Christine sat up as her door slammed up. Meg jumped on the bed, clutching something in her hands. "I have got it."

"Bring it back tomorrow." Christine laid back down and threw the covers over her head.

"Christine, the review. It's here." Meg opened up the magazine and began reading.

"The curtain slowly goes up and wait for the performance to begin. It takes a minute before you finally realize that the stage is in the same pitch blackness that the audience is in. Are they having technical difficulties? You wonder. Whispers began to rise among the crowd.

Suddenly, a voice from Heaven itself silences the whispers. The crowd is stunned. Never before have they heard such a voice. The crowd is left to wonder until the second act if the voice has a name to go with it.

For anyone who has ever believed that angels walk among us, there is now proof. Christine Daae is a vision. Her heavenly voice is matched by her beauty. It is uncertain as to which one actually sent the whole of Italian society demanding more.

The Italian opera house is famous for its operas that are only performed once. The managers said that they are not sure when Ms. Daae will be returning. It is all the decision of the mystery composer who has made them famous.

This particular newspaper believes they have figured out the identity of the mystery composer. He has been seen lurking in the shadows of each of the performances and was seen leaving with Ms. Daae when she checked out of her hotel. Could wedding bells be in the near future? Personally, I could not think of a better match. His ability to compose music and her voice will take the music world by storm."

"They didn't say that." Christine ripped the magazine out of Meg's hand and read it for herself before running down to Erik's office.

Erik wasn't surprised when he heard Christine running down the hall. He was surprised

that she came in without knocking. Even in her fits, she had bothered to knock. She walked over to his desk and set it down, opened to the page. "Erik, did you see the review?"

"Yes, Christine. I saw it earlier. I've been telling you the same thing for months."

"This is different, Erik."

"I don't see how. Are you still going downtown?"

Christine looked up at the clock. "Oh, crap. Bye Erik. Bye Nadir. MEG!" Christine rushed out of the office to get her purse and keys.

"Erik, did you hear a single word that I said?" Nadir was getting impatient.

"I heard every word of your foolish concerns."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"I meant what I said. I have no desire to see her again."

"Erik, she's going to retaliate."

"I am not going back there. I will not take Christine to that God forsaken place. When you talk to her, you tell her she can find a new source of entertainment."

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"Would you just tell me?" Meg complained.

"What does it matter, Meg?" Christine started to search for her keys while walking towards the car.

"You're the only person that I've ever met who has seen his face. Probably the only person that he hasn't killed."

"Meg, Erik has a horrible temper, but surely, he wouldn't kill someone just for that. It's not like his face is all that bad. It is just a normal face that has scarring." Christine knew she was lying. However, she could not bring herself to embrass Erik by telling the truth. She had no problems with his face, but she knew that many girls her age would run off screaming. Erik's nose was complete missing, and the rest of his face was stretched and twisted. It look almost as if he was a plastic doll that someone had decided to melt the face on. The redness would probably not be so awful if he would let his face get some air.

"Can I borrow the shoes you bought?"

"Sure, just remind ..." Christine was suddenly grabbed from behind and thrown into a van.

"Christine?" Meg turned around to catch the face of one of the men before the van sped off. Meg grabbed her cell phone and dialed the police.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Erik's phone began to ring. He debated whether or not to answer it. He need to finish preparing for Christine's lesson. Maybe it was her calling to say that she was coming back early.

"Hello."

"She's gone."

"What? Meg what is going on?"

"They took her. They just grabbed her. We were walking back to the car in the parking garage, and someone just grabbed her. Then the van just sped off."

"That coniving bitch."

"What Erik?"

"Nothing. Do you have a ride home?"

"Yes." With that assurance from Meg, Erik hung up the phone and began making

arrangements to go get Christine.

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Meg felt awful as the police car took her home. She should have been paying more attention. Erik must surely hate her and would most likely not let Christine see her again. Meg knew Erik would get Christine back. Erik never let go of his possessions, and Christine was his favorite possession. Meg prayed that God would have mercy on those men's souls because there would be no mercy from Erik.

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Nadir had already had his bags packed. He knew that something was up, but he never figured this would happen. Erik was in a black mood now, and Nadir was being dragged along for the trip.

Erik had not had a black mood since Christine had enter his life four years ago. He still the occasional tantrums and became dark, but those tantrums were nothing like this. Nadir knew what was the cause of it.

This time Erik wasn't worried or afraid that Christine had left him and was trying to put as much distance between him and herself. No, this time Erik thought that Christine might be coming to understand that she, according to Erik, loved him. This time someone else had taken her away from him, away from their love.

Nadir hoped that seeing Christine would bring Erik out of this. He also prayed to Allah that he could talk some reason into Erik on the plane flight. Christine's life would depend on it.