Erik stared down at his hand with the ring nestled into its fleshy cushions. He sat there, wondering how it had all come to this, wondering how he had managed to let it all go so horribly wrong. Slowly, he managed to push himself to his feet. It was oddly quiet in his home, the echoes of the mob were blurred out by the sound of his own pulse rushing in his ears. Glancing across at the table he spotted one of his masks, exactly where he had asked Nadir to leave it.
He sighed and moved towards it, lifting it from the table and then walking back to his seat. He placed it on the seat, facing up and then wandered into his bedroom to find another mask, one he did not wear often. The room was dusty and cold, he reached down under his cot and pulled a chest out. Inside the chest lay three masks and he picked up the black one and placed it against his cheek.
There was only one mirror in his entire home and it was right there in his room, next to the bed. Usually, he covered it with a grey sheet but tonight it stood uncovered and he checked that the mask was gummed into the right place across his face.
He didn't wear this mask often.
When he was done in his room he walked out of the kitchen and sat in his seat, staring down at the body of his friend. Erik wanted to walk to him, to lift him up, to cover him... to do anything but sit there and look at his lifeless body.
The lifeless body that was there as a result of Erik's stupid crusade.
He slammed his fists down hard onto the table and sent echoes around his cavernous home.
'Gabriele,' he said, quietly.
There was no response.
He heard a gentle ripple in the water but knew that it was not Aiton. He waited a little longer, what felt like hours but was more like a few seconds. Digging his fingernails into the wooden table he shouted. 'Gabriele, you coward!'
It was then that he heard the rustle just to his right, behind the organ, a hiding place he was surprised that the younger man had found.
'Erik,'
He turned and stared at Gabriele, whose hair was damped down, whose eyes were cold and merciless.
Much like his own, he thought.
Erik looked up at him. 'You killed my friend,'
'You killed mine,' Gabriele retorted.
Erik smiled. 'Louis was not your friend,'
'Then why kill him?'
Erik shrugged one shoulder and tapped a finger against the table. 'Why not?'
Gabriele threw his head back and let out a laugh, false and real at the same time. 'You are a cold bastard, Erik,'
Erik said nothing. Instead he listened carefully and kept his eyes firmly on Gabriele, not allowing him out of his sight. He was not a fool.
There was something quite wrong here.
'You're not frightened,' Erik noted.
'Why should I be?' Gabriele asked.
'Because I could kill you,'
'You could,' He said, tilting his head to the side. 'But you won't,'
'I won't?'
Gabriele shook his head. 'No, you won't, and I think we both know why you won't,'
Erik casually leaned back into his chair, looking up at Gabriele as the younger man moved closer to him. When he took his second step toward him, Erik leapt forward and grabbed Gabriele by the throat, lifting his knee to kick him in his stomach. Gabriele quickly doubled forward and tried to claw Erik's fingers away from his neck.
Although it was hurting the backs of his hands, Erik knew that Gabriele was running low on air and besides, Erik was much, much stronger. He pressed harder and harder and felt Gabriele's valiant struggle become less and less convincing. The young man's blue eyes were staring out, beginning to get blood shot, and Erik simply smiled at him.
Gabriele kicked out but the kick made Erik squeeze a little harder, add a little more pressure. Either Gabriele would run out of air or his neck would break, either way, Erik did not care.
Or at least, he didn't care until he heard the scream.
Over the quiet of the room Christine's scream shattered the air around him, bursting through the silence like an explosion. Like a fool Erik dropped Gabriele to the floor and ran towards the edge of the lake. When he got there he felt a pair oh hands push him down, sending him tumbling into the cold water.
He caught his breath and looked up. Patrik had been the one to push him, he was standing at the waters edge looking down at him. Gabriele was just catching his breath as he made his way over.
'Grab him,' he said and Patrik jumped into the water, grabbing Erik by the arm. Erik elbowed him hard in the nose and he heard the familiar sound of bone breaking. Blood poured out as Patrik lowered his head down to his hands. When he did this Erik placed his hand on the back of Patrik's head and pushed it down, bringing his knee up at the same time, sending Patrik, unconscious, into the water.
When he looked back up Gabriele was shaking his head. 'Enough,'
Erik said nothing, just stood in the freezing water, letting it drip from his face and hair. Gabriele reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pistol, then pointed it right at Erik's chest.
'You won't shoot me,' Erik said, feeling panic rush through his veins. He wished the panic was about the gun but it was not. His panic was about Christine. 'You need something from me,'
Gabriele flashed him a cold smile. 'True,' Then he shrugged. 'But I can wait for that, you'll still come with me otherwise you'll never see her again...'
Erik stood completely still, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.
'Come on,' Gabriele waved the gun to the side, as if giving Erik direction. 'Let's go,'
Erik looked down at himself, waist deep in water, soaked from head to toe. Slowly, he waded out, stepped onto the bank and followed Gabriele to the door. To get there he had to step over Nadir's body and he felt the rage bubble back up inside him. When they were outside the cold on his wet clothes cut into him like a sharp knife.
