Authors note: Thank you to everyone who is reviewing my story. It means so much to me and inspires me to try to make the best chapters I can. I can never thank you enough for that.

This chapter delves into Raoul's plans a bit, no E/C this time. This is a R/M/G chapter. Complicated to sum up, but it should prove a marginally interesting read, at least. Enjoy, it is hard to write someone so boring into anything of real substance sometimes. Ya Know? Let me know what you think, I hang on your every review and deeply appreciate them. Thanks, your fumble fingered writer, Marykate.

Chapter 24

Criminal insanity!

Raoul fought the fog in his head the whole way to the home. When he got there he had to dismount the buggy and try to tend to the horse. He was not able to do that very well and stumbled around in the fog in his head while doing so. He found a place to secure the buggy so he could leave quickly if necessary and went to the door of the house. Knocking loudly he stumbled about while waiting for someone to answer the door.

Gina came up to the door, Meg was with her. Gina opened the door and Raoul stumbled in, falling on his chest at the front door rather unceremoniously.

"Raoul, what are you doing here? I thought that you were still so weak that you had to remain in bed. Here, let me get you over to our divan over here. What are you doing here anyway?"

Raoul had not the strength to answer all of Meg's questions, so he just smiled a weak smile and went with her and Gina's help over to the divan. When he was ensconced into the comfort of furniture, Meg bid Gina get them tea.

"Meg, I must talk to Mme Giry, where is she?"

"Mother is not here, she said she had some matters of business to tend to. She said she would return this evening."

"I have to talk to her. I have had so many questions about the disappearance of Christine. I know that she has run off with that self proclaimed Phantom deviant. She is my betrothed and she ran off with that thing. If I have to search forever, I shall find them and then they shall pay for making a fool out of me as they have. Do you believe, Meg, they think I, the Vicomte de Chagny, am insane?" Raoul grew increasingly feverish with passion at these words, each one finding more strength than the previous as he warmed to the topic once again.

"Raoul, it is the result of the fever, you are still weak and you are unable to tell the difference between fantasy and reality with the illness you have just come through. You feel feverish, Raoul, are you still feverish? Gina, come quick, he needs a cold cloth. Bring a basin and pitcher; I will bathe his forehead to take down the fever. We shall have to summon the physician, as well."

With that Raoul regained lucidity enough to grab Meg by the wrist, "NO, no physician, nobody can know I am here."

Meg looked at Gina quickly, beginning to feel the twinges of uncertainty. Of course, he would not be ready to be out yet. Something was going on and she had unwittingly played into his hand. She tried to loose her wrist from his grip, he would not let go.

"Amazing how insanity can make one strong who would otherwise be weak as a kitten," he said with a laconic smile playing upon his face. Then, when Meg gasped in shock and fear of what he may be about to do next, he released her wrist. "They think I am crazy because I was visited twice by that Phantom rogue gentleman who we all know is a monster, and once by Christine. The latter claimed to love the man Erik and didn't want me to search any more for her, and the last time that the Phantom visited he threatened death if I persisted in the search for Christine as well as leaving a dead red rose for me to be sure I knew he was serious."

As if growing tired of the whole business and all it implied he stopped for a moment looking at her shocked face, then went on; "Foolish girl, as if I would hurt you. I am only looking for my lost love. Now while I wait for Mme Giry's return, I shall sleep here on your divan."

Gina heard all of this, as it was said as loudly as Raoul could manage, she was interested and frightened of the exhibit he was of madness and senselessness.

Meg went out of the room, hot tears scalding her cheeks as she wept for the decline of Raoul. Her beloved Raoul. She would not think such things while Christine was alive and they were affianced, but with Christine dead, she would gladly step in and care for him. If only he would let her. It was torture to see how the past 5 weeks and 4 days had destroyed this man. Time had flown by, so much happening.

Just then Gina came to Meg, carrying the teapot and cups for two on a tray with the basin and water pitcher as well. "I have made the water ready for tea and his brow, if you don't mind; I do not wish to be around Raoul at this time, so I shall tend to matters elsewhere in the house. If you need me, ring the bell I have placed here on the tray. I shall come to your aide though I suggest you wait until he regains his consciousness to mop his brow, it can shock the system when one is asleep and they are jolted like that. We are just like a real genteel home, as Raoul grew up in, nothing but the best for our poor ailing Vicomte, no?"

