A/N: As always, thanks to my beta, Le Chat Noir

Erik: the Vampire Hunter

Episode 23: Into the Lion's Den

By: Elektra

Christine and the Girys were startled out of their sleep by the incessant knocking at the front door.

When the three opened it, they were shocked to see who stood there.

"Raoul?" Christine began. "What are you doing here?"

"Your psychotic boyfriend barged into my house and insisted on finding my brother's business associate!" he began with a frown as he walked in.

Christine blinked at that. "I don't understand. I thought something about Madeline upset him and that's why he ran off."

"Madeline – is that his mother?" Raoul asked. "He mentioned her. Thought Mr. Shay may have done something to her."

Christine put a hand to her mouth. "Oh god… don't tell me Erik went after him."

"I don't know what Erik did. He just said he wanted me to come here and stay with you ladies. Told me to pile you all in my car and take you somewhere if the man shows up here." He rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Apparently the time of night doesn't matter much to him." He let out a weary sigh, "And I'm practically asleep on my feet."

"There is a couch in the study if you wish to sleep," Madame Giry offered, indicating a door down the hall.

"Thank you, Madame. And… can I ask you all to explain this to me in the morning please? I would really like to know what the hell is going on here!"

The three ladies exchanged glances. Madame Giry let out a soft sigh. "I have to make a few phone calls, then we'll see what I can tell you."

With a sleepy nod, Raoul shuffled into the study and shut the door behind him.

"You know," Madame Giry turned to the two girls before her once Raoul was gone, "There was a time when Erik knew how to keep secrets."

Erik's Room - later

Christine curled up beneath Erik's blankets, wanting to be alone tonight instead of in Meg's room.

Why? Why did Erik go face that man alone? Especially after getting his ass kicked the first time. Christine asked silently. She closed her eyes, remembering the kiss he had given her before storming out. It was the first time he had behaved so boldly towards her.

She now wondered if it had been a kiss goodbye.

Christine hugged herself, fighting the urge to scream. Shout. Curse. For such a genius, Erik could be rather stupid sometimes.

Damn it, Erik! If you let him kill you, I'll never forgive you! Christine decided, then noted the absurdity of her thoughts.

She hugged Erik's pillow to her chest, breathing in the very male scent that still lingered upon it before giving in to her fears and crying herself to sleep.

Laramie Drive

Erik and Nadir kicked absently at the dust at their feet. Five guards they had managed to get rid of, and that was even before they got to the front door.

"Erik, I really think we should call for backup," Nadir replied.

Erik shook his head. "And would they come, Nadir? This is personal business. They will say 'hold off and we will organize a raid'. By then, Madeline could be dead, if she isn't already."

Nadir took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He could not deny what Erik feared. The Guild would not rush headlong into enemy territory just to save one person. MANY people, perhaps... but not ONE.

"Very well," Nadir relented as they finally came before the front doors. "Let's go in,"

The two men held their weapons ready – Nadir with crossbows, Erik with his stakes and rope - and barged inside.

Erik immediately went after the first creature that descended upon him, leaving Nadir to deal with the two coming in from the left.

Erik swung a wide roundhouse at his attacker, catching It across the jaw. He then shot out a hard kick to It's stomach, sending It back against another door, splintering the wood in such away that the creature ended up impaling itself.

Nadir attacked his first quarry from behind, one leg swinging out and flipping the creature to the ground. He quickly dropped a knee hard into its back and easily finished It off.

Erik glanced over to see how well his friend was doing when two more creatures appeared before him. A blur of pale skin snuck behind the masked hunter, grabbing his arms and catching him off guard. Damn it, I was distracted!

Erik broke the hold, and twined his leg around his opponents, sending It crashing to the floor.

The other creature found a tight rope around its neck before it could assist It's kindred. With a hard yank, Erik heard the snap of vertebrae and sent it to the ground, leaving it twitching fiercely.

Erik returned to the second creature that had attacked him, his head snapping back from a firm blow to the chin as It had jumped to its feet and caught him with a hard punch. The metallic taste of blood on his tongue was most unpleasant, but he did not let it distract him as he saw the next punch coming and lunged to the side.

