Christine's POV
I was fast asleep, with Erik's arms wrapped protectively around my body. I could feel his hand spread out over my stomach, as if he were feeling my baby. But it was then that I felt the worst pain in all my life. Erik flipped me over violently onto my back, and when I looked up at him, I noticed that it wasn't Erik at all. It was Raoul! I screamed, oh, how I screamed as the searing pain in my stomach continued.
"I'll get rid of this bastard for you!" he screamed, punching his fist so hard into my stomach, that he went right through my flesh and ripped out my child. But it was strange, my child was fully developed, and crying….
"Look at this hideous monster!"
"Give me my baby…." I cried. "Please, please let me see my baby…"
When Raoul showed him to me, I gasped in fright. He looked just like Erik! Even worse!
"How could you fuck such a monster!" Raoul yelled. "How could you! See what you've done! See what you've done!"
I screamed, and jolted awake, sweat pouring down my face as I sat there gasping for breath. I placed a hand over my stomach just to be sure everything was ok…..it was. It was only a dream, a horrible one at that.
"Christine?"
The sudden shift of my body had disturbed Erik from his sleep, and he was now sitting up, lighting a candle to find out what was going on.
"Christine, are you all right?"
I sobbed into my hands, as I thought about Raoul and that horrible nightmare. I missed him, oh, how I missed Raoul with all my heart. When I felt a chilled hand place itself on my shoulder, I gasped and shifted away from it, only to see that it was Erik's hand. The moment I gasped, he recoiled his hand as if my shoulder had bit him.
"Sorry." he apologized. "I was just trying to make you feel better. It was foolish of me to think I could do it."
"No, don't apologize. It's not your fault."
"You're covered in perspiration. Tell Erik what's bothering you. Is it him? Has his scarred body disgusted Christine?"
Without even waiting for my answer, he reached over and placed on a shirt.
"No, it wasn't that." I assured him. "I had a bad dream."
"What was it about?"
"Raoul…." I cooed. "Oh, Erik, I miss him so much. I miss Raoul with all my heart and I only want him back."
This had struck a nerve deep within Erik's heart. I saw his face cringe upon me for even saying his name.
"If I could change the past, Christine, I would. I would wish for nothing more than for you to be in the arms of the boy. But I can't…Oh, Christine, I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize. It's my fault too."
"Don't blame yourself, Christine."
"I'm sorry that I miss him, Erik. I know how much it probably hurts you. I can't help it though, I love him."
Erik pressed his eyes closed.
"Yes, I know."
And then, as if trying to nothing more than switch the subject, he took out his pocket watch and checked the time.
"Come, Christine, we should get a move on. It's nearly dawn."
When Erik left the tent, I rolled up the blankets and got dressed for the day. After tying the folded blankets up to Erik's horse, I turned to spot him packing up the tent.
"Hopefully by tonight we'll be able to find an inn." he promised.
"The woods are fine, Erik."
"No, you're carrying a child. You should be sleeping in a bed, not the hard ground. Now, not another word out of you."
I rolled my eyes, and Erik helped me up onto his horse. Once he was seated behind me, our journey began once again.
"How much longer until we reach Calais?" I questioned, snuggling into the warmth of his cloaked chest.
"A few days. We're making great timing. The woods are coming to an end. For a while it's going to be nothing but miles of open fields."
We were almost to the opening of the woods. I would be glad to have the sun shining on my face, rather than the chilled darkness of the woods. But something was terribly wrong. Instead of it being nothing more than an open road, there were barricades blocking it, with guards keeping watch. Erik stopped his horse, and forced him to back up.
"Erik, how did they know we'd be coming this way?" I whispered in fright.
"I'm not sure, they might have gotten to Nadir for all we know."
"Is there another way to the road?"
"No. We have to get past the barricades. It's our only way back to Calais."
I wasn't sure what Erik's plan was, but from behind me, I felt him wrapping his cloak tightly around my body.
