Disclaimer: I absolutely do NOT own, nor do I gain any monetary subsidies, for this fan fiction story. The characters, setting, names belong to the author that created them (Leroux, Kay), BUT the plot is all mine!

Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews; they make me happy. In this chapter, it is mostly Erik/ Christine. Rehearsals for Don Juan begin as well as Christine's music lessons with Erik. William is freed from the fire and he and Stacia come to an understanding. Raoul expresses his fears to Philippe while Nadir and Madame Giry try to prepare for the inevitable. Also, a secret meeting occurs.

Previously on MMM:

Looking up at the rocky stone structure overhead, he threw his fist up as he flung his mask off, revealing a contorted face of agony and rage.

"WHY! How could you betray me, my angel! How could you lead me to the guillotine! You will see my pain! I will make you see! AAaaahhh!!!!!! Why!!!!!!!!"

He fell on his side as he inhaled sharply, trying to obtain the air he had yelled out. While he convinced himself that he could make his angel understand, he recognized that like his screams of pain underneath the earth could not be heard; his suffering could not be heard either.

He would never be heard…

Chapter Nineteen- The Heartache of the Heartbroken

The Rennes Opera House was abundant with decorations and with commotion as Erik's production debut was not so far away. The managers were secretly meeting with police for the ambush to kill the masked man while Philippe and Raoul resumed their roles to ensure the production's success. Out of the controversy and negative press, the irony was that tickets to Don Juan Triumphant were sold out.

Having not put on such a malevolently dark masterpiece before, the Opera House had to create new scenery, make new backdrops, hire new musicians to play the depressive melodies, and even get a crew to perform the illusions Erik had written. All in all, the theater and its people were feeling tremendous pressure, especially as the upcoming debut loomed over their heads.

Christine, feeling the most pressure, was distraught both physically and emotionally. Attempting to sing the grueling songs, she found herself inadequate without Erik's instruction. Now, she stood on the stage rehearsing a scene from Don Juan with Piangi and Carlotta.

Monsieur Reyer, lifted his pointer and smiled brightly at Christine before motioning the orchestra to begin Scene III of Act One. As soon as he cued her to sing, Christine ran off stage. A conundrum of whispering and gossiping ensued as the young woman rushed to her dressing room.

Raoul, having seen her breakdown from backstage, rushed after her as soon as she jetted off. When he made it to her dressing room, he heard her muffled crying behind her door. Knocking softly, he called out to her, "Christine, it's me. Can I come in to talk? What's wrong, my love?"

Opening the door, the blonde man was stunned to see her red eyes and tear-stained face. Her blue eyes glistened as she fought back more tears. Mistaking her heartbreak as nerves, he failed to see her indecision.

"Christine, I love you and want you to be happy. I promise that once this is all over, we can be married! We can have the life that we always wanted. We will not have to worry about that masked man trying to ruin our happiness. He will be in jail or in the ground where he can't hurt you anymore."

Smiling softly, she swallowed the rush of discontent at the thought of impending marriage and Erik's impending doom. Absolutely filled with self-loathing, she responded, "Raoul, I am just overwhelmed right now; give me some time and I will be fine."

Nodding his head, the naive Raoul agreed and kissed her goodbye, telling her Philippe needed his help. Watching him leave, Christine exhaled with relief. Shutting the door, she leaned her back on it, hand pressed to her forehead.

Out of nowhere, a familiar beautiful and melodious voice resounded in the room, "Is the pressure too much for you? I am here to help."

Before she could stop it, a broad smile spread across her face as Erik entered her room. She wanted so desperately to rush to him and hold him in her arms. She wanted to scream how much she loved him to the world. She wanted to be his wife and make love to him, but she knew she could not.

Erik wanted nothing more than to kiss her beautiful face, but her betrayal still was stinging his heart with every breath. Extending his gloved hand, he asked, "Do you want to come with me or not? I won't hurt you…"

"Oh, Erik, I know you would never hurt me! I need help with these songs."

"I noticed you were struggling with certain songs. I wish to help."

"Okay, let's go."

