A/n Aww only 4 reviews? Well I hope my lack of reviews doesn't mean the story is getting iffy -teary eyes- But lots of thanks to those who did review. This chapter talks more about the new characters that have come into play. I'm not sure how big a part they will be, but it is nice to know who you are dealing with, eh?

Into the Storm – loll no he lives in the church. He turned it into a house. Added a second story and everything. Of course if Erik built it, it's bound to have a few…secrets. Mwahaha!

Genius of Music - -Huggles- I'm so glad you think the story is well written, Even with my dyslexia. (which makes catching the simplest typos or grammar mistakes very difficult.) I hope the rest of the story won't disappoint you.

the Mouse in the Opera House – Egads I hardly think the man has enough guts to go against Erik like that. But Hey, we never know till we get there eh? -evil laughter-

Twinkle22– of course she'll be okay… she's a main character :)

Disclaimer: I don't Own anything of POTO

Chapter 6.

Maura held back her gasp of surprise as she hurried into the room with the bowl of almost boiling hot water. She remembered to cast her eyes to the ground in front of her as she neared the master. He was sitting in a chair that he had pulled up to the edge of the bed. In the large wooden sleigh bed, was the source of Mauras' fear.

'The plague'

The girl in the bed was grey as dish water. Dark bruise-like marks dotted her neck and upper arms. Marua shivered as she inched closer to set the bowl in the bed side table that had been cleared off. The girl was racked with coughs, and even with the white cloth over her mouth, Maura could see the dark black-red blood seeping through it. Her mind screamed at her to flee the room. But she diligently stood by her masters' side till she was dismissed. She tore her eyes from the sight on the bed and kept them to the ground.

A soft knock came from the bedroom door and Marua gladly darted away from the bed to answer it. Gabrielle, her younger sister stood there with a case in her hands.

"M-Master wanted this." The twelve year old whispered, trying to steal a look into the room. Maura grabbed the door and used it to block most of the room from view. She snatched the case from her sister.

"Go home Gabbie and keep your mouth shut." Maura hissed before shutting the door in the girls' face. She hurried back to her master with the case in hand. He took it from her without sparing her a look and quickly opened it, taking out the contents one by one and carefully dropping them into the bowl along with empting a bottle of clear liquid that Marua didn't recognize.

"You are excused Marua." Her master said. "Go home. I'll summon you if I need you." Marua curtsied and turned to leave the room but was caught around the wrist by an iron like grip. She turned and looked at her master right in the eyes. She shivered at the sight of the almost insane excitement in them. She quickly looked away and focused on his hand burning at her wrist. "You are not to repeat a single thing that you saw here tonight. Do you understand Marua?"

"Y-yes Monsieur." She said simply, wanting to get away from his scalding hold.

"Tell the rest that they are allowed to leave as well. And that they are not to return to the house until they are called for."

She agreed and he let her go. Marua dashed out of the room and tore down the staircase to the kitchen where the cook was warming dinner for the master and his guest.

"Come on we need to get out of here." Marua said as she grabbed the much older woman by the hand.

"But what of the meal?" the woman protested as she removed everything from the heat.

"Forget it. Master wants us all out right away. And don't come back to make breakfast ether, unless he asks you." The cook quickly gathered her things and followed the maid out the back door.

….. . .

Christine had finally stopped coughing and she gazed over with blurry vision to the man sitting before her. Suddenly her kidnapper didn't seem so bad. He was right, there was so much out there that was worse than being kidnapped. Especially when the kidnapper had been nothing but charming, polite and down right kind.

Christine tried to focus on what the man was doing. All she could see of him was his white mask, for he had his head bowed over a stealing bowl. He had fished a few things from it and proceeded to mess with them. It made little sense to her; of course Christine knew she was half out of her mind with fatigue and the stupid illness.

"I'm sorry Christine." Eriks' voice suddenly boomed around her, sending her senses

running wild. She felt searing heat as he touched her arm, turning it over. She felt the cool sting of something. "This might hurt a little." He warned a split second before she felt an even bigger sting on the underside of her elbow. She swung her head over lazily too see the cause of the hurt and she spotted a needle in her arm. Connected to that needle was a syringe and in that syringe was a strange light amber color fluid and it was slowly being injected into her.

…. . .

Erik watched closely as Christine slowly nodded off to sleep, but he didn't stop till the syringe was empty off all its contents.

'There now. Rest well Angel. This won't be very enjoyable'.

He returned the now empty syringe to the bowl of water, letting his mind wander to the journey ahead. The illness wasn't very advanced, but it had started taking hold and her lungs were being damaged. Erik sighed, sagging back into his chair, hand resting over his eyes.

'I'm going to do anything and everything in my power to help you Christine.' And he had an awful lot of power. He had a mountain of knowledge and recourses, there had to be a simple answer for this illness. He stood from chair and paced about the spacious room. His genius mind was turning over and over, digestion the facts that he had learned about the plague before he retrieved Christine. He shrugged off his tuxedo coat and tossed it over the back of the chair. He cast a look over at Christine to make sure she was sleeping well before he walked out into the hall.

