Author note: 'Allo. I hope everyone had a amazing Christmas. Now because you have all been waiting I will ramble at the end of the chapter because here will be my thank you(s) for the last reviews sent in.

Thanks to:

-GerrysJackie

-OG

-Mademoiselle Christine Daae

Now on to the chapter.

TheDragonEye

Concerning Phantoms

"Erik that was a goddam stupid move!"

Erik groaned and put a hand to his forehead before slumping forward in the large armchair where he sat. To think he would have arrived back at the manor in a decent welcoming manor. Christine was not about, or at least what he had seen, which had not been much. After an uncomfortable and slow paced ride home which had been filled with jumping at every noise; Erik had been ushered into the house by Darius who had found him in the woods, half falling off the horse; He luckily did not look to be injured from last night when he had been taken.

Two other servants had come out and moved the out cold Vicomnte to one of the upstairs room while he had been intercepted by Nadir and been relocated to the study before he could get the chance to vanish into his room and fall into a well needed sleep. It had been the same thing for about twenty minutes and from the last phrase it looked to be like Nadir would be repeating himself again. Who would have known?

"Philippe could have done much worse to you! You could be dead!"

Oh wait, that was how he knew. Now that must have been the fifth time Nadir had spoken that sentence.

"Dead, Erik! Are you even listening to me?" demanded the Persian man.

Now did that count as a sixth time?

"No offense my old friend, but it is kind of hard not to listen to your voice." Erik replied, his voice dripping from the weariness of last night.

Nadir's eyes narrowed but he spoke nothing in response to what Erik said. "Now. Since that doesn't want to be sticking in your mind and you have a short attention span at the moment how about this to get you to pay attention? From what I can gather information wise from Darius, he had been sleeping when he heard a noise from downstairs. Not a loud one. Just a dull muffled one, like a bird hitting the wall or something. Poor, kind hearted Darius went to check. Too fond of animals. But I am surprised you heard nothing until the crash from the glass. However, when Darius went down stairs he was heading to the back door. Not near said window at all."

Erik lifted his head to look at Nadir. "How would that be possible? I mean. . remember. . the glass had been shattered going outside, not found on the inside. So someone inside had to smash it from inside the building."

Nadir nodded wearily, "I know. But from what I found, his story is correct and he was grabbed from the back door. I saw a set of foot prints on either side of the door in the flower beds, they were sunken in like people had been standing waiting. Another set was by the front door, and another by the window too. So, I believe that Philippe's men were wanting you to come out, and either way you checked, you would have been grabbed."

Erik nodded once more but spoke, "I understand that. .but the glass?"

"Henchmen are not too bright, and I doubted much that Philippe took part in actually ambushing Darius. From what I could guess was that the note that was attached to the weight which broke the window had been thrown from the open door. I have thought about this a lot while you had gone and we were searching. Now that weight had been enough to shatter the window right? What if two things were thrown? The one with the note attached to it and a larger one?"

"Why would two be thrown?" asked Erik.

"Think about it. If someone had heard Darius being taken, then the stone would hurt them, possibly if thrown correctly it could knock them out or stun them for a stall of time. Unless they wanted to be heard. Which is another possibility. If it was you that they grabbed, they might have wanted to get away in secret. But the noise would alarm you into looking." The man shook his head. "Christine thought that some of the men actually might have entered the house to search but did not have the time and needed a fast exit."

Erik closed his eyes and his head bobbled before jerking upright, nearly falling asleep. "Either. . . " he yawned. "Either one of those could be a possibility, but it doesn't matter anymore does it?"

Nadir shook his head a few times, "It could make all the difference. Especially if it had been a spy in the house hold who met up with us in the forest so as not to appear missing. Erik? Are you listening to me? Erik! Wake up!"

Erik who had been awake a few moments before had dozed off with his head in his hands. His eyes languidly and tried to lock dully on to Nadir. "I'm listening." he murmured, half slurred.

Nadir just rose from his seat, glancing down at Erik. "No. .well perhaps you were, but anything else I could say won't register in your mind. Go, off to rest. I still wouldn't be openly honest with Christine. It's not that I don't like her. But she has been in De Changy presence for so long that perhaps she has long-"

He was cut off by Erik, "You just hate her because I loved her and she was the reason of my depression. Plus the first week you were forced to stay with me to stop me from killing myself." he stated, his voice cold and knowing.

"Imagine how it looked from my stand point! Every second you were about to hang yourself, or slit your wrist on something I over looked, or even trying to drown yourself!"

"That is not Christine's fault." he reminded Nadir.

Nadir pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Yes it is. It is because she ruined you, which is what some women do. Plus I don't want you to trust her now because you still love her!"

Erik rose to his feet, matching Nadir's gaze. He could almost feel the tension and heat of aggression in the air. Erik knew if he ever did fight Nadir, especially in this state that it would be a quick fight. "I'm going to bed." he spoke instead and headed to the door.

"Just keep my words in mind, my friend. Allah watch over you while you sleep." Nadir murmured under his breath as Erik passed him.

