"I upset you

That's all I seem to do

Is make you sad

And ever so blue.

To make you happy is all I want

I'd give my life to you without a single thought.

Smile today and forever more

Your happiness is all I wish for…"-Excerption from the diary of Erik.

Erik's POV

I was so hot….I was laying there trying to sleep off the extreme exhaustion I was feeling, only to turn over and stare at the open window. Even with the window being open the humidity was still hanging around. I pressed my eyes shut, and rolled back over in hopes of falling asleep. It was then that my door opened and Christine came walking in with Meg.

"Erik."

I had not seen Meg since the night I was hurt at the opera house. I had forgiven her for clearing Christine's name, but couldn't find her anywhere. What was she doing here now?

"Christine? What's wrong? And why is Meg in my room?"

I sat up, trying to straighten my nightshirt.

"Erik, something's wrong."

"What?"

Meg came forward, and began explaining about the gypsies. She told me they were beating oddities in cages which caused me to immediately get out of bed. I was going to march right down there and tell them to leave. I quickly threw on some clothes, and grabbed my walking stick to support the braces I was wearing on my legs. Both Christine and Meg followed me where the gypsies were set up. It seemed that no body was around, but when I heard a man yelling and cursing from inside one of the tents I made my way straight there. My heart stopped as soon as I saw what was happening. There in front of my own very eyes was Jefro, standing in front of a cage where a small boy was being kept. In front of him, my daughter about to be whipped. How dare he! Before the whip could come crashing down over any part of Eudora, I quickly grabbed it out of his large hands.

"Don't you dare!" I shouted, cracking the whip upside his head. "That is my daughter!"

Jefro turned to me, his anger pouring from him.

"Your daughter just clothed and fed my main attraction! How dare she!"

My daughter quickly ran to me, and hid behind my legs. Christine was now in the tent, and scooped Eudora into her arms.

"I want you to leave!" I ordered. "You have until sundown to be out of here."

"What? Why are we being ordered to leave?"

I motioned to the cage behind him.

"You beat oddities do you not? It's going around. I don't tolerate such nonsense in my park."

Jefro turned around and looked at the small boy that was in the cage.

"What?" he pointed to him. "That piece of shit? He is nothing…"

"He is a child. And if you're going to treat oddities like this, I want you to leave at once!"

"Erik! Don't leave Dimitri in that cage!" Eudora cried out. "Don't leave him here!"

I turned around to see Meg, Christine and Eudora standing there in shock. I quickly waved them out of the tent to be alone with Jefro.

"Christine, go outside…."

"Erik…"

"Go…"

I waited until they were gone, before looking at the child. He reminded me of myself when I was his age. Scared and alone with no one to help me. He wasn't deformed, but I knew if he continued to be starved like he was, he wouldn't last. No child should have to be treated like that….Every child deserved a normal childhood, and I could give him just that.

"I want you to leave." I reminded the gypsy. "But you won't be leaving with the child."

The man laughed, and picked up his whip.

"I don't know who you think you are, but I will be leaving with everything I came with, including my attraction."

"How much do you want for him?"

"Nothing! He is not for sale!"

"I don't think you know me, Monsieur, but I am a magician of sorts. I can make anything disappear if I truly want to, even myself…"

"Are you making threats?" he growled.

"I'm going to tell you the truth, gypsy man. I'm either leaving here with that boy peacefully, or with a fight. But by God I swear to you that I will not be leaving this tent without him."

It was then that I took a step forward, causing Jefro to hit my mask with his whip. When this happened, it fell to the ground, leaving me exposed in front of him. The boy that was in the cage backed up in fear as Jefro smiled upon it as if he had found his new money maker. I ignored his expression, and fumbled around to place my mask back on. When he tried to crack the whip down on me again, I grabbed it from his hand, and tore it away. This had frightened him, finally giving me what I wanted.

"Take the child…..I don't need him anyway."

He opened the cage, and tore the screaming child out of it. He was filthy, and wearing a shirt that was extremely big for him….but I recognized this shirt. It was covered in paint stains….This was my shirt! No wonder Eudora was in my room. I paid no mind to the gypsy as I left the tent, the child slowly following me. But what was I to do with the child now? Perhaps find his family? Give him a place to stay in my stables? I wasn't sure, but the first thing that needed to be done was to give him a bath. When I came outside from the tent, Christine gasped at the child following behind me.

"Erik…."

I put up my hand to stop her.

"Come, let's go home. We'll talk then."

At some point on the way back to the flat, Meg departed, leaving the four of us. Eudora stayed behind us with the boy, coaxing him to keep following us as if he were a stray dog. Once home, I opened the door, and turned around to have another look at the filthy boy…..

"Do you know how to bathe?" I sternly asked him.