Outside were two others, he wondered if Gabriele would simply leave Patrik to drown. He assumed so. Just another body to add to Erik's count.
'Tie him up,' Gabriele instructed the other men, Erik recognised them both and the first one looked at him almost apologetically as he pulled the rope around his wrists. Erik made a note to kill both men after breaking Gabriele's scrawny neck.
'Good,' Gabriele was looking around him. 'Take him to the cell to see her, so he knows she's fine. The others won't be back yet but they won't be far behind you. Then we'll deal with them whichever way we have to,'
Silence dropped around them.
'Oh,' Gabriele smiled. 'Killing Louis was a mistake, Erik, he was the only thing stopping me from doing what I like with your lady friend... shame about Louis though, truly,'
Erik felt no remorse and no regret for doing anything to Louis at all. Louis, as far as he was concerned, was as bad as they rest of them. If not worse. He had been the one that Erik had trusted most, the one he had trusted with Christine, and now look what was happening.
No, Louis had needed to go. So, too, did Gabriele.
Eventually, they would all die.
Christine screamed as loudly and as hard as she could. Her voice strained and her head pounded but she screamed at the top of her lungs. Raoul was down, bleeding but alive, with a gun pointed at his head and she herself, was staring down the long barrel of another weapon.
'We don't have to have another problem here,' The older of the two said. 'Just come along quietly, we'll be fine,'
Christine opened her mouth to speak but she simply could not force the words out. All she could think about, was Raoul lying by her feet, lip spilt, ear bleeding.
'Come on, step out of the boat,' She stared at the man, his teeth were all crooked and his hair was a dirty brown. How could she trust him? How could she know that he wasn't going to hurt her too?
Raoul stirred and she dropped to her knees by his side, cradling his injured head. 'Christine,' he whispered. 'I'm fine, do as they say... I'll protect you, just do as they say,'
She glanced up at the two men and then back down at her fiancé.
She wondered if Erik had heard her scream.
'Come on, lady,' The younger of the two kidnappers nodded. 'Time to go.'
With one last look at Raoul she stepped out of the boat and in between the two men. The younger man grabbed her roughly and bound her hands with a thin length of rope. When they were certain that she would not be getting away they tied Raoul's hands and feet and began to drag the boat back towards Erik's home.
Fear was swirling around inside her but mostly she felt angry... furious, even, that someone could even consider hurting a man as gentle as Raoul. It had been unprovoked and unexpected, they had just ambushed them and hit Raoul across the head and face with the handle on the pistol.
The older man started to whistle, as if this was normal which then prompted the young man to start laughing. Soon they were wading back into the entrance of Erik's home and, to her horror, he was nowhere to be seen. In the pool in front of her was a body, bloody and battered and almost certainly dead.
The older man shook his head, looking at the younger man. 'He's good, Gerry,'
The young man, Gerry, smiled a little. 'He's something,'
'You think Gabriele got him or do you think we're all in trouble here?'
Gerry looked around and then back at the man's body in the lake. 'No, Gabriele got him,'
Christine felt a hot sensation in her chest. 'Got ... who?' She asked, sure that she should not talk but positive that she needed to know.
'Your friend,' Gerry grinned. 'Erik Lambourne,'
A chill crept along her spine and she glanced back at Raoul, who was dropping in and out of consciousness.
'Lambourne killed Patrik first, though' The older man said. 'He didn't go down without a fight.'
No, he wouldn't, she thought, staring all around her at the place she had felt so cold yet so comfortable in. The one place where Erik himself was at home, somewhere he feared no one. She swallowed hard, felt her heart thud.
They dragged the boat up onto the bank and then pulled Christine out of the water by her arms. It hurt but she did not yell out, she did not cry. She refused to let them see that she was hurting.
There was a good chance that Erik was dead and now she was beginning to realise that it was all her fault.
'Where are you taking us?' Christine asked, as they pulled Raoul from the boat and dumped him hard onto the floor. He let out a sound, stirred a little, and closed his eyes again. Christine was completely alone.
'To the meeting place and then... well, I don't know,' Gerry replied, his voice was low and gruff.
'Let me go,' she said softly.
Gerry shook his head.
'Why are you doing this?'
'Because we were told to, it's what we get paid for, now follow us,' he grabbed Raoul by the wrists and pulled him along the floor. He was strong and barely seemed to notice the extra weight. There was no way she could fight one of them off, let alone two, and so for now she simply followed them to the table in the room, taking an occasional glance at Raoul to reassure herself.
'Stop!'
Christine spun around to find the origin of the man's voice. She recognised it, vaguely. Finally, she spotted Laurent by the entrance of the lair, in the water and wading towards them. The two kidnappers looked at each other and frowned, they had not planned for this.
'What are you doing?' Laurent asked, his voice firm but not aggressive.
'Nothing,' The older man shrugged casually.
