Author Note:

Thank you to PrimaDonnaKate for her review to my last chapters and so on and so forth to others who have posted reviews as well. Hope you all enjoy this one as well. This one earns the M rating due to language and a slight luff-ish stuff.

Read and Review, remember criticism is always welcome, but no hard core flames.

TheDragonEye

Revenge is sweeter than liquor

Erik

Erik was not sure how long Christine had been gone but surely she would be back soon. Or at least it was his only hope for the moment. He had never realized how much her gentle caring had helped him through the past couple of days, until he had no one to help him through his fever. The cloth on his forehead provided no cooling relief now which once more made him question how long Christine had been gone. It seemed as though Christine was the one person who even cared if he lived through this fever, especially because he himself didn't care anymore if he did. He had never had the chance to ask her why she had returned in the first place. People didn't help without expecting something in return. Erik had learned that rule early in his lonely life, and now he suspected Christine was no different.

He wished it though. He wished Christine would be different, and not the shallow girl he had known four weeks prior to her return. He knew the face he had would be no different if he looked in a mirror now, but then why had Christine been so daring as to remove his mask and keep it off now? Perhaps she liked him this way, sickly and unable to do anything to harm her. The thoughts just flew back and forth seeing how he could do nothing more.

After a while though, of trying to wait for her, his body could no longer fight off the flames which licked at his body and he succumbed to a fevered sleep once more.

"Erik. . . I need you, so badly."

"Christine?"

"Say my name again," the brunette implored, "Say it again, Erik."

"Christine. . ." Erik replied to her wish, his own wish beginning to eat away at him from the inside out.

Small but no tentatively her hands reached out, caressing his cheek gently before she placed a soft kiss to his lips. It was not much longer after that then the kiss had intensified and Erik felt himself succumbing to his own body's wants. She had been after this all along, and now he was in to far deep to resist this joyous torture. Her lips were his supply of oxygen and without them now he could not breathe. Along with that her tongue pushed into his mouth, exploring it in it's entirely. Christine was too bold now for his liking, and he could not do a thing to stop it.

"Though your mind resists your soul obeys." the words came echoing back into his mind as well as her own she had spoken to him before. "You would be dead and I am dead without you. You owe me a favor. A life debt, Erik."

"You want this too, don't worry, Erik." she spoke as she pulled her lips back for a moment. "I'll take good care of you."

Erik opened his mouth to reply that he did not, but Christine had taken the moment to crash her lips roughly against his. Her tongue slipping once more easily into his mouth through his astonishment. Her hands trailed down his stomach and to the waist band of his trousers.

"You want me, so badly, don't you?" she asked as her hands skimmed over the slight budge under the fabric of his trousers. A wide smile spread on to her face as Erik's body reacted as she had wanted it to.

"Christine. . please. ." he whispered in an attempt to get her to stop, but all she heard was what her own body wanted.

Erik let out a groan as her hands slipped skillfully past the confiding fabric and squeezed at his painfully hardening manhood, nearly sending his knees buckling.

"I knew you would see it my way Erik. . " she whispered, seductively as she pushed him backwards.

As he fell that dream shattered around him until he was left in the nothingness of black.

"Anyone there?"

'Anyone there? Anyone there? Anyone there?' came a hideous echo in the darkness. Erik looked about squinting through for some sort of sign of another person or at least where a wall was. It just seemed like a never ending black pit, except he was not falling, at least he didn't think so.

"She's mine. She's engaged to me, beast."

That voice sounded all too familiar yet he could not place his tongue upon a name.

"What?"

"You heard me you Bastard!"

Erik cried out as she was shocked back to reality by s smear of pain running up to his skull. His eyes could only open part of the way, both from the pain and the fever as well as the adjustment to the light once more.

His heart plummeted as he saw who glared down at him. His head shook a few times believing it was his fever, but all of that changed when the viscount seized his neck and pulled him upright, sending another blinding rush of emotions and sickness through his weary body.

"Now how do you like it? Defenseless, useless, and having someone else watch you struggle?" the man asked, his voice seething in anger.

Erik was about to point out that the man had his hand too low on his neck to prevent any damage then that to his vocal chords, which would not be a lot seeing how the man's grip wasn't tight. But at the moment the hand on his neck tightened as if he had read his mind.

"You have no right to speak now, monster. Where is Christine?"

Erik looked up at the eyes of the man who was so desperately set on revenge, and it finally struck him that man was drunk! He himself knew that look all too well. If he had been his normal self he would have pointed out that he was just told not to speak and therefor could not answer his question, but the man's hand was getting tighter and he was already beginning to feel light-headed.

With more strength then Erik would have thought possible for the weak boy he had knew four weeks earlier he was yanked from the bed and spent spiraling to the floor. Something hard drilling into his back, painfully.

"Erik? Erik are you out of bed?"

Came an all too familiar call and his eyes alighted with some hope, but before he could reply he felt another painful drilling into his back, turning his plea into a grunt of pain.

