AN: Next chapter up! The curtain must go up once more!
REVIEW, because I need the inspiration to write deep into the AM hours and get this story done instead of sleep!
Disclaimer: Obviously, if you haven't figured it out by now, I don't own PotO
Nadir tapped his finger on the envelope as he thought. Everything seemed to be spinning, distracting him and keeping him from making a decision. Joseph Buquet. It was a name he had not heard for a very long time, had hoped never to hear again. He glanced at the seemingly innocent envelope and briefly considered ripping it apart. But no, that would do no good. If that boy had already been this direct...Erik was being hunted, and Nadir knew he would prefer a more level playing field.
He switched on the intercom. "Thelma, cancel everything for today. I'm going home early."
"Are you feeling sick, detective?" She asked as he moved to grab his hat and coat.
"Yes..." he murmured, "A touch of something."
He switched off the intercom and grabbed his keys, in too much of a hurry to do anything else.
Christine had detected the smell too late. After Erik had taken a kiss by surprise, her attention to anything but him had disappeared. It had been soft and sweet, but possessive. It was Erik. And she'd loved the feeling of his arms as braced her small form and laid her down amidst the toussled ruby sheets. She loved him.
But the pie wasn't salvageable. She'd run like a woman possessed, Erik not far behind, and would have burned her hands trying to get it out of the oven if not for him. Erik had simply swatted her frenzied hands away, and put on the mitts and pulled out the little disaster. It was only Christine's crestfallen look that kept him from looking amused. Inside, he took an absurd pride in being that great a distraction to her.
"Oh, Erik," she sighed, and lifted a hand to her brow. Christine wasn't looking at him, but instead fanned the destroyed pastry.
"It's only a pie, Christine." He placed his hands on her shoulders and looked at her waving hands. "You could try again." He offered.
"Yes, I suppose I should." She mused aloud. "Maybe I could have one ready by tonight."
Erik watched her only a moment longer, a small frown on his face, before taking her hands in his. His words were slow but rich as syrup in her ears. "Why are you doing this?"
Christine tilted her head back a little, so that her curious brown eyes met his. "I want to learn." Her words earned a little shake of his head.
"No, you didn't want to before." His warm breath trickled down her cheek, and she shivered. "You were never very interested in this sort of thing before."
"Well, things have changed, haven't they?" She spoke quickly, eyes looking back at the pie. It embarrassed her to let him see how little she could really do.
"Paris." His one word snapped her back to reality.
"What?"
"You said you wanted to sing in Paris." Erik reminded her gently, in a voice filled with some hushed emotion. Christine laughed softly and shook her head.
"When I was a child." She reminded him.
"You've excelled as a singer. You could perform anywhere you liked." He knew she could, he knew she'd dreamed of it. Then why was she trying so desperately to be more domestic?
"Things are different now, Erik. I have nothing to prove." She turned and looked at him, a smile on her face. Her hands raised themselves to trace his gentle features, and he closed his eyes. They both understood what she meant.
I'm yours now. Life's changed.
"Lover or not, I've still let you slack far too much." He retorted. "Let's fix that."
"What else am I to do, Antoinette?" Nadir paced the room as his wife sat with a blank expression on her face. She looked at the envelope, very tempted to open it. This man clearly had no good intentions toward her young friend, and it worried her greatly.
"Erik would want to know." His nod assured her that he'd had the same thought. She sighed. "Then let's go together. The sooner he knows, the better. We don't know what this man is planning."
"No, I'm going alone." Nadir decided. He raised a hand to silence the protest ready on his wife's lips. "No, I won't allow my family to be targeted. You have both Meg and Madeleine to worry about keeping safe."
"Erik--"
"...will understand. He knows you have to keep safe for their sake." Once again he took up his keys, and looked at his wife as she stood, beautiful and proud as ever. "If I can get to Erik in time, I can help him. Everything will be fine."
Mrs. Giry, in an uncharacteristic moment, wrapped her arms around her husband. "Help him, then. For both of us."
A blue toyota pulled out of a driveway, and headed toward the city. A desperate detective sat behind the wheel, years of training forgotten with fresh panic. He did not notice, a few cars behind, as a black nissan followed.
Follow the leader, the driver thought. His smirk was cemented on his face, his victory sure in coming. Soon, everything would be coming together. Erik would be discovered, and he wouldn't even have time to run away.
No, this time he's paying...
The sound of a knocking interrupted the music they'd been making. Christine looked at Erik. "Did you invite the Girys?"
Erik shook his head, but stood and headed to the door. "Probably just Nadir, here to meddle again." It earned him a little scowl, but no real resentment. He smiled a little and turned the key in the lock with a click. His cool eyes met Nadir's worried ones. Before Erik could ask what was wrong, Nadir thrust out a white envelope at him.
"Joseph Buquet gave this to me."
The words weighed on his heart like lead. No, not after all of this...not after Christine...
Erik took the letter with a steady hand, even though he was rattling inside. It was impossible! Impossible! But, here was proof of a man named Buquet lived, in his hand. He opened it, even as he heard Christine enter the room with a tea tray.
I know who you are. Your blood soaked fingers give you away.
You were a little boy who lived in a dark room. You killed, and tried to leave your cage. But you just can't. You cannot ever be free of that dark room, can you? Do you understand why? It's because you are that darkness. Yes, you, Erik, are death stalking abroad.
