Teehee now I'm finally getting to the point where I can write about Erik. This will get good…Hopefully I hope you guys like it. I'm trying to stay true to ALW's masterpiece. And I think it's about time that you should know I have some new twists that Andrew didn't have that I thought should have happened and also I'm going to write about Erik's life in between POTO and LND! Whoop! okay story time…

The Carriage was holding three of the strangest looking people I had ever seen. They introduced themselves as Squelch, Dr. Gangle, and Fleck. Squelch was a pretty intimidating man. He was large and I could feel Raoul tense up beside me when he saw him. But the moment Squelch opened his mouth to speak I could sense his innocence and how friendly, warm-hearted, and funny he was. Dr. Gangle was a tall narrow stick of a man that toward over you. His movements were awkward and unnatural. He was a strange man that you could seem to take your eyes off of. Fleck was a tiny young woman. She was half of the height of Gustave. I shook my thoughts away. Gustave was already climbing into their carriage.

"Gustave! What on earth are you doing!?"

"Come this way Prima Donna, Mr. Hammerstein's expecting you." I looked at the very strange people that surrounded and made up my decision of what I was going to do. I made my way up into the carriage with the hand of Dr. Gangle and Fleck holding up my dress. Raoul with no other choice, climbed into the carriage behind me. There it was. That feeling that I was being watched crept in on me and I suddenly felt claustrophobic.

The ride was short as we pulled up to the old building we would be staying.

"This is it? This is the place we were booked?!" Raoul looked up at the building in disgust. He jumped out of the carriage as soon as it stopped and walked quickly inside to get the keys to our room. He took the umbrella and left me to bring the bags in. Thankfully Dr. Gangle and Squelch were kind enough to carry the heavy bags to our room. I thanked them both with a kiss on the cheek. They blushed and made their way back to the carriage. I looked at Gustave and smiled.

"Now we are not going to tell your father about that." He smiled and we both laughed yet I could feel a sour taste on my tongue for telling Gustave that Raoul was his father. I Gustave opened the door and we went off to our bedrooms to unpack. Raoul was somewhere complaining to a manager. Inside the rooms were large and so lovely. The ceilings were high and the balcony in the sitting room was lovely. Sitting in the middle of my bedroom and the sitting room sat two lovely, sleek, black pianos. It made me long for music. It had been so long since Gustave and I were alone. That was the only time he could ever play. I picked him up from where he sat on the floor unpacking his father's clothes and carried him over to the piano setting him upon the bench. There was already a lovely piece of music sitting on the piano's music stand. The music looked difficult to read yet his tiny ten year old hands easily slid across the keys never daring to hit one wrong note. I sat and finished unpacking. The song was finishing when the front door was thrown open and an angry Raoul stepped in through the doorway.

"What a dreadful town. What a vulgar place. What an awful mistake to have come here, to be on display in that shameless way for crude common lower class scum here. How can he dare to treat us so?" Raoul made his way directly to where the alcohol was kept in the room and started to fill his glass. Darling Gustave ran to his father and tried to calm his angry words away. He picked up his new toy that Fleck had given him.

"Father dear, come play with me. Come and see this toy of got."

"What a snob at most from our so called host. Did he think sending freaks would be funny? Could the fool have that thought that our pride was bought by his filthy American money? What a farce what an outright slap in the face. It's an utter disgrace. I've got a mind to pack up and go. Never you min the debt we owe. Who would have thought we sank this low." Gustave was growing more anxious trying to soothe away the troubles filling the atmosphere more and more by each passing second.

"Father please come play with me!" Raoul was so blind he couldn't see his son reaching out to him. And again the sour taste came to my mouth.

"Gustave, enough! The answer's no!" Gustave defeated and not paying attention went back to playing the piano. Shocked at what he did I ran to comfort Raoul before his direction of anger changed to Gustave. But I was too late.

"Must you play now?" His anger was sizzling away with the music.

"I think it's beautiful."

"What is it anyway?"

"I don't know it was just here on the piano."

"Well it hurts my head." His anger was returning. Gustave realized and jumped away from the piano to go play with his toy. Right as Raoul took a step towards my son I jumped in between them.

"Please let's not fight dear. I'm sure Mr. Hammerstein never intended a slight dear."

"How dare he patronize us. We should never have accepted." Ignoring my most important reason for coming to America I held his arm and whispered to him.

"We need the money that's all. That's why things haven't been right dear."

"Why doesn't it surprise me that I get the blame here?" That took me off guard. I didn't want to upset Gustave but I would rather give up my dreams then upset Raoul into what he was like before. He was already almost half way done with the bottle he had just opened moments ago.

"Let's leave tonight dear, if that would serve to ease your troubled mind. Leave the hurt behind." His anger was leaving his face and he was calming. His hand was slowly lowering his glass from his lips and it was returning it to the table.

"Father dear come over here and look at what they gave me. Wind it up and Father see. Look it plays a melody." Raoul walked over to Gustave to finally give him the attention he had been seeking. Suddenly a hauntingly familiar song rose out of the toy and sailed through the air chilling my bones. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. I woke from my frozen state. Raoul answered the door to find a messenger boy handing him a letter.

"What's this?" The messenger handed over the letter and Raoul closed the door in his face. He stood and read the letter.

"What is it?" Suddenly his serious face cocked a smile.

"From Hammerstein, he wants to meet me in the hotel bar. Alone."

"Alone?" I knew from past experiences that alone was never a good sign. Raoul went off to fetch his coat.

"Well, he may lack courtesy but he does serve a certain savatant in choosing a business rand vue."

"Raoul, please."

"Please what?" I could see him getting angry as he realized that I was requesting him not to drink.

"Nothing." I didn't want to start fighting already. This was a new land. It was the land of fresh starts. I watched him turn and leave walking out the door leaving it to slam. I stared after him hoping he'd turn and come back. But I knew it wouldn't happen.

"Father never plays with me. Doesn't he love me?" I looked to see Gustavé's devastated face looking back up at me.

"Oh darling, of course he does! Love's a curious thing. It often comes disguised. Look at love through. And why? It often goes unrecognized. So look with your heart and not with your eyes. The heart understands the heart never lies believe what it feels and trust what it shows. Look with your heart. The heart always knows. Love is not always beautiful, not at the start. So open your arms and close your eyes tight. Look with your heart and when it finds love your heart will be right." Oh Erik… "Love from someone who knows, make sure you don't forget. Love you misunderstand is love that you'll regret…" How could I leave him in the theatre like that? I hurt him so badly. I hurt him exactly how he hurt me. Oh my poor angel.

"Look with your heart…"Gustavé's voice shattered my thoughts and pulled my out of the past and back into current reality. "…and not with your eyes. The heart can't be fooled."

"The heart is too wise." By now I realized I wasn't singing about Raoul, I was teaching Gustave to appreciate love. The love I had only ever experienced from Erik. The love, which I misunderstood and would always regret.

"Forget what you think." Gustave was beginning to understand what I was telling him. And somehow he was starting to teach me.

"Ignore what you hear."

"Look with your heart it always sees clear."

"Love is not always beautiful, not at the start."

"But open your arms and close your eyes tight. Look with your heart and when it finds love your heart will be right." I pulled him into me and cradled my son and poured every once I had in me into him. Gustave was my pride and joy now and I would do anything for him.

I kissed his head. "I'll be in, in a minute." Gustave ran off to change in his pajamas. I picked up his toy off of the floor and placed it on the piano and it started to play. The melody was too familiar it was starting to freak me out. I started to walk away when it suddenly stopped in the middle of the song. I turned back and in one swift movement the balcony doors flew open.