"What are you doing?"
"We can get past this, Christine, but I need you to do exactly as I tell you."
"Anything."
"Stay down."
He bent my body over, and placed the reins tightly in my fist.
"No matter what, you need to stay down….Promise me."
"I promise."
I kept my body down as I felt the horse walking further and further towards the road. When I heard the cobble ground beneath the horse's hoofs, my heart began to race.
"Hold up." I heard one of the guards order.
Erik did as he was told, and halted his horse.
"This is a restricted area. Didn't you read the flyers posted back in London? No one is to come trespassing this way."
"I must apologize gentlemen." Erik replied. "I'm a hunter. I haven't been in London since last week. I've stayed mostly in the woods…..long hunting trips usually do that."
"Hunting trip?" the guard questioned. "If that's so, have you seen a woman and a masked man lurking about? He's considered extremely dangerous. We got word back in London that he was seen leaving there just yesterday."
"A man in a mask? I don't believe so. I regret to inform you that the only thing lurking around in there, was this small cub…."
Erik patted me on my back, as if motioning to the guards that my cloaked body was his kill.
"Is that so? If you're a hunter, then where is your gun?"
Oh no….I knew we were doomed now. Erik didn't have a gun. Nadir did…..and Nadir was someplace else.
"I use traps." Erik blurted out.
"Traps? You use traps? Where are they? Did you leave them in the woods?"
The guards were laughing now, and I knew this wasn't going to turn out good.
"Let's see the bear." one guard demanded. "If that's really a bear, then lets see it."
My heart pounded against my ears. This was it, we were dead! As soon as they found out I was a woman, this would all be over, and Erik gone for good.
"I said, let's see the bear!"
"I just want to pass." Erik said. "I don't want any trouble."
"Trouble?"
I then felt Erik being pulled from his seat. I closed my eyes as I heard him plop against the cobblestone road.
"Bring down that bear!"
I was waiting for a tug on the cloak that was wrapped around my bent over body, but that tug never came. I heard punches and fists pounding into someone.
"It's him! It's the masked man! Look at his hideous face!"
The fighting continued, but in the mists of it all, I felt someone jump back onto the horse, only to turn and see that it was Erik….maskless!
"Stay down!" he demanded, pushing my head back to the saddle.
Faster than lightning, Erik began steering us to safety. His horse busted through the wooden barricades, as the guards screamed and shouted for us to stop. When I dared to peek out from the cloak, I saw arrows flying ahead of our horse and landing on the cobble road. Faster and faster, Erik continued kicking the sides of the black stallion, beckoning him to never stop. I kept my eyes closed the entire time, until I heard a heavy grunt escape Erik's lips.
I sat up, and turned, noticing the look of agony stretching across his face.
"Erik?"
And then my eyes lowered to a sight that completely horrified me. There in Erik's right side was a blood covered arrow penetrated out of his stomach.
"Erik….."
His hand trembled to the arrow, trying to cover it from my eyes.
"Erik, you were hit!"
"D…Don't look….at it."
"We need to stop…."
"No! We're not safe yet." he cringed. "We…need to keep…going."
The sky above us darkened, and a rumble of thunder threatened us. We rode for an hour more on the deserted road, Erik becoming weaker at every second. When the first droplets of rain began coming down, I noticed a small barn a few yards away from the road. Without Erik's permission, I took the reins and headed the horse in that direction. I'm glad I did, for once we were near the doors of the barn, Erik fell backwards and landed on the hay covered ground.
"Erik!"
I hopped down from the saddle, and opened the rotting doors of the barn. As lightning flashed, Erik's horse trotted inside as I grabbed Erik under his arms and dragged him inside. The barn was completely deserted, but the hay scattered all over the floor was still fresh and comfortable. After closing the doors, I immediately tended to Erik whose bleeding body was turning the golden hay red. I propped his head onto a pillow I untied from the stallion's baggage, and began tearing away the may articles of clothing Erik was wearing.
