CHAPTER 25

Christine sat alone in the Phantom's lair, looking around her at the bleakness of it. What seemed like a lifetime of memories screamed out from every wall. Glancing at the magnificent organ, she could remember vividly when she had removed the Phantom's mask for the first time when he had been sitting there and how he had reacted so harshly. She looked over at the iron gates where the rope still hung, the rope he had threatened to kill Raoul with.

Christine shuddered at the memory.

Would he really have gone through with that?

She looked down at her wedding dress and a sob escaped her.

"Oh Raoul!"

She wondered if Raoul had even noticed that she had gone yet, he would be so caught up in preparing things for the wedding. Their wedding.

"Please forgive me" she whispered, hoping Raoul would somehow realise how sorry she was to have done this to him.

If you leave soon, you could still make it in time for your wedding.

At the thought, Christine got up and brushed her dress down. As she turned around, the swan bed caught her eye and her mind was instantly taken back to last night.

"Oh….last night" she muttered to herself and closed her eyes, lost in thought.

She could remember the sensation of Erik's arms wrapped around her and how tightly he had held her. In that embrace she could feel all the love he had kept inside all these years and a tear had come to her eye at the emotion of it all. She had felt how much he had needed her in that embrace and she had caressed him with an equal need.

How could she make this decision? How?

In her mind, she started to make up mental lists of the attributes of each of the men.

Raoul

1. Totally and utterly in love with her

2. Could give her anything she ever wished for

3. Wanted to make her happy

4. Charming

5. Good looking

Bored at the thought of how perfect Raoul seemed to be for her, she turned her mind to the Phantom

Phantom

1. Totally and utterly in love with her

2. Wanted to give her anything she wished for but couldn't

3. Wanted to make her happy so much that he was willing to let her go

4. A shared love of music

As she thought of reason number five, her heart ached for this was the most important reason of all.

5. She loved him

Tugged in all directions, she sank back down and continued to weep.

How could she do this to Raoul?

She had gone through all her life, not so much as hurting so much as a fly then suddenly, in the space of a few months, she had broken Erik's heart and crushed his hopes and now it looked as if she was about to do the same to Raoul.

She wasn't sure if she was strong enough to go through more pain and heartache.

How could she look into Raoul's eyes and tear his world apart?

How could she look into Erik's eyes and tell him she was marrying Raoul?

She no longer had the option of staying with Erik, he had made that quite clear and she couldn't imagine living the rest of her life down here in this cavern anyway. How could she live life, devoid of sunlight and the people she loved. He had told her he didn't want her to do that, he wanted her to go to London and continue her singing career. She had missed singing with a passion and she would get to remain with Meg and Madame Giry.

Considering her options, she tried to imagine what life would be like with Raoul. She would be Countess Christine De Chagny and would have everything her heart desired. She would be able to buy every musical instrument imaginable and would be able to afford lessons in each of the instruments. She could hire a private dance teacher and perfect any move imaginable, she would excel in everything artistic.

She and Raoul could go out dining and dancing any evening they liked, they could travel anywhere at any time they wished.

To sum it up, her life would be like living every young woman's dream.

But then not every young woman had been seduced and loved by the Phantom.

If she married Raoul, she knew that their marriage would be clouded by constant thoughts of the Phantom and that he would never leave her mind. He would tear their marriage apart by constantly singing to her in her mind and by always being there in her dreams. Even if Raoul whisked her away to London and they were far away overseas, the Phantom would still reach her, she would never be free of him,

"I can't deal with this anymore!" Christine wiped her tears away and angrily got up for one last showdown with the Phantom of the Opera.

The weakness that had consumed her soul and body for the last few months of her life evaporated into the murky atmosphere of the cavern and she suddenly discovered a new found strength to finally finish what she had started.

"This is it" she walked determinedly in the direction of where the Phantom had gone "the Point of no Return"