Chapter XIII

Every day after rehearsals Christine returned with a sleepy gaze and no energy in her limbs. Erik noticed, but took no pity on her. He made her practice relentlessly for her upcoming performance. He noticed her struggling to hit certain notes and glared at the woman by his piano. "Am I boring you, Christine?"

She looked to him with a solemn gaze, "I am so tired Erik. I have been singing these songs all day and would like to sleep."

"Your performance is at eight tomorrow night Christine," he informed her sharply, "if you fall asleep now you will be tired by nine, and your performance ends at ten. You will not sleep yet. But you will not waste time either. Now, straighten up." She did as he said with a weary gaze, "Annunciate when you sing the third line."

"Erik-

"Tomorrow is your debut Christine!" He exclaimed at her, ignoring how she jerked at the suddenness of his tone, "There is no time to fool around. I want to make sure that you are perfect for tomorrow night. I will be watching from my box and I expect perfection. Now, sing your lines the way I taught you."

The next few hours drew on that way. He was pleased to see her fighting through her exhaustion and nodded when she finished the last song, he had kept his eyes closed and when he opened them he found Christine staring at him, a look of longing on her face. "Please tell me I did well."

"You did well." He told her. "Now you may go and sleep."

Christine bid him goodnight and trudged to her bedroom, she did not bother to change into other clothes, she let her hair down and threw herself to the bed, shutting her eyes instantly.

…

This was the day of her debut.

Christine stared at herself in the mirror with a wary stare. This was it.

Tonight she would stand before the audience and sing.

Erik stood in the shadows of her dressing room with his amber eyes on her. He was completely silent, watching her as she did her best to calm her nerves. He allowed her the silence because he knew that if he spoke he would only pressure her, and he would not risk ruining her moment.

"Miss Daae! It's time!" She heard the knocking on her door and she stood with a self assured look. Her eyes wandered to Erik with a look of complete bliss.

"You will be perfect." Erik said in his silky voice. She smiled and wordlessly moved towards the door. "I will be in my box." He told her gently. Christine nodded and opened the door, gracefully moving towards the stage.

Her breath was coming out shallow, and she worried that she wouldn't be able to catch it as she made her way to the stage. It got worse the closer she got. She stopped walking altogether.

I cannot do this. I will not do this well… Her fear took over her and her entire body stilled. I am a failure. Her hands trembled horribly.

But no! Erik was counting on her. Her father was watching… Christine swallowed and took one deep shaky breath and skated towards the stage, right on cue.

…

Raoul watched with amazement as the beautiful woman opened her painted mouth and released pretty words laced in an even more beautiful soprano voice, "Think of me," she softly sang, "think of me fondly – when we've said goodbye." His eyes widened as she turned in his general direction in his box. It was such a familiar face, a face that he could never forget.

Christine…

The awkward looking girl had grown to be as exquisite as he ever thought she would be. Her eyes were wide, blue and ethereal. She was a thin woman with soft curves on her sides and her hair, that long brown hair… "Christine…" he whispered with memories of the girl. Does she remember me? I remember her… oh God how I remember her. He scarcely heard his own thoughts as her angelic singing drowned them out.

"Remember me once in a while; please promise me, you'll try." She sang out, "On that day, that not so distant day, when you are far away and free, if you ever find a moment, spare a thought for me ..." she smiled at the audience beautifully, "And though it's clear, though it was always clear that this was never meant to be, if you happen to remember, stop and think of me ...Think of August when the trees were green - don't think about the ways things might have been ..."

She wore a strangely intricate gown, and her curly hair was pulled away from her face. It made her even more exquisite.

The song went on and on, captivating Raoul into a state of complete stillness, except that he found himself leaning forward to get a better look at her. But he had the best view in the entire auditorium! He was in the box directly in front of Box Five on the other side of the stage, and yet it felt as though he could not see her at all. He released a hard breath as Christine reached the end of the song, "Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade. They have their seasons, so do we. But please promise me that sometimes you will think…. Ooof- ooof- ooof- ooof! Me!"

Raoul leapt to his feet with the rest of the stunned and adoring crowd, "Bravo! Bravo!" He cried out adoringly as Christine shyly blushed under the light of the stage and bowed towards the crowd with a beautiful grin on her face. They threw roses at her feet and she picked them up with a smile and tears in her pretty blue eyes. He breathed harder as she looked around; he hoped she would see him.

