hey! enjoy XDD

*****I DONT OWN POTO, IF I DID I WOULD BE ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, AND... WELL IM NOT.*****

Chapter 25

Erik walked the dark corridors, a handful of candles in his arms. As he went, he put the candles into the candelabra he passed, lighting them with the torch he held in one hand. He hummed to himself as he went, dispelling the darkness in the passage between his home and the Opera House, namely the one to the chapel where all their lessons took place. He wished for a better place – one where he had more than just his violin, at least. But he could not take her to his lair...

Or could he?

His mind conjured up a multitude of images where he and Christine sang together, him sat at his organ. She would sleep in the bed – the one he had made for her, the swan... it had been quite recently, when he hadn't gone up to the surface for weeks, when he had carved out the detail on the wooden structure. He couldn't find it in himself to destroy it.

And perhaps his biggest blunder, that glared at him so obviously day after day... he could picture her with his eyes closed, and the drawings were done from memory. Some of them dating back years, some barely days.

He had carved a life-size mannequin of her, and adorned it with a dress that would make angels weep. His own design, of course... but it was not her, and he dreamt of the real her wearing his wedding dress, sending his mind into fantasies, often picturing her there with him, but every time he reached out, his hand closed on thin air. His loneliness deepened, and his music turned melancholy once more.

He saw her in the flames he lit, her brown eyes boring into his, but then he blinks, and she is gone. And a noise behind him causes his to snap out of his reverie, and turn.

And blink again...

But it wasn't a hallucination, as Erik realised when he walked forwards slowly, holding his hand out to it, touching it. His eyebrows rose almost comically.

"What are you doing down here?" he asked it, and the horse whinnied, nosing him. Erik took a step back, looking the horse up and down. It seemed perfectly healthy, it's black fur glossy. He inspected its teeth, and found them in good condition. It did not seem to have any sort of limp. Erik patted it on its flank, shaking his head in amusement.

"We'd better get you back to the stables." He told it, grabbing the rein tied round its neck. He led it easily to the Opera Stables, blinking in the light. "Here you are." He told it, dropping the reins and heading back into the passage, his mind boggled.

He had only gone a few metres when he felt eyes watching him. He whipped round, his eyes blazing and almost fell backwards when he came face to... nose with the horse.

"No." He told it carefully, "you stay here." He pointed at the stables, "I go there." He pointed into the darkness, and the horse whinnied, and began to walk down the passage. Erik sighed, running after it.

He grabbed the reins, and the horse nuzzled into him once more. He shrugged it off, and led it back to the stables, tying it up. The horse neighed in annoyance, as Erik walked off down the passage, shaking his head at the... rather amusing animal.

He went back up to the Opera House, to watch his angel.

Rehearsals were underway, and the costumes in the middle of being made... Carlotta being the biggest nuisance when it came to that, her irritating husband a close second – though at least he was less grating on the ears. Erik was furious at Buquet mainly, with his tales of 'the opera ghost', and his looks. But he always seemed to not be where he was supposed to be, and Erik vowed he would get him one day.

Don't think he hadn't heard him. The description of himself was ghastly, and he knew his face wasn't quite that bad... he did have a nose at least!

Like yellow parchment is his skin.
A grey black hole serves as the nose that never grew.
You must be always on your guard, or he will catch you,
With his magical lasso.

It made his blood boil! The way he was always drinking, spying on the chorus members when they were changing...

Erik spied Christine on the stage, her and the other chorus members warming up... now that was one costume he was a fan of! The dancers... he grinned to himself.

He watched the rehearsal for a bit, it would improve in time... it was a new Opera, after all! Then, with a swirl of his cape, he left his box, and made his way back into the catacombs.

Christine danced on the stage, the practised steps coming more easily to her now, though the more trained dancers still struggled. Antoinette was very proud of her, her heart swelling as she watched her daughter and the surrogate daughter dance the difficult steps with more ease than most.

Christine could feel her angel's eyes on her, piercing her skin. She could always sense when he was there, nowadays. She felt his eyes leave, and couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when his presence vanished.

After the rehearsal, she went down to the chapel for her lesson, calling out to her angel, who hadn't arrived yet. Christine lit a candle for her father, smiling slightly as she recalled some old memories, of her, her father and Raoul. The little boy she had befriended... if that's how you want to look at it...

She still could not feel her angel's presence, and sighed, walking forlornly round the small chamber. She began to sing.

(Angel in the Night – Basshunter)

Your my angel in the night
Your my angel in the night
Your my angel in the night

Christine began to smile, an image of her angel appearing in her head,

Your hair is dancing in the wind
Your eyes are burning up my skin
And I'm so happy when I see
That you are smiling back at me

She didn't feel Erik approach, lost in the music playing in her head, her hand trailing the rocky walls.