Behind Erik, Nadir seemed to be having a bit of trouble. A kick to the stomach had sent the older man reeling, gasping for breath. The momentary diversion inadvertently allowed his quarry to land a couple of blows to his person.

When the creature reached back for the final blow, however, Nadir shot his arm out, impaling it through the chest and turning it to dust.

Quite sure that Nadir had things well in order, Erik treated his own opponent with an uppercut that smashed Its nose and sent spatters of blood across the wall.

While It was distracted, Erik caught his quarry around the neck and forced It down to the ground, his arm moving gracefully to turn the creature to powder.

Erik jumped to his feet as he sensed another quarry coming up behind him. He spun around only see It become dust by Nadir's crossbow.

The older man was still on his knees, looking the worse for wear, his face streaked with blood. Whether it was his own or his quarry's, Erik wasn't sure.

"Come now, Detective. Do not tell me you are getting too old for this kind of thing!" Erik taunted as he offered a hand to help the man up.

"Funny boy…" Nadir wheezed, desperately trying to catch his breath. He gladly accepted Erik's hand up, stumbling as he finally made it to his feet. "Do not quit your day job."

"But it seems my best work is done at night." Erik winked as the two began to walk through the large house, keeping an eye and ear open for anything that may pop out of the shadows. "Shame I don't get paid much for it."

"Ah yes. After all, you now have a pretty girl for whom you must buy many pretty things."

"Is that so?" Erik asked the man before him as he calmly kicked down a locked door and led the older man through. "I do not think Christine cares much for trinkets."

Nadir blinked at how easily Erik could cause property damage and speak about Christine all in the same moment. "Well surely when the two of you go out on a date-"

"Date?" Erik repeated.

Nadir looked up at the taller man, aghast. "You mean all this time, you have not yet asked her out on a date?" he asked.

Erik considered this for a moment. "I have taken her to the opera on occasion." He said.

"That is a start at least. But what about dinner? Or a movie? Some place where you are not hiding from everyone else in a private box."

"I am not one to go out in public, Nadir. You know that," Erik answered.

"But SHE is." He answered. "And really, Erik - you must get over your agoraphobia. Your lady deserves to be courted. If not by you, then I will court her on your behalf – to thank her for the wonderful change she has provided to your normally grumpy demeanor, of course," he joked.

"I believe I can do a fair job of courting her without YOUR help, Nadir."

"How now? Ask her to lurk off to the school's arts building at all hours of the night?"

Erik opened his mouth to respond, then stopped as the two passed by a window during their exploration of the house. "Ahh, now this explains why we are not being accosted at the moment." He indicated the rising sun.

Nadir nodded. "Yes. Perhaps. But not all of them would be of the undead. No doubt there are other types lurking about." He looked back at Erik. "But now you are changing the subject. We were talking about properly courting your lady."

"Hush, Nadir…" Erik hissed as he slowly stepped up to a door and cocked his head, listening.

"You really should heed my advice here, Erik."

"There is someone behind this door, Nadir!" Erik insisted. "It sounds like Madeline!"

Nadir opened his mouth to continue his lecture, then closed it again. "Do what you must, Erik."

Erik nodded, and kicked the door down easily.

The two Hunters were caught completely off-guard at what they saw before them.

Giry Residence - the next morning

Christine woke up slowly. The room was dark and she was alone. It took her a moment to remember whose room she was in.

Erik hadn't come home yet.

She shuffled out of the room and looked around the house, still not finding the man she was searching for.

With a quiet sob, she sat in the living room and picked up Odin, snuggling him for comfort. "Where is he?" she muttered into the cat's fur. "He has to be ok... has to be..."

"Chrissy?" Christine looked up to see Raoul walking in. "He didn't come back?" he asked.

She shook her head. "Not yet."

"Care to explain to me what's going on then?"

Christine opened her mouth to respond, only to have Giry enter the room. "I believe I am the only one qualified to answer. Come with me, Mr. De Chagny. I will try to explain."

As Giry led Raoul off, another knock came at the door. Meg headed over to open. "Oh, hello Mrs. Bell."

