I Belong to You (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Erik led a very quiet Christine to his car in the driveway, his entire body stiff with the dreaded thought of things going awry in some way. He opened the passenger door for her, she got in, he closed the door and walked to his side, and then they drove away.

Everything was going smoothly so far.

IIIIIII

"He's a genius," Nadir Kahn described to a detective sitting across from him. "The very first time I saw Erik, I knew he was intelligent. His air just suggests it, even with the mask hiding his face. But, I never thought he would do this.. I'd always trusted him with giving lessons to children."

"Why?" the detective asked. "What would make you trust him?"

"Well, as I said, he's a genius." Nadir slowly added, "I suppose he was able to manipulate my mind to his liking, in a way." The detective showed no emotion to that, but a shiver rolled down Nadir's spine at the impact of his own words.

"Explain to me how Erik Destler was able to manipulate you, Mr. Kahn."

Nadir knew it wasn't only this detective he was explaining things to. There was a recorder on the table they were sitting at, and he knew others were watching them from the other side of the mirror-like window taking up one wall of the room. "Well, Erik has always seemed very intuitive to my thoughts. He seemed to understand me completely. He would finish my sentences for me sometimes, making me think we were on the same page. And, of course, I spoke with students he'd given lessons to. They all said the same thing, that he was strict and focused only on their lessons when they were together."

"What did Ms. Daae say to you about her voice lessons with him?"

"She basically mimicked the others. There was no reason to believe her lessons were any different from the other students'."

The detective took a moment before asking, "Mr. Kahn, do you have any idea where Erik Destler is?"

"No," Nadir replied honestly. "I really have no idea where he could be."

Nodding once, the detective stood. "Thank you for your help, Mr. Kahn."

The door to the investigation room opened, and Nadir walked towards it knowing he hadn't been of any help at all. "I hope you find them," he said before leaving the room.

Marie Giry, Christine's high school choir accompanist, was next to go in. Nadir made brief eye contact with the tired-looking woman as she passed him to take his place.

Her face mirrored everyone else's. They were all exhausted because there wasn't any progress being made in the case. The most anyone knew was that Erik Destler was the prime suspect.

When he'd first found out that it was Erik, Nadir hadn't been too surprised, although the discussion he'd had with the detective suggested that there was no reason to suspect Erik of ever doing anything wrong. The thing about it was, there was no reason to suspect him of doing anything right either.

No one knew anything about the masked man, which was serving as the main problem. Where was Erik Destler right now? That was a very good question.

IIIIIII

Everything had been going so smoothly.

That was before they'd driven for four hours and reached a post office in a different state, though. Georgia woods were dense, especially at night, making it difficult for Erik to find Christine, who was currently missing.

She'd run away, which meant that things had certainly gone awry, just as he'd feared they would.

He wouldn't lose all sense of rationality just yet, though. He'd only been looking for her for five minutes. Erik would give it a little more time.