I have gone over this several times already, but my reason for not updating is because there has been a lot of crap that has been going on lately and that is my reason. I'm not going into too much detail, but there was a family crisis, I moved back to my dad's, and that's about it. Nothing to exciting.

Christine: You poor, poor thing!

Me: Thank you, Christine. Where's Erik? Is he still sitting in the Emo Author Corner?

Christine: *sigh* Yes, he is, but I'll drag him out hopefully by the end of the chapter; I need him to help me with Alyssandra. She has decided to be a complete handful today!

Alyssandra: *yanks on Christine's hair* Papa!

Me: I'm sorry, Christine. We'll both get him at the end and Alyssandra, stop abusing Maman! So, without further interruptions, here is the next chapter to the story!

Red Rose Thorns

Raoul had decided that before he went looking for his wife, he would take his favorite whore out for some shopping. She had been very good lately and he always treated the girls well when the pleased and obeyed him. So, today he was going to buy her any piece of jewelry that she wanted and perhaps a new dress that only she would wear when he called upon her.

"Well, my dear, what store would you like to go into first? There is no need to rush; take your time and I'll pay your mistress whatever amount of money she wants since I'm keeping you away from work." He told her sweetly into her ear.

"Thank you, Monsieur le Vicomte. I must say, you've never pampered me like this before. Are you in a particularly good mood today?" Kimia asked, but she knew the reason why: he was getting back his wife today and he planned on using her to do so. But she wasn't going to complain at the moment; he had been treating her like an actual human being for once and she was going to soak it up while she could. Right now, she was looking for a necklace that she had seen the other day that she had fallen in love with! Though, she wasn't having any luck so far, the Vicomte promised her that if she couldn't find it, he would have a jeweler make it for her, but it would cost her and she could only guess what he had in store for her.

"I'm in fantastic mood because I'm getting my wife back." Raoul smiled wickedly, "And I'm also thinking about how I'm going to get her back, too. Perhaps I'll threaten her disgusting baby and kill her lover. Perhaps I'll kill them both and she'll have no choice but to come back to me."

"But you'll still call on me, won't you Monsieur? I'll get awfully lonely if you don't." She had to play along. If she played her cards right, she would be one step closer to killing the man who had placed her father in the Persian prison and forced her into this lifestyle. I will find you, you bastard. I will find you and I will help Raoul kill you!

Giving out a dark chuckle, Raoul saw the anger and hatred that seemed to creep into Kimia's eyes and he loved it! He saw that he had made the right choice when it came to picking out which whore would help him kill the Phantom's family! He had a detective do background checks on his lovers and he was extremely pleased when he saw that she had a father in a Persian prison because he had helped a deformed French man leave the country. He had a pretty good guess at who the deformed man was and he knew that Kimia would be the perfect accomplice.

"I'll never leave you, ma petite putain! You're my favorite out of all of the girls that I see and I'm glad that you're helping out this beautiful afternoon."

Kimia ignored the stares from the people who had heard what Raoul had said. It was his pet name for her and even though it made her cringe and want to break his neck, she put up with it. Mainly because he would not beat her nearly as hard if she did. "That's good news. I know the mistress would be quite sad if completely left us."

"My wife won't care if I sleep with women besides her. She doesn't please me like she should and that's why I beat her and come find you girls. My wife is nothing but a scrawny little chienne; I don't even know what I saw in her. I guess was hoping that she would be the same submissive little Lotte who I had met when we were little, but I guess I was wrong. Instead, I got a whore who did nothing but sulk and then she gave birth to a monster. But I'm willing to forgive her, Kimia. I'm willing to forgive her as long as she comes back to me and if she allows me to kill her spawn and lover."

Kimia couldn't believe what she was hearing! This man was absolutely insane! Why did he marry somebody if it only brought back memories? Why would he go through all the trouble that he had to get this girl who he would just beat? And how could his wife be so stupid to go with him? Couldn't she see that he was a horrible person?