Grabbing his hand in a gentle, yet firm, grip, she followed him into the dark caverns. Nothing was said as they traveled to the underground home. Sitting down at the organ, Erik motioned where he wanted her to stand. Doing so, she straightened her back and inhaled deeply. The first to speak was Christine when they stood in the music room, preparing for the music lesson.

"Erik, I am sorry for anything I have done that has hurt you."

Erik, saying nothing, nodded to her chagrin. Yet, his mind was reveling in the fact that she was lying again. He gritted his teeth, trying to soothe the rage that was slowly consuming him. The meeting where she agreed to betray him to death continued to play out in his mind like some sort of sick kaleidoscope. He knew what he was going to do…she would pay for her treachery.

"Well, let us begin with Point of No Return, shall we?"

"Okay."

Playing the intro, Erik's black mask beamed from the candlelight, and Christine was filled with such a desire to kiss him. His gold eyes disappeared as he closed them, giving himself fully into his work.

"Past the point of no return…No backward glances…the games we've played till now are at an end…"

Christine, closed her eyes, allowing his melodious singing envelope her in a warm blanket of desire and love. Subconsciously, she did not realize that she had leaned over to his form and kissed his masked forehead.

Suddenly, Erik's eyes snapped open and all music silenced. However, Christine began to sing her part from her heart. Singing to him, she hoped he would see her feelings for him…how much she loved him!

"You have brought me…to the moment where words run dry…to that moment where speech disappears to silence…silence…I have come here…Hardly knowing the reason why…"

Erik, hypnotized by her beautiful voice, closed his eyes in ecstasy as he sat on the organ bench. He wanted nothing more than to pretend things were back to the way they were. Growing bolder as the song grew more arduously passionate, Christine began to touch his shoulders, neck, and masked face with feather-light caresses, her love for him growing.

"Past the point of no return…no thought of if or when…"

Erik's mind was screaming at him for his stupidity and carelessness, but his heart was thrilled with her touch. The song was coming to the place where their voices would blend and mold into one.

"Past the point of no return…the final threshold…the bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn! We've past the point of no return…"

As the song concluded, the two stood two feet apart, breathing heavily from the song and desire. Erik's gold eyes flickered with a myriad of emotions while she simply stared at his black-clad form.

Christine approached him and brought her lips to a waiting Erik. Grabbing both sides of his masked face, she kissed him softly at first. The masked man was in heaven, and he pulled her into his arms. Her mouth opened for him, and he gladly plunged his tongue into her warm mouth…Both of them groaned harmoniously, feeling their knees weaken from the powerful sensations that ripped through their bodies.

She tilted his head back to deepen the kiss even more as she explored his mouth. She moaned in his mouth as he his hands caressed her back. She wanted him desperately at that moment. She had dreamed of this moment…until her phone rang.

Groaning with irritation, the two parted. Before she could pick up her cell, Erik grabbed it from her hands. Raoul was the one calling, and fury ripped through his system as he felt foolish for what happened. He had been manipulated…again. Throwing the phone at the wall in rage, he turned toward her with glowing gold eyes as she jumped at the sound of her phone shattering.

Stalking towards her in a menacing way, he began his angry tirade.

"No! I cannot allow you to do this to me again! You are lying to me! I will not tolerate insolence! If you do not want to sing, then do not come to me. I will not be used! Too much of my life has been spent in agony; I refuse to be hurt by the woman I love. You used to love me before you realized I was a hideous freak."

"Erik, I loved you…I have for a long time. Erik, I loved you even when I found out you deceived me and when I saw your true face. I sing only for you, Maestro. Raoul broke my heart years ago. I love him, but I am in love with you…"

Erik flung himself to the organ as he covered his ears and screamed, "Lies, lies, LIES! All that you say are lies! You detest me because I deceived you to be close to you…to give you the chance to know the man I am before you knew the monster that I look like. Yet, every time I reach for you, or try to correct you with my hands, you shy away from me like I am a beast!"

"No, Erik, that's not true! I love you! Please listen to me!"

"No more! No! I can't take anymore betrayals…Spare me more pain, Christine. This was a mistake. You kissed me only to manipulate me from hurting that blasted boy!"

"No, I kissed you because I want to be with you!"

