Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is associated with Phantom of the Opera. I only own the plot, and the characters that I have created (such as Delphine, Robert, Annabel, and Therese).

Chapter Nine-Track Down This Apparition of Years Past

Delphine

She stood before Erik, her mind and heart seemed to have temporarily stopped. He made no move either. "I-" She began but she stopped herself. They stared at each other. Slowly, his arms opened and she knew he was almost bidding her to run to him.

She didn't hesitate. She clung to him, her tears falling down her face. "I thought you said you wouldn't come." She said with a sob.

"I know." He said. "I know." He had started to run his fingers through her hair and he tried to soothe her with a gentle humming. It made the tears start all over again. "Did you not want this?" He asked with concern in his eyes.

"Yes, of course. I just…I thought you would never come. Especially after I…we…I was so stupid." She sobbed again.

"Delphine, we both have to give a little." He said as he held her close to him. "You needed this of me, I was wrong to deny you."

She raised her hands to his face. She pulled him to her and placed her lips on his. As they parted she let out a sigh. "I've missed you. I don't think I could ever go through that again." She said. "To know you are so near and yet so far away…"

He shook his head. She fell silent. "Delphine, we don't have to talk." He said as if he could sense her panic at the silence. She knew that not all silence was bad, she knew that this silence wouldn't be bad. She closed her mouth and nestled her head into his chest.

---

Erik

He felt much more at ease knowing that she was glad he was there. He felt like he could breath a sigh of relief, knowing that she would not reject him. She seemed more tearful than he had ever seen her. He knew that Delphine loved him, but he had no idea that she was this heartbroken over something she, herself, had done.

He felt that he had changed her mind by coming. All thoughts of her with that other man had flown from his head. She was his, she would always be his.

He eventually led her farther away from the rambunctious cheers of the party inside. She did not resist him, followed him blindly, no second guessing. She gave him her complete trust, even as the bright lights of the party faded she did not even turn her head to look back. Would it be possible for them to remain in limbo between their worlds? Would they be able to survive this way? He hoped it was possible, for he knew that her world would destroy him, and his would smother out her bright light.

He sat her down a stone garden bench. Facing her, he studied her face. She showed no confusion, no blank stare. Her gaze was one of admiration and love. Her eyes twinkled through her recent tears and her sad mouth turned up at the corners. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to push aside the conversation that should conspire. He wanted to pretend they had never been apart. He was suddenly terrified of talking to her. She seemed so calm and yet he knew that the thoughts were occurring so rapidly in her mind. The brief faltering moments when something new transpired, it was obvious on her face even if they were small. He had an eye for her, she could hide nothing from him any longer.

"We came so close to…being apart." She said quietly. He looked away, trying to keep his eyes closed. "I know you do not want to talk but…Erik we must." He dared to glance at her. Her head was slumped down, she looked numbly at the ground. "We cannot pretend nothing happened." She said.

He stared at her. So she was willing to sacrifice the delicate balance they found. Why? To make them stronger? He feared what was in her mind. She had already broken his heart once, anything could happen in the course of their conversations. He now knew that.

He nodded at her. A flicker of hope flew through her eyes and than determination. He felt the relief wash over him. When Delphine was determined nothing could deter her. Putting his trust in her completely, he turned his attention to her.

---

Delphine

"Erik, I need this world. I cannot sacrifice it. I love you but your love, alone, cannot fuel the desires of my heart." She said as she looked upon him. He drooped a considerable amount. "And you cannot live in the same conditions as me. Are we destined to be like this forever, no place for our love to be?" She asked.

"Delphine, we must find a place." He said with panic.

"But where?" She asked. "I belong there, and you…"

"There has to be a limbo, a sanctuary for us." He said. He was reaching out for something, anything. She wished he would find it, once he did she would follow him.

She nodded her head. "Erik, I believe it, but it would take us a life time to find." She said. Her pessimism conquering all.

