a/n: I didn't think I'd ever update this at this point! Now I have this chapter written, the next planned, and I'm definitely doing a Love Never Dies chapter.

The writing style is different, because the earlier kind of more difficult to write and hard to duplicate after so much time. I hope this still...flows, somewhat, haha.

Anyway, here comes the next rant!

Time passed rather quickly after Christine's visit to Erik. It was a whole month after Erik's refusal to join the Mad Hatter's tea party when something…odd happened.

The March Hare was just spreading some strawberry jam on his friend's often-broken pocket-watch when the tablecloth suddenly flew up, taking their tea things with it. A strange, swirling blue light appeared under the table for a moment, and then there were high-pitched screams. The light spit out two girls and disappeared before the tablecloth fell back onto the table with a 'crash'.

The tw0 girls crawled out from under the table, getting to their feet slowly. They looked around themselves, obviously frightened, as the Mad Hatter and March Hare stared at them.

The taller of the two girls was a redhead, with her hair cut short to curl around her ears. Her eyes were dark brown and lined heavily with black. Otherwise her face was clear of makeup, though her fair skin had a natural blush to it. She wore a black tanktop that revealed a red rose tattoo on her left shoulderblade, with the word 'forever' written on a blue 'ribbon' below it. She was wore low-slung light blue jeans and plain black sandals.

The other girl was nearly a foot shorter than the first. She had large grey eyes, and her hair was light brown and wavy and fell down a ways past her shoulders. Her lightly tanned face was framed by bangs going straight across her forehead. Her makeup was put on lightly, though not very natural-looking. She had a thin line of purple eyeliner on under her eyes, slightly shimmery white eyeshadow, and pink lipstick. She wore dark blue jeans, a grey tshirt, two long necklaces made of small pink beads and zebra striped flats covered with sequins.

The two girls looked at each other.

"Um...do you know what's going on?" asked the shorter girl.

The taller one shrugged. "No clue. Unless I'm dreaming." She pinched herself with black-tipped acrylic nails. "Nope. Not dreaming."

"I was hoping I was..." muttered the shorter girl. She turned to the table and froze. "Um."

The taller girl turned as well, and jumped when she saw the tea party guests.

The four stared at each other for a few minutes in silence.

"...You weren't invited," insisted the Hatter.

"Um..." the shorter girl said again, backing away from the table. "I think I'm going to go...somewhere else."

The taller girl nodded, and the two trotted down the gravel path towards the palace gardens.

The Mad Hatter and the March Hare stared at each other for a moment before the former stood.

"...Tea?"

The two girls wandered down the path together, making their way towards a more open area, filled with flowers and a fountain spraying water high above their heads.

"I'm Erin," the redhead introduced herself. "I figure if we're in this together we might as well know each other's names."

The brunette nodded. "I'm Claire. Nice to meet you, Erin. Er..." she motioned to their unknown surroundings. "Sort of."

Erin laughed. "I know what you mean."

They continued walking, Erin resting her hands on the back of her neck and Claire slipping her hands into her back pockets.

"Where are you from?" asked Erin. "You have an accent I can't place."

"Texas," responded Claire. "I do have a bit of an accent, I guess. You're from...England?"

"Australia," Erin corrected. "Though I've lived in America – California – for a few years now."

"Oh," said Claire. "Awesome."

"...So, no idea where we are now?"

"None whatsoever. You?"

"Nope."

They both sighed and continued walking, until something sparkly hit their eyes. They both winced, looking in the direction of the sparkle.

"Is that..." whispered Claire.

"No way," responded Erin.

But there was no denying it. This sparkle was in the shape of a man, a blonde-haired man dressed in a doctor's coat.

"No fucking way," said Erin, and then repeated it again and again.

Claire stood staring with wide eyes. "Carlisle-freaking-Cullen."

"There's just no way," Erin muttered. "He's fiction! Not just fiction but bad fiction."

Claire lightly hit Erin on the shoulder. "He is not. Carlisle is amazing."

