Erik's POV

It had been a successful day and night. Not only had my park made more money in a single day than Luna Park did in an entire season, but I was also wearing my ring. I was exhausted but couldn't sleep…No, after arriving home, I spent the next few hours lying in bed and staring at the silver band that was now covering my left ring finger. Finally, after so many years of being vacant and cold, it was finally covered with the small piece of jewelry every man who is bound to a woman wears. Christine… Mine at last. I had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. I sighed in happiness and closed my eyes, only to be awoken by a small knock at my door.

"Erik?"

I sat up and looked towards the doorway.

"Yes, Christine?"

"May I come in?"

"Yes, enter…"

When the door opened, Christine came walking in dressed in her night attire. Her curls were down, and bouncing over her shoulders. She didn't say a word as she crawled into bed beside me. She was silent as she snuggled her head up against my chest, her hand caressing the ring that I was wearing. This was nice…A change from my loneliness.

"Today was a successful day for the both of us," Christine began. "Long, but successful. And yet, even after everything that has taken place, you still managed to celebrate afterwards. It was one of the best days of my life, Erik, one that will live in my memory for many years to come."

"And what was the best day of your life, Christine?"

Christine looked up at me with her beautiful eyes and mewed the very words that sent my heart soaring.

"The day I met you, of course…"

That was all that needed to be said, for the next thing I knew, I was kissing her. Our passion grew with every second that passed, my hands running down her beautiful body…Pure heaven! She was already unbuttoning my shirt, her hands touching my aching scars. Oh, it was beautiful! I loved when she and I became one, and I knew where this was leading to. I wanted her badly, so badly that I was going to do anything within my power to have her again. When my shirt was discarded, I placed my lips against her neck, a low moan escaping from her mouth. Next thing I knew, my angel's hands were down my sleep trousers and grasping the very object that made making love possible.

"Christine…You, mon ange," I gasped in between kisses. "Have the hands of an angel."

Christine giggled and continued to please me with her touch. My kisses became rougher, and my grip upon her shoulders tightened. I was just sliding off Christine's night dress, when all of a sudden, the door to my room flew open. We both paused, turning to find Gustave standing in the doorway with his stuffed tiger in hand. He looked at us as if we were committing some sort of crime before hurrying down the stairs.

"I…I should replace the lock on that door," I stammered. "Forgive me, Christine."

This night of passion was now over, for Christine was reaching out to place her arms back into her night dress.

"No, Erik, it's all right. I…I should have known better than to have come up here."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair.

"You know, Christine, now that you and I…Well, now that we've agreed to be faithful to one another, I believe it's time to break the news to the child. I will be seeing you and you will be seeing me. He'll become confused if we don't sit him down and explain this to him. Though, he's a smart boy. I don't think he will take the news hard."

"I know, Erik, but I just want to concentrate on us for the time being. We just started seeing one another again and I believe it's best to wait a while before sitting him down. I…I just don't want to fill his head with a bunch of false hope."

"False hope?" I growled, buttoning my shirt up. "Is that what you believe this to be?"

"Never, Erik, but if things don't work out, then…"

"And why wouldn't they work out, Christine?" I growled. "What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing, Erik…I'm not trying to say anything. I just don't want my son believing that you will be his new father only to have something happen. Erik, please just say that you and I can keep this from him for just a while longer? Please, it would mean the world to me…"

When I nodded, Christine gave me a quick peck on the cheek and snuggled down beside me.

"Goodnight, Erik…Sweet dreams…"

When the girl was asleep, I emerged and threw on my robe, heading downstairs to find Gustave sitting in the kitchen. I tried to sneak away, but the boy had his eyes locked on me. If there was one thing I didn't want to do, it was to explain to him about why his mother and I were sleeping in the same bedroom. Though, I acted smoothly and entered the kitchen, placing a kettle on the stove while minding my own business.

"And why are you awake at such a late hour, boy?" I questioned. "Only owls and rats are awake at such an hour."

"Mr. Erik, why were you and mama sleeping in the same bed? I came up stairs when I found her room empty…What were you doing to her?"

I sighed, knowing that lying to the boy was going to do me no good.

"Gustave, remember what I told you a few weeks ago? About how men and women love one another body and soul?"

Gustave nodded.

"T…That's what your mother and I were trying to do. And now that you know, I hope you keep it to yourself."

"You love my mama?"

"Of course, Gustave. Now, enough talk about this… Your mother made me promise to keep this conversation hidden for the time being, but just know that you're going to be seeing your mother and I acting differently around one another from now on."

"How so?"

"Well, instead of us having separate rooms, she and I will be staying in my bedroom. Sometimes, you will see your mother kissing me…"

"But why, Mr. Erik?"

"Gustave, your mother and I have agreed to court one another. We care about each other so much, that it only seemed right that we take it a step further. I'm not sure what will be the end result, but for now, your mother and I will at least be trying."

"Is that why you're wearing that beautiful silver ring?"

I gazed down at my left ring finger and nodded. "Yes, Gustave. Your mother has a ring too. It means that she and I have promised one another to be faithful. We will see no one but each other."

There was a brief silence, and then, the boy went crazy, jumping up and down and crying out with excitement. Oh, what was he doing?

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Enough, boy!" I snapped, grabbing him by the shoulders to get him to stop jumping up and down. "What in the world are you doing?"

"I'm just happy, Mr. Erik…"

"Happy about what?"

"That you and mama are together. That means that perhaps one day I could call you my papa…"

"Gustave, enough! Just because your mother and I have decided to court does not necessarily mean that we will one day marry. Enough jumping about… To bed with you before you wake up your mother."

