A/N: Heh. Heh. Heh. SO, didja like the last chapter? I probably lost reviewers...:( Oh well. For those of you who actually CARE...

I'm FINALLY reading the Susan Kay novel. That book is the SHIZZLE! So, anyway...sorry about the long wait. Here ya go.

Chapter 5—Parallel Death and the House

It was two and a half weeks later, and the night of the first performance. With only half an hour to go before I was due onstage, Erik and I stood in my dressing room. He was helping me get ready, with my costume as well as my voice.

"You'll do amazingly," he breathed in my ear, tightening the last string of my Hannibal slave-girl costume. "You really do sing like an angel."

I caught his arm and pulled it around my waist. He settled comfortably into the embrace, hooking his chin over my shoulder. "Thank you," I said quietly, soaking in the strength of his essence, "for everything."

I felt him smile as he touched his lips to his favorite spot on the back of my neck. I giggled and pulled away coyly, reaching to lift a skirt from my dressing table. Something white fluttered to the floor.

"It's an envelope," I said, picking it up, "and it's got your name on it, Erik."

His expression turned from puzzlement to alarm. "There's only one person…" he said, snatching the letter and breaking the seal. A miniature explosion occurred, giving a flare of sparks and releasing a thick cloud of smoke into our faces. We both stumbled so far back that we fell onto the couch, coughing heavily. Erik dug out a clean handkerchief and laid it over my face so I wouldn't breathe so much of the smoke. He held me close to him until it cleared, then got up and picked the paper up gingerly. He returned to my side and read it aloud.

"'Your days with Miss Day are numbered. You must be careful on her behalf tonight. Be prepared for a great misfortune should she attempt to take my place. D. G.'"

"Who is D. G.?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Danielle Garnier," he replied softly. His knuckles, as his fingers clenched the note, were white, as was the part of his face that I could see. I knew what this meant as well.

"Erik," I said timidly, "she's going to kill me, isn't she?"

This seemed to snap him back to the present. He flung the paper away from himself, then turned and pulled me to him desperately. My arms locked around his neck as he buried his face in the crook of my neck and shoulder.

All he said was, "Oh, Chrissy!" It was all he needed to say. I clutched at his shoulders and he pressed me to him. Neither of us said anything else for several long minutes. I had never seen Erik so afraid, not even when I was almost killed by Danielle's first act of violence. He was trembling horribly, and I could feel his desperation at the thought of losing me through his tightly clenched muscles. We held each other until he finally attempted to relax slightly.

"You have to go in a few minutes, my dear," he said, his voice shaking as much as his body. "You have an audience waiting."

"And you will be part of it?" I said, looking up at him.

He gave a weak smile. "I shall be closer than you know. Don't worry," he added, more seriously. "I'll think of something."

There were more people attending the play than Erik would have ever suspected. Chrissy's friends were there, along with some of her teachers. He noted, from his unseen seat in the rafters of the stage, that her mother had not come. From his place, he could see the audience, the stage, and part of the wings as well. It was only minutes until the curtain opened upon the auction scene, and he saw Chrissy backstage, looking slightly nervous, but confident and beautiful.

He had not caught sight of Danielle just yet. He had little doubt that she was somewhere nearby, and he continually glanced around, beware of traps. The theatre gradually grew dark and silent, and he heard the fateful first words...

"Sold! Your number, sir? Thank you. Lot 665, then, a papier-mâché musical box in the shape of a barrel organ..."

I glanced up to where I knew Erik to be. His unseen presence was making things a little better for my first professional performance. I set myself for the cue.

"The trumpeting elephants sound!

Hear, Romans, now, and tremble!

Hark to their step on the ground!

Hear the drums—Hannibal comes!"

I had worked hard on the dancing for this scene, and was glad to be doing well. I almost smiled out of character when I heard Madame Giry's "You, Christine Daaé! Concentrate, girl!"

