After the Lair

What'd I Miss?

|| Raoul Vicomte de Changy ||

I closed my eyes and started humming. It was my first night in America and I had just spent it on a date.

That's right. A date.

Her name was Danielle Tyler and she was perfect.

She had soft blonde hair that went to her shoulders, and big green eyes. Freckled scattered her cheeks and she had the sweetest pink lips. We had met at a restaurant by accident, both of us wanting to clear our heads.

I had journeyed to America to check on Christine, but she was still asleep when I went there. It was hard for me to see her like that, so I left.

I had walked Danielle home after a long conversation. She had kissed my cheek.

I walked lightly, not wanting to disturb anyone.

That's when I heard Christine's screams.

"ERIK PLEASE HELP!"

No it couldn't have-

Erik, was that his name?

I ran to her voice. It was coming from a small shack. I flew to it and opened the door, but someone else had beaten me to them.

The man, at this point I assumed it was Erik, was beating the poor guy up. I went to stop him when Christine said my name.

"Raoul, is that you?" she whispered, her voice shaky.

"Yes, Christine, it's me. What happened?" I said, soothingly. Tears flowed down her cheeks and I crouched down, bringing her into me.

"Darling, please, are you alright?" I cooed.

"H-He tried to r-rape me," she sobbed, her voice uneven and scared.

I stood up, this time feeling no sympathy for the man.

I walked to Erik.

"My turn," I growled.

"Raoul?" Erik said, in pure disbelief.

"Move, before I hurt you too."

He stepped aside.

"Why don't you go to Christine, hmm?" I asked, as I delivered the first blow to the guy's stomach. He groaned in pain.

"SHUT UP!" I roared.

I could almost feel her flinching.

I gave this man punch after kick after hit, and then, after I felt satisfied he learned his lesson, took a rope and tied him to a piece of wood, and took a dirty piece of cloth and gagged him.

"You tell, so do we," I threatened. He nodded quickly.

I walked to Christine.

"You two. My house. Now," I said.

|| Erik Destler ||

"You two. My house. Now," the Vicomte said. I pulled Christine up and guided her towards the door. She removed my hand from her own. He must've known the way.

I lingered behind a bit, thinking This is all my fault.

We walked a few minutes before arriving at a quaint little house. Raoul opened the door with a key.

"Sit, please," he said.

I slowly set Christine onto the couch. She, once again, flicked and moved at my touch.

"Tell me everything," he commanded.

I heard Christine talk, put I didn't listen. I watched Raoul pace around the room. His eyes had anger in them, the kind mine would get every time Christine would try and take off my mask. He glared at me every so often.

|| Christine Daae ||

"It all started when Erik was drinking and we got into a fight..." I said, recalling the fight from a few hours ago. It hurt to recall the story, let alone retell it.

"Then, I ran out of the house and met Landon and I sort of let him take me away, because I was so mad at Erik. I didn't think about what I was doing, or why I was doing it, but it seemed to make sense at the time. Then he tried to rape me and I...I don't know what happened after that."

Raoul was pacing.

"Are you mad?" I asked.

Raoul looked at me, incredulously.

"Am I mad? Lotte, I'm furious. My best friend almost got raped. The man she loves didn't protect her. They fought because of something as dumb as a drink. Christine, you could've died! You know what can happen, because I know you remember Charolete," Raoul said, voice raised.

"I'm sorry, who's Charolete?" Erik asked.

"When Christine and I were children, we had a friend named Charolete. One night, she got into a fight with her father and ran outside. She disappeared for a few days and came home with stories of a handsome man she found. She claimed to be in love. Three days later, the boy took her. We found her dead in the street a month later. Everyone was devastated. That could've been Christine," Raoul explained.

Charlie. I had forgotten about her.

That very well could've been me.

My head began to spin.

I stood up, trying to leave before Erik or Raoul upset me, but before I could move,

my world went

black.