Merry Christmas everybody! Man, this year seemed to go by so fast. Hope it's been a good one :)

Chapter 4

Erik led me to his library, which seemed to be as big as the library they have at my school. So many books…

He walked over to the shelves and grabbed a really old-looking book. Him blowing the dust off of it just added to the effect. "This book has everything known to man about supernatural happenings such as this phenomenon. If we find the right scenario, we may be able to figure out how to get you back to your time."

But I don't want to go back just yet, I just got here! I protested silently. "But what if it's not in there?"

He shrugged. "Then I guess you're stuck here."

After an hour of searching all through that book, we could not find a thing that applied to this predicament. "So what now?" I asked him.

"Well, this means one of three things: you're lying, you belong in a mad house, or you're telling the truth but this has never happened to anyone before."

I scoffed. "Well, I'm definitely not lying and I am perfectly sane, so the best choice would be the third one, ghostie."

Erik growled in annoyance. "Must you call me that? If you need something else to call me, call me Erik."

"Oh, I know what your name is, Erik. But it's fun to make you irritated like that."

"You may not like it when I have my lasso tied around your neck the next time you call me that." He ground out, his teeth clenching together. "If you know everything, then you know what that can lead to."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please, like you would hurt a woman. You never have, and I think you never will unless it is absolutely warranted, like she's trying to kill you or something."

He huffed and went to go put the book back on the shelf. "Well, I guess we just play it by ear and see what happens. That's pretty much the only thing we can do."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But what am I gonna do? It's not like the opera house is going to just hire a girl they found on the streets and I can't work the jobs you have in this time because I don't know how to do them-"

He interrupted me. "I'm sure we'll figure something out."

"We?"

"That's what I said, is it not?"

On the outside, I was cool, calm, collected. But on the inside, I was freaking out. He actually wants to help me! The cool, calm, and collected me broke to the freaking out me a little bit, though, as I went over to him and hugged him. I felt him stiffen and awkwardly put his arms around me in what awkwardly resembled a hug.

"Thank you, Erik." I whispered to him, hearing his sharp gasp. Apparently he wasn't used to people thanking him.

Erik let me go and pulled away from me, straightening himself. "Well, in the meantime, I will see what I can do about your unemployment problem. Can you sing or dance?"

"I guess I can sing, but my voice isn't built for opera. I could maybe do songs from my time."

He nodded. "Yes, that could work. I doubt you have any music with you for it, though."

"You're right: I don't. I wish I did, though. I miss my phone…and my computer…and my fanfiction…"

He raised his eyebrow in confusion and shrugged. "I have no idea what any of those things are, but I guess they are worth missing if you don't even say that you miss your family."

I stopped, and my eyes suddenly filled with tears. It's true, I did miss my family, but I was trying not to think about them to prevent myself from becoming a blubbering mess…which is what was happening at that moment.

After a few moments, I finally got my emotions under control and turned to Erik, suddenly curious about something. "Has Christine already sung in Hannibal?"

His eyes widened in surprise. "No, Hannibal is to be performed in 3 months."

"So I arrived before everything happened. Interesting."

"So are you saying that Christine will be cast as Elissa?" he asked with hope in his voice.

"No, she wasn't. Carlotta was supposed to be Elissa, then you dropped a backdrop on her while she was singing for the new managers and she stocked off raving mad. Madame Giry suggested that Christine play Elissa, then it happened."

"Oh…so tell me more from this story about my life." He insisted.

"Um, are you sure that would be a good idea? I mean, there are some pretty rough parts in it I don't think you would be too pleased to hear."

"It doesn't matter. Maybe by hearing it, I can bypass the mistakes I made and get it right this time." He pushed.

I sighed and put my arm out to him. "Twist it."

He looked at me weirdly as he gently took my arm in his hands and twisted it. "Alright, fine, but if it gets too much for you to hear, just remember that you wanted me to."

He snorted. "If you know anything at all about me, you know that a mere story cannot have an effect on me, even if it is about myself."

"Okay, I hope you're right. Here goes…"