Important Notice: As a few of you may have figured out by now, I have been in a hiatus of roughly two or so years. This has been because of several reasons, mostly personal, that I will not get in to. The point of this post is to inform anyone who is still reading my work or waiting for some signs of life, especially from this story. I will not be continuing it as is; I'm planning to rewrite the entire story, and that will involve a major plot changes. I will be keeping the original characters I've come up with (Anthony, Aida, Felicity, Henri, and Marcel to name a few) but some parts of them may change from what they were originally. To be honest, I'm still debating whether to delete this story, or simply update the chapters to the new format. But either way, in a year or so this specific story will be gone. In a month or two I might put up the first chapter to replace this one, to see how well it is received. If you are reading this when that has already occurred, please leave feedback on the "teaser".

But long story short, I wanted to say this to inform people that a lot of things are going to change, and that, if they are still invested in this story after so long, they need to be prepared for that change. I've grown a lot as a writer and a person since I started this story at 14. I'm now going to college, becoming an adult and having new ideas that I never had before. I want this story to reflect that change in me; to be the best I can write it. Hopefully, you all will like what comes out, and will stick around to see where it goes.

Roses of Life

Standing off on the shore, Christine watched with immense sadness as the man who had taken her captive, the same man who killed others in her name but also taught her the joy of music, turned to look at her once again. "Well, Christine?" he growled. "What is your choice?" With his words, his hands gripped the rope they held tighter and yanked hard, causing the man attached on the other end to sputter. A pleading look was apparent in her eyes, but the Phantom would have absolutely none of it. Remaining silent, he kept a steady gaze on her, like a lion stalking its prey, as he awaited her answer. Christine's mind was swimming as she thought of what to do. Her eyes darted to Raoul, remembering everything that had happened between the two. She loved Raoul, she knew that much, but to what extent she was unaware. They had grown up together as children, and later on he was like a guardian to her. He deeply cared for her, going as far as ignoring the social scandal it could bring up and proposing to her. Though she had accepted with an exburance she did not know she had, seeds of doubt were beginning to sprout in her mind. And who else could plant these seeds than her mysterious tutor?

With the Phantom it was something new... something different. He caused feelings and passions to stir within her that she wasn't sure was right to have. But even with that he smoothed her worries, silently letting her know that it was alright to feel the way she did around him. It was true that he was dangerous and unpredictable, but for some reason that only added to the allure. In the beginning she was frightened, but after some time when they were together, whether during their lessons or the occasional trip underground, she had grown... dare she say, close to him. And with that time together, he hardly ever lashed out at her. He was gentle and caring, always treating her like a delicate figurine.

Together they shared music, and from all the time they spent together she had learned to care for him. Possibly even love him.

But the blissfulness did not last. Men began to drop, one by one, and Christine soon became frightened. Raoul hardly made things better, giving her a few morsels of comfort before shoving her headlong into a ridiculous trap. Then... she thought, a slight throbbing in her heart as she remembered it, he confessed his love. Why she had not seen it earlier, she did not know. But wondering why now would be pointless.

"You monster," Raoul managed to say, watching helplessly as Christine bit her lips as she thought of her options laid out before her. After a moment of silence, she lifted her eyes and slowly walked into the water. Moving deeper into the small lake, she approached the man who was the source of all their nightmares and fear. At first, she seemed confusioned, like she was trying to understand something. But it seemed that by the time she arrived besided the unmasked figure realization had dawned upon her and that her mind was completely set.

"I choose you," she whispered. Raoul could almost hear his heart burst from sadness at the words. But nothing at all could prepare him for what happened next. "I love you," Christine said, sliding the same ring the Phantom had given to her onto her third left finger. In one fluid movement, the ring was resting on her hand and the same hand rested against his cheek as her lips met his.

"Don't you touch her!" he yelled the moment the rope loosened around his neck.

"You have no say," the other man, the one who had clearly won Christine's heart, hissed at him after pulling away from her. After a well placed glare in Raoul's direction, he returned to Christine and smiled warmly at her. "Erik..." he whispered. "My name is Erik."

