Chapter 12

Katie didn't inquire about were Mandi was taking her, until fear flooded her heart, as she realized they where driving towards the church, back to him.

"We're heading back to the church, are you crazy?" Mandi Shook her head with confidence, then quoted one of her favorite movies, The Lord Of The Rings.

"The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm."

"Care to explain Jammes?" Katie asked, not comprehending her friends thought.

"Were would you go to hid from him?"

"As far away as I could."

"Exactly." A witty smile crept across her face, "Tarek knows you, he knows how you think, He won't expect us to find shelter so close to him." Katie sat for a moment, contemplating her friends plan.

"This might work! How could you have come up with a plan like this? You normally would run too."

"I watch too many movie." As she spoke, she turned the car into a small, empty driveway. She got out of the car briefly, to open the garage door.

"Excellent" Mandi whispered to herself as she returned to the car, and parked it in the shadows of the small building. She closed the door behind her, trapping Katie and herself in the comforting darkness.

"Hopefully this will all work. This is my cousin's house. If I'm not mistaken, her parents are both out of town, so we won't have to worry about them interfering. It's just her sister we might have to worry about." Katie nodded to show she understood, while Mandi lead her outside through the small side door, and rang the door bell. Within seconds a short, dark haired girl, no older than Katie, stood just on the other side of the thin door.

"Mandi!" She exclaimed, while practically dragging the two inside.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hey Robin." They embraced gingerly.

"We need your help." Mandi once again looked around fearfully, something she now did instinctively.

"Is Amanda home?" She referenced to Robin's sister. Robin just shook her head.

"No, Sis is staying with her friend this week, while Mom is visiting Dad."

"Good, can we talk?" Slightly confused at the two girls' grim looks, she agreed, and went to lead them to the parlour, but mandi grabbed her arm to stop her.

"No, the basement? I don't want anyone to know we're here." She nodded, then ushered them down the stairs to the large finished room. In Katie's eyes, the room looked more like an apartment than a basement, nothing like his home. In the center of the large room a few matching seats sat huddled around a large coffee table. A large wet bar sat to the left of the seats, while a pull-out bed sat behind them. Even a small section that once was used for Ballet practice was included in the multi purpose room, which included a large, full-wall mirror.

Mandi and Katie took a seat on the large couch, while Robin sat across from them in an oversized armchair.

"What's wrong?" Robin asked, concerned for her kin's well being. Mandi and Katie took turns retelling the story, leaving out not a single detail. When they finished, Robin sat back in the chair, still absorbing what they had just told her.

"So, this Tarek, he's what... a modern Erik?"

"No!" Lotte practically screamed, making her host jump.

"Erik would never do such a thing." She whispered, staring off to the side, at the large mirror. Those familiar gold eyes she saw every night in her dreams, stared back at her with sympathy. Mandi's eyes followed her friend's gaze, also getting a glimpse of those eyes, before they faded.

"He wouldn't?" Robin gave a confused look, recalling her knowledge of the 'Opera Ghost'. "He did kill people, kidnapped Christine, and his voice..." She stopped when Katie shot up into the air furiously.

"Erik would never just kill like that! Not cold blooded murder, not without a reason! Erik had a soul! He wouldn't force Christine to... to... He wouldn't! He did have morals, they just didn't match most fools' concept! He was a gentleman!" Mandi coaxed her to calm down and and return to her seat.

"He is not Erik, but he tricked her into thinking he was." Robin nodded sympathetically.

"What are you going to do?" She asked Mandi, with concern. "Should you call the police?" Mandi sighed, and shook her weary head.

"No, you've never heard him. He could talk out of anything. He would probably get them to return Lotte to him."

"But we can't just hide forever." Katie chimed in with despair.

"He will hunt for you, he won't stop till he has you back."

Yet while he lives,

he will hunt us till we're dead.

Katie couldn't help but sing.

"That's in Lotte! Your brilliant!" Mandi threw her arms around her, and gleefully hugged her.

"Ok, do you want to connect the dots for me?" Just as she asked, the understood the thought that crossed her closest friends mind. Her face lost all it's colour.

'We...we can't do that."

"What other choice do we have?" Mandi asked. Katie hung her head, knowing her friend was right.

"But how? All he has to do is ask us to stop, you know the power of his wretched voice, look what he almost made you do!"

"Too bad non of us are deaf." Robin commented.

"Maybe we can be..." Katie spoke. The others directed there attention to her, as she explained her plan to them.