Then came "Think of Me" and "Angel of Music", followed by "Little Lotte" and "The Mirror". I sang with my entire heart, as Erik had taught me, especially during his favorite theme song, "Phantom of the Opera", the one we had sung together. Nothing dangerous happened, until the very end of "The Point of No Return". Aaron and I were in position, in our little embrace-type thing, when, as I was about to remove his mask, there was a scream from offstage. We looked over, and saw people rushing, and went on performing nervously. The music swelled as normal, and we went offstage appropriately. The director came up to us hurriedly.

"Joel Carter, who played Joseph? He's been murdered."

Holy hell, I thought. Danielle.

Someone pulled Aaron away for a moment, and the director spoke to me. "Keep on going like nothing's wrong, okay? As long as nothing else happens, we can deal with this without interrupting the show."

My cue had come—I was tugged at by who I thought was Aaron, but when I caught his eyes, saw it was a mask-less Erik. I kept silent, giving him only a look, before we plunged onstage.

"Down once more to the dungeons of my black despair!

Down we plunge to the prison of my mind!

Down that path into darkness deep as Hell!"

My voice was slightly tight, but I tried to suppress my nervousness. Erik's grip on my wrist was protective, and I felt safer knowing that he was there. We sang through without incident, up to the end.

"Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?

God give me courage to show you, you are not alone!"

I put my hands over Erik's deformed face and pulled him to me, meeting his lips with mine. Both of us knew that the action could be deadly. When I parted from him, his eyes flicked upward unobtrusively, then filled with fear. He dove at me, pushing me out of the way just in time as a shot rang out from the rafters. A skeletal figure suddenly towered above us, its face covered, holding the still-smoking pistol. Erik stood in front of me protectively, continually pushing me away from the person that must have been Danielle.

The curtain dropped closed, but the drama still continued. Danielle addressed Erik in a loud voice as she advanced upon us, still holding the gun poised.

"I would have chosen peace between us, Erik, but you have not only continued to ignore my warnings, you have openly defied them!"

"Erik, don't listen to her!" I whispered in his ear. "Let's go, Erik!"

"Shut up, child!" she snapped at me. "You have no idea what love is!"

"And you do, Danielle?" Erik said mildly.

"You shut up as well! I'm through with your attitude, Erik! You will be mine!"

The click of the pistol as she cocked it was loud, but so were the thundering footsteps of the approaching police forces. She glanced around and, seeing the men, swished her cloak over her form. There was a loud crack, and smoke billowed over the stage. Erik pulled me away from it, pushing past other people to a secret passage. I followed him, terrified.

How he found his way through the pitch-blackness, I'll never know. But he did, and we emerged into his lair. He immediately began stuffing sheets of music into a bag, and I asked him what he was doing.

"I had a feeling something like this would happen," he replied, barely glancing up from his packing. "So I have a small house in the outskirts of town. We can go there for a while, at least, and I'll probably move there now that this has happened. You're coming with me."

"What?"

"Tonight."

"Oh, okay."

Although I would have gladly gone with him until the end of my days, I knew that it was a bad idea at my age. I helped him gather some essentials—he'd return for the rest later, he said. He gave me a long black cloak and draped one about himself to hide our passage. Keeping to the shadows, we made our way through the back roads until we reached a private street that led, winding through the woods, to a well-hidden dwelling.

Erik unlocked the door of the house and let them both inside before locking it tightly behind them. He dropped the bag he held on the floor and bid Chrissy to do the same. She was white in the face, and he wasn't surprised. He felt white as well, but he drew her into him comfortingly. Her touch made him feel better, even if she was madly shaking. He stroked her back lovingly, smiling feebly at the way she curled into him. He knew that she counted on his support, and he just hoped that he would be able to give it.

"Erik..." she murmured softly.

"What is it, my love?" he replied.

He heard her exhale deeply. "Just hold me," came her voice.

"Gladly."

Moving one arm down to support her legs, he lifted her easily and brought her to the music room, where he lay down on the plush couch with her on top of him. She burrowed into his chest, gripping the lapel of his jacket in her hands. For a long time they simply breathed each other in, not speaking or moving much, steadying their breath.