"Christine! Christine!" He called but she could not hear him over the roaring of the crowd, they were going mad for her. The managers behind him were awe struck as they observed the audience clapping like wild creatures.

…

Christine was dragged off the stage by Meg who pulled her past her adoring cast mates. Christine looked as though she might faint from the adrenaline of the stage lights and the roaring crowd that they could still hear so clearly.

"Leave her alone!" Meg demanded as someone called her name. She pulled Christine into her dressing room; Christine collapsed into the chair a faint look on her face. "Oh Christine you were perfect!"

"Thank you," Christine mumbled with a distant look, she clutched the roses in her arms almost possessively.

"Are you quite alright?" Meg asked her with a worried look, "You look a bit pale."

"I just need to be alone for a few moments if you do not mind Meg. Thank you for help me back here, I doubt I would have made it on my own." The brunette mumbled with a sweet smile towards her best friend, "And you were beyond wonderful tonight as well. I envy you."

"Oh please," Meg rolled her eyes and kissed Christine on the cheek, "I must be going. Goodnight Christine!"

Christine nodded at her and as soon as Meg left she turned to the mirror and dropped the flowers to the dresser. She could still hear the roaring of the crowd, and she could also faintly hear her cast mates outside of her door. They were saying how wonderful she was tonight, she could distinctly hear muttering of Carlotta's name.

But that wasn't the name on her mind, she wanted to see Erik. Surely he was pleased, she felt the music tonight, she had sang for him and him alone, her eyes had wandered to box five and she swore she saw his eyes there but she was unsure.

"Erik are you here?" She whispered.

Then she heard his voice, singing perfectly, quietly, "Brava…. Brava…" the next word sent a shiver down her body and a sense of heat to her thighs, "Bravassima…" he purred.

A sudden knocking at her door scared Christine up onto her feet. She eyed the door and called a gentle, 'come in!'

The door pushed open to reveal a man wearing a white shirt with ruffles going down the middle. His suit was dark with buttons on either side. He wore a satin gold colored vest buttoned around his waist and shiny black shoes.

"Christine Daae, where is your scarf!"

…

His hair was wavy with a slight golden brown color, honey to be exact. And his eyes were a sparkly hazel color, his skin was a pretty fair tone and his jaw bone strong and boyish. He looked young, but he was still a man by the looks of his broad chest and his proud stance.

She stared at the man with confusion. "Monseiur?"

"You can't have lost it, not after all the trouble I took to get it."

That's when she knew it was Raoul, the silly smirk on his face, and the twinkling stare. Her scarf… "You had jumped into the brook to fetch my scarf! Oh, Raoul, it is you!" Christine jumped when he suddenly reached forward and embraced her gently. She wrapped her arms hesitantly around his neck and returned the embrace with a grin plastered on her face. Completely forgetting of the ghostly presence somewhere around the room

"Christine it has been much too long. You were wonderful." He told her with a soft tone. She blushed and pulled away, he did not release her hand, "however did you master your voice?"

"The angel of music," she explained gently, "My papa always promised that I would be visited by the angel of music, and it has been as he said."

"I agree," he told the beautiful woman with a smile, completely enchanted by her. "We must go to supper. I must get my hat!"

She blinked and grabbed his hand fiercely before he could turn away, "I cannot," she explained hurriedly, "My Guardian is very strict."

"Not this again," he laughed, she shivered – remembering how that had turned out the last time. "I shan't keep you late!" Raoul explained as he headed towards the door. Christine's eyes widened.

"No, Raoul… I cannot defy him!"

"You must change." He told her, turning with a smile, not hearing or choosing to ignore, "I must get my hat: Two minutes, Christine." And with that he strode out the door, closing it behind him.

Christine stood there for a long moment. Her breathing becoming heavy and her lips trembling with fear. She could feel a horrible pressure in her chest, Raoul had returned to her, and Erik had never left her life. Raoul had not just returned, but he had returned more determined than ever… Erik remained as strict as ever.

"Things have not changed Raoul…" She whispered as she slumped to her seat before the mirror in the silence.

His voice unexpectedly rang out, "Insolent boy!" He hissed, "That slave of fashion, basking in your glory!" Her body seized, "Ignorant fool! This brave young suitor, sharing in my triumph! How dare he!"

