To say Erik was confused by Christine's behavior would have been an understatement. Since the first day, he had not interacted with her at all, although he had been watching the entire time. Every day she came in at the same time. Every day she went to box five and sang. And every day after an hour of looking around she would leave, but never without telling him that she would see him tomorrow.

This had been going on for almost two weeks now, and Erik's curiosity was at its peak. Why was she so persistent? He was already in the habit of waiting for her to come in. It was quite predictable, always between noon and one o'clock. Not once had she been any later or earlier.

While he was sitting pondering all of this, Christine walked in. And she looked different than usual. Usually she was impeccably dressed, but today she looked more disheveled.

Christine had barely walked in a few steps before she stopped.

"Ok Erik," she said, "I'm not feeling too well today, so we are going to skip the whole walking-to-box-five part, and I'm just going to sing here, ok?"

She waited a few seconds for an answer, which almost made Erik scoff aloud. He was not about to reply.

Christine seemed to sense this, and heaved a sigh, then started singing "You have brought me to that moment when words run dry."

Erik gasped. She was singing his song. The one he had written just for her. He was enthralled and leaned in as close as he could.

Christine sang all of her parts from the song, and Erik was amazed she still remembered it. When it got to the crescendo he almost began to sing along, but caught himself right before he did.

Once Christine was done, she looked around in what appeared to be utter defeat. Then she headed straight for the door.

"Goodbye, Erik." Christine said once she got to the door.

At these words, Erik's heart immediately began to race. Goodbye? What did she mean goodbye? Shouldn't she have said 'See you tomorrow?'

"Christine! Wait," Erik shouted before he even realized what he said.

At this she quickly turned around, "Erik?" she asked in disbelief.

Erik sighed; he couldn't exactly pretend not to be there, so he decided he might as well speak to her. "What do you mean 'goodbye?'"

Christine chuckled before replying. "Just what I said. I am giving up, Erik. You obviously have no interest in me, and I am tired. I am returning home."

The second she said this, Erik's blood began to boil, "Returning to him so soon, are we? My, my Christine. You were sure dedicated to talking to me, weren't you? You managed to last, what? A week, was it?"

"It was a week and five days, and you know that!" she snapped in reply, "And you can't honestly expect me to wait forever, can you? I have been trying so hard! And you have given nothing back! I'm tired, and I'm sick, and I want to see you."

Erik was livid. How dare she yell at him? So he did the only logical thing, and quickly came down from the rafters.
At the sight of Erik Christine clenched up, she hadn't actually been expecting him to come down. He approached her slowly, with a look of distrust evident on the side of his face that she could see.

"Are we happy now, Christine?" Erik scoffed, "The 'pitiful creature of darkness' has shown himself to you again. What now? Shall we reenact our last encounter? Allow you to de-mask me? Have my heart break all over again as you return to the boy? What shall it be, Christine? But before you answer, do not forgive that my Punjab lasso is always handy."

"Erik, oh Erik" Christine cried, "I am sorry! So so sorry!"

As she said this she noticed Erik pull back slightly, but she continued, "I was horrible! There was no need to expose your face in front of everyone. But can't you understand? I love Raoul! And you were trying to take me from him!"

"Is this why you have come here? To point out the fact that you still love that boy? I already assumed as much, 'Little Lotte.'"

"Do not call me that!"

"Why not, 'Little Lotte?' Is he the only one allowed to call you that? What shall I call you instead, my little Pandora, perhaps?"

"I am not little!"

Erik couldn't help but laugh as he replied, "Not little? Not little you say? Poor Christine, so young and naïve. You are only 18! Little more than a child!"

"It was not so long ago that you desired such a child."

Erik glared as he replied, "Alas, I was naïve then too. But I shall not make that mistake again. I will not be scorned twice."

"And what about me? You kidnapped me, Erik! How could you expect me to trust you, to love you, when you would do such a thing. How could you-" but Christine never got to finish her sentence. Her world suddenly went dark, and the last thing she could remember was being held by two strong arms.

AN: So, I got a lot of good reviews on the last chapter. So that made me really happy, so I was determined to update quickly for all of you. Hope you like, and hopefully I'm still true to characters. Oh, and I realize that the language isn't totally right for the time period, but I don't know how they really spoke! I hope you grant me this artisitc license. If it really bothers you, I am quite sorry, and would like any help you can give me with it!