A.N: Well, this chapter, when hand-written, is about five pages longer than the other chapters. Which means it's a chapter and a half. It's a special treat to all my dedicated fans who review every chapter, and even to those who don't, because when they do review, it's so heartfelt that I am absolutely inspired to write more. So, here it is, chapter five.

Chapter Five: The Phantom's Lair

Erik woke up early the next morning to Sarine nuzzling her face into his chest. Sometime during the night she had turned over, and he had wrapped both of his arms tightly around her. He gently pulled his arm out from under her and sat up. Picking up his mask off of the desk, he put it on and got up off the couch.

Before leaving, he wrote her a quick note, hesitantly signing it Erik. He was so used to signing things O.G. that he knew he had to get into the habit of signing his real name to her notes. He folded the note up, placed a caress on Sarine's cheek, and left the office. Quickly he walked to the stage and looked for his jacket. He found it right where he left it, next to the shattered chandelier.

Kneeling down, Erik picked up his carving tool and a piece of the chandelier. Carving them like puzzle pieces, he fit all the pieces together, moving others to replace the shattered pieces. Using the chains that held the old pieces, he hooked them to the new pieces then to the chandelier. Walking to get new gas bulbs, he came back to find Amy, Rose, Tara and Jonathan walking in.

"Who the hell are you?" Jonathan asked.

Before Erik could answer, Amy replied, "That's the man I told you about."

Jonathan nodded curtly to Erik, "Sarine's in her office, then?"

Erik nodded as he replaced the bulbs. After Jonathan left, Erik looked at the girls.

"Can you please take these lead ropes as I pull the chandelier up? Just wait till I tell you," Erik said, walking backstage.

A few minutes later, Erik yelled "GO!" down to the girls. As he pulled the chandelier up, the girls led it to the center of the theater. It looked like someone had pressed rewind as the chandelier slowly took it's place it the theatre.

After he had the chandelier secured, Erik came back down to the stage and swept up the left over pieces of glass. He just finished when Jonathan and Sarine walked out to the stage. When Sarine saw that the chandelier was completely restored, her jaw dropped and she looked to Erik.

"You…you fixed it?" she said, looking at the chandelier in shock.

When Erik smiled and looked down at his hands, Sarine ran over to him and gave him a hug. Erik stood in shock for a moment before wrapping his arms tightly around her and laying his face in the cook of her neck.

"I love you," he whispered, to both his and Sarine's shock.

They both pulled back and looked at each other. Sarine looked from Erik to Jonathan, then took Erik's hand and led him offstage quickly, telling Jonathan that they'll be right back. Sarine led him through the passageways until they emerged on the roof. She closed the door behind them.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, her back to him.

Erik looked at her back, hurt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it."

As Erik turned to walk away, Sarine spun to him and flung her arms wide, "It's not that! Oh goodness, it's not that. It's where you said it. Jonathan has liked me since we met, but I don't like him like that. He's more of a big brother. You… you're not. I would have been able to respond to you if you had told me in private."

Erik turned back to look at her. She had turned to face Paris, her arms wrapped around herself as a single tear fell down her cheek.

"So if I told you now, would you respond?" he asked, walking over to her.

Sarine nodded, looking at him. Erik lifted her chin with his hand and wiped away the tear with the other. Slowly he moved closer to her until they were a breath apart.

"I love you."

With that, he pressed his lips to hers. Hoping to god that she would react, he smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. They stood in the embrace for a while, taking a break only to breathe. When they both finally pulled back, Erik pulled her close to him.

"I want to show you something," he whispered to her.

He sadly pulled himself away from her and took her hand. Taking her back down the stairwell, he took her back to stage level. Then he took her into her office and pulled her over to the mirror.

"The mirror?" she asked, looking at him.

He placed a finger to her lips and silently slid the mirror face. Sarine gasped as she saw a long hall of candelabra. Erik took her by the waist and led her down the hall. He watched her and smiled at her bewildered face as she looked at the hands holding the candelabra. At the end of the hallway, he covered her eyes. Walking slowly, he led her into his lair.

