A/N: Thanks to my beta, Olethros.

Erik: the Vampire Hunter - The Continuing Adventures

Episode 8

By: Elektra

Gather to me…

Its head shot up as It heard the voice of a master long thought gone. Others took notice of It, tossing their meals to the ground, thick red liquid staining the grass beneath them.

They knew where to go. They know whom to go to. But their leader was not alone. There was another with him. Another that took over when he slept. And this other was weak. This other cared about the lesser beings, had even made friends.

Their master wanted this other gone. Wanted full control of the body he inhabited. Or if not this body, then another. One close to him.

They would help him. Just as they always did.

Barton Rd. and Brightman Ave - night

Christine hugged Erik's arm as she kicked at the remnants of the season's first snowfall. "This is nice," she said. "You and me, walking down the street, catching snowflakes."

"You are the one catching snowflakes, not I," Erik pointed out.

"Grumpy…" she muttered.

Erik scratched between the fleece cat ears on her head, the silly hat keeping her dry from the light dusting of snow, "Yes, I am. Always. This is nothing new."

Christine suddenly stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Anything I can do to make you NOT grumpy?" she pouted.

Erik's eyes darted around beneath his white mask. He tugged his fedora low before gently dragging Christine into a darkened alleyway.

"Erik? What are you-" she stopped as he took her chin in his hand, tilting her head up before leaning down to kiss her.

He licked his lips as he pulled away, "Perhaps that will help."

"Well, let's just make sure," Christine insisted, reaching up once more. Erik suddenly twisted to the left, denying Christine contact. "Wha…?"

"Pardon me, Christine…" Erik reached into his duster, body tensed and ready for attack.

He didn't have to wait long.

Palming a stake in his gloved hand, Erik easily sidestepped his quarry as It bolted out of its hiding place. The creature aimed a fist at Erik's head, but the Hunter blocked the shot and countered with right backhand to the jaw before his left fist connected with the creature's throat. He then slammed It against the brick wall, only a few feet from Christine.

"I suggest you move, beloved," he warned the petite girl. She quickly did so. The stake was plunged into the creature's chest before It could retaliate.

Erik stepped away from the wall and brushed the dust off his clothing. "Well now, that was interesting…" he held his hand out to Christine. She took it without hesitation.

Ignoring the scent of fresh grave dust that now covered his clothes, Christine hugged herself against his side. "They haven't been around for a long time."

"They've been around," Erik answered as they headed out into dimly lit street once again. "I am not always in the basement when you find our bed empty." Christine could see him furrow his brow beneath the soft cotton, "I do have the feeling this one singled me out though."

"Why?"

"I could not tell you. Any reason for them to come after me is long dead and buried,"

Daaé–Garner Residence

Loki stared at the feline in front of him sitting on the couch. The trickster crouched before it. He narrowed his eyes. The feline did the same.

Or rather, it narrowed ONE eye, as the other seemed to be milky-white.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" Loki demanded, but received a bored yawn in response.

Loki suddenly jumped at the sound of the front door opening. He turned to greet the owners of the house, who seemed less than happy to see him.

Before he could even speak, the trickster found a strong, gloved hand around his throat, "What are you doing in MY house?" Erik hissed.

"I just thought…" Loki coughed, "I thought… you… you'd like to know… Orpheus is acting oddly."

Erik narrowed his eyes and let go of Loki's neck, "What do you mean, oddly?"

"He came to the Populaire late tonight," Loki explained. "He started wandering around. Made the cleaning crew wonder what was up."

Erik studied the creature before him, "Do you LIVE there?"

Loki raised an eyebrow, "I wouldn't talk if I were you, Opera Ghost!" He then glanced back at the feline on the couch, "This thing has been staring at me since I got here, by the way."

Christine tapped her thigh, "Odin, c'mere sweetie…"

"ODIN?" Loki sputtered. "You did NOT name a feline after my great lord!"

"I did," Erik responded as Odin ran to Christine. "I thought it was rather fitting,"

Christine lifted the cat into her arms, nuzzling her face in his fur, "Aww, I know. You don't like the scary man with the bright red hair…" she cooed.

"No one appreciates me," Loki sniffed. "I don't know why I bother with you mortals."

Christine looked back at him, "Sorry, Loki. So you say Oren-er-Orpheus is acting funny?"

"Yes!" Loki replied, happy to have an audience once more. "And I'm sensing something different about him as well. Like Orpheus is only partly there."

"Meaning?" Erik asked.

"Meaning that there's something else going on. I don't know what, though." He sat down on the couch and made himself comfortable.

"I do not recall inviting you stay," Erik frowned.

Loki looked up at him, "You expect me to go back to the theatre? With THEM?"

"Them?" Christine asked, then glanced at Erik worriedly.

"Yes, there are dead things wandering around there too! But they look alive," he shrugged, "More alive than your lover, at least,"

"You are not staying here!" Erik snapped.

"Well…" Christine nibbled her lower lip, "If he stays downstairs or something…"

Erik turned back to Christine and pulled her aside. She put Odin down and followed him. Erik's voice dropped to a whisper, "It is enough that you worry the ones outside will see us when we are intimate. I will not have HIM invading our privacy as well!"

"Only until we can figure out why those things are back," Christine offered.

"Who knows how long that will be!" he frowned, "I cannot take another however many weeks without-" he stopped when he noticed Loki creeping closer, listening in on their conversation.

"What?" Loki asked innocently when Erik caught him.

