"Food's out here when you feel like lowering your fierce temper." Erik yelled through the door.

Christine remained silent and seated for quite a while until she allowed herself to open the door. But it was not just the tray that she found - the persian she saw before stood there, patiently waiting.

"May I speak with you for a few minutes?" He asked her with a kind smile. She cocked her head, looking at him with interest.

"I know you...you're that Persian that the ballet girls used to talk about - the one that roamed the hallways. No one seemed to know why he was there...or if he wasn't a ghost himself."

Nadir chuckled softly as he walked past her and into her room. "It was I, but I am very much alive, I assure you. And I was here simply to watch over Erik and make sure he was keeping to the vow he swore to me long ago."

Christine shut the door and walked over to the straightback chair he was sitting in, opposite of the bed. "What vow?"

"To never kill again unless out of self defense."

Christine sighed. "He sure didn't keep to that. Many people died at his hand, that I know."

"As do I. It's why I'm so hard on him."

She shook her head as she bowed it. "It's not just him to blame. I am also responsible for those deaths. He...he did it all for me. To help me. If I never met him...then..."

"Miss Daae! How could you say such a thing? Erik kills because it's how he raised himself. He takes revenge upon the world for hating him and his face. You're just an excuse he uses to take out his anger."

Christine felt a pang of hurt fill her heart when the man sitting there said she was nothing more than an excuse. Surely she was more to Erik than that, was she not? He wouldnt take her decision so hard if she was just an excuse, would he? Shaking the thoughts off, she studied the man with the name Nadir. "Why did you come here?"

"To convince Erik to free you."

"You didn't do a very good job."

Nadir chuckled. "No, not yet. But I will. Erik has very little tolerance - he can't stand my nagging for very long. It never fails - he'll do what ever he must to shut me up. We just wait until that time ."

"And until then?"

"Until then, I'll help you cope with being down here, and making sure Erik is proper towards you and fills your needs. I'll take care of you - you are now my responsibility until I can personally return you to your fiancé."

Christine's face fell at the mention of Raoul. "How is he?"

"The Vicomte? Terrible, as to be expected. They're trying to find a way to get through."

"Why did you not show them?"

"I only know the way to the torture chamber. Erik would kill anyone who ended up there. But don't you worry, Miss Daae - I'll look after you until they find their way down. Erik went to far this time, and I will not condone this."

OooooooooooooooooO

Christine awoke, the same as she had the last four days that Nadir had been there - to a hot cup of fresh tea and some morning food specially arranged on the plate, all sitting by her night stand. She had been here for eight days now, and strange enough, it seemed so much more...almost in a good way. She now could hear hammering and wood being ripped up all through the day as hired men worked on repairing the floors so they could come rescue her. It was her constant source of hope, as Nadir put it. Each day Nadir came in and talked to her, making sure everything was to her liking, and that she wasn't too upset about what Erik had done. Now that her initial anger had passed, she didn't mind being here all that much. Of course she missed Raoul, and her friends, but other than that, this wasn't so bad. She had stayed here for days at a time before, and happily.

What plagued her was the reason why she was down here. Erik told her it was from her own bad sense, yet he never talked to her or helped her see error in her ways. She just stayed in her room, and he let her continue to do so.

Or was that part of the test? Erik was always testing her, seeing what she was made of. Was this no different? Sighing, she sat up and began to eat, wondering why the masked man that played a part in every dream was always so difficult and complicated.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Erik watched her as he swayed back and forth in the silent rocking chair by the fire. It was the first time that Christine had ventured out since Nadir was caught in the torture chamber. Inwardly, he cursed himself for telling her of such a room. How was he to win her good graces if she thought him still a monster? It seemed to be the only part of him that he allowed her to see of late.

He studied her, wondering if Nadir had been right. He had told him that rest assure, Christine was miserable. But then why didn't she seem like such?

She walked back and forth, balancing on the ledge of where stone met still waters. She'd walk up the stone stairs, then all the way to the other side, then back again. Each time Erik expected her to go back in her room and slam the door, but she never did. She wasn't nervously pacing, just deep in thought. Her footing was sure and slightly playful, taking wider and wider steps, sometimes hopping from one foot to another as she remained balance. Years of being tutored by Madame Giry made her very wise in her movements, very sure. But why walk along the water's edge when she couldn't swim? It was a well known fact to both of them that she couldn't . Erik had heard the story all too many times of when she was a child, and her beloved scarf slipped into the ocean, carried upon a gust of sudden wind. She couldn't get it; her father never taught her to swim. He was always more worried on what she would do on land; singing and dancing for their money like gypsies as he played his violin. Never did he bother with such things as swimming. So when the scarf fell into the rapid waters, all she could do was cry until a boy not much older than she came to her rescue and jumped in to save it. Despite the fact that Christine loved that day, Erik despised it. That little boy turned out to be­ a foolish, lovesick, and rich young Vicomte. That boy grew up to be his number one rival and Christine's sweetheart, Raoul.

Shaking the unpleasant story from his mind, Erik returned to his original thought; why walk the dangerous edge? Was she looking for escape? Thinking that Erik would return her if she was sick? Or was it she was trying to capture his attention, make him uneasy? There were surely other ways to do such, and not as risky. But then why did she do it?

Just to see what would happen, Erik began to softly hum a lullaby. It was so soft that he was surprised she could actually hear it, but it was easy to see that she did. Christine stopped walking, almost directly in front of him, and slowly shut her eyes. As he continued, she sank to the floor. Her bare feet dipped into the cold water, but she seemed not to feel it's temperature.

"Erik, I-" Nadir's broken sentence broke the beautiful spell. Christine's eyes opened, Erik's song stopped. Both looked at him expectantly, as he surveyed the situation. Then in a huff, Nadir made a beeline for the kitchen. Erik shrugged, and, after a hesitant pause, Christine stood up and walked to her bedroom, the lock on the door was the only sound that could be heard from her.

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