"Oh, no, you're a Twihard, aren't you?" Erin sighed. "At least it's not Ed-dork."

"I'm not," said Claire under her breath, though she continued to stare at the sparkling figure in awe.

Erin looked from Claire to the sparkling vampire and back again. "Well," she began, "At least I know I'm not hallucinating. I'd have come up with a better vampire...like Lestat."

Claire rolled her eyes. "Ew. Lestat is an irritating little-"

"Hey, careful who you're insulting!" insisted Erin, putting her hands on her bony hips and glaring at her companion.

"Marius is so much better than Lestat! And Carlisle is better than Marius, so therefore-"

"No way, Lestat is the best."

"Whatever," said Claire, deciding that fighting about 'fictional' vampires probably wasn't the best use of their time. "Let's just go ask Carlisle if he knows what's going on."

"Are you serious?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

Erin frowned. "No."

The girls turned and walked across the red brick walkway, headed towards the vampire, who was talking with a little girl with her shirt sticking out the back like a ducktail. As they approached, he and the girl turned towards them, faint frowns on their face.

Claire tried hard to contain her excitement and nerves as they reached Carlisle and the girl. She'd always loved Carlisle Cullen's character, and now –

"Hey," said Erin sharply. "Where are we?"

Carlisle hesitated, and then looked at the girl. "Prim, maybe you should-"

"Where are they?" demanded a beautiful, dangerous voice from the other side of the fountain. The two girls turned and saw a tall man in formal clothing and a full black mask approach them. He had a determined stride, and once he reached them he clasped one of their wrists in each of their gloved hands.

"...Erik," began Carlisle slowly. "What is going on here?"

"Something that is none of your business, Cullen," said Erik stonily. Then he turned and began walking off, dragging the two girls along with him.

The girls were completely silent, but they glanced at each other with a look that said they both knew who this was, and they were both completely starstruck.

"The Phantom of the Opera," mouthed Erin to Claire. Claire nodded, but she didn't seem quite as excited to see him as Erin. She seemed more worried about where they were going.

It turned out that they were only going to a library. This library only had a few bookshelves in it, and those were mostly filled with folder upon folder of papers with red notes. There were chalkboards and wipeboards everywhere, and a mirror and large artwork which might be recognized as being from the Gaston Leroux novel. Tables upon tables held Phantom-themed books, such as The Phantom of Manhattan, Progeny, Journey of the Mask and Susan Kay's Phantom. There were also piles of printed paper on some tables, most of which could easily be recognized as fanfiction.

Only one table was clear, with three chairs around it. The Phantom led them to two of the chairs, and then disappeared back out the door, wordlessly.

"What's going on?" whispered Claire to Erin.

Erin slowly shook her head. "I don't know. But I like it."

"Really?" asked Claire, surprised.

"What, you don't? You know who that is, right?"

"Of course I do," sighed Claire. "That's why I'm scared."

"Scared? Of what? Of-"

She cut her sentence short when the Phantom walked back in, carrying a silver tray with a tea set on it.

"Tea?" he offered.

"Yes, please," said Erin, smiling politely. He began pouring her cup. Claire eyed the tea, somewhat suspicious.

"I only drink herbal tea," she said softly.

"Yes, I know," responded Erik, which didn't help Claire's nerves at all. "It's peppermint."

"Oh, um..." said Claire. She debated a moment whether she was more afraid of the tea or being rude. "Okay, then. Thank you."

Once everyone's tea was served, Erik took a seat.

"You are Erin Waters and Claire Bennett, correct?"

"Yes," replied both the girls softly.

"And you are both fanfiction writers." This was not a question.

The girls looked at each other for a moment, and then nodded in reply.

"Excellent," said the Phantom. "I am going to ask you some questions."

disclaimer: The Phantom of the Opera: Gaston Leroux, Twilight: Stephenie Meyer, The Vampire Chronicles: Anne Rice, The Hunger Games: Suzanne Collins.