AN: Here is chapter two.

xxx

The Phantom made his way back through the dark passageway where he had dropped the young woman off. The men could be dealt with later. He had no idea why he was trying to help this female. He had no responsibility to her. Why did he find the need to help her? He wasn't certain, but something was pushing him on to go back to her and not leave her to simply rot in the passageways of the opera house. That would be easy enough to do instead of getting involved. It would not be the first time that he had let someone rot in the passageway of mazes inside the opera house. No, he couldn't do that. He was not that much of a monster. The ones he had let rot had been trying to kill him. Their deaths had been out of self defense. He could not let a helpless woman die here. Perhaps he could find Antoinette or her daughter. What was the girl's name again? He remembered the girl liked to dance. Wasn't she a ballerina? Yes, that was it. Oh, yes, the daughter was called Meg. He didn't like the name. Still, one of them could certainly help the woman. Then again, he had seen neither since Don Juan. It was odd that he hadn't. Antoinette had always been something of a friend to him. Meg had always seemed to have an interest in the Opera Ghost.

The once again spiral of his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of someone a little further down the passageway sobbing. It had to be the woman. Who else would come here? No one else could get to this place. Well, not without dying, he thought. Hmm, but no. The singer could find her way to him. Sometimes he wished that she would. It was not something that would ever happen, though, he had come to accept. All she had left him with was a cold, empty heart.

Eloise was not sure how much time had passed since her savior had left her. Thoughts of what had just happened to her tormented her mind. Mental images had kept cropping up, never giving her a moment of peace since the man had left. When she had been with the man, she had been upset, but it had not been nearly as bad as now. When he was with her, she could at least focus on a physical presence being with her. She was alone now in some hidden passageway in an opera house far from her home, freshly raped, and newly blinded. What if the man never came back for her? The sounds of footfalls alerted her that she was not alone.

"Who's there?" she called out, trying to pull herself to her feet. She felt so weak from her recent attack, but she was not going to lay here and be killed. The footfalls came from her right, so the woman faced that way, focusing on keeping herself standing. It was no easy feat. Would it not be easier to just collapse to the floor and let whoever this was kill her?

She was standing, the Phantom observed. That seemed to be an improvement. She had to have at least some sort of strength left to be able to stand up and seemingly defend herself against whoever was coming for her. Why would she try and defend herself, though? No one else would be able to get to her in this place. Oh, but she didn't know that. He had to remind himself that she did not know everything about this opera house. How could she? This woman was not Chris-the singer. How long would it take to force himself to forget the singer? Her memory was a constant hot iron to his mind, burning him with its degrading intensity.

The person hadn't said anything. Eloise was starting to become worried. Had one of her attackers found her? What happened to the one who saved her? She didn't want to be attacked again. There was no telling what would happen this time. She could end up dead. The men could end up holding her down again and raping her again. They could both do it at the same time. She had heard a horror story of this happening to a woman. The woman had ended with child and given birth to a Devil Child. She did not want the same to happen to her. It would be a worse fate than death. "Who is there?!" she demanded again, fear and anger tight in her voice.

The man was pulled from his thoughts once again. How long had it been since he had spoken with someone again? How long was it that he was trapped alone to his thoughts? The Phantom was not entirely certain. He would need to work on that so long as this woman was with him. She would not be able to see him pondering away at each and every little thing.

Offering out his hand again, though he knew she could not see it, he replied, "It is only me."

Eloise remembered that voice. It was smooth and warm. This man had to be in some sort of rank in this French society. The man did not have the lower accent of the men who had attacked her. Those men seemed to have been from the lower set of society. Their actions clearly confirmed this. No man of noble birth would rape a woman in broad daylight. Then again, she was not entirely certain what the man's accent was. It sounded to be something entirely of his own. She had to wonder if he owned this opera house or worked in it. Perhaps he had once been a singer. But, why would he know of this back passageway? It would be something to ponder later.

For now, she took a cautious step forward. There was no way for her to see where she could possibly be going. The ground beneath her was also uneven. Her good, outstretched hand found his, however. He had led her thus far without her falling. Then again, she had been clinging to him as her mind drowned in mental anguish. It was a wonder that she had gotten this far. His hand closed carefully around her own, almost as if he were unused to this sort of contact. Surely, someone like him would have courted women previously. At the very least, he would have made business deals requiring a simple handshake. He wore what felt like leather gloves as well. He was not even in full contact with her, but he still seemed to shy away from this simple touch. Or, maybe she was just overanalyzing things. He was likely being careful with her due to the predicament he had found her in. That most terrible predicament. Her mind threatened to turn on her once again as memories sprang fresh once again. She could imagine her rapist's hands against her body.