"Christine, you don't have to do this! Choose your freedom; I'm not worth your entire life! Escape this place, forget me, find someone else! I don't care what happens, just get away from this monster-"

"Be quiet!" Erik roared, wrenching the rope he still held, causing Raoul to suddenly gasp from the lack of breath. As he watched the Vicomte close his eyes and wheeze slightly, a demonic sort of glee apparent on his face, he suddenly felt a small hand rest atop his.

"Please...don't hurt him," she pleaded, her voice soft. "I may love you, but I still care for him." His body stiffened at her words, and Christine was quick to reassure him. "We were childhood friends, surely you've learned that? It's just... he's been there so much that I would hate to see him hurt." Slowly, Erik calmed down at smiled at her as his breathing stilled. Reluctantly, he left go of the rope before walking towards the back of the cavern.

"You may untie him," he instructed Christine as he continued walking. She nodded quickly and was soon moving through the water, this time towards Raoul. Hearing glass break, she turned her head around in time to see Erik disappear behind a heavy curtain that fell behind him. Turning back to Raoul, she tried to blank out her mind as she untied the ropes holding him down.

"I'm sorry, Raoul," she said quietly, "but I do love him."

"But I love you more than that...that thing ever could!" he retorted as he rubbed his skin where the ropes had cut and burned into him.

"You may think that, but my feelings remain the same," she muttered under her breath, helping to remove the rest of the ropes keeping him hostage.

"Then what about us?" he snapped. "All that we went through? Did that mean nothing to you?" he paused, his eyes looking past her to the curtained off area that the Phantom had disappeared behind. "Obviously it didn't..."

"It did!" Christine insisted. "It's just...oh, Raoul, you just don't understand," she said, her voice coaxing and gentle as she moved closer to him. Instead he backed away, pressing himself against the bars in an attempt to avoid her touch.

"I understand," he muttered. "I understand completely, Christine." She gazed sadly at him, about to say more but was stopped as Erik came storming back into the room. The look of both panic and fury was practically radiated off of him. Slightly terrified, Christine backed away from Raoul just as Erik moved through the water toward them both. Thinking that his fury was towards her, she closed her eyes so she wouldn't see him as he was attacking her. Never before had she seen such anger in a person.

But when nothing came, she slowly opened her eyes to see that Erik had attached his firm grip around Raoul's neck and had lifted him high up so that his feet dangled above the water before slamming him against the iron grate. For a short moment, his gaze drifted to hers.

"Hide," he ordered. "Now. They're coming here," he hissed, his grip around Raoul's neck constricting. Deliberately, his cold gaze turned to Raoul. "You told them we were here, didn't you?" he questioned, bringing his face closer to Raoul's. Erik took great satisfaction as the younger man visably trembled in fear and desperately attempted to claw at his hand in a weak effort at escape. "Oh well," he muttered. "I'll just leave them something to find."

Christine's shocked stare grew even wider at his words. "Don't, please!" she exclaimed. "Erik..." she whispered, placing a hand on his arm, her eyes pleading as they were before. For a moment, it seemed that Erik was going to do as Christine wished, to let Raoul go unharmed and simply take her away. But all hopes of that were quickly dashed when a light voice called out into the silence.

"Christine?" Meg's voice called out. "Raoul? Are you alright?" Christine could easily hear both her friend and the accompanying mob behind her moving closer to their location and also noticed the growing panic on Erik's face. The man standing beside her stood stiff as they both silently watched as Meg soon came into view of them both. If possible, Erik's skin paled even more as he carefully leaned closer to Raoul.

"I'll kill you..." he hissed, causing Raoul to whimper. "How dare you send a mob! Do you not wish to live?"

"Please..." Raoul begged, his voice trembling as his hands continued to cling onto the grip around his neck. "Please spare me." By now, tears were falling down his face, but not as before, Christine noted. Earlier they were tears of sadness from knowing that he was never to see her again. Now they were the tears of a coward; of a man desperately wishing to live. Her heart turned a little colder toward him, leaving her wondering what happened to the man that was willing to give up his life for her freedom.