"Can you hear me, Erik?" I asked, as my fingers worked frantically on his body.
"Erik?"
But he didn't answer me. He only laid there bleeding and breathing heavily.
When his chest was completely exposed, I noticed the tip of the arrow sticking out from the far right flesh of his stomach. I knew what I had to do, but the question was, could I do it?
"Ch…Chri…"
I looked down to see him looking at me. Yes, I was afraid of his face, but I didn't have the heart to show him such fear. I was crying, crying over him because he had become injured in the process of saving me.
"Erik….stay with me. It's going to be all right."
"T…take the arrow….out." he whimpered.
My face froze in horror, as his own trembling hand placed itself over my own. He then forced my fingers to wrap around the metal part of the arrow.
"S…Snap…it off…."
"I'll hurt you…" I cried. "Blood will flow…"
"D…Do it.." he begged me.
I reached over for the bottle of whisky I had found in Erik's bag, and took a deep breath. When I got a firm grasp on my nerves, I used all of my might, and snapped the metal point off the arrow. The movement caused Erik to scream in sheer horror, and I apologized over and over again as more blood began to flow from his open wound.
"Pull….pull it…" he screeched. "Pull it out…."
I grabbed hold of the end that was decorated with feathers, and as quickly as I could, pulled the bloody stick out of his body. Erik was sweating, and whimpering at every second. His wound needed to be cauterized before he bled to death. I frantically scattered to my feet, rummaging through our luggage to find the matches Erik had packed. When I found them, I looked around the barn until I found a small, rusty pail. I stuffed it with hay, and threw a lit match into it, causing a large flame to emerge. We weren't carrying much in our luggage, but when I found a small pocket blade, I held the sharp end of it over the flames to heat it up.
"Stay awake, Erik!" I warned him, as I looked over to notice that he seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness.
The flames licked at the tips of my fingers, but I didn't pull away. Erik needed help….he was going to die, and I couldn't let that happen.
When the blade was hot pink, I scooted back over to Erik, and pressed the metal against his bloody wound. Erik screamed….Oh, how he screamed when I did this, but I pressed him down. When the wound on his stomach stopped gushing blood, I moved the blade to the opening on his back side. Afterwards, I poured the whisky onto his wound to disinfect it, before wrapping it with a piece of my skirt.
The rain was hitting the roof of the barn, making it sound as if trillions of marbles were falling from the sky. I covered Erik's body with a few blankets to keep him warm, as I rummaged through our luggage to find something to eat. After finding some carrots and green beans, I sat down beside the pail that was producing flames, and began cooking them. It wasn't much, but it would have to do until we could find a diner to eat at.
After mashing up the vegetables, I crawled back over to Erik, and propped his head onto my lap. He sighed in agony, and opened his eyes.
"Come on, Erik." I cooed. "Time to eat."
"Am…..Am I…hideous?"
He was, but I didn't have the heart to tell him. No, I tried to ignore his face as I held up a spoonful of the mashed up carrots.
"Come on, Erik, let's eat."
At that moment, I heard a horse galloping close to the barn. I gasped, and hushed myself. I heard footsteps now….footsteps coming closer to the barn doors. I grabbed the blade I had cleaned Erik's wound with, and held it out in front of me as I sat in front of Erik's body to protect him. My body trembled as I watched the doors open, and heard the footsteps coming closer. I tried to keep as quiet as possible, but my breathing was heavy and loud. And then, from around the corner, Raoul came strolling with his sword in hand. The moment he saw me, he smiled evilly, raising his blade.
"Ah, Christine so this is where you've been hiding."
I held up the blade, my hands trembling around the handle.
"H…How did you find us?"
"There's blood all over the road. Your monster caused a lot of trouble back at the barricades. The whole force is searching for him."
"Please, Raoul." I begged. "Leave him alone."
"Now move aside, Christine." Raoul said, raising his blade over his head. "Let me finish him off."
