4

Disclaimer: I don't own POTO, duh! But I do own any OC's I do not own Meg or Erik. Sadly..

Meg slept in his bed; while Erik sat up at his desk, sketching in his ledger.He let his mind wander; it was no longer with him; nor his pen. Why had Meg refused to leave his thoughts? he hated not being able to find a logical reason for what he was thinking. He wanted her to leave; but he couldn't bring himself to tell her to. Seeing that man touch her the way he had; placing his hands on her body where they did not belong; he got angry. The only thing he could find was a rope; so he strangled the man to death. He saw fear in the ballet rat's eyes; but he did not blame her for being afraid.

He looked down at his ledger to see what he had been writing. He had stopped writing mid sentence; and had drawn Meg's face.He scratched it out and continued writing. He heard Meg's scream from the room; he shot up and went running for the archway to see her tossing and turning; screaming her blond head off.He went to her and shook her until she was awake. She looked up at him with her big blue eyes; shaking with fear.

"Damn you scream loud woman." He shouted at her; she looked up at him, and thanked him. "Why are you thanking me?"

"For waking me. I couldn't stand that sight anymore."

"You'd surely have woken up on your own."

"Probably, but still.." She let her sentence drop. All that mattered was that she was awake. "It was terrible. Everyone in the Populaire was laughing; they were laughing because you were going to be hung." She started to cry. "Mother was laughing. Carlotta, Andre', Firmin, Christine and Raoul. All of them were laughing. I tried to stop them; but they didn't hear me; and kept laughing."

"It was a dream and nothing more." He assured her. "If you keep your mouth shut, that will never happen." Meg nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes with her sleeve. Erik left her be without another word. She rested her head back on the bed; but she spotted the music box. Lifting it off the table; she wound it up and listened to the music. It was intrancing. She lie on the bed just watching it; and memorizing the tune.

Was this what Erik had been doing his entire life? Laying in his bed; listening to his music box; wishing for the horrors of the world to leave him be? She started feeling pity for him; he'd gone through nothing but pure hell all of his life; and yet; he found a way to love Christine. Had Christine grown to know him, to accept him faults and all, she would not have chosen Raoul. She had tried to picture Erik as a child; trying to fend for himself; and trying to find a way to be safe from the pains of rejection. She only saw a boy with a mask; dressed in black; and trying to get by.

Christine had not helped any. She had only drove him into madness; which had ruined the perfect life of mystery he'd made. He'd made himself a title; and had a beautifully made home.But she pushed him over the edge; it was that moment during Don Juan that had told him he could never win by playing by the rules.

She heard him playing the organ; not caring if she had gone back to sleep or not.

-----

Erik sent her back up to the Opera Populaire so that she would not attract any unneeded attention. She'd left him without a word; in enough time to get to the dormitories and change out of the clothes he let her wear; and into a ballet dress. She did not know if she should return to him or not. But when she got dressed; and onto the stage to practice; no one had noticed she was gone that night. But a rumor was buzzing around about the dead stage hand.

"The Phantom is back!" The ballet rats squealed. "He's going to kill us all!"

"I think it was alchahol poisoning. He had been drinking earlier." Another person had commented. "We did not find his head in a noose."

"the phantom could have killed him and taken the noose with him!" A ballet girl screeched.

"What do you think Meg?" Meg looked at the girl that was speaking to her; she knew what had really happened; but she lied.

"I think it was either Alchahol poisoning; or his heart gave out. He did have many heart problems didn't he?" They looked at each other and nodded. Meg was never much of a liar; but she would have to if she wanted to protect Erik.She was ready to become a liar for him; as she practiced; she considered everything he'd been through; everything Christine put him through; and what he had been deprived of.

He had told her he had been in the carnival for as long as he could remember. Why had his mother given him up?Was it because of his face? She could picture what the day he was born may have been like.

-----

"Congratulations Mademoiselle." The doctor said as he cleaned off baby Erik. "It's a boy." he said boy shakingly. It was only a boy because of his thingie. But it was also a demon child. The doctor handed her the baby; and she began to cry.

"Why?" She cried as she gazed apron her son's deformity. "Why? What did I do to deserve such a horrid son?" Her husband beat his hands against the walls; causing his fists to bleed.

"Mademoiselle. If you are unsatisfied with your son; we could put him up for adoption."

"That would be wise."

eight years passed since that day; and Erik was in the orphanage.No one wanted to adopt him because of his face; he hated it. He had grown quite fond of monkeys with cymbals; so he wanted to make a doll of his own. He made it out of odds and ends, until one day they were talking about taking his life because no one wanted him. He got scared and ran. He ran to the carnival where many of the children would run off to when they were upset.

"You want a job with us?" The scary ring master asked him. Erik nodded and they smirked. "We may have an opening for you." But he didn't know it was an opening to be the Devil's child and be beat every show.

----

Meg continued to dance; hating the vision she had gotten. She had to control herself from falling to the stage floor and crying for him. She danced like all the others; she was almost like a shadow; but that's exactly her problem. She wanted to be the one casting the shadows; like Christine. The others were still buzzing about Joseph Hardenbrook's death. Joseph was not french; but he moved to France when he was young and had worked as a stage hand after Joseph Boughet had died. Which is Ironic because they both have the same first name. Hardenbrook did not believe in the Phantom; but he found it fun to pretend he was afraid.

----

She'd been able to see Erik again; she did. He had painted a lot; but all of his paintings ended up in a closet with a sign saying "Keep Out." Which in Meg's language; meant "Come on in." She saw Erik sipping at a cup of tea with his face in a book; when he saw her trudging through the water; he rose and asked why she'd come back.

"I came back." She began. "Because I wanted to. Was that wicked of me?" Erik shook his head almost instantly.

"No. It's fine." he had told her. Eyeing the closet filled with paintings she was never meant to see.

"what were you reading?"

"The Legend of Sleepy Hallow." He replied. "for the billionth time." Meg nodded; showing she understood. He put his book away and asked her what she would like to do.

"I'm not sure. But they did find Joseph Hardenbrook's body."

"Who?"

"That man you strangled. The one that-well-you know." Erik nodded. "Everyone has their different opinions on what happened. The Ballet girls say you killed him; the other stage hands said he had alchahol poisoning, and I said that it was either Alchahol poisoning or a heart problem."

"At least you didn't tell the truth." He told her gratefully. "But why didn't you?"

"I didn't want you hurt again. You've been through so much; the least I could do was keep you safe from an angry mob. But I sometimes wonder why no one was angry about Joseph Boughet." Erik snickered.

"No one liked him. All things considered I did everyone a favor." Meg laughed.


Really bad ending but ah well. Joseph Hardenbrook is actually from sleepy Hallow. I love that movie.