I approached the shift board and saw that the shifts had remained the same as far as Nautia and I went.

"Why are you and your cousin working here? You're both from America." I turned and saw Verain.

"We both came to France for a different experience and Blackwater was hiring. We both applied and we both got the job we wanted. Nothing too weird, just different." I told him, still scared that he was going to come out of nowhere and punish me for my outburst last week. I saw Erik hiding around the corner. He had been stalking Verain for days now.

"I just think its strange circumstances." Verain replied as I walked by him towards the library.

"They are so you aren't wrong." I said, he was following me. I needed to find someone else other than Erik. I frantically searched for another person so Verain and I wouldn't be alone. I decided to retreat to the visitation room. Thank God there was someone there. It was Angeline with a boy her age. I went over.

"Hi, is there anything I can get for you?" I asked, I had always thought it was nice to go the extra mile for visitors since they had braved coming to a mental hospital to see a beloved.

"Uh, no. I'm good, thanks." He told me. I nodded and left through the entrance and took the long way around back to the day room. I sat down next to Josephine. She was about thirty with long blonde hair and a severe case of multiple personalities disorder.

"Would you like me to braid your hair for you Josephine?" I asked. She smiled sweetly at me and nodded, then swiveled so I could get to her hair. I had come in earlier to see the shifts so I just had some time to kill before my shift actually started. I started to French braid her hair. Erik wandered quietly into the room and sat down in a chair in front of the window on the other side of the room. There were only patients in the room other than me and I assumed he came in to watch after me.

"I should have brought some ribbon, but I've only got my hair band." I told Josephine. Quin came into the room with a squeegee and window cleaner and start to spritz the windows. Erik rose to his feet and walked over to the janitor. The two exchanged a few words and Erik returned to his seat. I realized with a shock that I didn't have any shifts with Peyton this month. My stomach churned. I looked at Erik with a 'help me!' expression and he acknowledged it with a slow nod. He hadn't spoke much to me recently. With Verain watching me like a hawk we couldn't talk much until the superintendent went home and he had started staying later and later.

It was barely noticeable what he was doing but I finally caught on. My heart started thundering in my chest. I swallowed hard and my fingers became clumsy. I finished Josephine's braid and retreated to my cubicle. The air was unnerving and thick. I felt like I was going to choke. I jumped out of my skin as someone knocked on the Plexiglas. I looked up and saw Verain. He had a file in his hands. I opened the sliding window and looked at him expectantly. Erik had seemingly teleported to the chair just behind Verain.

"I'm putting one of the patients on watch. I need you to make sure this paperwork gets done and he gets started on watch as soon as possible." Verain said, handing me the file. I nodded and took it. He left the day room, heading towards the exit and I opened the file and my heart fell to my feet.

Erik Destler

I looked up at him with panic in my eyes. He got to his feet and came over.

"Verain is putting you on watch. You're getting moved from your room to an observation room next week. You won't be able to leave or associate with anyone and I don't have the clearance to get you out at night." My voice pitch was sky high and my heart pounded against my chest so hard I thought it would get damaged.

"What?" He spat, tearing the file from my hands. "Under what grounds. I behave just fine!" Erik hissed.

"I don't know." I told him. We both knew mentioning the 'incidents' out loud was a bad idea. I didn't see Verain leave through the security cams and that made me nervous. There were a few blind spots and that was thanks to Erik and Quin's tampering.

"You have to slow the paperwork down. Jam the system. Do anything, just make sure this paperwork doesn't get through." Erik told me, I swallowed hard and took the file back.

"I have to fill it out or I could get in trouble." I replied. Erik frowned, his eyes bright like fire. He suddenly set his jaw and anxiously rolled his shoulders. Erik's gaze flowed into the direction Verain just went.

"Don't you dare give him a reason!" I nearly yelled. I slapped my hands over my mouth.

"Lee, my hands are tied, this is my last chance." He said.

"He's already gone. I saw him leave through the security cams. It will have to wait for another day. As a matter of fact, try to come up with another idea." I lied to him. Erik bared his teeth and basically snarled.

"This isn't over, he thinks this is over, but it isn't." Erik mumbled over his breath.

"I will try to stall the paperwork for as long as possible but I can't promise anything." I whispered. Erik gave me a nod and disappeared. I put my head down and just prayed. This had to work out. I hadn't known what Erik was going to do but I knew whatever it was it had been too much. I picked up a pen and opened the file. It was already filled out. All it needed was a signature. I growled and this time, against my own advice I stood up and raced out of the cubicle. Verain was waiting in the corridor.

"You don't even spend time with this patient." I told him. He grinned.

