A/N: As always, thanks to my beta, Le Chat Noir.
Episode 53: Decisions
By: Elektra
"Chrissy?" Meg approached Christine as she sat on the couch watching TV. Now that Adam was gone, they had returned to their apartment. "Can I talk to you?"
"Always."
Meg looked nervous. "About Erik... and Adam. I mean, I know you haven't seen him in a few weeks, and it's not that I don't appreciate him saving my life, but I can't help but wonder what he's doing. If he-"
"I know," Christine answered, quite aware what Meg was concerned about. Christine took a deep breath. "Remember when you were finding out about the guild? Did you see reference to an 'Executioner'?"
Meg nodded, then the realization struck her. "Erik?" Christine's silence answered the question. Meg studied her for a few moments. "How are you OK with that?"
Christine hugged herself. "I'm not. But I didn't know until after I started to care about him." She hung her head. "It freaked me out. I... I don't know if you remember when I tried to avoid him, but then... then Erik got hurt trying to help me and I couldn't stop thinking to myself 'What if it had been more serious? What would I do without him?'"
She looked back at Meg. "Just the thought of it started to hurt." She bit her lip. "But I was still scared. Too scared to act on it. To have those feelings for a man like that? What kind of person does that make ME?"
Christine stared at the floor. "Maybe it makes me a really bad person."
"No, Chrissy. You're not a bad person at all." Meg met her eyes, "But I need you to be honest with me now - would Erik ever hurt you?"
"OH, God no! I have 100 percent faith in that."
Meg looked nervous again. "Um… he… he's nothing like Adam, right?"
"NO, Meggy. Erik doesn't wander off to sadistically kill innocent girls."
"And… he only does what he HAS to?" Meg asked. "Like a soldier or a cop or something?"
Christine thought of that analogy, and realized it was fitting. "Yeah, that's a good way to look at it."
Meg nodded. "And… he's good to you?"
"He's very good to me…" Christine then frowned, a hint of anger in her voice. "When he isn't hiding from me…"
Populaire – Manager's office
Raoul walked into the manager's office to take his audience with 'the ghost'. He had asked Giry to leave a voice message on Erik's phone telling him to meet Raoul there. Whether Erik would show up or not was unsure. Raoul hoped he would.
"What do you want, DeChagny?"
Raoul jumped at the voice in the darkness, then quickly calmed himself. "I wanted to thank you for saving Meg."
"Really? I thought you were going to say something more along the lines of 'Stay away from the girls, you murderous freak'."
"That thought DID cross my mind..." He was silent a moment. "I also wanted to tell you that Carlotta is thinking of returning full-time on stage instead of going back to teaching."
"How do you know?" Erik asked.
"Someone mentioned it at an investors' meeting," he explained. "Now, I don't know much about opera, but I don't think it's SUPPOSED to sound all high and shrieky like that."
"Carlotta has a unique sound," Erik replied dryly.
"Whatever it may be, Phil and I don't have the patience for all her demands and her hissy-fits. It's bad for business." he explained. "She wants more money, a private dressing room, yadda yadda. It'll cost us more to keep her around than we care to pay, but Firmin and André have themselves backed into a corner with her contract, so…" He shrugged at the shadow leaning calmly against the wall.
"You want me to scare her away if she returns?" Erik asked with great interest.
"Do whatever it is you do. I don't care who replaces her - although I have a feeling you already have someone in mind."
"Yes." Erik's voice betrayed no emotion.
"Great… then you might want to actually TALK to Chrissy at some point." Raoul suggested with a slight frown, quite aware Erik had been avoiding the girl in question.
Erik did not respond to the comment. "I'll see what I can do about Carlotta. But DeChagny?"
"What?"
"Will you be calling upon my services on a regular basis?" Erik asked. "I DO have some ideas to make the Populaire more successful – if making money interests you, that is. I would require payment, however. Off the books," he added.
Raoul thought about this. "I'll talk to Phil."
Erik nodded in response.
With that, Raoul left the opera ghost alone once again.
Populaire Stage
Christine paced back and forth, remembering the note that had led her here: Written in red, it had asked for her presence two hours after rehearsal on the main stage, and was aptly signed O.G.
