A/N: Thar be Pirates! Hehehe I love pirates. Almost as much as the Phantom. Well... I was going to say something else but that foul creature, Writer's Block, must have eaten it. I hate when it does that. Well... ENJOY!

Chapter Ten:

Who is This Man?

With eight hours to herself, Darcey decided to explore the lair more in depth. Who was this strange man who lived underneath the opera house? Why did he act the way he did? She wandered around looking closer at her surroundings. The first time she had looked around, she hadn't been able to take very much time to really see what was around her. Now she had all the time in the world. Her eye was drawn to the miniature stage. She wandered over and sat down on a chair placed before the desk it was sitting on. Erik had carved little dolls of all the cast. There was Mme. Giry's daughter, and La Carlotta. She was surprised to find the stagehands there as well, namely her. When had he carved it? She had been there not very long and then she has been down here with him. She picked up the small doll and looked closely at it. The details were amazing. He was very talented. She set the doll down and looked at the desk before her. She found paper, pen, and ink as well as wax and his seal. This must also be his writing desk. She saw many loose pieces of paper on the ground and bent to pick one up. It was half burnt but she could still see the beautiful drawing. It was of a beautiful girl with long curly hair and a brilliant smile. It had obviously been drawn with love. She squinted, trying to make out the name written on the burnt edge. Christine. This must be Christine Daae, the chorus girl who the Phantom was said to prefer and had recently been married to the Vicomte de Chagny, the patron of the Opera Populaire.

She'd had no idea he had loved her. But if he loved her, then why was the page burned? She looked at the floor to find more pictures, all of them burnt as much as the first if not more. She truly was beautiful. Darcey reached up to touch her own short hair. She was jealous of the girls long curly hair. She had had long hair before she had cut it. It had gone to her mid-back and while it had not been as curly, it had had a subtle waves to it. Now her black hair was to about the top of her jaw line. She remembered grabbing the knife and holding onto her hair before closing her eyes and slicing through it. She had cried at the lost of her hair. She was grateful her hair grew fast and hoped that one day soon she would be able to grow it out. She didn't plan on having it quite as long as it once had been but she would still love to have her hair back.

She let the papers drift back to the floor and stood to move on. She came to what looked like a closet with a semi-transparent curtain across the front. She pulled it back and gasped to see a broken, life-sized doll that looked like Christine. He had been obsessed! The doll, like the papers had been burned. She was in a pile on the floor as if she had collapsed. She still looked beautiful but looked sad in the white dress that she realized was a wedding dress. He truly had loved her. Darcey couldn't stand the sad sight any longer and turned away.

She let the curtain fall, covering the broken doll. Darcey continued to look around discovering a small kitchen which she grabbed an apple out of before continuing on. She ate the apple as she continued to look around. He had collected many things, among those that stood out, was a music box. It had a monkey on top with small brass cymbals in its hands. After being wound up, it played the song Masquerade. She had listened to the box several times, enchanted by the monkey. She had reluctantly left it to move on. She past her own room to come to another room. She opened the door but stopped in the doorway. This had to be his room. She glanced around at the plain room. It had a comfortable looking bed with gray covers on it. There was a closet in the corner that was open to show the plain, dark toned clothes inside. She felt like an intruder and closed the door behind her. She continued down the hall and came to a dead stop in the doorway of the next room. Inside was a tub with a faucet and Darcey couldn't help herself. She just had to take a bath.

She went to her room to grab some new clothes and went back to the bathroom. She figured she still had about two hours until Erik returned. She turned on the water and undressed. She laid all her clothes out, placing her dirty ones in a pile and hanging up the clean ones from a hook on the wall placed there for that purpose. She turned off the water and slipped into the water. Darcey sighed happily. She was sure heaven was like this. All warm and comfortable. She grabbed the soap and began to lather up and wash. A few minutes later she was all clean and she just sat in the water as it began to cool.

*Line

Erik sighed, running his fingers through his hair. He had been gone for several hours, most of that time spent wandering through the passageways throughout the opera. He had spent that time thinking. He hadn't been able to straighten out his thoughts but had successfully been able to push the thoughts away for the mean time and calm down. It was five o'clock and he decided he might as well go back. He hadn't really done anything the whole time he was gone and knew he wasn't going to do anything in the next hour. He walked back to his lair, entering to find Darcey no where in sight. He walked to her room but didn't see her, he hurried to check everywhere to try and find her. So help him if she had tried to escape again. She would never make it. He came to a stop in front of the bathroom door. She was in the bath with her back to him. He was about to turn away when he saw the scars on her skin. She had criss cross lines on her fragile skin. The streets had not been kind to her. He must have made some sort of sound as she turned abruptly, sinking down in the water. Her cheeks were bright red in embarrassment.

"I thought you wouldn't be back for another hour," she squeaked. He had to stop himself from grinning at her embarrassment.

"I was going to but I returned early. I apologize." He shuts the door gently before walking away to make supper as he waits for her to be done.

Darcey waited a second, her cheeks still burning before jumping out as fas as she could and toweling off. She dressed in the short, light green skirt and a light gray corset. She didn't bother to wrap up her torso but did take the time to wrap her foot and ankle before putting on some thin stockings that went up to her knees. She pulled the drain before walking out of the room. She ran a comb through her short hair and headed towards the kitchen when she smelled something cooking. She entered to find him cooking some eggs on the stove.

"Did you enjoy your bath?" he asked without turning around.

"Yes I did." She sat down and continued to comb through her hair as he turned to place the eggs on two plates and pushed one in front of her.

They began to eat in silence until he cleared his throat. "I saw the scars on your back. Are they from the street?" She nodded slightly in response, continuing to eat. "Will you tell me about it?"

She sighed before setting her fork down. "I don't know if I can," she whispered. Pain had entered her eyes.

"Can you tell me anything? I won't push you."

She picked up her fork and began pushing the rest of her eggs around. "It's the cause of my nightmares. It haunts me."

"Is it why you dressed as a boy?" he asked gently. She nodded, not meeting his eye. "You don't have to tell me now but I hope that someday you will." She remained silent, lost in thought as he went back to eating. She was still lost in her mind as he cleaned up after the simple meal and he left her be. She soon went to bed, leaving him yet again, to wonder what had happened to her.