Erik's POV

Knowing the only way to help Christine, I took my construction workers off of my park temporarily to have them reconstruct the bottom half of my house. Christine was going to lose her job, and therefore, she would need a place to stay. The downstairs had been condemned, but in a few days, it was back to being livable. There were two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a small kitchen. It wasn't much, but it would have to be home for them until further notice. During the next week, I stayed away from Christine, working night and day on fixing up my home. Yes, there were still a few tweaks that needed to be done, but my home was livable, and that's all that mattered. On the night Christine was supposed to be taken advantage of, I left my home and headed towards the gentleman's club. Like usual, I sat towards the back with my cloak covering my head, watching Christine work. Oh, I had my eyes on that despicable owner. His eyes burned into Christine's body every time she passed him. And when he got up and followed Christine towards the back of the kitchen, I followed as well.

Christine was placing her empty tray down on the counter, when the owner came up behind her and caressed her butt. Christine angrily gasped and spun around, catching the man's hands in her own.

"What are you doing?" she cried.

"You're going to give me a piece of your ass, or else you'll be standing in the breadlines by morning, lass…"

"Get your hands off of me!"

I stayed hidden, keeping watch on Christine. She fought off the man, until he got rough with her. When she could no longer fight him off, I approached him and pulled the bastard away.

"Get your hands off of her!"

I punched the man in the face, causing his nose to bleed.

"You're done…" he growled, looking at Christine. "You can take your monster and be happy together…But it won't be in my club, whore."

Hearing this angered me, for my hands wrapped around the bastard's neck.

"Don't you ever talk about her like that! You're lucky I don't kill you right where you stand…She is a woman, and women deserved to be treated with respect."

With that, I took the shaking woman outside to get some air.

"Just breathe, Christine," I said, rubbing her back. "It's over now."

Christine began to sob. Why was she sobbing? She hadn't been raped.

"Christine, everything will be all right."

"Of course it will," she cried. "I have no money, no job and no home. What am I going to do, Erik? What am I going to do? I can hardly afford my apartment. Gustave and I will be out on the streets come tomorrow. That job was the only place that would hire me."

"Christine, calm down…." I said, pressing her head into my chest. "It's all right."

It was dark, but when I looked down at her wrists, I could already see that they were bruising.

"You can work for me in my park next spring," I offered. "Everything will work out."

"And what am I supposed to do for money until then? What am I going to do for shelter?"

I took Christine by the hand and lead her to my home.

"Where are we going, Erik?"

"Home, Christine," I said, opening the door to my home. When the lights came on, Christine's eyes widened.

"Erik, it's beautiful…You redid the inside."

"Indeed," I said. "I had my workers postpone work on my park in order to repair some things. Winter is coming and one couldn't stay warm with cracks in the floor."

Yes, it might have been a lie, but I refused to tell Christine that I overheard her boss last week. Christine wiped her teary eyes and continued walking along the bottom half of the house.

"But, what I really wanted to show you was this," I opened a door that lead to a small bedroom. It wasn't much, but it did have a bed and a closet to store some things in.

"What's this?" Christine asked.

"Your bedroom, Christine. Gustave's is next door."

"What?" she gasped.

"Christine, you need a place to stay. You don't have any money and you don't have a job. Yes, work shall be coming, but not until spring. What am I to do? Allow you to freeze all winter on the streets? Don't be ridiculous, Christine. No, tomorrow you can start moving in here if you wish…On one condition, of course."

"What?"

I pointed towards the staircase. "Up there is my office and personal space, Christine. I don't want you bothering me. Just because I will be allowing you to live here doesn't give you the right to come and go as you please with me. Do we have a deal?"

Christine nodded and flung her arms around me. "Thank you…Thank you, Erik."

"Don't thank me, Christine."

From out of my pocket, I produced a spare key and placed it into her hand.

"You'll be needing this then…"

"Thank you, Erik."

"Once again, no need to thank me."

