Hey everyone, here's the next chapter. This might be the last chapter until after the holidays because I'll be too busy to write another one with everything going on. I'm seeing Phantom in Ny on the 30th which is something I'm so excited about! So until after the holidays enjoy this chapter! Thanks and send in your thoughts happy holidays everyone! This is a pretty upsetting chapter but here it is anyway!

Christine wanted to hug him so badly but knew he would push her away.

"I just….I just wanted you to be like everyone else Erik. Everyone has a birthday and I thought that by having dinner with you tonight would be like one without you knowing. It makes me look like a bad wife when I don't do the things you do for me." Christine was literally crying and watched as Erik stood in silence still upset about his key and what she did. Just then the door barged open and one of the guards came rushing in.

"Madam Countess! Come quick there's an emergency!"

Erik turned to the guard and brought out his temper

"Can't you see that we're busy! What ever it is can wait!"

"It's serious Monsieur, there has been a terrible accident down by the woods! Two children were involved!"

"Children?" questioned Christine in horror.

"Yes Madam, a small boy and girl."

Erik and Christine both looked at each other and gasped.

"Clorinda's in her room grounded and Petri is with her." replied Christine.

Erik shook his head and wiped his eyes.

"No….they….they got mad at me and run off. I thought for sure they wouldn't leave the palace……Oh my God what have I done!"

Christine looked at Erik shaking her head in disbelief before the both of them ran out the door with the guard hoping that what ever happened wasn't as bad as it sounded and most of all hoping that they weren't too late!

1 hour Earlier-

After Clorinda left the room her father was in she chased after Petri. She had to speak with him and she couldn't lose him again. As she followed him outside she caught up to him as he kept running farther and farther away from the palace.

"Petri, wait up!"

Petri stopped, and waited for Clorinda to join him at his side. When she was caught up to him once more he began to walk again.

"I won't go to an orphanage Clorinda, I won't go I swear! Your father promised me a family today and I didn't get one. He lied to me and now I know he's going to send me to an orphanage."

"Petri, please I won't let him send you there. Lets just go back to the palace, it's getting dark outside."

"No, I can't go back. Let's run away and make our own country, just you and I."

Clorinda looked back at the palace and then back at Petri. She didn't want to run away but she didn't want to leave Petri either. Petri was her best friend and she couldn't afford to loose him for the second time to nodded and walked on into the woods with him. After a while of walking in the dark, Clorinda began to get cold and scared and couldn't help but begin to want to turn back.

"Petri, come on let's go back." she replied as she placed her hands under her arms.

"Come on Clorinda, we're almost there just past the woods and that's where we'll start our new life. Come on I'll race you."

"Race me?"

"Yes, let us race there and the first one that arrives gets to name our new home. If you don't want to race then I shall have to name our home Petopia."

Clorinda laughed and got into her running position.

"Over your dead body."

Petri got into his position as well and waited until she was ready to start the race.

"Ok first one past the woods wins. One, two, THREE!"

As soon as Petri said the last number, they were off, running through the dark woods not being able to see their own hand in front of their face. Once Petri sped ahead she was left alone in the darkness of the woods not knowing where she was or where she was going. All she knew was that she was to meet Petri at the end of the woods which didn't seem anywhere in sight and even if it was she couldn't see it. Once the trees finally cleared and she was out of the woods she stopped in the darkness to catch her breath knowing that Petri won the race anyway. As she stopped and began to gasp for air the feeling of cold metal clamped around her right foot giving her the fright of her life. As she looked down all she could see was her leg clamped into some kind of steel devise that was indented in the ground. She wasn't sure what it was but no matter as hard as she tried to pull her leg out of it she couldn't. As she looked around she couldn't see her friend Petri anywhere nor could she see anything in front of her face. For a few minutes she just stood there trying to remove her leg from what ever it was clamped in but couldn't. Then seconds later the feeling of vibrations began to shake the ground she was on getting harder and harder as each second past. Seconds later along with the strong vibrations a loud chugging sound began to occur getting louder and louder as well. Clorinda wasn't sure what was going on but then from a far distance she noticed a small white light approaching her and got larger as what ever it was got closer and closer. When the light was close enough to shine on her and the ground she looked down and saw that she was on railroad tracks and that it was a steam engine that was making all the racket and barreling towards her.

"Petri! Petri! Help! Help me!" Clorinda had never yelled so loudly in all her life. She wished she were home, she wished she were with her mother and even her father. She had run away and now she was in danger. Even her own best friend wasn't around to help her. A little ways up the road, Petri ran out of the woods and laughed to himself when he didn't see Clorinda standing there. After circling the ground a few times he laughed out loud.

"Ha Clorinda, now our new home shall be called Petopia! I'm the better runner and now we'll see who's the king of this castle."

