He tighten the rope around Raoul's throat and heard him choke, the noise music better than even he could compose. Power ran throuh his veins and he grinned at his victim sardonically, his prey in the arms of himself - the predator. Looking backwards he saw the pain in her eyes and again the weight of the world crashed around his ears, the metallic twang a familiar taste in his mouth. Shaking his head and trying to get the adrenaline rush back he growled "You try my patience, make your choice" He knew exactly who she was going to choose, she was just delaying the inevitable but still every fibre of his being was just calling out to her to make her choose him. God he needed her. Never had he felt that way about anyone, never had he been so lost, never had he ever been so dependant on someone, especially someone he could never have - she was his drug and he was nothing without her.
"Pitiful creatureof darkness, What kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you you are not alone." Christine whispered quietly. Looking Erik straight in the eyes and moving slowly towards where he stood completely mesmorised she gently placed her hand to the side of his face - oblivious to his deformed features - guided his head towards hers and kissed him full on the lips softly. Erik shut his eyes, so amazed as what was happening his mind almost didn't comprehend it at first. She was soft at first but soon she grew in confidence and pulled him closer so not even air separated them. His mind was reeling, he was so afraid to move unless it was all a dream and he would be brought back screaming to the world of realism with a hard jolt.
Then suddenly as it started it ended and he could feel her move away from him slowly and finally she removed her hand from her face. Erik let out a breath that he hadn't realised he had been holding and opened his eyes afraid of the reaction that awaited him. His vision swam slightly and he felt dizzy and was aware his vision was blurring only to be grated by the saltiness of the tears that made their way down his cheeks. Unable to contain his amazement a grin spread quickly across his face like wildface, the look on his face a pure picture of childhood glee. Not even trying to hide his shame now he stared at her as she stared back him so, the look in her eyes almost impossible to read.
Shaking his head he cleared it, he had to let them go, however much it was going to hurt he couldn't keep them here, he knew it as much as they knew it. With a heavy heart he shouted firmly through tears and gritted teeth "Take her - forget me - forget all of this, leave me alone - forget all you've seen. Go now - don't let them find you! Take the boat - leave me here - go now,don't wait. Just take her and go - before it's too late . . . Go . . .Go now - go now and leave me!" The last words were said with such venom that he startled even himself. His skin prickling with a dry heat, the bile rising in his throat, his heart spliting in two, his soul hers as he watched her walk out of his life with him.
Falling to his knees he knew what absolute pain and suffering was, as alone and empty as he ever had been and possibly ever will be again. Great sobs shook his body and tears ran down his face in large rivers, his mind going at 3000mph with no hope of him ever catching up. Suddenly he was caught himself singing along to something he could not yet hear, tuning in he became aware of a familiar song that he had consoled himself with since childhood, softly he contined to sing along "Masquerade . . .Paper faces on parade, Masquerade . Hide your face so the world will never find you . ." He sniffed and smiled sadly to himself - how true the words, how much they told of his life, how much he had sought comfort and refused in them - how even now as he watched, the monkey dressed in Persian clothes mocked him, its souless gaze an epitaph of his life - promising him so much and yet snatching it away right at the last moment like water to the thirsty man in the desert.
He turned around quickly to see her walking towards him, the look in her eyes confusing to him. She knew she was fighting a losing battle within her mind but not even she knew which way it would go - who she would be with when it was all said and done. "Christine I love you..." a final plea of the condemned man. He loved her, he had professed it more times than he could remember, showed in so many ways he had lost count but never had he meant it more that now as he said it in a small, thin voice barely audible against the silence you could cut with a knife. Once she had gotten within a few feet she bended down onto her knees, eye to eye with this Phantom who was even in this state of mind powerfully attractive, almost fatally so. She felt an overwelming urge to stay with him, he could give her things that Raoul could never even dream. The connection that she shared with him was strong, he knew her better than she knew herself but still he was dangerous, unpredicatable.
Looking down at her finger the light flickered off the diamonds of the ring that Raoul had presented to her as a sign of his ever-ending love and devation. Narrowing her brow for a few seconds, so quick Erik barely caught it before it was changed without even a reminder. Taking the ring slowly off her finger she looked him deep in the eyes again, almost looking through to his soul which he has laid bare for her she offered it to him, placing it into the middle of his palm and closing his fingers around it, obscurring it from view.
Rising to her feet she walked over to where Raoul was staring, open mouthed at the scene in front of him, unshed tears rimming his eyes as he followed the form of his betrothed. Sweeping her up in his arms he placed her onto the boat and pushed the boat away from the side. Erik watched, tears still streaming down his face, wetting his shirt and seeping into the ground below where he knelt "You alone can make my song take flight - it's over now, the music of the night ." Crying harder now he closed his eyes and pulled his knees up to his chest, the classic posture of comfort which was little solase in his sea of emotions.
He was brought to by a familiar scent, hardly daring to open his eyes he did it slowly and was met by something he never thought he'd ever see again. "C...Christine?" Their lips meant and the night was silent and calm.