For the next few days, I stayed at my office working on the construction of my park, while Gustave and Christine moved in. Some nights I slept in my office in order to catch up and other times, I didn't arrive back at my home until the late hours of the evening, leaving before the sun rose. Summer was coming to an end, and soon, winter would be upon us. I needed to get as much work done as I possibly could. Though, one evening, I arrived home late, entering my home to find Gustave sitting on the stairs caressing his stuffed tiger.

"Gustave," I said, hanging up my jacket. "What are you doing? It's late…"

"I couldn't sleep," he said, looking up at me. "I had a nightmare."

"A nightmare?" I questioned, sitting down beside him. "You know that dreams aren't real, child. They are merely pictures and images…Sort of like the new motion picture. It's all make believe."

"But it was real, Mr. Erik. I dreamed that my mama got hurt. She died and there was no on here to take care of me. I went to a horrible place where people hurt me and made me work."

I ruffled his dark locks and smiled. "That would never happen, Gustave. Now, I believe it's time to get back to sleep."

"Will you tuck me in Mr. Erik?"

I nodded and walked with him to his room. Yes, it might have been small, but he had filled it up with his toys and stuffed animals.

"I see you've made this place your own."

Gustave nodded and crawled into bed. "The walls are a little too white. I don't like the color white, Mr. Erik."

I took a seat at his side and gazed at the white walls. Yes, it wasn't my first choice either, but repairing the walls were more important than decorating them.

"Well, it doesn't have to stay this way," I assured. "We could make this place your own."

"How?" he curiously questioned.

"With a little paint and stencils, we could have this room looking like Pirate Island. I know a fisherman down on the docks. Perhaps he would lend me some fishing net to hang on the walls."

"And could we find seashells on the beach to tie in the net?"

"If that's what you would like to do, then yes…"

The child smiled and laid down beneath his blankets.

"Mama told me that you saved her…"

"I wouldn't go that far, Gustave. She needed my help and so, I helped her."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Erik."

I took his stuffed tiger and placed it into his arms.

"I've always wondered what your fascination was with tigers…You seem to like them more than anything in the world. Though, I would have believed you to like parrots more, seeing that they are the loyal pets of pirates."

Gustave hugged his tiger close to him and shook his head. "No, Mr. Erik. Tigers are strong…They are king of the jungle. I've always been alone and scared. So, I thought that if I had a pet tiger, he would protect me. I don't have a real tiger, but Jerry protects me and makes me feel safe. In a way, you're my Jerry, Mr. Erik…"

I smiled and patted him on the back. "Get some sleep, Gustave."

I stood, only turning when I heard the child call for me. "Yes, Gustave?"

"I never knew my papa…Do you believe that he could have been a tiger?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't believe that could have been possible. Though, I'm sure he loved you very much."

Yes, it was a lie, but I couldn't tell Gustave the truth about his father.

"Get some sleep, Gustave."

After closing his door, I headed towards the stairs, only to be stopped by Christine.

"Erik?"

"Yes, Christine?"

I spun around to face her, spotting the woman standing there in her night attire.

"Is Gustave all right?"

I nodded. "He had a bad dream. He's all right now…I put him back to bed."

I turned to head back towards the stairs, when Christine called for me again.

"How was work?"

"Work was work…Lots to do before spring. How is your room? Satisfactory?"

"Yes…It's a palace compared to what we were living in. Thank you…"

"Once again, Christine, you don't have to thank me. Anyway, I have a lot of work to get done tomorrow so I'm going to turn in for the evening. Goodnight, Christine."

"Erik?"

I looked back down at her. "Yes?"

"I was going to make dinner tomorrow night. Well, seeing that you redid the downstairs kitchen. Would you be willing to join Gustave and I?"

"No promises, woman…" I began. "I have much to do tomorrow and won't be sure what time I shall be home."

"Six then?" she slyly questioned.

When I didn't answer her, Christine smiled. "Six it is then…"

"Goodnight, Christine."

With that, I headed towards my room and locked the door behind me. After undressing, I slipped on my night attire and crawled into bed. I was exhausted, oh, so exhausted. I never worked so hard in all my life and by the day's end, I couldn't help but feel tired. But even though I was tired, I still felt the need to relieve myself of some built up stress. I sighed and reached down into my sleep trousers and grasped my manhood. This was all I would ever have…No woman would ever want to be with me.

