a/n: well guess what! NEW CHAPTER! Please review so I can post the next one asap

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I wake up to a searing pain in my left arm, and the voices of two people arguing.

"This is all your fault!" my angel?

"My fault? If you had not followed her… If she had just listened to me…" Raoul?

"If you hadn't locked her up like some animal then she wouldn't have felt the need to escape to come to her own father's grave," my angel is angered.

I open my eyes to see that my head is in the Phantom's lap and Raoul is holding my hand, knelt down beside me.

The Phantom looks down to me and I see that there are dried tear streaks down his cheeks. This quickly is changed though, when his face opens into a slight smile, "Christine, you're awake."

"Christine?" Raoul moves so that he's looking at my face instead of at my hand. His face is just as solemn as the Phantom's, yet his tears are fresh.

He moves his hand from my hand to my face, "I'm so sorry!"

I move my right hand, which is in no pain at all, and grasp his hand that's on my face, "Raoul, I'm fine."

I look slightly nervously at the Phantom's face, but all I see in his features is infinite patience. Hidden deeper in his eyes, though, there is a slight hint of anger.

"Where am I?" the further the conversation is from the current topic the better.

"You're in my carriage," Raoul answers.

"Why did you bring that? I would have thought you would take the quickest way to me, as only you would do," there is a slight laugh in my voice.

"I would have, had I known that he had followed you, but I didn't realize that he had," Raoul looks almost loathingly at the Phantom.

"Either did I," I smile slightly up at him and his features allow a slight smile but the anger in his eyes is now accompanied by hate, but I know that it is not meant against me.

"How did I get all the way here?" break the silence.

"I carried you," my angel answers, and I must admit that his voice relaxes me, as only his voice could. "You couldn't stay in the snow, you were bleeding too badly," he tries shooting a look at Raoul, but Raoul isn't paying attention to him, he seems almost to have been shot in the heart.

The Phantom looks back at me and runs a hand lightly through my hair, and he smiles slightly as he does so.

He then turns back to Raoul; "We should get her back now." What control in his voice.

Raoul obeys, for the first and probably last time, one of the Phantom's commands. He quickly hops out of the main area just to leap back up front and take up the reins. He steadies himself and looks back, the Phantom nods, slightly tightening his grasp on my right arm, and Raoul turns forward again.

I feel a jerk as we start moving and my angel catches me from moving out of his lap. He arms are so strong, something that you would never be able to guess from his appearance.

I find myself smiling up at my angel and I feel his left hand move to mine and squeeze it, causing me a little pain, which he quickly counters by stroking it lightly, apologetically.

The rest of the ride I close my eyes and I feel like I'm floating on clouds, up with my angel as he holds me close. I feel like I'm in heaven. The ride seems to quicker when I'm there.

And when we finally arrive I feel my strength renewed.

The Phantom helps me sit up, and steadies me as Raoul helps me down. Now is when I really feel the blood loss, feeling lightheaded and quite dizzy.

Raoul wraps an arm under mine and holds me steady as we walk to the stairs. Once we reach the top I see that the Phantom has stayed at the bottom.

I look back at him and he calls up to me, "I should let you two go, I can't just go walking around in there freely."

"They won't care," I plead.

Raoul looks to me, and then looks back to the Phantom; "I'll never be able to get her back to her room without someone's help without drawing suspicious looks, at the best."

I smile when I realize that this is a lie.

The Phantom sighs, "Follow me."

He walks down into an alleyway and Raoul quickly hurries me to catch up. Once we get back there we see my angel moving to open a large gate.

We enter and he quickly closes the door behind us, but then runs ahead, only to return holding a torch.

"Keep up and move silently, too much noise will alert those up on the stage," I now realize how he listens to me during practice.

Raoul nods and we start are long and silent walk into the depths where few enter, and even less leave alive. I know this from the stories that I heard as a child: anyone who entered the Opera Ghosts' layer uninvited ended up dead, no matter who they were. I smile at the thought. I have entered twice and come out alive, this would make three times.

I look around me and am fascinated to see that he has even decorated these long corridors. The walls shimmer and dance in the light. I can see that they are painted with roses, and almost all of them are red, except a few black ones here and there. I notice how much this must reflect how he feels, and how much he really is a ghost, lost and lonely.

When the corridor finally ends he motions for us to stop and then pushes in slightly on a rock. Amazingly this causes the whole wall to give, and I recognize instantly the sad underground palace of the Phantom of the Opera.

This is the first place that he took me, the room which he I was brought for my lessons.

Raoul scowls momentarily, but quickly masks his emotions. It's not as easy for me to do, and I feel my eyes tear up, but I keep them from falling.

The Phantom has now placed the torch aside and leads us to the water's edge, where he reveals a hidden boat and steps back.

Raoul helps me in first, and then he enters, followed by the Phantom. The trip to the other side is much quicker than the last time, and the last time it seemed so fast!

My angel carefully helps me out of the boat as Raoul helps to steady it.

Holding his hands still I manage to get out a few words from my now constricted throat, "Thank you."

He smiles, "If there is anything that I can ever do for you, you know how to reach me."

I laugh slightly and finding my throat no longer tight I think of one thing, "Tell me my angel's name."

He seems to stop dead, and then struggles as if the words he speaks are foreign, "My name is Erik."

"Erik," I parrot.

With this Raoul takes me lightly by the arm and we walk out, leaving my no longer nameless angel, once again, behind.

When we get back to my room Raoul let's go of my arm as I head over to my bed and turns on me, "Why?"

"Why what?" I sit down carefully and look him in the eyes.

"Why did you disobey me? Why did you protect him? Why do you seem to love a monster that can not love back?" he shoots at me.

"He is not a monster, and he has a name: Erik," I counter.

"He's trying to trick you! Can't you see that?" Raoul's eyes plead with me. My mind tells me to comfort him, but my heart yells at me not to.

"He wouldn't do that! He's only lonely," I answer.

"Something he told you?" Raoul growls.

"Something I observed," I hold my head defiantly.

I feel a sharp sting in my arm where the black fabric and I look down. The fabric is wet. Raoul notices as well.

"Oh God, Christine! I'll go get help," he jumps up, and I don't find the strength to protest.

I feel myself getting even dizzier, and I lay down. At some point before the help comes I fall into a deep sleep.

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a/n: please review!