Erik's POV

It was too much, everything was too much for me to handle. The constant darkness was driving me mad! I was only on my first night being blind and already I was at the brink of going mad. Whether I had my eyes closed or open, my world was always dark. I couldn't sleep, nor could I lay there any longer without my mind racing. I didn't know what time it was, nor could I find out for myself. In my grasp, I was able to feel the cold metal of my pocket watch, its linked chain, even hear it ticking away, but I couldn't see it, nor could I see the time.

I wasn't sure what time of the night I came up with the idea to end it all, but I realized that I couldn't live like this. I couldn't go through life living in darkness, and I wasn't about to let myself do so. My hands wandered around until they reached my night table, and I held onto it as I lifted my aching body to my feet. I felt around, moving my hands over every ounce of furniture I had within my room until I reached my vanity. Nimble fingers brushed over the bristles of my comb, the smooth bottle of my cologne, until I eventually found what I had been looking for; my sewing box. My fingers worked on the latch to get it open, never realizing how hard it was to do so bind. When I heard it finally click open, my fingers rummaged through the top box, pricking themselves on needles until they reached the smooth surface of the scissors I kept at the bottom.

Even if I couldn't see the contraption, I knew what job it could do. Frantically, with one free hand, I unbuttoned the buttons of my shirt, the palm of my hand feeling around the flat surface of my chest until I felt my heart thumping against it. From there, I replaced my palm with the sharp ends of the scissors. One hard thrust and my life would end. The scissors would pierce my heart, and then, my blindness would end. My hands trembled around the cold metal as I lifted the sharp points away from my chest, preparing to force them into my ribcage.

But before I could do it, my knees weakened and I fell to the floor, losing grasp of the scissors. I was too weak to get back up or find the scissors and eventually fell unconscious as my body screamed in agony.

"Erik?"

I heard my name being called, and smelled the scent of flowers, even felt the brushing of fingers against my forehead.

"Erik, answer me." she sounded extremely worried, and I managed to open my mouth but couldn't form the words.

"Erik, are you hurt?"

"No." I finally got the words out, and Christine helped me to my feet. Once I was in bed, my world began to spin around me. The blindness was driving me mad, and I still wanted to end my life. Would Christine really keep me alive against my will? No, she could see, and she could help me end it all.

"Christine?"

I could no longer feel her, but I knew she was still here beside me.

"Yes, Erik?"

"In the drawer…." I pointed my arm in the direction of my night table. I had almost forgot about the morphine I used for my pain. One dose too much and I would slip away to sleep, never waking again.

I heard the drawer open, and Christine's hand fumbling around.

"Erik? What is this?"

She must have found my rubber tourniquet and needle.

"Christine, it's morphine." I said. "I use it for pain. As you can probably tell, my exposed skull discomforts me."

"How much should I fill the needle with?"

"The whole vial."

There was a long pause, before Christine spoke again. I knew she sensed something terribly wrong….could it perhaps be that I wanted to die?

"Erik, I….I won't do that. Surely that would be lethal."

"Exactly." I said. "Just fill the needle and administer it right in the center of my chest."

"No," she gasped. "I won't kill you."

"Then give it to me, I'll do it myself! I don't want to live!"

"But why?" I could hint tears in her voice, but I wasn't sure.

"The darkness is driving me mad! I can't do a god damn thing!"

"Yes, Erik, I know this is all new for you, but it's no reason to kill yourself."

"Why not? I have no one in this world to help me forever more. I won't be able to live without help from now on."

"You have me, Erik. I'll teach you everything you need to know."

At that moment, I heard her close the drawer, taking away my only way out of this world.

"Erik, please promise me that you won't kill yourself? I won't ask for much from you, but if I'm going to be down here with you, I want you to promise me."

Damn her! How was I to lie to her? How was I to say no? She was here with me, and if she didn't want me to end my life, then who was I to end it?

"I…I promise."

"I know this all seems scary, Erik, but you won't be alone. I'll teach you everything. Just because you don't have your eyes, doesn't mean you can't live. You'll learn to use your other senses."

I didn't say a word. I knew this was going to be impossible. If I didn't have my sight, how could I live? Music was everything, and without my eyes, how was I to compose? How was I to play my organ?

"Do you want me to stay, until you fall asleep?" I heard her ask.

"Only if you wish to." I said, feeling my feet aching with every move I made.

"Sleep now, Erik."

I heard her standing, and felt her fluffing the blankets over my body.

"Are the lights on? Or off?" I asked.

"I left a few candles burning." she said. "Just incase I needed to come in quickly and help you."

