Erik had expected to see shock on Christine's face after his outburst, had feared horror, and had dared to hope she would be happy. He had not thought she would look so sad.

"Oh, Erik," she said in a trembling voice, and he knew his hopes were over.

He felt even worse than when she had seen under his mask, because this time he had bared his very soul to her, and he knew that he was still not good enough. Maybe he should have said it through music, or with a grand gesture if he was going to do it at all, not blurting it out in a rash moment of fear. He let go of her hands and moved back a step, her touch suddenly feeling like it was burning his skin.

"Erik, you're wonderful," Christine said in her bittersweet voice, but her consoling tone only drove home the certainty that she was saying no, just as everyone always had. "And maybe if… but Raoul and I have been seeing each other, and it's been going really well." She must have seen the sight spasm cross his face, because she immediately winced guiltily at her words. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't…" She closed the gap he had made, putting a hand on his arm, but he flinched away.

"I would give you everything," he said softly, but he knew it was a feeble hope to try now. Of all the people he had known, she was the one most likely to accept him. And even she did not want him.

"I'm sorry, Erik," she said gently, and he could hear the strained emotion in her voice as tears began to pool in her eyes. "You deserve so much love… I know you'll find the right person one day."

"There's only you." His voice was barely above a whisper, and he saw the dam break as tears slipped down her cheeks.

Erik turned away, unable to watch her pain unfold when he did not have it in himself to solve it. He felt her hand rest on his arm again, something that would normally send electricity running through his skin, but he remained cold and numb.

Christine's touch lingered for a few moments before she eventually withdrew. He didn't know whether she would say anything else, didn't know whether he wanted her to. Instead of more words, he heard a slight gasp and whirled in time to see her head suddenly jerk upwards distractedly. His mind worked to piece his surroundings together, but his thoughts were blurred with emotion.

He heard a clicking noise and a warning shout, then felt a small hand pushing against his chest. He stumbled backwards a few steps at the shove, disoriented and momentarily blinded as a blur of light and glass smashed down in front of him.

Stunned silence followed the resounding crash, not a soul able to speak or move. One of the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling had fallen exactly where the two of them had been standing. Erik was now a metre or so from where they had been mere seconds ago. But Christine wasn't beside him.

"No!" A strangled cry from Raoul resounded through the room, now silent after the crash - the music had been stopped, and all conversation had halted immediately as everyone turned to the wreck, stunned. He appeared to have been moving towards them, likely worried by Christine's distress at Erik's confession, but he closed the remaining distance at a run. He dropped to his knees beside the pile of glass and metal now on the floor, under which a bright purple and pink dress was visible, along with a mop of golden hair.

Christine, too, had moved from where she had stood; pushing Erik out of the chandelier's path. She had clearly thrown her body too in the movement, but her bottom half had still been caught.

"Help me!" Raoul demanded desperately, staring up at Erik. His eyes were wide with fear and shock, his perfect hair mussed and his face suddenly pale. Erik simply stared, still frozen in the moment the chandelier had fallen. "We have to get her out! Help me, damn you!"

The frantic pleas finally broke through Erik's shock and he knelt too, joining Raoul in lifting the structure off Christine's motionless body. Together they pulled the weight up from her legs enough that Raoul was able to drag her out, turning her carefully over and cradling her in his lap. Erik let the chandelier drop again and brushed some of the glass off Christine, being as gentle as he could with shock still freezing his mind.

"No, Christine, please wake up!" Raoul moaned beside him, tenderly stroking her face, her hair. The top half of her body had apparently escaped the crushing chandelier, but there was a growing swelling and a split on her forehead where she had apparently cracked her head against the hard floor in her fall. One of the many scratches on her face from the shards of glass leaked a drop of blood, like the tears now spilling from Raoul's eyes. "Please come back. I should have been with you… Oh God, Christine, I'm so sorry, please come back. I love you." His words faded into incoherent sobs, echoing around the still frozen silence of the room.

Erik's gaze dropped slowly from Raoul to Christine. Her face looked so serene; scratched and battered but still so beautiful. Breaths were still rising in her chest, but there was no other movement in her body.

Something slid in front of Erik's right eye and he pulled it away. He realised as he did that it was his mask, snagged and sliced by the glass too, but he could not find it within himself to care as it peeled off his face and dropped to the floor. Nothing mattered now but Christine.

The crowd that had gathered around them, which had been slowly edging closer, suddenly drew back with a collective gasp of horror as they surveyed his face. He ignored the stares, the exclamations and the muttering, instead focusing on the chandelier's trajectory. He glanced up at where it had been, followed the line of the other light fittings to see where it should have been secured to the wall, and saw the severed remains of pulleys and weights hanging limply. The french window beside them was swung wide open, the curtains billowing silently as raindrops flew into the room.

Simmering rage returned to Erik's gut, the first warm flicker of life in his cold shock. He rose to his feet, feeling Raoul stir at the movement.

"Where are you going?" the other man asked weakly, all the anger gone from his voice. His eyes flickered to the grotesque side of Erik's face as he spoke, though no further reaction registered in his expression. "We need to help Christine."

Erik shook his head. "You stay with her; keep her warm and comfortable, and call for an ambulance." The words fell numbly from his lips, but the fires of fury were starting to bring feeling back to his body. "A gentleman should care for a lady;" he continued as Raoul stared blankly at him, his voice hard but not bitter as he turned away to the open window. "A monster should take revenge."

The huddled people parted silently as Erik neared, staring from him to the other pair and back again. He could hear Raoul behind him, obeying his instructions, but did not stop. He could not afford to feel afraid for Christine now, could not stay by her side and care for her. He knew the chandelier had not fallen by accident, knew it was not a fluke that he was not alone under it when it came down.

Bahram was going to pay for this.