Hey everyone, good news it's raining outside and can't go to the park so what better way to spend a rainy afternoon then to write another chapter. Here it is, glad you're all enjoying the story. Enjoy and don't forget to R&R if you can….

That night, Erik had decided not to go to the opera. He was still just too angry to confront Christine about anything that had happened over the last few days. Instead, Erik found himself sitting by the fire staring into it's hot flames waiting for Clorinda to return for the night. Every few minutes he would check his pocket watch to see what time it was but as the hours got later Erik found himself beginning to worry about where his daughter was. It was around ten o clock when Erik heard the gates of his lair opening and turned to see Christine returning from the night's opera. He just turned back around and sighed heavily at the sight of his disappointment. Christine on the other hand took off her cloak and approached Erik with such caution.

"Erik?"

"What?"

"Could we talk a minute?"

Erik didn't like the thought of her sitting down next to him to talk so kicked a stool across from him and sat up.

"That is where you shall sit, I shall not have you beside me."

Christine didn't argue because she was already grateful to be having permission to talk to him. She passed his couch and then had a seat on the old mahogany piano stool that he had kicked out for her.

"Erik, I know that what I did was wrong. I should have asked you to the masked ball, and I should have offered you my hand in a dance. Sometimes I can be an uptight snob like Raoul but then again I understand how you feel. You don't have to talk to me if you're still mad but the truth is I'm not happy in our relationship."

Erik angrily crossed his arms and gave Christine the dirtiest look he could make.

"Not happy? You know Christine, you are a very confused woman. Do you know how much I went through to get you as my lover? I risked my life to be with you and now you're telling me that you're not happy? After we conceived a child and….and been through all that we've been through? Of course you're not happy with me, look at what you're sleeping with!"

"No Erik, it's not because of that."

"Really Christine? I treat you and Clorinda like angels and yet I make you unhappy?"

"You haven't asked me what makes me unhappy Erik."

"What Christine! What makes you unhappy?"

"Everything, your temper, your anger towards things, your sense of romance."

"Romance?"

"I hate your ways of romance Erik. What you believe is being a good lover is the complete opposite. You're not the same person anymore and I don't know why you've changed. I like the old Erik, the one who was once my angel of music. That's the man I fell in love with, not this monster that stands before me."

"I'm a monster am I? am I all that bad Christine? Do I not know how to love you anymore? I haven't changed one bit, it is you who has changed. Ever since Clorinda was born and more men have paid attention to you the girl I loved has faded away. You have turned into this mature uptight woman who can't even see what they have in front of their very eyes. There isn't a day when I wouldn't stop breathing for you, and that was once the case with you as well but now I'm not even sure anymore."

"I have nothing to say to you Erik."

"Well I do, I want you to stop and think about something. I have taken you back every time you have done something hurtful to me. That goes for sleeping around, being unfaithful and lying…..you tell me how many men would have taken you back as I have? You tell me Christine….just think about it. If I hate you as much as you say I do then why are you still here?"

"Erik, I could stab you in the heart with one of your organ keys and you would still forgive me the next morning. There is nothing I can do to make you hate me, you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because no one but me would ever look you in the eyes and love you as I do, and you know it."

Erik began to cry, and looked away from what Christine had said to him.

"I don't need you Christine if that's the way you feel about me. All I ever wanted was to have someone to love me for who I am and all you do is break my weak heart."

With that, Christine rose from where she was sitting and began to walk away.

"All that I ever asked of you Christine was to love me. When in all the damn time I've known you have I asked but for anything more? I am a simple man Christine and all that I have ever wanted from you was love."

Christine stopped, and turned to face Erik.

"And after love what shall you want? Another child? Sex? Marriage? You see Erik love is just one thing to start out with, but once you get into love it requests much more from the other person. Love has many things intertwined within it. Love is not just a single thing and you need to learn that."

"So it is my appearance which makes you loath me. To have to kiss my cold, hideous lips in the marriage ceremony, to have to look at my disfigured face while making love to this gruesome body, and to have my disgusting gene within you turning into a child, the devil's child. Why not admit that to my face instead of saying that I have changed Christine?"

"I can't Erik because it's not true."

"How so?"

"We created a beautiful daughter together."

"We got lucky with her, look at her cheek Christine. She has the same scar as me, next time we might not be so lucky."

"Next time?"

"Yes Christine, if that ever happens to you again the child might come out looking as bad as me, or worse."

"No Erik, there won't be a next time."

"No? and why on earth not?"

