Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Phantom of the Opera.

Chapter 11

Aubrey sat in the front seat of Erik's car as he drove to the park.

"Aubrey you seem very quiet." Erik said without taking his eyes off the road.

"I'm feel so bad for Harry. He was really upset about his sister."

"That I can understand. Does it bother you that you can't go out with him anymore?" Erik asked quietly.

"Well I'm a little upset, but I was going to break up with him anyways, things just weren't working out with us." Aubrey said.

When they arrived at the park Aubrey got out of the car and Erik was right next to her. He was so close that their arms touched. Part of Aubrey wanted to reach out and grab his hand, but didn't know how he would react to that.

Aubrey sat down on the swings and Erik sat down in the one next to her. Aubrey wasn't really swinging, just moving a bit.

"Aubrey…" Erik said.

"Yes Erik." Aubrey said. She looked over at him and he seemed to be working on something in his head.

"Never mind."

Aubrey shrugged and felt a drop of water hit her in the face. She looked up and saw that it was starting to rain.

"We should leave Aubrey, I don't want you to get sick." Erik said as he pulled her off the swing. By the time they got to the car it was coming down in bucketfuls.

"Erik, can you drive in this, I can barely see a thing!" Aubrey said as she fastened her seat belt. It scared her that she couldn't see the road.

"Well I don't want to just sit out here in the car." Erik snapped at her.

"Fine then, go ahead and get us both killed." Aubrey said rolling her eyes.

Erik sighed and put the car back in park. He turned the heat on so it could dry them off and turned up the radio.

"So you said you haven't been sleeping well." Erik said.

"Yeah I have been having some weird dreams, and I'm not rested when I wake up. I have them all night long and it is driving me insane!"

"What have the dreams been about? Are you afraid of the dark or something?"

Aubrey laughed. "It's not like nightmares, just weird dreams."

"Well tell me about them." Erik said.

Aubrey blushed. "I don't want to talk about them." She said quietly.

"Are they about me!?" Erik said with a small smile on his face. A smug smile.

Aubrey blushed even redder. "What makes you say that Erik?"

"I can tell from the way you are acting. How long have you been having dreams about me?"

"There not about you….exactly. You know I like Phantom of the Opera right, well that character keeps telling me that you are I are 'supposed' to be together. How I was meant for you, and to keep you happy and safe. It's driving me insane. I always thought that the Phantom of the Opera was like my dream guy." Aubrey said lamely.

She looked over at him, but he was staring out the window. There was no expression on his face.

"Okay so I have embarrassed myself enough, can you at least talk to me!"

"How long have you been having these dreams Aubrey?"

Aubrey thought this was a weird question. "Umm…I don't know. What does it matter?"

"Well I have been kind of having the same dreams."

Shock came onto Aubrey's face. "What do you mean you have been having those dreams?"

"Well mine are different, but not really. Er….I mean that Phantom guy keeps telling me the same stuff. I have been having those dreams since you moved here."

"Yeah I guess that's when I started having mine." Aubrey said. "What does all this mean?"

"Do you remember when I asked you why you liked Phantom of the Opera, and you thought it was about a fictional character?"

"That's because it is about a fictional character Erik. There was never any Erik, or Christine, or Raoul. It's just a story."

"No Aubrey it's not. He was a real man, and that story was not fictional, it's reality. Erik is my Great-great-great-great Grandfather. He is a real man. I have a face like his. That's why I wear this mask. All these things are not a coincidence, this disfigurement skips a generation. My father doesn't have a face like mine, but my grandfather does and so on. I'm not sure why no one ever just stopped having kids and ended this horrible gene that skips a generation! I have already made the decision to stop this horrible curse that was put on my family. I vowed to never have kids, and I would be the end of this horrible life, no child, well grandchild, of mine will have to go through what I go through!" Erik shouted.

Aubrey felt tears sting her eyes. "Erik, this can't be true. Stop doing this to me. I love that story, and for you to try and trick me is just mean."

Erik reached over and grabbed her am. "It's not fake! I have pictures and proof." Erik said.

"Erik you let go of me this instant!" Aubrey screamed at him.

He dropped his hand and started the car. "Where do you think you are going! You still can't see a foot in front of you. Your going to get us killed." Aubrey said grabbing the side of her seat.

"I'm going to show you that this is real, and that this curse is true." Erik growled at her.

Aubrey sat silently in her seat and prayed that Erik wouldn't get in an accident. Finally they made it to Erik's house. Erik got out and stormed over to her door and opened it.

"I'm not getting out Erik. You need to take me home." Aubrey said and crossed her arms in front of her.

Erik reached over her and undid her seat belt and pulled her out of the car and threw her over his shoulder.

"Erik! What the hell do you think you are doing! Put me down this instant." Aubrey yelled, but it did no good. He did put her down, inside his house. He grabbed her arm once again and pulled her downstairs to the family room. He pushed her gently into a seat.

"Stay there, and don't move." Erik said. Aubrey looked into his eyes, about to argue back when she saw the fire dancing in them, and decided to listen to him.

Erik ran out of the room. A couple minutes later she saw him walk in the door with a box.

He pushed the box into her lap.

"Open it."

Aubrey silently pushed off the lid. There were pictures upon pictures in there. She picked up one from the top and saw a man that greatly resembled Erik. He too wore a mask, but instead of a flesh colored mask she saw a plain black cloth mask covering the right side of his face. He had a huge smile on his face and a small petite blood woman stood next to him with her arm around his waste. She flipped it over and saw Frederick and Francine 1968.

"That's my grandfather." Erik said. He was right behind her looking over her shoulder. "Go to the bottom of the box."

Aubrey did as she was told and pushed aside pictures until she was at the bottom. There she saw a very small black and white photograph. It was the Erik from her dreams. He had his white porcelain mask over his face. He was standing side by side with a woman wearing a simple weeding dress.

"Is this him?" Aubrey asked turning around and looking at Erik.

"Yes. Do you believe me now?"

"This seems so unreal." Aubrey said shaking her head.

Erik took the photograph out of her hand and put it back in the box and closed the lid. He pulled it off her lap and put it on the floor and handed her a much smaller box.

For some reason Aubrey didn't want to open it. She tried to give the box to Erik, but he wouldn't take it. "It's more proof."

Aubrey took a huge breath and opened the box. She almost screamed, but managed to hold it back. It was the mask from the photograph. It was very dingy looking, and had some chips in it. This had to be over 130 years old. It was obviously passed down from generation to generation.

"Wow Erik I don't know what to say. I'm totally speechless." Aubrey said. She closed the box and gently handed it back to Erik.

"Now you know, it's real and it haunts me every day." Erik said sadly.

Aubrey stood up and walked behind the chair to Erik. She wrapped her arms around him.

"There is something else, besides my face that goes with the curse."

"What is it?" Aubrey asked.

"Every man in my family who has had the misfortune I do have all loved women, but have had her taken away from him, or she has not returned his feelings. They always end up with someone they didn't love."

"Like Erik and Christine?"

"Yes, just like that."

"Have you found your love yet Erik?" Aubrey asked gently.

He looked directly into her eyes. "Yes I have."

So Erik has finally told Aubrey the truth! I know my faithful readers have been waiting for me to, and I have granted your wish :D. I hope you liked the chapter, so please tell me what you think about it! I want to give a huge thank you to all my wonderful readers, if it wern't for you, I wouldn't write this story.

Desiree'