Hey everyone, thanks for the reviews….here's the next chapter, enjoy!! Happy Halloween!! Only 43 more days until I see Phantom of the Opera in Ny!! I'm sooo excited. Anyway…..

Another night of sleep was lost, as Erik stayed up and watched over Christine all night long. It's not that he didn't want to sleep, it was just that being in a strange place made him concerned about their safety. When the sun began to shine in through the round glassed window, Erik rose from his spot on the windowsill, and walked over to the bed and lied down beside Christine. Just as he was about to close his eyes, Clorinda came and jumped on him.

"Good morning Monsieur Kire."

"Same to you."

"Are you up?"

Erik sighed, and rose to his feet once more and nodded. He was so tired, and if not for the mask being over his face the dark circles that were under his eyes would have been visible.

"Monsieur Kire, I'm really hungry."

After straightening his jacket, Erik scooped Clorinda up in his arms playfully and walked towards the door.

"Then I suggest that we get something to eat then."

After leaving the room, he walked down the dim lit stairs to get find everyone else. Even though the sun was shining outside, it only dimmed the inside of the building they were in because of the limited spaces for light to shine through. After walking the hall for a few minutes, Erik began to hear the familiar sound of Meg's voice. As he stepped down a few more flights of stairs, he came to a large room that had a long mahogany table set up in it with everyone sitting around it. There was food placed on the table and everyone had already started devouring it as if they hadn't eaten in days, which was probably true. Everyone stopped eating once they noticed Erik entering the room with Clorinda and waited for them to approach the table. Madam Giry on the other hand stood up and lifted Clorinda out of his arms and sat her down next to Petri who was eating a helping of scrambled eggs. Meg quickly ran to Erik and hugged him as if he were back from the dead.

"Oh Erik! I'm so happy to see you. How is Christine? Mother told me what happened to her."

"She'll be ok I hope."

"Give her my love Erik."

"I will Meg."

After Meg had sat back down, Madam Giry pulled Erik aside so they could be alone and looked up at him.

"Something wrong Madam?"

"You can't hide those dark circles under your mask Erik. Why haven't you been sleeping?"

"Everything with Christine has been depriving me of even my usual four hours of rest. I haven't slept well in weeks and my body is beginning to feel it."

"You should eat something, you look malnourished."

"Where did you get the food from?"

"Alex brought it over this morning, now please I insist that you go get something to eat."

Erik looked at the table of food and didn't even have the energy to make himself a plate. Instead he placed a few pieces of toast on a napkin and approached Madam Giry once more.

"Madam, could I ask a favor of you?"

"Yes, anything."

"Could you watch Clorinda for a few hours so that I can catch up on my rest without any interruptions? All I need is about four hours, I promise."

"Erik take five, hell take seven for all I care. It's no problem watching Clorinda, go ahead and when you feel better I want to show you something that I think you'll like."

After nodding, Erik walked back out into the hallway and up the many flights of stairs to get back to the attic. Once he arrived, he noticed that Christine was still sleeping which gave him a feeling of relief. It would be better if she awoke with him around rather than when he stepped out for a few minutes. After setting the napkin that was wrapped around the toast down on the night table, Erik began to get undressed. He first discarded his jacket and then his shoes before removing his wig and mask. He hadn't washed himself in days, and he was beginning to be able to tell. He was so tired but he couldn't take the sight of his dirty flesh or the smell of it any longer and pushed himself to get a bath before jumping into bed. What kept Erik going was himself repeating that it would only be five more minutes until he could close his eyes. Across the attic bedroom was an old metal tub large enough to bath in. After filling it up to the brim with hot water, Erik undressed and slid himself into it, sighing at the wonderful feeling. He hadn't felt so relaxed in days and couldn't help but just lie there for a few minutes before beginning to bath himself. After washing every inch of his body he took the wash cloth and dabbed it over his distorted flesh ever so gently. He missed the feeling of Christine's touch on his face as she would wash him. All he longed for was her kisses and sweet way of certain things. After drying off with a towel, Erik slipped on a pair of clean loose trousers and a night shirt before finally slipping under the sheets of the bed. Christine was lying silently beside him, making it seem as if she had just fallen asleep. After wrapping his arms around her, Erik closed his tired eyes and finally fell into a dreamless slumber without any interruptions.