"No, we will NOT speak of this again. You will come to me as you had in the past for music lessons only. You must master Aminta's part before my masterwork's debut. We must leave now; Reyer will need you to rehearse for the opera. Let's go."

Christine had no choice but to accept the finality of Erik's words. She now grasped that she and Erik could never be together, and she had to fulfill Raoul's plan while trying to keep the truth from Erik. She knew that this would likely kill her in the end. What she did not know was that Erik knew exactly what was occurring, and he was hell-bent on making them all pay.

---Safe House---

Stacia, overjoyed to have William safe from the fire. She was dumbfounded when she found the safe house engulfed in a torrent of flames. Her visceral reaction was to run into the flaming building to find William; however, she knew better than that.

Ever since William's tragedy at the warehouse years ago, he always made sure their cars were equipped with a fire extinguisher in case of a fire. Stopping her car at a safe distance, she rushed out and grabbed the extinguisher from the trunk. Running towards the inferno, she sprayed a way into the burning home.

Calling his name, she heard the rumbling and moaning of the building, and she realized, to her horror, that the building would soon buckle beneath the pressure. Hurrying and spraying, she coughed, smoke irritating her lungs.

Suddenly, she heard a groan of pain coming from the living room. Cold fear gripped her heart with icy fingers at the thought of him beneath a flaming support beam. To her relief, he was lying on his back on the floor without injury and appeared just fine.

Coughing, she helped lifted his form as he drifted in and out of consciousness. His scarred face contorted with pain and struggle as they made their way out of the creaking firestorm within the safe house.

Once outside, the two made it thirty yards before collapsing on the ground coughing and hacking. As pure air reached their aching lungs, the fire department and paramedics arrived to contain the fire and help them.

The arson detectives talked with the hung-over William. They decided that the fire was an accident, and William ended up paying for the house twice its worth to the owners. When everything died down, he and Stacia were left alone standing in front of the cars. He was sitting on the hood of her car, arms crossed and legs elongated. She stood in front of him with her head to the side, resembling the way a mother would her child before a scolding.

Sighing he spoke, "I suppose you are going to yell at me for being asinine."

"No, I figured that the whole near-death experience would be punishment enough. Do you know how much you frightened me? I thought you had died or were injured! How much must you test me to see how much I love you? After the last fire, I feared that you might have been still in the fire, too petrified to get out."

Dropping his head, he uncrossed his arms and spread his hands on the hood next to him.

"I love you, Stacia. What I did was not to test you; it was my inability to hold my liquor."

His attempt to lighten the situation did nothing to soothe her anxiety. Falling to her knees, she broke out in a fit of tears as William suddenly comprehended how much she loved him, how much she was upset about his erroneous behavior. Scooping her into his arms, he rested his scarred cheek atop her head, whispering how much she meant to him.

"I now know, Stacia, I cannot let you go. I need you in my life; I love you far too much to let you leave me. I am a changed man, and your happiness is my number one priority. That said; I know one way to amend all of the wrongs I have committed against you."

Raising her head to meet his hazel eyes, she smiled with love and question. Caressing the scarred and burned face she had grown to love, she kissed his lips tenderly before he spoke again.

"Stacia, I want to marry you."

That simple sentence was enough for her to snap her head to look at him in wonder and pure joy. She had waited for years for him to become her husband, and now he was offering her the one dream she had yet to attain.

Her patience and love had finally won out in the end! She and he could finally have that happy ending. Nodding enthusiastically, she handed him the engagement ring he had given her all those years ago.

Smiling broadly, he kneeled on one knee to traditionally propose for the third time. Tears formed in her eyes, she squealed, "Yes! Yes, yes, yes, I will marry you!"

He laughed genuinely, and they felt like the couple they used to be. Twirling her in his arms as they laughed and kissed with utter bliss, they dreamed of their bright future together. As Stacia waited in the car, William stood at the driver's side about to get in the car when his phone rang. Looking at the caller, he closed his eyes, inwardly cursing. He did not want to deal with her now.

"Yes?" He spoke with aggravation evident in his tone.

"I want you to take care of Erik Desslar. You need to kill him."

"I have more dire things to attend to at the moment. Besides, I am returning your money that you paid me; I have no more vendettas for revenge against him."

