Disclaimer: I do not own the Phantom of the Opera or any of the recognizable characters. I only own some characters and the plot idea. Everything else belongs to their respective owners.

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A/N: Yes this chapter is completely in Christine's point of view. Hope you enjoy! There are only three chapters left in this story including this one.

Infinite Love

Chapter 34: Compulsion or Love?

xXx Christine

I ran.

It was the only thing I could think to do. It was either that or stand there and act like a paralyzed mouse with a cat ready to pounce.

Erik's face was terrifying and the threatening smile on his face made him look like a crazed serial killer. I knew the power Sophia had over him was strong, she keeps him from being able to kill himself. All these years he has lived, knowing he can't die. Now Sophia is making him kill me and I fear that I will never see Meg, my family, my home or my friends again. Erik will go through with his task because she compelled him to.

I almost reached the door, but before I could Erik stood in the way. He had watched the chase and enjoyed it, now he wants to see me run again. I fought back the urge to run in the opposite direction or even provoke him. I didn't know what to do so I stood absolutely still. 'Yeah, Christine now that he thinks you are a statue he isn't going to bite you.' My mind said, patronizing my actions, but I couldn't think of anything else to do. If I ran in the opposite direction, I would be running towards the other three vampires or into a corner and trapping myself. If I aggravate him he will just kill me faster. The only thing left to do is try and snap him out of it.

"Erik?" my voice was shaking more than I wanted it to. "I know you are still in there. Fight. Don't let Sophia control you."

"Oh, your Erik is very much present, darling. He has been hiding this part of himself. I just brought it out of him." Sophia said cruelly with a hint of dark humor.

Her voice made me tremble inside, but I tried to keep myself composed on the outside. I had hoped for some recognition in Erik's face, but all I got was the same creepy smile and red eyes. I needed to convince the dark side of him that he didn't want to do this. Hopefully something I said would trigger him to come back to me.

"Please, you don't want to do this. Erik, listen to me, trust me. We love each other; you told me you loved me more than Christine Daaé. If you could resist the urge to… drink… her blood, you can do the same for me, right?" I said, inwardly shuddering at the thought of his drinking blood.

"Your blood smells like the finest, newest Pinot Noir, so rare." Erik said hungrily. I watched as his tongue licked his lips and the tips of his fangs in anticipation and his eyes burned a darker red.

I had hoped that bringing up the fact that he loves me more than her and that I am her descendant he would somehow realize what he was doing, but from his ravenous expression I realized I needed to go deeper. I needed to give him examples of our love, but I didn't know how to start. I searched around the room quickly, always keeping one eye on him in case he tried to get an abrupt taste. I looked for something to jog his memory and saw the winter painting across the room. It had nothing to do with our relationship, but it reminded me of one of his other 'beautiful' paintings hanging in his bedroom.

The thought of my naked body and tempting appearance made me recoil in revulsion, but to him it would be a reminder of our pleasurable moments. When he had revealed it to me all I could think about was how horrible I looked in that position, but when I turned to look at him I saw he was staring at it also and he had a look of longing and love in his eyes. Maybe if I brought up the painting he would remember his longing for me, for more than just my blood.

"Remember the portrait you painted of me? You showed it to me just this morning. You told me it was beautiful and you painted it when we weren't together. After you finished you knew you couldn't live without me. You fought to get me back and you did. Don't you remember? You told me you loved me, more than music." When he told me how much he loved me I had almost turned into a pile of mush at his feet. The thought of losing him brought me to tears. I felt my eyes well up and the tears fall from them and trail down my cheeks.

Through the blurry wetness the tears made in my vision I could see some of my Erik coming back to me. The corners of his smile had gone down somewhat and his eyes had softened, but they were still a blood red color. I know I had chipped off a piece of the monster, I just needed a few more memories and I could fully get that dark monster inside him pushed down into the farthest corner of his body, trapped.

I searched around the room again and looked towards the kitchen. It had different appliances and a different table from when he had set up their first official date, but maybe the memory would swim back to his senses.

