Chapter 1

Christine sat at the vanity in her room at Raoul's mansion, where she had moved to with him after fleeing the Opera Populaire during the fire. It had only been two weeks since her last confrontation with the Phantom of the Opera. She and Raoul were to be married in a month's time, though he had kept this announcement between the two of them as he continued to order the police to search for the opera ghost. The opera house had burned on the inside though her friend Meg had sent her a letter saying that the dormitories were still intact. She, her mother and a few others were living there now. The rest of the opera house had been boarded up.

It was very late, Christine suspected it was bordering on midnight, but she couldn't sleep. The one window in the room was open and the cold winter night air flooded the room. She sat staring into the mirror, seeing the room in reverse she tried to memorize the exact interior of the bedroom. The flowers on the night stand by her bed, beside the kerosene lamp. The pattern of flowers on the bed spread and the wooden wardrobe, everything in the room was absolutely perfect. She gazed at the ring on her finger, holding it up to the mirror. It shimmered in the light; the diamond on her engagement ring was grand. So grand she sometimes wondered if it was even real. Not that it really mattered; this was her future to marry Raoul.

She knew he had not yet come home and this made her even more restless than usual. At night she was often left jumpy and unsettled which resulted in her sleeping in past breakfast. The absence of music was foreign to her. For years of her life her days and nights had been surrounded with music. Now, she found silence unsettling. Since leaving the opera house she had heard no music what so ever and wondered if Raoul had purposefully kept her away from it. She supposed he was just trying to help her forget.

A distant door opened and banged closed making her jump from the sudden noise. Footsteps stomped up the stairs with the sound of defiance in their steps. She took a deep breath and moved over to the door, reassuring herself that no one had broken in. When she opened the door she peered out into the dimly lit hallway. Raoul had just reached the top of the stairs.

"Raoul?" She called out tentatively, he didn't look very happy. The search must be going badly. Good. Christine thought before realizing what she had just said.

"Christine." He answered her call. Raoul walked down the hall to stand in front of her door. Silently Christine stepped out and shut the door behind her. "What are you doing, still up at this hour?"

"I was waiting for you to return." Smiling, he took her hand and drew her away from her room, walking along the corridor. He began humming that song to her, the one they had sung on the rooftop of the Opera Populaire. Christine was transfixed by the first sound of music she had heard in two weeks. He led the blinded girl along till he reached another door and opened it. He let her enter first and once inside she turned to face the still humming viscount. The door shut with a soft click and Raoul pulled Christine to him kissing her passionately. Once they pulled away Christine noticed that they were in a dark bedroom. "Raoul?" she asked voice shaking. Too late she realized his intent. "No! No!" She said pulling away. Why is he doing this? At her protest Raoul became angry and yelled at her. She was so frightened by this sudden change in him and she did not appreciate it one bit. He struck her hard sending her reeling back across the room. "You are mine!"

"No!" Christine jerked awake and saw she was in her own bedroom at the Viscounts house. "no." she whimpered, curling up under her sheets and crying. The nightmare kept her from getting a decent night sleep on more than one occasion. She wished it would go away so she could stop reliving that awful night. It had been only the first of many occasions where he had shown his 'affection' for her. Yesterday she had learned that he was engaged to another woman, one of high status, and that he had never intended to marry Christine. She had been a prize and nothing more. That night when he came again she had resisted and yelled at him for his lies. He had struck her as he always did when he was angry. At least now there were no more false pretenses.

It had been a month since their first encounter of which the nightmare came from. She knew that she could not continue to lie here. Along with this rough treatment all hospitality was gone. She ate early with the kitchen staff and if she missed a meal then that was that. Shakily she swung her legs over the side of her bed, her nightgown swishing around her. She looked down at her legs and arms, they were covered in bruises from Raoul's abuse and she did not bruise easily. Standing up she walked over to the mirror, and saw that she had a black eye from his hitting her the night before. It was her left eye and it was a very nasty bruise.

She selected a plain, long sleeve dress from her closet and began to get ready for the day. Her muscles ached with every tiny movement. Accidently she bumped the changing screen lightly and gasped at the pain that shot through her arm. I can't stay here. She thought despairingly and without pausing to think she quickly made her way out of the house.

Raoul was gone for the day, she knew and it was barely enough time to escape. Though she had no idea where she was going to go, she limp ran to the stables and haltered her horse. It was a beautiful midnight black stallion; he was a sweet well mannered horse, strong and fast. Her stallion was built for endurance. The horse was one from the opera house which Raoul had given to her. She found the horses tack and saddled him, though her muscles protested. She could only hope she would be able to ride. "Come on Sampson." She spoke to the horse as she led him from the stable and mounted him. "Let's get out of here." He set off at a brisk trot and she couldn't help but smile at his energy. Thankfully the horse had a smooth gait, which helped minimize the jarring. She let Sampson decide the way for now until she could think of somewhere to go.

A/N:

Tori: This is my first POTO fanfiction so i hope i'm doing okay so far! please review.