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10
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As nightfall came down on Paris Christine and Erik slept against a less filthy area of the sewer. Christine had fallen asleep in the comfort of Erik's arms and they lay together backed on the wall limply.
When Erik opened his eyes hours later, he found himself to be in the sewers rather than his beloved lair which he had grown so accustomed to all these years. He turned his head to the side and noticed that the torch which had once been alight had now extinguished. He also duly noted that the nighttime was gone and daylight was shining in through the grate. He let out a long sigh, realizing once more that his home was all gone. But at least he had Christine now... Oh, how he loved Christine. As he ran his fingers through her hair he thought of how one girl could mean more to him than anything else in the world could ever mean. If his lair was all he had to sacrifice to earn her love, then he was not the slightest bit upset in the least.
Christine then opened her eyes to find herself staring into Erik's masked face. She came to the same revelation as he had moments ago, that her choice made yesterday had changed her life for good. She peeled herself away from him and stood, a look of agony coming over her face as she put her weight on her injured leg. She quickly placed the weight on the other leg and limped away through the murky waters, Erik watching as she did so but not moving. She stopped in the center and looked all around at her surroundings. Finally, without looking back to Erik but rather up at the grate at the top of the sewer which cast light from the outside on her face causing lines of shadowing on her fair complexion due to the bars on the grate, she croaked, "It smells in here."
Erik raised from the wall he been backed against and approached Christine. "I take it you would like to leave now." He said dryly. She looked at him, the shadows from the light through the grate against her face dancing around, and replied by giving him an aggravated look. He took her arm in his and began to led her down through the sewers in the way he had come the previous day. "You really shouldn't be walking on that leg," he told her. "I have to renew the bandaging."
She did not reply, only continued to let him lead her while maintaining silence. Her leg was not nearly as sore as it had been the other day. She hadn't been able to walk on it before and now she could. She presumed that it must have healed dramatically over the night.
They arrived at a ladder built into the side of the wall. It was made of a metal that Christine could not recognize that had rusted increasingly over its time spent in the depths of the sewage system. Its rungs were thin, cold, hard bars that started at half of the wall's length and ascended upwards some feet, ending at a grate larger than that which had occupied the area they had been in before. She could know it was larger, as more light shined through its bars and fell into her eyes, temporarily blinding her and then leaving a ghost-like apparition of itself in the centers of her vision. She blinked several times, it went away, and she turned her gaze to Erik.
"How will I climb this?" She asked, gesturing to her wounded leg. She knew it had healed somewhat over the night, but not enough so that she could climb this ladder. She didn't think she could pull herself up that far to even reach the ladder's start, let alone climb the whole rusted thing.
Now it was Erik's turn to maintain his silence and reply only in gesture. He wrapped an arm around her waist tightly, such a shock to her a gasp escaped her lips, then he manoeuvered her into his arms and raised her upwards to the start of the ladder's rungs. She gripped onto a bar with a strong grasp and her feet scrambled wildly under her, searching blindly for the bottom wrung to support her. Finally her feet fell into place against the bottom wrung and she felt Erik's hands slowly drift away from her body.
"Hold on tight," Erik instructed, then heaved himself into the air and grabbed onto the bottom wrung where her feet stood. With all his strength, he pulled his weight up to the ladder and strung his legs onto the bar. He shifted his hands to higher bars and then pulled himself up again so he could stand on the ladder along with Christine. The ladder had clearly not been built for two, as she was smothered from behind by his crushing weight pushing against her back and making her to be pressed against the ladder's rungs in front of her. The cold metal, hard against her chest and waist began hindering her breathing patterns, causing her breaths to come out short and with much pain.
Erik breathed in and out deeply, trying to gather his energy once more so he would not falter when climbing the rest of the way. He took in one last breath, then let a hand come away from its holding on a bar and reached through the bars to wrap around Christine's waist once again. She let out a shortened gasp and then Erik began to climb upward.
"Let go of the bars," He said, noticing she was still attached to them.
She had not even realized that she had not let go of the rung she had held onto as Erik began his ascend. She let go in one prompt motion, letting her arms go limp at her sides and let Erik take her upwards, away from the dank pits of the sewers and to the fresh outside world that she longed to be in once again.
Erik moved swiftly up the bars until he came to the top where the grate sat, impeding their exit. "Push the grate up," He breathed into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. She did as was asked, raising a weak arm above her head and placing her hand against the cold metal. She pushed upwards and the grate began to slowly unhinge from its holding, casting stronger light in through the breaching cavity. Finally she felt the grate slide out from her grip and she knew their passage was no longer blocked. Erik continued up the remaining rungs of the ladder, then stopped and boosted Christine upwards, through the hole. She struggled through the opening, feeling at great loss of energy, then crawled out along the road and waited for Erik to come out.
He pulled himself out and shut the grate behind him. He knelt down next to Christine on the road and turned her head up to his, studying the poor color of her face. She was not doing well. He kissed her on the forehead and stroked the underneath of her chin with his hand. "We're out now. It will be okay."
Christine let out a soft moan, feeling as though someone had just removed all of her bones and now she was as limp as jelly. She offered Erik a pained smile, not mad at him anymore for having brought her down into the sewers because she knew that there was no where else to go.
"Come on, now," He said as he helped her up and propped her upright on her own two feet. He did not remove a hand from her arm though, as he feared that if he did she would lose her balance and fall down as she had on previous occasions. "This is a public street we're on. It's not safe here."
Christine let him lead her away behind some nearby snow filled bushes that lined the road. As they walked, she looked at him and asked, "How did you get me in there? It was hard enough getting out with my aide. But without?"
Erik took on a look of farcical bewilderment. "You know... actually it was easier."