Chapter Thirty-Two

A Black Knights Return

Silence filled the room, the sound of the gunshot still echoing throughout.

A choked sob filled the room and two women fell to the cold floor beneath them.

Men's shouts and women's screams filled the room as everyone began to panic.

"Christine!"

Everyone froze in their place at the sound of the horrifying cry that was torn from Erik's lips as he collapsed onto the floor beside his now bleeding wife. Natasha was lying not far from them, her body still and unmoving. Someone had fired at her just as she had pulled the trigger at Christine. Both women had fallen together. Erik pulled Christine's limp body against his and desperately tried to stop the blood which was flowing from her pale flesh. He shouted for a doctor before turning to the woman in his arms. It was not a serious wound...thank God!

The bullet had hit her shoulder and had lodged itself there. Her eyes fluttered and her weak gaze found his. She...smiled. Erik had to fight down the emotion in his throat at such a simple gesture. She seemed to be strong at the worst of situations when Erik found himself almost trembling at the idea that he had almost lost her. He realized quite suddenly that she was the only person he had in his life to care about. He had no one who cared about him. If she were to die there would have no one once again. She shifted and winced when her body protested.

"Erik..." she only whispered his name and Erik knew she was going to be alright. She was a strong woman. He glanced at Natasha where several men were gathered around her, Anthony being one of them. He turned to look at Erik an unreadable expression on his face.

"She's dead," he informed him. Erik simply nodded. What was he supposed to feel for the woman? She had almost killed his wife for goodness sake! Anthony left Natasha's still body to come to Erik and see that Christine was alright. She smiled at her brother when he kissed her hand. Anthony's eyes found Erik's and the masked man simply nodded, she was going to be alright.

"The man who shot Natasha was wearing a black domino costume, but he disappeared almost immediately and we do not know who he is," Anthony said. Christine's hand found Erik's and she squeezed it. He looked down at her, surprised she still had so much strength.

"Natasha knew him! She was talking to him earlier!" she whispered. Erik was unable to say anything because the doctor had arrived and he instructed that Christine needed to be put to bed immediately. Erik cradled her gently in his arms and on long strides left the room, the doctor following quickly behind them.

Maids had already been called into their chambers to prepare the necessary things for the doctor. Erik went to their bed and gently laid Christine upon it. Christine's hand continued to hold his even when he was about to pull away. Her pain filled eyes found his and Erik could not leave her, even to attend to the things downstairs. The doctor arrived at the side of the bed after washing his hands and getting the things he would need. His hands went to Christine's dress laces and Erik growled a low warning. The doctor, a young, handsome man, raised eyes to Erik's, obviously quite frightened of Erik's dark visage. Christine looked up at her husband, surprised that that dark side of Erik was showing after so long being dormant. She squeezed his hand and his eyes left the doctor to look at her. She smiled.

"You do it," she whispered to him, knowing it was what he wanted to hear and knowing she would bleed to death before he allowed the doctor to undress her. Erik growled at the young man to turn around and his large hands expertly undressed her. He pulled the blankets up to the top of her breasts and his eyes seemed to be locked with the bullet wound in her shoulder. The doctor turned around when he judged it was safe to do so and went about doing what he could for Christine's wound. Erik refused to leave her side.

xXx

"How is she?"

"Is she going to be alright?"

Erik was bombarded with questions when he silently left the room after a few grueling hours of watching Christine in pain. She was now asleep due to the medicine she had been given and Erik had judged that he could leave for a few hours without feeling guilty about it. Anthony, Sienna, Nadir, and Raoul were all waiting outside the door to hear the news about Christine's condition. Erik looked at their concerned faces and his face darkened even more then it had with the young doctor. All he told them was that she was sleeping now and would be fine before he stormed off down the hall. Everyone stared after him in shock, wondering what in the world he was thinking.

In truth there were a million thoughts whirling in Erik's mind and not one of them was good. Was he forever cursed to live a life with turmoil and despair? Did he not deserve even a brief moment of happiness? Christine could have died this night and it would have been his fault for marrying her. He knew that one of the Delauney's had to have been in the black domino suit and he would take his revenge. But to think that Natasha was behind it! Had she been in league with his enemies all along and had never known it? The idea that he had been played so skillfully did not rest well with him and he swore that he would have every one of their lives before he died. Christine meant more to him then he was ever willing to say, and her family had threatened her life. No one hurt what was his and lived to boast about it. Leroy and Michael had made one fatal mistake...Erik knew where there manor resided and he was planning on making a little visit.

"I know all too well what you are thinking and I will warn you know that is a foolish idea."

Erik whirled around to see Nadir standing behind him, a serious expression set into his features. Erik muttered several curses under his breath at the sight of the Persian, the last person he wished to see at the moment. He knew that the Persian knew all to well what Erik wanted to do at that moment and he was fuming that the man seemed to know so much. Erik was sure that the look on his face showed that he did not want any company at the moment but Nadir refused to move.

"You know nothing," Erik hissed. Nadir's face became angry and he pointed an angry finger down the hall to where Christine was sleeping.

"I know that a young girl is in pain for a past she had nothing to do with!" Nadir said furiously.

"The ones who touched her will pay for their crimes, that much I can guarantee you," Erik murmured. Nadir had to keep in his sigh. He had noticed that Erik had begun to change his dark and foreboding ways because of Christine but this incident had brought him back to a place he should not be.

"Are you doing this for Christine or Emma?" Nadir demanded. Erik froze at the man's words.

