib.

"Liar. It was her, wasn't it?" Erik asked amusedly. The redhead almost fell over. He didn't buy it! Oh crud, oh crud, oh crud…

"Umm, yes?"

He laughed; a warm, rich full-throated one. "You can't lie to save yourself!"

Annoyed, Christine replied, "Oh really? I'm glad you find it so funny! I just happened to save you after all! Chris promised me she wouldn't try to do anything to you! She didn't even see you! Well, anyway, I've got to go get ready for tonight, so…yeah.

"You're coming, right?" she asked.

"I was invited, wasn't I? And you said yourself I would fit right in, my little lioness," Erik answered.

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" Christine huffed, scowling.

"But I want to, so nothing else matters, does it?" the man behind the half mask replied.

"You're so difficult!" the redhead cried.

"I know, don't you just revel in it?"

"No, I don't!"

"Oh, you know you do," Erik said smugly.

"For the last time, you darned Opera Ghost, I don't!"

"Don't you have an event to prepare yourself for?" he countered smoothly.

"I—hmph!" Christine turned from him and started to walk towards the door, but changed her mind and ran back to him. The redhead threw her arms around his chest and both stayed like that for a moment.

She pulled away first, and smiled happily, "Thanks, Erik. I'm glad we're friends now."

Erik only nodded; he was still disoriented from her sudden embrace.

"Bye Erik! 'Til tonight!" she called, her bright orange flip-flops flapping behind her as she ran down the porch to her house again.

WOOOOOOOOO! Done! I wrote most of this on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the encounter between Chris and Christine was written today!

Oh, and for the wonderful Erik-obsessed character Chris, thank EriannaAbyss! It's her!

DIDJA LIKE IT? TELL ME TELL ME TELL MEEEEE!

Please review, review, review!

Love ya guys!

-La Femme Fedora (Or Alianne, or Laura, or whatever…)