I sat in my car for what seemed like eternity. I just stared at the steering wheel feeling numb. Even my mother thought I was the one to free him of his curse. I looked above the tree line and saw that the sky above the treetops was turning a light blue. The sun was rising. I gave a glance to the clock, six forty-five. I put the key in the ignition and turned on my car. I backed out of the parking lot and zipped down the curvy country road. My little Volkswagen Beetle zoomed through the curves in a roller coaster like way, bringing a smile to my face. I was always able to go fast on this road; the police were typically too busy in Paris to pay attention to the outskirts. But when I got to the main road I slowed down.

I unlocked my door and nearly screamed. My mother stood in the foyer, her suite case was beside her, there was another one, and its owner was nowhere to be seen.

"What took so long, Lee?" She asked gently, coming up to me and bringing me in an embrace. I smiled and took in the familiar scent of her perfume as I hugged her back.

"I was in shock. Sorry Mom." I told her. She laughed gently; as she pulled away she fussed with the two locks of hair I kept out of my bun.

"Your brother is here. He's asleep in the living room." She told me.

"Let me get your bags to a room, Mom." I told her. The house I lived in was actually pretty decently sized. The asylum provided it for me; it had two floors and four bedrooms with two baths. The ceilings were high and the floor was polished mahogany wood. It was a beautiful old place. It had been around for as long as the asylum building. As we passed the living room I did see that my nineteen year old brother Andrew was knocked out on my leather sectional. I smiled at him. He was a beanpole. Real tall and real skinny; he had a baby face so he usually rocked out the Abe Lincoln beard to look more manly. His dark brown hair was a crazy mess. I laughed.

I took Mom to the room next to mine on the left and then I put Andrew's bag on the room to my right. I went into my own and grabbed my pajamas. I went into my bathroom and showered.

Once I was done drying my hair I went into the kitchen and pulled out the bread. I popped them in the toaster and took down a frying pan. I pulled out the beloved bacon and threw a few pieces on the stove. Once I got the bacon cooking I heard the toaster go off and I grabbed a paper plate, the butter and a knife and grabbed my toast. I buttered it and munched on it happily while I waited for the bacon to get done.

After the bacon was fried to crispy goodness I stuck it the oven to keep it warm while I made the egg scramble. By then I heard the drowsy steps of Andrew coming into the kitchen.

"Hey Lee." He said sleepily, I turned and gave him a smile. He was rubbing his face roughly, clearing in a haze. I giggled and put some coffee on for my poor exhausted brother.

"Hi, Andrew. How was the flight?" I asked him as I scooped coffee grounds into the filter.

"Long." He said simply and stole my other piece of toast. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Jerk." I said teasingly.

"You know you can't live without me." He said as he took a bite of my toast.

"So what's about some guys 'curse'?" Andrew asked.

"Nothing. I'll tell you when you're older." I told him, laughing. He glowered at me for a minute and then left the room. I got out another piece of bread and toasted it. I then ran back to the scramble and took it off heat.

I grabbed an oven mitt and took the bacon out of the oven and turned off the broiler. I put two pieces on my plate and served myself some eggs and got myself a glass of milk. I sat down at the table and enjoyed my breakfast.

I brushed my teeth and went into the living room and dropped down onto the couch next to Andrew.

"How can you watch TV? It's all in French?" Andrew asked.

"Dude, I'm fluent in French. Mom started me on it when I started talking. I have a bunch of TV series on DVD if you want to watch those." I told him, grabbing one of my DVD books.

"Whatcha got?" He asked. I smiled.

"I got NCIS, House, Law and Order SVU, Law and Order, Castle, Big Bang Theory, and Criminal Minds in this one and I have others in the other DVD book." I told him.

"Put in Criminal Minds." He told me. I rolled my eyes and stood.

"Yes your Majesty." I said and went to the television and slide Season One DVD into the disc slot on the side of the TV.

We sat down and settled in and watched a few of the DVDs before it was time for me to go to bed.

"'Night, Andrew." I told him as I retreated to my room. I jumped into bed. I turned over onto my back and stared at the ceiling. I knew I would have to face Erik and his eyes of ice again. I didn't know what to do about it. I wanted to help him but I don't know how I could be the one. I'm not some brave person, I was average.
There was a knock on my door. My mother called out my name. I looked up and turned on the bedside lamp.

"Come in." I called; she did Mom had a photo album with her. I threw the covers off of me as she approached and sat on the side of the bed.

"I wanted to show you something." She told me, opening the book. I moved and sat beside her. She flipped through the pages. She stopped at one of the last pages. It was a man with tan skin and dark hair, slicked back, two children, and a woman. I nearly gasped. We looked nearly alike.

