Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Author's Note: Well I have found a little time to work on this story. As I have said before, I am so sorry my updates are coming very slowly. Between my family and the project I'm working on (which I should be working on right now. Shhhhh) my time is pretty tight. I promise it will be well worth it when it's done.
Close Encounter
Erik stood in the flies watching the lead ballet rat Anna as she performed. She was graceful, and performed to perfection, but he could see that there was no emotion in her performance. She was going through the motions, but the passion that made a truly gifted performer was lacking.
He still had yet to see her speaking with anyone other than the ballet rats and was beginning to believe that maybe he was mistaken in suspecting her. But there was a nagging suspicion in the back of his mind that was fueled by her uncanny ability to disappear into thin air as he followed her after each performance.
Tonight he did not plan on letting her get away that easily. Tonight he would not follow her. He would be waiting for her.
After the performance Anna headed out of the theatre through the same set of hidden tunnels she had found several years before. She wasn't sure why but she felt that something was not quite right. She did not feel his eyes upon her, as they always were after every performance. She wondered if he had given up on following her. She wasn't sure. But something told her she should not visit her captive that night. So instead she made her way through the canals of Venice to the small, cramped flat she was renting. She had shared that flat with Philippe for over a year, and she hated to go back there every night to its cold emptiness.
She walked in closing the door behind her, and was just about to light the lamp beside her bed when the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. She froze as she realized something was not right. "Is someone here?" She called out.
"Were you expecting someone?" A voice echoed through the room.
She shivered at the menace in the voice. "No." She whispered.
"You should have been." The voice seemed to come from another direction.
"And why is that?" She asked in hesitation.
"You are playing a very dangerous game, girl." The voice came from yet another direction.
"I know not of what you are speaking." She answered.
"Oh but you do. If not, you would have called out for help by now." The voice was in front of her now.
"Maybe I'm just curious as to who is lurking in my flat." She suggested gaining some of her composure.
"Or maybe you know exactly who I am." He suggested.
"And who are you?" She asked. "And how did you find my flat?"
"Your former roommate had lovers who gossip often. They knew where to find you." The voice called out. It had taken him four days of eavesdropping on the ballet rats to determine where Philippe and Anna lived, but it was a vital piece of information.
"You lie!" She hissed, hearing him suggest that her lover had been untrue to her.
"Do I? It's funny how love can blind a person." He said smiling at the fact that he had gained an emotional response with his comment.
She moved forward and was about to light the lamp to confront him when she felt warm breath on the back of her neck. "Is there something you think you should tell me?" He growled at her.
"I don't know what you want to hear." She said as the blood froze in her veins and her hand stopped before it touched the lamp.
He placed one gloved hand on the side of her neck as he whispered in her ear. "Oh but you do. You have taken something that belongs to me, and I want her back."
Anna broke out into a cold sweat as she felt the pressure of his hand increase. "I have nothing that belongs to you. Please leave." She said and he could hear the fear in her voice.
"You know, I could snap your neck quicker than you can take breath." Was his soft whispered threat.
"But if you do that, will you ever learn if I know what you want to know?" She asked.
"Oh but it would be so satisfying." He said in a deep almost sensual voice.
She could hear how much he enjoyed tormenting her and it fueled her anger. "You enjoy killing." She hissed.
"Only those that deserve it." He answered, running his hand around the front of her neck gently squeezing, not enough to harm her, but enough to remind her how easy it would be to crush her windpipe.
"And what gives you the right to determine who lives or dies?" She said feeling his hand pressing in on her windpipe.
"Those that harm me and mine deserve what they get. You know and eye for an eye, and all." He answered.
"Well in that case you could understand my feelings then. Seeing as you took my lover from me, now didn't you?" She forced out through her ever-closing windpipe.
"That was an accident, and he deserved death. He deserved far worse than death." Erik growled squeezing just a little more. "Now, you will tell me where Lily is."
"You'll have to kill me first." She said placing a hand on his and pressing firmly. "But then you will never see your precious Lily again, now will you?" She said giving up all pretense of innocence.
He stopped squeezing her throat realizing she would die before telling him where Lily was. "Don't you want to live, girl?"
"I would die for my revenge. Would you sacrifice her, for yours?" She taunted him.
He pulled his hand away realizing no amount of revenge was worth Lily's life. "What do you want? Will my death be enough to save her?"
"So eager to die for her, are we? How touching." She said moving away from him realizing she had gained the upper hand, for now. "Yes your death might suffice. But not yet." She said turning to face him. In the moonlight shining through her terrace window she could see more of him. His white mask seemed to hold an unearthly glow. Other than that she realized he was quite handsome. "Hmm. You aren't as grotesque as they say."
His hand struck out lightning fast grasping her wrist and twisting. "I won't play games, girl. I want to see Lily."
The pain shot through her wrist and arm forcing her down to the floor with him towering above her. "Soon." She said in a painful gasp. "I will find you, when it's time."
He looked down to her and growled out. "It better be soon. I don't know how long I can control my temper." Then he let go and was gone before she could look up.
"You'll pay for that, my precious Phantom." She called out grasping her aching wrist.
He had heard her parting words. He wasn't sure what the game was she played, but for now he must play it also until he found Lily. It had been four days since Lily had been taken. Those days seemed like a lifetime. She had become such a large part of his life, that without her he felt lost.
He hadn't felt that way since long before Lily came into his life. But of all the disappointments and heartaches he had suffered this was the worst. He had heard the saying that it was better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all, but he knew in his heart that the person who first used that saying had never felt a love as deep as he did for Lily. Nor had they felt such heart wrenching agony over losing someone.
He sat in the abandoned building waiting for the next day to come so he could take up his usual place in the flies of the opera house. He thought over all that Anna had said. Would he die to save Lily? A million times over, yes. But he had no intention of dying. If he had anything to do with it they would both live, and the only one dieing would be Anna.
Author's Note: I had a request for more Erik. Do you think this fit the bill? I hope so. I'll try to update again soon.