Chapter Forty-Nine:
Whispering Shadows
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to my friend Ani who drew me a wonderful picture of Anthony and it is quite lovely! Thanks Ani! I know this chapter is not that long but I just got over the Stomach flu and so this is all I was able to get out to you all! Thanks to everyone for being so patient, it makes everything a lot easier for me and I appreciate that, you guys are awesome!I know this is early, I was supposed to update tomorrow, but it is rather late in the evening here in California and so I thought I would give it all to you a little earlier!
Michael stared into the flames of the fire before him. It was rather quiet now that Leroy was not there. The thought of his son caused his hand to clench into an angry fist. He had no one left, no family, nothing, and for the first time he truly did feel alone. Is this what his life had measured up to? Had he been put on this earth to lose everyone who ever meant anything to him. Michael had never had a noble heart, and his feelings were hard to come by, but he had loved his two sons, and he wished they were with him. He had known from the moment Emma had brought Desslar home that he was going to cause trouble for his family, and he had. That was why he felt no remorse about keeping Desslar away from his wife and unborn child.
The fact that a baby was going to be born to that monster was blasphemy. Why was he granted the gift of fatherhood when his two sons would never have that gift? Michael would give anything to slowly choke the life out of that whelp and let Desslar know that he was the one to do it; he was the one who killed that man's son. Erik was no longer a threat to him, he was locked away somewhere, wounded and miserable because he was not with his precious wife. How could that man see anything in Christine Daae? She was a whore just like her mother had been. He was sure the baby growing inside of her could be anyone's child, even the Chagny boys. That woman would never be any good, she was her mother's daughter.
He was torn from his thoughts by a rather loud sound coming from outside the room. With a frown on his face he stood up and walked to the door, wondering who in the world would be making such a noise. He had dismissed all of his servants that evening because he had wanted to be alone except for his head servant Julian, who he was sure had gone to bed for the night which meant there was no cause for the noise whatsoever. Opening the door he peered into the dark hallway, looking in both directions and only seeing darkness. He was sure he had heard a noise, it had been really loud. Frowning once more he shut the door and went back to his chair in front of the fire, knowing he just needed some rest.
"Christ!" he growled when he was startled out of his seat by something crashing against the window, causing it to rattle Rushing to the window Michael opened it and looked outside, the only thing he was greeted with was a few trees swaying from the wind, and dark ominous clouds, signaling a storm. Rubbing his eyes Michael shut the window and slowly made his way to his bed, he needed to get some sleep before he ended up giving himself a heart attack. Easing into bed he pulled the blankets up around him and closed his eyes with a sigh. Michael found himself reaching for his pistol when the fire in the fireplace suddenly went out from what he could only assume was a large gust of wind. The only thing about that was he had shut the window. He looked around the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of something but finding nothing. Shoving his pistol angrily under his pillow once more Michael closes his eyes and tries to get some sleep.
"Delauney..."
His name was whispered into the surrounding darkness by a hoarse and husky voice, one he did not recognize.
"Whose there?" he demanded, sitting up and grabbing his pistol again.
"Delauney..."
"Show yourself this instant!" he shouted. He could feel someone approaching and he fired into the darkness. The echo of that shot lasted for several moments before there was silence once more. Scrambling off of the bed he fumbled around until he found a candle and lit it, looking around the room rather frantically. The thing he was faced with caused a cold fear to clutch at his heart.
Revenge is coming.
Three simple words written in rat's blood.
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"Thank you for staying with me, Sienna," Christine said, meaning it. The Italian girl smiled and shook her head. She thought of Christine like a sister and she wanted to help her all she could during her pregnancy. She knew that Christine would have done the same thing for her if their situations had been reversed. They had arrived at Erik's estate the day before and Christine had gotten everyone settled and comfortable before settling herself in for the night. Sienna did not say anything, but when she had passed by the rooms Christine had once shared with Erik she had heard the young woman crying softly. The sound had been so full of pain Sienna had known that it might be a very long time before Christine came to terms with the fact that her husband was gone. When Anthony had found out that Christine was returning home he had insisted that he go with them, and Raoul had quickly followed, Christine had been foolish to believe she would be alone when she had such a wonderful family around her to support her. Sienna had made it her duty to keep Christine's mind occupied and she found as many things as she could to keep Christine busy.
"Christine?"
Christine looked up from her sewing to look at Sienna, who sat across from her reading a book. She smiled at the woman, thankful to her for doing everything she could to keep Christine's mind off of Erik.
"Yes?"
"Have you picked out a room for a nursery?" she wondered, praying that the mention of the baby would not make Christine quiet and sober. Christine smiled and shook her head. The baby was the only thing that was keeping her going and yet she had not thought about the nursery.
