Chapter 10

Christine's POV

Forgetting about my argument with Raoul all together I spent the rest of the evening with Mr. Destler and Anya. We talked about the upcoming production and advanced the conversation to music in general. Madame Giry would pop in every now and then, but made it a habit not to stay too long when music was involved, swearing her art lay in the culinary sort. While she mainly allowed her Uncle and I to talk, when she did speak up, Anya was livelier than I had ever seen her. For some reason, getting the role was just as much of an accomplishment for her as it was for me.

Anya was beginning to truly grow on me, not that I didn't like her before. I have always been confident in saying that I remained unbiased in my classroom. I hated when teachers picked favorites when I was younger, but I could see why some did now that the shoe was on the other foot. I would never show Anya favoritism though, if she was good she was good and if she was bad she was bad. If I was honest with myself though, she was my favorite. She almost felt like family sometimes.

Pulling onto my street I parked in one of the three driveways reserved for my apartment's tenants. The unique thing about my apartment was that there were only three floors, and each floor was an apartment. The third floor has belonged to me, and my cat Ayesha, for the past seven years with no damage and no break-ins. The second floor, like now, never remains occupied for long. The young aspiring writer, Mr. Baudin, who previously rented that floor, was married last week to his girlfriend. After almost five years they had finally bought a house and were starting their lives together. I was happy for the two, but I was also happy I could now practice as much, and as loudly, as I wanted for my role as Elphaba. I knew I didn't have to worry about the first floor, she wouldn't complain if she could hear me anyway.

As I stepped out of my car and locked it, I snickered to myself. The first floor was slightly smaller than the other two since it served as the foyer, but 'Mama' Valerious, a very kind eighty-two year old woman, didn't seem to mind. After her husband passed away twenty-six years ago she became the very first tenant to the 'house,' as she calls it, and has been here ever since. I suspect she never will leave, which I'm thankful for. She has been like a grandmother to me, and it's thanks to her I found the apartment in the first place. She stumbled upon me at the bistro across the street when I was eighteen, placing herself in the seat across from me and offering to pay for my meal if I would let her sit and talk with me. At the end of the meal she mentioned the apartment to me and gave me a tour. At that time the second floor was about to be empty once again by a medical school graduate and the third floor had been open as well. The previous tenant, a close friend to poor Mrs. Valerious, had died of a stroke in her sleep. After being shown the apartment and falling in love with it I had moved in straight away.

I opened the main door only to see Mrs. Valerious' door wide open, propped back with a dining chair. The smell of freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies had flooded the foyer and I smiled when I spotted the silver haired women. She craned her head back from her place in the kitchen to see me, placing her cup of coffee down and scurrying out to see me.

"Hello, Mama," I smiled as I bent down slightly and opened my arms to receive her hug.

Never being a frail old lady I felt the air leave my lungs as she hugged me. Both of us laughed afterwards as she cooed, "Hello my dear Christine. Gracious you are home late! I didn't want to miss you, I made your favorite cookies, so I left my door open in order to hear when you popped in. Where were you?"

I gave her another small hug as I explained, "I was at Mr. Destler's home. You remember my mentioning of lessons, right?"

Mrs. Valerious smiled, "Oh, I see. Yes, I recall you mentioning the...ah, 'hot tempered, mask wearing, enigma.'" I covered my face in embarrassment, remembering that being my exact description of the man when she had asked me what he was like. Gesturing for me to follow her inside her apartment she continued, "It seems you were there later than usual tonight. What were you up to dearie? A secret rendezvous perhaps, after your lesson?"

My mouth dropped and my face flushed, "What? Of course not! Mama, you're confusing life with your romance novels again."

Waving me off she began to wrap at least a dozen cookies in one of her embroidered napkins as she continued, "Well, in any case, what were you doing? Celebrating or mourning?"

Trying to make sense of her riddle I asked, "Do you mean to ask if I got the part or not?"

Giving me the 'of course' look she handed me the cookies laughing, "Yes, dear! What is the news?"

By this time I was beaming and nodded my head, "Yes!"

Clapping her hands together she then grasped my head and bent it down so she could place a kiss on my temple, marveling, "I am so proud of you dear! I knew one day you were going to gain something from that voice of yours."

"Thank you Mama." I replied sincerely.