The woman suddenly pulled away from him after only a slight moment of contact as a scream ripped from her throat. It was no longer her savior's hand in her mind's eye. It was that of the slimmer man as he pulled himself close to her and- She fell to the floor onto her back and blindly looked up at him, begging him to not rape her. It went on like that for a few moments before she became quiet, tears streaming down her face. It seemed like she had resigned herself to whatever was about to happen.

Why would she think that he would harm her? He had saved her. Hmm, but he was no stranger to the tricks that the mind was capable of conjuring. Memories must have been plaguing her newly damaged psyche. He certainly remembered how the gypsy camp's tortures had been a constant theme in his dreams and thoughts following his escape from them. He had simply gotten through the memories on his own. He had refused to ask for anyone's help in quelling the torture of his mind. Who would help a beast anyway?

Slowly, the Phantom came to kneel at the woman's side. "I will not harm you," he stated simply and once again offered his hand to her. He did not know why he did this when she was unable to see. He somehow thought that she would be able to sense it, perhaps?

The man's words pulled her out of the dark path her mind had taken her. She was back in the strange passageway again with the man who had saved her. No, helped her. If Eloise could force herself to think of it as helping rather than saving, perhaps she would not be as tormented by the memory. He had helped her, and he was willing to help her again.

The theme, she noticed, was that the man would offer his hand to her. It seemed odd to her, since she was unable to see him. Still, she was not about to question it. Somehow, she was becoming more aware of the space around her. And, oddly enough, she felt like she could almost see his hand. But, that was impossible, right? The larger attacker had forced the needle deep into her eyes.

Eloise reached out and took the man's hand. She found herself being helped up and led through the strange hallway once again. All she had to go by was the presence of the man beside her and their joined hands. It was strange to say, but she felt comfortable in this situation. Still, it would be nice if the man would at least introduce himself. Perhaps, if she started the conversation, he would open up.

"Hello," Eloise said quietly, looking in his direction. She had no way of knowing if he heard her or even acknowledged her. Trying to build up some courage, she continued, "My name is Eloise."

"A German in France," the Phantom replied. So, she likely had not heard anything about the Opera Ghost being from so far away. That was likely why she did not fear him.

Eloise nodded, again not knowing if he was even looking at her or merely focusing straight ahead. "I left my home with the gypsies and-" She suddenly felt his hand tighten around her own. She wished that she was able to see his face to try and figure out what he was thinking. Talking was not her strong suit. Still, this was something she would need to get used to. "Is something wrong?" Eloise questioned.

If you only knew, he thought. Memories of that time threatened to overtake his mind. It was not something he wanted to focus on. It would end up doing no good for either of them. Up until now, he had kept rather good control of his anger-aside from the murder of her attacker and kidnapping of the other. That was in her defense, though, he reasoned.

Too much thinking, he reminded himself. "No, nothing is wrong. You could say that I do not have the best of relations with the gypsies. You lived with them?"

Eloise nodded. "I was abandoned as a child. They took me in. The head gypsy, Markus, kept me safe. He always-" She felt his hand tighten again, almost painfully. It seemed that this conversation was something the man was not enjoying. It seemed to be time for a change of topic. "What is your name?"

The woman was smart, he realized. Somehow she knew that he did not want to continue on with the current conversation. It might have been the knee jerk reaction to the name of the gypsy leader that made her pick up on it. His grip had tightened around her own, as if trying to hold himself to this world and not his past. That man, Markus, was the son of the gypsy who had kept him locked up for so many years of his young life. It appeared that the son was not like his murdered father.

He was once again thinking too much. She had asked him a simple question of his name. The singer had never once asked his name, he realized. The boy had only called him Ghost or Phantom. It had been so long since anyone had asked his name. It had been so long since he had even gone by his name. No harm could come of her knowing his name. "Erik," he replied. "My name is Erik."

Eloise smiled softly. "Erik," she repeated. "I like it."

"Well, thank you for your approval," he replied without thinking. It was meant as a joke, but it came out sounding rather harsh. But, she began to laugh slightly. The sound was alien to him. He was so used to being alone. Laughter, the musical quality of hers, was not something her was used to. The simple reaction from her brought a slight smile to his face.

