Thank you to BabyNake, His Midnight Music, sharp52092, cotesgoat, the Guest, and FleshofMidnight for the reviews!

By the time they got checked in to the hotel and reached their suite, Christine was feeling some of her strange feelings from earlier fade. No doubt what she had told her mother had actually been the truth, and she was simply overly tired from their long day of traveling.

To distract her further, once she set Gustave on his feet, he seemed to get a second wind. Smiling as she watched him begin to excitedly explore their new space, Christine took a look around as well, and what she saw was stunning.

The suite seemed to consist mostly of a large open space for the common areas, with a sitting area with elegant, yet understated furniture that managed to look both antique and inviting, and a dining area situated in front of sliding glass doors that appeared to lead to a balcony. The most stunning feature of the room, however, was the windows that ran the entire length of it, showcasing the mountains and pine trees that sat right next to the hotel.

"Look at that," Mamma said, as she walked over to get a better look. "Isn't it gorgeous, Christine?"

"It really is," she responded, trailing over behind the other woman to gaze at the scenery. "It's all been so beautiful, actually."

A moment later she was interrupted by Gustave as he ran up and enthusiastically grabbed her hand. "Mom," he exclaimed, "you have to come see." As Christine turned to walk with him across the room, however, she froze momentarily when she saw what he wanted her to look at.

Nestled into an alcove opposite the dining area was a gleaming piano, although that wasn't what concerned her - she knew that her suite was to have a piano for any practicing she wanted to do on her own. It was the items resting on the top of the piano that had caught her attention, namely the huge bouquet of blood-red roses.

As she stared at them, Christine couldn't have said if what she was feeling was closer to hope or to dread. Not wanting to acknowledge the strange feeling that had once again come over her, she purposefully returned her attention to her son, who had decided to occupy himself during her moments of distraction by playing one the simple songs he already knew how to play on the piano.

When Gustave saw her looking at him, he abandoned the keyboard to bounce back over to her, lifting his arms to her to be picked up. When she had him on a level with the piano, Gustave immediately grabbed for one of the other items on top of it - a plush stuffed moose.

"Look, Mom," he said excitedly, holding the toy out so Christine could admire it.

"That's so cute, Gustave," she replied automatically, half of her attention still on the roses, but her answer seemed to satisfy him.

"Yeah," he agreed, proceeding to examine it in great detail.

Trying not to acknowledge the memory that Erik's piano had always had fresh flowers on it when she went to her voice lessons at his apartment, and that those flowers had often been red roses, Christine turned her attention to the other items that seemed to be set out for them.

There were a few boxes of expensive-looking chocolates, and several packages of various kinds of nuts. When she idly picked one up to look at it closer, Gustave tore his attention away from his new toy for a moment.

"What does that say, Mom?"

Smiling at her son's inquisitive nature, Christine answered, "It says 'organic nuts', Gustave."

"Oh," he replied without much interest, and pointed to the only other item sitting on the piano. "What's that?"

Christine truly had no idea. Standing about a foot tall, it seemed to be a model of some kind, consisting of metal bars, wheels, and what appeared to be a kind of pulley system. Seeing that there was a typed note sitting in front of it, she reached for it. "I don't know, sweet, but maybe this will tell us."

As she perused what turned out to be a welcome letter, greeting her and her family for their extended stay at Phantasma, Christine saw that it did indeed include an explanation of the mysterious item.

Summarizing what she had just read for Gustave, Christine told him, "It's a music box, honey, and it's a model of mining equipment. It says here it was custom made just for you. Here," she continued, setting him on the floor, "I'll get it down and we'll wind it so we can hear the music."

"Oh, mining equipment," Gustave agreed, as though he had known what the item was all along. Once again, Christine found herself hiding a smile at his silliness. She had given him a very basic explanation of mining before they came to Colorado, as she knew there were many ruins of abandoned mines in this area. Apparently he now considered himself an expert on the subject.

When she sat the music box on the piano bench and wound it for him, though, her smile faded. Although she had never heard the particular song the item played before, it evoked that strange feeling from before, that mixture of longing and fear. And the most confusing part of all was that she had no idea what she was actually longing for or afraid of.

As she stared at the music box, lost in her swirling thoughts, Mamma came across the room to join them, distracting Gustave by asking him to show her the music box and the stuffed moose long enough for Christine to pull herself together, at least somewhat.

