AN: Here is the next chapter. Thank you to those of you who have followed this story.
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"You come here and threaten not only myself but Eloise," Erik stated, a look that could kill present in his eyes, "and now you are bold enough to ask for my help? Who do you think you are?" Perhaps the viscount had lost his mind. The fop hated him. Why would he come to his enemy of all people to ask for help finding the singer?
Raoul sighed and picked a piece of lint absentmindedly from his pants. He felt so low coming to the Phantom for help. The problem was that he needed things to remain discreet. Hiring someone to find his wife could end in disaster. People could not be trusted. Anyone could be paid off to tell their secrets if the price was right. So, what was it that he was willing to trust the Opera Ghost to keep his mouth shut? It probably had something to do with the fact that the Phantom was trying to stay out of society's view. Most people thought him dead or gone.
"I understand that my greeting was less than ideal," the viscount began. He noticed the woman-Eloise was her name-fix him with an annoyed look. The Phantom remained indifferent, seeming to simply wait to see what would be said. "My family believes that Christine and I have gone on a second honeymoon."
"What good does that do?" Eloise questioned, somewhat confused. Erik had called Raoul a viscount. Clearly, this man had wealth and power. Why would he not use it to help in finding his wife?
Erik crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't want them knowing that you lost your wife," he stated as he began to understand what was going on. "You want me to find Christine. You don't want your precious name to be the talk of slander in the press."
The Phantom sure was perceptive; Raoul would give him that. He had not even had to continue in his explanation before the Ghost understood what was going on. "So, you will help me?"
"No," Erik answered simply. He was not going to become involved in that world again. He was not about to allow Christine into his life, into his heart, once more only for the boy to end up taking her away again. He had accepted that she would not come back to him. Erik did not want to go on a search for the woman. There was no way of knowing where she was. Without another word, he turned from the fop and left the room.
Raoul was surprised by the reaction. He had expected the Phantom to be at least willing to help him-or at the very least to help Christine. It really did seem like he had moved on. There had to be some way to convince him, though. Raoul needed help. Perhaps the Phantom's wife could help?
"He used to love her," he stated, looking at the woman for help. He stood up from his spot and came to stand in front of Eloise. It was odd, he observed, when she took a quick step back from him. Why would she react that way? He did not plan to harm her. "Can you talk to him?"
Eloise did not know how she had come to be in this situation. Why had Fate decided that she needed to be the third party in this situation? All she had wanted was somewhere to stay and to explore the opera house a little bit. That decision had led her to being raped, temporarily blinded, rescued by the Phantom of the Opera, pseudo-engaged to the Phantom, and playing a third party in a conflict that she knew very little of. Still, from what she was able to observe, it seemed like Erik would only suffer more emotional trauma were he to help in this endeavor. She had not known him long, but it was clear that certain things caused bad memories for him. In the brief time that Raoul had been here, she had observed Erik go from his normal demeanor-which she was still trying to figure out-to angered and aggravated.
"What do you want me to say to him?" Eloise returned. "Am I supposed to tell him to go after the woman he once loved-that he risked everything for-" if the rumors were true "just so you can take her away from him again?"
Raoul sighed in annoyance. "What would it matter if I take her away again? You are his wife now. You are able to look at his grotesque face without fear. He lets you take his masque off willingly. He loves you now, not her."
"You're going to insult him?" she questioned, dumbstruck by his attitude. "You truly are in the worse state of manhood to act in such a way. It would be best if you leave this place." Eloise turned away from the vile man and made to leave the room. She was surprised, then, when the man grabbed her from behind and held a small blade to her throat. The memories of her attack were quickly coming back.
He held the woman close to him allowing her no way of escape. Then again, she was not struggling to get free. She had become stiff in his arms. Raoul did not know what had caused such a reaction, but it was working to his advantage. He could take Eloise away some place. The Phantom would have to come searching. So long as she kept quiet now, his plan would work perfectly.
"You're going to come with me now," Raoul whispered into her ear. "You're going to stay quiet and we'll leave this place. Don't worry. I'm certain your beast will come for you." He began pushing her towards the door, ignoring her quiet tears. He could not focus on her reaction now. He needed to play the villain to get the Opera Ghost to help him find Christine.
They had not gone far from the music room yet. Currently, they were in one of the lair's hallways. Eloise had to guess that the man was leading her to the exit. It seemed like he had been here before, so he likely knew his way around. But, maybe he was taking her to one of the rooms first so he could have his way with her. Then he would kill her. She had to stifle a cry of fear, not wanting him to kill her.
