Chapter 3

Before Erik could say anything else, there was a loud banging on the door he had entered the inn through. The little man looked at him, and watched the same look of fear a caged animal would have quickly cross his eyes.

"Come monsieur, I have a place for you to stay. It must be the gendarmes. I don't know what you did to save my Antoinette, but whatever it was, they will be looking for you. Come, quickly monsieur!" And with that, he took Erik by the sleeve and began to lead him out the room and down the hall.

Reaching the last room, he fairly pushed Erik into it, following and then closing and locking the door behind him. Moving to the fireplace, he pushed a spot that was slightly recessed and not visible to anyone who was not aware of it. When he did this, a door slid open to the left of the fireplace to expose an opening, no taller than the fireplace itself. Motioning to Erik, the little man looked furtively and spoke.

"Hurry monsieur! Go through this opening and down the tunnel. It runs the length of the city. I know not where you come from, but if you do not go now, the gendarmes will take you to the bastille just because of how you would appear to them! A finely dressed man in an inn like this! Hurry!" He shoved a lantern that had been hanging by the fireplace into Erik's hand and almost pushed Erik through himself. His brutal honesty shocked Erik, not because he had not experienced that kind of hate in his past, but because there was no hate or fear associated with the words spoken. This man had looked upon him and found him to be worthy of saving. Erik had no idea why, but was not about to stare fate in the face and challenge it now.

"Alright" Erik said, "but I'll be on the other side. Come back and let me know when the gendarmes have left." And with that, he disappeared through the opening, which closed almost immediately after.

Erik went about 20 feet forward before the small tunnel opened into a much larger one that appeared to go on forever. The lantern gave feeble light, which only reached a few yards ahead of him. He moved forward slowly, trying to take in the surroundings. The tunnel was crudely cut out of the rock, but the floor was smooth as if from years of use. He didn't want to move too far from the opening in case Antoinette's father returned and did not see him. He went back to the opening where he could hear noises from the other side. Shouting voices were barely discernable and he could not tell what was going on. He stood quietly, hoping if and when the door re-opened, the correct person would be standing on the other side.

It was some time later, Erik had sat after getting tired of standing in one spot, when the door slid open once again. The little man's face re-appeared in it, a twinkle in the very black eye he presented to Erik as he waved him back into the room.

"It is alright monsieur. They have gone."

Erik took a good look at Claude, who now looked as if he had been in a fight with a brick wall, the wall having won! "What is it they did to you?" Erik demanded. This night had gone from bad to worse to completely foreign and confusing to him and he was still attempting to take it all in. Antoinette's father not only had a black eye, but a rather fat lip as well!

"It is nothing monsieur. Nothing that does not always happen when the gendarme are trying to 'gather' information. They simply wanted to know why there was a dead man in the alley not too far from the inn. I told them I did not know, but I'm not sure they entirely believed me." For a quick moment, a twinkle lit the man's eyes before worry replaced it once again.

"It was only my intention to bring your child back to you, as hurt as she was, not to bring the whole of the Paris police upon you as well!"

"Oui monsieur, you have certainly done that! And with quite a flair if I may say!" Growing more serious he continued. "Please sir, you are welcomed to stay until the streets quiet down, which could be some time from now. I must go and check on my maman…" and tears came to his eyes.

Erik felt, for just a moment, a pang of something akin to compassion for this man. It was an uncustomary feeling for him, as were several others he had experienced this night. Even a month before, he would never have stopped to help the girl in the alley. Humanity was not his ally in life and he had no idea why he'd stopped at all. Something about the sound he heard had pulled at him and drew him into her plight. And now, to stand before someone who saw him for more than a monster…

"My name monsieur is Claude Briguere. You saved my only child Antoinette tonight. I thank you for that monsieur, and I pledge you my life! No one else would have done the same. My wife Angelique is with her now and will stay with her tonight. What I must do now is see to my maman. I am not sure what I shall find, but I must know…"

Erik once again watched the sadness pass over Claude's face. Again, he made a decision that was completely out of character for him.

