Author's Note: Okay, I have gotten some interesting feedback on chapter seventeen. So I'm going to try and input these requests into this next chapter. I hope that you enjoy this next chapter!
Chapter Eighteen: Revenge
After searching around the carriage for what seemed like forever, Erik decided to go back to the opera house to come up with a plan to get her back. He finally arrived back at the opera house and made his way down to his lair.
Pacing back and forth, Erik was deep in thought. 'Where could he have taken her?' he thought.
He sat down at the organ and started to play, trying to get his frustrations out. His fingers flew over the keys as he closed his eyes, picturing Christine in his mind.
"Erik?"
The sound of his name snapped him out of his thoughts. He stopped playing and stood up. Turning around, he came face to face with Madame Giry and an unfamiliar blonde-haired girl. "How dare you bring a stranger down to my lair? You know better than that Madame!"
"I am sorry Erik, but she insisted that she see you. She has something for you."
"Something for me? I've never seen this girl before. Why would she have something for me?" Erik seethed. He turned towards the girl. "Who are you?"
She strayed back a little bit, as if she was afraid. "Go on my dear. It's alright," Madame Giry said, pushing her forward.
Stepping forward a couple of steps, she looked up at Erik.
"Well?" Erik said, his eyes flashing.
"Monsieur, my name is Elizabeth. I am a personal maid to the Vicomtesse de Changy."
His sneer immediately disappeared. "You know Christine? Please, tell me where she is!"
"She asked me to give you this." Elizabeth held out Christine's letter and Erik eagerly snatched it from her grasp.
Practically tearing open the envelope, he quickly read the letter and then looked up at Elizabeth. "You have to show me where this house is! I must know!"
Madame Giry moved towards Erik and wrapped her arms around him. "Erik, please, you have to calm down. Let her speak."
"I can take you to the house. But the Vicomte cannot know what we are planning. He has put strict restrictions on the entire household, including the staff. All incoming and outgoing mail is monitored by the Vicomte himself, the Vicomtesse is not allowed to go outside unless he is with her. It's terrible!" Elizabeth cried out.
He stood in thought for a moment. "We will leave for the house tonight. I have some things that I want to prepare first. Madame, I'm sure that you can make sure that Elizabeth is taken care of and that she has a room to stay in until I am ready to go?"
"Of course. Come my dear. It's best that we leave him to his thoughts."
The two women turned and boarded the gondola and sailed away.
He walked over to his desk and sat down. Burying his face in his hands, he let the tears flow. "Christine! How could I have let this happen to you?" he whispered.
Erik sat there for a moment, crying softly. Then, he suddenly stopped crying and looked up. "Raoul will pay for taking Christine from me. I will make sure of that!" he said, pounding his fist on the table.
The hours passed and both Madame Giry and Elizabeth did not see hide nor hair of Erik. He kept down in his lair, making preparations for the trip to the de Changy summer estate to rescue his beloved.
Just as Madame Giry was about to make the journey down to his lair, Erik appeared in the passageway behind the mirror. "I have a plan to rescue Christine."
"You do? That's wonderful! What is it?" she asked.
He shook his head. "I can't tell you. But I need you to remain here at the opera house just incase something happens. After I get Christine, I plan on bringing her back to the Opera House."
She nodded. "I understand. Be careful," she replied, giving him a hug.
"I will, don't worry. Just pray that I bring her back safely."
Erik looked at Madame Giry one last time, then turned and made his way to the stables in the back of the opera house.
Elizabeth was there, waiting for him. "I thought that you were going to be planning things longer than you did monsieur," she said as he approached her.
"The plans just came to me. Did you retrieve the items from Christine's dressing room so the Vicomte didn't expect anything?"
She gestured to a trunk that was on the stable floor next to the carriage that she had arrived in. "I made sure that I got everything on her list and then some other items I thought that might help the situation."
"Good, we're going to need those to create a distraction so I can get into the estate while you are distracting the Vicomte. Are there guards on the grounds?" Erik asked, as he began to hitch the horses back up to the carriage.
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, it's just the Vicomte, the Vicomtesse, and the staff."
He finished hitching up the horses and then loaded the trunk into the carriage. Opening the carriage door, he held out his hand and helped her into the carriage. She stepped in to the carriage and sat down, then she looked out at him. "Where will you be?"
"Up front, in the driver's seat."
He whipped his cloak around him and put his fedora on his head, making sure to bring the brim down over his mask.
Climbing up in the driver's seat, Erik took the reins and gently urged the horses forward.
Elizabeth settled herself into the back of the carriage. 'There's no turning back now. I just hope that his plan works,' she thought to herself.