Erik didn't know how long he had been in a deep sleep but when he awoke, it was because of a loud gasp. After opening his eyes, Erik realized that the gasp came from Christine because she was now lying awake beside him. He removed his warm hand from beneath the warm blankets and cupped her cheek.

"I'm sorry that I gasped at you Erik, it's just that I wasn't expecting you to be……"

"Shh…it's ok, save your strength."

Erik had cut her off before she could even finish her sentence. He was used to her gasping at the sight of him, and didn't care to hear her apology.

"Your hands are so warm, they feel nice against my skin."

He was glad to hear something such as that come from her mouth. His hands were always as cold as death, but from being underneath the warmth of the blankets, the heat warmed them up enough to feel amazing against her pale skin.

"Where are we Erik?"

"In a safe place until this war ends. Alex led us here and Nadir has taken the liberty of caring for you. Everyone else such as Meg and Madam Giry are here as well."

"Why? How could they be here too?"

"Andre, he got hurt when the Belgian soldiers invaded the opera house and so Alex joined the French army and led everyone here to this building to wait it out. All that matters is that we're here together and safe from any dangers."

"I miss him Erik."

"Who?"

"My son, our son. Why did he have to die Erik? Why? Why did God do this to us?"

Christine was literally in tears, and Erik knew that if he didn't calm her down she would grow more ill than she was now.

"Christine, please don't speak of such things. If it is any one's fault, it's mine. If I hadn't made you run then your water wouldn't have broken and you would still be pregnant. Erik, it was Erik who has done this to you and for it I want you to punish me, punish me for my sins, punish me for bringing his angel such pain."

Now Erik was in complete heartache, how could he have been so dumb? Dumb enough to make her run and cause his angel such pain? Cause her to give birth months before she was due? Force her to give birth to a monstrous child that looked like him? He could never look at himself of his beloved Christine ever again. Christine wiped her eyes and snuggled up against his collar bone.

"No angel, I could never punish you. It wasn't your fault, you were just thinking about my safety, how could you blame yourself for this and then to want me to punish you."

"I do Christine, Erik wants you to punish him. Punish him so that he learns his lesson and never does this to you ever again. Erik wants you to punish him for the rest of his life."

"How could I ever do such a thing? How Erik?"

"Banish me from my rights as your mate Christine. I want you to promise to never ever let me get intimate with a woman ever again. Deprive Erik of the joys of the flesh, the one thing he loves most and deny all intimacy so that he is summoned to walk the rest of his life without any pleasure from a woman."

"Why would I do that to you Erik? I love making love to you and it's not as if we couldn't try for another child."

Hearing this angered Erik to no end. He immediately grabbed both her arms and pinned them over her head on the pillow. They were now face to face with Erik lying on top of her with his angry expression staring down at her.

"Erik? What's wrong?"

"Don't you ever speak of such a thing Christine! Never! Ever!"

"You're hurting me Erik."

"I refuse to let you go until you promise me one thing."

"And what's that?"

"That you will never ever let me do that to you again! I could have lost you in the woods Christine. You lost so much blood that you could have died from birthing my hideous seed. I never want to loose you, ever! We have Clorinda and that is all we need."

"You can hold my hands over my head until they turn black and fall off, but I will not lie to you and tell you that it will never ever happen. It's God's will, not mine and if he decides to ever let it happen again then it's because he wanted it to happen."

Erik sighed, and lied down beside her. How could he have hurt his Christine and in this condition? He was such a sorry excuse for a lover.

"Maybe you would have been better off with Raoul. At least he could have given you beautiful children. What does my hideous seed have to offer you? Ugly children and a life of pain and sorrow."

Christine buried her face deeper and deeper into Erik's chest as she tried to stop crying.

