A/N: As always, thanks to my beta, Le Chat Noir
Episode 30: Into the Woods
By: Elektra
Laramie Drive – Shay's study
"So, two entered from the underground tunnels?" the Leader questioned the female guard who stood before him.
"Yes, sir. I believe one was a Hunter," the guard explained. "I had sent two of my men after them, but alas, they came to dust. Though we did manage to injure one of them first."
The guard's tale caught the attention of the masked man lurking in the air ducts above, his presence as yet unnoticed by the two beneath him.
The Leader studied the person before him. "Male or female?" Could his latest visitor really be the girl who had bewitched his son?
"Female, sir. Seemed young."
The Leader's thoughts turned inward - if this girl was Christine, then he could make plans for her. His son would never have to know.
"Would she make a good plaything?" The Leader asked. "From your account, she seems to be rather spirited. It would be fun to have her around," he smiled coldly.
"Ah, sir, she was not as curvaceous as the females we already have." A pause. "But I am sure many would find such an innocent appearance quite desirable…"
The Leader laughed heartily at this, "No doubt my honoured guests would!" he replied with a cold smile. "Keep an eye on her. Bring her to our dinner table as a servant when she is healthy enough. We will see how many find interest in her, and she will be given to each one in turn," he replied.
Yes… that plan would be far more beneficial for all concerned.
Tunnels - Two days later
"How are you feeling, dear?" A middle-aged woman asked as she carefully tried to style Christine's hair.
"I'll be ok, Sandy," Christine replied to the kind woman who had introduced herself shortly after Christine had woken from her shock-induced stupor. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me," the captive replied, "thank Verna. She's the one who set and wrapped your ankle." Sandy spoke of the female tending to a man across the room.
Christine turned her head to look at the fair-haired woman. A doctor before she had been brought here, Christine had been told. Karra tapped her mother on the shoulder as Christine mouthed a word of thanks to Verna. Verna replied with a "thumbs up", then went back to the broken arm she was mending.
"Well, that's the best I can do, honey. We don't have a whole lotta fancy hair gels here." Sandy replied as she handed Christine a cracked dusty mirror.
Christine smiled at the reflection. Sandy had done an excellent job. "I love it!"
"I'm glad." Sandy smiled. "I'm … well… I USED to be a hairdresser. Before things happened."
"How long has it been?" she asked.
Sandy shrugged. "Not sure, dear. Months? Maybe a year? Time goes by so slowly here. There's some big deal going on right now. Something about finding the Leader's kid. He's rather important, apparently." She shook her head. "That can only mean bad things for us," she then turned and called Jason from across the room.
The teenaged boy quickly came up to Christine and his aunt. He looked healthier than he'd had in the last few days.
"Help Christine make her way to Verna," Sandy replied.
Jason grasped Christine's arms and supported her as she cautiously stood up and led her over.
"Are you feeling any better today?" Verna asked as Jason gingerly eased the girl on the cot beside her.
"Still hurts," Christine replied, then smiled. "but after so many years of ballet lessons, one gets used to sprained ankles."
Verna smiled as she held a hand out. "Let's see," she said as she indicated for Christine to lift her pant leg. She peeled off the used wrappings, cleaned the skin, then added some more ointment and began to tape it back up.
"So, what's your story?" Verna asked. "I know Karra told you how WE got here,"
Christine nodded. "I came looking for my boyfriend with a friend of his." She nodded over to Nadir, who could be seen through a small space in the curtain having a rather animated conversation with Sandy. "I know he's here, but I haven't seen him anywhere,"
"What does your boyfriend look like?"
"Well…" Christine began hesitantly. How would she describe what Erik looked like? "He's in his early thirties. He's tall and athletic. Moves with the uncanny grace of a cat." She glanced over to Verna, who had her brow furrowed, trying to picture the person Christine was describing.
"Um… he's got black hair that falls to his shoulders, these amazing golden eyes," she then offered a smile. "And he wears a mask. You would definitely know if you saw him. He kind of stands out."
Verna froze, only half-finished taping Christine's ankle. "A mask?" Verna repeated nervously.
"Um… yeah…" Christine replied carefully. From the tone of Verna's voice, Christine knew she was disturbed by something. "He… uh… he arrived here before I did," she continued hesitantly.
Verna's voice was unsteady. "Are you very certain he is your boyfriend?"