A few steps took him to his own quarters, not that he spent much time there. He threw open the double doors and stalked over to what looked like a large wardrobe. Inside though, there wasn't any clothing, just shelves of jars, bottles and boxes. He took an empty case from the bottom shelf and proceeded to fill it with various items. Only he could make since of the clutter.

He took the half filled case to a small desk. It was covered with sheets of music, which he promptly swept away. The papers fluttered to the ground, ignored and immediately forgotten as he placed the box on the now clean desk. Erik snatched a few scraps of clean paper and scribbled furiously on them with a quill. The then waited for the ink to dry on each one before he tossed them into the case as well and snap it closed.

He was rushing now that momentum carried him. Erik was in his own little world as he returned to Christines' room and gently placed the case and its precious contents on the chair and returned to his room to grab a folded table that he had hidden under his massive bed.

Back in Christine's room he set up the table, made sure it was sturdy, and then unloaded the bottles and jars from the case. He brought out a few extra oil lamps and set them near by so he could have adequate light. It was going to take lots of hard work and lots of time to pull this off. Time he knew he just didn't have. Christine stirred and muttered something in her sleep. Erik hardly cast a look over at her. He didn't have time to be distracted.

….. . .

Maura scrubbed till she thought she would skin herself. There was nothing wrong with being on the safe side. Gabrielle, stood a few feet away, having already had her bath.

"You're taking off your skin, Maura, what is the matter?" Gabriella held a towel open, waiting for the moment that her sister would step from the water.

"Nothing." Hissed the older sister as she finally abandoned the scrub brush and reached for soap to wash her hair.

Gabriella sighed and glanced out the barn window. The church turned manor loomed in the darkness. The half moon casting enough light to throw shadows across the building. "Who do you think she is?"

"Hush Gabby, I don't think it's a good idea for us to talk about her." She pointed to a steaming bucket that was set out a few moments before by there father. "Water please."

Gabriella threw the towel over her shoulder and grabbed the bucket and lumbered over to the tub. "I know, but I still wonder. I caught sight of her as she was going up the stairs. She looked so pretty." She lifted the bucket and dumped the warmed water on her sister slowly as she washed the suds from her sandy blond hair.

"I think she looked like death… stank like it too." Maura countered as she scrubbed at her hair.

"Maura!" Gabriella exclaimed. "She just arrived, and from the city no less. Think of how awful it must be there right now. Really Maura… that wasn't at all polite."

Maura shrugged her delicate shoulders and stood from the tub. "Well it doesn't matter. We shouldn't even be talking about anything that goes on in Masters' house anyways." She snatched the towel from her sister and dried off and started getting dressed.

"Well you shouldn't be so rube about the poor woman. All I'm sure she needs is a bath." Gabriella followed at the heels of her older sister as she left the tiny barn and entered their home. They were greeted by a small but warm cheery fire and a lovely looking supper on the wooden table.

"She's going to need more than that right now." Maura muttered as she slid into the chair at the table.

"Pardon?" Gabriella took the seat next to her.

"Nothing Gabby." The older sister muttered as she saw her father shoot her a warning look.

"You girls know better than to take work home with you." Delroy gently scolded as he gazed over the table at his daughters.

"Yes Papa" the girls said in unison, lowering their eyes as their father said grace.

…. . .

Daroga wandered about the grounds. He didn't need a lantern. Like his master, he had excellent night vision. Past the gardens yet still well within the grounds of the manor, was the tiny 'village' where the servants and their immediate family lived. A smatter of small yet comfortable houses took up most of left side of the grounds. Trees dotted the place, as they had not been cleared when Erik purchased the land.

A shadow stepped out from behind the trees nearby and soon two other joined it. It was the night watch. They walked up and greeted each other in the dark.

"Is it true what Delroy said? The plague has hit the city?" Asked a much older man simply named Bay.

The Persian nodded, and the men smothered their gasps and muttered their worries to each other. Daroga held up his hand and the men fell silent again. "I wouldn't worry about the plague reaching us. We are very well secluded, even from the nearby village. The estate is in lockdown. No one comes in… no one goes out."

"Why can't we leave?" cried a younger man. The other two called out their worries.

"You can leave if you so wish." Daroga said calmly. "However, you will not be allowed back in, lest you bring the plague in with you and infect us all." The men grumbled, but agreed it was the right thing to do. "Watch the gates and the walls. Remember, allowing a stranger to slip in or even a family member to come and go…. You are jeopardizing all of us, your own families. Now, the plague may not even reach this village, but with hundreds of people fleeing to the country, it is a possibility. So don't let anyone in."

The men agreed and Droga sent them on their way. With a small sigh he turned and gazed up and the stained glass windows of the house. They were still glowing with life. Erik was still up and about. This didn't worry the Persian, for it was not uncommon that Erik would stalk about the place for days. But with Miss Daae sick as she was… Well, he didn't want to dwell on it much.

a/n Blah, a bit boring, this one. Next one is going to be better. –cackles- Hmm Oh, I hope to get more than 4 reviews this time around.. Come on.. I got cookies! – holds up a plate of yummy cookies.- Anyways hehe thanks for reading and please review!