Sorry I haven't updated in forever. Sadly, I've been away for most of the summer, and I didn't have Internet access, so it was physically impossible for me to update. I apologize for the suspense. It was cruel and unusual and I should be shot. Now, with that out of the way, on with the story:)
Chapter Five: An Easy Escape
There had been five tries since then. The first three had been variations on the original occurrences—as usual, Christine had left him for Raoul. The first he had followed them; the second and third he hadn't bothered.
The fourth had been a complete disaster. Consumed by anger carried over from previous situations, he had executed his original threat and blown the building up. There had been a part of him that hoped the Opera itself was the thing that anchored the past, but unfortunately it hadn't worked, and he woke up the next morning, not only back at the beginning, but with a severe headache as well.
The fifth...he hadn't even spoken to her, and that had been awful. The moment she met Raoul the vision had ended—it seemed he would have to do something, find some way to get her to love him.
The prospect was not encouraging.
But now, there was something that was preying on his mind, and he had to talk to Gabriel. Unfortunately, the angel was not responding to any of Erik's casual inquires as to his whereabouts. It seemed there was only one way to get his attention, and in a way there was something appealing about it. After all, it wasn't as if he was going to get much done this time around, anyway.
Erik permitted himself a little smile as he raised his arms. The wind on the roof whipped around him as he leaned back and allowed gravity to do its work.
After the sickening crunch that heralded his landing, he retained enough consciousness to whisper a name to the constable who ran over. Then that familiar blackness settled in and everything was over.
The man led the woman towards the crumpled body on the sidewalk gently. "I'm sorry to have to do this, Mademoiselle," he said quietly, "but he said your name just before he died, and no one else can identify him."
She nodded, steeling herself for the unveiling of a close friend and trying not to cry. But when they finally reached the body, it seemed there was nothing to be afraid of. She took one look at the broken face against the pavement and shook her head.
"No, Monsieur," Christine Daaé said as she studied the twisted limbs of the man who had once been the opera ghost. "I have never seen him before in my life."
"Nice try," Gabriel said from where he stood, looking at the prostrate but unharmed man in front of him.
"Where have you been?" Erik said, picking himself up with a small measure of disdain. 'I've been trying to reach you for the past twelve hours."
Gabriel shrugged. "I have other things to do, you know. What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"We have a problem."
Gabriel turned swiftly and met Erik's eyes. "What sort of problem?"
Erik's fists clenched. "I'm losing her," he whispered.
Gabriel looked confused. "Christine? It looks like you've still got good chances to m—"
The man's hand shot out and caught the angel in the chest. He gripped the front of Gabriel's robe and brought the angel within inches of his face. "Is that all you think about?" Erik hissed. "Your ridiculous damned job? Well, just so you know, there is a rest of the world out there. I'm losing Katya. Do you remember her? My wife? Because I don't. And I want to know what in hell is going on."
Quick backstory from angelinhell: Katya is Khatereh of Mazanderan. Those of us hard-core fans out there will know, but for everyone else, Mazanderan is a place in Persia. To make a long story short: Katya was married to Erik but her sister-in-law (who may be known to some of us as my version of the little sultana) went insane and killed her. BTW, I made all of this up.
Gabriel scratched his head—a remarkable feat, as Erik still had hold of the front of his robe. "Interesting," he said. "It seems the temporal loop is interfering with your recall...but unfortunately, I don't think there's anything I can do about it."
"What?" Erik's voice was all ice and steel; even the angel had to shiver.
"All I can do is tell you this: you'll continue to lose memories until you get it right...so you better move fast.
Erik looked hard into the angel's eyes, sighed, and let go of him. "Any suggestions?"
Gabriel shrugged. "I don't know. Be honest."
Erik nodded and closed his eyes. "I'm ready."
FLASH.
I'm really sorry it's so short—I'm just getting back into the groove of the story. The next chapter will be longer, I promise. Okay?