Christine looked to see a middle-aged woman dressed in clothing that would have probably looked better on a 15-year-old. They seemed to be the same size a 15 year old would wear, at least.

"Hi, Megan. I was wondering if your contractor was here?" she asked, a smile on her painted lips. "I was speaking to him a little while back about some work I'd like him to do for me."

"Erik is unavailable right now, Ma'am." Christine spoke up. "He… had business to attend to."

"Oh." Mrs. Bell replied. "Do you know when he'll be back?"

"No." Christine spoke quietly. "I… I don't know…if he ever WILL be back!" She suddenly spun around and rushed into Erik's room.

Meg was left standing with the confused woman. "Uh… you'll have to excuse Chrissy. She misses her boyfriend," Meg offered a weak smile.

"Erik has a girlfriend then?" Mrs. Bell seemed disappointed. "Ah well, I suppose I'll try to catch him another time…" With that, she made her way out of the house and back to her own, leaving Meg frowning in her wake.

Madeline's Room – 10 minutes later

Erik took in the scene before him. How had this happened?

Ah yes - no sooner had he broken down the door then had three creatures slid out from hiding and grabbed Nadir. They were not vampires. They were little more then mindless lackeys.

Humans, Erik realized, whose minds had been coerced by the one currently having his way with Erik in a test of strength. Erik even recalled how one of those mindless servants had given him a rather nasty scar on his abdomen several months ago.

Of course, he had not been mindless at the time. No doubt the Leader had been unhappy with Robert Steven's lack of permanent success and had put him to better use.

"What a good son you are," The Leader began with a smirk, his fingers entwined with Erik's as he pressed the masked hunter's wrists backwards and drove him to his knees. "Even though she made your life a living hell, you still find it in your heart to come get her."

Shay looked at Madeline, who remained rocking hopelessly upon her bed, staring absently at the mirror before her. "You see that, Maddy?" he continued. "You see how your son cares for you?"

With one last hard shove, Erik found himself sprawled on the floor at the man's feet.

How humiliating.

"Don't you feel bad for all the horrible things you did to him now?" Shay continued to taunt Madeline. "He only wanted a mother's love, that's all. He never asked for anything except a hug and a kiss, isn't that so? But no, you were quite the selfish little bitch. Couldn't even give her own son that much."

At his words, Madeline burst into tears, whimpering loudly.

Shay stepped back from Erik, looking upon him wearily. "You know, she has been doing that since I took her from the halfway house," he sighed. "It's getting quite tedious. Perhaps I should stop torturing her mind. It might shut her up!"

Erik watched Madeline Renau with wonder. The woman whom he had once hated and loved more than life itself had turned into nothing more then a sobbing wretch.

The Leader looked back at Erik. "Tell me, did you or your lady start whimpering when I gave you those little dreams the other night?" He asked. Erik's surprise was clear. "Yes. That was me. Who else?" he asked. "And how IS that lovely little ballerina, by the way? Is she keeping you warm in all the right places?"

Erik glared at the Leader. "Don't." he growled.

"Don't… what? Don't mention her?" He shrugged. "Why not. She makes you happy, doesn't she?"

He furrowed his brow and studied Erik closer, bending down a little to take in his masked face. "She makes you very happy, it seems. But… you would be happier if you could have your naughty little way with her, wouldn't you?" Erik's jaw clenched, the muscle beginning to twitch.

"Now don't bother denying it. Regardless of appearances, you're still a MAN," Shay continued, "I'm sure you have some very colourful dreams about that darling girl. Shame on you. As if she would ever part her legs for a creature as ugly as you."

The Leader then smirked coldly. "However, I imagine she can be easily seduced by a handsome face like mine…"

Erik jumped to his feet and lunged recklessly at the man who mocked him, pinning him to the ground with a ferocious snarl, hands wrapping around his throat.

"Don't. Talk. About. Her. That. Way!" He punctuated each word by slamming the Leader's head against the floor. "EVER!"