"Open your eyes," he whispered into her ear.

Pulling his hands away from her eyes and placing them on her hips, he watched her as she took in his home. In front of them, not even five feet away, was a large lake that lapped the ground gently. To their left was a bedroom, the silken-clad swan bed partially concealed by a black lace curtain. To the right was a large ornately carved pipe organ, which was covered with pencils, music, roses and candles. Across the lake was a portcullis, with roses covering it. Sarine looked to him.

"You live here?" she whispered, as they were only a few inches apart.

"Yes," Erik replied, brushing his lips against hers. "And so can you, if you wish."

Sarine stepped from him and walked to the organ. She sat down and placed her fingers on the keys. Playing a sweet tune, she sang along. Erik walked over to her and watched. After a moment, he sat down and began harmonizing on the bass end of the organ. Slowly he sang along, their voices intertwining. Sarine, only being an intermediate player, had to watch her fingers as she played. Erik just watched her as they both wrote their duet. When they finished, Sarine stood up and leaned against the organ, looking at Erik.

"Will you play a song from the opera?" she asked, picking up a rose.

"Which one?" he asked, pulling out his set of sheet music.

"Hmm…" she said, reading the titles. "All I Ask."

Erik smiled at her, "That's a duet. You'd have to join in."

Sarine smiled as Erik started playing. She pulled the white ribbon out of her hair and combed it with her fingers as Erik started singing.

"No more talk of darkness

Forget these wide-eyed fears

I'm here, nothing can harm you

My words will warm and calm you

Let me be your freedom

Let daylight dry your tears

I'm here, with you and beside you

To guard you and to guide you."

Sarine tied her white ribbon around the rose as she sang, "Say you love me every waking moment.

Turn my head with talk of summertime

Say you need me with you now and always

Promise me that all you say is true

That's all I ask of you."

With that, she handed him the rose. He stopped playing, took it, and looked at her.

"Say you love me," she sang.

"You know I do," he sang back.

"Love me, that's all I ask of you," they sang, Erik standing up and taking her hand.

Sarine looked him deep in the eyes, then to his rose. She picked up another rose off of the organ, one that already had a black ribbon on it. She placed that in his hand next to the rose she gave him.

"Black is for death, darkness, sadness, and despair," she said, wrapping her hands around his. "White is life, happiness, light. One cannot survive without the other. Without light, there is no darkness to compare it to. Without death, there is no room for life. Nothing is just black and white, just varying shades of gray."

Erik listened, his eyes fixed on hers. When she finished, he silently took the ribbons off of the roses. Twisting them together, he tied the two roses to each other. Sarine smiled and leaned against him. He placed the roses on the keys of the organ and wrapped his arms around her. Somewhere a clock chimed ten o' clock.

"It's ten o' clock!" Sarine asked, turning in shock. "I have to get back! Jonathan will freak if I don't get back."

Erik caressed her cheek, "To hell with Jonathan. Stay here with me… please…"

Sarine looked to him and reached out to touch his face. Erik pulled back. Sarine pulled out of his arms and turned away.

"How can you say you love me when you don't even trust me enough to touch your face?" she said, tears of anger flowing down her cheek. "It's not like I'm going to pull your mask off!"

She whirled to face him, screaming, "WHEN WILL YOU SEE THAT I'M NOT CHRISTINE!"

She fell to her knees, crying. Erik reached to touch her, but she hit his hand away. When he knelt down and wrapped his arms around her, she pushed him on his back, stood up, and ran.

Running down the candelabra hallway, she pushed past the open mirror and closed it so sharply that the glass shattered, covering her and cutting her all over. She turned to face the hallway and yelled loudly, all of her anger and pain flowing out. She turned and pounded on the desk, causing the glass in her hands to embed deeper.

Covered in blood, she fell onto the couch, crying herself to sleep for the second night in a row.