CONEY ISLAND

OH NO

WARNING FOR SOMETHING BAD ABOUT TO HAPPEN BUT ITS NOT GRAPHIC SO READ ON WITH NO FEAR MY CHILD

And so, Meg plotted to get rid of Christine, and Christine tried to come up with a way to get old Meg back.

She knew who she had to talk to if she wanted to find out what Meg has been doing these last few years. The Phantom. So she couldn't let Meg get to him first. He'd never speak to Christine again.

"Gustave," she said, when Raoul was in the bathroom. "Would you do me a favor?"

Gustave, excitedly ran to his mother listening as she instructed him, how to keep Meg busy. When she was done, he nodded and ran down to Meg.

Christine took her coat and started walking through unknown corridors, trying to remember the path she walked through, nights before. It took her long, before she found his office. But of course, it was empty. Why wouldn't it be? If the Phantom was here, somebody would know about it, right? Of course it wouldn't be so easy to find him!

She walked out of the building and started walking around the park, searching for clues. It was quiet, people were already at home, so she was left alone with her thoughts.

Then she started thinking about why the hell she couldn't let Meg find Erik? It wasn't because he wouldn't talk to her, she knew he would. It was pure jealousy. She could never forget his face when she found him ten years ago. She could never forget the night that followed. And what Meg said about him getting close with many women, was echoing in her head. Somehow she didn't want Meg to find Erik. To see him all broken, laying *lying?* on the floor. At least not this Meg.

No. Not any Meg.

She hated herself for it. She hated how she hated the idea of Erik and Meg. Of Erik and any other woman, for that matter.

That's when it hit her. She hasn't gotten over him yet. All those years of her convincing that he's gone and never coming back, made her confident that she felt nothing towards him anymore. But it was a lie. It was all a stupid lie. She loved him. And yet, she couldn't.

She had a family. A husband and a child, both of whom she loved very much. But was it enough?

She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head and focused on finding Erik, purely out of the will to find out what happened to Meg. Just then, she realized that with all the deep thinking she ended up in a place of the park, she has never visited. Or would ever want to for that matter.

It was creepy and dark. Benches everywhere, an enormous black lake in the middle of the square, shouting drunks anywhere you turned to. Three men started walking over to Christine and even though she was a grown woman and has gotten through a lot in her life, but three drunk man with weird smiles and almost no clothes on, approaching here scared the living baboon out of her heart.  *again sorry its 2am and i still havent slept more than 3h a night*

As they approached her, she slowly started moving away, trying to not look too scared. "Look, look, look," said one of them. "If it ain't that Daae kid!"

She wanted to tell them that she's not a kid, but telling them would require using her voice and she was saving that for screaming, because she kind of expected something bad to happen. And just as she thought of that, one of the man grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. She could smell his rotten teeth as she tensed up trying to run away, but the other one came up behind her. He leaned into her, and the third one was circling around, licking his lips.

It was disgusting and terrifying, for Christine knew exactly what was about to happen and it did. I'm gonna spare you the details and simply say that there was a lot of slapping, screaming, touching and tears. They didn't get far though, because as one of them was starting to take down his clothes, he was pulled off of her by an unfamiliar force, quickly followed by other two. Christine finally started breathing again. She stood up, sobbing and tried to run away, but the pain in her legs from two old man sitting on them for hours was so big that she didn't get far. She turned around to see all three men, lying *or laying ffs* unconscious -or dead- on the floor. Above them stood a man. In a cape. With a mask.

"Erik," she whisper-cried. He ran to her, seeing that she couldn't properly move. He kept his distance, asking her if she was well. She didn't reply. Instead she threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder and started crying.

He lifted her up, bridal style and took her to his house. She kept crying all the way and apologizing for crying and he kept reassuring her that it's okay and apologizing for not coming earlier.

"How could you know?" she said. "I'm just glad you came at all."

Once they reached his house, she was completely ashamed of everything that happened. Especially of making him carry her all the way.

"Would you like to use the bathroom?" he asked and tried to put her down. She shook her head, so he put her down on the sofa.

He started walking away, when she said, "D-don't leave me." He smiled to himself. It was just what he begged of her, when she found him ten years ago.

"I promise, I'll be back," he said. "You rest." It was a bit over-theatrical, he admitted to himself.

She couldn't sleep though. She just layed *or lied wtf im so done with this* and tried to process what just happened and what she's gonna tell Raoul and Gustave and everyone else. Erik came back quite quickly.

"I have left a note for your family from you. You have a dress fitting." She smiled weakly as he sat down next to her. "Now tell me what happened."

"Well I was looking for you and then I somehow ended up here and they started to ... You know, what you saw..." she said, a few tears escaping her eyes and running down a bruised cheek. "And then you came." She looked up, smiling at him. He softly touched her cheek with his hand.

"My Christine,"  he whispered. "What have they done to you!" He stood up. "I'm gonna kill them!"

"Uhm, Erik, I think you already did..."

"I wish I could've done it the painful way! I would've tear their bodies apart if I knew it was you down there!"

"Wait," she said. "You didn't?" At first she was sad. She thought she was the only girl in Erik's eyes who deserved saving. But then another filling filled her mind, as she realized how much he has changed. She got up, not taking her eyes off of his. She was proud of him. He used to kill to please himself. To feel better about his life. To feel something. But now... Now he kills people who deserve it.

"What?" Erik asked, confused as she kept getting closer and closer. "Why you looking at me like that?"

She started walking closer until they were nothing but an inch apart and then she slowly pressed her lips onto his.