Erik stopped when he reached the door and opened it. "Same to you partner." he stepped out and shut the door behind himself. Slowly dragging his feet away from the study and walking heavily up the stairs. He missed his old home beneath the opera house. At least there weren't fifteen stairs to climb to the next level whenever he got tired and wanted to lay down. He did not want to trust laying in any room downstairs, so upstairs to his room he went. Not even having the strength to look for Christine and to see if she was alright.

The worn and scathed up man headed down the left hand hallway once he reached the landing and turned to the right when the next hallway came into sight. Erik counted three doors and opened the one to his left; entering it with a sigh of relief. It was still hard to believe that this home was his, and why did it have to be so big? Sure. . servants quarters and all, but there were not many to be seen around. Or perhaps he was just blind to the matter. What use did he have for servants anyways? Nadir would not even allow him to trust Christine. The only other one besides the man that he could trust was Darius, and he didn't even know the man all to well. Plus he could not be too happy for being ambushed due to him indirectly. So that was shaky terms.

Erik weakly tugged at his clothing until he was in nothing but his pants with his drawers underneath. He climbed into the bed hardly having the strength to move under the comforter and sheets so he pulled a blanket over him that had been folded at the foot of the bed.

The thought crossed his mind of wondering which room Raoul was in. Christine would most likely be there, right? She had been the one who wanted him brought there safely in return for her helping him through his fever. Did knocking him unconscious break the 'rules' of 'safety'?

"He'll just have to tough it out." Erik grumbled and turned on his side, facing the wall. He knew it was blank but he spent no time gazing at it, for his eyes had closed long before he got the chance in a matter of moments he was asleep- darkness seeping into his mind to allow his body a well needed rest; far away from all that he had learned, all that he had done, and all he had suffered through during the past few days.

Christine had been watching Erik ever since he left the study and had caught the last few exchange of words in their conversation. Erik seemed so oblivious. Walking as if he was a zombie. Poor dear had been through a lot, hadn't he?

She had already seen Raoul when the servants had brought him in so she knew he had accomplished his part of the deal. Good, very good. No one under this roof knew how much of an advantage that gave them. Then again, everyone was pretty much oblivious in terms of knowledge. Nadir was trying to figure it out, but because of the words he had said to Erik she decided not to trust him either. There, no actual knowledge for him. But she would tell Erik when the time came, whom she knew would tell Nadir anyways.

Her steps were quiet as she followed Erik, though every step was like an elephant walking in her own ear. She wondered if Erik had lost some of his sharpened senses in the past week or so. It would not be long though until she knew Erik would be powerful and daunting. What then? He could easily force anyone out of his way and probably return to Paris, or seek revenge on the people who had made his life difficult.

Ah the choice between good and evil, for his own good or for the benefit of others. He did not know yet but there was a decision already in the making between forming choices. Sometimes it paid to be well informed.

The young woman was not so ignorant anymore. The entire matter with Erik, Raoul, and Philippe had made her wary. Looking for hints and information all the while, even while not meaning to. That was not being conniving was it? Just being smart. A smile parted her lips as she watched Erik slink into one of the rooms. After about five minutes waiting, she glanced about to make sure the halls were empty before heading to the third room on the left and opening it without knocking.

"Erik?" she called softly and looked over to the sleeping figure on the bed, his back to her. There was no response, but she entered anyways, shutting the door behind herself. "Erik?" she tried again with more silence in response.

Christine crossed the room and moved around the bed to look at Erik. She once more smiled as she looked at him. His face was relaxed from sleep though he still looked horrible. The least he could have done was try to cover some of his cuts or take a bath before going to bed. His clothing lay scattered on the ground and she picked up his shirt which was dirty and torn in several places. There also looked to be blood on it. She paled; was that someone else's blood or his own?

She busied herself by walking about and picking up the rest of his clothing, making a pile which she set outside the door in the hallway. A servant would come around and collect it.

Once the task was finished she closed the door and she headed towards the only window in the room, pulling the curtains shut to block out the late morning sun which shown at an irritably bright contrast into his room. The dark curtains blocked out a great proportion of light and she looked about the dim room for anything else she could do.

Seeing nothing she returned back to the bed and sat on the edge of it, brushing some of his hair out of his face in the one moment of peace he found in sleep. If ever he should dream she hoped it not to be ill.

"When you wake I shall make sure you are not disturbed, just a time for you to take things easy. . .relaxed and recovering." she planted a kiss on his forehead and continued to watch him as he slept on.

Ending note: Wow. . I think this is the first chapter that I did not ever leave in a cliff hanger, but it still makes you want more. So is Christine to be trusted or not?

I have another chapter written, I'll just wait for reviews before I post it. Let me know what you think ok?

And although it was like a month ago, my NaNoWriMo was completed on time with a total of 51,667 words and is entitled "The Shapeshifter". Most of it was written at 3am on some days so I might post it on FanFiction once I have re-edited it.

See you all at the next chapter. Sorry for the wait and I hope you weren't disappointed.

TheDragonEye