XXXIII

Erik kicked his heels rhythmically against the wall, waiting was truly boring and he knew that he would never like it. Soon though the sounds of footsteps and the creaking of the door opening brought a small smile to his face and he stepped forward to look into the chapel.

"Angel?"

"I am here my dear, but you are late."

"Meg and I had to help with something, Lucy sprained her ankle and we had to get ice and help her to the dormitory."

"What a shame, I do hope she will be alright," he said thoughtfully, she was one of the better dancers.

"Madame, says that she will be fine," Christine assured him, "that it wasn't that bad and with ice and some rest she would be able to dance within a week or so."

"Well that is good news," he said, "is there anything else new in the theatre?"

"We have a new patron," she replied happily.

"Oh?" he asked, he knew the one, he had a son that liked to watch the rehearsals.

"Mmm hmm, and he has a son," she added a bit sheepishly.

"Is that so?" Erik asked, he did not like the way she had said that.

"Yes…he's about sixteen and his name is Albert."

"Albert?"

"Yes…I actually met him before, at the Masquerade on New Years," she admitted, "Meg and I went, though we weren't supposed to."

"Did you now?" he asked, "and you met him there?"

"Yes, he asked me to dance," she said dreamily, "he's handsome too. Meg keeps teasing me, saying that he likes me…and that I like him."

"And do you?" Erik demanded.

"Well…I do a little bit Angel," she admitted.

Erik could feel his temper flare and it took all of his self control not to yell at her, "I see," he said through gritted teeth.

"Is something the matter?" she asked nervously, "you sound upset Angel."

"I do not want you to see this boy again," he stated simply, "you will not talk to him, or any other young men. Also, from now on you will not leave the theatre after dark…ever!"

"Angel, why are you so upset?" she asked, biting her finger nervously, "was it something I said?"

"These rules are to keep you safe my dear. The streets are dangerous at night."

"But why can't I speak with Albert…or anyone else?"

"Because they will distract you from your singing Christine, and we do not want that. If you break any of these rules I will not come to you any more, do you understand?"

"Yes," she said quietly, "may I go now Angel?"

"We have not had our lesson Christine."

"I don't feel very well," she murmured, "I would like to go to supper and then bed."

"Very well then," he replied, "good night Christine."

"Yeah…sure."


Antoinette was walking back to her small apartment in the theatre when she noticed the shadow looming behind her. With a roll of her eyes she turned to see Erik.

"So you have taken to stalking people now?" she asked.

"Come now Madame," he said silkily, "I would hardly call it stalking. I just happened to see you and decided to say hello."

"Really?"

"Yes, we haven't spoken in so long you know?"

"And who's fault is that?" Antoinette asked, folding her arms crossly, "perhaps if you spent less time tormenting, Carlotta and Monsieur Lefevre, we could have talked."

"I have left them alone for some time now," he replied sharply.

"Except for the constant threatening letters," Antoinette said, "sometimes I do not understand you Erik. You know that it is difficult to find a new singer and La Carlotta brings a lot of people to this theatre. The public adores her for some reason."

"I despise her," Erik replied, "she is an absolutely revolting individual."

"Kind of like you are being?" Antoinette asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Erik growled.

"Figure it out," Antoinette snapped, "you are a genius, non?"

Erik snorted, "You enjoy trying my patience don't you?"

"At times," Antoinette admitted.

"I knew it," Erik muttered.

"So, why did you really come to talk?"

"Because I was bored," Erik said, "I was wandering the empty halls of my theatre and saw you and decided that, since I obviously have nothing better to do, I would torment you."

"Good night, Erik," Antoinette said firmly, "unlike you I have work to do in the morning."

Erik snorted, he did have work to do in the morning, he just found that he didn't need as much sleep to do his jobs. After all, it was much easier to write threatening letters than to teach a hundred little dancers.


Med was perplexed by her friend's new attitude. Where before she would simply moan and protest a little about going out she would always end up going in the end. Now, however, she downright refused to leave the theatre if the sun was about to set.

"It'll be fine Christine," Meg insisted, "only for an hour or so. Janice is going and Gabriel said he'd go also."

"No," Christine said, "not tonight Meg…I don't feel very well."

"Now you're lying," Meg snapped, "you feel fine, you were dancing earlier and you were fine at supper."

"Just not tonight Meg, maybe next time, alright?"

Meg frowned at her for a minute before sighing, "Fine…but you're missing all the fun."

"I know, Meg," Christine sighed, "maybe next time we have the day off?"

Meg nodded, "Bye, cover for us if maman asks."

"Of course."

Once Meg was gone Christine flopped onto her bed and rested her chin on the pillow. It really didn't seem fair that she wasn't allowed out at night. She knew that it was dangerous to be out alone at night, or even during the day. But she was never alone, Meg, or someone else, was always there. Still, she wouldn't go against her Angel's wishes, she didn't know what she would do without his guidance.

"You didn't go with Meg and the others?" a younger dancer asked.

"No," Christine said, sitting up and looking at the young girl.

"Why not?" she asked.

Christine shrugged, "Why didn't you go?"

"I wasn't invited. I'm new to the corps, this will be my first performance…no one really cares about the new dancers."

"Well good luck," Christine said.

"I'm nervous," she continued, "I mean, there will be so many people out there."

"It isn't that scary," Christine murmured, "in fact it isn't frightening at all…don't be nervous."

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," Christine assured her.

The girl smiled at her, "Thanks…do you think the performance will go well?"

"I don't know…maybe, maybe not . It really depends on what the Phantom of the Opera thinks."

"The Opera Ghost, you mean?"

"Yes, if that's what you want to call him."

"Christine," Antoinette asked, poking her head into the dormitory.

"Oui, Madame?" Christine asked.

"Do you know where Meg and the others are?" she asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't," Christine replied, "I was in the chapel and they weren't here when I got back."

"Very well then, good night my dear."

"Good night."

The other girl frowned as the door closed and turned to look at Christine again, "But you do know where they are."

"No I don't," Christine said.

"You do, you were going to go."

"No I wasn't," Christine said, "I never intended to go. Besides, I don't know where they are, they could be anywhere in the city. Paris is very big…you wouldn't understand, we're not supposed to go out at night and they would get in a lot of trouble if she knew where they were."


At first it was easy to excuse herself from the little trips out into the city, after all rehearsals could be very tiring near the opening night. But once the theatre life became a little less hectic it was more difficult.

"Just one night," Meg said, "please Christine, its only for a little while. We're just going to the shops nearby. Its not even dark out yet and it won't be for an hour."

"Well…as long as we're back before dark I guess it would be alright," Christine reasoned aloud.

"That's easy," meg said happily, "we'll just go to our favourite shop and then come right back."

"Alright," Christine nodded, "lets hurry then."

Meg giggled and the two hurried out of the dormitory, following their once regular path to exit the theatre. Christine had to admit, it felt good to be out of the place that seemed to have become a prison, she only hoped that her Angel wouldn't be angry. But he couldn't be, it wasn't dark out and she wasn't with any boys, just Meg.


A/N: Hope you enjoyed the chapter, I know it was a little short and I'm sorry for that, but it was either that or have it go on forever, and that would never do. The next chapter should be longer and be up quicker.