"I have spent enough time with him to know that he is trouble." Verain said.

"What gives you the idea that he's trouble?" I asked, wanting to grab the heaviest object I could find and bash him over the head with it.

"You mean to tell me you know nothing about the incidents that happen to me around here?" Verain asked.

"And Erik is responsible? Do you have proof?" I spat.

"He's there every time. The chair?"

"That was just an accident. You can't practically put him in solitary because you have a damn hunch! I'm not signing this file until you give me solid proof that Erik is responsible." I told him sternly.

"And no one else will, because I have seniority and people respect me more than you." I told him. Verain didn't say anything only walked out of the hospital. I glared at him.

"We could petition the board and get him fired." I turned and saw Quin leaning against the wall. I frowned.

"I don't know…"

"If Erik is going to solitary his way of doing this is going out the window. We'll have to go through the system."

"Erik's point is that the system isn't fast enough and Verain is going to do something we're all going to regret." I told him, making my way wearily to the cubicle. The last thing I wanted for Erik was to go to solitary… I could only stall the paperwork for so long. There was one thing… Erik could get released. It was one of two possibilities to an inevitable end. I shut the door and went down to his bedroom. I locked to stairwell behind me. I nearly raced to his bedroom.

"Your release forms would get processed before your solitary confinement forms." I told him, swinging into the doorway. He looked at me with a jolt.

"But I promised Angeline." He said.

"I think Angeline would understand you leaving in order to stay out of solitary. Erik do you want to go through that again?" I asked him. Erik's eyes became glassy an suddenly he wasn't with me anymore. He was quiet and his gaze stuck to the ground. I entered his room and touched his arm. Erik snapped out of it and looked at me. Margie was right. His eyes said everything.

"Do you really think so?" He asked me. I nodded, then stood on my tip toes and kissed his cheek.

"If she cares about you she will." I told him quietly. He nodded and put a kiss to my lips.

"I'll do it. I can't do that again. I would lose my mind if I did that again." Erik told me. Neither option was really the best in his opinion. But he had to make a choice.

"If we're lucky there's still a board member here and they'll start evaluating you tomorrow. You should be able to get out in five to seven days." I informed him. Erik sat down in his chair and nodded. He was in such a fog. I left the room and jogged back to the main level of the hospital then to the boardroom. And thank God, the board member that thought I was God's second gift to earth was there. Madame Ravim had adored me the minute I walked into the hospital. I was told it was because her daughter died at the same age I was and Madame Ravim had metaphorically adopted me in her daughter's place. It was sad and I felt bad about using it to my advantage.

"Madame Ravim! I'm so glad to see you, I need to talk to you about a patient that would like to be discharged." I told her. She smiled and nodded at me, sitting her briefcase on the dark mahogany table.

"I honestly thought you would be coming to get the board to fire Verain." She said kindly taking a seat and opening her case.

"The patients come first, I'll get him fired later." I told her. She laughed heartily.

"I assume the patient you have come to speak to me about it Monsieur Destler." Madame Ravin replied, sifting through her files.

"Yes, Madame." I answered.

"We've had his discharge ready for years. All we need is leading physician to sign it tomorrow and he'll be free to go by the end of the week. Erik will be staying with you, yes?" Madame Ravim replied. I nodded sheepishly, shuffling my feet. She smiled and gave me his file.

"And give me time with Verain, he'll be out by next month. He was much nicer on paper than in real life. Erik actually suggested someone that we've looked into." Madame told me. I tilted my head, Erik's email came back into mind.

Marionette skills

"Who is Erik's leading physician?" It was something I should have known but didn't.

"Monsieur Craiven. The man usually stays late, he may be in his office." Madame said I nodded. He was a charming older gentleman with snow white hair and sparkling grey eyes. During the winter he grew a beard and made quite the convincing Santa Claus. I knocked on his office door and he called me in. I entered with the sweetest smile I could conjure.

"Hello Nurse Archer. What brings you here? Has Erik done something?" Doctor Craiven asked. I shook my head. What a flat out lie.

"He would like to be discharged, sir." I told him handing the doctor Erik's discharge file. The man smiled brightly.

"That man has been here for so long. I'm glad to see he's getting out. I don't know how many of his doctors have dreamt of seeing Erik leave this hospital and I'm the one that has the honor." Doctor Craiven told me. I nodded.

"Imagine being a part of my family, sir." I said with a grin. Craiven started to laugh as he signed the release forms. I nearly shrieked with joy as he handed them to me. I went and took the file to the office of who worked the paperwork then dashed back to Erik's room.