"I will see to her. Tell me which apartment is hers. I won't be seen. You will." Claude looked at Erik, sizing him up before smiling again and relating the address and apartment number. They went to the door, Claude opening it and making sure the gendarmes had gone before allowing Erik to leave.

When he had closed the door, he returned to his wife and child.

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"Is he gone?" Angelique asked. She looked somewhat relieved when Claude nodded in assent. "Good, his mask scares me a bit, though his heart is kind."

"Angelique, that man saved our daughter tonight. She would most assuredly have died without him. God sent him to us at our greatest time of need. To turn from God's gift now would be to slap Him in the face. I will not do that, nor will I allow you to. He will remain my responsibility from this point forward. And yours as well."

Angelique looked at her husband and decided that he was correct. This man, who wore a mask for whatever reason, had become their saving angel tonight. She could not doubt that he had in fact, been sent to protect them. She placed her hand on Claude's arm and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"You are right my love. We have our daughter, thanks to this man. We must do all we can for him now…"

"Papa? Maman?" Antoinette spoke weakly, "He is my angel who saved me. He wears the mask so people won't know him for who he truly is. He is one of God's angels after all. It's the only way he can work his miracles without being known…" and she drifted off to sleep…

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Erik recounted the rest of the story to Christine, who wavered between horror and tears of sadness and joy. It drove home to her heart once again, how incomplete she would be without him. He told her that he had found Claude's maman, dead in her bed. Antoinette had been right it seemed. He had returned to Claude to tell him, where, despite their grief, they welcomed him to their home, fed him what they could from their meager table and bade him stay the night. After a slight verbal struggle with Claude, he had agreed, knowing that it was the kindness of their hearts that prompted them to do so. Claude had returned Erik to the room he and Christine occupied now, the same one that held the secret door, telling Erik that it would always be available for him should he need it. Erik knew that it was also Claude's way of saying that Erik was free to leave the inn at any time and could trust this family in whatever was needed.

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Christine looked around the room with confusion. It certainly wasn't what she had seen in the Lair. No fine tapestries, rugs, linens…no exquisite furnishings. Erik could see the questions in her expression.

"It wouldn't do Christine, for this family to suddenly live beyond their means, or have a tenant that did so either. Rest assured, this is exactly as it should be to keep up pretenses. What do you think would happen to this family, should the gendarmes return unexpectedly? If they saw an elaborate room on their 'inspection' what do you think they would do? This is for the family's protection as much as my own." Again, Christine was awed by the care and compassion Erik was showing, even if he could not see it in himself. It only endeared him to her more.

"Erik. Don't you see? This family, maman – Mme. Giry…Meg, these are all people who have cared for you, still care for you now. Can you not see that there are other's besides me who see you for who you truly are?"

Erik looked at her with wonder, once again seeing the woman who had taken the place of the girl he'd left months before. But he had lived his life thinking and believing that no one would ever look on him with anything more than loathing and fear. Man was inherently afraid of the things that he did not understand, or that were distinctly different from him. And man had feared and hated Erik all of his life. He could not see past man's hatred to the care of those now close to him.

Christine waited for a moment and when Erik did not answer, she asked him to continue. The story had begun to fascinate her and she wanted to learn as much as possible about this man who truly was an 'angel in disguise'.

"After the initial meeting with Claude and his family, I returned to the Lair. I wanted to know more about these tunnels that ran, it seemed, everywhere under the city, many finding a central meeting spot under the Opera House. What I learned was the tunnels had been carved over centuries and ran almost everywhere under the city. I found the tunnel that lead from the Lair up to the secret door in the room we occupy now. The first time I found the latch that opened the secret panel, I inadvertently came upon a sleeping 'guest'! Thankfully the panel slid silently closed and did not wake him. I would have been hard to explain."

Erik's eyes seemed to light up briefly at the memory this invoked.

"I went through the room and into the hall in search of Claude. I thought he would jump from his skin when I came upon him drinking coffee in the kitchen. But we developed a working 'relationship' and it has continued. When I need to enter the world of the living, I come here. This room is reserved now for my use only and remains empty when I am not here, and the floor is cleared when I arrive. Taking the entire floor on a continual basis would be detrimental to their protection and raise too many questions. Claude provides me with the things I need, and a few services such as my 'banking', shopping and such, and I in turn pay him a salary for these services. He has become my…servant on the outside. I have found a manageable existence that has worked well for several years. And now you know my secret, how I have been able to walk in the world without being seen."