He just looked up at me, his blue eyes being the only visible thing on him due to the dirt that covered his entire body.

"He doesn't know how to do anything." Eudora answered.

I sighed, and turned to Christine who was standing there behind me.

"Christine, take this boy into the bathroom and clean him. He smells awful."

"Erik, please…."

"Don't argue with me, woman. Please do as I ask and clean him."

Christine only nodded, and gently coaxed the boy to follow her. When Eudora tried to follow, I called out to her to stay.

"But Erik…"

"But nothing. It's highly inappropriate to watch your mother bathing him."

I took a seat at my piano, and began hitting a few notes to calm my mind. Soon, Eudora was at my side, hitting the same notes.

"What's going to happen to Dimitri?"

"Di… who?"

"That's his name. His name is Dimitri."

"Eudora, I'm very upset with you for going off on your own like you did today. You could have been hurt. Also, I wouldn't get attached to the boy, because we're not keeping him."

"But why?"

"Because he is not ours to keep."

"What will you do with him?"

I shrugged my shoulders. What was I going to do with him?

"Don't worry about it."

For a while I sat there with Eudora until Christine came walking out with the boy at her side. He was wearing one of my shirts due to the fact that we had nothing else for him to wear. I didn't have a son which was why I didn't have any clothes to fit him. He had blonde hair, like me…..or at least I used to have blonde hair. Now that he was clean, I could see every detail about him. It was strange….it was like I was looking at myself, a reflection of my childhood.

Christine sat a bowl of oatmeal down in front of him at the kitchen table, before walking out to the main room to join me. As soon as Eudora saw the boy, she went to sit beside him, watching him slowly eat his meal.

"What are we going to do with him, Erik?" Christine asked me, keeping her voice down so that neither he or Eudora could hear her.

"I'm not sure. The orphanage probably…"

Christine gently yanked at my arm.

"Erik, how could you think to do such a thing?"

"Christine he is not our child. He is not some kind of puppy you bring home and keep as a pet. He is a human being, one that will most likely have more psychological problems than one will know what to do with."

"Erik, the boy has been locked away probably his entire life. He deserves a childhood. Sending him to an orphanage will do him no good. He needs a family's love."

I crossed my arms, and looked at her with a serious face. I knew what she was up to….

"You want to keep the brat don't you? You actually think we're going to keep him."

"Yes, and why not? We have enough money to feed one more mouth….ten more mouths actually."

"So is that what this is? I can't believe you would actually expect us to keep him."

"Erik…"

I pulled Christine into the other room, and closed the door. Eudora nor the boy needed to hear any of this.

"Christine we cannot trust this child, and put our daughter in danger. He is unstable and after being beaten and starved his entire life, I cannot say that he wouldn't hurt a single soul."

"You turned out alright, Erik."

"No, No I did not! I killed, Christine, I murdered people…..We cannot keep this boy."

Christine kissed my lips, and embraced my masked cheek.

"Erik, he doesn't even know right from wrong. He's innocent, and as long as he has someone to teach and love him, he'll be fine. Besides, you two could comfort one another….You both have been through a lot and could relate to each other."

I nodded.

"And I promise if he causes a problem I'll take him to the orphanage myself…." Christine promised.

I hated the idea of this child staying with us, but I distracted that thought with my music. For the next few hours, I sat at my piano, playing melodies as Christine and Eudora took the boy into town for clothes. What Christine had said to me earlier stuck to me…. "We have enough money to feed one more mouth….ten more mouths actually." Had Christine wanted more children? Had it been my fault that we only had Eudora? This upset me…..I was still working on marrying Christine, and I had yet to complete that task.

That night after Christine returned, she set up the couch for the boy to sleep on before tucking in Eudora. The child had not said two words since he arrived, and I knew it was because he was still scared. When Madame Giry saved me, I didn't begin talking until six months later. I always dreaded each day, thinking I would be taken back to the gypsies at any time.

After dressing into my pajamas, I took a seat at my desk, and began writing my music.

"Erik, it's late, come to bed."

I turned to see Christine crawling into bed.

"A little later."

I turned back to my work, and began writing again, only to feel her hands massaging my shoulders. They were so sore, and the feeling of her hands against them was quite pleasurable.

"Not working tonight?" she surprisingly asked.

"Not tonight. I wouldn't dare leaving you here alone with that boy…."

"Erik, he has a name you know. It's Dimitri."

"And did he tell you this?"

"No, Eudora told me. Why are you being so cruel?"

"I'm not…." I paused, enjoying the feeling of her hands against my shoulders. "I'm just exhausted."

"Well then why are you sitting here? You should come to bed." Christine giggled.

"I've….I've got things on my mind."

"Things?" she laughed. "Erik, come tell me about them…in bed."