"No Erik, don't you ever say that! Raoul might have been handsome, but he abused me! You would kill yourself before you would harm me in anyway. I love you and nothing can ever change that about me. Even if Raoul had ten brothers and everyone of them came knocking on my door with a ring, by night fall I would still be standing by your side. I love you and only you and nothing can ever change that feeling inside me."

Erik rose to his feet, and began to get dressed in his suit as Christine still lied in bed.

"What are you doing?"

After adjusting his jacket, Erik braced his hands on the windowsill and didn't dare to look at her.

"There is some dried toast on the night table if you're hungry. Madam Giry wanted to show me something so I shall return later."

Before Christine could even refuse Erik to leave, he was out the door. She had broken his heart once more, and now she wondered if he would even return later as he said he would. After unwrapping the toast from the napkin, she took a few bites before lying back down, awaiting Erik's arrival. After walking down the flight of stairs, he once again found himself in the large room where everyone was. He saw that Clorinda was playing some sort of silly game with Petri as Kasdon and his wife were talking to Curtis. On the other side of the room was Meg and her husband along with Madam Giry. Once she saw him enter, she approached him and led him out the door.

"You look well rested, even though you've only been gone four hours."

"I'm feeling a bit better Madam. I actually took the liberty of getting a bath and catching up on some of my rest."

"How is Christine doing?"

"She seems a bit better, she's awake and talking now."

"Oh well I won't intrude on her today of she just woke up but I will try to drop by and see her tomorrow sometime."

"Yes, maybe if you brought Meg along that would cheer her up as well."

"Yes perhaps I shall."

Madam Giry led Erik down a very long hallway, as they continued to talk about their business.

"You know Erik Clorinda's friend is sleeping in the bunk beds down below your room. If you'd like she could spend the nights with him so that you and Christine have some privacy."

"I don't believe I should be needing any more of that Madam."

"And why not? Something wrong?"

"No, I have just decided to deprive myself of any kind of intimacy for the remainder of my life."

"Why Erik? You've waited your whole life for that one person who could make love to you out of compassion and now that you finally have it you're going to give it up?"

"I cause too much pain to Christine and I hate seeing her all heart broken because of me."

"It's your life Erik, just remember that love is something that comes with it's good days and it's bad ones. Depriving yourself of intimacy isn't the solution, but the problem. Remember it's not just you who will suffer if you take away that pleasure."

Erik didn't say another word, he knew that Madam Giry was right. Christine admitted that making love to him was something that she enjoyed and taking that away was only going to torture the both of them. Madam Giry finally opened a rusty old door, and took Erik by the arm and led him in. The room was dark, and only visible when she had lit a candle.

"What is this place Madam?"

"Why don't you go see for yourself?"

Erik took the candle from Madam Giry and walked around the area. It took him a few moments to realize that he was standing on a stage that was in need of repair because of it's tarnished wood floor and it's torn curtains. He shined the candle light off the stage and into the seating area to notice that it's seats were also either missing or broken.

"What is this place Madam?"

"I asked Alex this morning before I discovered this place. It's the Italian Metropolitan Opera. The building that we're in is part of the old opera house. Interesting isn't it? I thought you would be interested in seeing what an old Opera house in Italy would look like."

"Why close down such beauty?"

Erik found himself running his hands over the once beautiful wall paper that draped the walls of the theater area.

"Who knows, some probably saw this as nothing more than a disaster waiting to happen."

"True, but I see potential. What is one man's garbage is another man's art and by the other man I mean me."

"Good luck on that Erik. This place looks as if it hadn't had an audience since Cesar stepped through here."

"True Madam, but my hands work miracles."

Erik then blew out the candle, and handed it back to Madam Giry.

"It might be best for Christine's sake if my daughter spent her nights with Petri. I shall see you in the morning then."

With that, Erik walked back through the halls to get to Andre's room to see how he was doing. Once he entered the room, he noticed that Nadir was giving him some medication.

"Not interrupting am I Monsieur Nadir?"

