A/N: This one is a little different. Please bear with it. It leads into the next chapter and has a purpose. I hope you like it. Please read and review as always. I love to hear it.

Chapter 29 – Passion…Desire…

It had been two weeks since Angelina had given him the black opera mask. He had yet to wear it. There were times he would just hold it in his hands and stare at it. The gesture was so innocent that it pained him to know it came from a child that had no feelings toward him then that of a student/teacher relationship.

But Erik loved her just the same. He was afraid to put on the mask, destroying the beauty it had with the horror behind the one he already bore. It had been days since he had eaten. His work consumed him more then usual. He was bound and determined to finish the opera he was writing. It was nearing completion and was driving him mad with the final touches not coming into place.

Erik walked near the water's edge, not even noticing the dizziness that overtook him. He grasped his head in pain. Before Erik could react, he was falling into the never ending abyss of darkness.

Music filled the air as Erik slowly opened his eyes. The setting was unfamiliar. It frightened him, although he would never admit it. He was on a barren stage, with lights shinning everywhere. Music surrounded him. It did not make him feel at peace. In fact, it made his fears grow even worse.

"Where am I?"

"That depends…"

Slowly turning, Erik watched as a figure began into the light. The figure was small in size but graceful all the same. He recognized the voice but did not believe it to be true.

"…on where you want to be." Angelina stepped into the light. Erik's breath caught at the sight of her. She smiled as she gestured to the stage. "All your life you have longed to be here. And now here you are."

"Has something happened to me?"

"In a sense."

"And you are truly not here?"

"I am always here with you. You will me to be here."

"This is a dream?"

"In a sense."

Erik was beginning to grow angry with his questions not being answered. Was it truly Angelina standing in front of him?

"You will not answer me?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because you do not want me to."

"How can you say that? I am asking you the question. Why would I not want you to answer?"

"Your mouth speaks for you. Your heart does not."

He stepped toward her, closing the distance between them. His heart longed for her and not the answers he sought. Angelina stood there, as if she already knew what he was thinking.

"You will not run from me?"

"No."

"Then come to me."

Erik stopped walking and held out a bare hand. She did not hesitate and took it. Using force, Erik turned her to him and held her tight against his chest. Her heart did not quicken – a response he was not expecting.

"You want this?"

"Yes, Erik. I am afraid to tell you what is in my heart."

"This is a dream."

"Then live your dream. Why deny yourself the pleasure of being with me even in your dreams?"

Angelina was right. He had been denying himself the pleasure of even thinking of her in his dreams. Erik longed for her unlike anything he ever had before. Christine was an obsession. Angelina…Angelina was…

"…love?"

Erik felt her guide his hands over her body. She sighed as he continued on his own with a torturing pace.

While his hands continued over her body, setting her skin on fire, Erik gathered the courage to finally tell her what he had been longing to for a long time.

"Angelina, there is something I wish to tell you."

"I am yours, Erik. There is no need to tell me anything."

His hands grasped her waist and she let out a small scream as Erik turned her to face him.

She is so beautiful. How could she ever love someone like me? If she only knew the secrets I was hiding…

"I love you." She had said it barely above a whisper.

Erik's eyes went wide as Angelina's smile beamed up at him. It was like a beacon in the darkness that surrounded him. It called to him and made him feel safe and loved. The three words he had been longing to hear, from anyone, were muttered from the lips of an angel.

There were no words that needed to be said. Erik scooped Angelina up into his arms and kissed her passionately. The darkness did not hold him at bay. It let him go and let him into the light – even if for a brief moment.

Erik felt her tiny arms around his neck as he deepened the kiss. His tongue traced her lips until she parted them to let it inside. He could hear her moan as he gently placed her back onto the ground. Erik's strong arms did not let her go. His hands began to explore her back and found her dress to be tightly tied.

