Phantom of the Summerhouse

A/N: I don't have much to say, other than this - just keep reading and reviewing guys, and I'll do my very best to update soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own POTO... It's so tiring to put this all the time (shudders just from the thought of it), but it's better than being swarmed by lawyers and nasty lawsuits.

Enjoy!


Day 4: Midnight Madness a.k.a I think he's trying to kill me

Morning came and Christine woke up, feeling refreshed. She is in such a great mood that she skipped down the stairs, with a smile ready to greet Erik and Raoul.

It was Raoul's turn to cook today so he was at the kitchen, humming whilst preparing some homemade toaster pastries.

"Good morning Raoul!" Christine walked up to the kitchen and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "What are you making today?"

"I'm making my famous homemade toaster pastries with apple filling." Raoul opened the oven, which released a sweet aroma and tickled their noses with delight.

"Oh I've almost forgotten," Christine snapped back into reality after being drifted away by the smell of breakfast. "Have you seen Erik this morning?"

"No, no I haven't." Raoul replied as he and Christine set the table. "I thought you were with him."

"That's strange… Erik is always awake before we even get up… I'll go to his room and check up on him."

Christine turned around and just as she was about to leave the kitchen, Erik came in shuffling through, still in his pajamas.

"Good morning Erik! Thank goodness you're awake, I was getting worried that you haven't gotten out of bed yet."

"Good morning Christine… and you." Erik mumbled, muttering Raoul's name as if it were a nuisance.

What's up with him today? Raoul thought. Did he get any sleep at all last night? Then he noticed that Erik has a band aid on his nose.

"Hey Erik, what happened to your nose?"

"Don't ask…" Erik groggily said.

Maybe he fell off his bed. Raoul hypothesized. Whatever gave him that band aid must be too embarrassing for him to tell.

Everyone sat down and started to eat breakfast. However, ten minutes later Erik gradually closed his eye and began to snore a little, with his head bobbing up and down.

"Erik if you're just gonna sleep at the table, might I suggest you leave the kitchen and take a rest before you eat." Raoul said angrily. "Falling asleep while eating is very bad table manners."

"Alright already..." Erik grumbled between snores. "I'm gonna… go and…"

PLOP! Erik had bobbed his head too far forward and landed on his plate of toaster pastries. To Christine and Raoul's amazement, Erik kept sleeping.

"Erik! Are you alright!"

"He can't hear you Christine, he's sleeping." Raoul stood up and started to put away the plates. "Tis best if we just let him be."

"I wonder what has caused Erik to be acting like this." Christine pondered. "Maybe he couldn't sleep last night."

"I think it's gotta be more than just that to get Erik going all like a narcoleptic." Raoul assumed. "Anyway, we'd better help him get out of the table before he drowns in his own food."

BEGIN FLASHBACK

YESTERDAY AT MIDNIGHT…

The summerhouse was all quiet; everyone was asleep, except for Erik.

"Damn it! I can't sleep well tonight!" Looking troubled, Erik kept pacing back and forth in his room, trying to get himself to sleep. "Maybe drinking a glass of warm milk might help."

Erik opened the door just enough so he could sneak out of his bedroom. He tiptoed towards the kitchen and drank his glass of warm milk.

"Ahhh, that's good stuff." Erik wiped his mouth clean with his arm and went back upstairs.

As he headed back to his bedroom he passed by Raoul's bedroom, then Christine's. He paused for a moment after passing by Christine's bedroom, deep in thoughts.

"Oh Christine… how I long to be with you as my wife and not just a companion with the fop." Erik sighed. "But why does that fool have to ruin my only dream."

He clenched his trembling fist, just thinking about Raoul taking Christine away from her Angel of Music by marrying her makes his blood boil and stirs up his anger.

"If only Raoul didn't exist! If only Raoul wasn't here now… then… then…" Erik loosened his grip, turned around and pressed his ear up against Raoul's bedroom door, listening intently for any signs of consciousness.

Only the sounds of the nighttime breeze and Raoul's snoring can be heard from the other side of the door.

"Good… he's asleep… now my plan can commence." Erik went back inside his bedroom, with a devious look on his face.

Erik opened his window and crept along the ledges, slowly, towards Raoul's bedroom window.

It's a good thing that Raoul always leaves his window open when he sleeps. Erik thought. This plan may not have been intended to happen in the first place but it sure is going smoothly.

Silently, the phantom slipped into the bedroom and stealthy approached his target.

With a pillow on his hands, Erik closed in on his target, the pillow inches above Raoul's face.

"Sweet dreams…" Erik whispered, then he pushed the pillow onto Raoul's face, but right before the pillow made contact, Raoul tossed and turned in his sleep, causing Erik to draw back.

Did I wake him up?

"Zzzz… mmm… scotch bonnets… zzzz…" Raoul was merely talking in his sleep.

Whew… he's still asleep… and apparently talking gibberish. But now is my chance to strike! Erik tiptoed towards Raoul for a second chance, ready to silence him… permanently.

"This time… you will no longer…"

POW!

"OWWW! You bastard!" Erik painfully yelled as he reeled back. Raoul had tossed and turned again, but this time his tosses and turns were replaced with thrashing involuntary kicks and punches.

"What was that? I thought I just heard Erik's voice?" The muffled voice of Christine can be heard from the other side of Raoul's bedroom wall.

"Crap! I have to get out of here fast!" Erik panicked, trying to cover his bleeding nose. Christine's footsteps can be heard from the other side of the wall; she's coming over to my room.

Erik hurriedly climbed out of the window, sneaked back to his room, and crept under the bed sheets, just in time, before Christine opened the door to take a quick peek.

Christine looked around, left and right, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Hmmm… that must have been all my imagination. Raoul was still in sleeping when I checked up on him. My, this imagination of mine is getting stronger and out of hand… oh well, better get back to sleep."

She yawned and closed the door. Erik came out of the sheets right after he heard the sound of the door clicked, still covering his nose.

Erik sat up and tried to get off the bed. "Must get a band-aid…" But he suddenly fell back into the bed out of exhaustion and slept.

Erik's impromptu plan has failed.

"Must get a band-aid… mmm… I need it nowzzzzzzzz…."

END OF FLASHBACK

"Erik… Erik… wake up… say something…" Christine's nervously said as she wiped the toaster pastry off of Erik's face.

Erik's eye began to open; his half closed lids can only discern a blurry image of Christine.

"Christine is that you…" Erik sat up from the sofa, where he was laid down after he plopped his head on the breakfast table. "What happened… and why does my face smell like apples?"

"Oh thank goodness you're feeling fine now!" Christine hugged Erik. "I was so worried; I thought you caught a fever or something."

Erik realized that his foolish nighttime antics did nothing but cause a commotion, and make Christine worry. He felt awful, just thinking about it.

"I'm sorry if I made you worry." Erik said in his soft, gentle voice. "I was just very tired, but now I feel so much better. So things can go back to normal now."

"I'm so glad to hear that."

"Let's have a fun summer vacation together." Erik stood up and held Christine's hand.

"Yes! Let's make this year, the best summer we'll ever have!"

MINI EPILOGUE

Meanwhile, upstairs… inside Raoul's room.

Raoul was making his bed, when he noticed something weird. "Hmmm… that's odd, I recall only having two pillows in my bed, so where did this third one come from?... A mystery, indeed."