But I didn't move aside, I threw my body over his to protect him.
"Don't Raoul! I'm pregnant."
This instantly stopped Raoul, for he lowered his blade, his face angry and shocked.
"Damn you, Christine!" he growled. "How could you?"
He threw his blade down, and stormed around in a small circle.
"I didn't mean for it to happen, Raoul. Please don't take away my baby's father….."
Erik's eyes were slightly open, and he was trying to reach for the sword, but Raoul kicked it away.
"What happened to him?" he asked.
"The guards shot arrows at us, and one hit him."
I was expecting Raoul to pick up his sword and attempt to kill Erik again, but he didn't. He sat down beside me, and sighed.
"Christine, you know what has to be done. Just give yourself up, and I'll make sure they go easy on you."
"And what? Let them kill him?"
"It's going to happen one way or another, Christine. Think of yourself!" he commanded.
"I have been." I said. "My whole life I've done nothing but think of myself. I've changed that, Raoul. Erik needs me, and I'm not leaving him."
"Why do you love him? Look at his hideous face, Christine….."
"I don't love him!" I shouted. "I love you!"
"God! You've ruined everything between us. Just do yourself a favor and let us have him."
"And then do what, Raoul? I'll never be able to sing in Paris again. Everyone knows what I did with him…..and now that I'm pregnant….."
I couldn't even finish my sentence. I could already see the horrors my life would bring if I ever went back to living in Paris, and with this child. I wouldn't be left alone….I'd be ridiculed and called horrible names. I was the monster's whore!
"Christine, don't think like that."
"How can I not? Don't sit here and tell me that everything will be ok. Would you take me back?"
"You know I can't, not after you've been with him…..now you're pregnant."
I sat there sobbing into my hands.
"Raoul, please…..He's dying."
"Then he shall spend the remainder of his days behind bars…Christ, he killed people, Christine! He murdered them!"
"He'll never make it to jail, Raoul, and you know it! Your guards will see him to the gallows before ever letting him step foot behind bars. Don't lie to me, please…. I still love you, and always will love you, so please, don't lie to me."
"Christine, we shouldn't sit here and say that we love one another when we both know nothing will ever change. The opera is done and our choices were made."
"You still love me." I said. "If you didn't, you would have come in here and killed Erik without a single thought. You know how I feel about my angel."
"Indeed. But just how far did you expect to get, Christine?"
"We were going to Calais. We were going to leave Paris."
"And go where? Africa? Spain? News will get around fast. You'll only be gawked at by any other city when they see a masked man and a pregnant woman walking about. And what of your child? Surely, you know that any doctor would want to put such a creature on display."
"Don't talk about my baby like that!"
"But it's true. And don't try to deny it!"
I looked away, knowing this whole situation wasn't going to turn out well.
"There's only one place you could go where you could live peacefully."
"Where?"
"It's a new place called "Coney Island." There's a ship leaving from Calais in a day's time. It's on the side of the world…..A place where freaks perform and live peacefully. It's the only way you and your maestro would be able to live your life. Coney Island is the land of a thousand freaks."
"It doesn't matter anyway." I told him. "Your guards are surrounding the barn, aren't they? They're waiting for your signal to come inside and slaughter us both."
"No, they are not. I came here on my own free will. No one knows that I'm here. Which is why I'm going to give this to you, as my farewell gift."
My eyes widened in astonishment, but I was having second thoughts as to whether he was setting us up or not.
"You're going to let us go?" I questioned.
"Yes."
"I don't believe you. You're setting us up…"
"Cross my heart, Christine. At first, all I wanted to do was send your monster to his death, but as the days went on, I knew once I found you, I wouldn't be able to touch him. I know how much he means to you, and you mean everything to me…..I could never destroy something that meant the world to you. I don't know what you see in that demon, but I know in order for you to enjoy his company so much, he mustn't be all that bad. You would never love something made of pure evil. Yes, I was going to destroy him, but now you're carrying his child."