The scenery changed around him. The stage was no longer a stage but his bedroom. And just behind them was his large bed. Erik's need was filling too quickly. Just the sight of Angelina made him go weak in the knees. He knew something was wrong. His mind was in some sort of delirium state. It was the only explanation that he would allow himself to have. He could not even begin fathom or comprehend the thoughts he had. All he wanted to do was take Angelina and claim her like he never had with Christine.

His lips trailed from her lips to her neck. Erik could feel her nails dig into his back. His hands quickly undid the hairpins in her hair. Angelina's hair fell loosely about her neck. His large hands caressed it and felt the silky strands upon each finger. Her neck was soft and inviting. His lips continued its torture as her sighs just continued to excite him.

Erik pulled away from her and noticed blood on her chest.

"Angelina?"

"All good things must come to an end."

It was as if it was in slow motion. Angelina fell to her knees. Erik rushed to her side and gathered her small frame in his arms. The blood continued to seep through her corset and dress. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

"Remember, I will always love you." Her eyes slowly shut as Erik began to rock her back and forth in his arms.

A voice in the distance began to call out…

"Erik…Erik!"

His tear filled eyes looked toward the sky.

It is not possible. Angelina is dead. Is she calling out to me from heaven?

"Erik, please wake up..."

Erik felt the darkness take a hold of him once more. It was as if he was falling into a never ending abyss of the night he so longed to be apart of again.

The fever would not break. All Angelina could do was cover Erik's forehead with a cool rag. He had tossed and turned most of the time she had been there. But it had grown violent and Erik had begun to scream. It frightened Angelina more then she could bear.

"Erik, please wake up…"

With a start, Erik sat up and screamed. He tried to fight Angelina's grasp but she would not let go of him.

"Erik, it was a dream! Erik, open your eyes!"

Erik's eyes flew open and looked wildly at Angelina. He wrapped his arms around her and held onto her as if his life depended on it.

"You are alive."

"Am I not supposed to be?" She was confused by his statement and hoped it was the fever talking.

He pulled back and looked at the angelic face in front of him. "Of course you are. I just…"

"It was nothing more than a dream. I assure you, Erik, I am very much alive."

"What happened to me?"

"I came for my lesson and I found you in the lake. It took all the strength in me to bring you in here."

Erik looked around and saw he was, indeed, in his own bed. He began to wonder how she had ever managed to bring him in there without help.

"Fever took over your body and it still does. I have not been able to relieve you of it."

"I am much better."

"Erik, you have been asleep for more then three days. I have stood vigil, afraid that you would slip deeper into the darkness that took you."

It took every sense that he had to take in what she had just said. Three days? It did not seem as though it had been three days.

"Madam Giry must have…"

"I have been going to rehearsal. But every spare moment I had I was here. I could not leave you alone. I feared that you might…"

A single tear rolled down her pale cheek. He wiped it away and looked upon her. Her radiant beauty shown brighter then any other night he had been with her. She had taken care of him without question or thought. Did she love him that much?

Tears began to form in Erik's eyes. Angelina looked at him in shock.

"Erik, why do you look as though you are about to cry?"

He could not express what he felt in that moment. No one had ever helped him as she had for three days. Madam Giry was a very large exception. He owed Madam Giry his life a hundred times over. Angelina had nothing to gain from the kindness she had shown him. He loved her more then anything and he could not tell her.

The hot tears that pooled streamed down his cheeks. He swore to himself that he would never cry in her presence but it was too much to bear. Angelina extended her arms and Erik fell into them as if he belonged there.

"The fever will break. I will stay until it does."

It was not the fever that brought the tears on. Erik refused to tell her it was the breaking of his heart and the tearing of his soul that brought them on. He could not tell her it was the longing of wanting to be with her that caused him to cry.

He would savor the embrace from her tiny arms. The embrace would carry him through the fever and through the torment of his heart. Angelina would be his saving grace and he would not let the love he possessed for her torture him any longer. He would let things flow as if nothing was going to happen. And if something did, all the better. Until then, Erik would keep the dream that he had to himself. He would live in the moment and that would be all he would need.