"Because Clorinda must never know about you and if we did have another child she would know. I'm going to bed now Erik and we will continue this conversation in the morning."

With that, Christine turned around and walked away. A few minutes later, Clorinda came walking into the lair and in the middle of Erik's sorrow.

"Monsieur Kire, what's wrong?"

Erik turned around and violently grabbed Clorinda by the shirt.

"Where the hell have you been!"

"I told you that I had plans today!"

"Yea but not until the crack of dawn Clorinda!"

"You're not my papa! You cant tell me what to do!"

"I might not be your papa but I can bloody well tell you what to do!"

"No you can't, not anymore!"

"What on earth has your mother been saying to you Clorinda?"

"Nothing, now leave me be!"

With that, Clorinda bit Erik's hand causing him to let her go. When she hit the floor, Clorinda ran towards the lake as Erik ran after her.

"Leave me alone Erik!"

Clorinda ran into the murky water, and seconds later was grabbed by Erik.

"You shall never call me by my first name!"

"Leave me alone Erik!"

Erik carried her back to his lair, and through Clorinda in her bed soaking wet. Within minutes, Christine was at their sides due to all the commotion in the lair.

"Erik? Clorinda? What's going on?"

"Erik! he's being mean to me mother!"

Christine immediately grabbed Clorinda by the wrists, and held it tight.

"Now you listen to me young lady! You shall never be disrespectful to Monsieur Kire! And you will never ever call him by name again. He is Monsieur Kire to you and that is what you shall only call him. What on earth has gotten into you Clorinda?"

"He isn't my father, why should he tell me what to do?"

"He is the one in charge when I am not around Clorinda. He is a grown up and treats you just like his own daughter. I think that you owe him a huge apology and I want you to do it now!"

"He is not my father and I will never apologize to that hideous monster! He is not my father and I will no longer listen to him."

"Christine, let her go."

"What?"

"Just…just let her go."

Christine watched Erik turn around and walk away slowly to his bed chambers. With that Christine turned and faced Clorinda and gave her an evil look.

"I will let you off the hook for now Clorinda, but I swear to you that this argument is far from over young lady. You have hurt his heart terribly Clorinda, I mean do you understand how much he loves you?"

"Like you mother? You hurt his heart more than anyone in Paris, you cause him such pain."

"Clorinda I love Monsieur Kire."

"Like you loved my father? You didn't love him mother, you made him go away."

"I did no such thing Clorinda."

Christine let Clorinda go, and pushed her into the pillows on her bed.

"I'm in charge now and what I say goes, and you are not to leave the lair until I say so."

"Well maybe I wont' be here in the morning."

Christine then angrily walked away leaving Clorinda alone. When she got back to Erik's bedchambers, she spotted him standing at the basin of water dipping his hand into it.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm in a lot of pain that's for sure."

Christine approached him and noticed that his a his hand had a red, bloody mark the size of a frank indented in it.

"Oh my god Erik, what happened?"

"Clorinda bit me."

"She bit you?"

"Yes while trying to be set free of my grasp."

"Erik! You should have told me she did that to you, I would have grounded her for the rest of her life."

"It's fine Christine, I'll be ok."

"Well wrap it up in a bandage Erik. I don't want you to get an infection."

"I will, don't worry about it."

"One things for sure Erik, she sure has your temper."

"I don't know what's gotten into her? She told me that she loved me yesterday."

"She what?"

"She said that she loved me. Did you tell her that I have no say in what she does?"

"No why would I? I expect you to be in charge when I'm not around."

"Something just doesn't seem right Christine."

"Look Erik, what did I say to you? I will talk to you in the morning."

Erik lied down and covered himself up with the red covers.

"So be it Christine."

The next morning, Erik awoke and let Christine sleep while he went to the kitchen to make himself some breakfast. As he poured himself a cup of tea he looked over and spotted Clorinda sitting madly on her bed with her arms crossed.

"Keep up that frown Clorinda and one of these days your face is going to stay like that."

"Pipe it ERIK."

"You have a temper just like your father."

"You don't know a bloody thing about my father."

"No you're wrong Clorinda."

"Then you would know that he's alive and not dead."

"That's for sure."

"So you do know that my father is alive."

"Of course I do Clorinda."

"Then why hasn't anyone said so? Why haven't you said so?"

"Because he's a monster that's why."

Clorinda stood up on her bed and shouted at Erik.

"My father is not a monster Erik! don't you talk about him that way."