"I love you, Raoul…..I wish things could have been different between us."
"In my heart, Lotte, I knew marriage to me was not going to satisfy you. My family is high class, and you're plain and simple….I mean, look at our wedding. You wanted to be married in the village church. That was the first of many fights to come. We were romantic idiots, wanting to live two completely different lives. I love you, Christine Daae, but as a brother and it's taken me this long to realize that. So let this barn be your cage, for I am now opening the door to let you and your mate fly free."
I wrapped my arms around Raoul, and embraced his body.
"Thank you, thank you so much…."
"All the roads have been blocked, but there is one that hasn't. Take the Charborne pass and keep following it all the way to Calais. You should be there within a day. I can hold the guards off, telling them that I saw the Phantom's blood around this barn. You mustn't stop until you're on the ship. I won't be able to hold them off for more than a day, Christine."
"I won't….."
"We caught the Persian man, but he'll be sent free. He's denying all claims that he even knows you or the demon."
"Could you do me one last favor?"
"Anything in reason."
"Tell him where Erik and I have gone. Tell him we're in Coney Island."
"Very well. I'll help you get the demon on his horse, and then you need to leave."
I packed everything up on Erik's horse, before Raoul and I lifted Erik up onto the saddle. He groaned in agony, but I was there to keep a firm grasp on him once seated behind him.
"Thank you Raoul, for everything."
"May your angel of music watch over you now, and give you what I wished I gave you somehow."
And as Erik's horse galloped through the pasture, I looked behind me, watching Raoul's form getting farther and father away until I could no longer see him. My life flashed before my eyes, from the very first moment I met Raoul as a small child, down to the last tender kiss he and I had shared. They were all memories now, memories that I would cherish for the remainder of my life. Nothing was going to change….nothing at all. Raoul and I would never have our wedding, or our wedding night. We would never have children or grow old like married couples do. No, Raoul was gone…..leaving nothing but his last act of kindness; our freedom.
Raoul had assured me that Erik and I would be safe in Coney Island. A place where the freaks worked and lived. Was I a freak? It was as if having sex with Erik caused my rebirth from beautiful diva to nomadic freak. I was of Erik's blood now. I breathed the same air he breathed, I ate what he ate, I followed anywhere he went, I was even carrying his own flesh and blood. No, it was time to leave my old life behind, for I was now living in Erik's. I knew the ride was extremely uncomfortable for Erik and his injury, but Raoul told me not to stop until we reached Calais.
"So I let you…and the boy free back in Paris….and…this is…what….I get." Erik weakly groaned, slouching his body into my chest.
"Relax, Erik." I told him. "Save your strength."
"Erik….Do..Doesn't like being in someone's….debt."
"He was doing it for me, now hush up."
"Oh, the pain is too much….ple…please stop…"
"No, Erik, we can't stop. Not until we reach Calais. You heard what Raoul said. He can only hold the guards off for a day. Now do as I say and get your rest. You're going to need to look sharp when we try to board the ship."
I was surprised when Erik leaned his face into my cloak and closed his eyes. I felt terrible that we couldn't stop to let him rest, but we had to keep moving…That's all I had to keep telling myself….The ship leaving for Coney Island was going to be setting sail in a days time, and I didn't plan on missing it….
Ok everyone, please review! And I'd like to make a few things clear for some reviewers. First off, I'd like to thank BlackLeatherRain for correcting my mistake about the hawk. Thank you, I was at a loss for coming up with the right term. I have since gone back and changed it. And as for PersephonePhantomLOVER Erik is a genius, but I've combined all three versions of Erik….Leroux, ALW, and Susan Kay. You must realize that if I took the Leroux version and not the others, Erik would be speaking in the third person throughout the entire story. In the Leroux Novel, Erik always talks in the third person. But since I've combined all three versions, Erik only speaks in the third person when he's upset or angry. I hope this answers your questions….Please review!