"Gina, you are too good, what would I have done had you not come along when we lost our Christine, you are so like her in mannerisms. Thank you for being you, Gina."

"Merci, Mam'selle. I am pleased to help out where ever I can, you have given me a home, for that I owe you my life."

Meg watched as Gina's petite figure retreated, her every move so like a dancer with her dainty steps and her brown hair, such a contrast, she almost resembled a boy with the short cut. She was amazing to talk to, always knowing the right thing to say almost intuitively, and humble enough to never question where her place should be from one moment to the next, and that was an ever changing thing since the Populaire was destroyed. Meg was very thankful that Gina came to the Populaire when she did, it was so difficult trying to figure out how they would get by without Christine. Gina helped to keep the abyss of Christine's loss from totally consuming them with grief.

Gina came back in by Meg and said, "That Vicomte seems not to be quite right, it runs deep in him and seems evil. He scares me, and I fear for our safety. I think it wise if I go and get the Gendarme to come here and help us remove him. Yes, he is your friend, but there is something very dark in him right now, he is not whom he seems. I just feel it. Must be the gypsy in me."

"NO, we will not betray Raoul, he is so pained and tortured, then there is the illness he has still to purge from himself the rest of the way. He grows feverish when he exerts himself too much, I can see he is now. We must expect some strange behaviors right now, he will be alright, just wait, you shall see. He must be, he is nobility after all, it would seem impossible that he could be frail, not really."

"Meg, you must open your eyes, he is dangerous, nobility or not, it matters little when you are talking human beings. We are after all human beings before the blood colors to blue. Stop living in a past that seems to have no connection to where we are now. You know that your mother would not want him here one moment longer than he needed to be if she were present."

Meg bristled at her words, though she knew Gina was right, and she could feel that something had happened, she had no desire to linger there, for Raoul was here, in her home asking for her aid. It was all she could have hoped for at this time.

"I just cannot in good conscience allow him to stay in this house with us unaided. If there were any problems we would be helpless to do anything to help our situation. There is a total lack of male assistance to protect us from his feverish as you wish to term it, madness and Meg, I tell you one last time he is dangerous! Heed my warnings or we shall pay a hefty price for ignorance, I have seen it before."

"Very well, if you are so worried, why don't you leave and see if you can find Mother, I shall stay here with Raoul. You can tell her of the situation and that he needs to talk to her then she can be back here and we can resolve things in a timely fashion."

"The worry I have is for you as well as for my safety, so please don't presume that I am running scared. It is a good idea though, that I go and find Mme Giry. She will not want to tarry with the Monsieur Vicomte here."

"Oui, bring her forthwith, she shall wish to be of service to Vicomte de Chagny, it shall be good to get him some assistance on his quest at last, so he can put such things aside and move on." A dazed look crossed briefly through Meg's eyes as she thought of the hopeful implications of that statement.

"If you have any trouble, get out of this house, look for Gendarme, don't take chances with madmen, they are the most dangerous when they look the most harmless."

"Adieu good Gina, return soon, I shall be waiting and Raoul shall no doubt be sleeping still."

With that Gina left the house to search out Madame Giry and return her as soon as possible to a situation that was deteriorating fast. Meg returned inside when she finished waving to her friend, hearing Raoul beckoning her to him once again.

"Silence, Raoul, I am coming. I needed to say adieu to Gina, she is going to bid Mother to hurry back." Meg, closed the door and walked into the parlour Raoul was beckoning her from.

"Not too quickly, I hope." Raoul said, eyes heavily lidded and cheeks red and feverish. He bid her join him on the divan he was resting in, she came over to him as if in a dream, she could not believe that Raoul, still striking even in illness, could be interested in giving her a second glance much less invite her to come sit with him. She breathlessly approached the divan and sat down on the very edge shyly. Raoul sat up slowly and came close to her on the cushion. Meg looked at him sideways, suddenly very shy and slightly afraid of what may happen next, she went to stand up and Raoul caught her leg. He rested his hand there and shook his head slowly no, as he looked directly into her eyes. She was overcome by the look in them. All she saw was desire, blocking out the glassy appearance and the twisted grin he was also presenting, she was unable to look away for the beating of her heart.