"Erik!" Christine jumped to her feet, gathering her roses and looking around her in confusion. "Ange, I hear you! Speak – tell me you were happy with the performance. My soul was weak forgive me.. I did not know how to deny him through my surprise at his sudden appearance." There was a pause as her breath became shallow; she feared he had left, "Please show yourself."

"Flattering child," his voice called to her gently, she could hear what she believed to be satisfaction in his tone, but is he satisfied that I denied Raoul with the best of my ability, or that I want him pleased? "I am more than pleased. Let us not talk of him anymore…" the mirror started sliding open. Erik stood there with his hand already outstretched in her direction, "come to me." She took his hand obediently.

…

They did not share words until she was in front of the piano. He had plopped down as if he were suddenly exhausted. She couldn't help but noticed how gentle he looked when he shut his closed "Did you like my performance?" She whispered, finding that it was so silent that speaking would have seemed loud.

"You surpassed all my expectations. You became one with me in that instant Christine, we shared the stage together. I felt your voice as much as I heard it." That was an understatement he knew. He had felt high off of Christine's voice as he watched her, his vision felt sharpened and his body numbed like the days of his youth when he was addicted to his poison... but she was his drug now.

She nodded, accepting this with a blush. He struggled to remove his eyes from Christine during the performance, but he did not want to at all. But now he was finding it more difficult now that she wore this dress, it exposed her collarbone to his eyes and every time she took a breath it was like a horrible teasing at his self control.

"I bought you something." He said suddenly.

"You did not have to do that." She whispered with a look in his direction again. Erik's eyes burned in her path and he stood abruptly, taking her hand and pulling her in the direction of her bedroom. When they reached it he sat her in front of her mirror. She sat there, expectant.

"I hope it is to your liking." He said softly, she barely heard him; sometimes his voice could be so soft, so silky, that it was indistinguishable from the silence itself.

Erik reached for something behind him on the bed, she hadn't noticed it when she first entered the room and then she gasped.

He held in his hands am extravagantly large, glittering – jeweled necklace. It was unbelievable! His hands gently placed the large collar like piece around her neck, she shivered when the necklace touched her throat, wrapping tightly around. The necklace went down until it touched the base of her exposed chest. Black jewels were framed in gold, or at least she believed it to be gold.

"Does it please you?" He asked, reaching around her. She thought him darkly handsome in his black suit and his mask. There is something undeniably attractive about my Ange… she thought as he reached around to touch the jewels on her throat. Her lips parted, shocked at the beauty of it, it looked expensive beyond imagining..., "If it does not I can return it."

"It pleases me, Angel. Thank you." She whispered gently and turned to look up at him, he stared down at her, stoic and phenomenal in his white mask. "It is more than I deserve."

"You deserve it." He said almost demandingly , very close to her ear, she could feel Erik's warm breath skating against her neck and bent carefully over her, "But I would ask one more thing of you."

Christine's nodded, "anything, Ange."

"Yes…" he purred almost, "I am your Ange Christine, but we must be wary now that the boy has returned with his foolish intentions. Even I cannot protect you from his mind." Erik's face darkened, he must understand that you are not his, "you must wear this." He slipped his ring off his finger and took her hand quickly. She watched with wide eyes as he slipped the ringer onto her middle finger.

…

"You must never remove it Christine," it is a warning to them all, he stared down at her with a fervent gaze, her wide blue eyes were curious, she looked down at her hand, at the opal black ring that had for so long graced his finger, I will not allow them to taint you, "Promise me."

"I promise Erik," she whispered, looking up at him with an adoring gaze.

Yes Christine… look at me this way for as long as I live and I will die happily.

He kneeled gently before her, taking both her hands into his own, he hated the way his hands trembled while hers were so calm, she gripped his hands to try to stop their shaking. "What has you so worried?" She asked, reaching up, and courageously stroking the unmasked side of his face.

He let out a breath of shock and then stiffened. She stopped her movements, she made a movement to remove her touch but he leaned into her palm, allowing her sweet caresses. So… gentle. Oh Christine, my angel… my angel…

"That boy has returned…" He murmured, "That world knows of you voice now… they will stare at you, and want you, and the lure of them will rip you away –

"That will never happen." She told him firmly, holding his face strongly, he met her gaze, "I will never abandon you here Erik."

