Hey everyone, so here is the next chapter a day early due to the fact that everyone has been damanding the next chapter. So, here it is. A few of you have mentioned that you don't want to read the MATURE themes, so, here's the deal. Scroll down until you find the dark line. Read from there and you won't have to miss the chapter. Hope this satisfies you all. And for those of you who don't want to read the M scene, I shall continue leaving the cut off line in chapters to help you get by these scenes without missing other things in the chapter. Please review!

Erik's POV

For one night, I had reached heaven. In all my life, never had I ever experienced something so pleasurable in all of my entire existence. Forty years of backup had made me into a powerful animal, for as soon as Christine led me to her bedroom, I took her by force. We landed upon her bed, as my hands ran all along her body. Back in Paris, I had dreamt many nights about this exact event, and only until now was it truly happening. Sometimes, when I pleasured myself, I would fantasize about this exact moment, but now that it was truly happening, my body had reached heaven. I didn't dare remove my mask. No, instead, I allowed Christine to remove every garment of clothing I had on, everyone except my mask. This was all a dream…It had to be a dream. Everything was just how I had once imaigined it to be. Her bare body, angelic against my own. Her flesh was flawless and soft as my deformed lips kissed every inch of it. Just the softness of her curls against my cheek gave me an instant erection. I didn't dare kiss her, but the woman took me by surprise and pressed her lips against my own. Oh, how I groaned the moment I felt her lips against my own.

A kiss…Oh, it had been so long since I had last felt a kiss. My second…But we were alone, and this time, I wasn't about to end it softly. No, I pressed her body against her pillow and violently kissed her, darting my tongue into her cool mouth. God! Pleasure! Pleasure and pure joy! I needed her, I wanted her. Not even a whore would allow me to do this, but Christine was allowing me to do just that. Her hand took my own in her grasp and placed it over her flawless breast…Never! Never had I ever once felt a woman's breast. Soft and round…and bliss! Pure bliss…I needed to taste her, I needed to taste every inch of her body. This would most likely be the only night I would ever get to enjoy such pleasure, and I would enjoy it all. The moment my mouth touched the tip of her nipple, her voice erupted in a heavy groan. Yes, my back ached, but when her fingers gently dug along my spine, my voice was also begging her to never stop. My hands frantically ran along every inch of her body, never leaving a single area untouched. Soon, I found her womanhood and found that I couldn't stop myself from touching the intimate area.

"Yes, don't stop," she begged. "Right there…"

I had never made love to a woman before, but I knew if I didn't make love to Christine soon, I surely wouldn't last. Oh, she was wet…so wet and hot. I nearly finished the moment her hands wrapped around my erection.

"Do you like that?" she seductively asked, her hot breath brushing along my ear.

"Do it…" I begged, kissing her neck. "Yes…"

Her hand pleasured me, her pace quickening as each moment passed. I didn't wish for this pleasure to cease, but I knew what was closely approaching. If she didn't stop, I was sure to finish before even making love to her and I was going to fulfill that duty.

"Stop," I groaned. "Oh, stop…."

I gripped her hand and she released me. Though, being the inexperienced man that I was, I couldn't help but be nervous about what was to come next.

"Tell me that you want this…" I growled, tightly gripping her thin sides. "Tell me you want me…"

"I want you…" she begged. "I need you…I've always needed you."

I knew I was bruising her sides, but I didn't care. I was seconds away from getting what I always wanted in life. And oh, when she wrapped her legs around my waist, I knew it was going to happen. I was like an animal, forcing my length into her with a need to urgent to deny. God! What a feeling…Heaven! She was so wet and so hot…that heat surrounding my manhood. I needed to move, I needed to explode.

"Yes…" Christine sighed, arching her back from off the mattress. And when she did that, my insides burst with pleasure. I thrust into her over and over again, grunting into her ear. No wonder everyone always talked about how pleasurable this could be…It was pure ecstasy! I never thought I would enjoy something as much as I was enjoying this. In Paris, it was called "The little death," and I knew why…How could someone not die a little?

