Hello to my readers, here is just an extra little gift that I thought I would give to you. It is to go along with my new chapter on Lovers Fall Sometimes and Others Do Not. Yes, there is a new chapter up, and another in the works that I hope to have for you guys soon. So please enjoy them both and I hope to hear your thoughts. Please, please review. Just hit the little button at the bottom and type your thoughts. I am a judge free zone, I will not judge you on your reviews. I also do not own The Phantom of the Opera, just the characters that are not in the movie and the plot that brought them all together in this story. Xoxo ~Creaturess of the Night~
Erik Destler was walking through a cemetery looking for a specific grave that he hoped he could find. It might have to long of a walk for his old body but he didn't care he had to find the grave. His granddaughter Elena was with him which is one of the reasons why he felt bad about the really long walk. She asked "Grandpa what are we doing here?"
He looked at her and smiled then replied "I am dropping this off at a friend's grave." He showed her the red rose with a black ribbon that he was carrying . She looked at it and asked "What is that where the knot is supposed to be Grandpa?"
He replied "It's the ring my friend gave me long ago." She asked "How long ago?" He laughed and replied "49 years ago." She asked "What's your friend's name?" He replied "You ask a lot of questions."
She giggled and asked "Will you please tell me your friend's name?" He sighed in defeat and replied "Her name was Christine Daae." She asked "You were friends with a girl?" He nodded and replied "Kind of." She looked up at him and asked "Were you in love with her grandpa?"
He nodded and replied "I was before I met your grandmother."
She asked "Will you tell me the story someday grandpa?" He replied "Perhaps I will someday Elena."
She asked "Does grandma know it?" He nodded and replied "Yeah I told her when we started seeing each other." Elena nodded and stopped next to Erik when he stopped in front of a grave. She asked "Is this the one grandpa?"
He nodded and replied "This is the one."
She asked "What does it say grandpa?" He smiled at the 4-year-old who always asked him to read to her because she loved to listen to him talk. He replied "It says Christine 1854-1917 Countess De Chagny Loving wife, and mother."
She stayed silent as Erik laid the rose on her grave and said a silent prayer to her. He sighed and Elena asked "Do you need to sit down grandpa it was an awful long walk?" He replied "Yeah."
They sat on concrete stairs a little ways from Christine's grave and Erik stiffened when he heard carriage wheels coming. He said "Elena move closer there is someone coming."
She slid over until she was leaning against him. He wrapped his cape around her because he saw she was shivering from cold. He looked up and watched as the Viscount Raoul De Chagny got helped out and into a wheelchair. He was shocked when he saw his old monkey music box in the Viscount's lap. He watched Raoul get up from his wheelchair and walk over to Christine's grave.
He was curious as to see why the Viscount put his old music box on Christine's grave if Raoul didn't like him. He sat still when Raoul turned and looked around the cemetery and spotted him.
Raoul turned to the man and woman taking care of him and Erik heard him say "Give me a few minutes I'll be fine." They nodded and left and Erik stiffened when Raoul started coming towards him. Erik looked over to see Elena was staring at the man curiously.
She looked up at Raoul and then at Erik and asked "Grandpa who is that?" He heard Raoul stop as the end of the stairs and he replied "Elena this is the Viscount Raoul de Chagny." She said "It is nice to meet you monsieur." He nodded and replied "It's nice to meet you too Elena."
Raoul looked at Erik and asked "How is she related to you?"
Erik replied "She is my granddaughter." He asked "How?" Erik replied "2 years after the great disaster I met a ballerina on the rooftop of the rebuilt opera house named Lily she was deaf, but she knew about Christine and her teacher and when she found out it was me she wanted me to teach her how to sing I finally said yes and we both taught each other."
He waited for the shock to wear off and he continued saying "I taught her how to sing and she taught me that there is love in this world somewhere even for someone like me, but anyway later on somewhere along the way we both fell in love with each other and then we got married and had one daughter named Beth and one son named Adam."
Erik saw Raoul looking at him and continued the last part of his story by saying "They are both grown up and married now, Beth became an artist and married a another artist named Jeff, while Adam became a musician and married a ballerina named Arabella and they each had two children, Beth and Jeff had Elena here along with her older sister Chloë, and Adam and Arabella had a daughter named Hope along with a son named Damon so I have Elena and Chloë today and Chloë wanted to stay home and Elena wanted to come with."