"Swear it to me, Christine," he begged his voice something in between desperate and demanding. He grabbed her hand and pressed it tightly against his cheek, desperate for the warmth and the truth, she was really here touching his face, his horrible face. But she was shielded from that side, she touched only what was safe. Christine shivered at the feel of his cool skin against hers, his skin was not as smooth as her own, but it felt like a gift to touch him, "Swear it to me-

"I swear Erik, I swear." She whispered, stroking his unmasked cheek gently. She smiled as he stood, taking her hands.

"No one can ever rip us apart." His voice was not as gentle now, his amber orbs were burning into her. His voice darkened, "no one understands your life like I do Christine."

She nodded, swallowing, feeling the heavy ornament at her throat bob as she did, "no one…"

"It must always be you and I." Just you and I… please.

"Yes…"

Yes… Ah Christine, you are everything. I'll be damned if I let harm come to you. They can have whatever else they wish, but they cannot have you. For I found you, I saved you. I had you first… My Christine…

Erik noticed Christine's breath had become shallow, and then to his shock he realized he was horribly close to her. He could smell her soft sent, he could distinctly make out the roses that she had hugged so closely to him… and something else… she faint scent of Raoul de Chagny's cologne. She stared up at him, her body was close… too close…

"Goodnight Christine." He said sharply.

She blinked as he pulled away from her and strode towards the door; he did not wait for her to return the statement before he shut the door and to his organ.

That night Christine dreamed of Erik, and somewhere Raoul loomed too.

Hi my lovelies! I am so happy that you've been enjoying this story and I promise that the next chapter will indeed have Mr. de Chagny - how could I leave him out? haha

SO I WENT TO SEE THE POTO performance with SIERRA last night. And, my GOD Sierra is an angel, there are no other words to describe how.. .absolutely breathtaking her voice is, it's incredible. SO I'll tell you my story.

So I get on the bus at 5:30 to take me to NYC (I live in NJ, but I was born and raised in Manhattan), the performance was for 8:00. So Then naturally there is a bunch of traffic to get into NYC, so I get there at 7:10, and I met up with my friend and we went to broadway. The lines were WRAPPED basically almost around the block and they started going up and down (the ushers) telling us that if we had ordered online we had to go to the ticket booths to get our tickets.

So I get there and they tell me i ordered tickets for the 24th and the date was the 25! I was so mad I was like, WTF! So then they tell me to ask for the manager.

I wait for a while, anxious because I'm thinking 'omg the performance is going to start and I might not even get to see it!' So the manager comes and he is the SWEETEST MAN, he's like "what happened?" and I am like on the verge of tears but I calmly explained that I ordered the wrong tickets and he told me "well at least your honest. But to tell you the truth we're sold out so I don't think there are any tickets for you." So I was like :"( and he goes "but maybe I can pull some chairs out for you. let me see what I can do."

So I wait and wait and then he comes to me and says "luckily we have two seats empty, and you and your friend have tickets in the same place, isn't that amazing?" So I thanked him profusely, ran upstairs and sat my ass down.

AND THEN THE SHOW STARTED..

HOLY. MOTHER. OF ERIK. It was... BEAUTIFUL! I was going in with low expectations of Hugh Panaro because I had listened to him on Youtube and didn't like his voice but the truth is that NOTHING does any of them justice except for listening to them live. Hugh was AMAZING, his Phantom is very unique because Ben Lewis' Phantom is intimidating where Ramin's is very dark and sensual, but Panaro's is... eerie and truly truly eerie.

And then I saw Sierra. I'm just such a baby I started tearing, she was sooo beautiful, and her voice! Unbelievable. I am BEGGING you, if you're in the Tri-state area, or anywhere where Sierra OR ANYONE really is performing Phantom of the Opera, GO SEE IT. It's UNBELIEVABLY funny and romantic and entertaining.

It really makes you appreciate the ENTIRE thing more.

And I'm SO sorry if my sentences don't make sense but I'm SO tired that Iam not even making sense.

But seriously, Phantom of the Opera, is the most beautiful musical I have ever seen. Please go watch it, it's simply breathtaking.

:)

REVIEW? Pwease hahA!

Questions:

1) Why do you think Erik pulled away from Christine so abruptly?

2) Do you think that they are aware of the electricity between the two of them completely?

ALSO, I will be posting an image of Christine's necklace on my page :) head there to see it.