"I will fix our tea, Raoul, you will need some nourishment before mother returns to talk to you. You also need to have your brow soothed, your fever is back." Meg moved once more to get up and Raoul fairly pushed her back down on the divan.

"No, don't go, Damn it, I won't be dismissed. You have to bend to my wishes; I have waited so long with out satisfaction it seems only right you should requite my love right now. I desire you and will have you; there is nothing you can say to stop me."

With that Raoul savagely met her astonished lips with his, mashing them hard against her teeth. Meg fought hard to try to release herself from his grasp, he would not be turned away and simply pushed into her further. She lost the ability to reason what to do next, her mind a jumble of frantic and frightened thoughts. How was she going to stop this, what had she done to cause this misinterpretation of all she felt. Why was he doing this to her. How was he so powerful she could not get out of his grasp?

Just then he pulled away and grabbed her by the shoulders, he tried to pull the shirt off of her, but she took that opportunity to escape, moving over to the other side of the room, panting hard trying to piece together what to do next.

"What are you doing?" Raoul said, indignation in his voice. How dare Christine pull away, she never did before. Then he seemed to look at her for the first time in all this mess, he realized it was Meg. He became confused about everything, he had just seen Christine, now Meg was here. Well, the little tramp, if she was in on this whole game Christine was playing with him, she would just have to die. It was too much. He got up unsteadily and reached for his revolver, he pointed it at Meg and bade her to come to him at once.

"Raoul, no, I , I don't know what you are talking about, what is wrong? Why are you looking at me like this, I am going to get the Physician. Please, let me go and get some help.."

"NO, you are coming with me, we are leaving now. Help me to the buggy I brought here, we have to leave now."

Raoul reached her, she was trembling, he grabbed her arm, and aimed the gun at her head, she fainted then and there. Raoul followed her to the ground and proceeded to smash the vase near her head to try to wake her up. Not working, he went over to the tray and grabbed the basin of water, lifting it off its base with a great nudge, it fell off, water flying everywhere. It landed near Meg, but the water hit her on the face and she came to.

"What happened? Oh Raoul. Don't hurt me, I am on your side, I worry of you and want to help you."

"Then take me to the buggy and get inside, I am taking you hostage until they return Christine to me and allow me the chance to even the score with The mysterious Phantom whom she thinks she belongs with now."

"Raoul, Christine is dead, she would not leave you for this long if she was alive, she loved you and if she were alive she would have found her way back to you by this time. I was waiting in the wings for you if you wanted me, but you have taken leave of all your senses. I fear that you are a great danger to yourself and others in this state. People should not be seeing you like this, it is creating fear in those who know and love you. Listen, you have to think Raoul, you are going to ruin the rest of your life for this temporary difficulty in your life. It is not worth it, Raoul. Listen to me, you are lost, it is normal, the grief will go away in time and then if you wish to, you may call on me, I will help you to rebuild your life. You see Raoul, I love you."

He sneered at that, "love, what is that, I loved Christine and she left me. God, Meg, she can't be dead, at least if she is still alive I can try to win her love. I don't know what to do if she is gone. God, why did you take her from me. That little whore, she took my love and ran off with that awful opera ghost. He is a deformed monster, he will burn in hell for this. He has taken from me my soul, his shall not be allowed to roam happily with Christine while I rot in some asylum. I don't think so. I was in the military, I know how to fight wrong, I am chivalrous and will find my princess and save her from the monster. I have to and I am willing to do what ever it takes to save her. She shall be grateful when she no longer has to be afraid of that monster haunting our future for the rest of our lives. This is going to happen and you, dearest Meg shall be the instrument I shall use to accomplish flushing them out. I believe that your mother, Meg, knows where they are and in fact knows that I am not insane, they are alive. I will prove all of this by capturing you and holding you hostage. Now, do you want to help me? If so, get in the damn buggy and say nothing, mademoiselle."

With that, Meg decided that she had better humor him, he sounded so brittle that she feared he would break if she opposed him at this juncture. She would have time to get away when he was not in need of so much help. Right now, it could very well kill him in this altered state he was in. Then she thought of Phillippe again, where, she wondered, was he during all of this. She hoped that he was alright and that Raoul had not done something foolish to him. There would be time to find out about that later, too.