After saying those words he waited for Clorinda to come running out behind him, but she never did. He knew that she was slow, but not this slow. It wasn't until he heard the far distant screaming of his name did he realize that Clorinda was in danger. Petri ran through the woods realizing that she went the wrong way and came out the opposite end where the railroad tracks were. When he was there he noticed that her foot was stuck in the tracks and the train was headed right for her.

"Clorinda, don't move!"

Clorinda was in tears as she kept trying to get her leg un caught from the tracks. Petri joined in and tried to remove her leg and watched as the train kept getting closer and closer.

Current time-

Erik ran out to the court yard as fast as he could to meet up with the other guards and jumped onto his horse pulling Christine up afterwards. As his horse galloped through the woods all he could think about was his daughter and what she was doing so far away from the palace. He hoped that where the guards were leading him wasn't to her death place and that what had happened was only minor. He could hear Christine sobbing behind him but he was so angry with her for what she had done to him already that telling her to stop her balling would only make matters worse. When they arrived at the scene Erik's heart was shattered in two. Once he saw the stopped steam engine and the police standing around he immediately jumped off his horse and turned to see Christine as upset as he was.

"Erik…please…" Christine was sobbing so much that she couldn't even get all the words out. Erik didn't want to see his daughter lying on the tracks anymore than Christine but he couldn't let her see it.

"Christine…..just stay here."

After seeing her nod, Erik ran to the where the police were and demanded to know what was going on. The conductor of the train was just as much in tears as anyone else. He approached Erik despite the mask he noticed him wearing and wiped his eyes.

"Monsieur, it's all my fault. I tried to halt the train I swear but I couldn't in time. They were playing on the tracks Monsieur."

"Who? Who was playing on the tracks?" Erik's voice crackled at trying to get the sentence out.

"A girl and a boy. The girl must have gotten caught on the tracks and the boy was pulling her….oh my God Monsieur what have I done? What have I done?"

Erik turned towards the train walking to the front of it where a few guards were standing. He closed his eyes hoping that what was happening wasn't real but of a dream. His daughter had to be dead, she just had to be. Erik looked at one of the guards and tried to hold back his tears.

"Where….where are the victims of this accident?"

The guard handed Erik his lantern and looked away.

"Underneath the train Monsieur. No body has wanted to fetch the bodies out from underneath it."

Erik grabbed the guard by the neck and tore out all his anger.

"They might still be alive! Did you ever think of that! every second wasted standing here is a minute too late!"

After pushing the guard down onto the ground, Erik ripped off the sling to his arm and knelt down with the lantern and held his breath as he looked under the train. His heart ached as he crawled underneath the million pound metal engine wondering if his eyes would be cursed for all eternity at witnessing such a sight. He kept his eyes down on the tracks not wanting to look ahead and as he kept crawling further and further he started to notice blood on the tracks. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks as he began to see parts of Clorinda's dress lying in some of the puddles. He eventually came to her shoe which was also lying in a puddle of blood. He paused and sobbed so hard that he thought his heart was going to be torn from his chest. He now needed to look ahead to see what ever was left of Petri and his beloved child. When he lifted his head and opened his eyes the first sight tore his heart from his chest. There in front of him was the body of Petri mangled up in the pipes of the steam engine. His arm was in bad shape with most of the flesh torn from it but he could still hear him breathing. As Erik got beneath him to try to unhook his arm from the pipe he didn't know how to do it. His arm was so mangled around the pipe that removing it would probably cause his arm to fall off.

"Petri? Petri? Answer me boy."

Erik heard him mummer a half unconscious "Hmm" giving him a sigh of relief but who was to say that after removing him from the train that he would live.

"Ok boy hold on. I'm going to unhook your arm from the train." Erik tried to keep talking so that he could keep himself calm. As he touched the boy's arm, it was as hot as coal and very sticky from all the blood emerging from it. After untwisting his arm from the pipe, Erik set it across Petri's chest and knew that it was surly broken if not having to be amputated later. Where he was lying there was a gap to hand Petri over to a guard so that he could find his daughter next. After handing the boy's body over he quickly got back onto his knees and continued to crawl to find Clorinda's body next. Underneath the train was clear and as Erik kept crawling he wasn't sure what had happened to her body. He then felt something soft from above his head and looked up to see Clorinda's hair hanging down somewhat and knew that her whole body was mangled up in the pipes but couldn't bare to look up at her. He knew that she had to be dead because there was no way she could have lived with being shoved up into the pipes of the steam engine. When Erik finally looked up, the sight nauseated him so much that he literally had to turn away to through up before turning back to her. There was his beautiful little girl shoved up into the pipes mangled like a rag doll and full of blood. Her leg was gushing most of it and her head looked like it had been bashed in with a hammer. He couldn't stop himself from crying as he removed her body from the pipes and held her unconscious body in his arms. She was like a rag doll that had been beaten so badly that she didn't even look like herself any longer.