Christine frowned, unimpressed with such a cold note from a man that was supposed to be her lover. It was bad enough he had not talked to her face-to-face. No doubt he had retreated into his darkness again, ashamed she had seen him at his worst.
But she knew he was around - he was always around. She could feel him watching her. Unfortunately, if Erik didn't want someone to see him, he would not be seen. It was a skill Christine was starting to find incredibly annoying.
She glimpsed a shadow moving off to the left and heard the sound of material rusting. Soon, the house lights flickered off and the auditorium was plunged into darkness.
Complete, utter darkness.
"I am NOT playing hide and seek with you, Erik!" Christine snapped into the emptiness. "Talk to me or I'm leaving. And if I break my neck falling off the stage, it'll be YOUR fault!"
"Do you despise him now?" She heard Erik's familiar voice echoing throughout the auditorium.
"Despise WHO?" she asked the darkness, sensing him nearby.
"He never wanted you to see."
"WHO never wanted me to see WHAT?" she asked. "Stop talking in third person!"
"Do you still love him?"
"What kind of question is that?" she demanded. "Do you think I'm that fickle? I swear, Erik..."
"Do you fear him?"
"That's it!" Christine turned in the direction she thought the stairs were and began to walk tentatively towards them.
"Christine!" An arm suddenly shot out and grabbed her around the waist - and not a moment too soon, as she felt the stage disappear beneath her feet. "That was the orchestra pit."
Once her feet were on solid ground, she turned in his grasp and pushed at his chest with a hint of anger. "At least I got you to stop talking in third person."
He took a step back and said nothing.
"Erik?"
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" He asked.
"I saw you kill a man, Erik. I mean… I knew, but… I never saw that look in your eyes. I can't lie and say I was OK with that."
"Christine… I don't want to cause you pain, but you have seen the real me."
She looked up at the amber orbs above her. "If that was the real you, then what did I see that night in your room?" she asked. "The first night we-"
"My weakness," he interrupted as he walked away and left her standing alone.
Christine frowned. "Weakness?" she asked. "Does that make ME weak too? I'm the one who initiated it!"
"That's not what I meant."
"What DID you mean then, Erik?" She stomped a foot angrily. "Afterwards, when you held me, when you watched me sleep, what were you thinking?"
His voice was barely above a whisper. "I was thinking… how much I loved you."
Her anger calmed a little. "Then how could that be a weakness?"
He said nothing for a few moments and she worried he had disappeared, until he broke the silence. "What were you thinking when you saw me kill Adam?"
"I thanked god the bastard was dead and Meggy was safe." She answered, "and then…"
"You grew frightened."
"Yes, Erik. The Executioner scares the crap out of me!" she admitted. "But now… at least I know that the Executioner, and Erik, are entirely different people."
"And what if the former takes over?" he asked.
She stood firm. "I'll never let that happen."
He let out a soft sigh. "Christine… you could not stop it."
"Who says?" she asked stubbornly. "It wasn't the Executioner, or the Opera Ghost, or whatever weird name you use, that I fell for. It was Erik. I deserve to have him again."
"You deserve far more than that." He replied. After a moment of silence, Erik spoke again. "I need to do something."
Christine grew worried. "What?"
"I need to find out if I am the only one who can do what I do for the Guild. I need to find out if there are others. If there have been others. Perhaps I can find out how they were able continue with their lives. I need to be sure I can put this behind me before... before it's too late."
"Too late?" she asked. "Stop acting all cold and distant, Erik!" There was no reply. "Erik?" Nothing. "Erik, are you still here?"
Christine swore under her breath. Erik had disappeared once again.
She raised her voice angrily, her words echoing in the theater. "I GIVE UP!"
Nadir Khan's apartment – later
Erik knocked on Nadir's apartment impatiently. He did not care that it was two o'clock in the morning. He needed answers and needed them now.
Soon enough, a half-asleep Nadir opened the door. "Erik! What are you doing here so late? Or rather, early." He asked.
"I need to talk to you." Erik replied as he let himself in.
Nadir studied him for a moment, realizing he had a purpose. "What is it?" he asked as he joined Erik on the couch.
"I need to know about the Executioner," he said. "Were there others before me?"
Nadir looked uncomfortable. "Perhaps such a question is better asked of Leroux. He is the one that founded the Guild, after all."