"I know that it still haunts you how they treated her, Erik, but she is gone, Christine is not. Who are you doing this for?"

Erik said nothing, choosing instead to turn and walk away. Nadir, however, was not done. He grabbed Erik's arm and the masked man turned around furiously to meet the other mans gaze.

"Remember your place, Khan, or I will be forced to remind you," Erik growled.

"If you go the Delauney home you might not ever come back! You must take Christine away from here! You know they want you both dead, Desslar, and they will not stop until that is accomplished!" Nadir said, wanting the man to see reason. Nadir still cared about this man, even after everything that had happened years prior, and he would not see him hurt. Erik pulled away from the man's grasp and on long, agitated strides disappeared from sight.

xXx

Erik smiled to himself when he felt the rain that began to fall as the carriage slowly brought him to his destination.

The Delauney Manor.

Nadir's words were still fresh in his mind. Was he doing this because of what they had done to Christine or because of the years of torment they had inflicted upon Emma? Emma was gone and the only person he had was Christine. If he were to lose her he would once again be alone. He did not want that. He had been alone too long. He was doing this because of Christine. Everything he did from this moment on would be for Christine. If he were to die tonight at least he would know that she was free from the hunt on his head. As long as she was safe. That was why he climbed out of the carriage and faced the dark manor in front of him, preparing to walk through hell for what had been done to Christine.

xXx

Christine woke up several times from a drug induced sleep, her shoulder throbbing and her body as heavy as lead. She called out Erik's name several times, not wanting to be alone when she hurt so badly. But he was not there. She called him several times more to no avail and she felt several tears slip from her eyes no matter what she did to stop them. Where was he? Several maids came in as did her brother and Sienna but she wanted Erik. What had happened that he was not there when she needed him?

xXx

Erik embraced the shadows that clung to him as he silently made his way through the manor house. It had been ridiculously easy for him to get inside and now he was in search of the two men whom he wanted dead.

Knowing Michael as he did he thought that perhaps the man would be in his study, which was where he had always spent a great deal of his time. Erik dodged several guards as he made his way there and silently slipped into the room. As he had suspected both Michael and Leroy were inside. Leroy was pacing back and forth and he was dressed in the black domino suit that he had worn to kill Natasha.

"Why did you shoot Natasha?" Michael demanded of his son. Neither of them noticed Erik for he was well concealed in the shadows.

"She let her emotions win over her duty...can you believe that she fell in love with Desslar?" Leroy demanded, obviously very annoyed that Natasha could have such feelings toward another man.

"I do not care! We could have disposed of her later! She had her gun pointed at Christine! You could have killed Erik at the same moment she pulled the trigger and slipped away!" Michael hissed. Leroy said nothing, realizing that his father was correct. How could he have been so foolish?

He had been so caught up in the idea of Natasha's feelings for Desslar that he himself had forgotten what he was there for. But Natasha had been his; he had made love to her countless times and had thought for a long time that the stunning beauty felt something for him. They were a match, really, both cold and calculating and their time together in bed had been well spent. But somehow she had fallen for the masked man and it was making Leroy very angry.

"Christine is only injured as well, nothing was accomplished tonight!" Michael said angrily. Nothing had gone as he had planned. They had not expected Erik and Christine to disappear for a few hours to 'make love' and they had been unable to find where they had gone or when they were coming back. Natasha had found them and had had them right where they wanted them! How could they have failed.

"We will come up with another plan, Father, they will die, and soon," Leroy promised. His father said nothing for a long moment and Erik was ready to attack when Michael said something that stopped him in his tracks.

"I found this diary earlier, I was quite surprised," he said. Leroy was agitated that he father was talking about a ridiculous diary at a time like this.

"A diary? What do I need with a diary?" he demanded. Michael took the mentioned diary out of a desk drawer and set it down on the desk. Erik froze.

"It is Emma's."

xXx

Persia

1864

"What is that your writing in, Emma?" Erik asked, rocking Anthony close to him. Emma glanced up from the book she was writing in and smiled at the two boys in her life that meant everything to her.

"It is my diary," she answered. Erik frowned.


"I did not know you had a diary," he said. Emma smiled again.

"I know, I always wrote in it when you were sleeping," she answered. Erik said nothing for a moment, although he was curious about anything that had to do with Emma.


"What do you write in it?" he wondered, hoping she would show it to him. Emma smiled to herself, looking down at the book.

"A lot of things, my thoughts, dreams...hopes, everything really," she said. Erik would not tell her that he wanted to know all of those things about her because he knew they were private and none of his business. He had also noticed that she had begun leaving the house late at night and coming back a few hours later. He watched to see where she went but she always disappeared before he had a chance to do so. He would never ask because he wanted her to get away for a while because he hated the fact that she was forced to stay here because of the family who cared nothing for her.

"I know you are curious to read what I have in here, Erik, but in time perhaps I will be able to let you read it, alright?" she asked. Erik nodded, surprised that she had seemed to know what he was thinking...

xXx

"Emma's diary?" Leroy asked, astonished. He had thought his sister had taken everything with her when she had married that blasted Daae. He reached for it but was very suddenly shrouded in darkness. The candles had been blown out and they were in complete and utter darkness.

"Blasted draft!" Michael spat. Leroy began fumbling around for some matches and when he found one and managed to fall over everything imaginable he managed to light a candle. His fathers curse brought his attention back to the desk.

The diary was gone.