With the deafening sound of the chandelier crash still ringing in our ears, Forrest and I ran for the roof of the theater. I wasn't really thinking about anything beyond just putting as much distance as possible between myself and that underground monster as possible.
With the sounds of the police and PRT closing in, and stagehands yelling for us to go to the lobby so we could give statements for the PRT, we finally made it up the many flights of stairs to the rooftop.
"Charlotte! Please!" Forrest exclaimed. "Why have you brought us here? The PRT are taking statements downstairs"
"Please don't take me back there!" I pleaded. "She'll kill me."
"She'll kill you?" Forrest asked. "Who'll kill you? What's going on here."
"The Phantom." I said. "She's the one behind what happened tonight. I know it!"
The finality of this hit me. All I could think about were those burning sunken eyes of hers. As lost as I was at Winslow, I would be trapped playing her demented game.
The casual cruelty with which she had killed Greg, hanging him from the chandelier during a show and then dropping it on the audience had scared me. How many others would this monster kill to get at me? A hundred? A thousand?
"Charlotte, that was a cape, just a person, not a ghost." Forrest said, trying to reassure me.
"No Forrest," I said. "I've been there, to her lair underneath the school. She's real."
"'Lotte, we need to go to the police—to the PRT—about this." Forrest said.
"I can't." I said. "She'll find out I just know it, she's already killed once, I'm scared she'll come after me if we do that."
"I'll call the PRT." Forrest said. "Maybe they can move you out of the city."
"That's..." I almost said no, but then I remembered my aunt's home in Boston. "That's not a bad idea, actually."
"My aunt lives in Boston, I can go stay with her to get away from here."
"We'll go tonight." Forrest said. "Pack up your essentials tonight, we'll leave right away, and we can be in Boston by sunrise."
I was still in shock about the monster that had worn my Angel's voice. I thought that I had known her, but the sheer callousness of her murders had shocked me. On the one side was my Angel, the kind and gentle soul who had encouraged me and helped me elevate my singing to the level it was at; and on the other side was the monster who could kill without a thought over the smallest slights.
The sound of a footstep crunching on gravel broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw a cloaked and hooded figure carrying a pair of crossbows. Their face was covered by a similar theater mask I had seen the Phantom wear.
"Shadow Stalker?" Forrest asked.
"It's Daroga now." The hooded figure replied.
"Daroga then." I said. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to warn you," she said. "And to get you out of here without having to deal with the PRT and the cops."
"I thought you were a Ward?" I asked.
"Not anymore." she said. "I had a difference of opinion with The Protectorate, and quit."
"Why?" I asked. "Why did you quit?"
"It's not my secret to tell." Shadow Stalker replied.
"Come on Charlotte." Forrest said. "We can go back downstairs and talk to the PRT."
I shook my head. I didn't want to deal with them right now. I was of two minds about the phantom and if the PRT started questioning me about her I was afraid of what I would say about her. As much as she was a monster willing to kill without remorse, I also remembered pain in her eyes and her voice, and the bare existence she had eked out. Could I really take away everything from somebody who had barely anything?
"Take the fire escape." The masked hero said. "You can sneak out that way and you won't have to deal with them."
"Let's go." I said.
We carefully made our way down the fire escape on the outside of the building. True to her word, the PRT hadn't been paying attention to it and we were able to slip away from the perimeter unnoticed.
"You'll come with me, right?" I asked. "To Boston?"
"I'll talk to my parents about it but I don't see an issue with it." Forrest said. "At the very least, we can still text each other."
"I know, but I still want to be able to see you." I said.
"Boston isn't that far away 'lotte," he said. "I'll be able to take the train out to see you."
"I know, but…" I started saying, hesitantly. "Can we make it official? Make us official?"
"Are you sure? I thought you wanted to take things slow?" He asked.
"I do, but I need to know that you'll be there for me." I said. "That's all I'm asking of you. Let's make it official, tell the world that you're my boyfriend, and I'm your girlfriend."
"Charlotte…" Said Forrest, pulling me closer to him. I looked into his eyes for a moment, and then decided to charge in.
I leaned forward and kissed him.
It wasn't the storybook kiss where the prince in shining armor kissed the damsel in distress, as I was the one initiating the kiss, but Forrest soon began returning the kiss with as much eagerness as I had put into it.
"I love you." he said.
"I know." I answered.
As we walked along the streets of Brockton Bay, it suddenly hit me that these streets, the streets I had become so familiar with over the past few years were about to become a distant memory for me.
"I'm gonna miss it." I said. "The Bay."
"I'm sure that you'll find plenty to do in Boston." Forrest said.
"I know, it's just…" I hesitated. "I know that the Bay isn't the greatest place but it has its own charm and I'm gonna miss that."
"Tell you what." Forrest said. "If they catch this Phantom, or if there's no incidents at Winslow for the next few months, then they'll have probably moved on by then. After 6 months, we can come back and see if Winslow is any better."
"I… Okay. Let's do it." I said.
As we got to my house, Forrest walking me to the door like a gentleman, I smiled at him.
"Go get your car and wait for me here. It won't take me long to pack up what I need." I said.
"I'll only be a minute, grabbing my car." Forrest said.
"I love you." I replied.
As I turned and walked into the house to pack up, I could have sworn I heard her voice saying my name. I looked around for signs of the ghost, but I saw none. Shaking my head a bit to clear out the cobwebs, I continued upstairs to pack.