The journey to the estate was long, and the road was full of twists and turns. The gentle rocking of the carriage rocked Elizabeth to sleep. Shortly before they reached the estate, Erik pulled the horses to a halt and then walked to the back of the carriage to wake Elizabeth up.
"We're almost there," he said, after shaking her awake.
"Alright, I'll prepare myself for our arrival," she replied.
He climbed back into the driver's seat and soon they were off again.
Elizabeth fixed her hair and smoothed the skirt of her dress. In her mind, she mentally prepared for the barrage of questions she knew would come from the Vicomte.
A few minutes later, they pulled in front of the estate and the carriage was brought to a halt. Erik climbed down from the driver's seat, opened the door for Elizabeth, and helped her out of the carriage. Then he unloaded the trunk from the back of the carriage and took it just inside the entrance to the estate. Elizabeth stood outside, making sure she had retrieved everything from inside the carriage.
"I am going to take the carriage around back to the stables," Erik said quietly to her. "Make sure the Vicomte doesn't notice me."
She nodded and made her way inside the house. Standing just inside the entrance, Elizabeth removed her cape and hung it up in the closet behind the front door. Shortly after, Raoul entered the room.
"Ah Elizabeth! You're back! I trust that you found everything that the Vicomtesse requested?" he asked.
"Yes sir, I did. I even brought her some extra dresses just in case she wanted them," she replied. "Could someone please take the trunk up to the Vicomtesse's room so I can unpack the dresses?"
Raoul snapped his fingers in the air. "Shawn, could you please take this trunk up to the Vicomtesse's room?"
A young man entered the room only seconds later. "Yes Vicomte, right away."
He picked up the trunk and slung it over his shoulder and proceeded up the stairs.
After depositing the trunk in Christine's room, Shawn glanced at the young Vicomtesse. Christine looked into his eyes as if trying to send a message to him, telling him that something was terribly wrong. He quickly averted his eyes. "Have a nice day Vicomtesse," he said quietly. Then he turned and left.
Elizabeth entered the room seconds later. "You're finally back! I was so worried!" Christine cried out. "Did everything go alright?"
"Yes, everything went just fine. I delivered your letter just as you asked and retrieved the dresses that you wanted. Do not worry Christine, he is coming for you."
A look of relief swept over Christine's face. "Thank god! I don't know how much longer I can stay in this house," she said, sitting down on the massive bed in the room.
'Please hurry Erik. I don't know what will happen if the Vicomte discovers Christine's betrayal,' Elizabeth thought.
After putting the carriage in the stables, Erik made sure that there was no one around. He climbed down from the driver's seat and then made his way to the back entrance.
He quietly opened the door and looked around, making sure that no one was within sight. He crept inside and quietly shut the door. Erik made his way down the hallway and over towards the staircase, making sure the check back behind him to make sure that he wasn't being followed. Finally, he made his way to the top of the stairs and proceeded to look for Christine's room.
Raoul entered his study only seconds before Erik made his way up the stairs. He sat at his desk, looking at a picture of Christine. "If you could only love me the way you used to," he said quietly.
It hurt him to see Christine in so much pain, but he had to get her away from 'him'. Raoul had never hated one person so much. After all he had done to both him and Christine while she was performing at the opera house and then to kidnap her while she was still married to him and brainwash her into thinking that she loved him, Raoul was surprised that he had put up with everything so far.
He heard footsteps out in the hallway and stood up, making his way over to the doorway to see who was in the hall. Sticking his head outside the door, Raoul saw a figure dressed in black, with a fedora on his head. "It can't be," he said under his breath. "How could he find out where we were?"
Then it suddenly hit him. Christine. She had betrayed him yet again. 'She must have done it when Elizabeth went back to the opera house,' he thought. 'I cannot believe this!'
Raoul stepped out in to the hallway and made his way towards the dark figure. "Phantom!" he called out. "What are you doing here?"
Erik crept down the hallway, looking in open doors as he went. He wasn't finding anything. 'Where are you Christine?' he thought.
"Phantom!"
Erik stopped and slowly turned around. Raoul stood behind him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I am here to bring Christine back to the opera house, where she belongs!"
Raoul stepped forward. "You will do nothing of the sort."
Erik reached inside his cape to his hip, where the Punjab lasso was kept. "She is coming back with me Vicomte, weather you like it or not. If you do not comply with my request, then a disaster will occur."
He walked towards Raoul. "It's time I got my revenge."
Okay, I made this chapter a little bit longer and I tried to convey Erik's hatred towards Raoul. If you still think that Erik needs to hate Raoul even more, then just be patient and wait for the other chapters to come out.
Please read and review. I really enjoy reading all of your reviews! Keep them coming!
I remain your obedient author,
Phantomfan1911