"I think it's very noble of you that you'll take her back. She's lucky to have a strong man like you looking after her. Oh, look, there is the necklace I wanted!" Kimia forced a smile to her lips and pointed to a random necklace. She just needed to change the subject! Despite what she thought about the Vicomte's wife, nobody should go through something like that. Maybe I'll help her get out, but I won't show mercy towards her lover. Not after what he did to my father, but her poor child…she's an innocent baby, deformed or not, and she has done nothing wrong.

"Is that so? Then, my darling, I shall purchase it for you, but I expect you to pay me back." Raoul chuckled, as if he made some clever joke. Kimia gave the sick man a small grin and watched as he walked inside the tiny jewelry store, buying the necklace that she didn't even want, or need. Heaving a sigh, she turned around and nearly had a heart attack at what she saw: it was Christine de Chagny! She was literally standing right across the street from her. She had to warn her. She didn't care if her lover was a bastard who had ruined her life, or the fact that the girl herself was a whore, but she deserved better than Raoul. She deserved so much more, even if that better person was the man she wanted to murder.

Looking inside the store, Kimia made sure that Raoul's attention was being held and she darted across the street. "Madame! Madame de Chagny!" she called, hoping that she wouldn't scare the poor thing off.

Christine heard her title being called and she stiffened immediately. It was bad enough that Raoul and his mistress was standing across the street, but the fact that the girl knew who she was made her absolutely terrified. Will she tell Raoul about me? She can't! I'm finally happy and I don't want to go back to him! Especially now that he has a mistress! Gathering her composure, she walked out of the alley and stood on the sidewalk, waiting for the girl to reach her.

The girl was actually quite beautiful; she had light brown skin, pitch black hair, and sparkling brown eyes. Christine could see why Raoul would want a mistress like her. She was even more beautiful than herself. "What do you need, my dear? Aren't you with my husband right now?"

"I am, Madame, but I have to tell you something. It's concerning Monsieur de Chagny." Kimia said, seeing the fear in her pretty brown eyes. I can understand why Raoul was attracted to her. She is very lovely, despite the scars that litter her face. No doubt that was his doing! She couldn't help but feel her own scars and bruises beginning to hurt again; that abusive son of a bitch had thrown a bottle at her last night and the glass shattered against her skin.

"What do you have to say?"

"He is coming after you, Madame. He plans on taking you back and killing your child." Kimia had decided to leave out the part of him killing her lover, despite that being her part of the scheme, but now that she was standing here in front of this woman, she no longer felt the urge to kill him. Yes, she still hated him with a passion, but she didn't feel the need to kill him anymore.

Christine wanted to cry and run away, back down to the cellars! She wanted to hold her child, she wanted Erik to hold her and tell her that everything was going to be alright, that Raoul wasn't going to do anything to their family.

"Merci for letting me know, Mademoiselle. I need you to do something for me, if you don't mind." Christine whispered, horror still evident on her features.

"Whatever you need, Madame, I'll gladly help with."

"I'm on my way to the church where Raoul and I are married and getting the documents for divorce. Meet me in this exact spot later on tonight and I'll give you to them. Get Raoul very drunk and have him sign the documents. After this is done, meet me here once again, hand me over the documents and you'll never have to see me again. This I promise you." Christine instructed. She couldn't face Raoul; she thought she had the confidence to confront him, but she realized that it wasn't there, at least not yet. She couldn't face this man without her angel. She didn't want to feel the sting of a slap, the hurt of a punch, or the force of a kick. She didn't want that; she knew if Erik was with her, he could protect her, but he wasn't there to protect her. He was five levels underneath the opera house looking after their daughter. And right now, she was relying on a girl who she had never met, but had connections to her husband.

"Yes, Madame, I will help you. As long as you sign the document before I give it to Raoul, I can return it to the church for you, but I have one condition though." Kimia had to know. She had to know why her bastard lover had her father tossed in jail. If she found out the truth, she wouldn't give two shits if he lived or not. She just wanted to know. "I wish to speak to your…friend, Madame. He has some vital information regarding my father and I wish to ask him about it. If I could just do that, I will do whatever you want."

Christine didn't want to admit it, but she was desperate! She needed to get these documents signed and turned in as fast as she could because the sooner she turned them back into the church the sooner she could leave!

