So then, to answer several reviews—Amme is not from another planet, per se, she's more from what you would call an alternative universe. And I swear you'll find out what she is next chapter. Trust me, you will. Really!

And Erik is not, repeat, not an elf. He is 100 human.

Erik cannot kill Josh at the current moment. At least, it would be exceedingly unwise of him to do so. Because if he did, Amme would instantly leave to an uncharted island, and stab him in the heart with one of her many knives if he ever tracked her there. So really, that would put him in a lose-lose situation.

And Erik can sense this, hence the reason why Josh is still alive.

And about the spelling…well, that's what happens when I post a chapter without rereading it first.

It had been three days since Erik had first broken into Amme's mind. He got better at it after each time.

While he was interested in why she came to France, he refused to watch any memory with that man…Erland…in it. That probably wasn't the wisest decision, considering he might have a part to play in Amme's behavior, but the Phantom hated him too much. If he could find him, he'd kill him.

Learning about Amme's history was fascinating for Erik. So far, he had counted twelve marriage proposals, all of which she turned down, three people who had tried to force her into matrimony, and seventeen people who had tried to kill her in a duel. He learned that Amme thought of that Kevin as a friend, and a friend only, while he seemed to regard her as a cross between a sister and a daughter. Sophia, the redhead, turned out to be Amme's teacher, even though Amme considered the older woman as one of her friends as well. Sophia had the same regard for Amme as Kevin had for her. With Maria and Veronica, it was straightforward friendship, pure and simple.

Emily, Amme's sister, seemed to be the closest person to Amme. They seemed to understand each other perfectly, even though they were complete opposites. They even looked very different. Emily had curly blond hair, with violet eyes—like her mothers. She was a little shorter, her cheeks were rounder, and her skin was a tad darker.

Despite all their differences, their relationship clearly went deeper than sisters. There was more to it, something Erik couldn't quite grasp.

That was some of things he learned about Amme. What he didn't get, though, was how to make her forgive him, fall in love with him, and marry him. Maybe he was asking too much of her.

The answer came to him while he was playing the organ. Christine had always succumbed to his voice and his music. Perhaps Amme would as well. It would have to be handled slowly and carefully, though. Amme's mind seemed to be stronger than Christine's. It might take longer for her to give in.

Once she did, though, he could bring her down with him and keep her there!

Erik smiled. It would work. He just had to be sure she left her knife above the ground.

Amme walked into her dressing room. It had been a long performance, longer than usual, and she desperately wanted to take off this organ crusher people called a corset. Amme had never worn a corset before. Then again, she hadn't even known what one was. Now she wished she could have retained her ignorance.

She shook her hair out of its braid, and it fell down below her shoulders, wavier than usual. Then she finger combed it to remove all the tangles. Suddenly, she paused and looked around; she could have sworn she had heard a sigh coming from the walls.

Frowning, Amme stepped out and looked around, but no one was there. She shrugged, and went back in to rub off the 'make-up', as people called it. Before, she had known just as much about it as the corset. The difference? Make-up didn't crush organs.

When she had finished, she went over and opened the door. Only it wouldn't open; it was locked.

Amme scowled. This was not her day.

"What idiot locked the damn door?" She grumbled, feeling very put out.

Behind the mirror (of course), Erik chuckled. Amme was very amusing when she swore.

But Amme was growing more irritated by the second, so he decided it would be best not to delay much longer.

Back in the dressing room, Amme had found a hairpin and was starting to pick the lock.

"Come on." She muttered. "Come on. Yes! Yes! No! Damn it!" The hairpin broke.

Just as she saw another, unbroken one, she heard someone singing. She paused to listen closer, and immediately wished she hadn't. Because as soon as she started paying attention, she could feel her conciseness slip away from her. No, she wasn't falling asleep. But her mind was blanking out, until all she could hear was the singing.

Amme, being a fighter by nature, naturally fought it. But she knew a losing battle when she saw—or heard—one. And this was definitely one of them.

She swore twice more before giving up. Sinking to the floor, she focused her attention purely on the music.

Back behind the mirror, Erik had to force himself not to laugh again. This turned out to be easily than Christine.

Unfortunately, even the best-laid strategies don't go as planned.

There was a knock on the door. "Amme?" Eddison called. "Amme, are you in there?"

Amme jerked herself out of her reverie alarmingly quickly. "Um, yes. Yes, I am, but the door's locked. I can't get out."

"Where's the key?" He asked.

"I have no idea."

"I'll find it, Amme." Eddison promised. "I'll get you out."

Erik rolled his eyes. They won't find the key—he had it. And he had no intention of giving it back.

Amme must not have been too confident with Eddison's finding key skills either, because she said, "It's alright, Joshua. I can always pick the lock."

"You shouldn't pick locks, Amme." Joshua said sternly. "That's something criminals do."

"I think we can make an exception, just this once."

"Let me find the key before you do anything illegal, Amme."

Amme didn't answer. Instead, she grabbed her second hairpin, and started playing with the lock again.

"Oh, no, you don't," Erik whispered. Confident Eddison was gone by now, he started singing once more.

Amme dropped the pin and her eyes glazed over as she listened intently.

"Amme?"

It was Eddison again. Erik cursed him in every language he knew.

"Yes?"

"I can't find the key, so, maybe we could wait until tomorrow, and…"

There was a click, and the door swung open.

"I don't think that'll be necessary," Amme said sweetly, waving her hairpin in Eddison's dumbstruck face.

