Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Christine rushed into the building and ran directly for the stairs that lead to the chapel. She dismissed the concerned gazes of the housekeepers, guards, and handmaids filing in the lobby. Finding Erik was the only thing that mattered. When she descended the last step and made it to the second door on the right she jumped as a fellow chorus member exited. She regained composure, made eye contact with the red-haired women, and nodded at her before entering the room. She closed the wooden door behind her, unlike most times when she kept it partially open. The business to be had with her lover was in need of utmost privacy.
As soon as Christine was certain the woman was out of earshot she called out irritably. "Erik!" She spat. The room was void and still. She huffed. She was unusually fueled by disproval. A red puff of smoke startled her from across the room. Erik cleared through the smoke with a bold stride. He stared at her without a single ounce feeling on his face. He wore a long embroidered cape, black suit jacket, vest, and trousers. His mask white porcelain and patterned with silver strokes of paint.
He forwarded. "Don't," She said, turning from him.
"Christine, come. We must speak somewhere else, somewhere safe." Christine's features darkened as she turned to face him.
"How dare you imply that I would willingly go somewhere with you. What you've done is not excusable. Just because Carlotta is a pain in my side and one in everyone else's for that matter, it does not give you the right to attack her."
"Christine, come with me we can speak in the privacy of my lair," he said firmly, ignoring her displeasure with him. When she refused he grasped her arm and pulled her close to him. So close in fact that she blinked up at him. Her attitude of rage quickly disengaged. His blue piercing eyes crushed her pursuit of justice and manipulated her into focusing on the burning pulse in her veins at the awareness of the short proximity in which his body was from hers. She wavered reluctantly with him then.
"You must wear this cloth over your eyes," Erik said pulling a long silk cloth from his waist pocket.
"Why must I?"
"No one, including you, shall know how to enter my domain. Especially now that those who walk above may start hunting me."
"I do wish you'd have more faith in me, Erik," She grimaced.
"Of course, I do darling, but one must never be too careful. You could be coaxed into dispelling information under threatening pretenses."
"I would never try to harm you in that way."
"It is not you that I am worried about, dear," He murmured, as he tied the fabric around her eyes and head. He began leading her through a secret passageway at the back of a room that was parallel from the chapel. Christine's heart pounded with uncertainty, fear, and excitement. The other portion of her senses were heightened as he readily guided her. She could smell the moisture in the damp hall immediately as they passed through the cold stone room. Erik ignited their path with a torch that was held by a gold outstretched hand.