Erik frowned. "Yes... and he is so very forthcoming with information."
Erik was about to say more when Nadir's room door opened and a disheveled grey-blond head peaked out. "Nadir? Are you coming back to bed?"
Nadir looked at the door, then back to Erik, whose golden eyes seemed to have enlarged to double their normal size. "Wait, Erik... I can explain!"
Erik jumped to his feet, fists clenched at his side as the woman behind the door stepped out hesitantly.
"Erik... honey?" she began nervously. "I... I didn't know you were-"
"Nadir," Erik interrupted with a growl, "why was my mother in your bedroom?"
Madeline hugged her filmy robe closed. "There's more going on here than you think."
"Is THIS how you pay for your keep?" Erik snapped angrily. "Not that such a thing is beneath you, of course!"
"Erik!" Nadir quickly stood up. "It's NOTHING like that!"
Erik spun on Nadir and grabbed him by the collar of his robe. "Are you sleeping with my MOTHER?"
"I CARE for Maddy." Nadir replied angrily. "I understand your childhood bitterness, but she was young and scared then! She is a grown woman now. We-"
"NO!" Erik shoved Nadir away. "I don't want to hear it!" He glared at the two before him. "How long?" he demanded. "How long has this been going on?"
"Four months," Nadir explained with great discomfort. "Perhaps I should have told you when we started courting some time ago, but I wasn't sure how you would take it. I was going to tell you. WE were going to-"
"I do not CARE!" Erik roared. "She is my MOTHER! And YOU are supposed to be my FRIEND!"
"I'm also a MAN, Erik! And I'm not getting any younger. Madeline and I are only a few years apart, do you realize that? We both want to settle down. Perhaps travel around the world together. We truly do enjoy one another."
"Yes, I can see how you enjoy one another!" Erik hissed as he gestured to Madeline, still hovering near the door to Nadir's room.
Erik then turned his back on both of them and quickly stormed to the door. "I cannot be here right now! I cannot... cannot SEE this!"
"Erik, please … stay?" Madeline piped up. "We should talk-" Her words froze in her throat as Erik's golden eyes slid to her slowly.
"Oh no, Mother," his voice was low, almost frightening. "You really don't want me to stay right now. Trust me."
Without another word, Erik left the apartment.
Why? Erik wondered as he rode his bike recklessly through the darkened streets. He needed to hit something. Hard.
He soon sensed something nearby worth hitting. No... three things worth hitting. Or staking. Not more than a few feet away, no less.
He turned down an alley and slowly slid off the seat, waiting for the creatures to make their move.
WHY! Erik demanded silently as the three of them rushed him at once. Why can she care for everyone but her son? He caught the first creature off-guard, sending dust flying.
I made excuses for her! He grabbed the second one by the head, twisting until he heard a sickening crack, then brought his boot down on its back as it flailed on the ground, a sharp snap echoing in the alley. I thought perhaps she wasn't capable of caring. Erik's foot shot out and caught the third one in the jaw, sending it crashing to the ground. I thought perhaps she was too hurt by father's betrayal. He blocked a punch as the creature jumped back to its feet.
But now I see. He laughed harshly, the thing before him growing fearful. It wasn't because of HIM - it was because of ME. Her little living dead boy!
He shoved a fist into the creature's throat, sending it rearing back gasping for breath.
Damn her!
Erik threw his stake like a dart at the stumbling creature's heart, turning it to dust easily.
Damn them both!
He grabbed the stake once more and turned back to the broken one suffering at his feet.
My mother and father can BOTH burn in Hell!
He impaled the stake with such force that it splintered and cracked as it went right through the creature and hit the pavement.
Erik fell to his knees, staring at the destroyed stake in his hand, ignoring the dust on his pants.
"I give up…" he whispered harshly.
He closed his eyes, remembering Christine shouting those same words not more than a few hours ago as she stood frustrated on the Populaire's stage. He had heard her all too well.
Oh no, Christine. That's not allowed. He thought as he conjured up Christine's image just as he left her standing alone, angry and hurt. I have treated you horribly.
He took a deep breath and climbed back to his feet.
But now it's decided. I will lay my claim, once and for all.
Christine Daaé, your Erik will not give you up.
END OF EPISODE 53