"No Delphine, we can find our place. We have to look and believe." He said. He seemed stunned by his own words. Had they changed roles? She didn't know but it certainly seemed so.

"Erik…" She said. She leaned toward him and placed a hand on his face. "it's right here!" She said, the idea jumping into her mind.

"Here, in a garden?" He asked with a small laugh.

"No," She said with a smile. "a place close to society but untouched by their hands? The county side, the beach, the mountains?" She began naming places, desolate places where she and Erik could go. The image conjured in her mind sent warmth through her bones. She and Erik, living in a small cottage. Surrounded by music. A child? Anything would be possible once they got to that point.

His own smile was hardly contained. He tilted her head up, just enough so his lips could brush against hers. "You are brilliant." He said.

"I can start looking tomorrow!" She said as she jumped up from the bench.

He stood and gave her his arm. He started to lead her back to the ball. "Yes, for now lets dance." She gave a slight nod. As they entered her world she was filled with hope. They would work, she would make sure of it.

---

Delphine found herself alone for a brief moment. A brief moment, but long enough for Robert to corner her. Erik had slipped away, she could see him hiding among the shadows, waiting for her. "Robert! I was…wondering where you had gotten to." She said.

"I was wondering the same of you." He said as he moved her toward the edge of the dance floor. "I couldn't find you. Did you need some fresh air?" He asked. She moved away from him.

"Yes, it's a bit stuffy in here." She said. She turned to leave him but he caught her hand and yanked her toward an isolated area, the entrance hall to the Depadieu manor.

---

Once he had dragged her away from the ballroom she wrenched her hand free from him. "Robert, what is wrong with you?" She asked with annoyance as she glared at him.

"Enough Delphine, who is that man?"

"What man?" She asked with surprise.

"Don't play dumb with me. That man you were with in the garden!" He shouted.

"Why would I tell you? It is none of your business."

"Delphine!" He said with warning. "Don't make me…"

"What?" She shouted back at him. "What are you going to do Robert? Hit me?"

"Shh." He said. He grabbed her arm and twisted it painfully outward. "You don't want to attract his attention do you?"

"What if I do?" She asked.

"You won't." He said with confidence. "I have seen him before Delphine. I have seen him in the catwalks, I have seen him in box five. Oddly enough, I have never seen him without that mask on. Why is that Delphine? What is he hiding under it?"

"Why does any of this matter to you?" She hissed.

"I suspect that he is planning something. Is he going to take you away, marry you? Or is this a different man all together. Your engagement ring is gone. Where did it go?" He asked with a monotone voice.

"For your information, he is the same man…" She turned her head away with guilt.

"Ah, so you admit it. Is he going to marry you?" He asked with an arrogant tone in his voice. "Do you honestly believe that he will?"

"Why, do you suspect that he is like you?" She retorted, her arms was twisted even further.

"Don't try my temper, Delphine. You of all people should know better." He paused and looked about him. "Where is he now? Amusing how he turns from you when you need him, isn't it?"

"You think you are stronger than him?" She said in a quiet voice. "You do not know my Erik." She said.

"Erik? So that is his name." He seemed to muse on this. "Well, my dear Delphine, are you and Erik planning on leaving Paris? Are you planning on living in some shack in the mountains?" Her eyes grew wide. How much had this devil heard?

"So what if we are?"

"Than I think…that I will have to stop you."

"Why do you care?"

"Well, I wouldn't have if I had not discovered that you bring great revenue to my little investment of an opera house. That and it would be splendid to start up a little affair, don't you think? Nothing as serious as before, mind you, but we did have fun didn't we?" He asked with a sick grin.

"You sick, disgusting man!" She shrieked as she kicked at him. Smiling, he pushed her arm down. She let out a scream of pain. He rose an eyebrow in amusement.

"Oh Delphine, I am sure that you are a bit distracted by him. We can change that though. I only need open that door, than I can send my friends after him."

"What friends?" She asked with horror.

"The police, they are just outside. Awaiting my command." He said.

"Why would they go after Erik?" She asked, realizing he might know more than she had ever thought.