I was about to ask her if there was anything she needed me to do for her before I left, but as if sensing the upcoming question she quickly rushed over me, "No, no dear, now don't you worry about me. You just take those cookies up to your floor and eat every single one and I'll have you more by tomorrow."

"Mama, I can't eat all of these tonight." I giggled, "Much less eat more tomorrow."

Scrunching her face up in mock irritation she threw her hands up saying, "Fine, fine. Oh, and if that Raoul boy calls again I will be sure to give him a piece of my mind."

"Raoul called?" I asked confused.

"Oh yes," she replied with slight irritation. "He called and relayed the whole messy story to me about your lunch and told me to tell you to call him when you came home. He said you had turned your cell phone off and were not in your apartment."

"Oh." I replied, not able to meet her gaze anymore. The guilt had begun to weigh heavily on me once again.

Noticing my sudden shift in mood Mama placed her small hand on my shoulder and clarified, "Sweetie, I wouldn't give it a second thought. He deserved what he got for throwing that at you. You were under enough stress as it was, and to talk about your teacher like that and then finally confess that he loves you. No sir, I believe the green eyed monster came out today and he wished it hadn't. I wanted to see how you were doing when you came home before I said anything though."

Feeling a little more at ease with her reassurance I begged one last time, "Are you sure there's nothing I can do for you while I'm here?"

Practically shoving me out the door Mrs. Valerious laughed, "Darling, go home. I don't need a thing. Now, if you want something to do you could cut my hair for me on Sunday. It's been so cold lately and Mr. Arthritis has been torturing the poor joints in my hands."

I agreed, "Alright, no problem. I will be there around seven if that's alright with you.

"That sounds wonderful," Mrs. Valerious replied. "I'll cook you a great big bowl of chili like you like with sweet tea and we'll make a night of it. Now get, a girl like you needs her sleep. I'll see you on Sunday."

Mrs. Valerious' kindness always touched me, and I quietly remarked as started up the stairs, "You always take such good care of me."

Leaning against the doorframe Mrs. Valerious gave me a warm smile as she added, "With you taking care of everyone else, someone has to dear. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Mama." I replied, taking the stairs two at a time.

Unlocking my door I stuck my foot in the crack so Ayesha couldn't run out. Once again she latched her tiny claws onto my shoe and I had to hop to get in without hurting her. I had found her on the sidewalk of my street at the beginning of summer after her mother had been hit by a car. The tiny thing wouldn't leave the body and was too young to take care of herself. Making an executive decision I had quickly snatched her up, acquiring a few lengthy scratches up my arms, and taken her home to bathe and feed her. The poor thing was eaten up with fleas and her little body was all fur and bone.

Holding the cookies in one hand I used my other hand to pick her up by the scruff of her neck off of my shoe. She still wasn't very big, which lead me to believe she wasn't even a year old yet. She mewled and began to purr, causing me to laugh and pull her to my shoulder, where she quickly held on by her front claws while I supported her bottom feet. Shutting and locking the door behind me I paced into the kitchen and placed the cookies down on the counter top. Ayesha refused to release my now hostage sweater, so I had no choice but to carry her into my bedroom. Once there I lowered her onto the bed where she proceeded to knead the blanket before plopping herself down.

I rolled my eyes at her spoiled behavior and picked up my pajamas, heading to the bathroom for my nightly routine. Once I brushed my teeth and changed I stopped in the hallway, spying the red light on my landline blinking. Raoul.

Deciding I might as well hear what he had to say tonight I hit play, listening as the machine began- 'You have six new messages.'

"Christine? Christine are you there? Chris, please pick up if you're there. Alright then, please call me back...it's Raoul."

Beep

"Christine, are you home yet? Why is your cellphone off? Please answer me!"

Beep

"Come on Christine, can you not here me out? Agh!"

Beep

"Okay, I know you are always home by now so if you don't pick up the next time I call I'm going to call Mama Valerious."

Beep

"Hey Chris, so I called Mama Valerious and she said that she hasn't seen you come home yet. She'll be looking out for you though, so as long as it's not too late please call me back. Just... just don't be hurt or anything, alright?"

Beep

"Okay Chris, so either you are still not home yet or you and Mrs. Valerious are in cahoots against me. So, I'm just going to do the right thing here and say I'm sorry. I acted like a pompous ass and I'm the worst, alright? I realize it's too late now, so please, call me in the morning and I'll do all the groveling that you want and apologize even more. Goodnight, Christine."