"It's my turn…" Christine cried, flipping my back over onto the mattress. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but when she climbed into my lap and began to straddle me, my pleasure reached its peak. My back arched off of the mattress as she rode me hard and rough…

"Harder…" I begged. "Faster…"

I thrust up into her body as she rode me, my finish quickly approaching. To make it as blissful as possible, I flipped her back over and gripped her sides, thrusting as hard as I could into her body. My pleasure hit me with a wave that lasted nearly twenty seconds, my insides exploding as I did so into Christine. But as I did so, her body contracted around my own, tightly squeezing my manhood and causing my pleasure to last. This experience had been both pleasurable and wonderful…Never had I ever enjoyed something as much as I had enjoyed making love to Christine. Many years of wanting a whore, and now this…No, nothing could ever compare to what I had just felt. But even then, I still knew that in my heart, I would never be able to love her. I wasn't sure if she had done this out of pity or not, but I knew come morning, our relationship would be nothing more than it was the day before.

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After we had made love, she and I fell asleep beside one another. I had originally wanted to get right up after finishing and walked home, but it didn't seem to happen that way. Instead, I woke a few hours later after having a bad dream. The rain had stopped, but it was still night. Christine was asleep beside me and I knew she wouldn't be waking anytime soon. Therefore, I gathered up my clothes and dressed. Afterwards, I quietly snuck out of her apartment and headed home. Once there, I took a seat at my desk and began to write a song. It had been a long while since I last had inspiration to write music, but for some reason, I had an idea. Who knew that all I needed was to make love to a woman. The notes poured from my veins as the hours past. When the sun finally came up, I stood up from my desk and dressed for the day. I knew today was going to be hell, but at least the night before, I had reached heaven. I didn't want to go to work, because I knew what work would bring. I knew I would most likely be sitting on my podium naked and showing off my body to paying customers. Though, after walking to work, my heart stopped within my chest when I arrived at my podium to find Gustave sitting there with half of his face painted to look like me…He had painted the right side of his face red and yellow to make his flesh hideous looking. Not only that, but he was sitting there shirtless.

"Gustave," I ran to his side and lifted the boy from off the podium before my boss could see him. "What in God's name are you doing here? Does your mother know you're here?"

"No, she doesn't," the boy replied. "But I wanted to help you, Mr. Erik…You said you needed to come up with some way to make money. I decided to be your double…"

"My double?" I snapped. "You're going to get yourself killed. Get out of here…"

I placed the boy down and patted him on his behind, but the child didn't move.

"Go!" I growled. "Get out of here…."

But before the boy could move, Mr. Tilyou appeared inside the tent. Oh, I had to hide him. If Mr. Tilyou spotted Gustave, my world would be done for.

"You need to get out of here, now…" I warned. "You can't be seen."

"Well, well, well…." When I heard my boss' voice, I knew this was over. Oh, I would surely kill this man if he attempted to harm Gustave. I would protect this child with my life. "What do we have here?"

My boss lifted Gustave up by his arms and laughed. "And what is this abomination? A little brat…And with a painted face. If you're looking for the clown tent, it's on the other side of the park."

"I'm not a clown," Gustave barked. "I'm his son."

This only made my boss laugh harder.

"Son?! Sorry, kid, but no one would fuck something as hideous as this monster."

"Let him go…" I grabbed hold of Mr. Tilyou's hand, but this only angered him.

"Do you truly wish to play this game, monster? Because you will lose once again. Now, what is this boy doing here, and why is his face painted to look like yours?"

I didn't know what to say, but Gustave answered for me.

"I'm what's going to make you money…Everyone will pay more to see two of Mr. Erik…I could be his son."

"Son?" Mr. Tilyou scowled. "Son? No, you stupid boy…No one is going to pay to see something such as you…But…"

My boss took out his lighter and held it close to Gustave's face as he tried to scurry away. Oh, I had to do something. I had to stop this…

"I'm sure they would pay after I burn your cute little face."