Erik crawled from beneath the train and kept his daughter held tightly in his arms not letting anyone near her. The only one that could help now was Nadir and as her weak heartbeat moved against her flesh all Erik could think about was how long her and Petri had left? Erik couldn't let Christine see what Clorinda looked like, not now and not with her being upset as she was. He gently handed his daughter to one of the guards and yelled for another one to hurry back to the palace to tell Nadir that they were on their way before jumping back onto his horse with Christine and riding back towards the palace. Christine saw the blood that was all over Erik and knew immediately what the situation was.

"Erik…is she…is he?"

"I can't tell Christine! Just stop making this harder than it already is."

Once they got back to the palace, Erik immediately jumped off his horse and ran in without Christine at his side and rushed to the infirmary. Nadir was there washing his hands with Alex at his side getting ready to see Clorinda and Petri. Erik tried to approach the bed where his daughter was to get a look at her but Alex stopped him.

"No Monsieur Kire, it's best if you go on and wait outside until Nadir comes and tells you other wise."

"No Monsieur Alex I demand that you move aside and let me see my own child!" Erik was furious and demanded to see his own flesh and blood. He did as he was told and stormed down to his music room and began to tear it apart. He slammed his injured arm down on the keys screaming out to the heavens. He was so frustrated with everyone and anything around him that he just didn't care anymore. He then sat down and buried his teary face into his arms. Seconds later he heard the familiar voice of Christine fill the room.

"Angel?"

Erik was so angry with her that all he could think about was wanting to strangle her for what she did. She not only went through his personal belongings but also lost the key to his heart and then celebrated his birthday, something he demanded her not to do. He wanted to trust her but he couldn't, not after what she did to him and all in one day.

"If you know what's best for you Christine, you better walk out of this room and leave this man be."

"Will she be alright Erik? Please tell me that she'll live."

Erik slammed his hands down onto his piano and turned to her filled with such anger.

"What do you care Christine! I'm the one who crawled under that train to save the boy and her! Just leave me be!"

"You know Erik I'm feeling upset too! You're always thinking that you're the only one that's feeling broken hearted when these things happen. She's my daughter too Erik, don't you realize that? She came from me too!"

Erik pushed Christine up against the wall and looked into her eyes.

"It's not bad enough that she looks just like me let alone having me as her father. I walked into her room and let her off your cruel punishment hoping that she would begin to love me like a daughter loves her father but no she runs off with that boy and gets hit by a steam engine. While you're off being Countess all damn day I'm sitting here in this room trying to raise our child. I can't do it alone Christine! Its bad enough that she doesn't respect me let alone loving me. Then you're off in my personal belongings without my permission. I thought I could trust you Christine! I swore I could trust my own wife."

Christine felt the silent tears begin to run down her face and watched Erik turn away and sob. She could feel his pain and knew that she had definitely hurt him this time not knowing if he was ever going to forgive her for this screw up. She had hurt him before but this was beyond like any other time. Seconds later Christine saw Nadir walk into the room looking for the two of them. Erik immediately rushed over to him demanding to know the news on his beloved daughter.

"I would have a seat." replied Nadir as he motioned Erik and Christine to take a seat. They did so at the piano bench and Nadir approached them. His sleeves were covered in so much blood that all she could think about was who did it belong to?

"How's Clorinda?" asked Erik his voice full of sorrow and fear. Nadir put his head down and stood in silence for a few moments before speaking to them.

"Clorinda is not well Monsieur. She is hurt very badly and it will be miracle if she survives the next few days. I am only a doctor not a miracle worker and all I can say is that seeing her this way was the most gruesome sight I have ever witnessed and you both know that I have witnessed a lot."

"What's wrong with her?" asked Christine who was full of tears.

"Well as far as I can make out she was crossing the train tracks and the rail clamped down on her ankle making her unable to get across in time. I know this because her ankle is shattered probably caused by being pulled under by the force of the steam engine. Afterwards she must have grabbed a hold of one of the pipes beneath it and held on as it drug her almost a half of a mile before stopping. She has a few broken ribs and has lost a lot of blood. I would pray for her tonight to let the angels protect her."

"What about Petri?" asked Erik.

"Petri Monsieur is in the same condition as Clorinda. He had the option of getting off the tracks but my guess is that he stayed to help Clorinda. He has a dislocated shoulder, a cut to the fore head and also a few broken ribs and a lot of blood loss. I would pray for him as well. It is a shame Erik because truthfully if the boy makes it he is more than welcomed to be apart of my family. I've grown rather fond of the boy and wouldn't care what anyone thought."

After Nadir left the room, Erik walked down the hall with Christine at his side. He didn't want to look at his beautiful daughter in the condition that she was in, but knew that this could be her last night alive…..he only hoped that time and all hope was on his side.

More to come soon! Like I said before Happy Holidays and I will get back to this as soon as Christmas is over! Please I have not decided how this should go on! I don't know if Clorinda is going to live or die so I need your help! Any ideas or concerns for Clorinda's fate is A MUST! I don't want this to go on dark…..or do I? I need your help on this one! Thanks and hope to be back soon! R&R PLEASE!!!