"No Erik, just giving Andre his meds. He's all yours now my boy."

After Nadir finished, Erik approached Andre's bedside and looked down upon him. He was paler than usual and looked very ill.

"How are you feeling Monsieur Andre?"

"As if someone had stabbed me."

"Well sadly they did."

"I'll live, so what can I help you with partner? That is if you are still my partner?"

"Yes of course, why wouldn't I be? That is if the opera house is still standing."

"Probably not, I'm most likely ruined Monsieur Kire."

"I have another idea. What would you say if I wanted to turn this building into an opera house? I may have been running a freak show for some time, but I'm better at running and opera hour more than anything and you know it."

"I'd say you were nuts. My good man do you realize how much money it would cost to refurbish this place back to it's normal appearance?"

"Yes I know, but there would be millions who would love to come see the operas. I can do this Andre, I just need you to finally let me have some of my fair share so I can get to work on it. We made thousands back at the one in Paris and now I want us to put some of the money back into building this one. Just trust me on this Andre."

"On one condition?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sick and tired of performing terrible frank ally operas. I want you to write them all and have Christine be the Diva."

"I'll have to talk to Christine, she's been through a lot in the last few weeks, but I assure you that she'll come through."

"Excellent, then I agree."

After being successful in getting Andre to accept his idea, Erik walked back to the main room to grab himself a bottle of wine to celebrate with Christine. Dinner was out, and Erik couldn't help but to load a plate up with some bread, crackers, cheese, and sausage before walking back to his room. Once he was there, Christine was not in bed, but combing her hair in front of a mirror. She had changed into a clean night gown, and probably took a bath as well. As soon as she seen Erik, she walked back over to the bed and lied down in it. She knew it would anger him to see her out of bed in her condition.

"Did you get a bath?"

"Yes, it was something well needed."

"Yes indeed, I felt the same way about myself."

"What do you have?"

"Just some wine and something to eat."

Erik sat down on the bed with Christine, and opened the bottle of 1863 Red Bevier Dubont and inhaled it's strong smell.

"We don't have any glasses so we'll just have to swig from the bottle."

"Why the wine? Anything special?"

Erik couldn't let Christine know about the opera, not now anyway with what she's been through and all.

"No, just trying to get nourished again is all."

After handing the bottle to Christine to take the first sip, Erik devoured a cracker that he loaded with some cheese and a small piece of the sausage. After watching Christine take a long sip of the wine, he took it away from her and was about to take a sip himself when she stopped him.

"No, don't do that."

"Pardon me?"

"Taste is from me first."

"What? How?"

Before he could even react, Christine pushed herself up against him and brushed her wine soaked lips up against his. He didn't kiss her back, and instead backed away before even kissing her.

"Erik, what's wrong?"

"I don't think that's a good idea. All I want to do is eat something and catch up on my rest."

"Erik, you act as if loosing this child was just hard on you. It's not Erik, don't you think I'm upset about it too?"

"It isn't about loosing the child Christine."

"Then what is it? I don't want you punishing yourself over this Erik! I don't want you holding back your sexual needs over something that's not even your fault."

"NEEDS? Let me tell you something about NEEDS Christine. I have never NEEDED pleasure from a woman. My whole life I walked this earth not NEEDING any of that. When I met you I was happy that I got to take part in something as desirable as intimacy. I might desire it, but I never NEED it and I wish you would understand that. So if you think that I NEED a woman to pleasure me you have it all wrong. I would rather go back to relieving myself if that meant never causing you such pain ever again, I have no problem with doing such a thing to myself. Before I met you, that's as far as I ever came to pleasure and going back to that wouldn't be a problem to me."

