Chapter Five: A Room and a Name

They reached the Phantoms lair within an hour. It felt like an eternity to Meg, but she was thankful to be out of the dark passageways. To her relief, nothing was ruined or out of place inside the lair. The Phantom walked over to his organ and sat down, stroking the ivory keys with his fingers. Meg was hoping that he would play something, but the music never came. She wandered around the lair, examining every room. She found a small but decent kitchen, a bathroom, a music room, and two locked doors. 'I wonder what's behind these' she thought. She walked back to the organ where the Phantom was, and sat down on the floor next to him. He looked down at her with a blank expression.

"Will you play something?" Meg asked cheerfully.

"No," he said plainly.

"Why not?" He didn't answer me, but instead stared at me with irritated eyes. He gave a deep sigh and stood up.

"Follow me," he said, walking towards one of the hallways she explored earlier. Meg stood up and followed him to one of the locked doors. "This will be your room from now on," he said unlocking the door.

"What's behind that door?" she asked, pointing to the other locked door down the hall.

"That is my room. You are not allowed in there. Ever," he said harshly.

"Alright, whatever you say." Now her curiosity for that room increased. She will have to find out what he is keeping in there. She find a time when he's not around. "Monsieur, you already know my name. May I ask what yours is?"

He stared at her for a moment before answering, "…Erik. You make call me Erik."

"Erik. I think that is a beautiful name. Thank you for this room. Goodnight, Erik," she said, entering the room.

"Goodnight, Meg," he said, shutting and locking the door behind him. She couldn't believe he had actually locked her in. "Well," she said to herself, "I guess it will be a while until I can gain his trust." She walked over to the bed and sat down. Suddenly exhausted, she laid back and fell asleep.

Meg awoke to the sound of an organ being played. The music was filled with emotion. The main ones were anger and depression. She knew that the music was played by Erik and that he was letting his emotions go through music. She had to admit, it was a very beautiful piece. She didn't feel like staying in bed anymore now that she was fully awake. She stood up and walked over to a wardrobe that was in the room. She opened it up and what she saw was a selection of dresses. She knew that they were meant for Christine, so she stayed in the outfit which she was already wearing. She did take the liberty of brushing out her uncooperative curls. She saw another door in her room and opened it. It was another bathroom. She washed up her face and when she thought she looked decent enough she decided to go and see Erik. She walked to the door and tried to open it. It was still locked from last night. Erik was still playing his organ so he wouldn't hear her knocking on the door so it would be a while before she got out. She looked around the room for something to do. She found a poem book and decided to read it. She sat at the vanity and opened the book. She read for about an hour when the music had stopped. Moments later, she heard the click of a lock and the door to the room opening. Not looking up, she listened to Erik moving towards her.

"Enjoying your book, mademoiselle?" he asked.

"Yes. This book has caught my interest," she said, now looking up from her book and facing him.

"I trust you had a good sleep?"

"I did, thank you. Erik, your music is simply beautiful. It was a wonderful thing to wake up to," she said with a friendly smile.

"Thank you."

"Erik," she said with a heavy sigh, "will you ever trust me?"

"I have learned not to trust anyone, mademoiselle."

"Well, could you make one exception and actually try to trust me? Maybe we could even become friends," she said with a smile.

"Friends? You want to become friends with a monster like me? You are a stubborn little girl, Meg. Do you not realize who you are asking to be friends with?" he said with a cold smirk.

"For one thing, monsieur, I am not as little as you think. Erik, the only thing monstrous about you is your temper. And yes, I do want to become friends with you for it does seem that I will be down here for quite a while. You have to stop wallowing in self pity!"

Erik was very amused about Megs little outburst. Maybe, just maybe he could trust her. She did follow my instructions before and I doubt she will disobey me again. So why not try. "Fine, mademoiselle. I will try to trust you, but don't expect it to be straight away. We'll start off with little things, such as not locking you in your bedroom at night which I had intended to do."

"Thank you, Erik. This means a lot to me." Erik just nodded and made his way to the door. He stopped at the sound of Megs voice.

"Oh, and Erik?"

"Yes?"

"Could you just call me Meg?"

"If you wish." And with that said, he left the room. Meg couldn't believe that Erik accepted her request. Maybe she could make him open up a little with her. She was still curious about what had happened that dreadful night, but her curiosity would have to wait. The first thing she needed to do was build a friendship with him. She was starting to really enjoy his company, even though she only knew him for a few days. No one would believe that she was living with the Phantom of the Opera himself. Of course no one would know. She would never see her mother or friends ever again. Out of sudden realization of this, she started to cry. She missed her mother and friends dearly and not seeing her mother again would surly destroy the both of them. "Maman, I'm so sorry. I miss you so much," she whispered to no one in particular. What Meg didn't know was that Erik was standing just outside her door. He listened to the girl cry and her silent confession. Suddenly, an idea struck him. Maybe this friendship thing wouldn't be so bad. He had a way to gain some of Megs trust as well. He went to his desk and got some stationary ready. He had some work to do.

Oooo! What is Erik up to? You will find out in the next chapter. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. It's not as good as the others but it will have to do. Now to reply.

Faith: Thank you. I will try my best to update A.S.A.P.

Katherine Silverhair: I read through the first for chapters and noticed a lot of mistakes. Thank you for pointing that out to me. I'll try and go back and fix them. Thanks for reviewing.

Charity: Thanks. I try to put Erik in character. There is the "Evil Erik" (which I personally enjoy) and the friendly, thoughtful Erik. I'm hoping that you liked this chapter. No matter how short, it was hard to write.

Phantom'sChristine: Thank you and no worries. I will continue this story until the end, no matter how long it takes. I just hate it when people write stories and don't complete them. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Okay…Thank you to all my reviewers and to anyone else who has read this story. I'm sorry this chapie is so short, but I need to add more ideas to the next chapter. It might be a while. A couple of days at the most. Alright, now I'm gonna go and work on my other story. Thanks again and review.