Hope you guys appreciate the fact that I was up until the wee hours of the morning writing this chapter. I'm rather proud of how it turned out actually. In this chapter Erik further observes Adele searching for her weakness and finds it. So get ready. Chapter 5. Read it and weep fellas ;)

It really was impossible to compose with all this racket going on above him. Really it was. Erik may be deep within the bowels of the opera house but he could still hear the pounding of the construction going on in the main level, resulting in a similar rhythmic pounding in his temples.

It had been three months since construction had begun, and already he was ready for it to be over with. It reminded him too much of the opera house being first built, those memories bringing forth others that he'd rather not recall.

Knowing he wasn't going to be getting any work done any time soon, Erik made his way across the lake and through the secret passageways towards the manager's office. It was one of the few places in the house that hadn't been damaged and it was where Adele and Durand along with the foremen had set up shop. He'd go there after his failed attempts to compose to see the plans Adele and Durand had towards progress, and to observe the young woman searching out a weakness that he could manipulate to his advantage.

He arrived behind one of the hollows in the wall where a piece of stone had chipped away to reveal a rather fabulous view of the office while allowing him to remain undetected. He first spotted Adele standing behind a desk that had been brought in for their convenience. Her icy eyes were focused on the foreman on duty, a pompous bastard named Boucher.

"We are behind schedule Monsieur Boucher, we should have completed the main hall last week!"

"The men are working as fast as they can Mademoiselle Stryker." Boucher sneered. "Do you expect them to grow another set of arms?"

Adele stiffened. "I expect them to do their jobs. Which whenever I look around there seems to be a lack thereof. Are not the men on a set schedule for breaks?"

"Oui Mademoiselle."

"Are not these breaks given at a specific time?"

"Oui."

"And did I not myself give you this easy to read schedule?"

"Oui indeed Mademoiselle."

"Then why is it that when I come out of this office to observe the work being done I catch men slacking off and not doing their jobs!" Adele roared at the man, causing him to stumble back.

Erik smirked. Oh my, dearest Adele's temper was flaring again.

"And who is it that is supposed to ensure that these men are doing their jobs and doing it correctly, hmm? That. Is. You! Not only is your lazy fat ass putting us behind schedule but it is endangering the lives of men because you are not enforcing the strict guidelines we have laid down for them!"

"Endanger? How on earth do you suppose that these men's taking an occasional off schedule break puts them in danger?" Boucher yelled back.

"Are you an idiot? Let me explain it to you then. The whole reason why I finally called you into this office was because today one of your men decided to take a 'harmless' off schedule break and go outside to smoke. On his way outside he passed underneath a man on one of the upper beams who dropped his nail gun. It went off when it hit the floor and the nail came this close…" she indicated a two inch gap with her pointer finger and thumb, "this close to hitting him in the head. If he had been a fraction of a second later or walking more slowly it would have killed him. Now you tell me how these unscheduled breaks are harmless!"

"Mademoiselle, these freak accidents do happen in the workplace." Boucher said sullenly.

Adele stilled, and Erik leaned closer.

"Yes, accidents do happen in the workplace, I will concede that point to you. That, Monsieur Boucher, is why we made this schedule to begin with. By having the entire place go on breaks at the same time it does slow production but people are able to move about freely without fear of being in an accident because another section is working that they have to pass through. I do everything here for a reason Monsieur Boucher, not for shits and giggles. If you do not agree or feel that you cannot properly complete the tasks assigned to you, then find another job. Now…" Adele pointed to the door. "Get out of my office."

Boucher turned and left, grousing the entire way. Adele didn't move, even after the door had closed behind him.

Anyone who knew Adele knew that she had a temper. Friends of her father said she had gotten it from her mother who was entitled to one as an actress. They commented how fortunate she was, though, to also be in possession of her father's self-control, that she might keep such a temper at bay until it was proper time to utilize it.

What many people didn't know was that in controlling her temper, she often bottled up the worst of it and only allowed the least damaging amount to escape. And very rarely, the bottle of anger inside her would shatter, and she would go into violent rages.

The first time it ever happened she was five. It was a year after her mother had died, and her tutoring and music lessons had begun. Her temper often flared when she couldn't figure out a particular problem or sing a specific key, and she had bottled up her frustrations with no outlet. She had woke up one night from a nightmare, frightened, and realized she wanted her mother.

Her anger boiled over. At the thought that she'd let a nightmare frighten her, at the thought she wanted her mommy like some weak pansy, but mostly at the fact that she couldn't even run to her mother even if she wanted to, because her mother was dead, was the catalyst that triggered the explosion inside her. She'd screamed like a banshee and set about to destroy her entire room. Little Adele shattered every glass object, throwing delicate ballerina figurines against the wall and taking books to the mirrors. She tore apart her stuffed animals in a frenzy, their fluffy insides floating down like snow.

A maid came into her room and, seeing the havoc she had created, paled and ran to her father's room to warn her employer about his daughter's attack of violence.

Leland sprinted to his daughter's room, and found her on the floor at the foot of her bed, breathing heavily and still tearing the fluff out of some hapless stuffed creature.

Leland cautiously approached his daughter, not in fear of her, but in fear for her. He hoped his calm manner would soothe her and keep her from relapsing.

"Adele, my darling, what is wrong?" he asked gently.

Adele didn't look at him. "I want my Maman…"

Leland's heart melted for his child, whose fragile state, in his mind, was caused by the loss of one so dear to her. "My sweet, ask me for anything in the world. Diamonds, castles, any of those things I could give you, but you know that I cannot give you your Maman back as much as I wish I could."

"I know…" Adele finally had mercy on the toy and set it away from her. "But I still want her."

"I know my dearest, so do I." Leland replied, taking his daughter into his arms in a soothing embrace.

Her offense was forgotten, the mess cleaned up and no one had spoken of the matter. She didn't have another attack until she was thirteen, after puberty had set in and her hormones had decided to go all whacked on her.

Now, five years later, in this office, Adele knew another attack was about to happen.

Calmly, she went and locked the door that waste of a human being Boucher had just exited from. She went back to her desk, and put all her important files and blueprints into a drawer and locked it as well.

Adele looked around, confirming that everything that was important was safe from her, before allowing her fury to emerge. Reginald's death, her wait for the opera house to go on sale, having to leave her father for the first time in her life, the contractors, being behind schedule, almost losing a man in what would have been a horrendous accident, and finally Boucher. All these events and the feelings that they invoked welled up inside her, and spilled out in a scream.

Then all hell broke loose.

Erik watched in fascination as Adele began the process of destroying the entire office.

Apparently short of heavy furniture, nothing was safe. Models were shattered and paper shredded as Adele's once lovely young face contorted and twisted into a snarling mask of rage. For ten minutes Erik watched her, yet it seemed like an eternity as she savagely demolished anything she could get her hands on. Slowly, he observed the tension drain from her shoulders, leeching out of her body as she forced herself to still and take deep, even breaths. She stayed like that for a few minutes, before righting the chair that she had toppled over in her assault and easing herself down into it.

Erik turned and left. He had found her weakness, but even Erik knew it was going to be difficult to find a use for such a weakness as she possessed.

Like I said, I was proud of this chapter, and I hope you liked it. R&R!