"That is your triple great grandmother, Elizabeth. The one that Erik killed when he dropped the chandelier in the Opera Populaire. That is your great grandfather Alexander. He's the one who cursed him. He was raised in the ways of a gypsy. But he saw what they did and was appalled by the mere sight, and he refused to be a part of it. He left the lifestyle and became a Parisian business man. He saw our grandmother when he attended a performance. He had to meet her and when he did, it was love at first sight. She bore his two children and then went back to the theatre. Her first performance back was Don Juan Triumphant. Alexander saw her get killed. He carried her body out of the fire. That was the first and last time Alexander resorted to his gypsy know how to get revenge.

But not even then could he find it in himself to forever punish Erik. So he cursed him with Immortality until one of Elizabeth's daughters freed him from the spell. More specifically one that looked just like Elizabeth. Alexander wasn't going to let him get off the hook that easy." Mom told me.

"I noticed how you were feeling. I had to show you. I know you want to help him, you're just afraid." Mom told me. She was right. He made me so nervous. Especially after what happened with the eye contact last night. How he froze to the spot. I was the prey and he was the prowling lion. He was kind as could be, but he just was so… predatory. It was fantastic.

Mom kissed my cheek, her blue eyes sparkling. I was stunned for a moment.

"Mom, weren't Dad's eyes brown?" I asked. She nodded.

"Then why do I have green eyes? Not even Grandma or Grandpa has green eyes." I told her. She smiled sweetly, touching my face.

"No one has since Elizabeth." She told me. I stood up. Was she joking? I was really the one to free him. I was nearly hyperventilating. Mom watched me in a sort of sympathy.

"Mama. How? Magic isn't even real. How can he still be alive the way he is?" I asked, searching for something logical in all this madness.

"I didn't mean to overwhelm you." She changed into my mirror image. I stared in shock.

"I tried to keep Alex from doing this to that poor man. He didn't mean to hurt me." Elizabeth said. I couldn't speak.

"It's okay, Lee. Go at your own pace. No one expects you to break the curse immediately." She told me, touching my face.

I sat up in bed, my alarm clock screaming at me. I looked around. It was all a dream? I turned off the alarm clock. I heard Reed going off about something in the living room. I got out of bed and walked shakily across the room to my closet. I took out my scrubs and put them on and then brushed my hair and put it up in my bun and I went into the kitchen and fixed a quick snack. After I was done eating I said good bye to my mother and brother and went to work.

I waited until I saw Nautia pull out to get out of my car. I really didn't feel like talking to her snooty ass. I pulled into my spot and grabbed my bag. I went inside and scanned my card. Peyton was already here. I gave him a strange look.

"I thought maybe I should be here; we could work together, if that's okay." Peyton said.

SON OF A BITCH! I mentally screamed.

"I have it covered, but if you really feel like you should be here, than fine." I told him, putting my stuff down and sitting down. He gave me a look.

"What are you doing on Sunday?" He asked. I gave a huff.

"Spending time with my family. They came in yesterday." I told him, feeling thankful for my mother's impeccable timing.

"When will you be free? I think we should spend some time together outside of work." He told me. I shook my head.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I don't date people I work with. Sorry, Peyton." I told him. He frowned.

"Are you sure?" He asked. I nodded and smiled at him.

"Yeah, sorry, Peyton." I told him. He seemed to pout. My six thirty alarm went off. I left the booth thanking God. It was so awkward. I just wanted to crawl in a hole and die. Was this really happening? Was I really getting the attention of Erik and a devilishly handsome man at the SAME time? I entered the cafeteria and went to behind the counter to get Erik's dinner and I went down to his room.

I unlocked the door and went in. Erik met me half way. I smiled at him and handed the tray to him.

"How has your day been, Erik?" I asked.

"Nautia seemed grouchier than usual, or maybe I should say more realistic. I believe she thinks she could be doing more with her youth than attending to an antisocial man in the basement of a French asylum clean across the Atlantic Ocean." Erik told me as he sat down.

"How about you, Lee?" He asked.

"Oh, my mother and brother have arrived, they, well my mother, scared the daylights out of me when I got home last night. I'll go deeper into detail later, if I can give Peyton the slip tonight I'll come." Erik frowned.

"I thought he came around four?" Erik asked.

"We sometimes team up; I guess he's feeling bad because I have to do an all-nighter tomorrow. He's visiting his sister. But if I can't come see you tonight I'll come tomorrow after I've woken up and visit with you." I told him. The masked man smiled at this, content.

"I almost wish you can't make it. But I do hope to see you later tonight." He told me, a warm fuzziness to his voice that made me want to just curl up in bed and listen to him speak until I fell asleep. I gave him a small smile and a temporary farewell and left the room.

I returned to the booth and sat down in my seat.

"So how was our Mystery Patient?" Peyton asked, spinning back and forth in his chair.

"He was good. Evidently Nautia was in bitch mode today." I said. He smiled.

"Well after that verbal ass kicking you gave her in the parking lot I wouldn't be surprised. Didn't know you had it in you, Lee." Peyton told me. I blushed and laughed.

"Well… I try to be as nice as possible. I don't think there's anything wrong with being a nice person, nor is there anything wrong with giving someone the 'verbal ass kicking' whenever they need one." Peyton laughed.