"Why should I?" Erik asked, his voice cold and calculation as his hold on the Vicomte tightened. Noticing Meg walking closer as well as the voices of the mob, he quickly let go of the other man, causing him to limply fall into the water. Raoul grasped at his neck, wheezing and coughing violent as the air came rushing into his lungs for the second time.

"What a nuisance," he muttered, rushing past Christine onto the dry land once again before approaching the curtain where he had disappeared earlier. Lifting the curtain, Christine soon discovered that it was a large mirror that had been shattered to reveal a tunnel behind it.

"Wait-"

"We cannot wait, Christine, we must leave for now," he told her. "Follow after when you've said your final 'goodbyes'," he said before disappearing down the darkened corridor behind the curtain.

Watching as the Phantom suddenly leave her line of vision, Meg quietly waited until she was sure that he was gone before fully revealing herself. Carefully venturing further, she soon saw Raoul and Christine and smiled as she ran up to the metal grate that seperated them. "Christine! Christine, I'm so glad to see you! Everyone has been looking, to come and save you," she exclaimed happily, smiling brightly at her friend. But when Christine merely shook her head, her smile slowly dropped down to a frown.

"I don't want to be saved, Meg. I'm leaving." Raoul, who still remained in the water, began to stand up and turned to face her, his hand clutching onto the cold iron bars for supported. His eyes were red from his tears, which were still flowing freely of their own accord.

"Why Christine? Why...him? Did I...Do I mean nothing at all to you?"

"I can't explain it, Raoul. I just love him," she whispered, trying to explain but her voice growing weak as he turned from her. Christine did the same, unable to look at the shame and defeat etched onto his face. Meg looked at both of them, confused.

"Christine...what is going on?" she asked. Her friend turned to look at her, the expression on her face begging for forgiveness and understanding.

"I'm leaving with the Phantom- his name is Erik. I'm going with him and I don't know if I'll ever be back," she explained, walking up to the metal gate and taking Meg's hands in her own. "You can't tell anyone! Please, Meg, you must promise me!" she said beseechingly.

"But Christine..."

"It's what I want, Meg."

"But what about Raoul? You accepted his proposal, didn't you?" she insisted.

"How could you love such a beast?" Raoul suddenly demanded. "He is obviously a monstrosity, yet you seem to protect him and practically worship the very ground he walks on!" Clenching his fists in both frustration and anger, he abruptly turned and slammed his fisted hand into the iron grate. Ignoring the pain that pulsed through him, he cradled his hand and leaned heavily against the grate. He felt utterly destroyed, his heart completely broken. With the three words that Christine had said to the Phantom, the three words that she kept repeating, all joy that he had known disappeared into thin air.

"What do you mean?" Meg questioned, her voice barely above a whisper as she tried to make sense of what he said.

"That man- nay, that thing- has killed people and terrorized this opera house for years now. It has no heart. That is what I mean," he hissed. Both women stared at him in silence. Christine in shocked horror and Meg in disbelief.

"Come back with us...please?" Meg begged, breaking the strained silence as she turned to her companion. "We can keep you safe-"

"No. It's not about being safe or afraid," Christine explained, lightly placing her hand on top of his. "Love is irrational. I'm sorry."

"I know. I experienced it," Raoul retorted, roughly pulling his hand away from hers, "once." Christine sighed in defeat, stepping away from him to show that she understood. Off in the distance, the shouts coming from the angered mob were coming closer.

"Promise," Christine whispered hurriedly, holding her friend's hands once again as her eyes grew wide, knowing that at any moment she could be seen.

"Of course, Christine," Meg answered with a weak smile. Raoul continued to stand in silence, refusing to answer her plea, but Christine was unable to wait for his reply as Erik soon reappeared. His glare was directed at both Meg and Raoul, but he remained silent as Christine walked up to him and took his hand.

"Goodbye, Meg... Raoul..." she said before allowing Erik to lead her past the red curtain, disappearing into the darkness it created, not looking back once.