AN: Hello readers. Here is the next chapter. Did anyone catch the Metallica reference in the last chapter? Lol. Please review.

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Eloise woke up sometime later to the sound of disjointed music. She sat up from the warm bed and stretched, trying to wake herself. She looked toward the direction of the sound and was actually able to see the blurry outline of light coming from under the closed door. That was something she did not expect. It seemed that her vision was slowly coming back. Yes, it her vision was that of swimming underwater in a murky lake and attempting to see in front of oneself, but it was something. Anything was better than living in the dark.

Still, it was the music that held her attention more than her slowly returning sight. The notes, off putting as they were, drew her in-like a moth to the flame. Music had always been something she valued in life, though she had never pursued learning an instrument or how to sing. There simply had not been the time to learn such a skill in the gypsy camp. She had had other responsibilities there like cooking.

Carefully, she got up from the bed and slowly approached the sliver of light coming from the doorway. Eloise opened the door and slowly made her way toward the sound of the music. It was comforting to know that she had not been locked in this room. It appeared that she was not a total prisoner here. Still, she did not know how to leave here, and with her still limited vision, it was likely that she would not be able to leave unless Erik helped her. For now, she would settle on finding the maker of the music and worry about leaving this place later.

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Music had made her life, and music had entrapped her soul. Now, she was not allowed to have any part of that world. It was, according to her husband, not a proper for her to associate with that profession. It was barely acceptable for her to have it in her past. But, as they both knew, it was impossible to hide what had happened to her since she was involved with him. She had to admit that she missed him. He had been there for her since her father died. It was by a cruel trick of fate that they had been separated. It was a cruel fate and a twisted love. There was no other way for the situation to have turned out as it did. He had allowed her to go and had not tried to force her to stay when she briefly returned to him. All he had done was confess his love. It had broken her heart to leave the man.

That was why the woman had gone in search of him, the man who once had inspired her voice. She had to make things right by him. She had to see him once again and know if he was alright. The mental anguish she lived with everyday was slowly driving her mad. The guilt over her actions and how she had treated him were eating her away. She was becoming but a shadow of her old self.

She had left her new home late in the night. Her husband was out on some sort of business trip. The other family members had been deep asleep. No one noticed her leave. They would notice that she would be gone in the morning. They would not know, however, that she had been taken while making her way to her destination. They would not know that she would be made a member of the camp.

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Music had always been an integral part of his life. Since the singer had left him, however, it was difficult for Erik to as much as look at a sheet of music let alone play. Now, though, he found that he wanted to play something. Well, that had been some hours ago when the thought to play had entered his mind. Nothing was able to come to him, only disjointed melodies and harmonies. There was no dynamic contrast, no off beats. There was no cut time, no compound time signature. No, not even a simple time signature melody would come to him. Had the singer taken the music with her when she had left? Could he not even have his music? Was this his further punishment for him, the monster, loving an angel?

The sound of a door opening and something getting knocked over brought the Opera Ghost out of his musings. Looking toward the doorway, he found the woman that he had rescued. Hmm, he still had that other man to take care of. He would need to do that later. For, right now, he had to wonder how Eloise had found her way to the music room without harming herself. The path from her room to here was anything but clear. The destruction wrought by those who wanted him dead still littered his lair. He would need to clean that up if Eloise was to remain here for any length of time.

Eloise had quickly picked up the knocked over music stand. Her vision had slowly been improving as she made her way toward the music. It was far from perfect, but she could see enough to be able to walk on her own. The notes had stopped when she entered the room. With the stand back in place, she looked up toward the shape of a man sitting by the organ. His features were still fuzzy to her, but she could make out that he was dressed in black slacks and a white shirt. His hair was dark, seemingly black. Something white covered half of his face.

"Hi," she greeted, sounding absolutely brilliant. She took a few cautious steps forward, trying to avoid the items discarded on the floor. It looked like balled up paper, but it was difficult for her to tell. Stopping a few paces behind him, she continued, "My vision is coming back. Everything is fuzzy. It's as if you have gone swimming in the salty sea and opened your eyes too much while underwater. Do you know what I mean?"

Odd, he thought. Erik did not think that she would ever have her vision return to her. He did not know how her eyes could heal themselves and restore her vision. It was lucky that he had decided to put the infamous masque back in place. He did not want to hear her scream if she were to see his deformed face. It was not something he could deal with, more rejection.