Beep

Running my hands through my hair and pulling I tried to relieve my frustration. Why? Why did I listen to this tonight? That- Raoul! Why did he have to be so sweet? It wasn't all his fault, granted he started it, but I said some pretty spiteful things too. This means that the next time we see each other I'll have to give him an answer. How was I supposed to do that when I didn't even know?

Leaning up against the wall I let myself slide down until I was on the floor, my legs spread out in front of me. I noticed it was almost one in the morning after glancing at the hanging clock, letting out a sigh as I tried to think things through. I did my best thinking after midnight. Raoul was in love with me, he has been, but was I in love with him? I loved seeing him every day no doubt. Spending time with him, laughing with him... just being together in general. That didn't constitute a relationship though. There's only ever been a few instances I can remember where I felt that there was chemistry between us.

Okay, that's a good start I admitted as I sat up a bit more. There have been times where I have been attracted to him. So the attraction was there, however fleetingly. Then tomorrow I could-

Boom!

I jumped up from my seated position on the floor, staring at my door as the boom happened once again. Grabbing the phone beside me I quickly dialed 911. I backed into my room, waiting for someone to answer the phone, when the door was hit once again and I saw the wood begin to split. I slammed my bedroom door shut, cursing under my breath that it didn't have a lock and then pushing my writing desk up against it with all my might. Just then a male voice on the receiver answered, "911- What is your emergency?"

Feeling my heart leap into my throat I tried to keep my voice steady as I replied, "My name is Christine Daae, and I live on 519 Edgewood Street in apartment three. Someone is trying to break in and I'm barricaded in my room, please send help immediately."

After a moment's pause the man on the line answered, "Stay calm Christine, help is on the way. You mentioned you live in an apartment, is there a fire escape you can use to get out and go to a friends?"

Before I could answer I heard a final crash and my door falling to the floor. I grabbed my white trench coat and rushed to the window, opening it and being assaulted by a gust of cold air. Realizing I had mere seconds I replied, "They're in my apartment and I'm attempting to go out the fire escape now. Please, please hurry."

The voice sounded slightly panicked as he replied, "Alright Christine, stay calm, but whatever you do, don't hang-"

Before he could finish I cancelled the call, one leg out the window before I remembered Ayesha. She was huddled in the corner looking terrified. Scrambling back in I scooped her up as my bedroom door split open, the desk the only thing keep the door as shut as it was. There were three men and the first to see me furthered his efforts to move my desk. By that time I was already out the window, letting Ayesha slip out of my grasp to land in the alleyway. Timing, being the wonderful thing that it is, found the first man through the door reaching for me as I slammed the window shut on his fingers.

He howled in pain and fell back against the two other men behind him. Not stopping a moment to enjoy his pain I practically fell down the steps in my mad dash to get away. Kicking the ladder loose on the final landing I was able to descend four bars before seeing the man with the smashed fingers climb out my window. Not concentrating on my task I lost my footing and fell the few feet remaining to the ground, landing on my back and effectively knocking the air out of me.

I let out a small cry of pain that alerted Ayesha to my distress, who sprinted over to me and sat on my chest. Noticing the men from before making their way down quicker and quicker I took in a gasping breath and rolled myself onto my knees, Ayesha in my grasp. Throwing myself to my feet I took off in a sprint down the alley towards the main entrance, gasping in the frigid air as I ran, knowing Mrs. Valerious had a gun and would help me until the police arrived. Looking back I realized I could make it around the corner before they even hit the ground.

I rounded the corner only to be grabbed by the collar of my coat and pulled back. Letting out a shriek of surprise my arms were suddenly clamped in an iron grip from behind and I heard a deep voice laugh in my ear. The man then yelled over his shoulder into the alley, "I gott'er!"

I began to thrash and squirm in his hold, trying to break free. I was able to turn to face the man, knowing my last ditch effort would either work perfectly or fail horribly. Thrashing even more I was able to loosen one of his hands from around my arm then throw my knee up into his groin. He proceeded to fall to his knees, taking me with him while he kept an iron grip on my arm. Luckily I had not dropped Ayesha and all this commotion caused her to become angry, taking her sharp talons and slashing the man across his face. Only then was I able to escape as he let out a cry of agony and gripped his now bleeding forehead.

