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Chapter 5-A Nightmare

CHAPTER 5

"Christine why are you not sleeping? I mean you still can't be scared of that man. It's been nearly a month. Don't you think if he were going to come and kill you he would have done it by now?" Meg asked worried.

"Meg, you trust me don't you?" Christine questioned stopping her stretching to talk to Meg full on.

"Of course I do Christine," Meg answered, "I just worry about you sometimes that's all. You need to get your rest," Meg continued also stopping her stretching.

"Meg if you trust me, then trust me when I say if I told you the reason I was staying up all night you wouldn't believe me," Christine explained.

"If you don't want to tell me Christine that's fine, but one of these days I will find out, but if you don't get any sleep you're going to ruin your ballet career," Meg joked. With a smile on her face Christine continued stretching.

"Maureen are you sure you don't want to spend the night with me," Kathy, Maureen's best friend pleaded. "My house is just across the street," she continued. Maureen, Kathy, and a few other friends had just gotten through with a night of partying at the best club in New York.

"Yeah come on Maueen! We gonna have a great time tanight," Tina, who was quite drunk, put in.

"Yeah I'm sure, I'd rather go home," she said smiling at her friend's concern for her.

"Well it's nearly 1 AM and it's dark. I'm just worried about that's all. Make sure you call me when you get home," Kathy demanded.

"I will," Maureen agreed.

"I might be joining you in the morning rather the have to help this thing through her hangover," Kathy joked as she stopped Tina from fainted. "Now be careful and give me a hug before you leave," Kathy ordered and Maureen happily obeyed.

"Goodnight Kathy and goodnight Tina," Maureen said before she turned around to leave.

"Gooooddnight!" Tina yelled to Maureen just before she fainted.

"Gosh she's drunk," Maureen whispered to herself.

New York City was usually busy at this time of night on the main streets, but on this street it was only Maureen and the homeless guy she could see far ahead of her. It was dark except for the lamps every here and there, and her footsteps echoed as she walked in the silence. She kind of wished she had stayed at Kathy's house, but was too late.

Suddenly she began to hear footstep's echoed accompanied by another pair of footsteps. Her heart stopped in fear. It's nobody she, just someone taking the same lonely walk. To be on the safe side though, she reached inside her purse and pulled out some pepper spray, and turned onto the next street in an attempt to lose whoever was following her, but she could still hear the footsteps.

"1..2..3!" she yelled as she turned around, pepper spray at the ready, but there was no one behind her, absolutely no one. The streets were still silent, and the only sign of movement was the street lamp flickering a little. Maureen, confused, began walking again but a little faster. She could still hear the footsteps behind her, and they were moving as fast as she was. She began to walk a lot faster then before, and so did the footsteps. Her quick walking turned into a run. She was scared for her life, and she knew for sure that someone was following her.

She thought she was about to lose the follower until all of a sudden she tripped on an empty bottle. As fast as she could, she tried to get up, and she didn't dare look behind her. Then, suddenly, the footsteps stopped behind her, and the street was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Each street lamp began to turn off one after the other until she was left in a dark silence. The only sounds were the shuffling of footsteps and her very heavy breathing.

Then before she could even scream, she was pulled into the alleyway faster then a twinkling of an eye.

"Erik I've been coming here and talking to you for almost a month now, and I still don't know what you look like," Christine informed. Erik wasn't playing the piano or singing now. The two of them were just sitting in the auditorium talking about random stuff.

"I'd rather keep it that way Ms. Daae," Erik replied.

"But why? I mean don't you wanna see what I look like?" she asked.

"A friendship shouldn't be based on looks," Erik said.

"Ah..so you admit we're friends?" she remarked.

"What else would we be?"

"Nothing, it's just in a month you've never mentioned being friends before," Christine explained.

"Well we are friends Ms. Daae," Erik put in.

"Well Erik I'm glad we're friends, but I'd still like to see your face," she said, "and please call me Christine."

"Well Christine," Erik said putting a certain emphasize on her name," trust me when I say there is nothing in this world that you would want to see less then my face," Erik told her. He sounded very serious and Christine decided she'd push the subject later.

"Erik I've got a question."

"And what would that be Christine?"

She fought with herself to ask it; the question was kind of embarrassing. "Will you give me singing lessons?" she finally asked.

"Singing lessons?" he said in surprise.

"Yes, singing lessons, I'd like to be able to sing better," she explained, "and since I'm not getting any sleep my ballet career is slowly going to the dumps," Christine continued. She shuddered at the thought of what had happened earlier at practice.