"No," he finally answered. "I have not swum in the ocean." Well, he didn't remember swimming. There was a distant memory of being somewhere with a large pool of water with his mother. It wasn't something he liked to try and remember. All he remembered of the dim memory was water attempting to force its way into his lungs. "Did I wake you?"

"I heard notes being played," Eloise answered. She took a few steps forward and peered over his shoulder to look at the white and black keys of the organ. She had always wanted to run her fingers over the keys of this type of instrument ever since she had been a child. Her home town in Germany boasted some of the largest organs in Europe. "Will you play something?" she asked, smiling and looking at him. She wished that she could see Erik's face better. Everything was still blurry to her.

The music has been robbed from me, he thought in reply. How was he supposed to tell her that? She had heard him playing. He had an organ in his home. She would expect him to know how to play the instrument. He could at least try something.

Eloise watched as Erik turned away from her and slowly brought her hands to the instrument. With her fuzzy vision, she watched as his fingers drifted over the keys. It seemed like he was trying to find somewhere to start. She certainly didn't expect him to compose something. "Any old tune will do," Eloise commented.

That irked him. No one told him how to play. He moved over on the bench and patted the open space beside him. "Then teach the maestro how to play," he replied, the annoyance clear in his voice. She tried to protest, but he insisted, "No, please. Play any 'tune' for me. Consider it your way of thanking me from saving you from those men."

There was his ever-changing attitude again. He certainly could be cruel. With a resigned sigh, she sat beside him. The best she would be able to do was plink away at some notes. She set her fingers on the keys and experimentally pushed down some of the keys. Even to her untrained ear, Eloise could tell that the organ was in excellent condition.

Erik watched quietly as she began pushing keys down on the instrument. At first the notes made little sense as they were completely random. After a few moments, however, Eloise began playing a few notes that sounded rather nice to him. With the passing moments, the composing side of his mind began to go to work. There was a melody in his head again. There was music. Somehow, the girl had pulled music out of his mind!

Eloise stopped with a grunt of annoyance. "I do not know how to play music. I have never-"

His hands quickly came to the instrument and his fingers began dancing across the keys, making music he had never heard before. "Oh, but you do," he replied, unable to hide his excitement. "All it takes is a little work. Your basic melody, the simple two-four time signature, and the key of F-sharp is all there. It is all here waiting to be brought out and freed. You do have music in you, as I once did."

He stopped playing and looked around for some paper to score the new music upon. He turned toward her and realized how closely they were sitting to one another. He quickly got up and stood a few paces away. He remembered the singer pulling his masque away from him when he had been playing at the organ after the Music of the Night. Erik refused to have a repeat of that event. He refused to let his rediscovery of music be damaged by that.

"What's wrong?" Eloise questioned. He was acting strange again. She found herself at a loss for his odd behavior. He had just been so warm about his music. Now, he had pulled away and gone cold. The rumors about this music hall had said that the infamous Phantom was unpredictable. Eloise had never seen another man behave this way-aside from the ones who went mad in the gypsy camp. Could it be that Erik was the Phantom? She wanted to know, but how was she to ask that?

"I need blank sheet music," Erik replied. It was not a total lie. He did want to score his new music, but something else was once again plaguing his mind. Her partial blindness had made him too comfortable with her. She had not said a word about the masque. He had foolishly thought that she just accepted it and by extension could accept him. But no, she just couldn't see it. As soon as her vision fully returned, she would likely ask about it and then reject him like all the others. Right now, though, he just wanted to get the blank sheet music. There was some on the stand before her.

Eloise remembered this as well and turned back to retrieve it for him just as he began moving forward for it. The two managed to collide, her foot tripping him. In trying to prevent the fall, the former Phantom reached out to try and steady himself. He successfully managed to grab the woman and pull her down with him. He was now on his back with her on top of him.

Erik had never been in such a situation. Never had he had a woman lying atop him. It was something that he knew couples did when making love. He would be lying to himself if he did not admit that he wished he could find himself in this position with a wife. But Eloise was not his wife, so this situation was completely inappropriate. So, why was it that he was not moving? All he could do was stare into her face, his grip still on her shoulder from pulling her down.

Memories quickly came back to the woman. She expected at any time to feel herself be violated once more. Her blurry vision did not help the case. The blurred image of the man below her suddenly reminded her of the one who had attacked her, and soon he became the one who had attacked her. He was also holding her in place. Her breathing was quickly becoming short as panic started to set in.

