Erik planned to steal Lauren's books again that night..he had to know what happened to the furry footed man. But he found the room booby-trapped. A bucket of lake water was just above the door. He managed by the grace of God to catch it before it fell to his carpet... he would yell at Lauren in the morning. The second trap was the worst. Black string was strung tightly all about the room it was covered in metal coffee cans. He knew that stuff would be the death of him. He managed to slide through the strings without rattling any cans. Then he saw her backpack on a stool he tried to lift it..but found it glued to a chair. So he sighed and undid the bag. He began to root through the bag...but never got very far. A very hungry rat had somehow been placed in the bag...The rat thought His fingers looked like an easy meal. Erik yelped in surprise at the sudden pain in his finger and fell back. Onto the black strings which he soon realized relived another trap. Lauren placed her books on the ceiling on a board..attached to the stings. They all fell crashing on His head. The rat had managed to stay on his finger through the whole ordeal. Sometime during the Crash. Both Amanda and Lauren had sat up started in bed. Lauren just cackled. Amanda jumped up and tried to pry the rat off Erik's finger.

Easer said than done. They ended up having to bribe the rat into letting go with a piece of bread. By then Erik had felt several bumps appear on the top of his head.

He was very cross. Lauren sat in the conner smirking. When Amanda finished fixing him up Lauren handed him the book and said

"All you had to do was ask!" then smiled and walked off. Erik had several new idea's for his latest notebook, and stayed up the rest of the night drawing new ways for mademoiselle blue hair to die.

The next day his head hurt like hell fire. Amanda brought him some tea and a head ache pill. It was Laurens turn to cook... He could tell by the smell of smoke emitting through the house.

Amanda would soon take over and he would not be forced to swallow the rocks Lauren called 'eggs'.

Sipping his tea he was formulating a plan to get back at Lauren and it came to him. The classic torture chamber. That would do it. Not enough to kill her...but just enough to make her sorry.

He would slip something in her coffee.

Lauren finished making her coffee after being kicked out of the kitchen by Amanda and began to sulk by the lake. She had stolen a piece of bread and began to throw it into the water. A few fish came up and began to eat. They had an odd discoloration Lauren noticed.(NOTE: yes there are fish under the opera house. The largest one found was as long as seven laters.) soon a rather large fish came and scared the nice ones away. Lauren abandoned the bread and left. She neglected her coffee on a table to get a book. Erik acted when she left, he slipped some morphine into her coffee it was so strong she wouldn't notice. Lauren returned with a book and began to read, while sipping her coffee.

She must have fallen asleep, because she woke up. And to wake up one must first fall asleep. Then she realized the strange place in which she was laying. It was sandy and dark.. and freezing.

"Amanda?" she asked no answer.

"Erik?"

"Yes mademoiselle?"

"Where the hell am I? And why is it so freaking cold?"

"It won't be cold for much longer." The disembodied voice of Erik stated. Then He flipped the switch and the lights came on and the heat started.

Lauren sat up when the lights came on.. she was in the torture chamber.

"Bloody Hell." She said.

"Is this the best you can do?"

"Just wait." He mussed.

She did. It got hotter, but Erik was suffering more than she was.

Amanda walked into the house back from grocery shopping.

"Oh thank GOD Erik! You finally got more heat into the house!" She spotted in on a platform looking into a window.

"What are you doing?"

"frying!" he hissed taking off his jacket.

"Why is she so calm! Raoul would have been DEAD by now!"

"What are you doing?" She asked

"Wheres Lauren?"

"In there." Erik said.

"She's building a sand castle."

Amanda climbed the platform and looked into the chamber.

"Hey, thats the-"

"So called torture chamber." he finished.

"But she isn't complaining."

"Oh, We're from Texas. Its always hot. We can deal."

He cursed under his breath.

"What kind of Hell is this Texas that you can survive such heat!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" Lauren shouted from below.

"Don't go dissing Texas." Amanda said.

"dang straight!" Lauren yelled.

"Alright!" Erik said. He began to climb down.

"Erik!" Lauren said.

Erik's spirits where soon lifted.. maybe the heat was finally getting to her.

"Yes?"

"Can you turn up the heat? Its getting cold." He growled and got down from the platform.