A/N: I hope by now that most of you are happy with the frequency that I have been updating this story. However, I am now going to break some terrible news to you all. I am going away for the whole weekend on a Girl Scout camping trip. I will be unable to update again until at least Monday. Also, after some of the comments that I have been hearing, I have decided to rework some of the next chapter. So I beg you to be patient with me! The next two chapters will be totally worth the wait – I hope. Everyone have a great weekend.

Ch. 21 – Something Wicked This Way Comes

"Excuse me, good man. Do you serve aboard this ship?"

Marius LeMarq turned at the Frenchman's question. "Yes," he answered as he took in the man's noble appearance. He was dressed elegantly and wore a jeweled ring on his little finger. Marius instantly felt a dislike for him as he did for all men of breeding that never lifted a finger or broke a sweat. "Why do you want to know?"

"I am looking for a woman. I was told that she had sailed on this vessel from Le Havre with her young son. Do you know of her?" Philippe had noted the sailor's disdain and felt his ire rise at the thought of an inferior taking such an attitude with him.

"Maybe. Whatcha want with her?"

"She is my sister and I was supposed to meet her here in port. Unfortunately I arrived later than was scheduled and I have apparently missed her. I need to know where to find her."

Marius had no doubt that this man could be Christine's brother as she was such a lovely and refined lady. He did however, hope to garner some compensation for himself before he gave out the information. "Aye, we did have a lady here onboard, but I'm not sure exactly where she has gone. I might need my memory jogged a bit, eh?"

Philippe was unimpressed with the obvious bribery attempt. "Ah, yes. Well, if you will accompany me to my carriage, I could find something to help with your faulty memory."

Veritably salivating, Marius yelled out to another sailor that he was going ashore for a moment and then followed Philippe off the ship to his waiting carriage. Philippe reached into the vehicle and produced a satchel from under the seat. Opening it, he removed several gold coins and held them up for the sot's greedy eyes to see. "Where is she?"

Marius couldn't help but to lick his lips in anticipation of the feel of the money in his hot hand. "The lady is probably with the Captain. They were pretty cozy, the two of them on the journey. He's been missing a few days and I would guess they're locked away at his house together." He reached out his hand for the coins but was rewarded only with Philippe snatching them back. "I told you all I know!"

"Do you know where your Captain's house is?" Philippe was growing violently impatient.

"I don't know exactly where it is. But anyone here in Charleston would probably know. The Captain kind of stands out so he is sure to be well remembered here."

"He stands out you say?" Philippe's curiosity was piqued. What man would have become cozy, as Marius had put it, with Christine, he wondered.

"Aye, he wears a mask over half of his face when he is not working on the ship. He has a deformity that the more genteel folks wouldn't be able to stomach."

Philippe prided himself on always knowing his enemies, his adversaries. He also made sure to always know his family's enemies as well. The man in the mask sounded a little too familiar to him. He had spoken with Raoul on several occasions about the Opera Ghost that had kidnapped Christine and threatened his life many years ago. It seemed too much of a coincidence that Christine was snuggling up with another man in a mask. Philippe had learned many years ago never to underestimate anyone and never to claim anything was impossible. The likelihood of a man that had been a composer and a singing teacher becoming a ship's captain was negligible. But there was one way to be certain. He had helped his brother keep tabs on the masked man by connecting him with an investigator. They had uncovered many facts about the Phantom of the Opera, one of which was his name. He couldn't remember it off the top of his head, but he knew that it began with an 'E'. He wondered if the greedy sailor would know his Captain's given name.

"Do you by any chance know his name, your Captain?" Philippe asked.

"It's Apollos. Captain Apollos. Don't know his first name."

Philippe knew that he was finished with Marius LeMarq, the man had been as helpful as he was capable of. He lowered the coins until they were eye level with the man. "I thank you for your assistance in locating my sister, Monsieur. I hope that you find this compensation worthy of your help."

