It amazes me how the famous 'three words' can bring about the most troubling two...
What if?
What if, what if, what if what?
What if I had never fallen in love with him?
What if he hadn't killed those men, and could live a normal life...
With me...?
Life with Raoul was everything I could ask for. He loved me so- I had to only look at something with the slightest hint of desire in my eyes and it was mine in any color I wanted it.
But he could not give me the one thing that I wanted above all else. If Raoul had really wanted to please me, he would have discovered time travel, and allowed me to use it.
He would allow me to go back to my Angel, to allow me to go back there...
Alone.
I cannot count how many times my dreams have carried me back to that lair with its constant water-dripping, constant dampness. Each time had been exactly the same...
I would come in the way I always had, but he was not behind me in the boat. It would take me a moment to find my footing on the rocks, and then I would begin to wander around. I could feel the name stuck in my throat; but I could not force it past. Why couldn't I call to him? Surely he would hear me and come back...
I heard shouts and the breaking of water behind me, and turned around to face the gate that I had just come through. A mob of twenty or so people came crashing through it, tearing through the waist-deep water to the rocks where I stood. They ran past me, and I faintly saw the blonde head of my best friend, Meg Giry. She held something white clutched to her chest, and there were tears on her cheeks.
I turned just in time for my eyes to land on the fire. Flames had gone up around his organ, and, numb, I made my way over to see what of Erik's was being used for fuel.
As ashes began to rise into the air, something landed at my feet, and I looked down at the blackened, curling paper.
'Don Juan Triumphant' glared up at me in red ink, before the paper curled in on itself, turned completely black, and the orange flames went out from lack of fuel. I gasped, looking to the other pieces of ash as they came down upon me. It got into my lungs, into my eyes.
Everything burned. I still could not call out to him, and I did not dare to open my mouth- the ashes were too thick. Someone plowed into me and I broke my fall with my hands.
"ERIK!" I finally screamed, when I realized that my hand had smashed the pile of ashes that had been his life's work. "Come back to me, my Angel! I love you! Please come back!" I could feel hot tears running down my face, and then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up, gasping. Meg had fallen next to me, and had grabbed my shoulder to support herself. Standing next to her was Raoul, and in his hands was the glistening half-mask that I noticed immediately.
"R-"
With a crack that broke my heart, he snapped the mask in half. Roaring filled my ears and I screamed. Screamed and screamed, calling out to my father, and to Erik- to anyone who could set my wrongs right.
I woke up, shaking, with Raoul's arms wrapped tightly around me. I was coated in sweat, and did not understand why. There were others in the room, staring down at me and smiling. SMILING! What were they smiling about?
"Congratulations, Christine," I heard Madame Giry, the woman who had been like a mother to me, speak...
"You have a son."