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Christine was confused even as she hurried to dress. Why did Emina seem so confidant that she could find him so easily? Christine had expected it to take weeks. Did she even know what she would say to him, if the gypsy girl managed to locate him? Her hands shook as she pulled her hair up. He had told her once that she looked like an angel with her hair that way.
A gentle knock upon Emina's door, and they were off. Emina seemed to be going in circles, and it wasn't until Christine was thoroughly confused that she pulled her into an alleyway and demanded she wear a blindfold from this point on. Christine had put up quite a struggle, but Emina had convinced it her was for her own good and then they continued onward - Emina leading Christine by the hand.
Christine could feel the warmth of day decreasing as they seemed to travel downwards, and then the dank smell of old sewage caused her to pull back. "Emina, where are we going?"
"Shhh," Emina had chided, and continued. It seemed hours passed before Christine could feel Emina stop. Emina pushed her against a wall and whispered quietly that she should, under no circumstances, remove the blindfold or move until she returned for her. Christine was shaking now, and simply nodded.
Emina stepped through the heavy drapery and allowed it to fall closed behind her. Erik was, as she always found him, busy at work. This time it seemed more frenzied, almost passionate. He glanced up as she entered, and smiled. Pangs of regret struck at Emina. She had made a mistake. She glanced behind her. Was it to late to retreat?
"Emina," he had said, in a tone of voice that made her quiver. She felt called to him, and so within a moment she was at his side, placing kisses upon his lips. He chuckled, and wrapped her in his arms, biting at her lower lip. For the moment, she completely forgot Christine.
Christine, meanwhile, had heard his voice speak her name. She had discarded the blindfold quickly and was peering into the too familiar caverns at the duo. She was flooded with emotion. There he wasཀ Her angel, her demon, her tormentor. There, also, was a woman she had thought she could trust. A confidant, she had imaginedཀ And the two were... kissing? Christine forgot her fear and erupted into the cavern.
"Emina" She had scowled loudly. The pair jerked apart, and as realization dawned in Erik's eyes, he cast a glower to Emina.
"You betrayed me," he hissed, and then turned to Christine. What should he say? Do? For once, the mastermind was clueless. Christine, meanwhile, had forgotten her jealousy (for the moment) and was staring in wonder at Erik.
"Erik, " Emina had whispered, pressing her hand to his forearm.
"How could you bring her here?" He hissed, though he did not look away from Christine.
"She asked me to." Emina replied lightly, and then turned to settle again on the bench they had shared so often. She was only a spectator now.
"What?" Erik, murmured, though the question seemed to be directed more towards Christine.
"Erik?" Christine's sweet voice spoke his name, and Erik thought his soul would shatter with the weight of it. To Christine, it was foreign. "Angel?"
The distance between the two of them was crossed, by slow steps each took. When they stood only arms length, Christine halted. She felt so confused! Fear and repulsion battled with a desire to touch him, feel him, hear him again.
"Christine," he sighed.
"You...Emina...?" Christine felt, somehow, betrayed.
"I.. No." Erik responded simply, forgetting the woman behind him.
"You lied to me, Angel. Why?" Her face was contorted with confusion, and Erik longed to wipe those wrinkles away - the way he would have easily done to Emina.
"You could not.. Would not.. How could you have known, Christine? Look what happened when you did. You left me."
As the last few notes left his lips, a strength coiled in them. She had betrayed him! Why did he feel like a groveling fool now? "You made your choice," he added a bit more harshly, and then turned from her. It was only then that he seen Emina again, and the tears that threatened to spill over her lashes. He felt so torn. How could he deal with them both at once?
"Emina," he began, although he had no thought of how he would finish the sentence.
"So you took a gypsy to your bed?" Christine hissed, now raging upon him. Both Erik and Emina were surprised at her outburst, and turned to her.
"You will show her no disrespect" Erik felt weary. He did not know what each woman represented in his heart or mind, but he knew that Emina had treated him with a respect no other human had - and he would not allow anyone to berate her in his presence.
"You loved me" Christine's voice seemed more faltering, fearful, confused.
"Yes," Erik turned on her, capturing her chin in his grasp and forcing her face upwards.
"I love you, and I gave you my life. My music. And you betrayed me. You made your choice. Why do you return?" His eyes searched hers.
"To tell you .. To tell you..." Christine could not finish, as his spell began to work it's magic upon her mind. Goodbye? How could she utter those words to her angel?
"I loved you, too. I do, I think. I can't get you out of my mind. You sing to me, I dream of you. Angel..." the last word was more of a purr, and then Christine thrust herself into his arms.
It felt so right to hold her there, so comfortable, and Erik was more skilled at holding a woman now. He wrapped her in his strong arms, and drank in her essence.
Emina watched this all with a certain numbness that Erik would have related well to. She had been mistaken. But what would come of it? What of Raoul? Tears did flow now, freely, along her pretty cheeks and she arose to go. The bench scraped across the stone floor as she did so.
The reverie was broken, and as Erik remembered Emina, things began to get confusing. What did this mean? Christine was a fickle creature - would he have all of Paris chasing him to the gates of hell by morning? He grasped her shoulders and pushed her to arms distance.
"What do you want from me? Emina, stop." He added the last without as much as a glance towards her. She obeyed.
Christine searched his face with confusion. "I don't knowཀ"
Erik suddenly understood. The music in her soul had stopped, when she had chosen another.
Christine mourned not his loss, but the loss of his song. He set his jaw, and turned aside. "Leave, Christine. Your own mind tortures you, not I. You wonder what would have happened if you had chosen me. But you didn't! You rejected me. You rejected my love. You rejected my song. Now, it is my turn. Leave me." His heart struggled against his mind and his words lost their power near the end.
"Leave me, Christine. You do not love me."
Christine was weeping now, openly, even as she watched her Angel turn from her - and reach for another woman. Emina did not meet Christine's gaze as he grasped at Emina's hand. She clutched his protectively, and lifted her gaze to his.
"She does not know the way, Erik. I must take her."
Erik seemed drained, and he simply nodded, then released her as well. He was angry with Emina, but scarcely had the energy to live it out at the moment. "Go," his brusque offered, and she consented.
"Foolཀ" Christine screamed. "You would reject me over her? A nothing? Does she sing for you, Angel?" Christine flew at him, clawing at anything she could grasp. His clothing, the flesh of his forearms, his face. Emina curled her arms about the tiny waist and attempted to pull her off of him. Erik tried to peacefully accomplish the same, but in the end sent both women sprawling to the floor with one swoop of his arm.
Madness had consumed the eyes he had once stared into with such longing, such love. He felt remorse for having caused her such pain. With strain in his voice, he uttered.
"Take her, Emina."
Emina struggled with the scorned woman, and managed to drag her from his lair - into the dark tunnels. There, she breathed a threat into her ear.
"Christine, I know you're upset, but listen to me. These tunnels lead to every foul place Paris offers, where unspeakable things happen to ladies of your station. Do not cross me, and simply come - else I will be forced to lead you in those directions."
Christine glared at Emina, and said nothing. Emina took this as an indication of agreement, and turned - leading Christine in a circular path throughout all of Paris until it would have been impossible for her to find her way back. Then, she led her upwards, and to the trouble that lay ahead.