After she listened to Gustave's rather lengthy explanation of his new acquisitions, Adelaide looked at Christine. "Well, my dear, it's been a long day. Why don't I get this young man in the bathtub while you call room service for our dinner?"

Christine started. "Oh, yes, that's a good idea." Mentally shaking herself for not thinking of her son, even though she knew Mamma would never imply such a thing, Christine let the strange feelings slip from mind once again. She had much more important things to focus on in the present after all, instead of dwelling on a past that was long over.

xxxxx

As the sky darkened, Erik stood on the balcony of Christine's suite, just to the right of the glass doors, feeling a strange sense of detachment as he gazed at the long-fingered hand he had unconsciously splayed on the wall in front of him. He had managed to restrain himself for several hours after her arrival, but the lure of her presence was too strong and he had found himself slipping through the hidden door that connected his balcony with this one.

Naturally, the balconies at Phantasma had solid walls that extended out from the building between each of them, in order to ensure their guests' privacy. Erik had merely made a private addition in the wall between his suite and the one Christine was currently residing in, using his considerable skills in architecture to create an invisible door in the stone barrier that he could use to access the other suite with ease. And due to the combination of his naturally sharp hearing and some favorable acoustics, when he stood in the alcove he was currently occupying, he could hear what was being said in the main rooms of the suite in front of him quite well.

Although he had no idea how much time had passed, Erik supposed it must have been several hours. He had listened to the three of them finish their dinner and then put the boy to bed, and now Christine and her former guardian appeared to be watching television. He knew that all it would take would be one of them stepping out onto the balcony before he was able to slip back through the opening for the entire ruse to be up, but even that knowledge wasn't enough to make him pull away from the sound of Christine's voice.

Whenever Madame Valérius or the boy spoke throughout the evening, Erik heard nothing but background noise, but when Christine spoke...it was as if he was a man dying in the desert who had found water, a starving man who had happened upon a banquet, and he had no more desire to tear himself away from the sound of her voice than any other man would if faced with those other scenarios. He had been dying in the dark without her, and faced with this glimmer of hope, of her, Erik was powerless to her thrall.

It wasn't until he found himself standing in front of the door to her suite, fingers curling around the handle to open this barrier between himself and Christine with no memory of having moved at all, that Erik realized he had reached the limit of what he could endure for one night. Jerking his hand away as his panicked gaze flew to the two women in front of him, he dimly realized that neither of them had noticed him standing outside of their suite. Stumbling away in relief, Erik quickly returned to his own balcony, reaching up to hit the hidden catch in the stone wall to close the undetectable door firmly behind him.

Entering his own suite, he went immediately to the wet bar, eyeing several bottles of wine before reaching for a decanter of whisky. As he poured from it, Erik dispassionately noted the tremor in his hand, which only confirmed that he had made the right choice of beverage. He needed something strong to counter the effect that Christine had had on him.

Slumping on the sofa, he removed the black mask from his face, clutching it for a moment before letting it drop onto the seat beside him. Only his instinctive need to have a mask within arm's reach at all times had kept him from chucking it across the room in frustration.

Needing to settle the emotions seething wildly inside him, Erik gulped at his drink before he angrily wiped at the fluids that were dripping down his face. It was only further proof that he needed to get a grip on himself when it came to Christine - he had no idea that he had even been crying at all, or for how long.

However, feeling his disgusting face beneath his hand did serve a purpose. As he felt the papery skin and sunken cheekbones beneath his fingers - to say nothing of the hole where any normal man would have a nose - Erik squeezed his eyes shut and inhaled a shuddering breath, struck by the harsh reminder that he must not let Christine see him, or all this would be for naught.

In his euphoria over seeing her again after so long, the fact that she hated and feared him had temporarily slipped Erik's mind. If she realized that he was here, that he had engineered this entire situation to bring her to Colorado, Christine would no doubt be on the first flight back to New York, and Erik would have squandered this opportunity to hear her sing for nearly an entire summer.

Shaken by the near miss he had had earlier, Erik rose from the sofa and crossed the room to refill his glass. He had often lacked the ability to think logically when it came to Christine, but he was simply going to have to keep his wits about him and be more careful in the future. It was essential that he avoid her at all costs for the rest of her time here.

Well, these two are taking their time about it, but we are almost ready for an E/C reunion - then we can really start having some fun! Thanks for reading, and please feel free to leave a comment, I always enjoy hearing what people are thinking!