I pointed towards his kitchen and said, "You put so much thought into our first date. Meg told me. She told me that you had asked her everything I like and don't like. You put out vanilla smelling tea candles and you had roses and lilies arranged in a bouquet for me. My favorite candles and flowers. You took the time to learn how to make Italian food, my favorite foreign cuisine. You made Chicken Marsala without mushrooms because you knew I didn't like them. You even made a song for me; surely you love me more than this stupid compulsion."

"And yet after all I had done you snuck around in my closet, found out my secret and ran out of here faster than you could say 'goodbye'." He growled, heatedly.

The sound of his voice, made me realize with one wrong move I had pushed him farther away from me. I had to quickly recover my love before he disappeared forever.

"But despite the fact that you are a vampire and the man that was in love with Christine Daaé over one hundred years ago, I still loved you with all my heart." I said, strong-minded.

The smile was completely gone and replaced with a frown. I felt more comfortable with the frown than the creepy smile, so I thought maybe if I gave him some kind of physical connection he would get a jolt of electricity flowing through his veins.

With one hand still pressing the soaked cloth on my bleeding neck, my other went to press against his chest. Even through the stiff material of his shirt I could feel all the contours and muscles of his chest. I wish I could just come closer and kiss the part of his chest that was visible from the open collar. At that thought I looked up into Erik's eyes and saw he was looking down at my hand in disbelief. He almost looked uncomfortable with the closeness, but I could see deep down that he liked it.

"I know that you love me with your whole heart, you have proved that to me countless times." I saw his eyes drift back to mine and he almost looked like Erik again. His eyes were turning from a deep red to a faded haze over the eyes. He wasn't fully back, but he was closer than anything else I tried.

If one touch could bring him halfway back to me, what would a kiss do? In that moment I didn't care that he had fangs or red eyes. If I had to I would do anything to get my Erik to return to me.

"If everything I have said has done nothing to bring you back to me maybe this will." I said earnestly.

With that I dropped the rag, pressed to my neck, to the floor and brought the hand that was holding it to the back of his head and brought my other hand from his chest to his mask. I ripped the barrier off his face swiftly and before he could object I pressed my lips to his.

I had to make this the most passionate, longing kiss I have ever given him. This kiss could be my last, this all depended on how he would react. If it wasn't perfect I could have just saved myself a few seconds. As my lips were pressed to his I could feel wetness falling over my lips, from my tears or his, I have no idea. I opened my mouth, most delicately, and felt the tip of his fangs with my tongue and bypassed them to rub his tongue with mine. I could feel him succumb to the kiss and he started kissing me back the way he always did. I let out a sob of relief and happiness to feel him kissing me back this way. His hands found their way around my body. I felt one pressed to the back of my head to hold me close and the other was around my waist. I just hoped when I stopped the kiss he would still know not to harm me. I pulled his head farther down so I could get even deeper and almost was overcome with the power of his desire in this one kiss. Regrettably I pulled away to breathe and looked up at his face.

The redness around his eyes was gone and most of the haze was lost to the clearness of his blue eyes. His fangs were still visible, his mouth gaped open from astonishment. The tears I had felt were mingled from both of us as I felt more of them falling down my cheeks and I saw the same on him. A smile started to grow on his face, not sinister like before, but blissful. I could see my Erik in that smile and I knew I had him back.

As fast as the smile grew it faded. Suddenly his eyes were back to red and his fangs were extended even more. I thought I had him, but just as quickly he was gone. Before I could cower from his assault, he disappeared before my eyes.

The sound of guttural groans and blood splatter made me turn. I saw Erik standing behind the two men larger than him holding their beating hearts in his palms. The two vampires had frozen pained expressions on their faces as they fell to the ground like sacks of flour, dead. Erik squeezed the hearts until they were nothing but piles of blood in his hands, no longer organs. Right before my eyes the blood and men turned to ash, where the men had been lying dead was now cremated skin and bones. I stared down in shock at the mess and felt as if I was going to pass out.

