Disclaimer: Don't own Phantom.
Chapter Thirteen
XXX
"Yes monsieur, I'm quite sure it was him. He was just as gruesome as you've described."
"And you know where he's located exactly?"
"Yes. All I ask is that you bring the woman he's with to me. Unharmed."
XXX
"Do you want some sugar in your tea, Erik?"
Christine offered Erik the sugar bowl, smiling at him as he stirred a bit into his cup and sipped at it with a grin.
"Thank you." He murmured. It had been a few weeks since their outing, and Erik had calmed quite a bit, become a bit distant, actually. After realizing for sure that he still wasn't acceptable, his cheerful demeanor changed to a more solemn one. Christine had noticed, but done her best not to draw attention to his withdrawn behavior, hoping that it was only temporary.
Just as she stood up to bring a plate of fresh biscuits to the table, a sharp knocking came at the door. Erik rose and fumbled for his mask, eyes hard, but Christine touched his hand and shook her head.
"I'll get it. Just stay here."
He nodded and watched Christine go around the corner and out of the kitchen.
Christine sighed and pulled the door open, irritated that her lovely breakfast had been interrupted. And gasped as she was greeted by several all too familiar faces.
"Hello there, little mademoiselle. I heard from a very reliable source that you have my monster here."
Christine shook her head, backing up and lifting a hand to her face. "No, not you…"
Javert sneered. "Where is he?"
Erik went completely still in the kitchen. He knew that voice too well. Standing, he quickly rushed to the front door, and gave an angry growl when he saw Christine's arms being held behind her back by two of Javert's employees.
"Let her go." He hissed, and Javert snorted.
"There you are, monsieur Gargoyle. We've missed you. Come along, time to go home."
Advancing on Erik, Javert tossed a rope around his neck, pulling Erik down to the ground. He fought like an animal, lunging up and clawing at Javert as well as the ropes, snarling with wild eyes. His mask became dislodged quickly, and between his animalistic noises and the appearance of his face, the gypsy's holding the rope became a bit nervous.
It was also obvious that all the good feeding and fresh air had done Erik a lot of good, where he had been weak and gaunt before, he now had muscle and actual weight. And he was winning.
Suddenly a knife was at Christine's throat.
"Erik!" she cried, hating herself for becoming a trap, and when he looked up, her heart broke at the look of horror-and surrender-that came across his features before he hardened them.
"Do not struggle, monsieur Gargoyle, or we might have to break our promise to the Vicomte and slit her pretty throat." Javert hissed, and Erik seethed, but went limp.
"Come now, it's back to the circus for us, and off to the Vicomte with you." Javert said, pointing a finger at Christine.
"No! Please, just let me go, let us both go! We haven't done anything to you!"
Javert snorted, walking toward Christine until they were nose to nose. Grabbing her rather rudely around the waist, he stared deeply into her eyes.
"You stole my monster, mademoiselle. Stealing is a very bad sin."
And then something struck her across the head, and everything went black.
XXX
Christine didn't know how long she'd been here at Raoul's chateau. At least a day, maybe two. He'd kept her in a beautiful room, sent servants to bring her food and draw her a bath and pamper her entirely too much.
He hadn't come up to see her once since her arrival, and she was furious with her treatment. It was only now that she was getting ready for bed that she heard footsteps outside her door.
XXX
A few scraps of food were tossed through the bars, and Erik growled at Javert, who laughed.
"You will get used to life here again." He hissed before striding away, leaving Erik naked and shivering inside the cage.
"I will kill you." He whispered after Javert had left.
XXX
"Christine, you will get used to life here."
Raoul had let himself into her room and stood beside the bed where Christine was crumpled, weeping.
"I will never get used to this prison!" she wailed, and Raoul shrugged.
"So you say now. Soon, that monster will be only a distant memory."
XXX
A day passed, then another, and finally Erik had his plan perfected. He waited until Javert came to the cage before he acted. All during the last day, he'd worked on pulling up a board on the floor of his cage. Then he'd spent endless more hours grinding it against anything he could find, until it was narrowed down on one end to enough of a point that it would serve his purpose well.
When Javert leaned on the bars to jeer at Erik as he usually did, Erik crawled toward him, feigning illness.
"Oh no, monsieur Gargoyle. You cannot be sick." Javert said, arching an eyebrow. "How will you perform that way? Ah well, I guess it is nature's way to weed out the unfit… if you die, your corpse will bring crowds as well."
Erik suddenly thrust the sharpened board forward, grinning as it sunk into Javert's stomach. Grabbing the front of his jacket, Erik held Javert still so he could sink the wood deeper into his bowels, turning it a bit for good measure and delighting in the sick squishing that he could feel. Finally he let go of the wood and used his free hand to dig around in Javert's pockets until he found the keys to his cage.
Javert stared up at Erik as blood trickled from the side of his mouth.
"Murderer." He hissed, and Erik grinned, the expression feral, more animal than man, before letting go of his jailer and crawling to the cage door to let himself out.
Standing over Javert's now-dead form, he rubbed his hands together and spat at him.
"No, Javert… the unfit can survive as well."
XXX
Christine stared out the window, watching the sun set and wiping the tears from her cheeks.
This is all my fault. I should never have let Raoul have a spare key! Then he and Erik would have never met…
She was startled out of her thoughts by the sound of shouting in the yard. Opening the window, she looked out and gasped.
A half-naked man was riding on the back of one of Raoul's horses that had been out in the far field earlier that day. She nearly swooned as she caught a glimpse of the man's face.
It was Erik!
He was shouting at several of Raoul's men, and two of them ran into the house, presumably to fetch Raoul himself.
Erik gracefully dismounted and strode to the middle of the yard, staring at the front door. Christine's heart beat painfully in her chest as she watched him. Gone was the gentle face of the man she loved. He was filthy and wore a sinister smirk. His eyes were hard and glinted with a dangerous light that made her shiver.
Finally, Raoul emerged from the house, and Christine was too far away to hear what he said, but it was enough to make Erik scream with anger and lunge forward, knocking Raoul back to the ground and wrapping his hands around his neck.
Christine gave a soft cry of shock, jumping up and running to the door, which was locked. Running back to the window, she leaned out as far as she dared and looked down. She was on the second floor, there was no way she could jump out.
"Erik!" she shouted, but he didn't hear her through his rage and the sound of his own snarls and roars of fury.
Raoul did his best to fight Erik off, but he was brutally slamming his head into the ground over and over, his strangle hold still tight on his neck.
Sputtering, Raoul managed to get a leg up and kick Erik off, and he staggered to his feet.
By now, Erik had heard Christine's frantic shouts, and he turned, looking up at her and taking a few steps toward the window. He didn't notice Raoul coming behind him until he was knocked to the ground. He rolled Raoul over with ease, and delivered a quick punch to his stomach, then jumped up and ran under the window.
"Jump down! I'll catch you!" he called, and Christine immediately crawled out of the window, trusting Erik with all her heart despite the fact that she could see blood staining his hands and chest. Leaping down, she landed in his arms and he fell back, grunting and holding her close.
Raoul was rushing toward them again, and Erik quickly helped Christine onto the horse, then climbed on behind her and kicked the animal into motion.
"Where can we go?" he cried, and Christine clung to the horse's mane and turned her head to shout over her shoulder.
"I know just the place!"