"Maybe Christine would like to tell you. She is waiting outside too, to take you home. She has filled me in on the things I have not been able to overhear."

"Overhear? What have you overheard?" She said with a whimper as she looked up at him.

"Quite a bit actually. Your confession on the roof, he was holding you wasn't he? At the door, you said yourself that you never knew who could be listening." He said with a light laugh. "Delphine, I thought you would have been more cautious than that." He said with mock disappointment. "You were always so much more careful with us."

"That does not mean the police will go after him." She said.

"For loving you? No, of course not. For being a murderer, a kidnapper, and a thief? Yes." He watched her face go pale. "That's right. I know who this Erik really is." He said with disgust. "Your standards really have gone down." He said.

Her eyes widened once more, this time in rage. Despite the pain, she stood and brought her booted heel to his shins. Her kick knocked him to the ground. He moaned as he clutched his legs. "Odd, everyone always told me standards already seemed low. Or rather, until you ran off with my maid!" She kicked him once more and ran back into the ballroom.

---

She began to search for Erik frantically. She had to find him. They had to leave right away, through the back. Annabel was brushed aside as she rushed about the ballroom. As she turned her head to look in the shadows she collided with a solid figure. Terrified that Robert had recovered, she fought against the arms that held her. "Delphine, what is wrong?" Erik's voice said. She looked up and saw his loving eyes looking down on her.

Grabbing his hand, she ran toward the gardens. "I don't have time to explain. We must leave now!"

---

Erik

Delphine flew through the ballroom with him in tow. His mind was racing as fast as they were. What had that man said to her? Who was that man? It had obviously set her off in a torrent of panic and rage.

"Faster!" She said as she yanked at his arm. The people moved away from them as they darted toward the door to the garden. As they stopped outside they could hear the curious buzz behind them. "Damn it, I didn't want to cause a scene." She said. He watched her look about her with quick glances. The sight of the large hedge caught her attention. "There, we'll hide there." She pulled him behind her and jumped into the hedge. Not sure why she was acting so strange, he followed.

The brick wall that ended the garden was stopping them from going back any further. She crouched and in doing so pulled him down with her. "Delphine," He whispered, sensing she wanted this conversation to be as close to silent as possible. "what is going on?"

"Robert…he knows. He knows everything." She said back as she lowered her gaze. "I was so foolish to believe he would let me be. He's been eavesdropping on us since the beginning." She said with fire in her eyes. "And Christine!" She said with malice. "She told him everything else!" He watched her clench her fists in fury. "How could she betray me?" She asked.

He took one of her clenched hands and held it. "Calm down, this won't change anything. We'll just leave, come on." He said as he stood and put a hand in the hedge.

"No!" She said. "We can't leave through the front door." She said as she tried to pull him back. "The police…they're out there."

"He knows that much?" Erik asked with alarm. "How will we leave?" He asked. Before she could answer there was a set of voices in the garden.

"Annabel! Don't lie to me, everyone in there knows which way they went. Where did they go?" Robert's voice called through the hedge.

"I really don't know Robert." Annabel said. "Please, there is going to be a scene. My party will be ruined."

"Shut up!" He bellowed. "This isn't about some stupid party for schoolgirls. He's a murderer. He could kill everyone." He said more quietly.

"I-I don't believe you." Annabel said. "Delphine would never endanger those she cares about." She said. "I want you to leave, now." There was a swish of skirts. "If I hear that you have assaulted my friend on my property again, the police you have brought will escort you out!" With that there was silence. Erik looked at Delphine. She had leaned forward, concentration was plastered over her face.

"Stupid girl." Robert's voice said. "I'll just have to look myself." His footsteps moved toward the hedge. Erik's breath caught in his throat. He wouldn't be caught, if that man found them…he would kill him. Delphine had turned with anxiety and clung to his arm. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she was mouthing some wordless prayer.