"I wouldn't step off that bed If I were you young lady."

"Come near me and I'll bite your other hand."

"That temper is going to get you in trouble some day Clorinda."

Once Clorinda had a seat back down on her bed, Erik finished his tea and walked over to his organ and had a seat. Christine then walked over to Erik's organ and leaned against it.

"What are you doing?"

"Working on my opera."

"I have to go and rehearse now Erik so I shall have to talk to you after tonight's opera."

"Christine, after the opera would you come to the roof."

"Why?"

"I have something I want to show you."

"Of course, I shall see you then."

"And please come alone."

"Ok, bye Erik."

When Christine left, Erik got to his feet and walked to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"Making your mother dinner now so leave me be."

"I think I left my violin in the theater, could I go and get it?"

"No Clorinda."

"But what if someone plays it? Come on please?"

"Come right back, you're grounded remember?"

Clorinda got up from her bed, and walked out of the lair silently laughing her way to the hall ways of the opera house. Her lie had fooled Erik and now she was out of his site. Once she got to the hall way, she spotted Colum talking to one of the actors who were getting ready for the nights show. Once he saw Clorinda, he immediately cut his conversation short and approached her.

"Good afternoon Clorinda."

"Hi."

"You sound so depressed, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Please, you can tell me anything Clorinda."

"Well my mother has this friend and he thinks he can boss me around like he's my father or something. My mother yelled at me and told me that he has the right to."

"Who is this friend of your mother's"

"Oh no one really….well he is kind of my mother's lover but not at the moment."

"Really? Because I thought I was."

"What? Really? She's getting back together with you?"

"Calm down there little lady, now I'll tell you what if you can keep a secret I'll let you in on it."

"I promise."

"You swear?"

"I cross my heart."

"Well she is kind of seeing me on the side but with all the men getting in the way it's hard to be the chosen one if you get my drift."

"Well he is trying to make things right with my mother."

"You can't let that happen Clorinda. If that happens then your mother and I will never be together again."

"What should I do?"

"Make that man's life a living hell, show your mother that he's not the one."

"How? She doesn't listen to me."

"Then do what you have to do to show her."

"Ok, I will."

"That's my girl, now run along and do as you're told."

When Clorinda got back down to the lair, she noticed that Erik wasn't around. She walked into the kitchen to see food set out on the counter. Knowing that it was for her mother's dinner for that night, Clorinda began to do as she was told and ruin it. The first thing she did was take the bottle of wine and pull off the cork before pouring the wine down into one of the sewer grates. When she had the empty bottle, Clorinda approached the murky lake and filled it to the brim with the water before resealing the bottle with the cork. She then spotted a fresh apple pie sitting on a plate and decided to ruin that next by covering it in chili pepper.

"Mother is going to love this."

The pie now looked as if it were covered in cinnamon, and Clorinda covered it up with a towel before spotting the last thing she could possibly ruin. There on the counter beside a rose was a letter outlined in the most beautiful red boarder that she had ever seen. She picked it up and read what Erik had written.

"Dearest Christine,

I am dreadfully sorry that our courtship has been in shambles these last few days. I admit that my temper does seem to be a bit dreadful from time to time but believe me when I say that I have been trying to control it these past few weeks. Being without you is like

Being without my music, it just couldn't be done. Without my music I would surly go insane and want to kill the whole city of Paris with my bare hands. Without you in my life things just don't seem right enough to go on living. I miss having you lying beside me at night with your arms wrapped around me. I also miss those nights when our kisses seemed to never stop until dawn. I try my hardest to be a gentleman around you but because of my hate for mankind and my childhood it seems to get harder every day. All I ask is for your love and forgiveness and to please love me again. The first night I spoke to you it gave me shivers down my hideous spine and now every time you speak to me I feel the same way. I love you always and forever….

Your obedient servant and angel

ERIK KIRE"

"Eww, now that has to definitely be changed."

With that, Clorinda took one of Erik's pens and began to write her own version of the letter before placing it into the basket with the pie and wine. Just then, Clorinda heard the gates of the lair opening once more and ran to her bed. She then spotted Erik walking back into the kitchen.

"Did you get your violin?"

"Yea Monsieur Ryer had it."

"Good, now don't move from that spot until your mother gets back."

"Where did you go?"

"To the roof to set things up for tonight."

With that, Erik picked up the basket and rose before heading out of the lair.

"Good luck Monsieur Kire."

"Thank you."