Marius's eyes never left the hypnotic shiny coins as Philippe's free hand emerged out of his cloak wielding a long dagger. Those same eyes flew open wide as the blade was plunged deep under his sternum. His mouth gaped open in a silent scream gasping for a breath as his lungs had been punctured. Marius fell forward toward Philippe, who covered him with an arm as if intending to embrace him. It was a short ten feet to the edge of the dock, which was hidden behind several large crates of cargo from the Fereshteh. Moving quickly, Philippe dragged Marius's still convulsing body behind the crates and pushed him into the ocean. He had not extracted the blade from the man and lamented the loss, but he realized it would have been inconvenient to have a bloody knife to clean when he was no where near a suitable area for such a task. Luckily he had still been wearing his gloves so they too would be sinking to the bottom of the sea at this moment.

As he walked back toward his carriage, he heard no shouts, no alerts that anyone had seen his actions. He straightened his cloak and replaced most of the coins into the strongbox inside the vehicle. He ascended the steps into the compartment and hailed the driver. "Who would know the whereabouts of a man who wears a mask?" he asked as he slipped one of the golden pieces into the man's hand.

"You're looking for the Captain? I believe the tailor, Mr. Raines has his address. I've never run the man out to his house before but Raines delivers his own merchandise. He'd be your best bet."

"Take me to the tailor's shop." Philippe ordered and settled back into his seat as the carriage began to move. Thinking deeply about the information that LeMarq had given him, he surmised that the tailor should be able to fill in the last piece of the puzzle for him. He would most like know not only the man's address, but his name, or at least his initials. Then he would know what he was dealing with.

As the cab pulled up outside of the shop, he realized that he was only equipped now with his pistol. The retort would summon too much attention should it be necessary to dispose of the man. He decided that a bribe was going to be the most effective means of getting information at this time. Such was the pity. Philippe had found a large amount of his pent up frustration toward Christine's flight had dissipated upon his taking the grungy sailor's life. It was a beautiful release for him to exercise control over another's existence since he had lost his control over Christine. But this was a temporary affliction. She was not going to remain outside of his grip for much longer.

----------------------------------------------------------------

When Stone returned home that evening, he found Christine in her room packing up her trunks. He noted with a heavy heart her reaction when he had opened the door. It had been apparent that she was expecting Erik by her crestfallen face. Heaving a sigh of preparation, she asked where he was. Stone was concerned about telling her the truth as he didn't know all of the facts yet. He was confused by Erik's current state and had spent the ride home wracking his brain for an explanation for it.

"Erik is at his house", Stone replied.

Understanding came across her face. "He's preparing for us to leave."

Stone shook his head abruptly, he did not want her to cling to the wrong idea. "Christine, he left the ship and he is at his house, but he is not planning on going anywhere right now. He doesn't know what's happening yet."

"I don't understand. Did you not explain about Philippe?" Her face was registering panic.

"He didn't give me the chance. He is upset about something but I don't know what it is. He's not in the mood for a chat just now."

"What do you mean? What could have upset him?"

"He is drowning whatever demons are after him with whiskey."

"He's drunk?" She was flabbergasted having never seen Erik touch alcohol. Her mind was reaching for some explanation.

"Aye. All I can tell you is that whatever has got him upset has something to do with your Philippe. When I mentioned the man's name, he threw me out."

"Why would he…unless he got the wrong impression somehow." She wondered if Philippe had already arrived and had gotten to Erik. He could have told Erik that they were in love and to be married. But if that were the case, she did not doubt that Erik would probably have personally escorted Philippe to the Stone's front door in his anger.

How else could he have gotten information about Philippe? There was the telegram, but that only contained information showing Philippe in a bad light. She strained her memory thinking of what else there might have been, her eyes focused on her twisting hands as she thought. Suddenly her wedding band caught her eye and a thought formed. She crossed the room to her luggage and threw open the case. She began throwing items out of the trunk, searching for an envelope. Stone watched her curiously knowing that he had just witnessed her realization of something that could help them to understand what was haunting Erik.

