Watch and learn, Madam Desslar, this is what happens to monsters..." Michael murmured, grasping Erik's mask and throwing it to the ground. Christine screamed when Delauney took the dagger and cruelly dug into Erik's already marred flesh. Erik groaned and looked everywhere but at Christine.
"Stop! Stop! Please!" Christine cried. Michael ignored her and dug another line into Erik's face, who groaned in immense pain. Christine began to plead with Delauney. She could not watch this; there was no way she could see him hurt in front of her eyes again. Not again.
"Please...do not make her see this," Erik whispered softly. He was not a man to beg, but he would give anything not to have Christine subjected to this.
"Oh, no...she is going to see all of this. She is going to watch you die. And when I am done with you, I am going to cut open her stomach while she is still breathing and kill the little whelp growing inside!" Delauney hissed. Christine screamed and Erik closed his eyes, praying to a God he had never truly believed in to help save them from this madness. His baby and his wife did not deserve this, it was his battle and he did not want them to pay the price.
"She has nothing to do with this!" Erik insisted loudly, as a scolding Michael dug another line over the deformed side of Erik's face. He winced and wondered briefly why Delauney was not ruining the good side of his face. Of course he did not want him to but he wondered if the man was only teasing him or waiting for the right moment. Christine turned away when once more Erik groaned softly in pain. This was all her fault. If she would have listened Erik perhaps might have been able to kill Delauney and return to her.
"She has made herself involved by marrying you, Desslar, and she will pay for such a ridiculous decision."
"Is it so hard for you to get over your hatred for Emma to see that Christine is not her mother?" Erik demanded. He would not have Christine punished for things that had happened in the past.
"This has nothing to do with Emma. This has to do with the fact that you had a hand in both of my sons' deaths. You can call it revenge," Delauney growled.
"Please, Monsieur, do not do this!" Christine gasped when Erik cried out in pain. She could not watch this and had to turn away.
Something rushing past the door caught her attention and she tried to make it look as if she were not staring at anyone because as the figure flashed by again Christine realized who it was.
Nadir.
Thank God! She wondered if he knew that Raoul and Anthony were hurt. She just prayed not to badly. She looked frantically toward Erik to see him being subjected to another cut, his face now covered in blood. Christine knew that she had to distract all of them somehow so Nadir could surprise them all and perhaps kill Delauney and his men. She thought desperately of something to say or do that would perhaps get Michael's attention.
"You are going to watch this, Madam, and you are going to know pain," Michael growled. He ordered the man who was holding her to bring her to him and when she reached them he forced her down onto her knees so she and Erik were kneeling inches away from each other. Though her hands were untied the man still had the pistol at her head and she knew she could not do anything foolish. Christine's eyes welled with tears when she saw the extent of damage Michael had already inflicted. His eyes searched hers and it was as if he was searching for some kind of hope in her eyes. Michael roughly grabbed Erik's chin so he could look no where else but at Christine and carved into the flesh that had been burned so long ago.
As much as Christine wanted to close her eyes she just could not do so. She needed to give him strength, each cut was causing her to whimper. Hesitantly her hand came out and touched the side of his neck, very lightly. Erik closed his eyes even when Michael dug another line. He concentrated on the warmth of Christine's hand and the strength it seemed to give him from so light a touch. He tried to think about the times they had spent together that meant everything to him...making love, the masquerade, showing his face to her for the first time, finding out she was pregnant, all were things he would never forget and he wanted to focus only on the good things. Christine looked up at Michael and took a deep breath before speaking.
"Did your sons want children, Michael?" Christine wondered softly. Michael stiffened, the blade of his dagger resting against Erik's face. Erik was leaning forward from blood loss, his eyes closed to try and block out the pain. His eyes opened slightly when Christine spoke and he wondered what in the world she was doing.
"What?" he whispered dangerously. Erik looked from Delauney to Christine in worry.
"Christine..." Erik warned. She was treading in dangerous waters and he desperately did not want her to drown. Christine, however, kept her head high as she repeated what she had said.
"Did your sons want children?"
"How dare you mention them, you little trollop!" Michael growled. Both of his men glanced at each other, wondering how in the world this little woman was willing to stand up to a man as dangerous as Michael Delauney.
"I suppose no woman was willing to give them that."
Erik knew that if they got out of this alive he would have to have a talk with Christine about when to keep her mouth shut, like right now for instance.
"What do you mean by that?" Michael demanded, turning away from Erik to stare angrily at the beautiful woman before him.
"Your eldest son raped my mother, his own sister...your youngest attempts to rape me, and the woman my brother loves...so it would seem that charm does not run in your family..."