Lunch and dinner came and went. So did the tea in the drawing room. And now I was sitting here in this room, staring at the wall, just thinking.

Would I ever see Erik again? How I wanted to! It was already evening, and Erik was sure to notice that I was gone! Would he come and rescue me?

Raoul was acting like a bloody pervert when we met together in the drawing room for tea. He kept fondling with my hair and kissing my ear. I would turn my head, or push him away, but then he would grab my wrist and squeeze it so tightly that I thought it would come off.

He kept saying, "Tonight, my darling." I think I knew what it meant. He wanted sex from me, he wanted pleasure. Well I wasn't going to give it to him, even if he tried to force me! I would try to escape.

The door opened, and Rose came in.

"You wanted to see me, Christine?"

"Yes Rose," I said. I patted the sheets next to me and said, "Come sit down."

Rose did so, and when she had sat down, she faced me. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but then she closed it.

"Rose, I asked you to come here because, well, of what you were going to say earlier. What was it?"

Rose smiled nervously. "Oh, that. Well, I was afraid to tell you, just in case the master overheard."

I frowned. "Has Raoul done something?"

Rose nodded silently, keeping her eyes fixed on her lap. "But I don't think I should tell you. I'm not suppose to."

"You can tell me Rose."

"No, I can't!" She suddenly cried, becoming tearful. "It's too horrible! Besides, I thought you already knew."

"Knew what? Why won't you tell me?"

"As I said, it's too awful to speak of. And he said if I told anyone he'd - "

"Oh, Rose! You must tell me!"

Rose suddenly nodded bravely and gathered her wits. "Alright. But you have to promise to keep this secret! Never let a word out of your mouth about it, alright?"

"Alright, I promise! Now tell me!"

Rose sighed. "Well, one day as I was cleaning Master de Chagny's bedroom, I overheard a conversation that he was having with a business partner. I couldn't help but listen."

"Go on."

"Well, he was speaking to this man in the other room, but I could only hear them faintly. Just so I could hear him a little clearer, I stepped closer to the door, which was open just a crack. I heard him talking to the man, I believe his name was Gregory, and they said they were going to hunt down this man. Well, I don't know if you can call it a man, madame. I think it was more of a ghost, or a phantom."

I gasped. "What? Who was it? Don't you remember?"

"Of course. They called him The Phantom of the Opera, or the Opera Ghost. I heard of him myself once, you know. Very bad man, or so I hear. They said they were going to hunt him down."

I started to get angry when she said he was a very bad man, but I decided not to let out my anger. She was only an innocent young girl, she wouldn't know any better. I nodded to her.

"Go on."

"Well, the Vicomte mentioned your name. He said something along the lines of, 'Christine is with the Phantom. I believe he is keeping her prisoner. We must hunt this man down! Didn't you hear of the other murders he has commited?' And Gregory said something like, 'But how do you know this?' and the Vicomte responded, 'I saw him with my own eyes! At the Opera that I told you about! I asked Miss Christine if she would come with me, but she said she couldn't. Later, after the Ghost had threatened me with a sword, he took her away with him!'

"So yes, miss. That is what I wanted to tell you."

I looked at her carefully. Her eyes were darting to every direction, but they never landed on me. She was keeping something from me.

"There is something else, Rose. Please tell me."

"But I told you every - "

"No you didn't. You skipped the terrible part, haven't you? Tell me what Raoul did."

Rose sighed. "If you must know, miss. Gregory didn't agree to catching the Phantom, because he didn't believe in it. And the next thing I heard was a gunshot. I held my hand against my mouth to supress my screams, and quickly dashed into the Master's room, pretending to go along my business. Later that day, I found out that the Vicomte had killed Mr. Gregory. He saw me looking at the floor with utter shock; at the blood stains, and he threated to kill me if I told anyone."

I didn't know what to say. Raoul was a madman, on the hunt for Erik. He already shot his friend, and he would do it again if he had to. I had to escape this place right now!

"Thank you for telling me this, Rose." I nodded to her.

She smiled nervously. "You won't tell anyone?"

"Never."

She smiled happily and said, "Thank you!"

She got up from her spot on the bed and was about to walk out the door when I asked very quickly, without even thinking, "Can you help me escape?"

Rose turned and looked at me, her smile turning into a confused frown. "How? Why?"

"From what you've told me, I really don't want to stay here with Raoul. I want to go back to Er - my parents. They will be looking for me."

Rose's eyes fell to the floor. "I'm sorry if I frightened you."

"Oh, no! You didn't. I always knew Raoul was like this," I lied. "And he scares me." That was the truth.