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Erik had left the room in a huff, heading towards the reading room. Why, how, could the boy come to his lair and ask this of him? He had loved Christine enough to allow her to leave with the fop so that she could be free. She was a bird, and the birds were meant to fly over the rainbow, not remain caged. Christine would not have been happy with him. He had allowed her to leave, and now she was missing. The boy had not been able to take care of her.
Surely, Christine would be found. Where could she have gone on her own? It was not likely that anyone would have taken her. She was known throughout society. No one would attack her. Well, unless they wanted to hold her for ransom. If that were the case, though, something would have been heard about her by now. Something was not adding up here.
The former Phantom looked around the room to the various books. He had read most of them. He had gathered them in his travels, for reading was something that he had always enjoyed. It let him forget for a while who he-what he was. The answer to what had happened to Christine certainly was not in this room, but it would prove a good enough distraction for the moment. He needed to escape his former life and the memories it caused for just a little while. So, why was it that he felt compelled to try and save his former Angel?
"Damn it all," he cursed and left the room behind. Christine had been too much a part of his life to leave her to her Fate. From personal experience, he knew that Fate was a most cruel mistress. Sadly, though he would like to, he could not allow the former opera star to suffer. For now, he would go back to the music room and the fop to see how he could help.
In making his way back to his music room, he was met with a sight that disturbed him. De Chagny was pushing Eloise along, a blade at her throat. It appeared that his former enemy was planning on taking Eloise away. Why was it that Fate could not allow him to have anything? The cruel mistress would even take away this new woman in his life. No, he could not have that. He still was not certain what she was to him, but he did not want her to be stolen from him. The years of stalking the opera house worked to his advantage. No one ever heard him unless he wanted it to be so.
Raoul did not hear him either, not until it was much too late. De Chagny did not hear the Phantom until he was violently pulled away from the woman and shoved up against the wall. It appeared that his plan had fallen through. All he could see now were the angry eyes of the Phantom of the Opera glaring at him. His focus was not on that, however, but that of the vice-like grip on his throat.
"You would take her away from me?" the Phantom growled, wanting nothing more than to kill this man here and now. Still, that would not be the right thing to do in front of Eloise-who was now on her knees, crying silently. He really had to find a way to help her push back those bad memories. There was also the fact that Christine would also want her husband to remain alive, sadly.
He groaned in annoyance and shoved the other man away from himself. As much as he wanted to, he could not allow himself to murder this man. Hmm, he wondered if Eloise's attacker had died yet in the mirrored room. He would need to check on that later. For now, he settled on checking Eloise for any damage. The fear in her eyes only made him all the more enraged. "I could kill you," the former Phantom spat at De Chagny as he helped Eloise to her feet. "Why would you think that I would help you by taking her away from me?"
Truly, it had not been that good of a plan, Raoul realized. He had forgotten how the Phantom could react to certain situations. He had forgotten that the Opera Ghost could very easily overpower him. This had only served to likely make his case for saving Christine all the worse. "Forgive me," he coughed, trying to find some way to backtrack.
"No," Erik shouted. He forced the noble back to his feet and was more than willing to kill him. It would be so very easy. No one knew where Raoul had gone. They believed him on a honeymoon, not below the opera house with the former Phantom. Knowing that he could not, he settled for striking the man across the face. In making contact with his jaw line, Raoul fell to the ground, unconscious. "Wonderful," Erik commented, removing the masque to massage his temples as he felt a headache coming on.
Eloise laughed quietly, catching the attention of the former Ghost. When she noticed him looking at her and saw that he had removed the masque, she quieted down. The way he looked was still something of a shock to her. Since leaving the gypsy camp, she had not seen any human oddities. She was not as used to it any longer. Still, as she allowed herself to continue her observation, it was not all that bad. She certainly had seen worse during her time at the gypsy camp. There was something slightly familiar about his face, oddly. It was almost like something out of a dream.
"Why are you laughing?" he questioned, looking from Raoul and then to her. There was no reason for her to be laughing at the situation. The other man had tried to harm her. He had just knocked the boy out. She had never seen him act violently. Her vision was still blurry, right? She could not be laughing at his face. It was safe for him to have removed his masque, right? Perhaps her vision had returned though, he realized. Maybe she was laughing at him as a way to deal with how he looked. He looked down at the white masque in his hand. "You can see me," he stated. It wasn't a question.
