Erik stared at Mia, his jaw hanging open. He was expecting the gens d'armes, not Mia, unless of course this was a trap, which it very well could be. "Erik please," Mia begged. "I…I can't…I'm losing…" She fell to her knees, her hands clamped over her ears. "Make her stop!"

He knelt beside her. "Shhh, Mia it's okay," he cooed, trying to calm her down. "You're going to be okay." Erik knew that she would never let anyone know about Amelia, so he knew that this wasn't a trap. And he also knew if she kept crying out like this, someone would hear.

Mia sobbed and looked like she was about to hug him, when suddenly she froze. Oh no, Erik thought. "You!" Amelia cried. She looked over the edge of the box towards the stage, at the rehearsing cast, and opened her mouth to scream for help. Erik wrapped his arm around her waist, clamped his free hand over her mouth, and dragged her into the secret passage.

"Let me go!" she attempted to scream as she tried to twist away from Erik. "Someone help me! Help me!" She kicked and struggled against him as he carried her down to his lair. Erik put her down in the boat, but she pushed him away tried to run. "No! Not again!"

"Calm down," Erik instructed, holding her tightly against his chest. He allowed his voice to become warm, soothing, and hypnotic. "I'm not going to hurt you Amelia, I just want to help you."

"You're a liar!" Amelia's hands flew up to her ears like Mia had. "Shut up!" He opened his mouth to try to calm her, but she kept screaming. "He's a liar and a murderer!" Erik was confused, until she realized she wasn't talking to him.

She burst into a fresh wave of tears and turned to face him. "Erik, you have to help me. It's been like this for days. I tried to come sooner but she wouldn't let me! I'm losing my mind!"

"It'll be okay Mia," Erik said, stroking her hair. "I'll help you. Just breathe, just breathe." When Mia fell under his spell, Erik scooped her up and placed her back in the boat gently. Once across the lake, Erik extended his hand to her, helped her out of the boat, and led her over to the swan bed where she sat down obediently. "What's going on Mia?" he asked, sitting beside her and making sure his tone stayed soft and comforting enough to keep her hypnotized. "Why did you come to me?"

"Amelia and I have been fighting nonstop. Neither of us can keep control for very long. I'm afraid I'm going to lose control permanently."

Erik wiped her tears away. "I won't let that happen to you," he promised. He took her hand and pushed her sleeve up. "You've been cutting yourself again. Why?"

Mia stared at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "It's the only thing that makes the pain bearable."

"What pain?" Erik asked, running his fingers down her jaw, making her shudder at his touch. "What makes you hurt so much that you have to cut yourself to feel better?"

"Knowing that I'll never be good enough. Not for my mother, not for Gaston, not for anyone."

"That's not true. Mia, listen to me, you have always been and will always be good enough. You're perfect as you are. You're a beautiful, charming, intelligent woman and a wonderful poet. There is nothing wrong with you."

She snorted. "You're wrong."

Erik couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even under hypnosis, where she couldn't lie to him, Mia had no sense of self-worth. "I assure you, I'm not."

"But you have to be," Mia whispered.

"Listen to me, you deserve more; you deserve better than the life you got."

"No, no I don't. I'm ungrateful, I'm childish, I'm disobedient…"

He didn't want to believe that her family's words had gotten so deep into her mind. It was going to take a lot to convince Mia that there was nothing wrong with the way she acted. Erik knew Mia wouldn't remember anything that happened when she was under his spell, but he still felt like he needed to comfort her, so he put his arms around her and hugged Mia. It was awkward to say the least. Not only was Erik unused to such outward displays of affection, in her hypnotized state, Mia simply remained still, neither accepting nor rejecting his advances. Just before he pulled away though, Erik felt Mia's arms come around him. He pulled her closer and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Mia, you need to let Amelia take control now."

Almost immediately she began to struggle against him. "No, no, no," she cried, trying to push herself away.

"It's okay, calm down," Erik cooed, tightening his hold on Amelia. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You lied! You said you would let me go!"

"I did let you go," Erik reminded her. "But Mia came back and she asked me for help. Amelia, we don't have to be enemies. We could work together to benefit both you and Mia." She shook her head as she tried to push herself away. But Erik didn't give up. He kept her in his arms, began to stroke her hair again, and continued to murmur in her ear hypnotically. He was hoping that eventually Amelia would quit fighting him and give in to the lull of his voice.

And eventually she did. It took all of Erik's patience and a great deal longer than he would have liked, but Amelia eventually gave in. She went limp in his arms and he loosened his hold on her. "Amelia," he murmured softly. "We can't keep fighting like this. You and Mia can't keep fighting like this. You're going to cause her to hurt yourself more than she already does."

Amelia shook her head. "I have to protect her from you, and therefore herself, no matter the cost."

"Don't fight Mia. She knows what she's doing. If you send the gens d'armes after me, I will never be able to help Mia. And I need you to cooperate with me. Do you understand? She'll keep cutting herself and trying to kill herself and you without my help. Is that what you want?"

Mia woke with a start. She looked up and saw Erik looking down at her. He had her in his arms and he was petting her hair. "Are you okay?" he asked.

She closed her eyes and heard nothing but the sound of her heart and their breathing. "Yes," she finally replied. "For the first time since I left you, I don't hear Amelia screaming in my head. For the first time since I left you, I hear nothing but silence. It's the most beautiful thing I've heard in a very long time. There aren't enough words to express how grateful I am to you."

Erik smiled softly. "I'm just happy I could help. Hopefully it'll keep Amelia quiet, at least for a while."

"At least until she takes over again," Mia agreed. She leaned in and placed a kiss on his good cheek. "Thank you for everything Erik."

He put his hand on her cheek and rubbed it with his thumb. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Would….would it be alright if I came down from time to time?" she asked. "No one can help me but you. I'd understand if you said no, but I'm begging you, you're the only one who can do anything to help me!"

"Of course you can, whenever you'd like," he replied. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. "I will do what I can to help you."

Mia felt her face flush. "Thank you Erik. You don't know how much this means to me." Erik leaned in as if to kiss her, and for a moment Mia was about to let him, but a thought struck her. "How long have I been down here?" she asked.

"Just a couple of hours."

"No," Mia gasped. "Erik… Erik, I have to go. If I'm not home before he gets back, Gaston will be so angry with me!"

"Why do you stay if he treats you so terribly?"

"Because he doesn't," Mia answered. "He's unfaithful yes, but he takes care of me."

"But…"

"Erik, please," Mia begged. "I don't want to have this discussion right now. Right now, I have to get home."

He reluctantly nodded and led her to the mirror. Erik took Mia's hand and guided her fingers to the switch and showed her the one on the other side of the glass. "If you ever want in, just hit that. I'll show you how to get into the passage from the street when we get there." Erik was about to lead her up the passage when he spotted her book of poetry by the swan bed. "Did you want to take your poems with?" he asked.

Mia shook her head. "It'll give me another reason to come back," she said with a hint of a smirk.