Erik sighed as the two others left. He was the one who would have to wait until tomorrow.

What took you so long? Was the first thing out of Starlight's mouth when Amme returned.

"It's nice to see you too."

Oh, come on, Amme. I've been worrying you got kidnapped or something.

"Why would anyone here want to kidnap me of all people? I was locked in my dressing room, and that moron, Joshua, couldn't find the key. Didn't want me to pick the lock, either, but I did that anyways."

Erik chuckled at hearing her call Eddison a moron. That made him feel better than he had in months.

I'm glad you got out. Starlight meowed. She nosed her friend. I missed you. Don't do that again, okay?

"I'll try not to." Amme sighed. "But it really wasn't my fault."

It wasn't Emily's fault, either, and you know what happened to her.

Amme glared at the kitten. "That was low."

I know. I'm sorry. Just don't let the same thing happen to you.

"I'm going to sleep." Amme announced instead.

Erik, who had only understood Amme's part of the conversation, was very glad for this. He wanted to go intrude her mind again.

It appeared to be a teenage Amme with Sophia, who looked the exact same as always. They were both holding swords. Sophia appeared to be instructing Amme on what to do. Amme nodded, and then—

There was a loud scream, and Erik wretched himself out of the memory. Amme, the real Amme, fell out of the tree, still screaming, still asleep. The language she used was the same as the one in most of her memories. In other words, Erik didn't have a clue what she was saying.

Both the cat and the horse woke up, and the cat, seeing what was going on, streaked across the ground to where the woman lay, still twitching and shrieking. The cat unsheathed its claws and raked Amme across the cheek. She woke with a start.

Erik, seeing the tears in her eyes, was about to kill the blasted cat, when Amme pulled it into an embrace.

"Thank you," She whispered.

The cat meowed something. Amme nodded. "Yes, worse than usual."

The horse nudged her shoulder while the cat licked her cheek where it had scratched her.

Amme gently put it down. "I'm alright, now." She stood up. "I'm not going to be able to get any sleep tonight. I'm going running."

And that's just what she did.

"Amme!"

Amme turned at the sound of her name. Meg, not for the first time, skipped up to her. Christine was trailing behind, looking amused.

"Amme, Amme, Amme, Amme!" Meg sang.

Amme smiled. "It's nice to see you too."

"I'm sorry," Christine said. "Madame Giry says she had too much sugar this morning."

"I can see that."

Meg was now jumping up and down, clapping her hands. "We get to practice and rehearse today! It's going to be fun, and we'll all have a fun time!" She started hugging Carlotta, who had just appeared looking more cross than usual.

Amme and Christine made a hasty retreat into the theatre.

"Christine?" Amme asked. "I have a…rather personal question for you."

"That's alright." Christine smiled at her. "We're friends, aren't we?"

The other blinked. "Oh! Yes! Yes, we are friends." She looked at her hands before saying, "I have a question about you…and the Phantom of the Opera."

"Do you finally believe in him?" Christine said it like a joke, but her eyes were serious.

Amme laughed nervously. "I don't think I have much of a choice, anymore."

"You've seen him." Christine summarized.

"Yes, we've been…meeting each other for about two weeks."

Christine shook her head. "You really shouldn't do that. It could be dangerous."

"We're not meeting anymore." Amme said quickly. "It's just…he isn't the type of person to give up very easily, is he?"

"No, he's not."

"The thing is…I…I've had this…feeling lately that someone is…watching me. I probably just being paranoid, but…"

"Amme," Christine sighed. "Has he made a move on you?"

"I thought he did. I'm not so sure anymore. And I've had the…feeling since we got into an…argument."

"Argument? You had an argument with the Opera Ghost? As in…did you yell at him?"

"Yes." Amme blushed. "And…threatened him."

"Threatened him." Christine repeated faintly.

"I had a dagger."

Christine sighed. "I wonder how many times that's happened to him."

"The thing is, Christine, if he is following me, I really want him to stop. But I also want to tell him how sorry I am that I…yelled." She finished lamely.

Christine shook her head again. "I don't know if I'm the right person to go to about this, Amme. I just wanted him to leave Raoul and me alone."

"I understand. Thank you." Amme decided not to tell Christine about her suspicions with the singer in her dressing room.

Just then, a very annoyed Carlotta entered the room.

"I have finally returned from my sickness!" She announced. "Now I can retake the lead!" She finished with a glare in Amme's direction.

Amme pursed her lips together. She didn't ask for the lead, she never even wanted the lead. In her opinion, she wasn't nearly good enough.

Then again, there was only one thing Amme thought she was good at, and it had nothing to do with singing.

"But, Signora Carlotta," Madame Giry said, frowning. "I'm afraid the Opera Ghost wants Ms. Eledhwen to play the lead."

"Changed his mind about her, has he?" Carlotta sneered. "Anyways, I don't care what he thinks. I'm the prima donna, and that's that."

That evening, Amme got locked in her blasted dressing room again. She considered breaking down the door, and dealing with the consequences, namely angry managers, later. Hearing the singing again, however, made up her mind for her, and she sat down, listening in a trance.

Erik, however, didn't bother getting upset when Eddison came to get her again, ruining the trance and allowing her to pick the lock. He had a plan to bring her back with him that was almost foolproof. He just had to wait one more night…

One more night. Go, Erik, go!

Ahem…

Next chapter will be posted soon. I promise! And Erland, who I introduced you to the pervious chapter, will not be coming in for a bit. He will though, don't you worry about that.