Silence finally filled the house once Gustave went to bed. I was relieved, for only when he was gone did I take my cup of tea to the piano and begin composing. Little did I know that tomorrow would bring horrors to my world. Now that I was the owner of an entire park, I needed to wake extra early and head out to do my rounds before the opening hour. After donning my cloak, I kissed Christine, who was still sleeping in my bed and headed outside, ready for my rounds. After checking a few of the rides, I took a sip of my tea that I had brought along with me and headed towards the opera house. I inspected every corner and crevice from the night before, being sure that it had been cleaned like my janitors were supposed to have cleaned it. Though, as soon as I took a glance at the stage, I knew something was terribly wrong. There was a stray rope from the rafters hanging in the center of the stage, making it obvious that something was out of place.

"Is anybody here?" I cried. "There's a loose rope hanging…Oh, forget it."

Knowing that I would have to clean this up myself, I placed down my cup of tea and climbed the stairs to the stage. When I was at the rope, I took hold of it, but as soon as I did so, I heard a spill, and then, felt the agony of hot liquid hitting my flesh…I screamed, but my screams couldn't be heard as I stumbled off stage and towards the nearest door, blindly… Only, when I opened the door, that room had been booby trapped as well, for the next thing I knew, I was being bombarded with white feathers that instantly stuck to the substance that was covering my entire body. When I slipped, I fell onto my back, coming face to face with the flashings of cameras.

"That's right, boys…take all the pictures you want."

I knew that voice! I'd know it anywhere…Mr. Tilyou! The despicable man came walking through the doors accompanied by the press and their photographers.

"Meet the mysterious Mister E…A chicken! That's what he is…A cowardly chicken…"

I didn't understand what the man was going on about, nor did I get his joke. At least that was until I was able to get my balance and stare into the nearest mirror. Oh, I was hideous! That bastard had rigged the stage in order to not only embarrass me, but have me embarrassed by the entire island. There were so many feathers stuck to me, that I looked like a chicken. I had been tarred and feathered!

"That's for taking away my employees," the man sneered before leaving. "Continue with this, Erik, and next time, it won't be feathers stuck to your hideous face…"

Oh, how I wanted to kill that man, but I couldn't, not at the moment anyway. Trying to remove the feathers on my own was nearly impossibly seeing that every time I tugged upon one of the feathers, my flesh wanted to come with it…No, I was forced to walk the streets, covered in humiliation. There was no avoiding the crowds, and therefore, I was in plain sight. As soon as I opened the front door to my home, Christine gasped at the sight of me…I wasn't even sure if she knew it was me or not because of the feathers, but speaking was nearly impossible.

"Christine, it's me…"

Once I murmured those very words, the woman covered her mouth and dragged me into the bathroom before Gustave could see me.

"Oh my God, Erik, what happened to you?!" she cried. "Oh, look at you…You're…You're hurt."

My body was shaking nervously as Christine stripped me of all my clothing. I could only thank God that the only thing that had been covered in tar was my head and face. No, my clothing had protected my sensitive back and chest. But even having my head covered in tar wasn't good, for beneath my wig, I had a skull that was malformed and a portion of my brain was exposed, covered by delicate veins and arteries… My mask had been ruined…That was obvious, but it had protected my deformity from being tarred.

"Erik, I need to call a doctor…" Christine began. "I can't do this… You need medical treatment."

"No doctors," I groaned. "I'm not going back out there…"

"Erik, your exposed skull is beneath your wig. You could have too much pressure being applied to it…And what of the tar?"

But still, I refused to go outside. I had enough embarrassment for one day. No, I would die before going back into the real world again.

"I'm calling for a doctor…"

And like she said she would, she did… I was forced to lay on my bed, the doctor working endlessly to pry my wig away from my head. The tar was so thick and hard now, that it was nearly impossible to do so. I felt my flesh being pulled away from my bones as the man probed me with a pair of scissors and tweezers. Pure agony!

"I'm going to have to put him under…" the doctor replied to Christine. "His wig is going to be too painful to remove while he's awake."

But even as the man said these few words, I felt something rupture from beneath my wig…Oh, one of my arteries?…Or possibly a vein had burst! I cringed as blood began to seep out from beneath the wig and down my tar covered cheek. My heart was racing from within my chest as the doctor worked quickly in putting me under…The medicine worked quickly, for my eyes became heavy and my body felt warm.

When I awoke, I no longer felt my head gushing blood, nor did I feel as though I was covered in tar. But I was in pain… Curious, I reached over on my night table for my small mirror, raising it up to my eyes to see that my face was still caked in the black tar. The feathers were gone at last, but my flesh was still covered in black…In some spots, I could see my flesh, and in other spots, I could see nothing but black. The substance even trailed down my neck and over the scar that had once been an open wound.

"Erik…"

When I saw Christine entering my room with a tray, I pressed my eyes closed and placed the mirror down. The woman approached my bed and began to soak a rag in whatever substance she had in the basin she was holding. I didn't say a word…No, I only cringed in discomfort when the wet cloth touched my flesh and began to sizzle.

"The doctor said that it's going to take a week or two for the tar to completely come off of your skin. I was given strict instructions to wash your face three times a day with alcohol."

In Christine's lap, I noticed a newspaper, one that had a photo of me on the front page…It was me covered in those feathers. Once more, I pressed my eyes closed and turned my face so that I was staring out the window…Never again would I ever feel confident enough to walk among society and breathe in the fresh Coney Island air.

Phew...Now that this chapter is over with. So, I'm not trying to torture Erik...Though, I thought that Mr. Tilyou would have been pretty pissed after realizing how sucessful Phantasma's first day had been... Looking this horrible tarring thing up, I researched and found that it was a popular way of getting revenge back in the day. Alot of people died, but if you survived, it took weeks of alcohol and gasoline baths to get that crap off your flesh. I think it's time that Erik put this evil man to rest...Opera Ghost Style! Please review...