She pulled me, and I followed her until we were both curled up within our bed. The feeling and warmth of her body against mine felt completely wonderful. So wonderful that I forgot about everything I was thinking about.

"Erik, now tell me what's wrong."

I opened my eyes the moment I felt her fingers pulling away my mask. She loved laying there touching my bare face, and I loved it just as much.

"Are you upset with me?"

"What do you mean? Why would I be upset with you?"

I rolled over to my back, and sighed heavily.

"Are you upset that we only have Eudora?"

"Why would I be upset about that?"

"You….You said something today, something that upset me."

This shocked Christine, for she passionately cupped my cheek, and looked into my Mitch matched eyes.

"Erik, tell me….God, I never mean to say anything that would upset you."

"Today, you said…..you said we could afford to feed ten more mouths. Are you upset that we don't have more children? Is that what you want, Christine?"

"Erik, how could you think that? I'm happy with just Eudora….Though, more children would be nice, but….."

She silenced herself the moment she heard herself speak.

"So you are upset." I pressed my eyes shut, feeling the guilt of all this hitting my heart.

"No, no, never…."

"If Christine wants more children then her Erik will give her more."

"Erik, I'm happy the way things are. Really…. Besides, we have Dimitri now."

"I will only stop if you say you're happy."

"And I am." she assured. "I am extremely happy."

She pressed a kiss to my lips, and snuggled into my chest.

"I'm even happier now that you're sleeping with me tonight."

"Me too, Christine….me too…"

And with that, we closed our eyes and fell asleep.

Eudora's POV

I wasn't tired. For some reason, I was laying there awake with my dolls. Usually after my mother put me to bed, I fell asleep rather quickly. Tonight however, I was awake… It was then that a knock occurred at my door….the lightest knock I had ever heard. Curious, I got out of bed and opened the door to see Dimitri standing there in his nightshirt, his blonde locks disheveled all throughout his head.

"What's wrong?"

He didn't answer me, and just stood there looking at me with an expression filled with fear.

"Did you have a nightmare?"

He nodded, and I let him in.

"I used to have them all the time, Dimitri." I said walking over to my bed. "But nightmares can't hurt you. They're only pictures…..well, that's what my papa says anyway…Just don't ever tell him that I called him that."

Dimitri was wandering around my room, looking at all the doll houses I had scattered about. He ran his fingers over them, curious about what they were.

"They're doll houses." I told him. "For my dolls. They live in them."

I jumped off my bed, and approached my shelf where I had a pink music box sitting. I opened it up, causing Dimitri to come walking over. Inside was a hand carved ballerina that Erik made for me. As Dimitri's fingers wandered over the box, it began playing a happy tune causing the ballerina to spin around. This frightened him, for he ran over to my bed to hide.

"Dimitri, it's a music box. It won't hurt you…."

"Music….?" he repeated.

Hearing his soft voice was strange, but I liked the sound of it.

"Yes, music."

I closed the box, and wandered back to my bed where I had a shelf full of stuffed animals hung on the wall beside it. When I saw Dimitri staring up at them, I smiled and reached for my favorite stuffed bear.

"This is Mr. Cuddles, my favorite bear. He used to sleep with me, that was until Erik bought me Lilly."

I handed it to him, and watched as he hugged its softness to his chest.

"You like him?"

Dimitri nodded, and continued hugging my bear.

"Well, if you promise to take good care of him I'll let you borrow him….You can be his Papa."

I yawned, and felt myself fading fast.

"It's late Dimitri, I think we should go to sleep now."

Even with Mr. Cuddles in his arms, Dimitri still looked frightened.

"Are you still scared?"

"A little…." was his quiet reply.

"Well, when I can't sleep, my papa…I mean, Erik always reads me a bedtime story. Did your mother or papa ever read you a story?"

He shook his head, and I reached for one of my picture books.

"Well, I'll read to you."

I opened the book that had pictures of rabbits all over it, and turned to the first page and pointed to the picture of a brown bunny dressed in a blue sweater.

"This bunny is named peter rabbit."

"I never seen a bunny wearing a sweater…" Dimitri stated.

"That's the great thing about picture books. Things don't have to make sense. Erik always says you're supposed to use your imagination. So in this story animals wear clothes."

I flipped to the next page.

"Peter's mother always reminds him not to go into Mr. McGregor's garden because Peter's papa was baked into a pie by Mister McGregor himself…"

I flipped to the next page where there were more bunnies dressed in sweaters.

"Who are they?" Dimitri asked.

"Oh, his sisters Flopsy, Mopsy, and Cottontail. Peter brags to them about how he goes into Mr. McGregor's garden."

I turned to the next page where Peter was eating vegetables that were in Mr. McGregor's garden.

"What is he doing?"

"Eating food from Mr. McGregor's garden…."

"Why?"

"Because he's fat…."