Pushing myself away from the man I knew this was my only chance to get away. Losing track of Ayesha crossed my mind for a split second before I jumped up to make a run for it. Before I could take more than four steps I heard a loud boom and felt a searing pain in my right calf. I fell to the ground in a heap, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Glancing down I noticed a dark burgundy stain begin to bloom on my mauve pants, and then it clicked. I was shot!

The man with the bloodied face was making his way towards me, gun in hand, and I couldn't get up! I don't know if shock had finally set in after being shot but I was shaking on the ground and I couldn't force anything in my body to move. The original three men were now standing behind the one who shot me, staring down at me.

The shortest of the four glared at the man holding the gun and hissed, "The boss said he wanted her alive!"

The man holding the gun sneered as blood ran down his face, "She's not dead moron, I just grazed her. Had to slow her down somehow. Tie her up and let's get out of here."

Then, to my absolute horror I heard an all too familiar female voice scream, "Christine!"

My eyes, as well as the four heads of the men standing over me, turned to see Mama Valerious. Without a moment's hesitation the bloodied man raised his gun and I shut my eyes quickly, not wanting to see-

Bang!

I heard someone scream, not realizing it was me until my eyes snapped open. Mrs. Valerious was still standing in the doorway, both hands covering her mouth as she stared intently at something beside me. I heard sirens getting closer as I forced myself to follow Mama Valerious' gaze to the body lying beside me. The other three men were frozen in place as they stared at their now dead comrade. My breathing quickened as I looked upon the bullet hole and blood running out of the man's head. What just-

Bang!

This time the scream was not mine, instead it came from the second man of the trio with a tattoo on his hand. I could only see the tattoo because he had fallen to the ground, his right hand clutching the opposite arm where blood was seeping out. The man whose fingers I had smashed pushed the short man who had spoken earlier and growled, "Cops are coming! Move!"

As they ran for it I heard the shorter one call, "What about Vic?"

"He's dead weight, go!" The other replied before they disappeared around the corner, red and blue lights highlighting the dark alley.

I let out a relieved sigh, feeling Mama Valerious' hands carefully pull me up into a sitting position while she muttered comforting words in my ear, which I tuned out. Instead, my blurry gaze shifted around to take in my surreal surroundings. Four different police vehicles and an ambulance were parked in front of our home and the man named 'Vic' was being cuffed and read his rights. Somewhere in the distance I thought I saw Ayesha. I was staring at those two bright yellow orbs I assumed were her eyes when a voice pulled me from my concentration.

"Miss Daae? Can you hear me?" The man asked, his voice sounding slightly familiar.

I felt Mrs. Valerious' presence behind me suddenly vanish and I did my best to sit up, looking alert as I nodded, "Yes, I can hear you."

The man in front of me was dark skinned, with a slight accent I couldn't distinguish very well. His goatee was a mixture of black with a few sparse grey hairs mixed in and his eyes were a deep emerald green. Those emeralds were currently distracted with something behind me, but quickly transferred to me upon hearing my answer. Smiling, he showed wrinkles in his face that gave him a welcoming look before he asked, "Are you injured, Miss Daae."

I nodded my head, my eyes still trying to focus amid all the bright lights flashing around me. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to pull my leg closer, an indescribable heat coursing through my body now as the pleasant icy numbness of adrenaline began to melt away. Pointing to the now dried blood on my pants I stuttered, "A-a bullet grazed me and I-I... kind of... fell down the fire escape. Nothing is broken...I think. J-just bruised."

The dark skinned man gestured to my wound, asking, "May I have a look?"

I nodded, hissing in a breath and clutching onto my jacket when he gingerly lifted the bottom of my pants leg mid-calf to inspect the wound. He waited a few moments before releasing the material and then patting my clenched fist, "You'll be just fine Miss Daae, it's just a scratch. It's not even deep."

I nodded, "Thank you, b-but who are you?"

The man chuckled slightly as he offered me his arm, "My name is Amir Dessan. We spoke on the phone earlier."

Well, who saw that coming? Hands? *Raises hand* Anyway, I'm holding the contest again, first two reviewers will get a sneak peek of the next chapter! Let me know what you guys thought of...

1- Mama Valerious?

2- Christine's cat Ayesha?

3- Raoul's uh, apology?

4- Christine reviewing her feelings? Opinions? Team Raoul or Erik?

5- The Break-in?

6- The person who answered Christine's 911 call? Seem suspicious?