"Would you like to do that right now?" Sienna asked excitedly, realizing that this was something that could keep them busy for a rather long time. Christine hesitated for a moment, afraid that if she were to think too much about her upcoming baby she might begin to think about Erik far too much, and she would break down if she did that.
"That is a rather good idea," she said. Sienna beamed and stood up, grabbing Christine's hand and nearly dragging her out of the room.
A few hours later...
Christine frowned and looked around the room they had chosen. It was the closest to Christine's chambers but to Christine it was still too far away. Gustave had said that he would send for the cradle that Christine had had when she was a baby and Christine was looking forward to seeing it. Sienna had talked for the past two hours about everything imaginable.
"Christine?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think that Anthony could come to love me?" she wondered. Christine looked up in surprise to meet her friends gaze. About time they talked about this! Christine already knew how Anthony felt but she would not tell Sienna, the two of them needed to figure it out on their own.
"Why do you not ask him?" she wondered.
"I could not possibly do that!" Sienna replied quickly. Christine smiled and shrugged.
"Then I am sure you will never find out!" Christine said with a small laugh. Sienna frowned and remained quiet for the rest of the day.
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Nadir looked up when Erik came in, soaked from the rain outside. The man had just disappeared and nearly given Nadir a heart attack. He may be well to get out of bed but the Persian did not want to take any chances. There was a rather triumphant look on the masked mans face and Nadir wondered what in the world he had been up to. He removed his cloak and said nothing to the other man.
"Some friends of mine have informed me that Christine and her family have left the Chagny manor," Nadir said, wanting to give Erik some good news. Gray green eyes met dark brown ones in a look of surprise.
"Where did they go?" he demanded, his eyes sparking at the mention of Christine.
"Back to your manor here in Rome," Nadir answered. The Persian could see the wheels working in Erik's mind and knew that could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on what he planned on doing. Of course Christine would go home, that was where she belonged, not with Chagny. But that also meant that none of the servants at the Chagny manor would know if he were to go to her! Erik grabbed his cloak and headed towards the door, however, Nadir grabbed his arm.
"Where are you going?"
"Where do you think?" Erik snapped. Nadir felt dread enter him.
"You cannot go to her, Erik," the Persian warned. Erik glared at him.
"She is in my home, no one will touch her," he said, confident. He could not stand to be apart from Christine any longer. His plan with Michael Delauney was working perfectly. But Nadir would not let go of his arm and the look of worry on his face did not diminish.
"Michael will know soon enough that they have left the de Chagny manor and he will find a way to have your home watched!" Nadir said, needing him to see reason for Christine's sake and the babies.
"I can assure you that she is safe there and my servants are not so easily had," Erik said, rather annoyed.
"And what makes you so sure?"
"They are afraid of what I would do to them!"
"You are dead, Erik!" Nadir nearly shouted. Erik realized that the other man was right. With him 'dead' the servants had no loyalty to him and they would not be afraid of any consequences for spying on Christine and the rest of the household. He looked helplessly at his friend.
"I have to see her..." he whispered brokenly. Nadir sighed.
"Erik..."
"Just look at her, know she is alright," he whispered, almost pleading.
"If someone were to see you-"
"No one would see me, I just made my way into Delauney's home and no one was even aware I was there. I am going."
Nadir watched Erik walk out of the room and prayed that what this man was doing was not risking his entire family.
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Erik knew that Christine would be staying in their chambers and so that is where he went. It was still raining and in only a matter of a few short minutes he was soaking wet. He stood on the balcony that was attached to his rooms and peered inside the slightly dark chambers, praying to get a look at Christine. He just needed to see her; he could not believe how long it had been. He saw the chamber door open and his wife stepped into the room. He immediately noticed her eyes, how sad and haunted they looked, even when she smiled and said good night to Sienna before closing the door. She was still just as beautiful as he remembered and he felt several tears fill his eyes. He watched her undress all the way down to her chemise and lay down in their large bed, pulling a pillow close to her and hugging it. With tears still in his own eyes he watched her begin to sob into the soft fabric of the pillow.
At that moment he would have given anything to go to her and wrap his arms around her. He realized what a mistake coming there had been. He should have waited until after he got his revenge on Delauney. If he had done that he could have continued to believe that Christine was a strong woman and she would do fine without him. But this Christine was one crying for the husband she believed had died right before her eyes. What would her reaction be when they were finally reunited again? He watched her put her hand on her stomach as she thought about their baby and he would do anything to be there for their child, anything. Sighing he made his way away from his love, promising both her and himself that he would make Michael pay for what he had done to them.
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