Rose bit her lip and stared at the ground for a moment, as if she were thinking. I waited patiently. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she exclaimed:

"I've got it! But it's risky."

"What is it?" I asked, excitedly.

Rose hurried over to me and sat down once again with me on the bed. "Well madame, after Master de Chagny goes to sleep, I could lead you downstairs and out the front door."

"But doesn't he have - ?"

"Guards? Servants that watch the place? Yes. That's the risky part. They are usually outside the front doors or in random places around the house. I will have to distract them, or make their minds completely distracted by something else. Then I will lead you out."

"Oh Rose! That's wonderful! But - but, what if they catch us?"

Rose's eyes dropped down to her twiddling thumbs. "I'll say it was my idea."

I was shocked. "No! You don't need to do that! Why, if that is the case, I won't go at all!"

"No, Christine!" She said sharply. I was taken by surprise, for I never heard Rose raise her voice in such a manner. "I'd rather die than live in this house. Besides, I've got no family."

"You don't?"

"No," She replied, sighing. "My mom died when I was born, and my father committed suicide a few years after she died. He just couldn't take life without her. I was then taken to a foster home, which I was kicked out of two years ago. Master de Chagny was kind enough to let me work here, but it's been a nightmare. I don't like it here."

"But," I wanted to ask her another question, but I didn't know what to say. Instead I said, "That is very kind of you Rose."

Rose smiled sweetly. She wasn't planning on me to say 'No, I won't go if you would risk your life!' and even if I did, she wouldn't take it for an answer.

Suddenly, thinking that Raoul was always saying "Tonight" to me, I decided to go to bed early, so Raoul couldn't catch me.

"Rose, what time is it?"

"Around 7:00 in the evening."

"I am getting quite sleepy. Tell Raoul I am going to sleep. And when the time comes tonight, wake me up, if I am not already up."

Rose smiled brightly to me. "I won't forget!" And with that, she left the room.

I didn't want to change clothes to go to sleep, for then it would take me too long to get changed when it was time for me to go, and I couldn't waste any time. So, I slipped under the covers of my bed and tried to sleep. I would need at least a bit of it.

I woke up. I don't know how long I was sleeping, but I am positive it was for a good four hours. I was awoken by Rose, who was being as quiet as a mouse.

"The coast is clear! The coast is clear!" She whispered to me, shaking me gently, until I woke up. Hearing these words, I gasped and sat up on my bed. Rose's eyes grew wide when she looked down at me, and she turned away nervously.

What was wrong? Confused, I looked down at myself. I noticed that the bodice to my dress was torn open. A brownish-reddish bruise was seen there also, and it wasn't there before. Had something bitten me? Had Raoul tried to rape me?

Quickly, I laced up the bodice, and when I was finished, I asked Rose: "Shall I go now?"

Rose turned around and said, "Yes! Before they return! Hurry!"

I scrambled out of bed and Rose and I flew down the stairs quietly, like ghosts. I darted my head in every which way, frightened to see a guard pop out of nowhere. It was terribly dark down here, and the only light that you could see was the lights kept on outside. And the white snow falling from the sky.

Rose quickly opened the front door for me. A wave of freezing air blew onto me. This was going to be a cold walk!

All of a sudden, before I could say goodbye to Rose, all of the lights in the house turned on. And before we could even think, guards were popping out of nowhere, with guns in their hands.

"Intruders!" One yelled.

"No! We aren't intruding!" I said.

"No, they weren't intruding." A voice came, coming down the stairs. I looked to see who it was. Raoul. "They were trying to escape. Can't you idiots tell the difference?"

The guards mumbled cursing words under their breath, telling themselves how stupid they were, and started to focus on us once more.

"I knew this would happen Christine," Raoul said, with a gun in his hand. "And did I not tell you the punishment?"

"Yes, you did." I said, trying to hide my fear.

Raoul looked at me in the eye. "And could you tell me what that punishment was?" He asked.

I didn't respond. I was too frightened.

"Well?" He asked, impatience creeping into his voice.

"You said you'd kill me." I whispered.

"What was that? I can't here you. Say it louder, my dear."

"You would kill me if I tried to escape." I said with more confidence.

"I did, didn't I?" He said.

Without even thinking, Raoul lifted his pistol and pulled the trigger. But no, it wasn't at me. It was at Rose.

I screamed as Rose's body fell to the floor, lifeless. Blood sprung out from her chest, where she had been shot, and her eyes were left open.

She didn't deserve it. I deserved it! This is what she got, for trying to help me survive. That wasn't fair.

So I ran. I ran out the door and towards the gate, sobbing. I was running as fast as my legs would take me. And they tried to shoot me, those guards. They shot at me, but they never got to me.

