Erik

Words fail to capture my feeling as my eyes opened that morning to reveal that she was beside me. As she lay there, nestled in the oblivion of her thoughts and dreams, I stared at her as my hand tenderly glided across her velvety skin. I remember Madame Giry telling me, when her daughter Meg was still just in swaddling clothes, that a person will always look the same when they are asleep, regardless of when they're an infant or elderly, and I could just imagine the way Christine looked as a young child. Her russet curls bouncing as she ran along the seaside, or the way she would stare in awe at her father as he played his magical violin. And here she was, that same child a full decade after Gustave's death, and her Angel of Music kept his promise to instruct and oversee her. I tell you, I could have lain there all day with her in my arms, savoring the sweet intimacy of a newlywed couple on their honeymoon.

But as it was, I heard the indication that there was someone present at the entrance to my home. I quickly dressed and upon emerging from the sanctity of the bridal suite, I was pleased to find the jilted lover, the former fiance of my beloved Christine.

I greeted him with open arms from behind the safety of the portcullis. "Ah, monsieur, with such a prolonged absence I thought you had given up on Mademoiselle Daae. Oh, but my manners, she is no longer Mademoiselle, for you see, she is my wife!"

"You monster!" he raged. The boy's visage was rather shocking for someone so conscious of their appearance. His hair was filthy and matted with sweat and blood. His clothes were torn, as though he had fallen many times against something rough, and judging by his gauntness, it appeared as though he hadn't eaten in many days. Without any sort of explanation, I knew that he had stumbled upon the hidden corridors within the walls of this opera house, a trick Garnier himself never knew. "Let her go, she did you no harm! You are drawing the life out of her each day you keep her locked away!"

Christine, apparently having heard voices and awoken, came out dressed in her robe. She rubbed her eyes, and upon setting them on Raoul, she burst into tears. "Raoul! You are alive, I was so worried! I have missed you so much." She struggled through the water to the gates and stuck her hand in between the bars so as she could touch her sweetheart in a gesture of realization.

"Ah, yes, as you can see, Viscomte, she has been missing you terribly, but don't worry, I have taken care of her." Feeling the victor in this situation, I advanced toward them, and yanking at the collar of her robe, showed him the red bruise from my ardent kiss the night before.

"Erik!" she screamed before drawing from a hidden reserve of anger and slapping me. "Let me go! I married you; I willingly went to your bed, why must you continue to torture me so!" She fell against the cold metal and became immersed in violent wracking sobs. Recovering from the physical blow dealt me, I found myself staring into the blazing green eyes of Raoul.

"You bastard! Why do you do this to her! She deserves none of it! You are unleashing your hatred for me on her, just let her go, and you can do with me as you like!" He tried reaching for my neck, a foolish maneuver indeed in unfamiliar territory. In a gesture too quick for him to react, his wrist was in my grasp, and with a sickening crack and a yell of pain from his parched mouth, the bones were shattered.

"Perhaps that will teach you some etiquette when you are a guest," I stated coldly. I grabbed Christine by her hair as she released a horrific shriek and yanked her from the metal bars. "The same goes for you as well, 'tis not proper for a wife to act in such a disobedient manner." I walked brusquely to the lever to the left of the gate, and pulling it down, the portcullis rose. Raoul, clutching his broken wrist to his chest, waded through the water and fell upon the stone steps at the very front of my home. Christine rushed to his side, ripping pieces from her morning attire and bandaging the broken bones. She hovered protectively above him as I made my approach.

"The lovers once more find themselves at the mercy of my wraith. How touching, Christine. You rush to his side for a broken wrist, yet when he was ready to impale me upon his sword in the cemetery, you turned your back and rode away with him. You conniving little viper, I suppose you were his whore before you came to me as well." She hid her face from me, and with a sickening horror that sank to the pit of my stomach, I knew that what I said was true. I should have stopped there, my love for her was overwhelming and I knew that this would reinforce the barrier between us, but I could not stop there. I had control, and I wanted them to suffer as they had continuously made me suffer. "I see, my dear, it all makes sense now. The Viscomte needed proof to know that you loved him more than me, so you had to give him what I had not yet tasted. Tell me, my love, did he see the sheets when you two were finished as a final confirmation of your innocence? I understand now why ours were devoid of maidenly blood. Was it sweet, Raoul, in white silk sheets scattered with rose petals?" I noticed his body tighten, spurning my rage. "Or was it in a dark alleyway, leaning up against a rotting picket fence as she rubbed against you, satiating your appetite for the destruction of purity? Is she your first virgin, or first among many?" Christine, in hysterics ran behind me and I heard the door to my bedroom slam in such a way that it tipped a few of the candelabras. As the candles were extinguished, it caused an ominous dark shadow to cross Raoul's face.

"You know nothing of love, Erik," Raoul spat. "Your lust for blood is only surmounted by your lust for innocence. I am glad she came to me first, you vile rapist, she can at least have one decent memory of how a man is supposed to physically love a woman."

