A loud knock on her door awoke her. Kerri had no idea what time it was, but she knew it was early.
Putting on her robe, she cracked her bedroom door open.
"Kerri! Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Christine was holding some big white thing, and looking very chipper.
"Oh, no. How may I help you?"
"Umm, Raoul said you might want this dress. I was going to burn it, because…" She looked at the floor. "Well, do you like it?"
She stepped back, showing Kerri the dress. It was obviously a wedding dress. Simple, yet elegant.
"Sure, I'll have it."
"Good." Christine practically threw it into her arms.
"Will we be seeing you for lunch?"
"Probably not. I really want to finish my painting." Kerri lied.
"Alright. Dinner then."
"Of course." She could think of a million better things to do, but she decided that since this girl was going to be her sister, she might as well have dinner with her.
As soon as Kerri closed the door, her dog, a Doberman named Adonis, growled.
"Yes, I don't like her either. But the dress is pretty, hmm?"
Kerri laid the dress out on her bed, and then thought of the idea to visit her new house guest.
Knocking before unlocking the door, she found him sleeping. The drapes were drawn closed over the doors that lead out onto a balcony. Kerri used it many times before to get out undetected. The fire place still glowed red with embers. Smiling, she walked directly towards the drapes, pulling them open. Erik rolled over because the light it him directly in the face.
"Oh come now. If I have to be up with less than ten hours of sleep, so do you."
"I can see why men find you annoying." He mumbled, pulling the blankets over his head. Kerri laughed.
"Men find me loud and boisterous. Other than that, they say I'm quite charming."
"Charming?" He rolled over, sitting up suddenly.
"What is charming about waking me up at the most indecent hour…" He stopped mid sentence.
"Why aren't you dressed?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Why aren't you?"
"Because I was sleeping." He retorted.
"As was I, until your lady love woke me up to give me a dress she didn't want. It's a very pretty dress, I will admit."
"What are you talking about?" He seemed very agitated.
"Christine Daae. I saw the mannequin, and you cannot tell me the two did not bear amazing resemblance in the face."
"What is Christine doing here?"
"Her only home just burnt to the ground, in case you've forgotten. Where else would she go?"
Wheels started turning in Erik's head. If she was here, then perhaps there was a chance to win her back… Keri saw him thinking, and began thinking too.
"Now, Raoul lives in the West Wing of the house. Although I doubt they're sharing a bedroom, she will most likely be in one of his guest rooms" Kerri walked over to the desk, brushing the finished sheets of music with her fingers.
"Oh, and while I'm thinking of it, the servants passages lead all over the house. They don't connect to any mirrors, but quite a few of them open into ventilation shafts...but that's just a thought." Kerri smiled, sighing.
"If you need me, I'll be in my room all day, painting. Except for dinner. I think we're having people over, so I have to be there." Satisfied that she'd dropped enough hints, Kerri left.
"What were you doing in there?" Delia, Maries mother hissed. She was standing outside of Kerri's door.
"Nothing." She replied non-chalantly.
"Nothing? In your underwear?"
"He didn't see that I was only wearing underwear." She snorted.
"Well, I'll have you know he wasn't wearing anything."
Kerri blushed. Good thing she hadn't followed her original plan to yank off the covers.
"Yes, that's right. You should be embarrassed. Flouncing about in your underwear with a man you barely know."
"I was not 'flouncing about', thank you. And besides, I can only do that because I don't know him."
She paused.
"And anyway, he's in love with someone else."
"Who?" Delia crossed her arms.
Kerri coughed loudly.
"Umm, he might have a tiny flame for Christine…"
Delia gasped, pulling Kerri into her room.
"And you brought him here, of all places? What is wrong with you?"
"It's not like she'll ever know. I don't plan on parading around the foyer with a banner, so if you keep your mouth shut…she'll never know."
Delia sighed, closing her eyes. "I have no idea where I went wrong…"
Kerri smiled, hugging the older women.
"I'm a product of years of oppression and lack of oxygen due to corsets."
The woman laughed.
"So, what is your latest work? I see you've finished Paris."
Kerri looked at her easel, where the finished canvas of the Eiffel Tower waited to be hung.
"Actually, I am yet to be inspired."
"Well, perhaps you'll find inspiration at dinner tonight."
Kerri groaned.
"Kerri, you need to be social! This woman is going to be your sister. You will be seeing a lot more of her, so you might as well get to know her."
"But what if I don't want to be social? What if I am perfectly happy not knowing her?"
"Then you will be very miserable tonight, because you are going; I'm making you."
Kerri made a face.
"Don't give me that, young lady. Just because I work for your family, that does not mean that I can't hit you every once in awhile."
Kerri hid a smile, thumbing through her wardrobe, looking for something to wear later in the day.
"What about this, lady?" Delia held up a rather frumpy dress.
"I'll look like a nun."
"Well, maybe your new friend will take a hint."
Kerri thought to herself 'What if I don't want him to take the hint?"
She knew it could never happen, of course. One reason being he was absolutely obsessed with his brother's fiancée. Two, he found her incredibly annoying. And although she wasn't madly in love with the man, it still hurt. And the third reason was probably the most trivial, yet somehow it stuck out most in her mind; she was seventeen. At the very least, he was gracing forty. She valued life experience in men, but really, that was just ridiculous.
Erik got out of bed as soon as she left and closed the drapes. He was going back to sleep, to hell with being up this early. He curled up under the blankets, and then put a pillow over his head when Kerri and an anonymous voice were having a loud conversation out in the hallway. The voices were gone, but the thoughts were still there.
She had been standing in the light for most of their conversation, and although he hadn't intentionally noticed, you could pretty much see through the robe.
He groaned, rolling over onto hi stomach. He was getting excited over nothing. She was seventeen, for Christ's sake! Barely out of childhood. And anyways, how could anything so beautiful ever want him? He knew now that he was destined to be alone isolated from the world forever.
He had to leave this place before she drove him insane. Would she let him go? Most likely. Did he want to? Yes, and no. As much as she was annoying, something about this Kerri fascinated him. And of course, Christine was here….
So he would stay, Erik decided. Besides, now, the police were probably searching high and low for him, so traveling was dangerous, even if he only moved at night.
Pangs of hunger stabbed his gut. How long had it been since he'd eaten? Three days? Four? Sometimes he lost track of the days when he was composing, and forgot about eating all together. What was on the menu for breakfast, he wondered?