CONEY ISLAND

HMM

Erik, drunk from the amount of attention and nice words he received, took of his mask, causing the little child to let out a scream that had probably cut his throat apart. In the exact same moment, Meg, Christine, Raoul and Madame Giry came running in.

"MOMMA!" Gustave ran to his mother, and hugged her tightly.

"You savage monster!" said Raoul, pointing a finger at Erik, hugging his family with his other arm. "How dare you kidnap our child?! For your bloody monstrous... Things!"

"Raoul!" Christine said, looking at poor sobbing Gustave. Raoul took the hint.

"Let's go!" he said and they left the room. Madame Giry followed them, but Meg stayed.

"Mister," she said, sitting down to him.

"You should practice, Meg," he said, thankful for his voice not breaking in the middle of the sentence. He was trying to fight tears and he really didn't need this girl to be here, trying to flirt or something.

"Don't worry, Sir," she said. "I don't mind staying here."

"I wish to be alone, Meg," he said. Meg didn't object - she knew when to stop. So she stood up and left the room.

Once Erik was sure she was gone, he curled up in the corner in the foggy air, hoping that if anyone comes in, the fog will hide him. Then he started crying.

It wasn't often that the Phantom cried. And he wasn't sure what he cried about.

He liked the child. He really did. He didn't care that it was Raoul's. He liked him.

And Gustave liked him back. At least until he saw his face.

And he loved Christine. He really did. And he didn't care that she was Raoul's. He loved her so much.

But it was very different than ten years ago. Ten years ago, he may have loved her, but he needed her. And that's why he 'kidnapped' her. He didn't like to call it kidnap or hypnotizing. He preferred convincing. Anyway, he would have never repeated that now. Because he wanted her to choose him on her own. He wanted her to love him. He didn't want to force her into marriage and love.

He stayed there crying for days and it was like the days he found out she was coming back all over again. No sleep, no food and no drinks. The only difference was that this time, he wasn't even playing songs. It reminded him too much of her.

He just layed *or laid?*there, crying or not, trying to forget.

People outside started to notice. The first one that noticed was Meg, who quickly informed her mother. "Master has business, Meg," Madame Giry replied. That's why Meg turned to the De Chagny family.

She knocked on their door. To her surprise it was Raoul, who opened it. At this time, he was usually in a bar, drinking away his problems. "Can I come in?" she asked and he simply opened the door, yawning in the process.

"Meg!" Christine seemd cheerful to notice her friend. "I wasn't expecting you here!"

"I've came to say something," Meg said, sitting down on a sofa. "Have you noticed something strange lately?" she asked.

Raoul came over and sat down next to her. "If by something strange you mean the Phantom's sudden disappearance, then yes, she hasn't shut up about it for days."

Meg seemed sad to find out that she wasn't the first one to notice. "Why didn't you tell me anything?" she said, sounding a bit offended.

"I'm sorry, Meg," said Christine. "I never thought you two were close."

Meg almost exploded, but she managed to stay calm, for Gustave's sake. Who does she think she is? That she can leave him for 10 years and she'll still be the only woman he thinks about?! It may be true, but she doesn't need to think so!

Meg leaned in. "Well in the past 10 years, he was close to many women," she said and giggled. Raoul laughed loudly and Christine just froze trying to process the image of Erik with other women, of Erik with Meg.

"Maybe we should look for him," suggested Christine.

"I'm not going," said Raoul. "And I doubt he'll be pleased if yours was the face he would see. We wouldn't want him getting ideas."

"He's right," Meg added. "I mean you chose Raoul and he knows that, but with you back here, God knows what he's gonna do." Christine stood there speechless and surprised by the coldness of Meg's voice. "Don't worry about him, I'll find him."

Raoul laughed. "We weren't planning on worrying. Right, Christine?"

Christine was silent, shocked and mad, but she stayed quiet. She managed a weak smile and a goodbye to Meg when she left.

Out of weird selfish reasons she hated that Meg and Erik were 'close'. She was happy that he wasn't alone these past few years, and in any other scenario she would be more than pleased that it was Meg, keeping him company, but the changes in Meg's character and personality were bothering her a lot. She felt awful because it and it was weird describing it. But something has changed about Meg. Something bad happened to her, and she couldn't just stand by and watch her friend go on a wrong path of life.

She is going to find out what happened to Meg and bring her best friend back.

HI THERE RANDOM READER THANKS FOR READING