Chapter 18: Second Chances

When Nadir and Meg crossed paths with Christine, she looked angry and determined as she was plagued with irritated stage managers. The look on her face told them everything they needed to know and one brief word got them racing around once more.

"Basement," Christine said in one quick breath before being whisked away by the costume department.

Nadir felt butterflies of excitement in his gut. He was looking forward to seeing his grumpy, old friend once more. Whereas Meg was frightened of what the crazed opera ghost would have in store for them as they showed him New York City and all its new sights and sounds. It would be a lot for Erik to endure, especially without Christine by his side. However, there weren't many options for them to choose from, either wait for Christine to be done with the show and risk getting caught, or rush Erik home as fast as they could and deal with the consequences later.

The couple found Erik still laying on the costumes, staring up at the ceiling. He seemed to be in a daze of memories flashing before his eyes and didn't notice his old friend approach.

Nadir, unable to contain his thrill, called out to him, "The hell are you doing on the ground, opera ghost?"

Erik's head snapped up and he sat up quickly, chuckling cruelly when he saw Nadir.

"Daroga, what a joy to see your face again. And Miss Giry, quite a surprise to see you once more too."

"There's no time for this, Erik, unfortunately," Nadir sighed, with a sympathetic smile. "We gotta get you outta here before someone sees."

"I'm not leaving without Christine. She will not sacrifice herself for me," he snorted stubbornly.

"Christine didn't sacrifice herself for you, dumbass, she's just finishing the show so no one will find you down here in your… Condition," Meg tried to explain, but failed when Erik continued to be his old, perverse self.

"Daroga, I've only just gained her affections and I will not lose them in the same hour I received them due to cowardice!" Erik hissed and stood up, however, he wasn't as menacing as he could be in this moment.

It was true, he had the skill in his mind to kill either of them, but he was still incredibly woozy from the transition he'd just gone through only moments ago and the pleasure he'd received from Christine. He was overwhelmed and overstimulated, but it would only get worse from there.

So, in order to get somewhere with this ornery man, Nadir decided to lie to him and Meg nodded along with a hidden smile as he spoke.

"Fine then, have it your way," he began, "Christine is upstairs, but there's only one way for us to rescue her."

"I don't require your assistance, Daroga!" Erik's voice sounded shaky as he spoke. "I'm following her instructions and I waited for you to arrive. Now that you've seen me, I'm going after her and I'll kill every last man who stands in my way!"

"Big words for a guy who doesn't know where he is," Meg mumbled under her breath.

He didn't know what was going on or where exactly he was. He was becoming more certain that he wasn't in the opera house anymore because of the strange costumes he'd never seen used before in any production, nor had he ever missed a production in the opera house's history. As well as the way Nadir and Meg were dressed was concerning to him. He was unsure of what to do or guess at, but there was only one thing in his mind he was entirely certain of: he needed to be with Christine and would do anything to make that happen.

"Where is she exactly?" he mumbled in defeat.

"She's upstairs like I said," Nadir stated and thought for a moment, "But they probably moved her since you… Kidnapped her."

"Blasted! It was most likely that damnable Vicomte who stole her away from me!"

Meg did her best not to giggle at Erik's dramatics and prayed for the strength to keep a concerned look on her face for his sake.

"Yes, but we can still catch them in time! I know where they are going and if you come with us, we will show you to Christine."

Nadir waved Erik along and, like a dubious child, he followed him and Meg. However, when they reached the backstage level, the confusion and headache for Erik only grew. He groaned and held his head in his hands, which gave Meg and Nadir the perfect opportunity to rush him to the back door. The people who did see Erik began to believe Christine's bullshit story of how he ran offstage like that to only get sick. The Erik they saw get rushed by was pale and sweating, being escorted by his roommates as fast as they possibly could out of the building.

"Poor guy," one stagehand commented. "He was doing such a good job."

"Yeah, but something shitty always happens on opening night, otherwise it never turns out to be a good show," a manager stated as they saw the three roommates disappear through the exit.

"Meg go get the car, quickly!" Nadir instructed and held Erik's arm tightly. "Keep your eyes down, my friend, you will only panic at the sights before you."

"Nhgn," was his pathetic response as he continued to hold his head, his hands over both his ears to try and stop the ringing in his ears.

It didn't take long for Meg to pull up the car and for Nadir to shove Erik in the backseat.

"Okay, we're good to go back here! Try to take any back roads back to the apartment, that way he doesn't get too overwhelmed."

"Nadir, it's a little late for that," Meg huffed but drove away anyway.

As Erik disobeyed Nadir's instructions, he nearly went into shock. When he looked up through the window of the car, he was started breathing harshly. They were going so much faster than any horse could carry them, but there were no horses in sight. The cars, for one, were extremely concerning. Where were the horses? The muddy streets? The buildings were another shock, taller than any he'd ever seen before with more glass than any torture chamber he'd built in Persia. He watched the people, busily walking by, their devices glowing in their faces, and their strange dress. Where were the dresses? The suits and top hats? Where was the dignity when it came to how they looked? All the differences had Erik staring out the window unblinkingly until Nadir placed a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"It's going to be alright, Erik," he said quietly. "It's just a little different now…"

"Christine asked me what year it was…" Erik wheezed out. "I'm going to inquire the same thing."

"The year is 2016," he said honestly. "And… We've been given a second chance at life."

"What the bloody hell happened to the first chance?!" Erik hissed back, but his rage died away when his headache flared.

"It died with you… I'm sorry to say. Your broken heart must've enticed whatever deity that takes pity on us and it was enough to let us start anew."

"So, I died? Wonderful," he grumbled.

"What is the last thing you remember?"

"Christine… I took Christine like I planned to do so. She looked so lovely in that wedding dress, but she was terrified of me... I should've been more comforting and gentle with her, my little angel."

"Alright… Well, a lot of things changed after that-"

"Nadir! Don't ruin this for Christine! Let her explain things to him before you fuck it up!" Meg snapped from the driver's seat and gave Nadir a harsh glare from the rearview mirror.

"Sorry… Just trying to give him a heads up."

"Young woman, your language is atrocious!" Erik announced in bewilderment.

This made both Nadir and Meg laugh, knowing that Christine cursed more than the two of them combined. Erik, frowned, as he failed to see what was humorous about his statement. He pressed his forehead to the seat in front of him and closed his eyes, keeping them closed until the ride was over so that he didn't have to see the confusion that was outside his window or the unfamiliarity of the strangers in the vehicle that was once his friend and a child he used to frighten. This was a nightmare to him, too many new senses and pains, to which he was completely powerless to defending and worse, for all he knew, Christine was gone forever.

He let Nadir practically drag him into the building they parked by and into a contraption that elevated them high into the structure, which caught his attention. Taking him out of his melancholy state, Erik, already curious by nature, started pressing more buttons on the elevator and watched them light up the numbers painted on them.

"Fascinating…"

As any man of science would do, he began pressing all the buttons he could.

"Erik- No, wait… Erik stop!" Nadir yelped and grabbed Erik's hand before he could press the fire alarm.

"Whelp, only ten more floors to go before we get to ours," Meg said pleasantly as Nadir wrestled around with Erik.