Erik looked back at his fiancée, "This will not work,"

Christine let out a deep breath and addressed their visitor, "I'm sorry, but Erik's right. You can't stay here. We have enough problems with our privacy as it is,"

Loki seemed disappointed. "Very well. I will leave you alone."

Before Christine could apologize, he disappeared.

"Good riddance," Erik muttered as he headed upstairs.

"I don't know if I'd want to go back to the theatre either," Christine started as she followed him. "I mean, if what Loki said is true and there are vamps hanging out…"

"I will be there every night protecting you," he offered as he led her into their room.

Christine nodded. "Do you think Loki will actually stay away?"

"If we're lucky," Erik replied as he stripped down a few feet away. Christine could not help but watch him, her eyes following the trail of darkened scars as they made their way over his lovely backside.

Keeping his back to her, Erik slid off his mask and let it flutter to the floor, "Erik is yours to do with as you wish, Christine. No need to simply stare."

She smiled, "Well, in that case…" she started to make her way over to him when a voice froze her in her tracks.

"Oh, one more thing!"

Erik suddenly made a beeline for the fiery haired man who had just appeared in their bedroom, pinning him to the wall by the throat.

"Ms. Daaé! HELP!" Loki coughed out desperately, "There's a naked corpse trying to kill me!" He then glanced over at her, "Though I think I finally figured out why you stay with him…"

Erik threw Loki halfway across the room and tugged on his sleep shorts.

Christine crossed her arms and frowned, understanding why Erik didn't want the troublesome god around (and grateful he had not interrupted a few minutes later). "What are you doing here? Again?"

"Orpheus was calling your lover's name!" Loki replied quickly, massaging his sore neck,

"If he has an issue with me, then I shall deal with it accordingly," Erik replied.

Loki shuddered, "I do not think I want to be Orpheus…"

The Populaire – the next day

Romeo and Juliet had finished its run, and now the company was preparing for a holiday performance of The Magic Flute. Christine was sitting in one of the theatre seats, going over the role of Pamina, when Oren – assigned to play Tamino – came upon her.

"This looks like it could be quite a fun performance," he said as he sat beside her.

Christine glanced up at him with a smile, then turned back to the score, "Well, a lot less depressing than the last one, that's for sure,"

He watched her for a few moments, then finally spoke, "Ms. Christine, it seems you and I continue to be playing the romantic leads of these operas."

"Well, a lot of operas have a soprano and tenor as the leads, so…" she shrugged.

"Is your fiancé not a tenor as well?" he asked.

"Erik is everything," Christine replied proudly. "The entire spectrum."

"That is… incredible…" Oren replied awed.

"Erik is an incredible guy," she smiled.

"Why do the managers not hire him then?" he asked.

"Erik doesn't like making a spectacle of himself," she stopped, "Well… the CAM incident not withstanding."

"That is not the only reason though, is it?" Oren asked, though Christine could tell he already knew the answer. He leaned forward, his voice suddenly deeper and darker. "I know what he is hiding,"

It was a voice Christine found strange, yet familiar. She didn't like it.

"I do not understand how a beautiful woman like you can stand to have him in your bed!"

Christine's eyes went wide, hugging herself as goose-bumps prickled up and down her arms. "What place do YOU have to say that?"

Oren blinked a few times, as if his words surprised even himself, "I… I have no place," he glanced away, noticeably perplexed, "Forgive me, Ms. Christine. I do not know why…"

Christine recalled Loki's words the other night – that Oren was acting odd. This was certainly odd.

"I had a sudden image of him," Oren tried to explain, "A frightening image of what he hides beneath his mask. Please, Ms. Christine, tell me I am wrong. Tell me his face is not pale skin stretched over skeletal bones. Tell me you cannot see the trail of blue veins, that his nose is not merely a ragged hole." He suddenly grasped her hand, "Tell me he does not look like Death incarnate!"

Christine opened her mouth to protest, then closed it again. She could not tell Oren what he wanted to hear when he already knew the truth.

With a deep breath, she glanced away, "Erik is… different," she said softly. "I'm not going to lie. He looks like that." She shook her head, "But how do you even know? You've never seen him without his mask!"

He pulled his hands back and tangled them in his gold and black hair, "I do not know!" He cried out, "I do not know why I see this!"

"But, you're a seer, aren't you?" Christine asked. "That's what all the books say, anyway."

Oren looked nervous, "Wha-what are you talking about?"

"I know who you are, Orpheus," Christine said quietly, to prevent from being overheard, "We figured it out. I don't know why Martine woke you, but you've woken up others too."

He saw no reason to lie to her any longer, "I know Anansi was woken. He came to thank me for it," he smiled, "He missed his wife." He then looked back at Christine, "Just as I miss mine…"

"I'm not Eurydice," she said quickly, "So you just get that notion out of your head!"

"But-"

"NO, Oren. I'm Christine Daaé. I was born twenty-two years ago. That's it. No reincarnation, or awakening, or whatever." She then met his eyes, "And I'm going to be Erik's wife."

"Are you going to have lovely little corpse children too?" he asked coldly.

"Oren!" Christine gasped, and for a moment, she could have sworn she saw his eyes flash gold.

Oren jumped to his feet, "What-why did I just say that?" He ran his fingers through his hair, looking thoroughly distraught, "Forgive me, Ms. Christine. I think… I think I need to rest. Yes… rest. That might do me some good. Good bye…"

Before Christine could respond, Oren was gone.

Something strange was happening to the usually mild-mannered man, and she had a feeling it wasn't going to end well.

End of Episode 8