The next page had Peter being chased by Mr. McGregor.

"He gets chased, loses his shoes and finds a way out of the garden. He promises his mother never to go into the garden again, and gets put into bed after drinking tea."

"Really?"

I closed the book, and placed it back on the shelf.

"Well, that's what my mother says anyway. I don't like it much when my papa reads this one to me. He tells it a little differently….."

"How?"

"He tells me that Mr. McGregor catches Peter and makes soup out of him. I just roll my eyes and giggle….I know it's not true."

"You promise?"

I nodded.

"Yea, that's the other advantage with picture books. There's always a happy ending. I'm going to bed now. I think you should do the same too."

"I'm scared….."

"I guess you could sleep in here on the floor."

I threw him a pillow, and an extra blanket. Dimitri laid down, and hugged my bear close to him.

"Goodnight Dimitri…."

That night, I slept, only waking when the sun came shining in through my window. I stretched, and quickly dressed.

"Wake up, Dimitri!"

I playfully pounced on him, causing him to flinch.

"Oh…I'm sorry." I said, backing off. "I forgot…"

He sat up, and I pointed out the window.

"Come on, let's go have some fun."

I left my room, coming back with a pair of black shorts and a white shirt that my mother had bought him. Like the day before, Dimitri didn't know how to dress himself, and so I helped him. Once he was dressed, I quietly pulled him out of the flat so I wouldn't disturb my parents. When we were outside, I looked ahead, and smiled.

"Race you to the arcade…"

I never had a friend before, and having Dimitri here with me now was better than having ten friends. We raced neck and neck past the crowds of people who were walking along the Phantasma boardwalk.

"Come on, I'll teach you how to play skeeball…"

"Skee?"

"Skeeball…"

Once inside the arcade, I approached the counter to get my tokens. I handed him one, only to watch him place the gold coin into his mouth.

"No!" I gasped. "That's not food…"

He spit it out, and I pulled him over to the skeeball machine. I placed a token into the slot, and the balls came rolling out in a row.

"See…." I said pointing to the balls. "That's what it does."

I picked up one of the brown balls, and tossed it up the ramp….

"See…You have to get them into one of the numbered slots. The higher the number the more tickets you get."

"Tickets?"

I nodded, and tore off the five tickets that came out of the slot.

"Yes, you get a whole bunch of tickets and then turn them in for a prize at the front counter."

"Prize? What's that?"

"Oh, lots of things. Stuffed animals, candy, balloons….Phantasma trinkets….anything really."

I handed him a ball, and stood behind him, moving his arm in the motion you throw the ball in.

"Toss it just like this…."

Dimitri did, but the ball came rolling back.

"Harder."

He did, and this time his ball landed in the highest slot.

"Wow, that's really good."

I tore off his tickets, and handed them to him.

"Lets go play another game!"

The day was turning out so perfect….and for the first time in my entire life, I had a friend….a real friend….

Erik's POV

I awoke the following morning wrapped within Christine's embrace. It felt wonderful to feel her beside me after so many nights of working instead of being home in bed with her. I unwrapped myself from her gently so I wouldn't disturb my angel and placed on my braces before heading to the bathroom. Afterwards, I walked out into the hallway only to spot Eudora's room door wide open.

"Eudora?" I softly called her name, hoping she would answer me. "I'm going to be making breakfast. Is there anything in particular that you would like?"

She didn't answer, and when I approached the doorway and saw that she was gone, I rushed out into the family room to find the boy's spot empty as well….I didn't trust him! What if he kidnapped my daughter!

"Erik? Is everything ok?"

Once more I turned and Christine was standing there rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Eudora's gone!" I growled. "Her and the boy!"

"Eudora always sneaks out, Erik. She probably took Dimitri out around Phantasma."

"No, Christine! I don't trust this boy! Not for one moment. I'm going to find them both!"

I tried heading to the door, but Christine grabbed me by the arm.

"Erik, what's gotten into you? She's probably perfectly fine. The boy is just a child….."

"And why is it that you always trust people, Christine! Why!"

I was shouting, but I didn't know why. Yes, Christine could be right…Eudora could be just should the boy around, but then again, my assumption could be correct as well…What if the boy really kidnapped her?

"I trusted you, didn't I?" she pouted.

"I'm going to find them, Christine, and when I do I swear to you that boy is….."

"Is what? That's exactly right, Erik….he's a boy….Go…Go if you must."

Now Christine was angry. I knew I should have stayed, I knew I should have trusted Christine's instinct, but…..I was so stubborn.

"Fine…I will…"

And with that I left, never knowing that this would be the last time I ever saw her again….If I wasn't so busy being a monster I would have kissed her….God! I didn't even kiss my love goodbye! I was indeed a true monster…..

Ok everyone please review if you want more! Haha…