And when I reached the gate, I pushed it open and ran. You are probably wondering how I did it. Well, to tell you the honest truth, I don't know. Either I was just really strong, or somebody was watching over me. I like to think that it was that second choice.

But fortunatley, they didn't chase after me. I was expecting tons of guards to come towards me, shooting at me, but it never happened. And for that I was thankful. So I stopped running, and walked home to Erik.

On the way towards the Opera House, I thought about Rose. The image of Rose getting shot ran threw my mind a thousand times, as if it were haunting me. It was too difficult to believe. She didn't deserve to get shot. I did.

I cried and cried as I walked towards the Opera Populaire. Since it was so late, nobody was around, and I didn't need to worry about bad men on the streets, ready to hunt down the nearest girl that walks by. No, I didn't worry about that. I worried about Rose.

I know that I only knew her for one day, but it felt like I knew her all my life. She had something, something that looked so familiar, but I didn't discover it until now.

She had Meg's eyes. She had Meg's beautiful, sparkling eyes. Perhaps Rose, a dear friend, but only a friend I knew for so little time, was related to Meg in some way. Perhaps a great, great ancestor. It felt so strange, just thinking about this.

Was it Meg? Was it? It could have been. My belief is that when someone dies, they are reborn into a brand new, better life. I was in the past. Meg was in the future. Perhaps that was Meg, maybe I had just met the Meg from a past life. I knew right then and there that I had.

But she was where she wanted to be now. She was finally happy. Rose was happy now.

I almost passed the Opera Populaire, I was too busy in my thoughts. I went around back, to the secret passage way that Erik had built, and crawled into it.

I walked quickly down the catacombs, sobbing and shaking from the harsh winds and the violently cold weather. After walked down the bumpy passage ways, I came to the boat. But when I saw the water, I felt even colder.

I was shaking violently when I helped myself into the boat. If I fell into that water, I would turn into a popsicle. So careful, very carefully, I rowed back to the lair.

The first thing I heard when I reached the shore was the sound of pounding on an organ. Erik. Oh god, yes, Erik! I qucikly got out of the boat and, still shivering, walked shakily over to the music room.

I stopped in the doorway. Erik was playing the organ so harshly, so fiercley, he was even crying! I gasped. Seeing Erik cry was rare. What was wrong with him? His arms were still weak, weren't they? Why was he playing like that?

Suddenly, Erik stopped playing the organ and set his elbows roughly on the keys, sending a loud bang echo throughout the music room. He acted as if he didn't care for the instrument. But finally I discovered why he was so angry. Or sad, I should say.

"Christine," He whispered, but loud enough so I could hear it. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here Erik," I said.

Erik turned around so sharply that I was a bit taken aback. His eyes lit up when he saw me, and when he had, he got up from the organ bench and flew to me, picking me up in his arms.

He kissed my cold chapped lips fiercley and demanded more. But I was too cold, I couldn't return the kiss so roughly. Instead I pecked him on the lips.

Erik was a bit confused, but when he saw how blue my lips were, and felt how cold I was, he quickly ran me over to the drawing room and set me before the fire. He cradled me in his arms, seated on the floor, as if I was a little child. But I didn't care. I wanted to feel his warmth.

Erik kissed the top of my head and sang to me Music of the Night, as he wanted me to rest. I smiled and fell into a dreamless sleep.

x x x x

Erik: Cheese balls!

Christine: Shut up.

Erik: Cheese balls!

Christine: Shut up!

Me: Sorry for leaving you at a little cheesy ending.

Erik: You said cheesy! Haha! I want cheese balls.

Christine: (ignoring Erik) It was cute though! I got to fall asleep in Erik's arms! (sigh of happiness)

Erik: Yeah, that was totally sexy. Can you make me have love to her now?

Me: Erik, would you shut up? And stop saying cheese balls!

Erik: Cheese balls!

Christine: You know, it's crazy. Reviewers are still giving you chocolates and kisses!

Erik: Yes, well, what can I say? They love me. (smiles) (coughs) cheese (coughs) balls (coughs).

Me: You want cheese balls?

Erik: (pants like a dog) Yes yes yes!

Me: Well...too bad! Christine ate them all.

Christine: (hiding cheese balls behind her back) Uhh...(stuffs cheese ball in her mouth) No I didn't.

Me: Er...ok, anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! And I just want to let you know that there are only a few more chapters to go. Now, please review! Woah...ok, Erik! You don't need to kill Christine over cheese balls!

Erik: (growls at Christine)

Christine: (eats the rest of the cheese balls and throws them out the window) Well, what do you know? They're all gone now.

Erik: Neoooo! (cries)

Me: Review!