"Well, considering he's always telling me he loves me… yeah, I'm pretty sure he's my boyfriend." Christine offered a light-hearted smile, then saw the serious look on Verna's face. She immediately grew worried. "What is it? Is there something wrong? Is he OK?"
"Christine," Verna started softly. "The only person who fits that description is-" she stopped.
Christine took a deep breath, preparing for the worst. "Who, Verna? Who fits that description?" There was no answer. "Please…" Christine pleaded, "I need to know. Did something happen to him?"
"No," Verna whispered, "nothing has happened to him, Christine," a pause, then finally, "the Leader would let nothing happen…to his son…"
Recreation Hall
"You are a difficult one, Erik," Laura pouted as she slid into Erik's lap. "Why haven't you taken me to your bed? Your little ballerina isn't going to be around to see it!"
"I am pretty sure you could never fulfill my appetites, Laura." Erik replied arrogantly. "And I do not have the time nor patience to fraternize with you."
Laura narrowed her eyes. "So you're quite content to be alone forever?"
"I have things to attend to," Erik shoved Laura off his lap and stood up. "If your Leader is looking for me, tell him I am in the study."
Laura said nothing as she angrily jumped to her feet and made her way to Shay's bedchambers.
If she couldn't have one, she'd have the other!
Elsewhere
Meg and Raoul stared at the building before them. It looked rundown and rarely used. "Are you sure this is the right place?" Raoul asked the girl beside him.
Meg nodded. "I finally got into my mom's file cabinet. Found the address of the Guild's headquarters…" She frowned. "though maybe it was an old address?"
"Only one way to find out, I suppose…" Raoul sighed, then shook his head. "If we get caught, Phil is gonna kill me."
"We'll just have to NOT get caught then," Meg offered with a smile. She nodded to a window on the far left, and the two slowly went up to it, trying to look through the filthy glass. "Should we try and open it?" she asked.
"I think it'll probably be locked," Raoul answered.
Meg shrugged then motioned for him to follow her to the other side of the building where a fire escape ladder was attached to the wall. She tilted her head back and looked up. Raoul crouched before her. "I'll give you a boost…" he offered.
Meg placed her foot in his hands and he pushed her up high enough to grab the end of the ladder. She yanked the bottom down and started climbing, the blonde man following quickly behind her.
They finally reached the roof, and looked for a way in. "Here!" Raoul said as he found a metal grate a few feet away. "If you help me, we can probably move it out of the way…"
Meg quickly rushed over to him, and the two yanked and pulled until it came loose.
While bemoaning the fact the grate they had removed led to nothing but a foot-deep hole, the roof suddenly slid open beneath them, and Raoul and Meg found themselves falling into endless darkness.
Tunnels - four hours later
Christine lay on her stomach and stared at the stained black velvet duster lying on the ground beside her cot. Not for the first time, she wondered where its owner was.
The Leader's son.
Things began to make sense now – why the Leader had wanted Erik so much.
Christine took a deep breath, and began to sing the first song that fit her current mood - which was rather depressing at the moment.
"Please continue," a voice spoke up. Christine turned to see Karra staring at her. "You have a beautiful voice."
Nadir had been caught by Christine's singing, and smiled. "She has had an excellent teacher," he said, then motioned for her to continue the song.
Soon Christine realized she had the attention of the entire room.
Tomorrow, the Leader was going to officially introduce his heir to those important enough to know him. Several guests had been arriving the last few days.
Although Erik had been in the house – no, house was too much of an understatement - this was more an estate - for a few weeks now, Shay had wanted to make sure his son was worthy enough to be his heir. He had tested the younger man in hand-to-hand fights, only to see the swift, violent, and remorseless destruction of his lackeys.
The Executioner seemed to be in full swing as of late.
Erik wandered the halls aimlessly while he knew most others were sleeping or busy with their women. His ebony cape rested on his shoulders, shadowing his entire body as he explored the torch-lit corridors.
He had not yet explored the entire building or the tunnels beneath and had been unable to sleep properly for the last few days. He had used the time to explore his surroundings, allowing his mind to wander with his body.
Erik stopped as he finally noticed where he was. He had not been to this part of the tunnels before. It was the bowels of the dark estate, slime and filth dripping off the fungus-covered stone walls and pooling in mildewed puddles on the floor.
What had brought him here?