Gerry smiled.
'Why are they tied up?'
Gerry looked from Raoul to Christine and then back to Laurent but he said nothing, chose not to answer the question. Laurent moved closer and closer, making quick progress.
'You, stop there,' Gerry finally said, worried that the young Giry was getting too close.
Laurent looked around him as if he didn't know who he was talking to. 'Me?'
'I know you,' Gerry frowned, staring at Laurent for what seemed an awfully long time.
'You do?' Laurent asked but Christine saw recognition in Laurent's face too. The older man looked confused.
'Laurent?'
After a brief pause Laurent nodded his head. 'Hello, Gerry, how are you?'
'Better if you weren't here,'
At this stage Laurent stepped out of the water and onto dry land, eyes still firmly fixed onto Gerry. The older man stood still, pistol hanging down by his side.
'What's happening here, Gerry?'
'None of your business,' Gerry snapped. 'What are you doing down here? How did you get down here?'
'None of your business,' Laurent shrugged. 'What do you want with these two?' He pointed from Christine to Raoul but did not look at them.
'Gabriele needs to talk to them,'
Laurent frowned. 'What for? And why can't you just ask them to go with you? Why tie them up?' He glanced at Raoul and raised his eyebrows. 'Or bash them about the head?'
'Who is this?' The older man asked.
Gerry glanced sideways at his partner. 'His names Laurent, you took his place,'
He simply nodded.
Laurent smiled at him. 'So, as we're being so civil, who are you?'
'Benjamin,'
Christine watched quietly, wondering what would happen now. Laurent, apparently, had once been part of this crowd working for Gabriele but now it would appear that he had turned against them. She wondered what he was doing down in the Opera cellars, she wondered if he knew Erik.
'Good to meet you, Benjamin,' Laurent said jovially, there was no strain in his voice, he made it seem almost genuine.
Benjamin grunted.
'Get out of here, Laurent,' Gerry growled.
'I can't do that,'
'Just go or I'll kill you,'
Laurent nodded. 'At least you're giving me the option this time,'
'Listen to me,' Gerry snarled. 'I was following orders, I barely knew you...'
'Well, then, it's fine to murder people you barely know but not alright to kill people you do know? Is that what you're saying?'
Gerry did not reply.
'But we're old friends now, Gerry,' Laurent continued, taking a small step closer. 'We're talking and everything,'
'Stay there, stay where you are!' Benjamin yelled, making his voice echo around the room. Christine could see that his nerves were getting frayed, he just wanted to get out of there. She noticed that the hand holding the pistol was shaking violently and that worried her.
'Let them go,'
'We can't do that,' Gerry shrugged. 'We need them,'
In what seemed like a blur, Gerry lurched forward, not in an attempt to get to Laurent but because Scott Giry had leapt on his back, knocking him to the floor and the gun out of his hand. Christine stood, helpless, hands tied up, as the pistol skidded past her feet and out of harms way. Scott raised his fist and punched Gerry square in the mouth, sending spit and blood flying out.
Laurent jumped forward and tackled Benjamin.
In the commotion, Raoul remained almost completely still and Christine tried to back her way towards the pistol but it had traveled a long way. Laurent was strong but the pistol in Benjamin's hand was flying around dangerously. It was a moment before Christine realised that she was holding her breath as she watched. She knew now that no amount of screaming would bring Erik to their aid and so she remained pathetically silent, heart thudding but unable to do a single thing about it.
Laurent pushed Benjamin back and Scott was dragging Gerry to his feet to hit him again.
It was then that the inevitable happened. The pistol that Benjamin had been clinging to so nervously earlier was now being fired in accident. The bullet hit Scott in the back sending him sprawling, face down, to the floor. Laurent looked but, to his credit, did not let go of Benjamin. Gerry, however, composed himself and ran towards Christine, knocking her to the floor as he grabbed his own pistol.
Laurent tried to pull the older man around as a shield but he was too late. Gerry had already taken aim and pulled the trigger. Laurent gasped as he was hit, high on his body and to the left, and then he fell to the floor and closed his eyes. Christine realised that she had jumped at Gerry's feet in an attempt to stop him, but tied up and already on the floor, she had missed by a matter of feet.
She surveyed the carnage around her, Scott had not moved, Laurent was groaning. Gerry was reloading his pistol and Benjamin was shaking like a leaf. Tears began to build in her eyes as she looked at Scott Giry, blood pooling around him, lifeless. Her heart began to ache for so many reasons, not least of all that her friend was now without her father and all because of Christine's mess.
'Get up!' Gerry snarled as he finished loading his weapon. Christine simply struggled to her feet, unable to get any words out, unable to fight anymore. 'Pull yourself together, Ben,'
Benjamin looked over towards the two of them and blinked. Then with a nod of his head, he grabbed Raoul and began to pull him towards the door.
'Are you ready?' Gerry looked at her, a smirk developing on his face.
She said nothing and simply followed.