Author's note: Sorry for the LONG break—life suddenly got a lot busier. I saw the old POTO movie for Halloween—very good, except for the end, which made me want to cry! Anyway…huzzah! Christine is finally in the same city as Erik. But getting the both of them out of the city will prove rather difficult, as one might imagine. Thanks to loyal reader/reviewer LonesomeGurlAngelofDeath for her support, and to t .bear for reviewing!
Christine woke up during the train ride north to an unusual sight: Raoul's lap. She sat straight up, and saw that Raoul had moved next to her, ostensibly while she slept. Seeing that he was awake, and smiling at her, she screeched, "What did you do in my sleep?"
"Why, nothing at all, my dear. You simply slumped over in your sleep, and I thought that I could provide you with a sort of…comfortable pillow," he said. Though the explanation sounded perfectly innocent, the gleam in his eye showed other intentions, less innocent.
"That was not necessary, and you may now move back to your side of this box, monsieur!" she said. What would Erik have thought if he had seen that? she wondered anxiously, as if there was a possibility of him seeing.
Raoul moved reluctantly back to his original side, all the while giving Christine a mournful look. He's more of a drama queen than some of the chorus girls at the opera, Christine thought, but let it go, beginning to worry once more about what she would do once she got to Rouen. She supposed she would start by asking around about Mathieu. Suddenly she realized that she didn't even know his last name—Erik had never given one for himself—she didn't even know if he had one. She couldn't go around Rouen asking for "Mathieu"—that was a common enough name. There were probably thousands of Mathieus in this city alone. Well, if Nadir was right, then Erik had grown up here, so people would hopefully remember him.
As she wondered about this, the box door opened. Christine looked in surprise to see who had come in, and saw Nadir's Persian friend. He smiled at her and said, "May I sit here?"
"Of course! I mean…why are you going to Rouen, monsieur?" she asked hesitantly, trying not to sound rude.
"My family is there, so I am going back to them." He gave a wide grin. "Also, you may call me Khalid."
"Do you have any ideas as to where specifically in Rouen Mathieu is?"
"I…don't, but their family was wealthy. If you ask about them, someone should know."
"I don't even know their last name!"
"Don't worry—they will find you," and Khalid gave a grin that could only be described as menacing.
"Excuse me, sir, what do you mean by that?" Raoul interrupted.
Christine whipped around to him. "This is no concern of yours!" she hissed.
Khalid frowned. "Who's this?" he asked Christine.
She shook her head. "No one of importance," was her only response.
The rest of the ride to Rouen continued in silence. Even Raoul seemed to notice that something was wrong, and kept silent, falling asleep, in fact, soon after everyone had stopped talking. Christine didn't feel at all tired, even though the nap she had taken on the train hadn't been particularly restful. She was consumed by thoughts of Erik. If he truly knew that she was coming, she hoped that he'd be able to survive whatever Mathieu was putting him through until she reached him. He had always been such a dear…
"You will see your darling Christine soon, brother—she's on her way to Rouen now. I even helped her on her way here. Aren't you grateful?" Mathieu grinned.
Erik looked up at him with weary eyes. "Just don't hurt her," he whispered.
"Hurt her! Why, Erik, why else would we be bringing her here?"
Christine shook herself. Where had that image come from? Was it a premonition? She gave a side glance to Khalid, who was comfortably seated, reading a newspaper in some language—Christine assumed it was Farsi. (A/N Farsi is what they speak in Iran nowadays, so I made it what they spoke when Iran was still Persia) She was beginning to not trust him. If this…vision she had was true, she was being led to Rouen, and it was Khalid who had first told her and Nadir about Rouen. Well, no matter, she would be on her guard. Even if she was being led there, it still seemed to be the truth that Erik was there, so at least she would be in the same city as him.
Eventually the train reached Rouen. It was late—almost 1:00 in the morning, so she decided that she would find a hotel and get some sleep before searching out Erik. Khalid recommended a hotel for her, but Christine declined his advice, still not trusting him. Unfortunately, she could not be so easily rid of Raoul. He insisted on taking the same carriage as her and sleeping in the same hotel as her. Luckily she managed to get a separate room from him. Once she reached her room, she found herself exhausted, and fell asleep right away.
Early that morning Christine awoke to pounding on her door. She sprang out of bed and made her way to the door. Having the though that it might be Mathieu's men, or Mathieu himself, she grabbed an umbrella she had found in the room and, brandishing it as a weapon, unlocked the door and opened it slightly. The person was not one of Mathieu's men at all, but Nadir. She lowered the umbrella and said, "What on earth are you doing here, Nadir?"
"Please, let me in, Christine. I've made a terrible mistake," he said. "Khalid is working for Mathieu and I think they have some sort of plan to kidnap you and use you to get something out of Erik."
Amazed at the accuracy of her predictions, she silently let him in and moved and sat on her bed. Nadir pulled up a chair.
"Khalid himself told me this once your train had left. He told me he was going to drive and catch up to your train to get on and spy on you. Did he do so?"
"Yes…yes, I suppose he did. Oh, Nadir! Raoul is here! He saw me on the train and followed me. Isn't that a bother?"
"It was probably a greater bother to Khalid. He could have captured you on the train had you been alone. Raoul saved you, albeit temporarily. What I think we should do now is have you stay in your room for now. We have no idea who is working for Mathieu and who is not. I can scout things out a little for you and come back as soon as possible. Is that fine with you?"
"No! That means I'm not doing anything! I came here to help Erik, not to delegate that task to others."
"But it's too dangerous."
"Don't you think that Mathieu's people could find out my room and come here as easily as finding me on the street? At least if I'm in public they can't just grab me without having some good explanation."
"Very well. But let's don't separate today."
"Then let's go now."
And though they searched all day, it was a fruitless day. No one knew what they were talking about, or at least no one said they knew. Neither of them knew where Mathieu's home was, and that evening Christine felt ready to cry. She bade Nadir good night at the door to her hotel room and fell asleep in her slip, not bothering to even put on her nightgown. She was feeling so helpless. If every day goes like this one, she thought, I'm lost.
That morning, Christine awoke to someone putting a cloth over her mouth. He eyes opened wide, and the last thing she saw was Khalid laughing at her. She was captured!
Woo-hoo! Climax, here we come! I'll try to be a bit speedier about posting it than this chapter. For some reason all my teachers at once started hating me and giving me more homework. Anyway, review, my friends, and I will love you!