"Goodnight, Christine."

And with that, she was gone. For a few more hours, I laid there completely awake, tossing and turning fitfully within my blankets. I wanted to sleep, but I couldn't. Perhaps a little morphine would have helped. Usually a small dose was enough to put me under for more than eight hours. I heard the ticking of my pocket watch, the dripping of water from the lake, felt the chilly breeze blowing in my room, and yet, I couldn't see a thing.

A little while later, I heard a strange sound coming towards my lair. I wasn't sure what it was, and rolled over to snuggle back into my blankets. Though, the sound was getting closer and closer, and soon I began hearing voices. It was the mob! It had to be the mob!

"Christine! Christine!" I called her name, hoping she would appear, but she didn't answer me, and I didn't smell her scent.

"Christine! Christine, please, answer me!"

When I didn't get a response, I immediately stood out of bed, tripping and landing on my chest. I groaned in pain, as I crawled across the floor, feeling around for anything to grab hold of. Though, when I found the leg of a table, I grasped hold of it, causing a loud wobbling noise to occur. I wondered what was going on, but a few seconds later, the wobbling stopped and a heavy object hit me in the back of the skull.

When I awoke, I felt hands caressing my back. I groaned, and felt the cold floor beneath my face.

"Erik? Oh, Erik, look at you."

Christine was here beside me. But what about the voices? What about the mob?

"Your head…it's bleeding."

I felt Christine help me up, and maneuver me to my bed.

"Christine, there were voices…."

"Yes, there were a few men scrounging around for brass. They didn't come anywhere near the house though."

My head was pounding, and I felt Christine dab it with a damp cloth.

"Does it hurt?"

"Extremely."

"Erik, I know you don't want to hear this, but I don't think we're safe here anymore. Now that the opera house is down from the fire, I think we'll be getting more and more people coming down to search for brass and what ever they can sell at the market."

"And where do you suppose we go?" I growled. "This was my life. I've been here for over twenty five years. I know nothing of the outside world, Christine."

"I understand, Erik, but believe me when I say that we'll be perfectly fine. I have a few places we could stay. It will be much safer than staying here."

"No, we should stay here."

"Erik, what if someone came down here and saw me? What if they try to take advantage of me? You won't be able to protect me, nor will I be able to protect you."

Christine was right. I was helpless against any thug. Plus, if anything ever happened to Christine, I would never forgive myself. I thought I was going to die here in this very opera house, but it seemed as though God had a very different plan.

"All right." I said. "But only because I can't protect you."

"We'll leave tomorrow then."

"I can barely walk, Christine. How am I going to travel?"

"It's not far, Erik."

For a while more, I laid there feeling Christine dabbing the damp cloth against my head. I fell asleep, only waking when I heard Christine rummaging around my bedchamber. I groaned, my head pounding and causing me the worst agony ever. My whole body ached, and I wanted nothing more than for Christine's hands to massage every inch of my body.

"Erik? Is there anything you want me to pack?"

Was there? I couldn't think for myself. Yes, if I could see, I'm sure there would be plenty of things I would want packed, but since I was blind, I could only come up with a few personal items I kept near and dear to my heart.

"My monkey music box." I said. "And my Don Juan triumphant script."

"I packed your eye drops and your morphine."

"My waist coat?"

"Um…." I guessed she was currently checking. "Yes, I did."

A few moments later, I felt her helping me up.

"Let's get you dressed, Erik."

I felt her unbuttoning my nightshirt, and placing on a new one.

"What color?" I curiously asked.

"White. I know how much you love wearing white shirts." I felt something being placed over my shirt.

"Your black vest." I heard her reply.

"My coat, please…."

Christine placed my arms through the sleeves, and buttoned it for me before going for my sleep trousers. I felt her pulling them gently down each leg….can you imagine that? Christine pulling down my trousers. Just the feeling of it happening made my spirit soar.

"Your legs!" I heard her gasp. "They're covered in scars."

Indeed, they were. My whole body was from years of abuse. I was just glad I couldn't see the disgusted look that was probably on her beautiful face.

"Yes, hideous, I know."

She didn't say another word, and I felt her placing a pair of trousers on me.

"I'll tie your shoes."

She slipped my boots onto each correct foot, my feet screaming in agony the moment they became trapped within the confinements of the uncomfortable contraptions. I ached in discomfort, and Christine instantly stopped tying them.

"Are you all right?"

"No, my feet are causing me pain."

Christine helped me up, and I heard a crack occur in my legs.

"Come, Erik, I'll help you get to our destination quickly."