Finally, she spoke. "Erik?"

He had been half-asleep. "Hmm?" he muttered.

"Why is it that you chose me?"

The question made him start. "What exactly do you mean?" he said.

She shifted a little against him. "You told me you started taking an interest in me shortly after Danielle left you."

"Right," he said, not sure where she was going.

"Why did you? What made you love me?"

He thought for a moment, massaging the back of her neck gently with his hand. After a few moments, he said, "I heard you, one day, singing on the stage. You were all alone, and it was late, and you were crying. I do not know to whom you were speaking, but you said that your father was away and your mother had hit you. You were afraid for him and yourself, I think, and you cried out for an Angel to save you."

"I remember."

"Yes," he continued, "and in your voice, I heard the pain you had endured and the beauty that would be. I wished I could help you, but I simply didn't know how. Then, when the production of Phantom began, I realized certain—er—similarities in the script and our lives, so I decided upon taking a Phantom approach."

"And here we are," she said. She looked up, smiling a bit crookedly.

"Here we are," he concurred, and bent his head just enough to brush her lips with his. When he pulled back, she refused to let him, lifting his mask away and bringing him down to her. He chuckled a little at her persistency and allowed her to claim his mouth with her soft one, matching the warmth she put into the kiss.

Although it had begun to rain outside, and the clock ominously chimed eleven, he knew somehow that everything was going to turn out okay.

I never wanted to open my eyes the next morning. Sometime before midnight, we had transferred our session to Erik's bed, and he had made the sweetest of love to me until we finally fell asleep at two. He was still asleep now, and my head was on his exposed chest, which rose and fell with his steady breath. I traced his collarbone with a light touch, reminiscing about the night's pleasures.

I pondered the sort-of explanation that he'd given me for his attentions. He loved my voice—of that I was sure. I thought that, for lack of better words, he also loved my pain, for he could definitely identify with it. I couldn't explain too much to myself, and I didn't want to try. All I knew was that Erik loved me, and he loved me for myself. That was all that mattered.

My thoughts turned to my music. It wasn't only my music, I realized. It had become my life, and half of it belonged to Erik. Our two souls were combined as one, not to mention our bodies. And he had accomplished it all through his music. He had me under a spell of music, and I didn't mind one bit.

I felt him stir and awaken beneath my cheek, and I felt my heart swell with anticipation and love. I craned my neck to watch him open his eyes, and was met with his lips. He kissed me soundly for a minute or more before I drew back enough to whisper, "Good morning."

"Sleep well?" he said, his voice still a bit rough from our shared passion.

"Very well, thanks to you." He raised a hand and traced the line of my jaw, then moved it up to run his fingers through my hair. He tucked it back behind my ear, gazing fondly into my eyes. His love showed in every line of his body, but I saw a flicker of something else cross his face.

"Erik, what's the matter?" I asked him, touching his deformed cheek gently.

He blinked, starting from his thoughts. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was just thinking about the show...last night..."

I bit my lip. "Kind of you to come onstage with me," I said, knowing that it had been more than kind.

"Well," he said, "I love you."

The words seemed to reach inside me and pluck at m heartstrings. I kissed Erik tenderly, wishing for nothing but him, and his music. He filled my soul more with every second that our bodies remained in contact.

When he finally drew away, he was smiling. I brushed my lips against the base of his throat and asked, "So, what happened to Aaron?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Do not be angry with me, for he is unhurt. It was just chloroform, I promise you."

"Just chloroform," I repeated dryly, and kissed his cheek. I simply loved lying in his arms. His hands fit perfectly in the hollow of my lower back. I never wanted to leave. But I was hungry. Erik seemed to know this, as he knew so much else about me, and began to edge slowly out from beneath me.

"Come, my darling," said he. "It is time to arise."

A/N: Awwww! They're in love! Stupid Danielle...cackles at her in upcoming chapters But if you want to read more, you have to review. That's all there is to it. And the review windows now even have spellcheck! HOORAY!