"Erik you really need to res-"

He looked up as Christine cut off and the viscount kicked him on to his back, his heel now driving into his stomach. Erik could now glare up at the man he had grown to loathe even more then he had five minutes earlier. His breathing was already beginning to come in raspy gasps and he was certain that was the reason for the growing smirk on Raoul's face. What had he done? Christine had come back to him! But a drunk would never come to realize that.

"Christin-" his voice of her name turned into another yelp as Raoul dug his foot into his chest harder. Erik could almost imagine the pressure that was on his ribs and which were constricting his lungs even more.

"I have not instructed you to speak!" Raoul barked and turned his attention towards Christine.

Christine

Christine could not help but let her mouth drop in the horror of seeing Raoul, as well as what he was doing to her poor Erik! She did, however, manage to keep her grip on the medicine she had brought for him.

"R-Raoul? What are you doing here? I. . I just came from the manor and saw you weren't there." she spoke, trying to keep her voice straight for the most part. Which was hard, seeing how it was shaking from anger and fear.

"I am supposed to fucking believe that, Christine?" he asked, his anger being taken out on the man lying bellow his foot.

Christine's eyes tried to lock on Erik's to search for some emotion or reading that he was alright, though he had once more shut his eyes against the pain and had refused to open them.

"Raoul. I just did come from there, you must understand!" she tried to reason with her fiancé.

"Understand what Christine? You have been gone for two days and I find you taking care of. . .this. . .this . . thing!" His sentence had gone from almost caring about her safety to once more becoming the angry drunk he was right now.

Christine let out a shaky breath and set down the items in her hand, taking the risk of approaching him. She reached out her hand and gently touched his cheek. "You barely let me out of our home in the past month." She kissed his lips, tasting the faint traces of several liquors on his lips. "I knew that if you wanted to find me you would come here." she murmured. More lies, but Raoul wouldn't remember them in the morning anyways.

"I found him sick, and felt bad for him. So I decided to care for him at least until he was back on his feet, then I would come back to you."

"I don't understand why, Christine. He is dirt." he spoke and in emphasis ground his heel down once more, a pleasurable smirk crawling on to his face at his whimper of pain. "Besides, he's wanted for a lot of money. I'm surprised he hasn't been caught already."

Christine could easily see the greed and revengeful ideas turning in her husband's eyes. Ever since the destruction of the opera house, Raoul had grown a deep hatred towards Erik, especially since every time he looked in the mirror he could see the faint outlines of the rope burns.

"You are quite right, love." she replied simply. There was no way to talk to a drunk then to shower him with praise. "He is wanted for so much money, but think about what kind of bonus you could get if you return him in a well being state? That you captured him when no one else could even if he was at his fullest health? They would give you the money and you would have the best point of view to watch his execution. Perhaps on your word you would be able to decide between the gallows of the guillotine." she finished, hoping that Erik would not take what she said to heart.

The wheels in Raoul's mind were turning at her words, and his eyes flashed once more before he looked at her.

"For once I do think you have said something smart." he replied, and continued. "Yes, that would work. And I shall trust you have a way to get him back up to health quickly?" he asked, looking at her searching her or trying to get her to break down if she was lying.

Christine nodded quickly, his gaze having no effect on this girl. "Of course! I had been at the home to tell you that, but I told you now and in person. I had not considered leaving a note. One of the maids might find it and steal your brilliant plan!" she knew her lying was convincing to her husband but once more she hoped she did not have Erik believing either.

Then without another warning he crashed his full weight down on Erik before turning and heading for the exit Christine had used before. "Of course I am right! You better get him up to health quickly. I cannot wait for this. It will make my entire year." he spoke and looked back at her. "I will be back soon lovely. Perhaps if they do remove his head I will be allowed to keep it. What a great wedding present that would make!" he sneered and left.

Christine remained rooted to the spot, her body quivering as she listened to his footsteps echo away until he was gone. She let out a sob and went to Erik.

"I won't let that happen to you. I just won't." she choked, sniffling. She put her hand to his forehead, and then let it move down to his cheek.

"Erik? Erik answer me, please." She whispered. When no answer came she put her head to his chest. She could still hear a heart beat and assumed he had blacked out from the pain. She ran her hand down to a red forming spot on his bare chest, and closed her eyes herself against tears. She had sat by and allowed that to happen.

She looked back towards the way Raoul had went and hoped that he would indeed forget about all of this by tomorrow. Or perhaps he would get himself even more drunk which would ensure his lack of memory. She did not have time to think about that now, especially with Erik on the ground.

She once more had a struggle with getting him into his bed, and hoped that Raoul would not be the only one forgetting her words by tomorrow.

"I love you, Erik." she whispered.

Ending note

Alright. . don't hate me! You'll see, everything will work itself out in the next chapters. But hoped you liked the slight luff teaser. Please review.

TheDragonEye