Shay laughed, unfazed by the vicious and highly emotional attack. "Oh you're so defensive of her virtue! But she's been teasing you for so long. I'm surprised you just haven't taken what you wanted from her yet. She's a little thing. She can't fight you."

"I will never HURT her!" Erik hissed.

"You should be a little more obvious about your intentions, you know." Shay said as he shoved Erik off and jumped to his feet. Erik was about to attack again, but Nadir's voice stopped him.

"Don't let him make you angry!" Nadir called out, "You can't-" His words were cut off with a tight hand around the throat from one of his captors.

Erik turned towards Nadir and reached into his pocket for the rope, but Shay saw his intent, "Tsk tsk, Erik. You kill any of my people, I kill your precious mother." Erik spun around to see Shay's fingers tangled in Madeline's hair. She looked terrified. "I won't even need a weapon."

Erik slid his hand back out of his pocket and held his empty palm out. Shay sighed in disappointment but let Madeline go. "Really, my boy, you need a complete personality overhaul. You're too soft."

"I am NOT your boy!" Erik hissed.

The Leader glanced over at Madeline. "You still haven't told him?" he asked. She remained silent, her glassy eyes barely focused on the two similar men before her. "Really, Madeline! A boy has every right to know his father!"

Erik could not believe what he was hearing. "Father?" he repeated. "What are you talking about?"

Shay walked in front of Erik. "Put two and two together, son!" he snapped angrily. "Why do you think we look so much alike? Coincidence? You are far more intelligent than that!"

"I… I am NOT your SON!" Erik hissed as he stepped back, shaking his head vehemently. "No. It… it can't be!"

The Leader raised an eyebrow. "And why not?" he asked. "You should be proud! You're SPECIAL!" Shay narrowed his golden eyes, "Listen to me now... you know who I am."

Erik felt a sharp pressure in his head, a male voice telling him over and over that it was true. His beautiful voice became a hoarse whisper. "No. No… I… I am not a monster! I am not like you!" He glanced over at Madeline, and suddenly sounded like a lost little boy as the voice taunted him. You're not human... "Mother?" Erik pleaded. "Tell me it's not true!"

Madeline buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry. So sorry. Sorry… sorry…" She repeated the word like a mantra.

"Don't be so shocked, Erik." Shay spoke again. "You knew your differences extended far beyond your ugly face. You're a freak of nature, inside and out."

"No." Erik insisted, trying to push the voice out of his head. "Christine… she… she sees me as a man!"

"Except she is denying you the rights of a man, isn't she?" The Leader smirked.

"She's a good girl!" Erik insisted. "It's … she… she's just being a good girl, that's all! And I… I am trying to be good for HER as well! I want to be good for her!"

"Restraining yourself? Is that it?" The Leader laughed at that. "But you're not a good boy. You're a bad boy." He crossed his arms and shook his head. "It's very simple - good girls fall in love with good boys. They don't fall in love with murderers. And I'd wager to believe YOUR good girl has never told you she loves you. Am I right?" The Leader asked.

"Christine is young!" Erik replied as something pulled his insecurities to the surface like a magnet. "And she cares for me. She… she is just … not ready."

"Oh really, Erik!" Shay frowned. "I would think a son of mine would have more balls then to let a girl play with him like that!" He stepped towards the masked man and smiled once again. Erik almost stumbled as he felt Shay's presence invading his mind.

"Ahhh, I see," the Leader continued. "You already had it out with her about playing games. So perhaps she IS serious about you… but you hold back your attentions from her because you don't want to frighten her away." He sighed. "You won't get anywhere like that. You are my SON, Erik! Stop trying to suppress your true nature and just GIVE IN to it!"

Before Erik could respond, a sharp pain filled his head, sending him to his knees with a scream. He grabbed his pounding skull and ripped off the mask, baring his face to everyone in the room. He didn't care about their reactions. The agony was too intense.

Erik's head felt as if his very mind was being squeezed. As if something was being yanked out of it. He begged the pain to stop. Pleaded with whoever would listen to make it go away.

But it was to no avail.

When he could take no more punishment, he collapsed to the ground and allowed the darkness to consume him.

END OF EPISODE 23