I recovered to some extent, enough to watch as Erik grabbed the stake from on top of the piano and in a split second stood in front of Sophia with the stake ready to strike her heart. Sophia had recovered from her shock at his breaking through her compulsion and killing her two men, so when the stake came close to her chest she had grabbed a hold of Erik's wrist and stilled his attack.

The look on Erik's face was fierce and he had his teeth and fangs visible in a snarl. I could see the muscles in his arm straining from his need to get through her powerful grip. The veins and hard muscles under his skin were protruding as if he was trying to take on a man three times his size. He went to use his other hand to pull her grip off his, but it was as if her fingers were super glued to his skin, nothing would make her let go of him. She was much stronger than him and able to damage him with one hand. I could tell from his face that he was in pain; her grip was so tight on his wrist that he would be bruised and have a broken bone, no doubt.

With an abrupt strength, Erik pressed his hand to the center of her chest and pushed. From the strength he put into his hit she had gone flying across the room and hit the television that was propped on the wall. She fell to the ground and landed roughly with the plasma TV falling on top of her. In the blink of an eye she was standing with an even more pissed off expression. She had broken plaster from the wall all over her, in her hair and on her pants and shoulders. The TV was left face down on the ground behind her with broken glass on the floor.

Sophia suddenly was across the room again with a powerful strike to Erik's face. It was like something out of an action movie; he twisted in the air from the hit and landed a few feet away from me on his stomach. Before he could stand or even heal, Sophia picked him up from the back of his neck and threw him across the room where he landed on top of the piano making it tumble to the ground. Erik recovered much quicker and stood among the broken pieces of the piano lying on the floor. I watched the giant gashes and broken bones heal within seconds. The skin just sewed up by itself with no scar and his limp arm cracked back into place and got its color back to normal.

He rushed forward and grabbed her by the hair, very similar to the way Sophia's men had kept me captured.

"How does this feel Sophia? Unpleasant isn't it?" Erik's hateful voice said before throwing her across the room again. I knew he said that for my benefit and I thanked him quietly.

Erik swiftly grabbed the stake he had dropped from the impact of Sophia's punch moments before and went forward to thrust it into Sophia's chest. She grabbed his arm that held the stake and pulled him to the ground until he was underneath her and she held the stake in the air ready to strike him. I couldn't watch him get killed right before my eyes so I ran forward as fast as I could and jumped onto her back to reach the stake before she could use it to kill Erik.

As if I were a fly on her arm she forced me off of her with a swing and I fell back a few feet to land on the rubble of the piano. I hit my head on a sharp piece of wood and felt everything get cloudy and dark. I knew I had to overcome the urge to close my eyes and let my mind shut down or else I would either wake to no sight of Sophia and a pile of Erik's ashes or I would never wake up because I'd be dead. I didn't care about myself, but the thought of him being dead made me weakly lean up and look over at the two vampires fighting for their lives.

Erik had seen me getting thrown and must have fumed in anger, giving him more strength. He was now on top of her with the stake and ready to strike. My heart leapt at the thought of Sophia's end coming closer. My heart sank when I saw the tip hit her chest and not even break the skin.

"I knew it. No matter how strong you are, my power of compulsion on you will always be stronger. You can't even finish off the job." Sophia said, proudly.

She quickly switched places which made Erik drop the stake and roll across the floor, away from them. She was too busy with her hands around his throat to notice. I watched as Erik's face started to turn red and purple, the veins in his neck and forehead jutting from his skin. His eyes changed back to blue, human, and his fangs disappeared in his gums. He looked towards me with disappointment and sadness in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to apologize to me for being weak and was saying goodbye. That was when I realized that Sophia was going to rip his head off, literally, and make him to turn to dust.

With a croak that was almost inaudible Erik spoke, "Christine, get out of here. I'm sorry. I love…" his voice was forced to stop from the pressure Sophia inflicted on his throat.