There was a rustle and than silence. "Damn it." Robert's voice said. His footsteps moved in the opposite direction and eventually faded away. Both people hiding behind the hedge let out a breath.

"Thank God." Delphine whispered with relief as she clung to him. "I was sure he would find us." She said.

"We need to leave, now." He replied.

"Where?"

"I need to leave Paris." He said. "If you come with me…"

She nodded her head. "I will, of course I will. Where to, though?"

"I am not sure, we can think of that while we go." He said. Maybe they could go to the French countryside, than again that might not be far enough away.

"We should stop at the Opera Populaire." She said. "Than my father's, I might be able to snatch some funds." She said. "We could leave Paris by dawn."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked, his face displaying no emotion. He didn't want her to make this decision based on his own feelings.

---

Delphine

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Erik asked her. Did she really want to? Moments before she had not wanted to leave Paris, moments ago she had thought they had all the time in the world. Suddenly, that was all ripped away from her. She was forced to make this decision. Would she flee with him, without securing much for herself? Or would she stay and be prey to the emptiness that would fill her soul?

"Yes." She said. She looked up at the brick wall. It was high, but easy enough for her to get over it with the help of the hedge. "We have to get over this." She said as she looked at the hedge and back at the wall. "Do you think you can get up there?" She asked. He nodded his head. Of course he could, she knew the question was a silly one.

"Delphine, this isn't going to be easy." He said. She knew that. She struggled to keep a positive smile on her face. It would be hard, test her in more ways than she could possibly ever have dreamed of. "I want you to come with, but I will understand if you don't want to." He said with honesty.

He would understand, wouldn't he? She realized that he was not giving her an ultimatum. She had the power to turn back and say she couldn't leave yet. She had the ability to stay, to find out what she really wanted. It was only he, that did not have all the time in the world. She stopped thinking. When had she started thinking like that? When had their future become about two separate people? She didn't want him to leave without her, she didn't want to stay while he was forced to leave.

She wanted to be with him, no matter how they got there. So why was she thinking like this? Did his permission give her a chance to see she wasn't ready? Her thoughts strayed to Robert. He wouldn't let her have a moment's peace if she stayed. He would harass her, torture her until she couldn't bear it anymore. Would she chose to stay, without Erik and face Robert? Would she go with Erik but leave everything else behind?

Why was she forced to make this decision. She had been more than willing to go when he had seemed to think she would go with him. Now she was second guessing her previous decision. She looked at Erik, his face was anxious. She couldn't think forever. He didn't have forever, he didn't have more than a few hours. "Of course I'm coming with." She said. "I want to be with you, even if it requires this." She said, hoping her terror at being forced to flee was not shining through her brave front.

He smiled and nodded. "Than lets go." He said. He watched her climb up to the top of the hedge. She waited a moment, peering over the top. She didn't see Robert anywhere, perhaps he had left. She hoisted herself onto the brick wall and looked below, to where she would land. The grassy slope made her uneasy. Why was there a small hill there? If she tried to land on her feet she could break her ankle. She looked down at Erik.

"There's a small problem." She said. "There's a hill." She said.

"I'll go first." He said as he began climbing up to her. Once he was at her level he looked down. "Good thing you told me, you would have fallen on your ankle." He fell from the wall and landed on the hill. He started to move away, tumble down the hill. She let out a gasp. He stopped himself and smiled at her. "I'll catch you." He assured her. She closed her eyes and pushed herself away from the wall. She landed in his arms. Than they were falling down again. They were sliding down the hill.

Once they had stopped he let out a laugh. He picked her up and moved her hair away from her face. She had the notion that, had they been in different circumstances, this might have been romantic. She quickly kissed him before she grabbed his hand and started toward her father's house.

---

Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I really liked showing Robert's true colors. When he started to be friendly toward Delphine I was afraid people would think he wasn't that bad, which is why I am glad some people who reviewed professed a really strong disliking for the guy. Thanks to those of you who reviewed. Sorry PhantomLover05, the fighting won't happen between Erik and Delphine again.

Until next time…