She thought that he already knew that. Then again, she had never had the time to tell Erik that her vision had come back. He likely didn't know it had returned. He must have been thinking that she was laughing at him. That was not something that she would do. Her time in the gypsy camp had made her better than that. Eloise did not want him to think that she would laugh at him.
"Yes, I can see again. It came back right about when Raoul showed up. I'm laughing at the situation," she replied as she came to stand in front of the former Ghost. She looked down at the unconscious man once more before focusing up on Erik's face again, who was staring at her, waiting for what would happen next. It was his eyes that brought her in the most. There was something there that she couldn't quite read. It seemed that he was analyzing her. "You just knocked out Raoul. I didn't think you would be one to fight like that."
"He was attacking you," Erik replied, feeling the need to defend his actions. Did she not want him to do something about the boy's actions? Would he forever live in the shadow of his former enemy? It certainly seemed that way.
She smiled and laughed again. "I'm not faulting you. It was sweet," Eloise answered before leaning upward and placing a small kiss on his deformed cheek. Pulling away and seeing the surprise in his eyes made her blush. She was not sure why she had done that.
It was clear that something could develop between them, Erik knew. Her actions told him that much. She was not afraid of him. She was not looking at him in revulsion. No screams had come from her when she looked at his face. Eloise was standing in front of him, blushing like a little girl with a crush. There was nothing that betrayed distrust in her person. Would it be smart of allow something to develop? He was not so sure. The last time he had allowed himself to grow close to someone had driven him to the brink of madness. Hmm, but maybe he was mad to begin with.
"What are we going to do about him?" Eloise questioned, trying to change the subject. The way that he was looking at her was frightening. It was not in a bad way, though. It was simply an intense stare, as if he was calculating something about her. No one had looked at her in that way. The men in the gypsy camp had looked at her with lust. Her attacker had-no, she didn't want to think about how he looked at her. That would only lead to her getting upset.
Erik sighed. She had changed the subject. He would like to have taken a longer moment to explore what was happening here. The possibility of developing a relationship with Eloise seemed impossible, at best, but she appeared to be interested. It seemed that now was not the time, though to go exploring his possible feelings towards this new woman in his life. He would need to save that for a later date. It was possible that nothing would happen. Perhaps that would be best.
Looking down at De Chagny, he nudged the fop with his foot. He was still out cold. "We will help him. He does not deserve it, and I will not ask you to become involved in this unless you would like to." Erik looked back up at her, fully expecting her to ask to be led out of this place. He almost thought it would be best for her to leave. Something small at the back of his mind told him it would be for the best. Why would he think that, though?
"It is not as though I have anything pressing to get to," Eloise answered. She still had never told the former Phantom much about herself. All he knew was that she had left the gypsy camp. That had prompted a reaction from him, she remembered. He didn't have good relations with them. She still wondered why. Now was not the time, though. She continued, "I came to the opera house looking for somewhere to stay. I don't have a home."
"You are welcome to stay here as long as you would like," Erik replied without thinking. It surprised him. Why was he offering his home to her? They had no relationship. He could not expect her to stay in his dark, dank lair. Then again, if they were to go on a hunt for Christine, they would not be able to stay here. They would need to travel together. Raoul thought them a married couple. In travel, they would end up staying in the same room. That thought both terrified and-though he didn't want to admit it to himself-thrilled him.
Eloise smiled and nodded. "Well, I suppose that we should all get some rest for the night." She looked down at Raoul again, who was finally beginning to come to. She could not help but to take a step closer to Erik. This other man had attacked her, and it reminded her of her rape. Eloise took his hand tightly in hers as she watched De Chagny wake up.
Raoul groaned and rubbed his jaw. He blearily looked up at the Phantom and his woman, who were staring down on him. He sat up on his knees, waiting for either one of them to say something. When neither said anything, he slowly pulled himself up to his feet. "I should go," he commented, turning away from the two. He was insane to think the Ghost would ever help him. That beast-
"Where are you going, boy?" Erik questioned with no emotion in his voice. He watched as his former enemy turned back around to face him. The brief shock that passed over the boy's face aggravated him, but he let it pass for the moment. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked away from De Chagny. "You may as well become used to my face," Erik commented as he turned to fix the viscount with a determined expression. "I will help you save Christine."