"And what would you know, you impertinent boy! Where have you been this past week so that you were detained from saving your betrothed? No doubt marauding around the streets of Paris, displaying yourself as the fashionable rich boy of Parisian society!" His words had struck deeper than the blow I had endured from Christine. That boy could not possibly comprehend the level of tenderness shared between us. I worshipped everything about her, treated her as a goddess, and more importantly, as an equal. He may lay with her, but that is only one aspect of marriage. He would show her on display, disregard her musical passion, and expect her to stay home and care for his children while he was parading around with other women. If only she could see what her alternate life with him would be.

"I grow tired of your insolence. You have been caught trespassing upon my property, and now you must pay the penalty with your life. I suppose it is a blessing Christine left so soon, she will be spared the sight of your death!"

I threw the lasso around his neck, and then there was nothing but blackness.


Christine

I awoke to the sound of raised voices, and my heart leapt as I recognized the possessor of the second one. I threw on my robe and rushed outside of the bedroom to find Erik standing on the marble floor and Raoul's bedraggled form banging on the portcullis.

"Raoul!" I rushed forward, but Erik stepped in my path.

"You have a guest, my dear. I greeted him with patience and hospitality, but he rudely ignored me, demanding to see you. I must say, I do not appreciate the lack of tact in your friends," he said sarcastically.

"Please, Erik, let me see him."

"I would say that you have a clear vantage point from right here," he replied coolly. I ignored his licentious comment and threw myself into the shallows, moving as quickly as possible through the cloudy water. He extended his arms through the squares in the barrier, and wrapped them around me as much as possible.

"That can be construed as adulterous, my love, and I will not have a harlot as my wife." A hint of danger crept in his voice, and I knew that I had to somehow let Raoul in before Erik killed us both. Any trace of the gentleness that had appeared when we were married was gone, and I became acutely aware that both our lives were in considerable danger. I cursed myself for falling in love with such a monster, and even now in the midst of his brutal tirade I loved him.

I was abruptly pulled backward, and Erik had a hold on my neck. He ripped the cloth collar of my robe to reveal the red mark of passion he had implanted there in the hours of our intoxicated sexual escapade. I felt ashamed as I saw Raoul's eyes widen with fright and abhorrence.

"As you can see, my dear boy, she has not been entirely faithful to you, have you my love?" He planted a sickening kiss on my lips, and I jerked away, slapping him fiercely. He stumbled backward a few steps before recovering, and I swear that his strange amber eyes flashed with red as I had breached my last line of personal defense. "Now I see where your heart truly belongs. It is not wise to disobey me again, Christine."

"Erik, what has come over you? What happened to the loving, compassionate, romantic man I married? You have treated me with kindness ever since we were married, and now you resort to cruelty and manipulation!"

"Your love for Raoul is considered unfaithfulness, and for that I will seek to end the emotional affair before it can grow to something greater," he said contemptuously.

Without warning, Raoul's hand reached through the gate, but before it reached Erik's neck, he snatched it in his grasp and broke it with a nauseating crunch of bone. He wrenched the metal handle upwards, and with a slow clank of chain, the portcullis lifted. Raoul collapsed in my arms as we trudged up to the banks of the water. Erik proceeded to taunt me by calling me a whore and accusing Raoul of seducing me against my will. I knew that I had to plan an escape for us both, and pretending to be overly distraught, I raced from the room and shut the door to Erik's room.

But before I did so, I grabbed the heavy pewter candelabra that had been sitting on the organ in his room, and figuring this would be my only opportunity, I tiptoed silently from the room. I took the back hall that reached around to his library, behind where he was standing, and removing my slippers, I crept up behind him. The noose on the Punjab lasso was tightened, and as he lunged to pull it around Raoul's neck, the candelabra met with Erik's deformed skull in a blow that knocked him unconscious. He fell forward, and Raoul labored to his feet, shrugging the rope off his neck.

"You have to get out of here!" I whispered.

"Not without you, I need to get you out of here and away from Paris," he said, glancing around for an alternate escape route.

"But if I stay, you will be safe. We will be moving within a week, away from this dungeon, to the countryside outside of Paris. When we do, I will run away or get a note to you of where I am. Then we can sail to England or even America to start over."

"Christine, we cannot risk it, I lost you once, I do not want to lose you again," he pleaded. I noticed that Erik was beginning to stir, and knowing that Raoul would not leave without me, I resolved to flee with him.

"Alright, but we must go now, he is waking up!" He grabbed my wrist and we ran to the secret passage that led to the Rue de Scribe. He shifted open the stone wall for me to climb through, but as I turned around I had a clear vantage point of my captor

Erik sat up, clearly disoriented, and seeing the wall out of place, shouted, "You have defied me for the last time, Viscomte!" He lurched to his feet quickly and a short time later, closed the distance between us. Raoul was right behind me when I heard him gasp and stumble backward. I grabbed hold of the slippery stonewall to slow down, and my eyes befell a terrifying horror before me. Raoul was lying on the wet cobbled floor, blood trickling from his midsection.

"Raoul!" I screamed, and bent to his side. His tattered shirt was soaked in blood, and I burst into quivering sobs. I kissed his lips, his hair, and his neck as he lay there dying, but Erik ripped me from his side.

"Come, Christine, I am not through with you yet."