Wanted

Chapter 63

{February 25, 1893}

Erik walked through the lobby of the Populaire and watched as the men dusted every single thing in sight. Windows were being polished and through the doors, his finest performers were practicing. He took a deep breath to calm his racing nerves, everything would be fine. He was running the greatest opera house in French history.

"Monsieur Destler! I've finished fitting young Gustave for his suit." Amélie, the costume designer, called. Erik turned around and smiled when his boy came running down the hall, in a well fitted navy suit.

"Careful, my treasure. These floors were just polished, I wouldn't want you falling." Erik chided and Gustave stopped and walked the rest of the distance to his father. Erik kneeled and adjusted Gustave's collar and bowtie, "It looks great. Thank you. Go change, Gustave." Erik said as he stood up.

The president of France was coming to see the Opera Populaire and Erik was nervous. Quite frankly, the appearance of the Opera house, and the performances that took place inside determined how much money the president would give to fund the arts for the year. To say the least, Erik was feeling the pressure.

He straightened his mask on his face and walked through the grand doors of the auditorium. Madame Giry was running the ballet on stage, and he breathed a sigh of relief because they looked fantastic. He sat down in the back of the theatre and waited for them to finish. When they did, he stood up and walked to stand in front of the first row of seats.

"Wonderful job, ladies and gentlemen. The president will be here in a few hours, please go get ready. Thank you all." Erik said, Madame Giry banged her staff to signal their dismissal.

"Loud!" Harmony said from the seat beside where Madame Giry was standing. Erik hadn't even seen her. Harmony and Melody were growing up faster than Erik or Christine had expected. They were now 16 months old and they were already talking and walking.

"Papa!" Harmony exclaimed when she spotted Erik, she got herself down from the chair and ran over to her father. He grabbed her hand, and walked with her backstage into the dressing room labeled Destler. Inside, Christine was getting fitted for her gown to wear to meet the president. She smiled when she saw him enter with Harmony.

"She snuck out." He said, noticing Melody sitting on the floor playing with fabric. "You look wonderful, my love." Erik said as Christine finished her fitting and changed back into her other dress. They exited the fitting room and went to go find Gustave. They went to the dressing room where Gustave had been just half an hour ago, and Amélie had said he had ran off a while ago.

So the family walked to the auditorium and once again, Madame Giry informed them she hadn't seen the boy. Erik left the twins with her and he and Christine went to look for Gustave. They searched every place in the opera house, to no luck. Erik was quickly getting frustrated while his wife was worried.

"Nadir! Have you seen Gustave?" Erik asked quickly as the Persian walked down the hall.

"No, but I did see the Vicomte come in about fifteen minutes ago. I didn't see him leave though. I didn't think anything of it, I thought you all had worked everything out." Nadir said and Erik's heart dropped, and he realized this whole time Raoul had been playing them so he could make a bigger move.

"Erik, you don't think..." Christine started, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"That's exactly what I think." Erik said, venom in his voice. "Nadir, seal the port, blockade each road! Call in every favor that I'm owed! I'll be damned if he leaves this city!" Erik demanded harshly, and Nadir went to doing as he said, rounding up help along the way. Christine was in tears, as she watched everyone working to help find her son. She looked over at her husband who was running toward his office.

He came back out with his cloak and the feather hat. He didn't look like Erik anymore. He was in full Phantom, and she couldn't blame him for it. He ran over to her and kissed her lightly. "Stay here, take care of the girls. I'll be back as soon as possible. With our son." He promised and she squeezed his hand before watching him usher a driver and a carriage.

Christine felt helpless. She had finally thought she had a friendship with Raoul, she hadn't seen him in a while, but they left off on good terms. To know he had been using their friendship to get himself in and break the family she had built, hurt her. She sighed and went to find Madame Giry and the twins.

Meanwhile, Erik sat in the back of a carriage, looking out the window as they drove through the streets of Paris. He had to find his son, and when he did then he was going to finally kill the fop. He told the driver to let him out at the end of a road that was blockaded and he jumped out, keeping his head low as to not draw attention to himself.

Erik made his way through alleyways, his stealthy Phantom behavior returning. After walking a few blocks, he heard a child yelling, and when he listened closer he knew it was his son. He quickly made his way to a nearby abandoned building at the end of the street. As he approached, he heard Gustave's cries.

The front door of the building was broken and burnt from a fire years ago, which allowed Erik to slip inside the building. He made his way through the halls and to the back room, when he peaked inside he saw his son on the ground crying, Raoul standing over him with a whip. And Erik immediately got a flashback to his childhood and just a few years back when he had been captured yet again. His son didn't deserve that, his son had never harmed anyone.

"Vicomte, I wouldn't bring that whip down on my son if I were you." Erik said, malice in his tone. He stood in the doorway of the room and Raoul turned around and laughed.

"You won't win this time, Phantom." Raoul said and before he knew it, Erik had twisted his arm behind his back and threw him to the ground, motioning for his son to get behind him.

"You're lucky I've changed my ways, Vicomte. I'm tempted to snap your neck right now. But instead, I will inform the police, and they will take you away." Erik said turning around for a second to attend to Gustave, and when he turned back around, Raoul had a gun pointed at him. "You won't fire it. You're too much of a coward." Erik sneered, yet he sent Gustave outside just in case.

"You read me wrong, Monsieur Destler." Raoul said, putting his finger on the trigger, and daring Erik to move, with a swift motion of the rifle. Erik had to think carefully. He had a family he had to go home to. Christine was counting on him.

And yet there was nothing he could do when Raoul pulled the trigger and the bullet ripped through his torso, and Erik fell to the ground. He heard the door open and saw his son drop down beside him, tears in his eyes, the eyes that looked so much like his own. "No, Papa! No!" He yelled as he threw himself onto Erik.

Erik attempted to wrap his arms around his son, but he couldn't move anything, there was so much pain. He watched as Raoul laughed and walked out of the building, leaving them there. "Gustave, I need you to go home." He rasped quietly.

"No, I won't leave you!" Gustave cried, holding tight to his cloak.

"Gustave, my treasure, I will be ok. I'm stronger than a bullet. Go home, get Nadir and your mother and bring them here. I promise, I will never leave you." He said, kissing his son. "I love you."

Gustave ran out of the building crying, but Erik had faith in his son. But he was having trouble holding on. He was losing consciousness, but he knew he needed to stay away. He couldn't die yet, not without seeing his wife. His beautiful, radiant wife. "Christine." He whispered, as he slipped out of consciousness.

Cast:
Erik Destler ~ Ramin Karimloo
Christine Destler ~ Sierra Boggess
Nadir Kahn ~ Nadim Naaman
Raoul De Chagny ~ Hadley Fraser
Gustave Destler ~ Casey Lyons
Madame Giry ~ Liz Robertson
Amélie ~ Millie O' Connell

(A/N): Hey guys! I want to thank everyone for sticking around this story. I know it's been FOREVER since I updated, I was going through a lot of writer's block with this story, I didn't know what to do with it. I have plans now! I plan to update this within the next month of being in quarantine. There won't be many more chapters because I have an end in mind now. I hope you all enjoy this book and what is to come. I appreciate every read, vote, and comment. I hope everyone is doing well during this time. Stay safe and healthy! 💕