"You may speak with him, but you must swear you won't ever show Raoul or any other living soul where this place shall be. It is my home and my fiancé's sanctuary so if I find out that you betray my trust, horrible things will happen in your future, Mademoiselle, this I promise you!" Christine hissed.

"I won't betray your trust, Madame, and please, call me Kimia. If we are to be working together, no more formalities."

Christine gave a slight nod at this and proceeded to give the girl instruction on how to get below the opera. She had a feeling in her gut that she was going to regret this, but she had no other option! Either she trusted Raoul's mistress to help her out, or Raoul would kill Erik and Alyssandra.

^.^

Erik was enjoying his alone time with his baby girl. He had been composing lately and when he started, he couldn't do anything else until it was complete, and that included playing with Alyssandra. But he didn't feel too bad though; the song he had been composing was meant for her and only her. He hoped that one day he could write more songs for even more children. Christine probably wants to wait until Alyssandra is a tad bit older; I have a feeling that if it happens too young, she'll get jealous, but if she's too old, she won't have anything in common with the baby. It's definitely a delicate balance that I'm sure Christine and I can figure out.

After Christine had left, Erik had placed Alyssandra in her crib, hoping that the child would take a nap, but all he got were shrieks for her papa or her maman. It drove him insane! Even after six months of being with his little girl, he couldn't believe the set of lungs she had! And she was as stubborn as her mother!

"The one trait you had to inherit from your mother. You couldn't have inherited her natural shyness or quiet demeanor, could you? No, you decided to get her stubbornness and lungs, while all I could give you was my face." Erik sighed. He was going crazy; he was having conversations with Alyssandra, who just wanted to play or walk around in tiny circles. She didn't care what traits she inherited or what she looked like or how her parents got along. Her main goal at the moment was to play, but her papa decided to be quiet and she was going to throw a fit any second!

Erik couldn't help but chuckle when he saw Alyssandra's pout; she looked absolutely adorable! She sure didn't get that pout from her mother! Christine does it differently. I wonder if that's a thing she got from me…

No. There was nothing good that he could give to her. Absolutely nothing! She had his freakish golden eyes and his deformity. Shaking his head, deciding that he would much rather play with his daughter than to dwell on such thoughts.

Right in the middle of a tense filled match of peek-a-boo, the alarms went off and Erik immediately dawned the persona of the Phantom. He quickly took Alyssandra into the room and placing her in her crib. As soon as he did, the little girl began to cry; didn't her papa want to play with her? She was having fun, too!

"Papa! Papa!" she screamed. That usually got his attention! But when he turned back to look at her, she went quiet. This man didn't look like her papa; he wore the same clothes as her papa, but there was something about his face that made her want to cry out in fear. Where had her papa gone too? Who was the strange man standing in front of her?

"Alyssandra, be quiet for Papa. There are bad people coming into the house, sweet one, and I couldn't bear it if you got hurt so please, keep quiet." Erik explained as simply as he could. Despite her age, Alyssandra seemed to catch onto things pretty easily. He knew that she wouldn't have a problem figuring out how to stay quiet. Setting the tiny girl in her crib, he gestured for her to be silent and walked out of the bedroom quietly. Why did people have to disturb him now? Didn't the mob destroy his house enough over a year ago? Or perhaps it was Raoul, finally coming back to claim Christine as his own?

Erik couldn't risk any chances, not with his daughter in another room. He grabbed the Punjab lasso that he had kept hidden from Christine and held it, ready to put it around the unsuspecting neck of whoever was coming. Just a little closer…come on…closer, closer…

And I'm going to leave it there! I think you guys can figure out on your own who is coming into the lair. Well, I'm proud to announce that I will be updating more often and that we were finally able to semi-drag Erik out of the Emo Author Corner!

Erik: You may have won the battle, but not the war.

Me: Suck it up, dude! I can't even remember why you were hiding there.

Christine: I thought you said something to him…I can't remember either.

Alyssandra: Papa corner!

Me: Yes, that's right! Your papa was sitting in his own special little corner! Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and I hope to update it soon for you guys! I love you all and remember to review! REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! Oh, and a quick thing here: I don't know how divorce went down in 19th century France so I'm just gonna do my own thing…I hope that doesn't piss anyone off and if it does…well to bad!

^.^