Sorry about the long-time-no-update thing. I've been busy horseback riding, among other things. Speaking of horseback riding: I am really happy b/c I got a first place at the Radnor Hunt jumper show on Sunday! YAY! I love my Rodger (my horse)! okay, now back to my story thingy. It's gonna be a short long chappie, and hopefully a good one. Hope you all like it!

Face in the Darkness

Ugh. Raoul. Damn. Him. He. Should. Stop. Ruining. My. Life. Okay, so there was definitely no way that we could escape Raoul without an odd, and very possibly deadly, confrontation. Why, God, did you feel it necessary to give me allergies?

As soon as Raoul had seen the movement of the bush, he had excused his lady friend. She seemed to be rather upset that he wouldn't be fucking her. I think she wanted more than the money. Ah, well.

Raoul, in "stealth mode," crept towards the shadows that Erik and I were hiding, half naked (we had been planning to make love under the stars. Somehow, Raoul always seems determined to spoil a perfectly good moment. Sigh.) Erik held me tightly, so I was pressed to his muscular (drool…) chest. He seemed afraid to let me go, lest I be tempted to run to the arms of Raoul (gag.)

"Come on out, I know you're in there!" Raoul stated. His voice seemed calm, almost detached, but his face showed fear. He probably thought we were assassins or something. After all, he didn't know that it was ME hiding in the bush.

Erik dressed quicker than I thought possible, and within ten seconds he was blending into the shadows behind Raoul. I dressed as well, trying to move as little as possible and attract as little attention as possible. I didn't want Raoul to shoot the bush I was hiding in.

I saw Erik's hand move to the inside of his coat and pull out a Punjab lasso from a hidden pocket. If I hadn't already known that he had committed murder in the past, I would have been shocked. However, having read both novels and seen the play, I had a fairly decent idea of what had really happened in Erik's past. Just because Erik had killed once, however, doesn't mean that he has to kill again. After all, just because you hate someone doesn't mean they should drop dead.

To prevent Erik from murdering the man whom I had once considered a friend, I stepped out of the bushes and into the flickering light of the nearby streetlamp. Erik saw me do so, and quickly caught my eye. I tried to silently convey my intentions to him. After all, it wouldn't be good if he thought that I was leaving him for Raoul. My eyes left Erik's and alighted on Raoul's face. I saw Raoul's expression: it was one of bewilderment. Well, compared to an assassin, I was a pleasant surprise.

"Christine, what are you doing in London?" Raoul asked. Like I wasn't allowed to travel?

"I could ask the same of you," I retorted icily.

For a few moments he just stared at me, as if he were thinking of the best reply. After all, I'm sure he wanted to look heroic, and not like the idiot he really was. Finally, he said, "I was looking for you. After a month of searching in France, I decided that the monster-" I bristled at that word, and I could see Erik's knuckles turn white as he clenched the lasso tighter "-that kidnapped you fled from France. So, I came here." He concluded.

"And who was that woman, your colleague?" I shot at him. I took immense satisfaction seeing Raoul flinch. I took even greater pleasure knowing that he had no answer for me. What can I say? Though once he had been a friend of mine, he did nothing now to deserve more friendly treatment from me.

Raoul decided to change the direction of the conversation. "Well, I can see that you are no longer a captive of that freak, so would you now return home with me?" he inquired. I felt like gagging. What is home? I no longer have a home. No, wait, I have a home: in the arms of my Erik.

"Raoul, I am not going back with you," I stated simply. He looked flabbergasted (I love that word!).

Slowly, he seemed to realize that I was not being kept against my will. His facial expression changed slowly from shock, to thoughtfulness, to an even greater degree of shock, to anger, to outrage, to incredulity, and finally settled on disgust. If it had been any other time or place, I would have laughed aloud. He really does look funny when his eyebrows shoot up and almost reach his hairline.

His eyes snapped back into focus, telling me that either he had finished thinking or had given up thinking. He looked at my dress and said suddenly, "I can't believe you wanted to fuck a freak!" Whoa! How'd he find out what I was doing? I looked down and saw to my horror, that my dress was twisted (and obviously hastily thrown on), my boots were on my wrong feet (that would explain the discomfort…) and I had a hickey on my neck! Oops…

I recovered quickly and retorted, "I can't believe you wanted to fuck my grandma!" After all, the prostitute was looking a little past her prime…

Raoul started to slowly "morph" (for lack of better words) into something I didn't know any more. His eyes turned wild looking, his stance turned aggressive, and his mouth curled into a cruel smirk. Okay, now what was he up to?