Christine strapped a bag over my shoulder, and let me out of the opera house. The bag over my shoulder was heavy, but I didn't complain. I was hurting, and tired, but most of all, I was scared. Walking blindly with Christine being my only sight frightened me more than anything in the world.

"Step up, Erik." I obeyed her every command, stepping up when needed, stumbling and tripping over myself in the process. But Christine was always there to catch hold of me before I could fall. I wasn't sure where we were in the opera house, when I began hearing voices again; angry voices!

Christine ducked me down, but that didn't stop the approaching people from spotting us.

"Ah, there they are!" came an angry growl.

I could sense the presence of other people surrounding us. I could feel their warmth, smell the alcohol on their breaths, even sense that they weren't here for a friendly conversation.

"Stop, please." Christine begged.

Were they touching her? I held out my arms and tried to find her. No one would harm her if I had my arms wrapped protectively around her body.

"Christine?" I questioned her name as my arms met with rough fabric and chubby arms. No, this wasn't Christine. Who ever I had touched laughed, and shoved me, causing my body to make contact with the cold pavement. I groaned, as my head bumped into the stone. I rolled over onto my back, feeling the tips of boots making violent contact with my sides.

"Stop! Stop!" I heard my angel's voice, but I couldn't see her. "He's blind! Stop this!"

And then she screamed! Screamed as if someone was grabbing onto her.

"We were paid to end this one's life and bring you out of here!" one stated.

I heard my angel struggling, grunting and trying to force her way out our assailant's grasp. I couldn't just lay here and let this go on. No, I had to help her. Quickly, I tried to scurry to my feet, only to be pushed back down.

"He's blinder than a bat!"

Oh, how embarrassing this was. Before, no one could stop me and now…..now I was a helpless infant.

"Whack his legs!"

I felt something come down hard on my left ankle, causing me to fall back down. I couldn't give up! I couldn't let my angel be harmed.

"Christine!" I called out her name again, grasping my chest in agony. It was bad enough that my lung was punctured, now, being able to breathe was even harder.

"Erik!"

Oh, she was still here! My angel was still here.

"All right, enough teasing, end his life." I heard one of them order.

This was my last chance. I couldn't continue wasting time on falling down. I stood to my feet again, my ankle throbbing with a burning pain. I swung my arms around, hoping to hit something. But that did absolutely nothing. For with in seconds, I felt a stabbing sensation enter my backside. I gasped, and felt cold metal entering my body.

"No!" Christine's screams echoed throughout the opera house, as I stood there in shock. I had been stabbed in the back.

I opened my mouth to try and speak, but nothing came out. The men must have noticed that I was still alive, because the one holding the knife in my back shoved it in deeper. I knew if I was going to save Christine, I had to play their game. They wanted me dead, and yes, I was probably headed that way, but Christine didn't need to see this any longer. I closed my eyes, and went limp in the man's arms. The knife was instantly pulled out of my back, and it took every ounce within me not to grunt. It hurt like hell when my body fell to the floor, but I stayed still, trying to look as dead as possible.

"Let me go! You killed him!" my angel was screaming, and to my luck, they must have let her go.

"Come on, our job is done here."

I felt Christine scoot over to my body, sobbing and crying over me. I waited a few moments, in order to make sure the men were truly gone, before groaning.

"Erik?"

I gasped for air, and laid there lifelessly. I couldn't move my body. It was impossible. Everything hurt, even breathing was taking its toll on me.

"Erik, say something."

"I…." that was all I could muster.

Her deathly cold hands placed themselves over my body, comforting me through every breath. I thought she had left me when I no longer felt her hands, but she returned a few moments later, draping me with what I believed to be was my hooded cloak.

"No one can see you…..God, you're bleeding heavily."

As much as it hurt me to stand, she forced me to do so. From outside the cloak, she placed her hand in the exact spot I had been stabbed in, applying pressure to my bleeding.

"Walk, Erik." she begged. "We have to get you out of here."

I did. It took every ounce within me to do it, but I walked with her. I gasped and fought to breathe as we entered the cold night of Paris. I tried to stop and lean against her every few seconds, but she encouraged me to keep going. It felt as if I walked for hours, but as my injury became lethal, my walking ceased. I collapsed, no longer able to walk or breathe. I collapsed to the ground, and in complete darkness. And as I stopped breathing, Christine's voice faded into the background. Perhaps I was finally dead and on my way to hell.

I know I said I wasn't going to update until the end of Cloaked under the Night, but you know how I am...Cliff hangers drive me mad too. Please review!