A/N - Thanks so much for all my reviews! Keep them coming! I really like the scenes from now on. There's something big happening with each chapter. Let me know what you think:D

Christine wept heavily as she finally heard the much dreaded sound - loud banging on the door.

"Open up - police! We are searching all the homes of Perros, your home is in speculation particularly. Please open the door."

Christine laid down and looked through the hole in the floor. Directly below was Erik, sitting in the rocking chair, reading the paper as if it was a peaceful night without a care in the world!

"Erik!" She cried out. Why was he not hiding?

He looked up and gave her a deadly stare to tell her not to speak again. But the heavy sobs came and forbad her to talk anyway. Tears blurred her vision as she listened to the door slam open. Officers poured in, their shouts blending together. She quickly sat up and crammed herself against the far left corner, not being able to bear any more. She listened as they yelled at Erik, as he remained silent. Tears poured down her face and onto her dress like rain. Breathing was hard for her, yet not because of the stuffiness of the small room.

"You monster!"

Christine's head flew up from her lap when she heard those words shouted. Her heart was stuck in her throat. Had that been Raoul's voice? She knew that he was funding the search - but actually being a part of it?

"What did you do with Christine? Where is she? Talk, you animal!" Raoul shouted, so furiously, Christine was gasping for breath. Erik remained silent.

She heard a sword unsheathe.

"No!" She screamed involuntary before more sobs wracked her chest.

"Upstairs! She's upstairs!" Raoul exclaimed.

Christine listened as many feet pounded on the steps. She buried her face in her hands as she hunched over. She prayed that somehow they wouldn't find her; somehow she'd be spared a few more minutes. But yet again, her prayers were not answered, and the door burst open.

"Christine!" Raoul exclaimed, running to her and scooping her into his arms. She turned her head to his chest and sobbed. From his soothing mutters, she realized he thought she cried from fright and from relief. Never in his life had he been so wrong!

He brought her down the steps just as they were taking Erik out the door. He looked back to see her in the Vicomte's arms and winced. After that, he seemed to walk easily where they wanted.

... "I fear you'll be taken too. And if you would...There would be no getting over you. That would be the end for me. I'd die. I'd give myself up the moment you left; let the Parisians torture and kill me, it wont matter. I wont feel it. With you, everything inside me would leave. I'd be nothing more than an empty shell; a shadow of the great man that once was."

The words rang in her mind as she cried harder. She was being taken from him - not by death, but by her once not-too-long-ago lover. She could only imagine what he was feeling right now. Mentally, she was begging him to keep fighting, and not to let himself die.

Raoul was walking her to his carriage just as the doors on a wagon with bars over the small windows was being shut. Squinting, Christine could see a hunched over, defeated looking shape. She cried out, her heart swelled in pain and sorrow. She saw the figure flinch, but did not look at her.

'He's dying...he's dying inside. God, help me. What can I do?' she thought.

She couldn't yell to him - in everyone's minds she had to hate him. That made her utterly powerless. Feeling as defeated as Erik, she climbed into the carriage with the assistance of Raoul. He climbed in after her, then wrapped her close in his arms.

"Do not worry - nothing shall ever happen to you again." Raoul whispered soothingly to her. She laid her head upon his shoulder. Defeat was a draining and tiring emotion, and, coupled with the fact that she had hardly any sleep the night before, she let her silent tears fall down her cheeks until the rocking of the carriage lulled her into a fitful sleep.

Christine woke up screaming, clutching onto whatever was near her, opening her eyes, she saw it was Raoul's neck.
"Shh, Christine. You're safe; I got you. No more dark dreams." He whispered. Blinking, she looked around. They were still in the carriage, but it was getting dark. "A storm is coming, you were not asleep that long." Raoul explained when she made a confused face.

Nodding, she turned her head to the window, looking out to a familiar looking village. Which one was this? Then she remembered...

"Raoul, I don't like storms, I never have. And this whole...ordeal...it made me even more frightened. Could we rent a room and stay in that little village?"

"Christine...there are many people awaiting your arrival. All of Paris has been searching for you."

She made a desperate look. "Please? I'm scared!" She said, hugging him close to her and hiding her face in his shoulder. She had to stop at that village!

Raoul looked at her hard, then nodded. "Alright, Christine. Anything you say. You must be quite shaken up already from everything you've been through. Driver - go into this village and search for a place to stay at for a while."

Raoul rented Christine a room in the small hotel, which she fled to.

"I'm going to freshen up. Please wait here, I wont be long." She said to Raoul, then ran to the steps. When he wasn't watching, she slipped out of the back door and hurried through the town until she saw the house with the broken balcony.

She pounded her fists on the door, trying to hurry before Raoul might catch her. The servant that had tended to her at her last visit opened the door.

"Miss Daae?"

"Is Giovanni here?" Christine asked; there was no time for manners.

"Oh...no he is not. Master giovanni passed on."

"Passed on? He is dead?"

"I am afraid so."

"When?"

"Well...I believe two and a half days ago. The very afternoon you left. He only lived to see Erik - that was all he was hanging on for. Now that he made his peace..."

Christine nodded.

"Is Monsieur Erik here?"

"No...he was...he was caught."

"Oh, how terrible!" The look on her face convinced Christine that she really felt what she said.

"It is."

"But how are you here?"

"I was kidnapped, remember? The good Vicomte is taking me home, but I asked him to stop here because of the storm. Speaking of which..."
It was then when the sky opened. "I must go, Sarah."

"Oh, not yet! Give me one moment. Come in while you wait."

Christine did so. When Sarah came back, she carried a carpet bag. "This is for you. It's what Giovanni wanted Erik's...well, you, to have."

"What is it?"

"Oh. It's everything! Dresses, rose water, things you enjoyed here. I just added some cookies and muffins for your journey to remember us."

Christine kissed her cheek and thanked her, taking the carpet bag. Sarah gave her a blanket to cover Christine with to keep dry as well. Then, with one final goodbye, Christine dashed back to the hotel and to her room.

Not being able to part with the blanket, Christine folded it as small as she could, then found a way to shove it into the carpet bag with everything else. Then silently, she slipped quickly down the stairs and into the lobby, where she found Raoul waiting for her, studying the mantel piece.

"I'm ready." Christine said, tapping his shoulder. He smiled at her, until he noticed the carpet bag.

"Where did that come from?" He asked, pointing to it.

"Uh...I...someone recognized me. Gave it to me...for the trip home." Christine said, stumbling through a lie. She hurt inside, recalling how Erik said she never lied in her life. It wasn't that she ruined that statement, but that everything reminded her of him.

"The wagon...taking Er-...the Phantom back home...is that behind us or in front of us?" Christine asked.

"Behind, I believe. They'll go slower, since they have officers riding all around the wagon, and they'll need rest. But don't you worry about him, you're safe now. He'll never see you again, I'll make sure of it. But what were you going to call him before you said 'Phantom'?"

"Oh...I was going to say Erik, because..." Christine panicked. Why would she call him that? She couldn't think of an excuse! Her mind went blank!
"Did he ask you to?" Raoul shook his head in disgust, growling in his throat. "He sickens me. I fear what all you had to endure, though I will not let a soul ask you a thing until you are good and ready to talk."

Christine smiled gratefully. She was grateful - that was she'd have plenty of time to think up every word of her made up story. She was never a liar before, but she would have to be now.