"Well, Addams, might I remind you of someone that will pay the price of your incompetence if you do not do as I say?"

In an absolute fit of rage, he screamed into the phone as Stacia watched in a horrid fascination within the car, oblivious to the conversation.

"If you harm her, I will kill you, too! Don't worry; I will take care of the problem that you and your men's stupid inept idiotic selves cannot do! Do not ever threaten me again, or I will cut your tongue out and place it on your child's mantle!"

Snapping the phone and getting in the car, he breathed slowly to regain his senses while the woman he loved looked at him in fear and worry. He smiled and held her hand, saying how much he loved her.

This eased her uncertainty to some degree, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her head that something was not right at all. Yet, her excitement of an impending marriage made any nagging feeling futile.

---Philippe's Office---

"I do not know if I can do this, brother. Putting Christine near that masked freak is something that I do not want to do."

Philippe sat rigid in his arm chair as he closed his wearied eyes. He and Raoul had been arguing for the past hour. Philippe tried to reason with his younger brother whom he had raised while his vehement sibling did nothing but cause grief. He was risking everything: his reputation, his financial security, his life all for the sake of a simple chorus girl. It truly was beyond him.

The large office was filled with books from one wall to the other. A bright bay window lay behind the Comte's desk where he could look out to the ocean. The curtains of expensive lace were imported straight from the markets of Venice. The large oak desk was made from the dark timber of the Siberian forest.

Despite these great gifts and showings of wealth and prosper, they were virtually forgotten amidst the turmoil that both brothers were experiencing at that moment.

"Brother, you must help me whisk Christine away from the Opera house and marry her in a secluded and beautiful place…where a private ceremony can occur."

"Raoul, listen to what you are saying. This is madness! If you marry her, you will be disinherited from ever seeing our father's wealth as mandated in his will."

"Money cannot make me happy; Christine is my only chance for happiness! Surely, you can see how much I love her!"

"I do, brother. No other man, if he did not love a woman, would have gone through as much trouble as you have. However, what makes you so sure that Christine wishes to leave?"

"What do you mean? Of course, she wants to leave! She can't go anywhere without that masked freak following her! He must be dealt with before she and I can start a normal life away from Rennes!"

"Be that as it may, Raoul, she could have left the moment the masked man approached her. She could have phoned the police at any time in the span that she knew and met with him. Most people do not meet others for any reason. Are you so sure that she truly is in love with only you?"

Raoul, whose red eyes flashed with anger, stood up briskly and pointed his gloved finger at his brother's face in rage. His flawlessly peach-hued face contorted as lines appeared from his anger.

"How dare you question her loyalty? She is my fiancée, and I love her very much! She loves me just as much! Quit trying to sabotage my relationship and help your brother find happiness."

"I will help you, Raoul. I will help you find happiness…"

Raoul nodded and left abruptly as Philippe leaned back in his armchair and closed his eyes. Sighing he finished his sentence, "…even if the happiness you seek is not truly with Christine."

---Nadir's Apartment---

Madame Giry and Nadir were seated on his divan discussing ways to help Erik escape. Despite all that he had done, both of them had been with him so long that their lives would lose meaning if he were killed.

With all that he had done, he did not deserve to die. His intentions were never stemmed from pure evil intent.

They had come up with an alternate route should Erik need to escape. With that they could travel out of Rennes, France, and cross over to Spain without difficulty. The problem was getting Erik to leave Christine behind.

Somehow, Nadir felt within his heart that there would be finality in the end; however, he could not decipher if that finality would be Erik's fatality…

---Outside the city borders---

Paul, Damien, and Michael met in the usual abandoned warehouse that they were accustomed to meeting in to discuss the way to get rid of Erik. Once they took care of Erik and silenced him forever, then they could breathe easier.

He was a problem that they had to deal before they could continue their prosperous embezzling business. Once they could shoot him, the sooner they could be safe. Their plan had to work otherwise they would be the ones in Erik's place in a federal penitentiary never to see the light of day again.

Author's Note: Wow, it took me a long time to update and I apologize immensely for that…College proved to be very busy for me. I had time to update this story, so I jumped on it. Please REVIEW! Two more chapters left!

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