A large rusty door loomed at the end of the hall, and he came to the conclusion that he was in the servant's annex. It was a place only the guards would go, as it was part of their duty to bring whatever manner of servants the Leader and his guests required.
Erik suddenly froze as a sound came to his ears. He stared at the door before him.
Someone was singing.
He quickly went up to the cold steel and pressed his ear to the crack between the metal and the wall. The angelic female voice was unmistakable. He rested his gloved hands against the door and closed his eyes.
He had trained that beautiful voice himself.
"Christine…"
Christine was about to continue, but froze as she heard another voice sing the next line of the song. The voice sounded more like a haunted echo then anything human, but she knew better.
The group surrounding her seemed shocked, however. "The ghost!" Karra gasped.
"Ghost?" Christine asked, curious now. She only knew one ghost who sounded like an angel.
"We hear that voice all the time," Sandy began as she joined the group that had gathered around Christine. "The sound travels through the tunnels at night. It's so painfully beautiful. We don't know who it belongs to. And it's never sounded THIS close before…"
Christine ran to the door and raised her voice as she continued where the ghost left off, hoping against hope that he'd follow it.
Erik wanted to rip the door off its very hinges and get to the girl to whom that voice belonged… hold that warm little body… kiss that sweet little mouth… show her-
"Sir?" A voice echoed down the hall, snapping Erik out of his current state of mind. The masked man turned to see a guard standing a few feet away. "Sir, may I assist you?"
"What wing is this?" Erik asked, feigning ignorance.
"The Servant's wing, sir," the guard replied respectfully. "It is rare our Masters come down here. Is there something wrong?"
"I was merely interested in exploring my new home," Erik replied arrogantly. Truth be told, he much preferred these tunnels to what lay topside.
The masked man walked back down the hall and brushed his cape past the guard, not bothering to look back.
Elsewhere
With painful groans, Meg and Raoul slowly woke, quite aware they had landed on something that, while not entirely hard had not been all that soft either.
"Where are we?" Meg whispered into the darkness. "Raoul?"
"Yeah, I'm here…" came the answer.
A bright light suddenly went on above them, and the two found themselves on what appeared to be grass, surrounded by mirrors.
"What the hell?" Raoul gasped. The two exchanged frightened glances. "We need to get out of here!" he said, then jumped to his feet and helped Meg to hers. "Look for a door."
Meg nodded and went to each and every mirror, then cried out when she felt them start to heat up. "Can't touch it!"
The heat slowly began to fill the room that had been cold and dark only moments ago. "Wait! Get on your hands and knees! Feel around for some kind of breeze on the ground." Raoul suggested. "There has to be a door here somewhere!"
For several minutes, the two crawled around, moving as close to the hot mirrors as they dared. "BREEZE!" Meg cried out suddenly. "HERE!"
Raoul rushed too her and she indicated one of the mirrors. "We'll kick it!" Raoul suggested. The two then braced themselves on the ground, hands behind them to support themselves as their shoes smacked against the mirror. The glass shimmered and shook, but did not break.
"Getting so hot!" Meg cried out. "Too hot!"
"Keep kicking!" he insisted. "Harder!"
"MEGAN GIRY!" a voice seemed to echo around them, coming from some sort of loud speaker. It sounded angry. Very angry.
Meg and Raoul froze, the light suddenly going out, the room cooling quickly.
They heard the sound of something opening, and felt a rush of cold air. Hands of different shapes and sizes grabbed at them, yanking them to their feet and pulling them out of the darkness into a dimly lit hallway, angry faces glaring at them, holding various weapons in their direction.
But perhaps the one face that frightened the two the most, the one face that looked angrier than anything either Meg or Raoul had ever seen, was the face of one Antoinette Giry.
Servant's quarters – the next day
"Busy busy day!" Sandy spoke as most of the Servant's quarters were emptied. "The Leader is introducing all his friends to his son. There is a hall full of 200 hungry… " a pause, "… whatever they are-s. It's not going to be pretty."
Christine nodded numbly. She had tried to sing several more songs the previous night, but Erik's voice had not answered her again.
She suddenly jumped as five guards burst into the room. "All of you upstairs!" the first one demanded, "If there are any caught staying behind, they will be punished." His eyes fell over Christine. "That includes YOU! You have been resting far too long!"