Without warning, Raoul pulled the gun out of his pocket and pointed it right between my eyes. Um…let's just say it was scary and leave it at that. After all, just a twitch of his finger and I would have been dead.

Erik, always my hero, lassoed the gun with the Punjab lasso. The gun was quickly whipped from Raoul's hand and flung far enough away that Raoul couldn't get to it. Then Erik punched Raoul squarely on the jaw. I flinched slightly, knowing that the punch hurt Erik as much as it did Raoul. A few more punches were directed to Raoul's stomach and various places on his head. Erik's hand was definitely broken, but then, so were Raoul's nose and cheekbone.

Suddenly, Erik stopped entirely. Why? I saw Raoul's body quivering with maniacal cackles, and his hand held something that lay embedded in Erik's stomach…

"NO!" I screamed, and rushed forward to catch Erik as he fell to the ground. I couldn't even see as tears fell from my eyes. Oh, please God, let Erik be alright! I looked to the heavens, praying to the suddenly cloudy night sky that Erik would live.

While I was immersed in my misery, Raoul had taken the opportunity to retrieve his gun from the ground. He then strode triumphantly towards where Erik and I lay on the ground. The gun was pointed at Erik's head.

"Well, well, monsieur monster! It looks as though it will be I who triumph!" exclaimed the ever egotistical Raoul. I saw the look in Erik's eyes: one of regret. He then blacked out.

Raoul smirked, then held a hand to me. I spit on it. He wiped it off on his trousers and poised the gun, ready to shoot Erik and end my fiancé's life. Before he could do so, I quickly yanked the knife from Erik's stomach and gave it a new sheath: Raoul's chest.

Blood spurted from Raoul's chest, his lungs filling with the life-giving liquid. He drew a shaky breath that rattled in his lungs, then fell forward, never to get up again.

The heavens spilled forth the tears of angels. They were not the only tears shed that night. Together, Erik and I lay in a pool of blood and rain.

Okay, time to collect my thoughts. Now was not a good time to lose my wits entirely! If Erik was to survive, I needed to keep a level head. I could have a panic attack latter.

I tore a strip of cloth off of my dress (it was beyond repair anyways…) and pressed it to Erik's stomach wound. I was no doctor, but the knife wound's location didn't seem to be fatal. If Erik were to die, it would be from loss of blood and not location. That was why I needed to bandage his stomach as soon as possible.

Once I had finished that task, I got up quickly and ran over to some bushes. I then retched for a good ten minutes. After all, there was so much blood everywhere…Never again do I wish to see so much blood outside of the human body.

I felt surprisingly little remorse at killing Raoul. He had threatened my life and that of my fiancé. There had been no way around it. I had only done the right thing. I just couldn't help but wonder, however, what had actually happened to Raoul to turn him into the psychopath that I had murdered.

I didn't have time to think about that, however. There were more pressing matters at hand.

I went to kneel by Erik's side again and checked his pulse. His heartbeat was faint, like the beating of a butterfly's wings. His breath was shallow, and he was ice cold. I needed to get him a doctor.

Thank goodness we were near the upscale section of town, and I needed not look very far to find a doctor. I rapped on the solid oak door and, though it was midnight, a tired looking woman answered. She pushed her glasses up her small nose and squinted, then asked, "Who are ye?"

"There's no time! I need a doctor quickly! My fiancé was stabbed in the stomach!" I exclaimed. That woke her up, and she immediately ran to fetch two burly young men. They seemed shocked to see me in such a condition: covered in blood, dress in tatters, shoes on wrong feet… but I had given no thought to my appearance. I could worry about that latter.

Together, the four of us made our way to where Erik lay, still unconscious. The men hoisted him onto their shoulders with great difficulty. After all, though they were giant men, so was Erik. He stood taller than the two of them, although he was a little less massive.

The next few hours passed by in a blur. I remember people rushing all over, having a warm mug of soup pushed into my dead hand, having a blanket wrapped around my numb body, and closing my eyes from a world of death and awakening into a world of just Erik and me.

I woke from my slumber to the cheerful sound of birds chirping out the window. I stretched and winced. My legs were asleep and I felt needles shooting throughout my muscles. The dew glistened on the leaves outside the small building. The sunlight reflected off of the water droplets seared into the back of my eyes. I wish everything would stop being so cheery and bright!

"Excuse me, Miss," said a timid, mousy young woman. "The doctor just wanted me to inform you that your fiancé will be alright." It took a few seconds for the news to register in my brain, but when it did I jumped up and hugged the girl. I felt like shouting for joy! Oh, glorious day!

I just couldn't leave you all wondering if he was alive or dead. I'm not that cruel. Let's see if I can get more than 50 reviews! I hope so!