With the tears and look of pain in his eyes I felt as if I were being strangled. With determination and rage towards Sophia I looked down at the stake that was on the ground inches behind her and quietly reached out to grab it. When I had it in my tight grip I stood behind Sophia and breathed heavily from the adrenaline running through my veins.

"Do you really think you can kill me, human?" Sophia said, towards me.

"Yeah, I am pretty confident in that." I said holding the stake up ready to strike her in the back.

Before I could bring it down on her, she turned her attention and body to me. She grabbed a hold of my wrist in an excruciatingly painful grip before twisting my arm down making me almost drop the stake. I wasn't going to be beaten that quickly. Before it could fall from my numb fingers I brought my other hand underneath it to catch its fall. With the speed of a humans reflex I took the hand that now had a hold of the stake and brought it back to her chest, just under her ribcage. I forced the wood through her skin and muscle.

She looked pained, but was nowhere near dying. "Last time I checked my heart isn't down there." she said teasingly. Looking down at where I had inserted the stake under her ribcage. She went to grab the stake to pull it out, but I didn't loosen my hold on it.

"I took Anatomy and Physiology in high school. That's why I know you can't go through a rib cage as easily as under." With that I forced the sharp edge up, piercing the heart.

With that I watched as her smile faded and completely left her face and an open mouthed frown formed. With that her red eyes that had haunted my dreams were turning a shade lighter and her complexion turned from pale to a sickly grey color as if her body was speeding up to her correct age.

"You didn't expect a college student to end you, did you?" I said. I could see my proud face in the reflection of her glassy eyes.

With that she looked into my eyes, unbelieving. Right in front of me her whole outer core started to shatter like broken glass. She disintegrated into a heap of ash and powdered bones. With the impact of what I had just done I dropped the stake at my feet and looked down at the human powder that was still on my hands in disgust. I felt the need to pass out or even throw up.

Before I could succumb to my sickness I looked to Erik who was still lying on the ground unconscious. I rushed towards him and kneeled at his side to see if he was alright. When he didn't move and his eyes stayed closed I became worried.

"Erik?" I said anxiously. I could hear my voice quivering and I brought my hands to either side of his face. "Erik? Please wake up. Don't leave me here alone." I said forcing my words to come out through choked sobs.

I started to lightly slap his cheeks to see if he would wake up, but when that didn't work I started beating his chest with my fists in frustration. I couldn't live without him. He's a vampire, he needs to wake up, he can't just die from lack of oxygen. With that thought I knew he needed something to give him strength so without another thought I ran to the fridge to open the secret compartment that held his blood bags. There was one left inside and it was half filled. I ran back to Erik and hoped that it would be enough.

When I kneeled at his feet again I unsealed the top that had already been opened earlier. Before I could even bring it to his lips, he started jolting and squirming on the floor before me. He looked as if he were having an intense spasm. I backed away as quickly as I could, afraid that he would hit me in his attack.

His eyes were still closed, but his whole body kept moving frantically. After a few moments I came closer and tried to still him by putting my hands on his arms to hold them down. He was much stronger so even using all my strength did nothing and I began to worry that he would never stop.

Suddenly his eyes flew open and they were the dark blood color that I had recognized. His mouth was open in pain so I could see the extended fangs. He looked crazed and extreme.

"AHHHHHH!" Erik screamed in agonizing pain. "What is happening to me?" he said through clenched teeth and eyes that were squeezed shut again.

"I don't know." I said back uneasily. I wanted to know what was wrong with him and why he was in such agony.

"I feel like my whole body is being ripped apart." He shouted.

What he said made me think. If he feels as if his body is being ripped apart and torn than was he becoming what the other vampires in this apartment turned to, dust? Sophia hadn't killed him with her strangulation, but I killed her. 'Were there consequences to killing a vampire's maker? Am I the reason Erik is in such pain? Is he dying?'

xXx

Sorry it took so long for this chapter! This was all I could muster up this week! Don't worry I hope to have the next chapter up really soon! Please review this chapter!

I carved my pumpkin last week for Halloween and I made it with this story in mind. The link to the picture is in my profile if you want to check it out! Let me know what you think!