As Erik set up on the roof, he could hear Christine singing from the theater. God how she could sing and bring a whole audience to tears. Erik had placed a few blankets and pillows down on the roof to sit on, and placed the basket of food beside it. He then got up in front of the pillows and rehearsed what he was going to say to Christine.

"Now Christine I know that you're still mad at me but just please……no that won't work."

Erik paced a few seconds trying to think of something better to say.

"Now Christine, I understand I have a bad temper but what can I say? I hate the world…..no that's no good either…….Christine, you sang wonderfully tonight. That's it, that's what I'll say….Christine, you sang like and angel tonight."

"Really?"

Erik turned around, and was surprised to see Christine standing there in her red cloak.

"Christine,…..I …..I wasn't expecting you so….so early in the evening."

'The opera was sort of short tonight, only one act instead of two."

"Sorry, I didn't mean it in a bad way."

"Why did you want me to come up here?"

"To talk of course, have a seat."

Erik gestured her to have a seat on the pillows, and when she sat, he did the same.

"This is nice, it's been a long time since we sat up here in the winter's cold."

Erik wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and smiled at her.

"Yes I know it has been a long time."

"So get talking."

Erik reached over for the basket, and took out the bottle of wine.

"Would you like a glass of wine?"

"I am a little thirsty."

Erik took a wine glass from the basket and poured the liquid into it. Once he handed it to Christine, she placed the glass to her lips and took a sip. Seconds later, she leaned over and spitted out the murky liquid that was sipped into her mouth.

"Something wrong?"

Christine immediately handed the glass to Erik, and shook her head.

"That tastes horrible Erik, it's like……it's like sewer water."

"Really? it's a brand new bottle."

Erik took a sip, and found himself spitting it out too.

"You're not kidding, I'm terribly sorry, I must have picked up a bad bottle from the cellar."

"it's fine."

Erik placed the bottle and glass down beside him, and took out the pie.

"Would you like a piece? It's freshly baked by Monsieur Alex."

"Sure."

Erik cut her a piece and handed it to her.

"What kind is it?"

"It looks like apple with cinnamon on top."

Christine nodded, and bit into the pie, only to also spit it out.

"What? What's wrong?"

"It's hot….my tongue is burning so badly."

"What?"

"You heard me ERIK!"

Erik took away the pie as Christine kept spitting out what ever was in her mouth.

"I…I just don't understand."

"Get to the point Erik, why did you bring me here tonight?"

"Ok, the reason I brought you here was because of this…."

Erik then handed her the rose and letter. Christine held the rose in her hand and smiled at it's beauty. She then unfolded the letter, and began to silently read it. Erik took a deep breath and waited for the kisses that were surly to come but ones hopes and dreams were shattered in seconds when Christine through down the letter and slapped him right across the face. All Erik could do was touch his cheek and wonder what was going on.

"SO DO YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY!"

"Wh…what?"

"You made me look like a fool Erik! You're lucky we're not in public Erik! I came up here thinking that you were going to do some good and instead I got the shaft of humiliation! I get it now, the swamp water wine, the chili pepper pie, and now the letter…..its all to get back at me for yelling at you last night. You are nothing but the biggest monster of them all!"

Christine got to her feet, and stormed away as Erik tried to figure out what happened. His letter was surly meant to bring love not war and so was the dinner. Once the pain in his disfigured flesh subsided, he picked up the letter and read it.

"Christine,

I am not sorry that our courtship has been in shambles these last few days. I do not think that my temper is dreadful from time to time but don't believe me when I say that I have been trying to control it these past few weeks. Being with you is like being without my music, it just couldn't be done. With you in my life I would surly go insane and want to kill the whole city of Paris with my bare hands. With you in my life things just don't seem right enough to go on living. I don't miss having you lying beside me at night with your scrawny arms wrapped around me. I also loath those nights when our kisses seemed to never stop until dawn. I stopped trying my hardest to be a gentleman around you because of my hate for mankind and my childhood. Just the thought of being with you seems to get harder every day. I'm finished asking you for your love and forgiveness and please stop trying to love me again. The first night I spoke to you made my skin crawl and now every time you speak to me I feel the same way. You disgust me always and forever….

Your loather

ERIK KIRE"

"This isn't what I had written….how in the world….??"

Erik thought a few moments and then figured it out…

"Clorinda! But…why?"

Erik just couldn't figure out why on earth Clorinda of all people would want to cause him and Christine a sea of problems…..he didn't know but he was surly going to find out.

MORE TO COME SOON!