Author note: Sorry for the time it took for the update. Hope you all enjoy.

My thanks to:

OG: I'll try to update sooner

Lady Wen: You won't be disappointed in the reasoning

More things will become clearer in this chapter also I have made one big change which everyone will notice.

See you at the bottom,

TheDragonEye

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Unfolding

Erik looked up at Christine, so. . this was it. She was finally going to explain everything. Never once had he felt so lost in information. But this was his life, and he needed to damn well understand what Christine was doing to it. His gaze never wavered even as he stared at her and she cleared her throat before she sat down next to him. It was a bold move, seeing how he felt like strangling her at the moment.

Christine sighed and let out yet another deep breath on top of it, leaving her in a deep exhale. She seemed to be stalling for time. Erik's eyes bore into her more and she shook her head.

"Alright, I will start at the very beginning. Erik, I would have loved nothing more than to come back to you without the given circumstances. I love you, I truly do, but in all truthfulness, something else drove me to return back to your home the night I found you." she started off.

Oh yes, of course. He should have known that Christine would never return to him on her own free will. But he kept his comments to himself, his body posture betraying his thoughts though. His eyes narrowed and his hands curled slightly at the knuckles. In response to her phrase, talk about being blunt but Christine had lied one too many times to him and he supposed he did deserve to hear the truth.

"The night I left with Raoul. . he was terribly upset as was I. But not for the same reasoning. When we arrived back at his home was when he told me that his brother had been reported dead, all from your doing, Erik." she put a finger to his lips when he opened his mouth to argue.

"Let me finish, Erik." she spoke and drew her hand away from him once more before continuing on with her story. "I never truly liked Philippe, he was always around those three months we left for the winter break from the opera house. Every day he'd have a different woman on his arm, and a different alcohol in his system. But even so I knew that Philippe was Raoul's brother and that as much as I hated him I had to help Raoul through the time. Raoul always seemed so different from his older brother. For one thing he was never like that with women and he rarely drank." she paused when Erik shifted slightly on the bed, trying to keep back his words.

"You want to say something?" she asked.

"Yes." he muttered and looked back up at her.

"Well too bad, you can keep it in." she spoke and smirked as he gave a small groan through aggravation.

"Anyways. . may I continue?" she asked and smiled when he gave a slight and quick nod in response.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Darius, I thought I told you to keep Christine away from Erik's room." Nadir spoke as he looked up from a stack of papers at his desk in Erik's study. He wasn't exactly certain if Erik had accepted the fact that this was his new home, but it was paid with a lot of his money.

"I did! Or. . I was until she slipped away. She had asked me to fetch a cup of tea and when I came back she was gone." the man explained quickly and fell silent when Nadir waved his hand.

"She is Erik's problem now." he spoke and motioned Darius over who complied without a word. "What news do we have?" he asked.

Darius sighed, "De Changy is growing all the more restless and I fear he will actually make to round up a few men and come here. Especially now that Raoul realizes that Christine could be betraying them."

"We do not yet know if she is fully on our side either." Nadir stated. "Which is why we have yet to tell her anything, nor permit her to leave now that she knows where Erik is. . .wait. . what do you mean come here?" he asked, suspiciously.

"One of the men she hired must have been planted there by de Changy, and must have gone off to tell them. Christine might have known as well. But I do not think she is in on that plan. After all, she hadn't known what had happened to Erik either."

"We still can't take the risk and let her go back to the de Changy estate."

"I know, Nadir. But even some of the household is beginning to get restless. They have noticed your change in attitude starting the week we planned on bringing Erik here and even now." Darius spoke softly.

Nadir was silent a few minutes and then shook his head several times. "We don't have much time to worry about them, just see to it that they are doing their jobs." he spread out a sheet of paper in front of him. "This is what we have right now. . ."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"It was a few days after we arrived at the de Changy estate when things began to change." Christine spoke up. "We had plans to run away to England, but those were all thrown off when he came back." she looked at Erik's troubled face and nodded.

"Philippe is very much alive Erik, and he is seeking you out for his own revenge." Christine was very much certain she could see him pale all the more at those words. "He thinks you tried to kill him on purpose, and now he wants you to suffer for whatever he went through that night."

There was a lapse of silence and Christine continued to speak when she realized Erik wasn't going to.

"You see, one night Philippe turned up on the doorstep, instantly being ushered into the house by a few servants. That was when myself and Raoul were awaken. We came down the stairs to find a very wet, and irritable Philippe in one of the chairs in front of a burning fire. That was when he told us what happened. In his race to save Raoul from chasing after me, which mind you hurt be a bit, he said he had fallen into a trap. I think he got what he deserved, but Raoul's arm around me prevented me from voicing any of my thoughts without telling me there would be a consequence in return for a sharp tongue."

"Philippe through the next week was acting like a dying man, just searching for people he could lure into his room for a little extra attention. At about two and a half weeks from the night of the Great Disaster he was even drinking again. He had managed even to get Raoul to start drinking, more above his tolerance level. And Raoul was beginning to fall for the lies that Philippe wound about his mind. Then they began to plot. Both together and always out of my ear range though I could hear their muffled noises from inside the library. They are always drunk, much like you saw when Raoul came down to your home and attacked you."

Erik looked up at her, "How precisely will this revenge take place? Or when for that matter?"

Christine shook her head a few times and bit down on her trembling lower lip. "I-I don't know Erik. . but you will be safe here. I am sorry for the sudden kidnaping, but you did not agree in the first place. It was too much of a risk to tell you all of this in your other home. If you knew. . you probably would have hurt Raoul."

Erik felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach as he looked away from her. "What do you want from me, Christine?" he asked, cautiously.

Christine sighed heavily and ran a hand back through her hair. "I need your help. . . Philippe's influence is strong over Raoul, and I don't want him to get hurt through his brother's actions. Oh Erik. I care for you, and I care for Raoul. Which is why I cannot stand to see either of you getting hurt. He's one of my best friends, and you are the one I love. You understand?"

Erik let out a heavy breath. "Yes, I understand. But why should I agree to this?"

"Because you owe me your life. Do this to me and you will hear no more of owing anything to me. A life debt Erik. Help me save Raoul, and I will leave you if you want. Though I very much doubt this is the case anymore. Now that you know the truth."

To Erik's surprise she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead on the good side of his face.

Erik's eyes closed momentarily and he opened them once more, "How am I to go about doing this?" he asked.

"We need to wait for the moment in which you are better and they are off guard." she spoke, a little awed as Erik was actually agreeing to all of this. She couldn't help it. She threw her arms about him and buried her face into his shoulder. "Thank you, Erik." she whispered, slightly muffled.

Erik looked down at her, and closed his eyes yet again before his arms slowly wound around her. "I forgive you, Christine."

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ending note:

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review please!

TheDragonEye