When she reached the bottom of the trunk, she ran her hand along the lining and in each pocket. Coming up empty handed she sat back on her heels and buried her head in her hands. Stone was surprised a moment later when she looked at him for she face was not stained with tears, but shone with anger. Finally she said, "There was a letter in an envelope that Charlotte had packed with my things. It was from Philippe and it also contained an engagement ring. Charlotte insisted that I take it with me to sell once we got here, but I had told her that I wanted nothing of the man. I found it a few days after we set sail and I knew that she had chosen for me."

"What did the letter say?" Stone asked.

"It was a letter declaring his love and his intention for our marriage. There were subtle threats throughout, but Erik wouldn't see them. All he will see is that I was planning to marry another man and hiding it from him again. I'm sure the cream on the cake is the fact that it is another de Chagny." She let out a hard laugh and began to repack her things, throwing them in with force. "I can't imagine why he thinks that I ran from France if he believes that my fiancé is there. He is really a hard-headed man."

"Can you blame him, Christine?"

Her head shot in Stone's direction, shocked at the accusation. As she stared at the man, her conscious worked on her causing her to see the truth of the statement. She had lied to Erik, kept him in the dark for her own reasons, valid or not. And now he was suffering great pain and another blow in a lifetime of rejection. Suddenly his pain became hers and she felt the tears finally come. Stone went to her and took her in his arms. Weakly she whispered between sobs, "Why does it have to be like this for us? Always so hard?"

"I don't know why." He hushed her and when he felt she had calmed sufficiently, he held her at arm's length so he could look into her face. "Christine, you must go to him and explain what is happening. He will fight you ferociously at first, but you have to do it. He doesn't deserve this suffering and neither do you. We'll keep Charlie here with us and you come back for him when you have straightened it out and come up with a plan. I told you before not to doubt his feelings for you, and I meant it. He wouldn't be in the state he is in now if he didn't love you tremendously."

She felt as limp as a rag doll held in his hands, but at the mention of Erik's condition and his love for her, Christine's strength began to return. He saw the fire come back into her eyes and was glad for it. She took a step back and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She was thinking clearly now and had need of a couple of things before she would go.

"Can I borrow your horse? I had become quite a fine rider when Raoul and I were married."

"Of course you can. I'll mark out a map for you to follow, but you have to wait until the morning, it's far to dark now."

"I can't wait until the morning Stone. I have to go now." She was on fire now, ready for the confrontation. In the morning, she would have had time to consider the repercussions.

"I will take you part of the way then, until I know that you are almost safely there. Agreed?" Stone asked.

"Agreed," she consented. "Just give me a few moments to change, I'll be down shortly."

After Stone had left her to get ready, she quickly changed her gown into one more suitable for riding. Then she quietly crept out of the room and down to Stone's study. She moved with purpose to his gun cabinet and removed the pistol that Stone had been teaching her to shoot. She made sure it was loaded and tucked it into the pocket of her cloak. She had no idea when Philippe would be emerging, but she knew not to underestimate him. She had decided that she would not leave the house without a means of protection from the moment she had read the telegram. Patting the gun in her pocket, she felt a small surge of power and knew that Philippe was not going to take her without a fight and that she would not hesitate to kill the man if it came to that.

Christine met Stone at the front door and they proceeded out to the stable. Maura had kissed them both goodbye and told Christine, "Give him hell but let him know you love him first." Christine had been grateful for the small giggle before her encounter with Erik.

Stone helped her mount Maura's beautiful mare called Blossom. The horse was well tempered and Christine was at ease in the side saddle instantly. She stroked the horse's mane and watched with impatience as Stone prepared his own stallion. When they finally set out she mulled over her part of the conversation that was yet to take place. She wanted to be ready for him and his objections. Don't worry Maura, she thought, I'm going to give him hell like the devil himself. Then I'll love the hell right out of him.