It was quickly becoming cold in this passageway as the pair descended further below the opera house. It likely did not help that all Eloise was wearing only her cloak. That realization made her eyes open wide. She was exposed! She pulled her hand away from her partner and quickly tried to cover herself with the cloak. It covered what was important.

Truly, his mind had not been on her state of undress. He had been thinking on what to do with the one remaining man who had attacked the woman Eloise. When she ripped her hand away, he thought that perhaps she was about to have another fit. Seeing her hurriedly covering herself did make his mind briefly focus on her current state. Here he was, the infamous Opera Ghost, walking through his secret passageways with a naked woman. Never would he have expected to find himself in such a situation. It would be all too easy to allow his mind to focus on this situation and allow low thoughts and situations to play through his mind. This Eloise was rather pretty.

NO, no, he could not and would not do that. He forced those horrid thoughts from his mind. Who was he to think of anyone in that way, with lust? He had no right. A beast did not belong with anyone of the light such as this woman. He was supposed to be helping her.

"How am I supposed to lead you without your hand?" he questioned, forcing himself to focus on his original thought pattern. The Phantom planned to bring her to his lair, fix her up, and send her on her way. That would be best for everyone.

Eloise looked to the ground and held the cloak tighter about her body. She did not want to allow her body to be exposed in such a way again. She had to wonder, however, why she had not realized the state of undress until so far along their journey. Never had she let her body be exposed to anyone in her years upon this Earth. Well, she had not until those men had-

She shook her head and forced that thought from her head. The man had asked her a question. She did not know what the solution could be. So, she started walking ahead. "You can tell me if there is something for me to watch out for," Eloise replied quietly.

Before he had the chance, however, she found herself tripping and falling forward. The woman would have landed on her face had the Phantom not come forward to catch her. One arm had snaked around her midsection while his other came across her shoulders. She was now held up in his arms, as if in a deep for some sort of dance.

He quickly steadied her on her own feet and stepped away from her. The last time he had been close to a woman like that had been after Don Juan down in the lair when the singer had held him and kissed him. The angel had kissed the beast, but it had not been for love. It had been to save herself and run away with that boy. Worse off, she had returned briefly and given him a shocking false hope that she had returned to be with him. But no, the singer had merely given him back the wedding ring. She left again, singing her love song with the boy. The pain of that night, the ripping anguish in his very soul, was quickly returning to him. He needed to get away from Eloise before he snapped. They were close enough to his lair now. All he had to do was bring her the short distance to the boat, take them across the lake, and then he could be free of her for a time. How was he supposed to lead the blind woman though? She wouldn't give him her hand.

"I'm sorry," Eloise muttered. He had pulled away from her so quickly. Something seemed to be wrong with the situation. There was an odd tension in the air. She blindly walked in the direction she thought him to be. Reaching out with her good hand, and allowing herself not to focus on her undress for the moment, she sought to find him. Her hand was met with that same uneven, bumpy feeling again. There again was the feeling of something hard, almost like bone.

A growl escaped the Phantom, and he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away. "Aren't we a curious little guttersnipe? Have you too come to gawk at the Devil's Child?" His tone was harsh, loud. He did not care if he scared the woman. In one swift movement, he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. She was light and easy to manage. "Why am I bothering with you?" he asked, seemingly more to himself than anything. He ignored her screams, her flailing feet, and her hand that continuously pounded against his back. He simply continued on until he came to the boat. He dumped her in unceremoniously and entered it himself to begin pushing the boat across the lake.

What had she done? Eloise wondered. One moment, he was quiet, though kind. Now, he was acting cruel. What had he meant about a Devil's Child? That was only supposed to be an old tale to scare children. She had only been trying to find him in this place she knew nothing of. What exactly was it that she had touched? If this was how he was going to react to her, with such anger, she wanted nothing to do with him. He could end up attacking her-raping her-if she did the wrong thing. But now, he was taking her across water on a boat. She had heard rumor that there was a lake under the opera house. But, she never believed rumors. For, if this rumor were true, then perhaps the one about the Phantom of the Opera was true as well. She backed as far away in the boat as possible from Erik. What if he were the Ghost? The thought scared her, and that fear brought back the memories of what happened. She broke down into sobs once more.

AN: Please review. It helps me.