"This girl is still injured," Nadir replied. "She is in no condition to serve anyone,"
The guard backhanded Nadir across the face. "You will do as the Leader commands!"
Nadir's hand slipped into his pocket, his fingers wrapping around the sharpened wood in his coat. What he was about to do would be foolish, but hopefully it would get him out of the Servant's quarters and into the open.
With a leg sweep, he sent the guard who had slapped him to the ground, his stake hitting its target and turning the creature to dust.
Two other guards grabbed him on either side, dragging him out of the room harshly.
"NADIR!" Christine cried out as she hobbled to her feet and tried not to show the pain in her ankle. She caught his eyes before he was completely removed from the room, and understood.
Nadir knew what he was doing.
With a nervous breath, Christine followed the others out as they emptied the room, wondering what lay ahead at this great feast.
Dinning Hall - Night
Christine gingerly walked into the hall and stopped at the doorway. Sitting at the head of the table with the Leader on one side and Laura on the other was the man she had been looking for, his ebony hair tied back, neatly showing the sharp lines of his white mask.
The mask Christine had made for him after their first shopping trip.
"Erik," she gasped softly.
"So… he IS the one you've been so desperate to find," Verna replied as she came up beside Christine and saw the masked man she was staring at. "I don't think he's yours any more, Christine. Come this way before the guards grow angry."
Verna then gently nudged Christine inside the room and handed her a small stack of plates, nodding that she should start with the Leader and his son. Christine nodded, and limply made her way up to the head of the table, carefully stepping around the cloak that flowed freely from the back of the chair Erik sat on.
"Damn it, do you have to show up everywhere?" Laura muttered as her eyes fell upon Christine. "SHAY! Get her out of her!"
Christine suddenly yelped as Erik reached out from behind and grabbed her, pulling her roughly into his lap and causing the plates to go flying and come to land in several pieces. Christine let out a cry as she felt her sore ankle twist uncomfortably.
Christine found herself speechless as she looked up to see Erik's amber eyes.
The darkness in them chilled her to the bone.
The masked man tangled his fingers in Christine's hair and forced his mouth against hers, roughly parting her lips and demanding the kiss to be far more intimate then she was expecting.
"She is MINE!" he growled at Laura when he broke his hold on Christine. The petite brunette tried to swallow a cry as she put a hand to her mouth.
That kiss had to be the coldest thing she had ever felt.
"She will make for a rather pleasurable night," Erik commented to those around him, ignoring the shock in Christine's blue eyes. He motioned for a female guard. "You are to take her straight to my bedchambers,"
He glanced at Christine once more, his eyes catching the low light, making them glow. "It is about time I made good use of you, angel!" Erik's words were met with lewd comments of encouragement and cheers from the others around the table.
Christine noticed Shay smirking and Laura frowning before the ballerina was roughly forced off Erik's lap by a female guard. Erik turned back to the others, ignoring his angel as she was dragged out of the room.
Elsewhere
"What did you two think you were doing?" Giry demanded of her daughter and Raoul as they found themselves in a sitting room with various Hunters milling about. Weapons were no longer at the ready as it was obvious these two were no threat.
"We wanted to find out more, Mama. You were so secretive… and…. and with… Christine and Erik disappearing…" Meg sputtered, "we… we were … worried…"
"Why did you not simply come to ME with your concerns?" Giry demanded.
Meg frowned, "Would you have told me anything?" she asked. "You haven't told me MUCH so far…"
"There are things you do not need to know, Megan!" Giry scolded. "This is one of them!"
Meg jumped to her feet, angry now. "I don't need to know if my best friend is ok? If she's alive even! You don't think that's important! You think I should be fine just waiting and worrying and pretending like everything is normal? Geez, mom!" she stomped an angry foot. "If Chrissy's well-being is something I don't need to know, then I'd hate to find out how you treat YOUR friends!" Meg suddenly slapped a hand to her mouth, shocked at her own words. She had never spoken to her mother in such a way before.
Giry closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her jaw clenched. She did not, however, retort in anger. "She went after Erik. Last we knew, she was fine." Giry replied calmly, then looked up from her seat to make eye contact with her daughter. "But unfortunately, our source has since lost track of her."
Meg furrowed her brow. "But… if she found Erik, then she should be alri-"
Giry's glare silenced Meg's words. "Erik," she snapped, "can no longer be trusted!"
END OF EPISODE 30