"You're getting out in the next two days! The board has been ready for the request for a few weeks now. They were just waiting for you to request it!" I told him, giving Erik the file. He took it and looked inside. Erik sat down in his chair wordlessly. I watched him, wondering what he was feeling. He wasn't acting like a man that was about to be free from the place he had been in for over a century. I tilted my head at him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him softly. Erik looked up at me.

"For years, I dreamt of this day. I'd look down and see the signature saying I was free. I never could figure out what I would do. I suppose its because I don't know what to do. I'm happy, I'm overjoyed. But… there's a part of me-" Erik stopped. I stepped closer to him.

"What do you want to do when you leave?" I asked.

"See the Eiffel Tower. She's just a pinprick of iron on the horizon. But she's been standing there for almost as long as I've been in this building."

"That sounds like a nice plan." I told him. He smiled softly. I could see the wheels in his head turning.

"All the things that have happened since I was here. This building was used as a shelter during the World Wars. I heard Christine had died in 1917. I've thought from time to time about visiting her grave once I left. Elizabeth's too. I don't know where your grandmother is buried though. Do you?" Erik asked.

"I'm sure Margie knows. She knows pretty much everything about this. Probably even knows where Alexander is buried." I told him. Erik nodded.

"I don't have much to pack. My violin, compositions. Supplies. Maybe a backpack." He said.

"I'll send Nautia with one today." I said.

"Will you come to get me when I leave?"

"Of course. I'll meet you outside. You know my Bug, right?" I told him. He nodded. I leaned over and put a kiss to his forehead.

"I love you." I said innocently, it just popped heart skipped a beat as the words flowed from my lips effortlessly like a sigh. I was startled but not scared. It was true. I finally was able to tell him. I looked at Erik. He smiled sweetly at me.

"J'adore tu, mon chère." He told me in a hushed tone like it was a secret. I smiled. We had switched to English when it was just the two of us. He found the language easy to speak and found he liked the way his French accented the language. I didn't care either way. I had been speaking French for as long as I had been speaking English. I liked the fact that he switched to French to tell me he loved me. I felt like it just meant something more.

I drove back to the asylum drinking a nice warm cup of coffee. It was earlier than I liked when Nautia called and said that Erik was ready to leave. But that meant getting him out of the asylum and into my home. The building rolled up on the horizon and I pulled into the parking lot. I pulled the keys out f the ignition and got out of the car. I hit the intercom button and Nautia answered, inviting me into the lobby. Upon entering I saw Erik with his violin case and backpack waiting for me. Verain was watching like a pissed off hawk. He approached me.

"You think you're clever don't you?" He spat. Erik was steadily making his way over to us.

"What do you mean?"I asked. He bared his teeth at me.

"You got him out. You were far too close to him!" Verain spat.

"You know what? Maybe I was, but we never did a thing outside of protocol. We always followed the rules and you have no right to chew me out about it now." I told him, Erik's eyes were bright as fire.

"If you want to talk about unprofessionalism perhaps I could point out that you are much too close to Miss Archer." Erik added his two cents as he approached us.

"Keep out of this." Verain said. Erik squared his jaw and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, but I am one that doesn't stand by when a predator is on the prowl. Now please, be off." Erik said quietly. Verain sputtered like an idiot.

"Go on." Erik commanded coolly. Verain pretty much had no choice but to. So he left. I looked at Erik. He smiled softly.

Erik looked wearily at my car. I got in and threw my junk into the back seat Erik opened the car door and sat down, his long legs bumping right up against the dash.

"There's a lever on the side of the seat that'll pull it back." I told him. "And don't forget your seatbelt." I added. He adjusted the seat to his comfort and then strapped in. I started the car and zoomed off. Erik was quiet as he watched the scenery go by.

"What happened to the opera house?" He asked.

"It got rebuilt." I told him."A Phantom of the Opera movie was made there in the 1990s." I said.

"Interesting." Erik replied curtly. I nodded and put my turning signal on.

"How far away do you live?" He asked.

"Just a few miles south. I think I should call my mom." I mumbled the last part to myself.

"Attica or Margie?" Erik asked.

"Attica raised me so she's my mother in my book." I replied. He nodded.

"Attica was pleasant. I liked her well enough but Margie had something else about her. I suppose its the fact that she would have the child that lead to my freedom." He told me. I was reminded of Erik saying something about his behavior when Margie had told him she was with child. Sometimes I wondered what he did. I almost asked on a few occasions. I wasn't sure who to ask though. I felt like if I asked Erik it would cast him head first into a very dark place and I definitely didn't want that. Margie might tell me. I sent Erik a glance from the corner of my eye. He was still watching the world go by. I wondered what we were headed for now that he was out of the hospital.