You're leaving burn marks on the ground
Thank you God for what I've found
I don't know how, I don't know why
But your my angel in the night

Erik almost stopped breathing when he heard her voice. He hadn't taught her this song; in fact he couldn't recall ever hearing it before. His eyes widened when he heard the lyrics, his heart pounding.

You are my light in the dark
You are the beating in my heart
Let me hold you now
Just like days before you start to cry

Erik placed his hand on the wall, his eyes watering.

You are my light in the dark
You are the beating in my heart
But that is not good enough
Will I ever be by your side?

Erik made up his mind then and there that she would be his, and they would be together. Why would she sing like that if she didn't love him? And it was the same love that was threatening to tear him apart.

Just as Christine went to start another verse, Erik felt something cold touch his arm. He cried out in shock, and whipped round, causing Christine to break off and look round.

Erik came face to face once more with that blasted horse! He edged backwards, forgetting Christine was there.

"No." He told it, his back up against the wall. "How did you get out?" he asked it, looking at the frayed reins. He shook his head in exasperation.

Christine frowned in confusion, wondering who her angel was talking to.

The horse gave an answering whinny, and nuzzled into Erik, who gasped in shock, trying to push it off. He glanced behind, at Christine's slightly surprised expression, grasping that she had heard the horse.

He ducked out from under the strong head, and walked away slightly; irritated that it had caused his angel to stop singing. "What are you doing here?" he asked it, as it turned to face him, blowing into his face. He spluttered.

"Blasted ANIMAL!" he shouted, his temper flaring for a second, and then diminishing. "Go away." He told it, turning back to Christine, who was standing there, looking shocked. He went to say something, but the horse butted his with its nose, and he banged his head on the wall. He whipped round.

"NO!" he shouted, waving his hands at the horse. "I already took you back to the stables once today, you are trying my patience." He warned, but the animal just whinnied happily. Erik stormed off.

"Fine." He shouted, "Have it your way." And he left the horse in the darkness... following his scent.

He heard it a few seconds later, and almost ripped his hair out. "Stop following me!" he shouted, and the animal neighed.

Christine heard the whole thing, and found herself laughing quietly. She had not expected to hear this, in her wildest dreams. She leant against the wall as she heard his shout of 'Stop following me!' laughing outright, but quietly.

Erik didn't hear her laughter as he stormed down the passage, the horse following him.

"Okay." He turned to face it, his hands raised in surrender "You can stay down here, its dark, and it's gloomy, and it's usually cold. So fine, let's see how long it takes for you to get bored..." And he strode off, leaving his angel in hysterics and the horse clip-clopping behind him.

Erik crossed the lake, pushing strongly on the punting pole. His thoughts were interrupted when the horse snorted behind him. He looked behind, and the horse was sniffing at the water. It tentatively placed one hoof into the water and withdrew it, neighing loudly. It looked at his as if to say 'This is your fault', and backed away from the cold liquid, tossing its head. Erik shook his head, exasperated at its antics and poled away across the lake, sighing.

He jumped out of the boat on the opposite shore, pressing a couple of notes on his organ as he passed it. He went into his alcove where a multitude of pictures greeted him, all of the same thing – Christine. He traced her features on a charcoal picture, sighing slightly. He sat down in front of his miniature model of the stage, and began moving the characters around, imagining Christine in the leading role.

He would get it for her one day. An idea came into his head, and he smiled. On that day, he would show himself to her. He vowed it to the empty air, a smile on his face, as he put the Christine figurine at the front of the stage, and imagined her singing an aria to the adoring audience.

Antoinette stood outside the chapel. She had come down here to find Christine, as she had left something on the stage, and had been shocked beyond belief by her song.

She had frozen outside the door, her mouth hanging open at the beauty of her voice – Erik had outdone himself! And Christine hadn't even told a soul. Antoinette wondered if Erik was down there...

And her thoughts were interrupted...

Yes, Erik was down there, she frowned as she listened to a disjoined conversation – had he gone mad? And her eyebrows shot skyward when she heard the whinny... was that a horse?

She listened to the commotion for a while, but had to leave quickly as a laugh threatened to escape, that would enlighten them to her presence, and she ran off up the stairs, laughing breathily as she turned a corner, leaning back against the wall.

Who would have thought it?

She left Christine's ballet shoe on the young woman's bed, and ran her hands through her hair in amusement, remembering Erik's annoyance. Now she knew where the missing horse had gotten to – apparently it wasn't happy with its current owner.

Perhaps it would give Erik something to do, she thought with a grin, having a horse trailing him... she shook her head, was he a magnet for this sort of thing? She thought – the unexplainable seemed to surround him!

Christine left the chapel in a daze... "A horse?" She asked the thin air, her tone gobsmacked.

i watched the movie again... and realised, oops he has a horse... so i came up with something. The next chapter will be the beginning of the show, I think.

Review, pleeeeeeeeeease XD

Oreal