Christine once again heard the pain in Erik's final words. She wondered if she would ever be able to erase that pain and thought that he would have to be willing to let it go first, before she would be able to help. She didn't know if that would ever be possible for him, he had lived with it for so long she knew it had become an almost comfortable friend to him.

Erik had talked for quite some time and Christine did not notice how much time had passed until there was once again a knock on the door. Erik returned to the crack in the door and when he was satisfied with what he saw, he stepped back slightly and opened it allowing Claude to enter once again. His arms were filled with packages, which he placed on the floor next to the table.

Smiling at Erik, he looked very pleased with himself. "Monsieur! I have made some magnifique purchases for you. I'm sure you will be well pleased. Antoinette gave me a list of those things that are needed but unseen. I'm sure everything necessary will be there for your guest. I have relit the fire in the bath so the water will remain hot for you and will be here if you need anything else."

All the time Claude was talking, he was clearing the table and would glance at Christine, never losing the smile that seemed such an integral part of his face. Once or twice, he had winked at her, charming her with his delightful exuberance. She didn't realize until he had left the room, that he spoke of Antoinette helping with a list, and not his wife Angelique.

"Erik…what of Angelique? Claude did not mention her. Does she work outside the inn?"

She watched another dark cloud pass in front of Erik's eyes, but this time it stayed.

"She became sick three years ago. With all of my knowledge from everything I've read regarding medicine, I could not save her. She died a week after becoming sick…I could do nothing for her…"

The pain and anger in his eyes saddened her. She knew from his interaction with Claude that he blamed himself for bringing this tragedy to a family that had been nothing but kind to him. He felt a responsiblity for this family, they had after all been loyal in their service to him. And responsible for Angelique's death although it must have been something for which there was no cure. She knew how brilliant a man he was and had there been a cure, he would have certainly used it.

"You must go and enjoy the bath while it remains hot. No one will bother us on this floor, you needn't worry.

He rose from the table walking to the fireplace and she realized he was dismissing her. She knew this was an attempt to hide what he thought was his own inadequacy. She wanted to reach out to him but understood that, wrapped tightly in the covers as she still was, that it would be difficult to do.

"Don't worry Christine. I'll keep my back to you. You will have your modesty. I will not turn until you've gone."

She rose and with some difficulty in an attempt to stay covered, took one of the packages marked as 'necessities' and another marked 'dress' and excused herself to the bath.

After she had shut the door Erik lay his head on the mantle and wept.

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Erik stood for a long time, flashes of the past playing through his mind. His memories of Angelique's death were still vivid as were most of his nightmarish experiences. He had been desperate to save her. He knew what was wrong with her, new what all of the medical books said about it, but he could not cure the disease. It was a poisoning of the blood. She had scratched herself after a bite of some sort, scratched the site raw and it had allowed the disease to enter her blood. By the time Claude had told him about it, the disease had progressed too far. Unable to accept defeat in anything, he had worked tirelessly, using all of the knowledge he possessed but nothing he did could change the course of the disease.

During her last hours, she knew no one in the room, nor where she was or who she was. It pulled at a place inside him he thought dead to the suffering of others. She died quietly that day, a week after Claude had first asked for Erik's help. Claude had been holding Angelique's hands in his own as her soul passed from this world. Erik watched as Claude laid them across her chest and then his head there as well and wept for the wife he loved so dearly.

Antoinette had been standing in the corner and as her father wept, she crossed the room to him and placed her arms around him. "Father, it will be alright. We will be alright."

Claude turned to her and seemed to regain some control as he took her into his arms and hugged her to him.

"Yes, my child, we shall."

Erik felt like an intruder into this family's pain and quietly backed out of the room. He walked down the hall to his own room, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. He had let this man down. He had failed to save Angelique. Claude had done so much for him and in return he had been able to do nothing! Defeated, he entered the secret passage and left them to their grief.