Raoul asked "You still aren't over her completely are you?" Erik knew in an instant what Raoul was asking and he replied "No not completely there is still a small part of me that still loves her and Lily knows it but she also knows that I love her with all my heart and I love my angel more than who you are talking about."
Raoul looked at him confused and asked "I thought she was your angel?"
Erik smiled a ghostly smile and replied "She is My Angel of Music, Lily is My Angel of Life."
Raoul asked "After all this time you still love her? After how many years ago and how many years have you been married?" Erik replied "Yes, it was 49 years ago when everything that happened between you, her, and I took place, and I have been married to Lily for 45 years this year."
Raoul said "I'm sorry." Erik hid his shock and asked "Why are you sorry?" Raoul replied "You loved her this long and I haven't loved her as much as I should have."
Erik asked "What do you mean?" Raoul replied "All those years ago in 1870 when the love triangle happened I didn't love her as much as you did I also really only wanted her because you did, and I was jealous that she could want someone like you who didn't have anything to do with society or know anything about the world or someone who would keep her in the dark and not let her be the light she could be and I was also jealous she could want someone as poor, unfitting in society, and someone deformed like you."
Erik tried to control his anger to hear the rest of the story and hoped he was successful and then he pointed out "Viscount I almost have the same amount of money that you do." Raoul replied "I didn't know that at the time."
Erik said "Well you do now." Raoul replied "I do, and I also know now that you would have let Christine be her light but you would have stayed in the dark and I also know now that you knew how cruel the world was and that is why you didn't want anything to do with society and she wouldn't have minded your deformity." Erik said "When she left with you, you didn't let her sing that much did you?"
Raoul looked down and replied "No, that was one of my deepest regrets is that I didn't let her keep doing what she loved the most." Erik said "She was a wonderful singer Viscount that was the one thing that she truly enjoyed since she was 7."
Elena asked "Raoul why didn't you let your wife do something she absolutely loved to do?"
Raoul replied "I didn't want to have a constant reminder of the man she used to love." Erik said "I'll explain it to you later Elena." She nodded and said "Okay grandpa, can you continue with the story Viscount?"
Raoul nodded and continued saying "I regret now that I didn't even really give you a chance or let her have a chance with you because I know that you would have let her sing all the time and I know that she would have loved to hear you play your music all the time because even when she didn't know it I heard her humming some of your work."
Erik looked at him cautiously like he was a rattlesnake ready to bite but didn't say anything as Raoul continued. Raoul said "I am sorry that you probably regret letting Christine go with me and that you had to deal with loving her all these years and I am sorry that I didn't love her as much as you did and I am sorry that this love triangle happened, but I can't say I am sorry that I loved her or that she came with me even though she picked you."
Erik felt tension build in his shoulders and his agony build in his chest but he said "Raoul, Christine kissed me out of compassion and pity because she felt sorry for me it was the first time ever that someone had shown me kindness and compassion and I knew that she wanted to be with you that is why I let you two go and I do not regret it because she knew I loved her when she left with you she deserved someone better than me so don't worry about it, I'm glad that she had such an outstanding life." Raoul replied "You used my real name."
Erik nodded and replied "That's how sincere I am, I'm fine so don't regret the life you had with Christine it was what she probably wanted, what I don't get is why you put my music box on her grave if you don't like me or that fact that I still love her."
Raoul replied "She loved that music box because I think that it spoke to the little part of her that loved you and I love her so I wanted to leave her something she loved." Erik nodded and said "She was fond of that music box."
Raoul replied "I really am sorry that I was unfair to you." Erik said "Don't worry about it Viscount, the world can be a lot crueller than you know and I hoped you have learned that beauty is truly what we cannot see, that was why I loved Christine she was beautiful inside and out."
Erik got up with and helped Elena up. She yawned and Erik asked "How about I carry you home so you can sleep?"
She nodded and replied "Yes please, can you also sing me one of your songs too Grandpa?" He smiled and nodded and he picked her up and sang the song she asked to hear the most which was from his old opera Don Juan Triumphant which was Point of No Return. He turned and looked back at Raoul and saw him heading back to where his wheelchair was and Erik heard him whisper "Even though I don't like that man he is one of the most selfless and strongest people I have ever came across." Erik shifted his attention to Christine's grave and whispered "Goodbye my Angel of Music."
He stopped for a minute when he swore he saw her Angel standing there and heard her sweet voice say "Goodbye My Angel of Music, I love you and will be watching over you." She disappeared and Erik turned and headed back to Lily because he was overcome by the sudden urge to wrap his arms around her and be with her while carrying Elena all the way home.