"Erik?"

I groaned and pulled my hands out of my trousers. Oh, what did this woman want? I wanted to be left alone…I wanted to be left in peace. I told this woman to leave me be, and yet, she was knocking at my door at the late hour of one.

"Yes?" I angrily growled, pulling open the door. "I told you I was going to bed, woman…"

"Sorry, Erik…I just…"

"You just what?" I growled. "I told you goodnight, Christine."

Before I could say another word, the woman wrapped her arms around me and sighed. "I wanted to thank you again, Erik. Every morning I wake and smile at this place. I couldn't be happier…For the past five years I've been searching for this happiness…Thank you."

"Woman, if you thank me one more time I shall go insane and kick you out. Now, if you don't mind, I wish to sleep. It's late and I have work in the morning."

Christine let go and pressed a small peck to my lips. Oh, I would have hit her for this, but I was too tired to care.

"Goodnight, Erik…"

When the woman was gone again, I sighed and crawled into bed, too tired to touch myself. I quickly fell asleep, waking when a bolt of lightning flashed into my bedroom. Lightning never scared me, for as long as I was inside, I knew I was safe. No, my only fear was my master…But he was dead and gone. I yawned and rolled over as the rain pelted against my window. Oh, the summer storms meant that summer was winding down. But as I closed my eyes, I heard the fast pitter patter of feet hurrying up the stairs. Oh, what was going on? A few moments later, the door to my room flew open and Gustave came rushing in with his tiger and blanket wrapped around him. No, no, no, no! I wouldn't allow it!

"Gustave, you go back to bed this instant!" I growled. "You need to go to your own room."

But the boy wouldn't leave…No, he crawled beneath the blankets of my bed and pressed his face into my chest.

"Gustave, what are you doing?"

"Mr. Erik, make the lightning stop…It's scary."

"Boy, go back to bed this instant! Go to your mother…"

"You're my Jerry, Mr. Erik…Please let me stay with you. Please…"

The boy seemed so frightened and I wasn't sure why. But even then, I owed the boy for what I had done. Therefore, I patted him on the back and laid down beside him. When another flash of lightning lit up my room, he gasped and buried his face deeper into my shirt.

"Gustave, it's lightning…"

"I don't like the noise it makes…It's too loud."

"That's thunder, Gustave…Lightning is only a light. It's thunder that makes the noise. It can't hurt you, child."

"Will you let me stay here tonight?"

Deciding to play along with the child, I pulled the blanket over our head and placed a small light in the center of where we were laying.

"Do you know what pirates do on stormy nights, Gustave?"

The child shook his head. "No, what do they do, Mr. Erik?"

"On stormy nights, pirates can't stay out on the sea due to the threat of capsizing. Therefore, they dock on the nearest island and take shelter in tents."

"And what do they do for entertainment?"

"Well, the pirate fathers tell spooky stories to their children…Swashbuckling stories about fighting pirates and treasure…Sometimes, they even play games."

"What sort of games, Mr. Erik?"

"Well card games…Perhaps even games that have to do with treasure. And in the morning, when the storms have passed, they board their ships and continue their search for treasure."

"I wish I was a pirate, Mr. Erik…If I was a pirate, I could search for treasure and give my mama money."

"Is that what you're so worried about? Money?"

"My mama says we can't live without it…"

"Perhaps, but sometimes, it's better to be rich in love, Gustave. Money will buy you materialistic things, but it can never buy you love."

"You have money, Mr. Erik….If you have money, how come you don't have love?"

"That is another story for another night…Now sleep…"

And when the boy closed his eyes, I knew in my heart why I didn't have love. Though, I didn't have the heart to tell him that demons are never looked upon and loved. He was just too innocent to understand.

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter. I shall be leaving for vacation tomorrow...Time to hit up the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I shall attempt to update every three days like I usually do, but no promises. I have a busy week ahead of me. Please review everyone!