"Well maybe you should get some sleep," Erik suggested. "I'm promise that I won't let anything hurt you," he told her. The sincerity in his voice put a smile on Christine's face.

"I'd appreciate that but I still want to learn how to sing," she said. "Will you please teach me?"

"I don't know, I'll think about it," Erik said.

"Pwease!" Christine pleaded.

"I said I'd think about it and that's all I can promise," he answered, "in the mean time, why don't you get some sleep?"

"Do you promise you'll think about it?"

"Go to sleep Christine," Erik ordered like a mother.

"Ok I'll go to sleep, but I want an answer tomorrow. Promise me you'll give me an answer. It's always been my dream to be the lead soprano for this opera house," Christine informed as she began to walk toward the dorms.

"I swear I'll give you an answer…tomorrow night," Erik said. Christine smiled as she went up to the dorms.

Captain Horn examined the body. It was a young woman, probably in her late twenties. She looked like she might have been a beautiful girl if her neck hadn't been ripped out. She was nearly beheaded it was so bad. Her body was lying in a pool of, and it was a very gruesome sight even for a police captain who had seen dead bodies nearly everyday.

"Sir there's a Mr. De Chagny that wants to see you," one of the cops told him. Horn turned around to look at the man. The poor cop was quivering in the presence of the body.

"Where is he?" Horn asked, but his question was answered when he saw a man dressed in nothing but black and wore sunglasses that stood out way too much to be there for nothing. "Never mind, " he said as he walked toward the man.

"Captain Horn?" the man asked.

"In the flesh," Horn replied. "Mr. De Chagny?"

"Yes, can I talk to you in private?"

"Is it that serious? As you can see I'm a little busy at the moment," Horn explained.

"On the contrary, Mr. Horn it's about that," the man said taking off his sunglasses.

Erik walked into the dark basement of his home. Nothing had changed about it. It was still messy, still ugly, and still unfortunately his home. The sun hadn't gone up yet, but he didn't want to even take the chance of being out in the sunlight..again. So he was going to bed a few hours early. "Perhaps one day I can move into the Populaire," he joked to himself.

"Why hello Erik," a female voice behind him greeted. Erik spun around in surprise to see who dared entered his home.

"Who's there?" he demanded to know. For some reason he couldn't see the woman in the darkness.

"You don't recognize my voice? Well it must have been longer then I thought since the last time we met," she said with a smooth tone.

Erik did recognize the voice, but he didn't know to whom it belonged. "Who are you?"

"A friend Erik, a friend. I was hoping you'd remember me, and that we could go back to old times, but I guess you don't recall who I am, and now is not the time to rekindle our friendship," she explained, "but I will see you again my dear Erik, and times will be like they were. Oh and by the way, you've got a hunter after you. You might want to be careful," she said before she disappeared.

Erik stood in the dark wondering to whom the mysterious voice could have belonged to, and why it seemed so familiar.

The young boy stared into the mirror with hate. His face was hideous, his body was skinny and pale, and he was a monster. "No wonder she hates me," he said to himself, "I'm a monster, a terrible ugly monster." The boy rubbed his cold, pale arms. They were covered with scars from her belt, and her wrath, and his back looked even worse. His mother was right about everything, and he deserved every bit of abuse from that woman.

"Get out of the bathroom you scum!" his mother demanded outside the door.

Erik paid no head to the woman who was now banging on the door in fury.. He could only stare at the mirror and loathe his atrocious looks. He picked up a towel and wrapped it his hand and in a moment of anger he smashed the mirror. He took out all his anger and frustration until the mirror was in pieces, and his arm was covered in blood.

"Erik get out of the bathroom!" his mom ordered and Erik finally obeyed. Still ignoring her, he marched out of the bathroom not even paying attention to his bloody arm. "What in the hell have you done?" she demanded to know. Erik didn't even turn around to look at her. "You answer me boy!" she yelled. Erik still did not answer. "By God you're not going to ignore me," she screamed as she pulled out her belt and began chasing him around the small house.

She tried to hit him while he had his back to her, but Erik quickly turned around and stabbed her with a shard of glass. Then silently he watched her die a slow and terrible death. "Rot in hell," he told her as she slowly fell to the ground in pain. The woman of his nightmares was dead, and never would that belt or her fury haunt him again.

"What have I done?" the boy asked himself as he examined the bloody seen around him in horror. Suddenly someone began clapping in the darkness.

"A wise thing," a female voice said.

Erik looked up in fear," Who's there?" he demanded to know.

A tall and beautiful woman walked out of the shadows, "A friend Erik, a friend," she explained.

Erik shot up in his bed. He now knew who the mysterious woman was.

Hope you liked it.