"No!" I pulled on my boss' arm, causing him to drop Gustave.

"You're going to pay for that, demon…"

Mr. Tilyou was no longer interested in Gustave. No, he was now interested in me. He grabbed hold of my shirt and threw me to the ground, kicking me and hurting me once more. I was coughing and Gustave must have heard it for he jumped on Mr. Tilyou's back and grabbed his hair.

"You little brat!"

"Let him go," the child cried out. "Don't hurt him…"

"I'll hurt you, all right!"

Before my boss could lay a hand on the boy, I pulled him from his grasp. But what happened next shattered my entire world.

"You're fired!"

Fired? How could I be fired? Without this job, I had nothing. I had been working here for five years, and in a matter of seconds, my world was gone. Without this job, I had no money. Without this job, I had no home. No…

"Mr. Tilyou, I beg you…"

"You best get off of my property before I have you killed. You can thank Jr. for that. There is no begging to be done. You're nothing, monster! Nothing!"

I slowly walked away, not even thinking about what Gustave had done. But a few moments later he was at my side.

"Mr. Erik…"

"No!" I growled. "Get out of here!"

"But…"

"But nothing! You just got me fired…Do you hear me! Fired….It's all your fault!"

"But I was just trying to help."

"I never want to see you again. Do you understand?! I hate you! I hate you, and your mother…"

"But that man was mean to you, Mr. Erik…"

"That was my money! That was all I had!"

"But now you can have Pirate Island! Remember?"

"There is no Pirate Island! There is no such thing! You're a child! A stupid child, Gustave…"

And as the boy cried, I ran the other way. I knew there was nothing left in this world. I knew there was going to be nothing to save me now. I would soon run out of money, and then, I would lose my home. No, I wouldn't bring myself down to that level. Last night, I had reached heaven, and now, I was in hell. When I arrived home, I knew what was going to be done. I took a seat on my bed and rummaged through my night table drawer, pulling out my small pocket knife, the same knife I had whittled Gustave's animals with. In my heart, I knew the boy only wanted to help, but in doing so, he had gotten me fired. I pulled the gloves from off of my hands and looked down at the scars I had obtained from my past attempt at suicide. No, there would be no more attempts, there would only be death.

I flipped open the blade of the knife and saw my reflection staring back at me from the shiny blade. This was it…This was going to be the last thing I ever saw again. I couldn't live without money, and I couldn't live without a roof over my head. In America, it was hard to live if you looked like me and with Luna Park being the only park around, there was no other employment. I was about to run the blade across the scars on my wrist, when I happened to look down on the floor and notice a recent newspaper sitting there. Yes, I always read the morning newspaper, but because I had been watching over Christine over the past few days, the newspapers had been piling up on my floor.

The headline caught my attention, for I picked up the newspaper and read it out loud. "Boardwalk Seeks To Expand." Curious, I continued reading.

"The Coney Island Boardwalk plans to sell parts of its abandoned areas to business entrepreneurs seeking to create revenue on the island. For the time being, Luna Park is the only amusement area for families seeking a goodtime, but Coney hopes to have more attractions up and running within the near future…For business is money."

I placed the knife aside and continued looking at the article. Revenue? Business? An idea popped into my head…A wonderful yet, hopeful idea. Before, I believed running my own park to be preposterous, but now, it didn't seem preposterous at all. I could do it…In Paris, I ran the opera house, and in Persia, I built things that were never supposed to be built. In my mind, I could create a world filled with excitement, and in doing so, I could run Luna Park straight out of business. I could run that bastard Tilyou right into bankruptcy, and oh, what a sweet revenge it would be. No, there would be no death today…No, there would only be life, and in life, there would be success…I could do this. I could rule Coney Island. I had once controlled and entire opera house with a snap of my fingers…Coney Island couldn't be much harder.