But don't worry. I promise this story will end happily ever after. Your latest victim will be saved. And you will go back into the dark.
Soon.
JB
Erik turned pale, and felt each beat of his heart as if it would be his last. Joseph...that man! He couldn't...
"He wasn't Joseph." Nadir said slowly. "He couldn't have been. This was a boy, barely your age."
Then who... Erik's mind was trying to make sense of this note, when he realized Christine was there closeby. Christine!
"You have to take her, Nadir." Erik's eyes pierced the older man's. "Whoever he is, he's coming soon."
"He knows about her, Erik. He knows too much. I doubt you could hide-"
"More reason why Christine's not safe with me!" He crumpled the note in his fist angrily. "Get her away from here."
"I'm not going anywhere." Her calm voice. Both men turned to see her. "Don't speak as if I'm not in the room, either."
"Erik is right...we don't know what this man wants." Nadir nodded his head at Erik. "For a little while, it might be best if you come stay with us."
Christine turned her frown first at the detective, then at Erik. "No." She said simply. "I am not moving from here until you explain to me what exactly is going on, Erik."
"Christine-"
"I think I deserve to know what's going on, don't you?" She set the tray down on the coffee table and crossed her arms in front of her, determined not to move.
Erik let the anger and fear slowly be restrained, and looked at Nadir. "Daroga, give us time." Before Nadir could protest he pressed on. "Not much time, perhaps a day." Erik's gaze never left Christine's form. "I need to talk to her alone."
Nadir looked at them both as if they were mad, but nodded his head and moved to the door. He paused. "If anything seems out of the ordinary, come to us. By any means necessary, do you understand Erik?"
Erik gave him a wry look. "She's my fiancee, Daroga. I'd fly if I needed to."
No one had time to feel touched by his sentiment, only to take it as truth. Without another word Nadir unlocked the door and hurried away, leaving Christine and Erik alone to talk things over.
From his rear view mirror as he drove off, the young Mr. Buquet could see the detective leave a specific apartment. Things were going according to plan, maybe even better. How quickly Mr. Kahn had panicked, and headed off to find his undeserving Godchild.
And the little princess must be in the monster's den, he mused. He gave a little chuckle. How could she not be? In the oldest children's fables, the pretty maiden was always found huddling in the corner and waiting for someone to rescue her.
He clutched at the steering wheel a little more tightly now. The poor girl. She was being held by someone so utterly beneath her, a depraved monster. Once he'd done a little research and deduced that he was holding her captive, any second thoughts about his plans flew out the window. No, this was not a man he was dealing with. A man would repent, would learn from folly. A man had the hope to be saved. This thing would be lucky if hell didn't exist.
But for now, he had to go and get a few things. It would not do to be unprepared for their meeting.
"Erik...who is Joseph Buquet?" Christine knew she had to ask, yet dreaded the question all the same. And Erik's eyes seemed so wild when he looked at her. It was almost...terror? No, she shook the thought from her mind. It wouldn't do to become afraid or unsure.
He paced, moving in quick strides back and forth. How to tell her, when he thought this had all been buried long ago, escaped him. But here was some strange man, threatening him. Perhaps even her. He stopped in his tracks and looked at his beloved Christine. If this...Buquet knew so much about her, then knowledge might be the only thing to save her. It still didn't make this any easier to say.
"Do you remember," Erik began, "do you remember the story the Kahns told you? Of...that night?" Her dumb nod gave him courage, but he had to turn away from her now. "The housekeeper...the housekeeper's name was Joseph Buquet. "
"Oh, God." She murmured, and needed to sit down. Her hands reached for the chair closest to her and sat, eyes trained on his back. She didn't need to look at him to understand he was reliving something horrible. She could feel it, and it weighed down inside her. "Is he-"
"It's impossible, Christine. I read his file, and I saw the papers. He didn't survive." He ran his hands through his hair, tryng to will himself away from those memories. That man! Even now, could he force himself to feel compassion towards that mocking creature?
"Why did you?" Her voice broke, but she stood now, and stepped in front of him. He still would not meet her eyes.
"It was very long ago. Things are different now." He tried to explain, but failed as her hands touched his face and forced him to look at her. She wasn't going to back away from this question, even if it hurt.
"Why?" Christine pleaded for understanding. "Why?"
"I was a child." He breathed in shudders. "I was a child, and I was afraid. I wasn't allowed out of ...that room, but it didn't stop him from coming in." He felt her arms around his neck, comforting him. "It was the only time the lights were on, and they blinded me. But he saw me. Mocked me." The rage was still there, burning and licking its way to the surface. The humiliated pride of a child. The loss of a kind of innocence. "I hate that man."
What could she say to that? How could she make it all right, make that angry little boy disappear? She trembled as she held on to him, but she refused to let go. Whatever darkness might be swallowing him at this moment, she would not let him go alone. Her fingertips felt the smooth skin of his neck, were tickled by the strands of hair at the collar. This, she had to remind herself, was her Erik. Not that poor boy. That was all the strength she needed.
"The man is gone, Erik." She looked into his eyes, trying to reassure him. "Whatever he did, whoever he was, he is not here."
Would anything, even love, savethem now? Erik did not know if he could chance to hope...
AN: Woot, chapter done! Joseph is coming, the end is drawing near, and the next chapter will be up as soon as I can finish it. Please review and make me happy. Happy equals update!