All of this played through his mind as he thought back over the things in his life that mattered. And there was very little, or so he thought. Until today. Christine had opened his eyes today to things in his life that he had never really seen…until now.

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Christine had made her way down the hall to the bath. Claude had indeed made a hot bath and she was surprised at the apparatus used to make it. The tub stood on a platform next to a small wood burning stove. The platform raised the side of the tub even with the side of the stove and they touched each other. So long as the fire remained hot in the stove, the water remained hot in the tub. A simple design really but it delighted Christine, none-the-less. What luxury to bathe in water that did not cool or that did not have to be constantly refreshed! She remained for some time, relaxing, alone with her thoughts.

This was the first chance she'd had since the events of last night to really think about everything that had happened. Her Phantom, her Angel of music, this man that she loved…all three were one in the same. She had feared the phantom in him, loved the idea of an angel in him and finally was shown that he was but a man after all. Three separate parts of a living, breathing man that she knew she could not live without. She had been willing last night to give all of herself to him. It was not a trance nor a hypnotic hold by him. It was her own free will. A will that had begun to bloom over the last few months, along with her maturity and her self-awareness. But it hadn't really awakened until last night. When faced with the hardest decision she'd ever made, it all suddenly burst into full flower and she could finally see everything so clearly.

Yes, he'd told her to leave him. And she had always obeyed her 'Master'. But suddenly she knew…it was not what she'd wanted! What she wanted, she realized was him! Raoul had been a sweet boy when she was a little girl. But she was no longer that little girl and she didn't want a sweet boy who still treated her as a child and couldn't or wouldn't look at the woman inside. No, she wanted the man who had helped to mold her into the woman she was becoming. The man who had crawled into her very soul with his music and his voice. She wanted the man who knew her better than she would ever know herself. And that was Erik.

She thought about the things that must have happened to shape this man…the cruelties, the injustices, the horrors this world could subject someone to that was different than them. How could one man's heart be torn asunder over and over and still love as deeply as she was sure he loved her? No, the world had shown him no compassion and yet, she saw the compassion, the love in him when he looked at her. How could that one tiny flame have stayed alive through the terror he must have faced, to burn so brightly when he allowed it to?

She closed her eyes and pondered these things until there was a soft knock on the door. She had only gotten into the tub, hadn't she?

"Christine, are you alright?"

"Yes, Erik. I…has it been a long time since I came down here? I didn't realize how long I'd been in here. I must have dozed off for a moment. I'll be right out." She rose from the tub, toweled off and dressed.

When she returned to the room, she saw that lunch had been placed on the table.

"Erik, we just ate breakfast! I cannot eat every minute!"

"Christine, you have been in there over an hour. I asked Antoinette to check on you twice to make sure you had not drowned!" and he chuckled at the look on her face.

"Really Erik, I would know if I'd slept that long!"

"Look at your hands Christine. They are still wrinkled." He took her hands in his and turned them over so she could see how pinched the tips of her fingers looked. The flame his touch ignited in her burned once again, but she tried to control it as best she could. She wondered if he still felt it too.

"How could I have done that?" She had an incredulous look on her face, as if sleep was something completely new to her.

"It's the warmth of the water. It can lull you into complete relaxation."

"Erik, is the tub your design?" She knew it must be, but wanted to hear him say it. She thought if he could begin to see the good he was capable of, his soul might finally begin to heal. It would take time she knew, and many little things that he never noticed he did, but she was determined that this man would become whole, all three facets becoming one person that would accept her love freely and with no doubts.

"Yes, I had a bit to do with it. Now, if you will excuse me, I will return shortly. Please do not wait for me to eat."

"Erik! Where are you going? You're not leaving me alone?" Her voice was tinged with panic and it both touched and awed him.

"No Christine, I retire down the hall and will return shortly." He lifted her face to him, looking full on her beauty. His heart skipped a beat at the wonder of her. He lowered his face to her and brushed his lips across her cheek, turned and was gone.

Christine raised her hand to her cheek, trying to make the feel of the kiss linger as long as she could.