Note:Whee! New chapter that I just finished tonight! I'm soon going to delve into Ana's deep dark mysterious past, the pain she feels on her wrists, arms and stomach, are clues to what will happen later! Thank you and keep the reviews coming!

Chapter 8

A thought haunted Erik as he made his way back to his lair. He pondered on it as he silently poled his gondola through the water. When the boat bumped against the stone floor of his lair, he jumped out and stalked up to his desk. 'She wasn't afraid of my mask. Her eyes just slid right over it, as if it wasn't there.' he thought. And then the thought slowly drifted back to when he shook her. She seemed so sure of herself that she would win the little battle. But when his fingers closed over her arms and turned her towards him, she lost her willpower; fear invaded her body quickly and she cast her head down. He felt sad for her, maybe she was a whore who like pain instead of pleasure.

Quickly he shook his head, 'No! I will not go after her like the way I did with Christine. She means nothing to me, nothing at all.' He picked up his quill and began to write out a list for Ana.

Ana awoke the next morning with pain searing through her wrists and on her stomach. She shut her eyes against the blinding white pain that laced through her scars.(A/N: If you've ever had a Charlie Horse, you know what she's experiencing. It's a muscle contraction that doesn't let go until the muscle is stimulated harder to let the contraction go. It sometimes happens to muscles that have been worked to hard, but I have a scar on my wrist, and at times I get a Charlie's Horse in that area and it hurts like mad! Anyways, back to the story.) Each twitch was worst than the last and Ana cried out as the next one came faster and harder. Then, they stopped as quickly as they had begun. Ana lay on her bed panting from the exhaustion that swept over her. She slowly began to move her hands to her stomach. Laying them there, she felt the tense muscles as they remained contracted. Slowly she began to massage her scars trying to loosen the muscles. It hurt to breathe because the muscle had remained contracted for so long. She attempted to get up, but found it difficult to move her stomach. Her scars had been stretched to their limit and it was going to take a while for them to relax.

'Looks like I'll be missing dance this morning.' Ana said, wincing as she attempted to sit up. Even that failed, the muscles in her wrists and in her arms were too sore from the multiple contractions that they had received in such a short time. She lay there unable to move, until a knock came from her door.

"Ana, are you okay?" Mme. Giry's voice hailed her through the door.

"Yes. You can come in, if you want Madame Giry." Ana cried back, still finding herself unable to sit up. As she heard the door begin to unlock, she looked at the large mirror and saw her face was still an ashen gray. She watched Mme. Giry enter her room through her mirror.

"Oh my dear! Are you sick? Do we need to call for a doctor?" she asked worriedly.

"No, Madame Giry, I am fine. Just a few muscle cramps. I'm afraid I won't be able to dance today. If I am feeling better though, I would like to go into town...to pick up a few things." She said not taking her eyes off the mirror. If Madame Giry found that strange, she did not say. Though Ana did catch Mme. Giry glance at the rose that still sat on her dresser.

"I see. Well, I really hope you feel better, and hope those few things will please someone. I'll send Meg to you later this evening if that is okay. Now, I must get back to dancing, see you later my dear." With that said, she let herself out and left as silently as she had come. Ana let out a sigh of relief, and laid her head back down on her pillow. She tried to remember what her dream had been about. It was a really odd dream, one that had left her confused and wondering what had happened. Then, slowly it crept back into her mind, picture by picture.

She was running, running down a long dark path. Trees lined the path with leaves floating down. They crunched under her feet as she ran. She glanced behind her and saw Alex chasing her. She tried to speed up urging her feet to go faster. Then she pitched forward and found herself in the arms of none other than Erik. They were dancing, her in a beautiful, shimmering ball gown and he in a black suit with a waistcoat that matched her shimmering pale blue gown, a black cravat tied around his neck. His mask was there, with his lovely dark hair slicked back, his blue green eyes dancing with joy. She took comfort in the smell of him, knowing that she was safe. He dipped her and she found herself falling, falling through a black hole and then landing on her back, Alex looking down at her as he smiled insanely. She turned her head to see Erik with a sly smirk on his face, he appeared to be happy, but that smirk didn't reach the sadness in his eyes. Turning her head back towards Alex she felt the stinging blows that he laid on her wrists, arms and stomach. That was when she had woken up to her pain.

She was pondering why she dreamt about Erik when who should appear from the mirror but the man that was in her dreams. Erik gave her a perplexed look.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at rehearsal." he stated quite bluntly.

"I had muscle cramps and I can't exactly move from the bed. You can just put the letter on my stomach or hand it to me along with the gold. When I can move again, I shall go out and get your stuff." she said shyly, hoping to pull off the lie that seemed to hint her menses had begun and not about her scars.

Erik looked disgusted that she would mention something so personal to him. But nonetheless he placed the letter on her stomach. She opened it slowly and read it. He wanted her to get some clothes, a few white linen shirts, a new cravat, a couple of new waistcoats and a couple of pants. Plus, a pair of cufflinks for his shirtsleeves and a pair of cravat cufflinks.

"You are supplying the gold correct?" she said quietly.

He tossed the bag on her stomach as well, "I expect these back by tonight, fail me and you will see my real wrath." he turned around and hit the mechanism. Before he left he quietly said, "I hope you feel...better." Then the mirror slid silently shut and Ana let out a sigh of relief. Her secret was safe for quite a while, they only knew what they wanted to know. No one would find out the real truth.

Ana felt better around lunch time and was able to move around. She got up, slowly for her muscles still ached to a degree, and slowly dressed. She made her way down to the kitchen, the list and gold hidden within her long cloak. She grabbed a sandwich and made her way to the Grand Foyer.

Humming a merry tune, she stepped outside. The sun shone down on her casting a slight warmth on her cool flesh. She shivered slightly in delight and made her way down the street to where she had seen some shops. She browsed around until she came to a men's shop. Stepping inside, she immediately felt out of place. There were two men standing in a corner, whispering about something, that stopped and looked at her. She gave them a slight smile and felt their eyes roam across her body. She ignored them and pulled out the list. Three white linen shirts, size was a medium. She snorted at that, blatantly thinking that he seemed like a large. Spotting the shirts that he had somewhat described and that looked like he would wear, she picked out three. Now it was on to a cravat. She glanced around and looked at the different colors. There were too many to choose from. There were black, brown, dark blue, dark green, a pale green, a pale blue, a maroon, and too many others to mention. She decided on the maroon thinking that it would look rather good on him. Then she moved on to find some waistcoats that were a size 34 across. She walked over to the one rack and once again had trouble picking out some waistcoats. So she chose a maroon one, a pale blue with gold stitching in it and a dark forest green with black stitching in it. Finally, after picking up black pants, size 34, she walked to the counter. Underneath the glass counter, she looked at the different cufflinks and cravat cufflinks.

"May I help you?" an older gentleman asked her.

"Yes, I would like those two cufflinks and that cravat cufflink please." She said pointing to the ones she had selected. The gentleman nodded and put them in boxes. He calculated her total and it came out to quite a hefty sum. She paid it finding that she still had some money left over. Then, grabbing the paper bag she rushed out as quickly as she could from store and ran right into someone else.

"Oh dear I am so sorry...Madame." she said looking at a beautiful girl with dark brown curls pulled away from her face.

"That's quite alright. Here let me help you." the young woman bent down and helped Ana pick up her parcels that had spilled from the paper bag.

"Thank you..." She realized that she didn't know the young woman's name.

"Oh, I am sorry. My name is Christine, Vicomtess De Chagny."

Bum bum bum...lol...hope ya enjoyed this chapter!