Her sudden crying and begging not to be harmed again snapped Erik out of whatever trance he found himself in. He quickly sat up, helping her along with him. Her crying did not stop as she followed her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. There had to be some way to snap her out of this attack.

"Eloise," he stated, trying to sound firm. "I am not that man." He watched as her fearful eyes turned to him. She was clearly still upset and needed something to distract her from the dark place that her mind was taking her. He offered his hand to her and was surprised when she gave it to him. This gentle touch seemed to be calming her. "I am Erik; I saved you, remember?" he reminded her.

The spell that her mind shad set napped. She was once again in the music room with Erik, the one who saved her and might or might not be the Phantom of the Opera. How long would she have to suffer these mental attacks? Would this go on forever? Maybe if she could learn to be comfortable with Erik, her mind would no longer associate him with her attacker. "I'm sorry," she muttered as she pulled her hand away from him. She let her hands rest in her lap.

Why would she apologize? he thought. Eloise had done nothing wrong. He was more confused when she slunk her way to sit beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. When she did not begin reacting poorly, he relaxed slightly. No woman had ever sought out his touch for comfort before. The singer had sought out his voice. But, she had kissed him. Was that seeking his touch? No, no, he could not go down that path again. There was no hope that she would ever return to him. She had married the boy. "Are you alright?" he questioned, not looking at her. The question was more to distract himself from his raging thoughts than anything.

"Who knows?" Eloise responded, just staring ahead at blurry nothingness. "Maybe the Opera Ghost, the Phantom of the Opera, will come and take me away. That would be better than living with this constant mental torment. He could kill me, and everything would be better."

Even she thought of the Opera Ghost, thought him, as a monster. He did not simply kill anyone that he ran into. How had she come to think that? Rumors seemed to have made him out to be even worse than he truly was. "I would," he started, but then caught himself. She did not know he was the Phantom. He could keep it that way. If the secret remained, she would not fear him and run away. He began again, "I would venture to think that-"

He was interrupted by the door suddenly bursting open. No one else was in his lair. The Persian would not enter in such a matter. Antoinette would at least knock. Little Meg did not know her way down to his lair. As such, Erik was quickly on his feet and facing the intruder. He was met with a person of the past that he very much wanted to forget.

"Viscount De Chagny," Erik greeted with a bow. "To what do I owe the honor of a visit?" The question came out dripping with venom. Could the boy and that old life never leave him be? Could it never end? He had not bothered the boy or Christine. He had done nothing to them.

"Where is she, Phantom?" Raoul shouted, anger clear in his voice. "What have you done with her?"

"Lost your wife already, have we? That is such a pity," Erik replied, finding it all too easy to insult the foolish boy. He found it all too easy to fit back into his old role of the viscount's enemy.

Eloise was surprised to see someone come bursting into this place. Apparently, it was not as inescapable as she originally thought. But, the other man had called Erik the- She stared up at the man from her sitting position. The white covering half of his face…it was the infamous Phantom's masque. Even with her limited vision, that had to be what it was. "You are the Phantom of the Opera," she whispered, the fears in her voice making it sound somehow musical.

Erik looked down at Eloise, having forgotten that she was here. She knew now. De Chagny had ruined things for him once again, if the fear in her eyes was anything to go by.

"Where is Christine?" Raoul demanded as he brought a pistol out and aimed it at the monster.

Eloise was able to make out the outline of the weapon that the other man was holding. Adrenaline surged into her, and she found herself on her feet and in front of Erik. Her vision suddenly snapped into focus. She did not know how it happened, but she suspected it was the adrenaline spike-and maybe some sort of black magic. "You can't hurt him!" she cried, keeping herself firmly in place.

Raoul laughed. "You're letting a little woman fight your battles? Is she your whore, Phantom?" He turned his attention to the female. "You bed the monster. Have you seen his face?"

Technically, she had. Her vision had been gone at that point, but, yes, she had in fact. "Yes," she replied. She felt the need to prove it in front of this Raoul character. "I am not his whore," she continued as she turned to face the Opera Ghost. She prayed to God that he would not kill her for what she was about to do. The rumors could not be as bad as the real thing.

Eloise removed the masque to have her first view of the Phantom's face. She could not help the quiet gasp of horror that escaped her. She swallowed her scream of terror by forcing her lips on his.

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AN: And, that is the end of the chapter. Please review. It helps me.