A/N: pleads Sorry it's so short! Now if you'll excuse me as I go run and hide.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera, its characters, plotlines, nor anything involved within the branches of Kay or Webber. Je ne possède rien! (I possess nothing).

Chapter 11

A Name

The water around her chilled even further down that she went, but Christine could not escape the boy's gaze. Erik himself was contemplating the young girl before him and in determining she was no threat to him, allowed his burning eyes to cool. He glared hardly at her before turning right around, leaving Christine to be ignored.

"Hey there, did you even hear me?" Christine yelled out at him from behind the bars and ever so often glancing down at the pile of rope he had thrown down.

Still, the boy continued to ignore her as Christine's eyes hardened and her grip tightened as much as she could upon the slick metal. She had just opened her mouth to protest further when her presence had reached the ends of control in Erik's mind. "You do realize that your ranting will not prove useful enough for me to allow you your way." He bit out coldly. "I do not take kindly to trespassers—in fact if you were not such a weakling the Phantom would have been done with you before you could even breathe another breath." Where his back was to Christine he heard her slight gasp and smirked freely where she could not see him do so.

"Then…"Christine stuttered quietly and shakily, "that means you are him?"

Reacting upon impulse Erik lashed out at the reply filled with fear that he had heard so many times during his past. "Yes. I am the one who has become infamous among the shadows in this opera." Whirling around Christine was able to grasp full context of his mask he wore covering all but the jaw of his face. She could not deny that his appearance was quite jagged, but from a lifetime among society she saw that in the way he stood before her, even now with his eyes blazing— he was trembling.

Her eyes widened at last after fully recognizing the face that was before her—after so may years it had changed…and perhaps it was not even his, but the notion that it was and the horrors that would come along with that caused the girl to downcast her eyes. Slowly tears began to form at the mere thought of what she had experienced that night at the fair, could have also been shared by him, but she kept it to herself. For some unknown reason, she did not wish to disclose that she knew.

Erik, looked curiously upon her and in curiosity inched forward and was able to hear her next words. "What—what is your name, boy?"

The moment she raised her head to him as she struggled to keep afloat in the water he was taken by surprise that he had seen that look before. The girl's eyes, clouded with tears that had been subdued down reminded him of an event that Erik had wished never to remember.

"I apologize ladies and gentlemen, but the show has now come to a close. I assure you will be refunded completely." Using his other hand to pull out from the pouch where he had collected the coins earlier, my captor handed back the money. As the crowd grumbled and snatched away their coins a small child, young and impressionable, had spied me. Slowly the child inched forward, coming close enough to touch. The child grasped hold of the gold coin and lifted up to face me. To my surprise the child was only a small girl, barely the age of four. Her eyes shone despite the darkness and looking at me straight on, with a smile, she held that dumb coin out to me.

In the back of my mind I actually longed to accept the simple gift. I had never been given a gift, except my mask, but the pain shooting from my back held me back. Both my body and instinctive fear that had bred into me kept me from doing what my heart longed to do, and so I knew that I must send the girl away. She would get hurt, —I knew somehow she would.

Stupid. The girl stupidly still inched to me until her arms reached inside the bars. Tentatively, my fingers shook forward and as they were inches away my eyes closed in pain as a loud screech exhaled from what could only be guessed as the child's mother.

"Stay away from my baby you demon! What would make wish to harm an innocent child! What kind of monster are you?" she had said, that or something like it. I had heard so many say such things to me that I can hardly keep track of all the insults.

It was at that moment the people began rounding onto my captor, the fool Javert.

Still, the child still was with me and she urged the coin at me. It was my own foolishness that caused what happened next. I had grown too distraught to see until it was to late that my face had met the cold air. The girl froze as in her childish affection and I saw stiffly that face flushed and watched in fear as she stumbled backwards, falling with a thud.

It was my fault. My fault. Because of the horror of my face, the little girl was dead.

Shifting out of the nightmares of his mind, Erik heard a resounding startle in the water and found the girl had passed out into the water. Her grip was slipping fast even as she spoke to him, even then he had noticed her shivering—the chill from the water must have finally breached her body fully. Without a second thought he begrudgingly swept forward, released the latch upon the doorway and caught the girl's hand before she went completely submerged.

Dragging her out, he laid her down as gently as possible and scanned the room around for something the keep her warm. He had no efficient bed below, but he did have stage props and one in particular might suit the purpose nicely. Running off to fetch it as well as a few curtains he could uses as blankets, he sighed and wondered what he had gotten himself into. Lighting a few candles beside her he stared at her for a few moments before finally finding his voice.

"My name—my name is Erik."

The girl only mumbled in response before falling completely unconscious.

Well, I am sooo sorry about keeping all of you waiting, but I tell you school has had it in for me lately. Still, it's spring break so maybe I can get another chapter in before I have to go back. We only have a few days -sadly-.

Oh and thank you so much again gold4roses and Kalaia for your two lovely reviews!

-MickeytheMouse