Christine was sick, but she knew that Erik needed compassion and comfort. After taking another swig of the wine bottle, Christine coaxed Erik into lying back on the pillows as she lied beside him. She then brushed her lips up against his and this time, Erik didn't back away. He began to taste the wine that was stained into her lips, and slipped his tongue into her cool mouth tasting the wine even more. Every part of Erik's body began to scream as he heard Christine moan. That sound never got old, and filled Erik's ears with the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. How badly he wanted to stop but Erik's body wouldn't let him. The more and more Christine moaned, the more the blood rushed into Erik's trousers forming a painful erection that just lusted to be dealt with. Once he realized what his body was doing to him, Erik broke away and scrambled to his feet. He didn't dare look back at Christine who looked as if he pulled out of making love just as it began. Instead, Erik sat down at the piano that was across the room, and pounded it's keys with his slender fingers. Usually by concentrating on his music his lust for sex had always drifted away along with the erection, but not tonight. The more and more he pounded on the keys, the harder it was to concentrate on anything but the uncomfortable pain in his trousers. Ignoring everything else, he began to pound harder, waiting for it to go away but it never did. He had never experienced this before, usually by the second verse of Don Juan Triumphant his urges were all gone, leaving him just the lust for more music. No, tonight he couldn't even get through Beethoven's 9th symphony without stopping to shut his eyes because of the throbbing he felt within his trousers. He stopped, and sat there thinking about what to do. He couldn't pleasure himself with Christine being around and all and he sure couldn't make love to Christine. Erik began to realize that he could embarrass himself in front of her which wasn't an option or to bite the bullet and tend to his duties as her lover. Before he could even make the choice, Christine approached him, and made it for him by gently pulling him back over to the bed.

The room was in complete darkness now, and all Erik could feel was Christine easily undressing him. She had chosen the mask to be the first piece of clothing to discard, why? He hadn't known. Sometimes he thought that maybe she just liked to see who she was making love to. As he felt his trousers coming loose, he had begun to wish that he'd wore a cummerbund it would have longed the process of undressing a little longer. Since his injury, Erik still hadn't been able to cope with the pain and place himself in one. He knew his trousers were completely off him when he felt the cool air of the room hit his thighs. He had always liked making love in the dark better than with the light on because the thought of her staring at him made Erik nervous. It was better when she couldn't see anything rather than to see everything. Once he felt her begin to touch him, Erik couldn't hold back from lavishing her neck with feverish kisses that trailed all the way to her chest. It wasn't that he didn't like making love to Christine, it was always the ending that bothered him. The thought of getting her pregnant with his monstrous gene and causing her such agony.

"Oh Erik,"

Those two words were enough to send him over the edge and lust for her even more. She would not be controlling him tonight as she did on other nights where they would make love. No, tonight he was going to make sure that he took extra precaution in making sure to cause her no heartache. Like the animal that he was, Erik rolled her over, and lied on her as he held her arms gently above her head. He then began to thrust into her to fulfill his lust for his angel of music's body. As he thrusted, Erik continued the kisses all throughout her neck as she moaned in his ear. The sound alone was enough to keep him turned as he kept kissing her. It was as if she were singing for him, singing a beautiful symphony for his ears and his ears alone.

"Sing for me my angel of music." moaned Erik as he kept thrusting.

As the moaning continued, Erik couldn't help but thrust faster and moan himself. He had to admit that pleasuring himself didn't feel anywhere as good as making love to Christine but the part he hated about it was getting closer. He had felt Christine finish just seconds ago, which meant that he wasn't far behind. He could feel it getting closer and closer and he kept thrusting himself deeper into his angel. He didn't want to stop because that always pained him, and he didn't want to finish within her because that always ended in some sort of heartache.

"Oh Christine." was the song that Erik sang in Christine's ear as he kept making love to her. As he felt himself about to finish, he tried to pull away, but didn't work. The feeling from deep within his angel of music was so amazing that his body couldn't even pull away before giving out his final thrust. As Erik realized what he had done, he let silent tears run down his cheek as he lied his head down on Christine's shoulder. He felt so wrong, so disgusting because he couldn't even do something as simple as pulling out in time. As Erik fell asleep that night, the words that Christine had said to him after finishing haunted his brain with such happiness but also with such heartache. She had wiped his tears away and whispered in his ear.

"Don't cry my angel, you were breathtaking."

MORE TO COME SOON PLEASE R&R